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叁　耶利米五十至五十一章说到神对巴比伦的审判：

Ⅲ　Jeremiah 50 and 51 speak concerning God’s judgment on Babylon:

一　巴比伦开始于巴别—创十8~10：

Ａ　Babylon began from Babel—Gen. 10:8-10:

１　在巴别，撒但使人类背叛神，拜偶像，高举人的己；因此，巴别是人背叛神，人拜偶像，以及人高举己的起源，源头—十一1~9。

１　At Babel Satan caused the human race to rebel against God, to worship idols, and to exalt man’s self; thus, Babel was the origin, the source, of man’s rebellion against God, man’s worship of idols, and human self-exaltation—11:1-9.

２　巴别的延续是巴比伦；在神看来，巴比伦是人类政权的完成—耶五十1，但二32~34：

２　Babel had its continuation in Babylon, which, in the sight of God, is the consummation of human government—Jer. 50:1; Dan. 2:32-34:

ａ　巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒甚至与撒但联合为一，作为撒但的具体化身—赛十四4、11~15。

ａ　Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, was even identified with Satan as Satan’s embodiment—Isa. 14:4, 11-15.

ｂ　巴比伦毁灭神的圣城和祂的圣殿，将神的圣民和神殿中的器皿掳去—代下三六17~20。

ｂ　Babylon destroyed God’s holy city and His holy temple and carried God’s holy people and the vessels of God’s temple into captivity—2 Chron. 36:17-20.

二　在启示录十七至十八章里，复兴的罗马帝国称为大巴比伦；大巴比伦有两面—宗教的一面和物质的一面：

Ｂ　In Revelation 17 and 18 the restored Roman Empire is called Babylon the Great, which has two aspects—religious and material:

１　启示录十七章揭示宗教的巴比伦，就是背道的罗马天主教：

１　Revelation 17 is an unveiling of religious Babylon—the apostate Roman Catholic Church:

ａ　在神眼中，那存留了犹太教又吸收异教许多成分的罗马天主教，就是巴比伦。

ａ　In the eyes of God the Roman Catholic Church, which perpetuates much of Judaism and has assimilated much of paganism, is Babylon.

ｂ　十七章一节的妓女，乃是背道的罗马天主教。

ｂ　The harlot in 17:1 is the apostate Roman Catholic Church.

ｃ　因为神恨恶背道的召会，所以在大灾难的起头，神要使敌基督和他的十王毁灭罗马天主教—16~17节。

ｃ　Because God hates the apostate church, at the beginning of the great tribulation God will cause Antichrist and his ten kings to destroy the Roman Catholic Church—vv. 16-17.

２　启示录十八章揭示物质的巴比伦，就是罗马城：

２　Revelation 18 is an unveiling of material Babylon—the city of Rome:

ａ　在启示录十七章和十八章，巴比伦的两面，宗教方面和物质方面，混合在一起：

ａ　In Revelation 17 and 18 two aspects of Babylon—the religious aspect and the material aspect—are mixed together:

㈠　十七章十六节的妓女指宗教的巴比伦，表征罗马天主教；十八节的那女人指物质的巴比伦，表征罗马城。

⑴　The harlot in 17:16 denotes religious Babylon, signifying the Roman Catholic Church, whereas the woman in verse 18 denotes material Babylon, signifying the city of Rome.

㈡　大巴比伦既有这两方面，所以从那城出来，就是从宗教的巴比伦和物质的巴比伦出来—十八4。

⑵　Since Babylon the Great is twofold, to come out of her means to come out of both religious Babylon and material Babylon—18:4.

ｂ　物质的巴比伦，就是罗马城，要在神眼中变为可憎的，因为她成了属鬼魔的政治和属鬼魔的宗教之源—6~8、20~24节。

ｂ　Material Babylon, the city of Rome, will become hateful in the eyes of God because it has been the source of both devilish politics and devilish religion—vv. 6-8, 20-24.

ｃ　基督作为另一位天使，要照耀地，用祂的大权柄毁灭大巴比伦，就是罗马城—1~2节。

ｃ　Christ as another Angel will shine over the earth to destroy Babylon the Great, the city of Rome, with His great authority—vv. 1-2.

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晨兴喂养　　

　　启十八4 ……我的民，你们要从那城出来，免得有分于她的罪，受她所受的灾害。

　　十九2~3 祂的审判是真实、公义的，因祂审判了那用淫乱败坏全地的大妓女，并且向她为祂的奴仆伸了流血的冤。……又说，阿利路亚！烧妓女的烟往上冒，直到永永远远。

　　在以斯拉的时候，以色列从巴比伦出来，但他们只是从政治的巴比伦出来，而不是从宗教的巴比伦出来，因为那时还没有宗教的巴比伦。以色列被掳到巴比伦，表征今天的基督徒被掳到巴比伦的宗教里。……在巴比伦的宗教里，最显著的事就是拜偶像。在天主教里特别是这样。今天我们这些神的子民，要从这两面的巴比伦出来（以赛亚书生命读经，二○九页）。

　　Rev. 18:4 …Come out of her, My people, that you do not participate in her sins and that you do not receive her plagues.

　　19:2-3 For true and righteous are His judgments; for He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and He avenged the blood of His slaves at her hand….They said, Hallelujah! And her smoke goes up forever and ever.

　　When Israel came out of Babylon at the time of Ezra, they came out of political Babylon but not out of religious Babylon, for at that time there was no religious Babylon. Israel’s captivity in Babylon typifies the captivity of today’s Christians in the Babylonian religion….In the Babylonian religion, the most striking thing is the worship of idols. This is especially true in Catholicism. Today, for us to be God’s people, we need to come out of Babylon in its two aspects. (Life-study of Isaiah, p. 166)

信息选读　　

　　在旧约，巴比伦主要是政治的，但这政治的巴比伦也干涉敬拜神的事。巴比伦入侵耶路撒冷的时候，毁坏了神的殿，将殿里的器皿带到巴比伦（但一1~2）；这些器皿乃表征给神百姓享受基督的凭借。这些器皿虽然继续存在，却受到损毁。不仅如此，巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒又将以色列中的贵胄掳去，包括皇室的人，强迫他们敬拜巴比伦的神。因此，巴比伦破坏并损毁了对神的敬拜。这显示巴比伦的政治与巴比伦的宗教是连在一起的。在新约里，启示录很强地说到巴比伦，先提到宗教方面的（十七），后提到政治方面的（十八）。宗教的巴比伦被启示为：“奥秘哉！大巴比伦，地上妓女和可憎之物的母。”（十七5）在二章二十节，她是由耶洗别所表征。宗教的巴比伦，背道的罗马天主教，与政治的巴比伦相反，乃是非常奥秘的；其中有神，有基督，也有撒但。她名义上是宣扬神且传扬基督为救主，但是当她的成员相信她的传扬时，就被带进撒但那秘密、奥秘、深奥的事（24），去敬拜偶像。背道的罗马天主教传扬神，却拜偶像；这是假冒为善。

　　现今……政治的巴比伦多少是在休止状态，宗教的巴比伦却很兴盛。比如，全世界都在庆祝的圣诞节，完全是从巴比伦来的。有分于圣诞节，似乎是小事，但任何属巴比伦的事，在神眼中都是可憎的。在召会的聚会中，一人讲众人听的系统也是巴比伦的一部分。这巴比伦的元素绝不许在我们中间存留。

　　神吩咐祂旧约的选民以色列，离开巴比伦，从巴比伦绝对地分别出来（赛五二11）。在新约，神也嘱咐祂所拣选的人，召会，从巴比伦出来（启十八4）。我们都需要问问自己，与今日的巴比伦有否彻底的了结。我们在此跟随耶和华的仆人，我们的基督，祂要我们离开巴比伦，与巴比伦有彻底的了结。

　　在约书亚六章，以色列人战胜取得了耶利哥，但在攻取艾城时却失败了。因着亚干保留了一件巴比伦的衣服（七21），神的子民就被击败。任何属巴比伦的东西都给撒但有立场来击败神的子民。所以，我们必须弃绝一切属巴比伦的东西。我们若要作神纯洁的子民来事奉祂，首先需要彻底清理一切属巴比伦的东西（以赛亚书生命读经，二二七至二二九页）。

　　参读：以赛亚书生命读经，第六至八、二十四至二十六篇；启示录生命读经，第五十一至五十三篇；新约总论，第七十一篇。

　　In the Old Testament, Babylon was mainly political, but this political Babylon also interfered with the worship of God. When Babylon invaded Jerusalem, it destroyed the temple of God and carried away to Babylon the vessels of the temple (Dan. 1:1-2), which typify the ways and means for God’s people to enjoy Christ. These vessels continued to exist, but they were marred. Furthermore, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, captured the people of high rank in Israel, including the royal family, and forced them to worship his god in Babylon. Hence, the worship of God was damaged and marred by Babylon. This shows that Babylonian politics went together with Babylonian religion. In the New Testament, Babylon is mentioned in a strong way in the book of Revelation. The religious aspect is mentioned first (Rev. 17), then the political aspect (Rev. 18). The religious Babylon is revealed as “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Harlots and the Abominations of the Earth” (17:5). In Revelation 2:20 she is signified by Jezebel. In contrast to political Babylon, religious Babylon, the apostate Roman Catholic Church, is very mysterious. It has God, Christ, and Satan within it. It has a name that it proclaims God and preaches Christ as the Savior. But when its members believe its preaching, they are brought into the secrets, mysteries, and deep things of Satan (v. 24) to worship idols. The apostate Roman Church preaches God but worships idols. This is hypocrisy.

　　Political Babylon is somewhat in a state of repose, whereas religious Babylon is flourishing. For example, Christmas, which is celebrated throughout the world, is altogether from Babylon. Participating in Christmas may seem to be a small thing, but anything that is part of Babylon is abominable in the eyes of God. The system in the church meetings of one man speaking and all the rest listening is also a part of Babylon. This Babylonian element must not be allowed to remain among us.

　　God commanded His Old Testament elect, Israel, to depart from Babylon and to separate themselves absolutely from Babylon (Isa. 52:11). In the New Testament, God also charges His elect, the church, to come out of Babylon (Rev. 18:4). We all need to ask ourselves whether or not we have made a thorough clearance with today’s Babylon. We are here following our Christ, who is the Servant of Jehovah, and He requires us to depart from Babylon and to have a thorough clearance with Babylon.

　　In Joshua 6 the children of Israel gained the victory over Jericho, but in fighting against Ai they were defeated. Because Achan kept a Babylonian garment (7:21), God’s people suffered a defeat. Anything that is Babylonian gives Satan the ground to defeat the people of God. Therefore, we must forsake everything Babylonian. If we would serve God as His pure people, we first need to have a thorough clearance of all Babylonian things. (Life-study of Isaiah, pp. 179-180)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Isaiah, msgs. 6-8, 24-26; Life-study of Revelation, msgs. 51-53; The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 71

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