叁 以色列人对付了他们的罪，就是亚干的罪之后（书七11~12、20~21），就战胜艾城（八1~35），但之后又有以色列人如何受了基遍人欺骗的记载（九1~27）： |
Ⅲ After Israel dealt with their sin, the sin of Achan (Josh. 7:11-12, 20-21), they were victorious over Ai (8:1-35), but then there is a record of how the children of Israel were deceived by the Gibeonites (9:1-27): |
一 基遍人就是希未人（3、7，十一18~19）—是以色列人必须灭绝净尽的迦南地列国之一，因为他们是属魔鬼的，并且与鬼调和（申七2，九4~5，十八9~14）；基遍的居民设诡计欺骗以色列人（书九3~14）。 |
A The Gibeonites were Hivites (vv. 3, 7; 11:18-19)—one of the nations in the land of Canaan that had to be exterminated by Israel because they were devilish and mingled with demons (Deut. 7:2; 9:4-5; 18:9-14); the inhabitants of Gibeon deceived Israel with their craftiness (Josh. 9:3-14). |
二 因着他们听见以色列人击败耶利哥和艾城，就想要与以色列人讲和立约，使以色列人让他们活着；他们假充使者而来并假装是从远地来的；他们到吉甲营中见约书亚，对他和以色列人说，“我们是从远地来的，…我们是你们的仆人；现在求你们与我们立约”（6、11）。 |
B Because they had heard of Israel’s defeating both Jericho and Ai, they wanted to make peace and a covenant with Israel so that Israel would let them live; they went out as though they were envoys and pretended to have come from afar; they went to Joshua at the camp of Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “From a faraway land we have come...We will be your servants; make then a covenant with us” (vv. 6, 11). |
三 约书亚九章十四节是圣经中强而有力的一段，给我们看见以色列人为什么受了基遍人的欺骗—他们“并没有求耶和华指示”：因此，约书亚与他们讲和，与他们立约，让他们活着（15）： |
C Joshua 9:14 is a very powerful portion of the Scriptures that shows us why the children of Israel were deceived by the Gibeonites—“they did not ask for the counsel of Jehovah”; thus, Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them to let them live (v. 15): |
１ 以色列人受了欺骗，因为他们好像一个忘记丈夫的妻子；全本圣经是一部神圣的罗曼史，记载神如何追求祂所拣选的人，至终与他们成为婚配（创二21~24，歌一2~4，赛五四5，六二5，耶二2，三1、14，三一32，结十六8，二三5，何二7、19，太九15，约三29，林后十一2，弗五25~32，启十九7，二一2、9~10，二二17上）。 |
１ The children of Israel were deceived because they were like a wife who forgot her husband; the entire Bible is a divine romance, a record of how God courts His chosen people and eventually marries them (Gen. 2:21-24; S. S. 1:2-4; Isa. 54:5; 62:5; Jer. 2:2; 3:1, 14; 31:32; Ezek. 16:8; 23:5; Hosea 2:7, 19; Matt. 9:15; John 3:29; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:25-32; Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9-10; 22:17a). |
２ 圣经给我们看见，我们这班神的选民是祂的妻子，在祂与我们之间，必须有基于相互之爱的婚姻联结；所以，宇宙是结婚礼堂，丈夫是那经过过程并终极完成的三一神，在此与蒙救赎、重生、圣别、更新、变化、并荣化的三部分人结为婚配；至终，圣经结束于新耶路撒冷，就是神选民在新天新地里的终极完成，作宇宙的妻子，直到永远—启二一9~10，二二17上。 |
２ The Bible shows us that we, as God’s elect, are His wife and that between Him and us there must be a marriage union of mutual love; the universe, therefore, is a wedding place, the place where the Husband, the processed and consummated Triune God, is being joined in marriage to the redeemed, regenerated, sanctified, renewed, transformed, and glorified tripartite man; eventually, the Bible ends with the New Jerusalem as the ultimate consummation of God’s elect in the new heaven and new earth, as the universal wife for eternity—21:9-10; 22:17a. |
３ 妻子绝不该离开她的丈夫，乃该一直依赖丈夫，并与他是一；基遍人到以色列人那里时，以色列这妻子该到她丈夫那里去，问问祂该作什么—书九14。 |
３ A wife should never leave her husband; rather, she should always rely upon him and be one with him; when the Gibeonites came to Israel, as the wife Israel should have gone to her Husband and checked with Him about what to do—Josh. 9:14. |
晨兴喂养
书九14 以色列人…并没有求耶和华指示。 林后十一2 我以神的妒忌，妒忌你们，因为我曾把你们许配一个丈夫，要将一个贞洁的童女献给基督。 我们研读旧约的历史和预言，需要对全本圣经，关于神为着基督与召会终极完成于新耶路撒冷的经纶，有全面的观点，完全的看见。我…的负担是要将这原则应用于约书亚九章，使我们看见本章的内在意义。…以色列人…受了基遍人的欺骗，…因为他们好像一个忘记丈夫的妻子。他们在这里所作的，与夏娃在创世记三章所作的完全相同。狡猾的蛇要试诱、引诱亚当，但他不敢直接去找亚当。撒但乃是去找亚当的配偶，一个女人，因为他知道欺骗女人比较容易（林后十一3，提前二14）（约书亚记生命读经，六五页）。 |
Josh. 9:14 And the men…did not ask for the counsel of Jehovah. 2 Cor. 11:2 For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. To study the Old Testament histories and prophecies we need a full scope, a full view, of the entire Scriptures concerning God’s economy for Christ and the church, which consummates in the New Jerusalem. My burden in this message is to apply this principle to Joshua 9 so that we may see the intrinsic significance of this chapter….The children of Israel were deceived by the Gibeonites …because they were like a wife who forgot her husband. What they did here was exactly the same as what Eve did in Genesis 3. The subtle serpent wanted to tempt, to seduce, Adam, yet he did not dare to go to him directly. Instead, Satan went to Adam’s counterpart, a female, because he knows that it is easier to deceive a female (2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:14). (Life-study of Joshua, p. 53) |
信息选读
在最纯洁并圣别的意义上，圣经乃是记载一对宇宙配偶的罗曼史。这对配偶的男方是神自己，女方是神所救赎的团体人。圣经给我们看见，我们这班神的选民是祂的妻子，在祂与我们之间，必须有基于相互之爱的婚姻联结。所以，宇宙是结婚礼堂，丈夫是那经过过程并终极完成的三一神，在此与蒙救赎、重生、圣别、变化、并荣化的三部分人结为婚配。丈夫是三一的，妻子是三部分的，因此两者彼此非常相配，一同活着，在整个宇宙中作独一的对偶。 这神圣的罗曼史一再启示于全本圣经中。人堕落以后，神拣选一个人，就是亚伯拉罕；这人同着他一切的后裔，包括犹太人和外邦人，成了神的妻子。在旧约里，神常说到祂自己是丈夫，祂的子民是妻子（赛五四5…）。至终，圣经结束于新耶路撒冷，就是神选民在新天新地里的终极完成，作宇宙的妻子，直到永远（启二一9~10）。 在耶利米二章二节，…有一段“订婚”的时期，就是神追求以色列的时候。神将以色列从埃及领到西乃的时候，以色列必定“爱上”了这位宇宙的男人，这位独一的英雄。无论以色列想要什么，祂都能作到。他们所需要的，祂都有。祂有智慧、才干、才能、力量、权能、能力和权柄，作成一切事。…我信当以色列到达西乃山时，就定意要“嫁给”这一位。 妻子绝不该离开她的丈夫，乃该一直依赖丈夫，并与他是一。撒但来引诱夏娃时，她若守住这原则，就会跑开，到她丈夫那里去。那会是她的保护，她的防卫。 假定我是妻子，一个贫穷的女人来到我这里求些帮助，我这妻子可否凭自己直接为这贫穷的女人作些事？因着这似乎是微不足道的事，所以我可能给她一点钱或食物，而没有为这事问过我的丈夫。这就是在约书亚九章所发生的事。基遍人到以色列人这里，好像贫穷的女人来到富有、高尚之家的贵妇这里。以色列这妻子该到她丈夫那里去，问问祂这件事。但以色列人“并没有求耶和华指示”（14）。以色列人受了基遍人的欺骗，就与他们立约。一旦以色列人立了这约，指着耶和华的名向基遍人起了誓，约就不能改变，以色列人就不能碰基遍人（约书亚记生命读经，六五至六七页）。 参读：初信课程，第二十一课。 |
The Bible is the record of a romance, in the most pure and holy sense, of a universal couple. The male of this couple is God Himself, and the female is God’s redeemed people as a corporate being. The Bible shows us that we, as God’s elect, are His wife and that between Him and us there must be a marriage union based upon mutual love. The universe, therefore, is a wedding place, the place where the Husband, the processed and consummated Triune God, is being joined in marriage to the redeemed, regenerated, sanctified, transformed, and glorified tripartite man. The Husband is triune and the wife is tripartite, and thus they match each other very well to live together as the unique couple in the entire universe. This divine romance is revealed repeatedly throughout the Bible. After man fell, God selected one man, Abraham. This one with all of his descendants, both Jewish and Gentile, became God’s wife. In the Old Testament God often refers to Himself as the Husband and to His people as the wife (Isa. 54:5…). Eventually, the Bible ends with the New Jerusalem as the ultimate consummation of God’s elect in the new heaven and new earth, as the universal wife for eternity (Rev. 21:9-10). There were some “bridal days” [Jer. 2:2], a period of time in which God “courted” Israel. By the time God had brought Israel out of Egypt to Sinai, surely she had “fallen in love” with this universal Man, this unique Hero. Whatever Israel wanted, He could do. What they needed, He had. He had the wisdom, the capacity, the ability, the strength, the might, the power, and the authority to do everything…. I believe that when Israel arrived at Sinai they made a definite determination to “marry” this One. A wife should never leave her husband. Rather, she should always rely upon him and be one with him. If Eve had kept this principle when Satan came to seduce her, she would have run away to her husband. That would have been her protection, her safeguard. Suppose I am a wife and a poor woman comes to me asking for some help. As a wife, should I do something directly, on my own, for this poor woman? Since this seems to be an insignificant matter, I might just give her a little money or some bread without asking my husband about it. This is what happened in Joshua 9. The Gibeonites came to Israel like a poor woman coming to a rich lady from a strong, high-ranking family. Israel, the wife, should have gone to her Husband and checked with Him. But Israel “did not ask for the counsel of Jehovah” (v. 14). Instead, Israel was deceived by the Gibeonites and made a covenant with them. Once the people of Israel had made this covenant, swearing to the Gibeonites by the name of Jehovah, the covenant could not be altered, and the Israelites could not touch the Gibeonites. (Life-study of Joshua, pp. 53-55) Further Reading: CWWL, 1959, vol. 3, “Lessons for New Believers,” ch. 21 |