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耶利米书生命读经 · 第36篇

耶和华对与神选民以色列有关之列国的惩罚与审判（三）

Jehovah’s Punishment and Judgment upon the Nations Involved with God’s Elect, Israel (3)
与被掳历史的补充
and a Supplement to the History of Captivity
1读经：耶利米书五十至五十二章。在本篇信息中，我们要先看耶和华对巴比伦的惩罚与审判，然后简短的说到五十二章，就是被掳历史的补充。
1Scripture Reading: Jer. 50—52 In this message we will first consider Jehovah's punishment and judgment upon Babylon and then give a brief word on chapter fifty-two, which is a supplement to the history of captivity
玖 耶和华对巴比伦的惩罚与审判
IX. JEHOVAH'S PUNISHMENT AND JUDGMENT UPON BABYLON
2耶利米五十至五十一章说到耶和华对巴比伦的惩罚与审判。对巴比伦定罪的话，比说到任何其他国家的都长得多。
2Jeremiah 50 and 51 speak concerning Jehovah's punishment and judgment upon Babylon. The word of condemnation regarding Babylon is much longer than that spoken regarding any other nation
一 巴比伦豫表在物质上和属灵上拜偶像、高举人、反抗神到极点的世界
A. Babylon Typifying the World, Both Physically and Spiritually, That Worships Idols, Exalts Men, and Opposes God to the Uttermost
3巴比伦的起源与引进是巴别，巴别这名的意思是混乱。（创十一7～。）巴别为宁录所建，他是含的后裔，为世上英雄之首，他王国的起始是巴别，乃是地上人类政权的起始。（创十6～11，但二31～32，38。）巴别是充满偶像之地，在那里人敬拜偶像，高举人的己，并反抗神。（耶五十38下，书二四2，创十一3～4。）巴比伦的头一位王尼布甲尼撒，甚至与撒但联合，作撒但的具体化身。（赛十四4，11～15。）这巴比伦毁灭神的圣城，并祂的圣殿，将神殿中的器皿带走，且将祂的圣民掳去。（代下三六17～20。）就灵意说，要来的罗马帝国和罗马教都称为大巴比伦，且要被神毁灭。（启十七5，十八2，10。）因此，巴比伦豫表在物质上和属灵上拜偶像、高举人、反抗神到极点的世界，其一切已经或将要被神彻底毁灭。（耶五一11，启十四8，十六19下，十八2，10。）
3Babylon's origin and initiation was Babel, and the name Babel means confusion (Gen. 11:7-9). Babel was built by Nimrod, who was a descendant of Ham 9 and began to be a mighty one in the earth, and the beginning of whose kingdom was Babel as the beginning of human government on earth (Gen. 10:6-11; Dan. 2:31-32, 38). It was a land full of idols, where man worshipped idols, exalted man's self, and opposed God (Jer. 50:38b; Josh. 24:2; Gen. 11:3-4). The first king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, was even identified with Satan as Satan's embodiment (Isa. 14:4, 11-15). It was this Babylon that destroyed God'sho ly city and His holy temple and carried the vessels of God'stem ple and His holy people into captivity (2 Chron. 36:17-20). The coming Roman Empire and the Roman church will both in the spiritual sense be called Babylon the Great and will be destroyed by God (Rev. 17:5; 18:2, 10). Hence, Babylon typifies the world, both physically and spiritually, that worships idols, exalts men, and opposes God to the uttermost, all of which was or will be utterly destroyed by God (Jer. 51:11; Rev. 14:8; 16:19b; 18:2, 10).
二 巴比伦被攻取并毁灭
B. The Capture and Destruction of Babylon
4耶利米五十章二节宣告，巴比伦被攻取，彼勒（巴比伦的首要偶像－赛四六1）蒙羞，米罗达（巴比伦的偶像）被打碎，她的像蒙羞，她的偶像惊惶。（耶五一17～18。）因有一国（玛代－五一11，28）从北方上来攻击她，（五十41，五一48，）使她的地荒凉，无人居住，连人带牲畜都逃走了，因为她得罪了耶和华，且与耶和华争战。（五十3，14，24。）这是耶和华报仇的事，因为她向耶和华以色列的圣者，行动狂傲。（15，29。）耶和华必使火在她的城邑中著起来，将她四围所有的尽行吞灭。（五十32，五一30下。）
4Jeremiah 50:2 declares that Babylon is captured, that Bel (the chief Babylonian idol — Isa. 46:1) is put to shame, that Merodach (a Babylonian idol) is shattered, that her images are put to shame, and that her idols are dismayed (Jer. 51:17-18). For a nation (of the Medes—51:11, 28) has come up against her from the north (50:41; 51:48). It will make her land a waste, and there will be no inhabitant in it. Both man and beast have fled because she has sinned against Jehovah and engaged in war with Jehovah (50:3, 14, 24). This is the vengeance of Jehovah, for she has acted proudly against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel (vv. 15, 29). Jehovah will kindle a fire in her cities, and it will devour all those around her (v. 32; 51:30b).
三 以色列人从巴比伦地逃避，并在锡安宣告耶和华他们神的报仇
C. The Children of Israel Fleeing and Escaping from the Land of Babylon and Declaring in Zion the Vengeance of Jehovah Their God
5当那日子，那时候，以色列人要和犹大人同来，随走随哭，寻求耶和华他们的神。（五十4。）他们必问去锡安的路，面向锡安说，『来罢，我们要凭永远不忘的约与耶和华联结。』（5。）他们是迷失的羊，转到山上。他们从大山走到小山，竟忘了安歇之处，他们得罪了那作公义居所的耶和华，就是他们列祖所盼望的耶和华。（6～7。）在八节上半，耶和华嘱咐他们说，『你们要从巴比伦中间逃走，从迦勒底人之地出去。』十七节说，以色列是打散的羊，是被狮子赶出的。先是亚述王将他吞吃，后是巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒将他的骨头折断。所以，耶和华以色列的神必惩罚巴比伦王和他的地，像祂从前惩罚亚述王一样。祂必领以色列回他的居所，他必在迦密和巴珊得食。当那日子，以色列的罪孽与犹大的罪恶，必一无所见，因为耶和华所留下的人，祂必赦免。（18～20。）
5In those days and at that time, the children of Israel will come, both they and the children of Judah together; they will go along with weeping as they go, and they will seek Jehovah their God (50:4). They will ask for the way to Zion with their faces toward it, saying, "Come and let us join ourselves to Jehovah / In an eternal covenant that will not be forgotten" (v. 5). They have been as lost sheep, turning aside on the mountains and going from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place and have sinned against Jehovah, the habitation of righteousness, even Jehovah, the hope of their fathers (vv. 6-7). In verse 8a Jehovah charges them, saying, "Flee from the midst of Babylon, / And go out from the land of the Chaldeans." Verse 17 says that Israel is a scattered sheep; lions have driven him away. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and last Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has broken his bones. Therefore, Jehovah, the God of Israel, will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as He punished the king of Assyria. He will bring Israel back to his habitation, and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan. In those days the iniquity of Israel and the sin of Judah will not be found, for Jehovah will forgive those whom He will leave as a remnant (vv. 18-20
6二十八节说到有从巴比伦地逃避之人的声音，在锡安宣告耶和华他们神的报仇，（五一24，）就是为祂殿的报仇。以色列或犹大没有被他的神丢弃；然而他们的地上（迦勒底人之地）充满违背以色列圣者的罪。（5。）神的子民又受吩咐，要从巴比伦中间逃走，各救自己的性命。不要因她的罪孽同被剪除；因为这是耶和华报仇的时候；祂必向10巴比伦施行报应。（6。）八节下半至十节继续说，『拿香膏为她止痛，或者可以治好。我们想医治巴比伦，她却没有治好。离开她罢，我们各人归回本国；因为她受的审判上达于天，直抵云霄。耶和华已经显出我们的公义；来罢，我们可以在锡安报告耶和华我们神的作为。』
6Verse 28 speaks of a sound of those who flee and escape from the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah their God (51:24), the vengeance of His temple. Neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his God; but their land (the land of the Chaldeans) is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel (51:5). Again God'sp eople are told to flee from the midst of Babylon and to let each man save his life. They are not to be cut off in Babylon's iniquity. This is a time of vengeance to Jehovah; He will give full recompense to Babylon (v. 6). Verses 8b through continue, "Take balm for her pain, / If perhaps she may be healed. / We tried to heal Babylon, but she is not healed; / Forsake her, and let each one of us go to his own land; / For her judgment has reached to heaven / And has been lifted up to the clouds. / Jehovah has brought forth our righteousnesses; / Come and let us relate in Zion / The work of Jehovah our God. "
7巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒吞吃神的子民，压碎他们，使他们成为空器皿；他像大龙将他们吞下，用他们的美物充满他的肚腹，又将他们冲洗出去。（34。）因此，愿他们和他们肉体所受的强暴，归于巴比伦！愿他们的血归到迦勒底的居民！（35。）所以耶和华说，『看哪，我必为你的案件申辩，为你报仇；我必使巴比伦的海枯竭，使她的泉源干涸。巴比伦必成为乱堆，为野狗的住处，令人惊骇、嗤笑，无人居住。』（36～37。）然后耶和华又嘱咐祂的民要从巴比伦中间出来，说，『我的民哪，你们要从她中间出来，各人拯救自己的性命，躲避耶和华的烈怒。…你们躲避了刀剑的要快走，不要站住；要从远方记念耶和华，心中想起耶路撒冷。』（45，50。）
7Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had devoured God'sp eople. He had crushed them, made them an empty vessel, swallowed them up like a dragon, filled his stomach with their delicacies, and washed them away (v. 34). Thus, the violence done to them and their flesh should be on Babylon and their blood on the inhabitants of Chaldea (v. 35). Therefore, Jehovah says, "Behold, I will plead your cause / And execute vengeance for you; / And I will dry up her sea / And make her fountain dry. / And Babylon will become heaps, / A habitation of jackals, / An astonishment and a hissing, / Without inhabitant" (vv. 36-37). Then Jehovah again charges His people to come out of Babylon, saying, "Come out from the midst of her, My people, / And let each man save his life / From the burning anger of Jehovah...You who have escaped the sword, / Go and do not stand still; / Remember Jehovah from afar, / And let Jerusalem come up in your heart" (vv. 45, 50
四 耶利米将一切要临到巴比伦的灾祸，写在书上
D. Jeremiah Writing in a Book All the Evil That Would Come on Babylon
8犹大王西底家在位第四年，行宫总管西莱雅与西底家同上巴比伦去。那时耶利米将一切要临到巴比伦的灾祸，就是论到巴比伦的一切话，写在书上。（59～60。）耶利米对西莱雅说，你到了巴比伦，务要念这些话；你也要说，『耶和华阿，你曾论到这地方说，要将其剪除，甚至没有人口牲畜居61-住在这里，必要永远荒凉。』（61～62。）耶利米进一步告诉他，他一念完这书，就要把一块石头拴在书上，扔在伯拉河中，说，『巴比伦因耶和华所要降的灾祸，必如此沉下去，不再兴起；人民也必困乏。』（63～64。）
8In the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah the king of Judah, when Seraiah, the quartermaster, went to Babylon with Zedekiah, Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come on Babylon, all the words that are written concerning Babylon (vv. 59-60). Jeremiah told Seraiah that when he came to Babylon, he was to read all these words and say, "O Jehovah, You have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, so that nothing should dwell in it, neither man nor animal, for it will be an eternal desolation" (vv. 62). Jeremiah further told him that as soon as he had finished reading this book, he was to bind a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates and say, "Thus Babylon will sink and will not rise up, because of the evil which I will bring upon it, and they will weary themselves" (vv. 63-64).
9照著圣经，在神看来，地上人类的政权从始至终都是巴比伦。这由但以理二章的大人像所证明。这像从头到脚指头都是巴比伦。我们已指出，巴比伦的起源是巴别，就是人所构成的第一个国，这国反抗神、高举人、并在众偶像中敬拜撒但。巴别由名叫宁录的英雄所建立，他是敌基督的豫表。巴别在巴比伦中得著延续；在神看来，巴比伦是人类政权的完成。在圣经末了，又题到在宗教一面和物质一面的巴比伦。（启十四8，十六19，十七～十八。）在启示录里，巴比伦不是按字面指古代巴别的地方，乃是指罗马城。这指明由神的观点来看，罗马是巴比伦的延续、完成和总结。但以理二章的像表征四个帝国：巴比伦帝国、玛代波斯帝国、马其顿希腊帝国、和罗马帝国。今天我们仍在罗马帝国里，因为今天的文化和风俗都是罗马的。将来会有罗马帝国进一步的复兴。要来的敌基督要复兴罗马帝国，并要使自己成为这国的最后一位该撒。在今世的最后七年，他要与以色列立和平的约，允许以色列自由敬拜神。但三年半以后，敌基督要改变心意，开始逼迫所有的宗教，特别是逼迫犹太人和在基督里的信徒。那时神要将复兴之罗马帝国的首都罗马，视为巴比伦。
9According to the Bible, the human government on earth is, in the eyes of God, altogether Babylonian from beginning to end. This is proved by the great human image in Daniel 2. This image is Babylon from the head to the toes. As we have pointed out, the origin of Babylon was Babel, the first nation constituted by man, which opposed God, exalted man, and worshipped Satan in all the idols. Babel was formed by a mighty man named Nimrod, a type of the Antichrist. Babel has its continuation in Babylon which, in the sight of God, is the consummation of human government. At the end of the Bible, Babylon is mentioned again in its religious and material aspects (Rev. 14:8; 16:19; 17—18). In Revelation Babylon does not refer literally to the place of ancient Babel but to the city of Rome. This indicates that, from God's point of view, Rome is the continuation, consummation , and conclusion of Babylon . The image in Daniel 2 signifies four empires: the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Macedonian-Grecian Empire, and the Roman Empire. Today we are still in the Roman Empire, for the culture and customs of today are Roman. In the future there will be a further restoration of the Roman Empire. The coming Antichrist will restore the Roman Empire and will make himself the last Caesar over it. In the last seven years of this age, he will make a covenant of peace with Israel, allowing Israel to worship God with freedom. But after three and a half years, Antichrist will change his mind and begin to persecute all religion, especially persecuting the Jewish people and the believers in Christ. At that time God will consider Rome, the capital of the restored Roman Empire, as Babylon
10在历史上，已过十个或更多个世纪，罗马城一直在宗教上与罗马教有关，甚至息息相关。今天罗马是义大利国和天主教的首都。在大灾难开始时，敌基督要毁灭罗马教。（启十七16。）三年半以后，在大灾难末了，主耶稣要毁灭罗马城。（十八8。）在这点上，完成于罗马帝国的人类政权，就要完全被毁灭。这符合耶利米所豫言，那临到与神选民以色列有关之列国的惩罚与审判。这惩罚与审判开始于埃及，结束于巴比伦，此后就不再有人类的政权。
10Historically, in the past ten or more centuries, the city of Rome has been involved, even wrapped up, religiously with the Roman church. Rome today is the capital of both the nation of Italy and of the Catholic Church. At the beginning of the great tribulation, Antichrist will destroy the Roman church (Rev. 17:16). Three and a half years later, at the end of the great tribulation, the Lord Jesus will destroy the city of Rome (18:8). At this point, the destruction of the human government, consummated in the Roman Empire, will be completed. This corresponds to Jeremiah's prophecies concerning the punishment and judgment upon the nations which are involved with God'select, Israel. This punishment and judgment begins with Egypt and ends with Babylon, after which there will be no more human government.
11以赛亚和耶利米都清楚告诉我们，巴比伦，包括其地与其民，都要被剪除。巴比伦是地上反抗神最邪恶的事；巴比伦一旦被毁灭了，就不会再恢复。巴比伦开始于宁录，要结束于敌基督统治下复兴的罗马帝国；在神看来，那将是巴比伦的延续、完成和总结。当神毁灭宗教和政治的巴比伦时，那将是耶利米五十、五十一章所豫言那临到巴比伦之审判的结束。
11Both Isaiah and Jeremiah tell us clearly that Babylon, including the land and the people, will be cut off. Babylon is the most evil thing on earth opposed to God; and once Babylon has been destroyed, it will not be restored. Babylon began with Nimrod and it will end with the restored Roman Empire under Antichrist, which, in the sight of God, will be the continuation, consummation, and conclusion of Babylon. When God destroys both the religious and the political Babylon, that will be the end of the judgment on Babylon prophesied in Jeremiah 50 and 51
被掳历史的补充
a Supplement to the History of Captivity
12耶利米五十二章是被掳历史的补充。作为这样的补充，本章说到五件事：耶路撒冷被攻陷；（1～；）圣殿被劫掠；（17～23；）犹大人被放逐；（24～27；）尼布甲尼撒从犹大所放逐的人数；（28～；）以及犹大王约雅斤被高抬。（31～34。）本章是耶利米豫言确定的应验，以称义这真申言者，并定罪假申言者。（二九。）
12Jeremiah 52 is a supplement to the history of captivity. As such a supplement, this chapter covers five matters: the fall of Jerusalem (vv. 1-16); the plundering of the temple (v v. 1 7-2 3); the exile of the people of 16 Judah (vv. 24-27); the number of those exiled by Nebuchadnezzar from Judah (vv. 28-30); and the lifting up of Jehoiachin king of Judah (vv. 31-34). 30 This chapter is the definite fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecies as a justification to this genuine prophet and a condemnation to the false prophets (ch. 29).