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约书亚记生命读经 · 第9篇

基遍人的得救

The Saving of Gibeon
1读经：约书亚记九章。我们研读旧约的历史和豫言，需要对全本圣经，关于神为著基督与召会终极完成于新耶路撒冷的经纶，有全面的视野，完全的看见。我在本篇信息中的负担，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。
1Scripture Reading: Josh. 9 To study the Old Testament histories and prophecies we need a full scope, a full view, of the entire Scriptures concerning God'secon o my 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
2约书亚九章记载以色列人如何受基遍人的欺骗。他们受欺骗，因为他们好像忘记丈夫的妻子。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。）圣经启示，在宇宙中，在神与祂的选民之间，有神圣的罗曼史。圣经在最纯洁、圣别的意义上，记载宇宙配偶的罗曼史。这对配偶的男子是神自己，女方是神所救赎的人，是团体的人。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，必有基于相互之爱的婚姻联结。所以，宇宙是结婚礼堂，就是丈夫－那经过过程并终极完成之三一神，与蒙救赎、得重生、被圣别、被变化、并得荣耀之三部分人，结为婚配的地方。丈夫是三一的，妻子是三部分的，因此他们彼此非常相配，一同活著，在整个宇宙中作独一的配偶。这罗曼史，这婚姻生活的终极完成，见于启示录二十一至二十二章，这两章我们需要一读再读，直到我们清楚看见这对宇宙配偶的婚姻生活。这神圣的罗曼史一再启示在全本圣经中。人堕落以后，神拣选一个人，就是亚伯拉罕。这人同著祂一切的后裔，（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。（赛五四5，六二5，耶二2，三1，14，三一32，结十六8，二三5，何二7，19。）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。）
2Joshua 9 is a record of how the children of Israel were deceived by the Gibeonites. They were deceived 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). The Bible reveals that in the universe there is a divine romance between God and His elect. 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'select, 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. The consummation of this romance, of this married life, is seen in Revelation 21 and 22, two chapters that we need to read again and again until we have a clear view of the married life of this universal couple. 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; 62:5; Jer. 2:2; 3:1, 14; 31:32; Ezek. 16:8; 23:5; Hosea 2:7, 19). Eventually, the Bible ends with the New Jerusalem as the ultimate consummation of God ' select in the new heaven and new earth, as the universal wife for eternity (Rev. 21:9-10).
3在耶利米二章二节，耶和华对以色列说，『你…订亲时的爱情，…我都记得。』（另译。）这里有一段『订亲』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』了这宇宙的男人，这独一的英雄。无论以色列想要甚么，祂都能作。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，作一切事。祂似乎对以色列说，『我对你是独一的，我对你也是丰足的。我既是上好的一位，你就不该去找别人，只要接受我。我是爱的一位，你是我所爱的。』我信当以色列到达西乃山，就定意要『嫁给』这一位。他们在西乃山结婚，成为配偶，一同往前。无论他们往那里去，他们都是同行的配偶－丈夫与妻子，三一神与祂的选民，行走如同一人。那是一幅神人的图画，部分是神，部分是人。神的那部分是丈夫，人的那部分是妻子。妻子绝不该离开她的丈夫；她该一直依赖他，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。那是她的保护，她的防卫。
3In Jeremiah 2:2 Jehovah said to Israel, “I remember concerning you... / The love of your bridal days.” There were some “bridal days,” 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. He seemed to say to Israel, “I am the unique One for you, and I am sufficient for you. Since I am the best One, you should not go to anyone else but just take Me. I am the loving One, and you are My beloved.” I believe that when Israel arrived at Sinai they made a definite determination to “marry” this One. At Sinai they were married, and they went on together as a couple. Wherever they went, they were a couple walking together—the husband and the wife, the Triune God and His elect, walking as one. That was a picture of the God-man, partly God and partly man. The part that is God is the Husband, and the part that is man is the wife. 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
4假定我是妻子，一个贫穷的女人到我这里来求些帮助，我这妻子可否凭自己为这贫穷的女人直接作甚么？因著这是微不足道的事，所以我可能给她一点钱或食物，而没有为这事问我的丈夫。这就是约书亚九章所发生的事。基遍人到以色列这里，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『并没有求问耶和华』。（14。）以色列受基遍人的欺骗，就与他们立了约。一旦以色列人立了这约，指著耶和华的名向基遍人起誓，约就无法改变，以色列人就无法害基遍人。
4Suppose 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.
5真实的婚姻生活，乃是妻子与她的丈夫同活，一直与他是一。这就是说，要有美好的婚姻生活，惟一的路是妻子与丈夫是一。然而，以色列这亲爱的妻子，从未学习在这事上养成习惯。他们在艾城遭遇失败，就学了与主是一的功课，但他们仍没有完全学会。在九章基遍人以不同的方式到他们这里来。艾城的人猛烈的与以色列争战，而基遍人乃是到他们这里来，乞求作他们的仆人。结果以色列这独立、个人主义的妻子就受了欺骗。她没有保护，没有防卫。由本章我们需要学习，我们作主的妻子，该一直与祂是一。这是约书亚九章的内在意义。我们既看见了本章的内在意义，就可继续来看本章所说关于基遍人的得救。
5The real married life is when the wife is co-living with her husband, always one with him. This means that the only way to have a pleasant married life is for the wife to be one with her husband. However, this dear wife, Israel, never learned to be habitual in this matter. At Ai they suffered a defeat and learned the lesson to be one with the Lord, but they did not learn it fully. In chapter nine the Gibeonites came to them in a different way. Whereas the people of Ai fought against Israel strongly, the Gibeonites came to them begging to be their servants. The result was that Israel, this independent, individualistic wife, was deceived. She had no protection, no safeguard. From this chapter we need to learn that, as the Lord's wife, we should be one with Him all the time. This is the intrinsic significance of Joshua chapter nine. Now that we have seen the intrinsic significance of this chapter, let us go on to consider what it says concerning the saving of Gibeon.
壹 约但河西的诸王
I. THE KINGS ACROSS THE JORDAN
受到威胁，就都聚集，
BEING THREATENED AND
要与以色列人争战
GATHERING TOGETHER TO FIGHT WITH ISRAEL
6约但河西住山地、低原、并对著利巴嫩山沿大海一带的诸王，受到威胁，就都聚集，要与以色列人争战。（1～2。）
6The kings who were across the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland and on all the shore of the Great Sea toward Lebanon were threatened and gathered together to fight with Israel (vv. 1-2
贰 基遍人的诡计
II. THE TRICK OF THE GIBEONITES
7三至十五节给我们看见基遍人的诡计。
7Verses 3 through 15 show us the trick of the Gibeonites
一 狡猾的欺骗以色列人
A. Deceiving Israel with Craftiness
8基遍人狡猾的欺骗以色列人。（3～。）他们假充使者，拿旧口袋和破裂缝补的旧皮酒袋，驮在驴上，将补过的旧鞋穿在脚上，把旧衣服穿在身上；他们所带的饼都是干的、长了霉的。他们到吉甲营中见约书亚，对他和以色列人说，『我们是从远方来的；现在求你与我们立约。』（6。）以色列人对这些希未人说，『只怕你们是住在我们中间的。我们怎能和你们立约？』（7。）他们对约书亚说，他们愿作以色列人的仆人。约书亚问他们是甚么人，是从那里来的；他们就回答说，他们从极远之地而来，他们听见了耶和华的名声，和祂在埃及，并祂向两个亚摩利王，就是希实本王西宏，和巴珊王噩，所行的一切事。他们继续说，他们的长老和他们那地的一切居民对他们说，要带著食物，去迎接以色列人，对他们说，『我们愿作你们的仆人。现在求你们与我们立约。』（11。）他们声称，他们的饼原是热的，现在都长了霉；他们的皮酒袋原是新的，现在都已经破裂；他们的衣服和鞋，因为道路甚远，也都穿旧了。由此我们看见，基遍人非常狡猾的行事。二以色列人与他们讲和立约，
8The Gibeonites deceived Israel with craftiness (vv. 3-13). They went out as though they were envoys, 13 taking old sacks upon their donkeys, old torn up and bound up wineskins, old patched sandals on their feet, and old garments upon themselves. All the bread of their provisions was dry and had become moldy. 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; now therefore make a covenant with us” (v. 6). The men of Israel said to these Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell among us. How then can we make a covenant with you?” (v. 7). They told Joshua that they would be their servants. When Joshua asked them who they were and where they came from, they answered that they came from a very far land, having heard reports of Jehovah and of all that He had done in Egypt and to the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan. They went on to say that their elders and the inhabitants of their land told them to take provisions, go to meet the people of Israel, and say to them, “We will be your servants; make then a covenant with us” (v. 11). They claimed that their bread had been hot but was now moldy, that their wineskins were new but were now torn up, and that their clothes and sandals had become old because of the very long journey. From this we see that the Gibeonites acted craftily. B. Israel Making Peace and a Covenant with Them
容他们活著，并没有求问耶和华
to Let Them Live, without Asking the Counsel of Jehovah
9以色列人受了他们些食物，并没有求问耶和华。于是约书亚与他们讲和，与他们立约，容他们活著。不但如此，会众的首领，也向他们起誓。（14～15。）
9The men of Israel took some of their provisions, but they did not ask for the counsel of Jehovah. Joshua then made peace with them and made a covenant with them to let them live. Furthermore, the leaders of the assembly swore an oath to them (vv. 14-15
参 以色列人发现诡计
III. ISRAEL UNCOVERING THE TRICK
10至终以色列人发现基遍人的诡计。（16～27。）以色列人与他们立约之后，过了三天，才听说他们是近邻，住在以色列人中间的。（16。）
10Eventually Israel uncovered the Gibeonites' trick (vv. 16-27). At the end of three days, after Israel had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors and that they dwelt among them (v. 16
一 因著耶和华的信实，仍然守住他们的誓言
A. Still Keeping Their Oath because of the Faithfulness of Jehovah
11以色列人因著耶和华的信实，仍然守住他们的誓言。（16～20，22～。）以色列人到了基遍的城邑，因为会众的首领，已经指著耶和华以色列的神向他们起誓，因此以色列人不击杀他们。会众向以色列首领发怨言，他们就告诉会众，因为他们已经指著耶和华向基遍人起誓，所以就不能害他们。他们容基遍人活著，免得有忿怒因他们向基遍人所起的誓，临到他们身上。
11Israel still kept their oath because of the faithfulness of Jehovah (vv. 16-20, 22-25). The children of Israel came to the cities of Gibeon, but they did not strike 25 them, for the leaders of the assembly had sworn to them by Jehovah the God of Israel. When the assembly murmured against the leaders, they told the assembly that because they had sworn to the Gibeonites by Jehovah, they could not touch them. They let them live so that wrath would not come upon Israel because of the oath that they had sworn to the Gibeonites.
12约书亚召了基遍人来，问他们为甚么欺哄以色列说，他们离以色列甚远，甚实他们住在以色列中间。基遍人告诉约书亚，他们知道耶和华以色列的神曾吩咐祂的仆人摩西，把这全地赐给以色列，并灭绝这地的一切居民。他们说，『所以我们为你们的缘故，甚怕丧命，就行了这事。现在我们在你手中，你以怎样待我们为善为正，就怎样作罢。』（24下～25。）
12Joshua called for the Gibeonites and asked them why they had deceived Israel by saying that they were far from them when they actually dwelt among them. The Gibeonites told Joshua that they knew that Jehovah the God of Israel had commanded Moses His servant to give all the land to Israel and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land. Then they said, “Therefore we were very afraid for our lives because of you, and we did this thing. And now here we are in your hand: Do as it seems good and upright in your sight to do to us” (vv. 24b-25).
二 以他们为奴仆
B. Taking Them as Slaves
13约书亚救基遍人脱离以色列人的手，以色列人就没有杀他们。约书亚以基遍人为奴仆－为全会众、为神的殿、并为耶和华的坛，作劈柴挑水的人。（21，23，26～27。）
13Joshua delivered the Gibeonites from the hand of the children of Israel, and they did not slay them. Instead, Joshua took the Gibeonites as slaves—woodcutters and drawers of water for all the assembly and for the house of God and for the altar of Jehovah (vv. 21, 23, 26-27
肆 指明耶和华使祂的选民
IV. INDICATING THAT JEHOVAH HAD MADE
以色列在一切
HIS ELECT, ISRAEL, POWERFUL
迦南人眼前大有能力
BEFORE THE EYES OF ALL THE CANAANITES
14这段基遍人得救的记载，指明耶和华已使祂的选民以色列在一切迦南人眼前大有能力。
14This account of the saving of Gibeon indicates that Jehovah had made His elect, Israel, powerful before the eyes of all the Canaanites