第三十一週■週五
晨興餧養
林前十6 ～ 7『這些事都是我們的鑑戒，叫我們不作貪戀惡事的人，像他們那樣貪戀。也不要作拜偶像的人，像他們有些人那樣…。』
約壹五21『孩子們，你們要保守自己，遠避偶像。』
出埃及三十二章四節說，亞倫拿金子『鑄了一隻牛犢，是用雕刻的工具作成的』。…偶像的基本原則是自我妝飾。如果偶像不是妝飾過的，誰會拜它？這裏的點是，把金子鑄成牛犢是需要技術的。有些人也許有金子，但沒有技術把金子鑄成牛犢。然而每一個製造偶像的人都和亞倫一樣，有技術、有能力、有恩賜、有才幹。誰知道今天在基督徒中間有技術製造偶像的人有多少？這些巧匠有知識、有教養、有能力、有技巧。其他人無法製造偶像，因爲他們沒有技巧，但這些人有能力把金子鑄成偶像。…有時候我問自己：『你在這裏作甚麼？你在製造偶像麼？你在妝飾自己的工作來給人敬拜麼？』我惟恐自己造出了某種偶像。（出埃及記生命讀經，二一一四至二一一五頁。）
信息選讀
在出埃及三十二章，用來造金牛犢的材料，是以色列人妻子、兒子、女兒耳上的金環。…今天的文化提倡自我妝飾，男男女女都花許多錢用於妝飾自己的東西上。自我妝飾導致拜偶像。…以色列人鑄造金牛犢的偶像以前，偶像已經以不同的形態，就是以自我妝飾的形態存在他們中間。以色列人的妻子、兒子、女兒耳上戴着金環，爲着妝飾自己。…在神看來，自我妝飾就是偶像。在三十三章五至六節，主吩咐百姓不要有甚麼妝飾，原因就在這裏。…百姓有金牛犢的偶像以前，耳上已經戴着初步的偶像。
與拜偶像有關的另一個原則是：拜偶像乃是撒但篡奪了神所賜給我們的，以致將其蹧蹋。在三十二章，以色列人蹧蹋了許多神所賜給他們的金子。以色列人離開埃及以前，神使埃及人把金子和其他的寶物給他們。這金子是要用來建造帳幕的，帳幕需要大量的金子包裹豎板。神擊敗了埃及人，他們就把金子給以色列人。但這金子在用來建造神的居所以前，撒但就進來篡奪了金子，用來作成偶像。事實上，牛犢造成之前，撒但已經篡奪了金子，用來作成耳環。以色列人若愛主到極點，他們就絕不會蹧蹋金子，用來作成耳環；反之，他們會保存起來給主使用。
與偶像有關的另一個原則是在敬拜上有攙雜。…許多基督徒敬拜牛犢，卻自以爲是敬拜主耶穌或真神。事實上他們所敬拜的，乃是他們的享受。今天許多基督徒的敬拜是坐下喫喝，起來玩樂、歌唱，並且繞着一種享受，就是繞着金牛犢跳舞。有些弟兄會的教師點出這一點，點得很透徹。他們說，在西乃山下拜金牛犢乃是一種攙雜，因他們以正確的祭物並以正確的方式敬拜牛犢，彷彿牛犢是神一樣。祭物沒有錯，方式也沒有錯，但敬拜的對象錯了。這就是我們所說攙雜的意思。然而，我們所該思想的主要不是別人敬拜的方式，我們需要問問自己的敬拜如何。我們的敬拜是純潔的，還是攙雜的？（出埃及記生命讀經，二一○八至二一一一、二一一三至二一一四頁。）
參讀： 出埃及記生命讀經， 第一百七十三至一百七十八篇。
WEEK 31 — DAY 5
Morning Nourishment
1 Cor. 10:6-7 Now these things occurred as examples to us, that we should not be ones who lust after evil things, even as they also lusted. Neither become idolaters, as some of them did…
1 John 5:21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
Exodus 32:4 says that Aaron took the gold and “fashioned it with an engraving tool and made it into a molten calf.”…The basic principle of an idol is self-beautification. If an idol is not beautified, who would worship it? The point here is that it takes skill to fashion gold into a calf. Some may have the gold, but not have the skill to fashion it into a calf. But every maker of idols, like Aaron, is skillful, capable, gifted, and talented. Who knows how many skillful idol-makers there are among Christians today? These craftsmen are knowledgeable, cultured, capable, and skillful. Whereas others are not able to make idols because they do not have the skill, these ones have the ability to fashion gold into idols…Sometimes I ask myself, “What are you doing here? Are you making an idol? Are you beautifying your own work for others to worship?” I am fearful lest I make some kind of idol. (Life-study of Exodus, p. 1842)
Todays Reading
In Exodus 32 the gold rings were taken from the ears of the wives, the sons, and the daughters and used to make the idol, the golden calf. Today’s culture promotes self-beautification. Men and women spend a great deal of money on items used to beautify themselves…Self-beautification leads to idolatry. Before the children of Israel made the idol of the golden calf, idols were already present among them in a different form, in the form of self-beautification. The wives, the sons, and the daughters of the children of Israel wore gold rings in their ears for the purpose of self-beautification…In the sight of God, self beautification is an idol. This was the reason the Lord commanded the people in 33:5-6 not to have any ornaments…Before the people had the idol of the golden calf, they already had the preliminary idols hanging from their ears.
Another principle related to idolatry is that idolatry is Satan’s usurping of what God has given us in order to make it a waste. In Exodus 32 the children of Israel wasted much of the gold that had been given to them by God. Before the children of Israel left Egypt, God caused the Egyptians to give the children of Israel gold and other precious things. This gold was to be used for building up the tabernacle. The tabernacle required a large quantity of gold to overlay the standing boards. God defeated the Egyptians, and they gave gold to the people of Israel. But before this gold was used for the building up of God’s dwelling place, Satan came in to usurp the gold and use it to make an idol. Actually, before the calf was made, Satan had already usurped the gold so that it might be used to make earrings. If the children of Israel had loved the Lord to the uttermost, they would never have wasted the gold by using it for earrings. Instead, they would have kept it for the Lord’s use.
Another principle related to idols is that here there is mixture in worship… Many Christians worship a calf, but they think that they are worshipping the Lord Jesus or the true God. Actually what they are worshipping is their enjoyment. Much of today’s Christian worship is a matter of sitting down to eat and drink and rising up to sport, sing, and dance around a certain kind of enjoyment, around a golden calf. Some of the Brethren teachers pointed this out in a very thorough way. They said that the worship of the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai was a mixture, for a calf was worshipped as if it were God with the proper offerings and in the proper way. The offerings were right and the way was right, but the object of worship was wrong. This is what we mean by mixture. However, we should not mainly consider the way others worship. We need to inquire about our own worship. Is our worship pure, or is it a mixture? (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1837-1839, 1841)
Further Reading: Life-study of Exodus, msgs. 173—178
