The Two Evils of God's People and God's Faithfulness in Fulfilling His Economy
读经：耶二13，诗三六8～9，约四10、14，七37～39，林前十4，十二13
壹 耶利米书满了关于以色列的罪，以及神的忿怒、惩治和刑罚的讲论，这卷书启示神在祂经纶里的心意，是要作活水的泉源，源头，将祂自己分赐到祂的选民里面，作他们的满足和享受；这享受的目标，是要产生召会，神的配偶，作神的扩增，神的扩大，好成为神的丰满，使祂得着彰显；神圣启示的核仁乃是神造了我们并救赎我们，目的是为着将祂自己作到我们里面，成为我们的生活和一切─二13，诗三六8～9，约三29～30，四10、14，七37～39，启七17，弗三16～19：
I. Jeremiah, a book full of speaking concerning Israel's sin and God's wrath, chas tisement, and punishment, reveals that God's intention in His economy is to be the fountain, the source, of living waters to dispense Himself into His chosen people for their satisfaction and enjoyment with the goal of producing the church, God's counterpart, as God's increase, God's en-largement, to be God's fullness for His expres sion; the kernel of the divine revelation is that God created us and redeemed us for the purpose of working Himself into us to be our life and our everything—2:13; Psa. 36:8-9; John 3:29-30; 4:10, 14; 7:37-39; Rev. 7:17; Eph. 3:16-19:
一 基督作为活的灵磐石被神律法的权柄击打，为使生命的水能在复活里从祂流出来，流进祂所救赎的子民里面给他们喝─出十七6，林前十4。
A. Christ as the living, spiritual rock was smitten by the authority of God's law so that the water of life in resurrection could flow out of Him and into His redeemed people for them to drink—Exo. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4.
二 我们饮于在复活里的一位灵，就使我们成为基督身体的肢体，将我们建造为基督的身体，并预备我们成为基督的新妇─十二13，启二二17。
B. Our drinking of the one Spirit in resurrection makes us members of the Body, builds us up as the Body, and prepares us to be the bride of Christ—12:13; Rev. 22:17.
贰 “我的百姓，作了两件恶事，就是离弃我这活水的泉源，为自己凿出池子，是破裂不能存水的池子”─耶二13：
II. "My people have committed two evils: I They have forsaken Me, I The fountain of living waters, I To hew out for them-selves cisterns, I Broken cisterns, I Which hold no water"— Jer. 2:13:
一 以色列本该饮于神这活水的泉源，好成为神的扩增，作祂的彰显，但他们反倒作了两件恶事：
A. Israel should have drunk of God as the fountain of living waters that they might become His increase as His expression, but in-stead they committed two evils:
1 他们离弃神作他们的泉源，源头，并且转向神以外的源头；这两件恶事支配了整卷耶利米书。
1. They forsook God as their fountain, their source, and they turned to a source other than God; these two evils govern the entire book of Jeremiah.
2 凿出池子描绘以色列用人的劳碌辛苦，制作一些东西（偶像）顶替神。
2. The hewing out of cisterns portrays Israel's toil in their human labor to make something (idols) to replace God.
3 那些池子是破裂不能存水的，指明除了神自己分赐到我们里面作活水以外，没有什么能解我们的干渴，也没有什么能使我们成为祂的扩增，使祂得着彰显─约四13～14。
3. That the cisterns were broken and could hold no water indi-cates that apart from God Himself dispensed into us as liv-ing water, nothing can quench our thirst and make us God's increase for His expression—John 4:13-14.
二 在神眼中，恶人，作孽的人，就是不来饮于祂的人（赛五五7）；恶人邪恶的光景，乃是他们没有就近主来吃喝并享受主；他们作许多事，却不来接触主，取用祂，接受祂，尝祂并享受祂；在神眼中，没有比这更邪恶的事（五七20～21，参五五1～2）。─引用经文
B. In the eyes of God, the wicked one, the evildoer, is the one who does not come to drink of Him (Isa. 55:7); the evil condition of the wicked is that they do not come to the Lord to eat, drink, and enjoy the Lord; they do many things, but they do not come to con tact the Lord, to take Him, to receive Him, to taste Him, and to enjoy Him; in the sight of God, nothing is more evil than this (57:20-21; cf. 55:1-2).
三 神要将祂自己分赐到人里面，作人的满足，使神得着扩大，但人成为不忠信、不贞洁的，并离弃神，转向偶像：
C. God intended to dispense Himself into man as man's satisfaction so that He might be enlarged, but man became unfaithful and unchaste and forsook God for idols:
1 我们心里的偶像（结十四3），就是我们里面所爱、所宝贵的任何事物，超过了主，并在我们的生活中顶替了主（约壹五21）：─引用经文
1. An idol in our heart (Ezek. 14:3) is anything within us that we love and treasure more than the Lord and that replaces the Lord in our life (1 John 5:21):
a 那些将偶像接到心里的人，因着偶像就与主生疏了（结十四5）。─引用经文
a. Those who set up idols in their hearts are estranged from the Lord through their idols (Ezek. 14:5).
b 凡在里面有偶像，却在外面寻求神的，都不会找到神（3，参耶二九13）。─引用经文
b. All who have idols within them yet seek God in an out-ward way cannot find Him (v. 3; cf. Jer. 29:13).
2 以色列因拜偶像，使自己成为虚无、无有；他们有那么多的偶像，以致他们偶像的数目，与他们城的数目相等（二5、28，十一13）；以色列将他们神的实际，他们的荣耀，换为偶像的虚空（二11，诗一〇六20，罗一23）。─引用经文
2. By worshipping idols, Israel made themselves vain, nothing; they had so many idols that the number of them was according to the number of their cities (2:5, 28; 11:13); Israel exchanged the reality of their God, their glory, for the vanity of idols (2:11; Psa. 106:20; Rom. 1:23).
3 背道就是离弃神的路，走别的路，跟从神之外的事物；这乃是离弃神，转向偶像─耶二19。
3. Apostasy is a matter of leaving the way of God and taking another way to follow things other than God; it is to forsake God and turn to idols—Jer. 2:19.
4 当以色列被巴比伦人掳去时，神的百姓仍然不愿放弃他们的偶像，而必须把它们从美地驮到巴比伦；一切顶替神，或占有神地位的，都是偶像，都要成为敬拜者的重驮─赛四六1。
4. When Israel was captured by the Babylonians, God's people still would not give up their idols and had to carry them from the good land to Babylon; anything that replaces God or occu-pies the position of God is an idol that becomes a burden to the worshipper—Isa. 46:1.
5 不能出声的偶像（林前十二2，哈二18～20），使敬拜它们的人哑口无声；但活神却使敬拜祂的人，在祂的灵里说话（林前十二3下，诗一一五4～8，林后四13，诗一一六12～13）：─引用经文
5. The dumb, voiceless idols (1 Cor. 12:2; Hab. 2:18-20) make their worshippers dumb and voiceless, but the living God causes His worshippers to speak in His Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3b; Psa. 115:4-8; 2 Cor. 4:13; Psa. 116:12-13):
a 敬拜神的人不该缄默，乃该在神的灵里发声说出“主，耶稣！”
a. No worshippers of God should be silent; all should use their voices to speak forth "Jesus is Lord！" in the Spirit of God.
b 这样说“主，耶稣！”乃是一切属灵恩赐的主要功用；以正确的灵呼喊主的名，乃是有分于、享受并经历圣灵的路─林前十二3下，参罗十四17。
b. This—to speak "Jesus is Lord"—is the main function of all the spiritual gifts; to call on the Lord's name with a proper spirit is the way to participate in, to enjoy, and to experi-ence the Holy Spirit—1 Cor. 12:3b; cf. Rom. 14:17.
c “死人不能赞美耶和华；下到寂静中的，也都不能。但我们要颂赞耶和华，从今时直到永远。阿利路亚”─诗一一五17～18。
c. "The dead do not praise Jehovah, I Nor do any that go down into silence. I But we will bless Jehovah I From now and to eternity. I Hallelujah"—Psa. 115:17-18.
6 凡我们所有的，甚至凡我们所是的，都能成为偶像；以色列离弃神，转向偶像，对神是邪恶、不忠信的；在对神这样不忠信的事上，我们和以色列一样。
6. Whatever we possess and even whatever we are can become an idol; Israel was evil and unfaithful to God in forsaking God for idols; in the matter of such unfaithful ness to God, we are the same as Israel.
叁 我们必须看见神在完成祂经纶上的信实─参三七3：
III. We need to see God's faithfulness in fulfilling His economy— cf. 37:3:
一 我们虽然不忠信，神却是信实的（哀三23下）；有一首著名诗歌（诗歌十三首）的副歌说，“你的信实广大！你的信实无边！你的怜悯每晨都是新鲜！我所需要一切全由你供给，你的信实极其广大无边！”：─引用经文
A. Although we are unfaithful, God is faithful (Lam. 3:23b); the chorus of a well-known hymn (Hymns, #19) says, "Great is Thy faith fulness！ Great is Thy faithfulness！ I Morning by morning new mercies I see. I All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; I Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me！":
1 我们对圣经并这首诗歌所说关于神信实的领会，可能是天然的，也可能是属灵的。
1. We may understand what the Bible says and what this hymn says about God's faithfulness either in a natural way or in a spiritual way.
2 我们若天然的领会神的信实，也许以为，祂主要是在物质供给或物质祝福的事上信实；但神的信实并非照着我们天然的领会；林前一章九节说，神在呼召我们进入了祂儿子的交通这件事上是信实的，但对于我们天然的领会，祂也许没有信实地顾到我们的福利。─引用经文
2. If we understand God's faithfulness in a natural way, we may think that He is faithful primarily in the matter of material provisions or physical blessings, but God's faithfulness is not according to our natural understanding; 1 Corinthians 1:9 says that God is faithful in calling us into the fellowship of His Son, but to our natural understanding He may not seem to be faithful in caring for our welfare.
3 “看看使徒保罗的苦难。他蒙神呼召、受神托付、委以负担并受差遣，然而他无论去到哪里，都有难处。譬如，他一开始传扬基督，就遭受逼迫。他甚至必须在筐子里给人从城墙上缒下去，借此逃离大马色。难道这是神对保罗不信实么？不，这意思乃是：神的信实不是按照我们天然的领会”（耶利米书生命读经，三五页）─徒九15～16、23～25，林后十一30～33，西一24，林后一5，腓三10，启一9，提后二10，三12。
3. "Consider the sufferings of the apostle Paul. He was called, commissioned, burdened, and sent by God, but wherever he went, he had troubles. For example, as soon as he began to preach Christ, he began to suffer persecution. He even had to escape from Damascus by being lowered down the wall in a basket. Does this mean that God was not faithful to Paul? No, it means that God's faithfulness is not according to our natural understanding" (Life－study of Jeremiah, p. 28)—Acts 9:15-16, 23-25; 2 Cor. 11:30-33; Col. 1:24; 2 Cor. 1:5; Phil. 3:10; Rev. 1:9; 2 Tim. 2:10; 3:12.
4 我们相信主耶稣时，也许期望有外面的平安和祝福；但我们也许反而有了许多难处，失去了我们的安全、健康或财产；有些基督徒经历这样的事，就疑惑神的信实，问说为什么神不阻止艰难临到他们─徒十四22，帖前三2～5。
4. When we believed into the Lord Jesus, we might have ex-pected to have outward peace and blessing, but instead, we might have had many troubles, and we might have lost our security, our health, or our possessions; when some Christians experience such things, they may question God's faithfulness and ask why He did not prevent hardships from happening to them—Acts 14:22; 1 Thes. 3:2-5.
5 我们要领悟，神允许我们有难处，但祂在祂的定旨上是信实的，就是要使我们转离偶像，带领我们归向祂自己；我们的平安、安全、健康和财产，也许成了我们的偶像，而神是信实的，祂取去这些东西，为要我们饮于祂这活水的泉源。
5. We need to realize that in allowing us to have troubles, God is faithful in His purpose to turn us from idols and bring us back to Himself; our peace, safety, health, and possessions may become idols to us, but God is faithful to take these things away so that we may drink of Him as the fountain of living waters.
6 譬如，我们的房屋或财产若成为我们的偶像，我们就是饮于它们，不是饮于神；神的信实就是要对付这些偶像，好使我们饮于祂─诗三六8。
6. For example, if our house or our possessions become idols to us, we drink of them and not of God; God's faithfulness is a matter of dealing with these idols and causing us to drink of Him—Psa. 36:8.
7 在引导我们进入祂的经纶上，神是信实的（林前一9，帖前五23～24）；祂的经纶乃是要我们喝基督，吃基督，享受基督，吸取基督，并吸收基督，好叫神在我们身上得着祂的扩增，以完成祂的经纶。─引用经文
7. God is faithful in leading us into His economy (1 Cor. 1:9; 1 Thes. 5:23-24), and His economy is for us to drink Christ, to eat Christ, to enjoy Christ, to absorb Christ, and to assim-ilate Christ so that God may have His increase with us to ful-fill His economy.
8 我们要看见，我们不比以色列人好；任何事物对我们都能成为偶像；但神在完成祂经纶的事上是信实的；因着祂的信实，祂就对付我们的偶像，使我们饮于祂；我们都需要饮于神这活水的泉源，将基督接受到里面，并吸收祂，这样祂就能扩增，以完成神的经纶，就是借着我们作祂的配偶而得着彰显─约三29～30。
8. We need to see that we are not better than Israel; anything can become an idol to us, but God is faithful in fulfilling His economy; in His faithfulness He deals with our idols so that we may drink of Him; we all need to drink of God as the foun-tain of living waters, receiving Christ into us and assimilat-ing Him so that He may increase for the fulfillment of God's economy to have His expression through us as His counter-part—John 3:29-30.
二 我们若领悟自己对神不忠信，也许悔改哭泣，但我们之后应当开始饮于活水，赞美神，为一切事感谢祂，并且享受祂（帖前五16～18）；这是神所要的；除了我们享受基督以外，神对任何事物都不感兴趣：─引用经文
B. If we realize that we have been unfaithful to God, we may repent and weep, but then we should begin to drink of the living waters, praising God, giving thanks to Him for everything, and enjoying Him (1 Thes. 5:16-18); this is what God wants; God is not inter-ested in anything other than our enjoyment of Christ:
1 我们也许以为，因着我们的失败，我们是无望的；当然，以色列人必定觉得，神丢弃了他们，他们完了，但神的怜恤不至断绝；每早晨这些都是新的─哀三22～23。
1. We may think that because of our failure, we are hope-less; surely, the people of Israel must have felt that God had given them up and that they were finished, but God's com-passions do not fail; rather, they are new every morning— Lam. 3:22-23.
2 耶利米甚至能宣告，耶和华是他的分，他要仰望祂，因那等候祂的，祂必善待他；在神里面有盼望，因为神不失望─24～25节，参诗十六5，七三25～26。
2. Jeremiah could even declare that Jehovah was his portion and that he hoped in Him, for He is good to those who wait on Him; there is hope in God because with God there is no disappointment—vv. 24-25; cf. Psa. 16:5; 73:25-26.
3 我们的失败为基督开路，使祂进来作我们的义和救赎，并将祂自己分赐到我们里面，作我们的生命和生命之律连同其性能，使我们认识神并活神；换句话说，我们的失败为基督开路，使祂进来，在我们里面并借着我们得高举，成为我们的中心与普及─耶二三5～6，三一33～34，西一17下、18下。
3. Our failure opens the way for Christ to come in to be our righteousness and our redemption and also to dispense Him-self into us to be our life and life law with its capacity to know God and to live God; in other words, our failure simply prepares and opens the way for Christ to come in so that He may be exalted in and through us to be our centrality and universality—Jer. 23:5-6; 31:33-34; Col. 1:17b, 18b.
4 今天我们若失败亏欠神，我们不该失望；神有路来对付我们，使我们成熟，并成为新耶路撒冷，或者在下一个时代作祂得胜的新妇，或者在永世里作祂的妻子─来六1上。
4. If we fail God today, we should not be disappointed; God has a way to deal with us and cause us to mature and become the New Jerusalem, either as His overcoming bride in the next age or as His wife for eternity—Heb. 6:1a.
5 我们不需要为自己的光景忧虑；神是忍耐、同情并怜恤的，祂会花时间使我们成熟：
5. There is no need for us to worry about our situation; God is patient, sympathetic, and compassionate, and He will take the time to make us mature:
a 每位信徒，无论现在软弱或刚强，都将是新耶路撒冷的构成分子，在其中每个人都将是成熟的─启十九7～9，二一2。
a. Every believer, whether presently weak or strong, will be a constituent of the New Jerusalem, and everyone there will be mature—Rev. 19:7-9; 21:2.
b 因此，我们不该沮丧或灰心；反之，我们应当因那赐诸般安慰和鼓励的神而得鼓励并受安慰─林后一3～4，罗十五5。
b. Therefore, we should not be dismayed or discouraged; rather, we should be encour aged and comforted with the God of all comfort and encouragement—2 Cor. 1:3-4; Rom. 15:5.
c 神是活水的泉源，我们该是饮于祂而成为真正敬拜祂的人，好使祂能成为我们里面的实际，至终成了我们的真实和真诚，借此，我们以神所要的敬拜来敬拜祂─约四23～24。
c. We should be the true worshippers of God, who is the fountain of living waters, by drinking Him so that He can be the reality within us, which even tually becomes our genuineness and sincerity in which we worship God with the wor ship that He seeks—John 4:23-24.