牧者心聲
由偏差到失落
周曉暉牧師
2022 年 6 月 18 日 / 19 日
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參孫是聖經中最著名的拿細耳人，士師記十三章記述了參孫的父母如何遇見神和經歷神，並得了這孩子，但他們卻容許世俗的點點偏差，導致這孩子縱有力擋千軍的大能，卻過了失落、失敗的一生。
失落了的身分：參孫自出生已被分派作終身的拿細耳人，他母親由懷孕開始就要守拿細耳人的條例，神的使者對她說：「所以你當謹慎，清酒濃酒都不可喝，一切不潔之物也不可吃。」（4 節）但不可吃不潔之物，根本不是拿細耳人的專屬規例，而是摩西五經對眾百姓的明確指令，可參孫父母對神的律例卻是不清不楚。看來，約書亞離世後，每一世代的以色列民都一步一步的被迦南文化同化，失去了分別為聖的身分。今天，我們是否有分別為聖的堅持？
失落了的家庭：創世記中，不育得子的典型過程是：丈夫主動求神賜下孩子 → 神的使者報信或神應允禱告 → 妻子懷有孩子 → 孩子出生。但參孫父親瑪挪亞卻沒有為妻子祈禱，所以神的使者兩次都是向他妻子顯現。瑪挪亞魯莽、愚昧的對答，顯出他毫無屬靈辨識能力，只懂「起來跟隨他的妻」（11節）。
瑪挪亞本是家中屬靈的頭，但他沒有履行這角色。參孫一生不敬虔、踩界、犯規，連三樣拿細耳人的規例都守不住，更與迦南人通婚，一生跟著不同的女性走。他本是以色列人屬靈的頭，但卻從沒好好履行士師職責，他是學誰的？
失落了的信仰：瑪挪亞的家庭，是以色列民失落信仰的產物。瑪挪亞和神使者的對答，一而再、再而三地顯出他是屬靈瞎眼。他認不出使者是從上主而來（16節）；當他發覺這使者是與神有關，便試圖利用迦南文化中以問名字的方式，操控眼前的使者，討好使者，以為己所用（17 節）。
近年有學者指出參孫這名字，極有可能與當代盛行拜祭的太陽神明「示麥」有關。由此看來，這家庭表面上是神的子民，但卻不是真正認識神，瑪挪亞一家並無敬虔可言。這對夫婦縱有神的使者顯現，有蒙主賜下兒子的神蹟，但他們的生命並無因此改變。這正是屬神子民失落信仰的寫照。
各位作丈夫、作父親的弟兄，讓我們彼此共勉，不容世俗無孔不入的一點點偏差，令我們一步一步的習非成是。讓我們著意、著力地去擔當家中屬靈的頭，重建家庭失落了的屬靈素質，讓下一代活在神的心意和召命中，過得勝的一生。
Samson is the most famous Nazirite in the Bible. Judges 13 recounts how Samson's parents encountered and experienced God and bore this child. Yet, they harbored some of the world's deviations from the path of God. The result was that Samson, despite his mighty strength that could take on a thousand enemies, lived a life of lostness and failure.
Lost Identity: Ever since birth, Samson had been designated as a Nazirite. His mother had observed the rules for Nazirites since pregnancy. The angel of the LORD said to her: "Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean" (v.4). Now, the rule of not eating anything unclean is not exclusive to the Nazirites. It was an explicit command in the Torah for all people of God. Samson's parents were unsure about the laws of God. It appeared that after the death of Joshua, generations of Israelites had increasingly been assimilated by the Canaan culture. They lost their identity of being set apart as holy. Today, do we insist on being set apart as holy?
Lost Family: The typical process for infertile couples to get a child in the Old Testament is like this: The husband takes the initiative to ask God for a child → The angel of the LORD conveys a message or God answers the prayer → The wife becomes pregnant and a child is born. Not so with Samson's father Manoah. The angel of the LORD appeared twice to his wife. Manoah's rash, foolish exchanges showed that he had no spiritual discerning ability and just "got up and followed his wife" (v.11).
Manoah should have been the spiritual head of his household but he did not fulfil his role. All his life, Samson was ungodly, he touched the red line and trespassed. He could not observe the three rules for Nazirites and even married Canaanite women. He followed different women all his life. Originally the spiritual head of the Israelites, Samson had not aptly fulfilled the duties of a judge. Who did he learn from?
Lost Faith: The Manoah family was a product of the loss of faith on the part of the Israelites. Manoah's exchanges with the angel of the LORD time and again revealed that he was spiritually blind. He could not tell that the angel was from the LORD (v.16). When he found that the angel was related to God, he tried to use the Canaanite way of name enquiry to control the angel, pleasing the angel to his own advantage (v.17).
Scholars in recent years point out that it was highly probable that the name Samson was connected with šemeš, a sun god popularly worshipped at the time. It therefore appears that this family, which on the surface was the people of God, did not really know Him. The Manoah family was far from being godly. This couple saw the angel of the LORD appearing, experienced the miracle of a bestowed child, but saw no change of life. This is what God's people who have lost their faith look like.
Brothers in Christ who are husbands or fathers, let this be our mutual exhortation: Do not allow deviations from the world which can so easily creep into our lives to make us gradually and habitually mistake the wrong for the right. Let us intentionally strive to be the spiritual head of the household. Let us re-cultivate the lost spiritual atmosphere in the family. And let our next generation live according to the will and calling of God so they will lead a victorious life.
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