第五週 • 週三

晨興餧養

出三14~15 神對摩西說，我是那我是；又說，你要對以色列人這樣說，那我是差我到你們這裏來。神又對摩西說，你要對以色列人這樣說，耶和華你們祖宗的神，就是亞伯拉罕的神，以撒的神，雅各的神，差我到你們這裏來。這是我的名，直到永遠；這也是我的紀念，直到萬代。

    〔神呼召的〕第二方面就是神是誰以及神的所是。神是獨一自有的一位。其他一切都變幻不定，但神是永存的。我們不是，惟獨神永遠是。…出埃及三章啟示給摩西的神的名，乃是『是』這個動詞。這指明在其他一切存在以先，神就是。在許多事物滅沒之後，神仍然是。神昔是，今是，以後永是。

    作為自有者，神是一切正面事物的實際。約翰福音啟示祂是我們所需要的一切：生命、亮光、糧食、水、草場、道路（出埃及記生命讀經，一三四至一三五頁）。

信息選讀

    我們能在『我是』這辭之後加上我們所需要的一切。你疲倦麼？這位『我是』就是你的安息。你饑餓麼？祂是你的食物。你發死麼？祂就是生命。在新約裏，主用許多事物來描述祂自己：『我是真葡萄樹』（約十五1），『我就是生命的糧』（六35），『我是…光』（八12）。神作為『我是』，祂乃是一切—天、地、空氣、水、樹木、鳥、牲畜。這不是泛神論—將神和物質的宇宙視為一的宗教信仰。我沒有說每件事物都是神，但我的確宣告神是一切正面事物的實際。這含示神必須是你，甚至是你這個人的實際。我們能對祂說，『主，你就是我。』 如果主不是我們，我們就一無所是，沒有實際。這偉大的『我是』，包羅萬有的一位，就是來呼召我們的那位。

    耶和華的意思是『那昔是今是以後永是者』。這名稱基本上由『是』這個動詞所組成。除了主以外，其他一切都是虛無。祂是惟一『是』的那一位，惟一具有存在之實際的那一位。除了祂以外，『是』這個動詞不該應用於任何人或任何事物。祂是惟一的自有者。宇宙中的萬有都是虛無。惟有耶和華是『那昔是今是以後永是者』。祂過去是，現在是，將來還是。

    希伯來十一章六節說，『到神面前來的人，必須信有神。』（有神，直譯，神是）根據本節經文，神是，我們必須信祂是。神是，但我們不是。…我們若要蒙神呼召，就…必須曉得，呼召我們的神是，而我們不是。我們都需要這樣認識神。

    〔在出埃及三章六節〕『你父親的神』你父親的神這辭句，指與神的歷史。當神來呼召你，祂對你不該是陌生人。如果祂對你是陌生人，你就沒有資格蒙祂呼召。說神是我們父親的神，不是指祂是我們肉身父親的神，因我們肉身的父親也許不是神的兒子。當我們得救時，我們得到另一個家譜，另一個屬靈的譜系。故此，保羅對哥林多人說他用福音生了他們（林前四15）。保羅…有許多屬靈的兒女。每一位在基督裏的信徒都有一位屬靈的父親。在神眼中，呼召你的主乃是你屬靈父親的神。

    摩西父親的神就是亞伯拉罕的神、以撒的神、雅各的神。這意思是說，神是每一種人的神。我們也許是一個像亞伯拉罕一樣的好人，像以撒一樣平凡的人，或是像雅各一樣的抓奪者。但不論我們怎樣，神都是我們的神。亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各的神，乃是包羅萬有的神。無論何時神來呼召你，祂總是包羅萬有的那一位（出埃及記生命讀經，七一至七二、六八至七○頁）。

    參讀：羅馬書的結晶，第七篇。

WEEK 5--DAY 3

Morning Nourishment

     Exo. 3:14-15 "And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. And He said, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you. And God also said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial from generation to generation."

     The second aspect [of God’s calling] is the matter of who God is and of what God is. God is the unique self-existing One. Everything else comes and goes, but God remains. We are not, but God, and God alone, always is....The name of God as revealed to Moses in Exodus 3 is simply the verb to be. This indicates that before anything else came into existence, God was. After so many things have passed out of existence, God will still be. God was, God is, and God will be. As the self-existing One, God is the reality of every positive thing. The Gospel of John reveals that He is all we need: life, light, food, drink, pasture, the way. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 113-114)

 Today's Reading

    To the words I Am we can add whatever we may need. Are you tired? The I Am is your rest. Are you hungry? He is your food. Are you dying? He is life. In the New Testament the Lord uses many things to describe Himself: “I am the true vine” (John 15:1), “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), “I am the light” (John 8:12). As I Am, God is everything—heaven, earth, air, water, trees, birds, cattle. This is not pantheism, the religious belief that identifies God with the material universe. I do not say that everything is God, but I do declare that God is the reality of every positive thing. This implies that God must be you, even the reality of your very being. We can say to Him, “Lord, You are me.” If the Lord is not us, then we are nothing, and we have no reality. This great I Am, the all-inclusive One, is the One who has come to call us.

     Jehovah...means “He who was, who is, and who will be.” This title is composed basically of the verb to be. Apart from the Lord, all else is nothing. He is the only One who is, the only One who has reality of being. The verb to be should not be applied absolutely to anyone or anything except to Him. He is the only self-existent being. In the universe all things are nothing. Only Jehovah is “He who was, who is, and who will be.” In the past, He was; in the present, He is; and in the future, He will be.

    Hebrews 11:6 says that “he who comes forward to God must believe that He is.” According to this verse, God is, and we must believe that He is. God is, but we are not. If we would be called by God, we must know...that the God who calls us is and that we are not. We all need to know God in such a way.

     The phrase the God of your father [in Exo. 3:6] denotes history with God. When God comes to call you, He should not be a stranger to you. If He is a stranger as far as you are concerned, then you are not qualified to be called by Him. To say that God is the God of our father does not mean that He is the God of our father in the flesh, for our natural father may not be a child of God. When we were saved, we gained another genealogy, a spiritual lineage. For this reason Paul told the Corinthians that he begot them in the gospel (1 Cor. 4:15). Paul...had a great many spiritual children. Every believer in Christ has a spiritual father. In the eyes of God, the Lord who calls you is the God of your spiritual father.

    The God of Moses’ father was the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. This means that God is the God of every kind of person. We may be a good person like Abraham, a somewhat neutral person like Isaac, or a supplanter like Jacob. But whatever we are, God is our God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the all-inclusive God. Whenever God comes to call you, He is always the all-inclusive One. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 59-60, 57-58)

     Further Reading: Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans, msg. 7