Article #20 in the series: You Are God’s Masterpiece: The Genesis Notes.
你是神的工作: 《创世记手记》系列第20篇
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Even a man of great faith like Abraham made some bad decisions based on his fears. What can we learn from Abraham’s mistakes and God’s mercy to get Abraham out of a really bad situation?
即使像亚伯拉罕这样有信心的人，也会因为恐惧而做出错误的决定。我们能从亚伯拉罕的错误和神使亚伯拉罕脱离真正困境的怜悯中学到什么呢?
Abraham has been living near the Great Oak of Mamre for about 20 years. And now he moves. He is a nomadic person, he lives in a tent, he did not move to a city and settle in a home like Lot. He has a tent made for moving. But he has lived in the same place for 20 years. Why move now? This is a significant time in Abraham’s life. Three major events are happening:
亚伯拉罕在幔利橡树底下生活了将近20年。现在，他要开始迁移了。他是一个游牧人，住在帐篷里，不像罗得搬到城市定居。他住的帐篷随时都可以挪动。他在一个地方已经居住了20年，为什么现在要搬走呢？在亚伯拉罕的一生中这是一个重大时刻，发生了3个重大事件：
1
Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed. Lot loses his home and wife.
所多玛和蛾摩拉被毁灭，罗得失去了他的家园和妻子。
2
Lot is going to be a father through his daughters.
罗得从自己的女儿得了儿子。
3
Abraham will soon become a father.
亚伯拉罕很快要当父亲了。
Maybe fear has moved him onward. Maybe sadness over Lot’s situation. We don’t know, but I find it interesting in this very significant time Abraham makes a move. Unfortunately, the move brought some bad circumstances.
也许是恐惧促使他前行，也许是罗得的境遇使他伤心难过。我们不得而知，但有趣的是，就在这重要时刻，亚伯拉罕要搬家。不幸的是，这次搬迁使他陷入糟糕的境况。
Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
Genesis 20:1-2 NIV
亚伯拉罕从那里向南地迁去，寄居在加低斯和书珥中间的基拉耳。亚伯拉罕称他的妻撒拉为妹子。基拉耳王亚比米勒差人把撒拉取了去。
创世记 20:1-2
Abimelek and Sarah
亚比米勒和撒拉
Abimelek, King of Gerar, saw Sarah and considered her to a beautiful woman. He wanted her so he took her as his own. Fortunately for Sarah, God thought highly of her and of her position in God’s plan. God quickly intervened. He came to Abimelek in a dream and said, “You are as good as dead … ”
基拉尔王亚比米勒看见撒拉，觉得她容貌俊美，想得到她，就把她娶了去占为已有。对撒拉而言幸运的是，神看重撒拉以及她在神计划中的位置，所以神迅速介入了，衪在梦中对亚比米勒说“你是个死人哪！”
Is Abimelek innocent? It is hard to say. He had no idea she was married, but the truth is he also just took her and added her to his harem. His collecting of women was not right. But God agrees with Abimelek. Abimelek has a clear conscience and God did him a very big favor. God kept Abimelek from sinning.
亚比米勒是无辜的吗？很难说。他不知道撒拉已婚，但事实是他确实娶了撒拉纳入自己的后宫。他嫔妃无数的行为确实不对。但神认同亚比米勒所说的，他是心里正直的人，神大大施恩予他，拦阻他免得犯罪。
Kept From Sinning
远离罪
Have you ever been in this situation? Where you can look back and see God kept you from sinning? Kept you from doing something incredibly destructive? What a loving God. There have been probably more times than you know where God kept you from sinning, kept you from hurting someone, kept you from hurting yourself.
你是否曾身处这样的情形之中？当你回首往事，能看到神一直在拦阻你免得犯罪吗? 阻止你不会做出一些极具破坏性的事情？我们的神何等慈爱！神阻止你犯罪，阻止你伤害别人，阻止你伤害自己的次数可能比你所知道的还要多。
It was important for Abimelek to not sin, but it was even more important in light of God’s plan. Do you remember what God told Abraham? Sarah will have a child in one year. So at this point in time either Sarah is pregnant or she is about to become pregnant. God did not want Abimelek to go near her. And just to make sure nothing happened, ALL of the women in the household were stopped from becoming pregnant. God made sure there was only one person who was going to become the father of Sarah’s child, Abraham. Not Abimelek.
对亚比米勒而言，不犯罪很重要，但神的计划更重要。你还记得神曾对亚伯拉罕说过什么吗？撒拉明年会有一个儿子！因此这个时候，撒拉要么已经怀孕了，要么即将会怀孕。神不希望亚比米勒亲近她！为了确保万无一失，神使得亚比米勒家里所有的女人都无法怀孕，神要确保撒拉孩子的父亲只能是一个人，那就是亚伯拉罕。而不是亚比米勒！
Why Did Abraham Do It?
亚伯拉罕为什么这么做？
And Abimelek asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?” Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ” Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.” To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.” Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
Genesis 20:10-18 NIV
亚比米勒又对亚伯拉罕说：“你见了什么才做这事？”亚伯拉罕说：“我以为这地方的人总不惧怕神，必为我妻子的缘故杀我。况且她也实在是我的妹子，她与我是同父异母，后来作了我的妻子。当神叫我离开父家飘流在外的时候，我对她说：‘我们无论走到什么地方，你可以对人说，他是我的哥哥；这就是你待我的恩典了。’”亚比米勒把牛羊，仆婢赐给亚伯拉罕，又把他的妻子撒拉归还他。亚比米勒又说：“看哪，我的地都在你面前，你可以随意居住。”又对撒拉说：“我给你哥哥一千银子，作为你在阖家人面前遮羞的（注：”羞“原文作”眼“），你就在众人面前没有不是了。”亚伯拉罕祷告神，神就医好了亚比米勒和他的妻子，并他的众女仆，她们便能生育。因耶和华为亚伯拉罕的妻子撒拉的缘故，已经使亚比米勒家中的妇人不能生育。
创世记20:10-18
Abimelek responded immediately to the dream from God. He immediately went to Abraham, gave him gifts and also asked, “Why did you do this?” Abraham’s reason was he felt there was no fear of God in this kingdom.
亚比米勒被神梦中启示后，迅速作出回应。他立即找来亚伯拉罕，给了他礼物，并问他：你怎么向我行这事呢？亚伯拉罕给出的理由是，他以为这地方的人不惧怕神。
Why do you think Abraham, for the second time, hid the fact that Sarah was his wife? What was going on in Abraham’s heart causing him to do this?
你认为亚伯拉罕为什么会再次隐瞒撒拉是他妻子这一事实？亚伯拉罕心里到底在想什么以致他会这么做？
Once again Abraham thought he was going to lose his life on account of his amazingly beautiful wife. What? Abraham afraid? He was the great man of faith. Here is a remarkable description of Abraham in Hebrews:
亚伯拉罕又一次以为他会因他那美丽无比的妻子而丧命。什么？亚伯拉罕害怕？他可是信心的伟人呀！希伯来书中对亚伯拉罕有一段描述值得注意：
“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac, and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered Him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.”
Hebrews 11:8-12 NIV
亚伯拉罕因着信，蒙召的时候，就遵命出去，往将来要得为业的地方去；出去的时候，还不知往哪里去。他因着信，就在所应许之地作客，好像在异地居住帐棚，与那同蒙一个应许的以撒、雅各一样。因为他等候那座有根基的城，就是神所经营、所建造的。因着信，连撒拉自己，虽然过了生育的岁数，还能怀孕，因她以为那应许她的是可信的。所以从一个仿佛已死的人就生出子孙，如同天上的星那样众多，海边的沙那样无数。
希伯来书 11:8-12
Both Abraham and Sarah had faith in God! Faith to leave their homeland, faith to live in a tent and look forward to not living in an earthly city, but a heavenly city. They had faith for a child to be born according to God’s promise. Abraham is one of our greatest examples of a man who had faith.
亚伯拉罕和撒拉都对神满有信心！凭着信心离开自己的故土，凭着信心住在帐棚里，期待的不是住在地上的城而是住在天堂。他们相信神会给他们应许之子。亚伯拉罕是信心的伟人，是最伟大的榜样之一。
But here we see Abraham also wrestles with fear. It might have been the traumatic experience of Sodom and Gomorrah. It might have been the stress of the move. Whatever the case fear pushed him to make a bad decision. This is an old fear. A fear that began when he first started his journey many many years ago. It was the fear he had when he went to Egypt and gave his wife to Pharaoh. Somehow he did not overcome this fear and trust God to protect his life and his wife’s life.
但在这里，我们看到亚伯拉罕也在与恐惧搏斗。也许是所多玛和蛾摩拉的创伤经历，也许是搬迁带来的压力。无论如何，恐惧促使他做出了一个糟糕的决定。这种恐惧以前就存在–早在许多年前他第一次踏上这段旅程时就开始了。当他去到埃及，将自己的妻子交给法老的时候，他就害怕了。但他还是没有克服这种恐惧，相信神会保守他和妻子的性命。
Our Own Fear and Faith
我们自己的恐惧和信心
Let’s take some time to consider our own lives. Are there areas where you have a lot of faith? Maybe faith for a job, faith for your health, faith for a place to live. Are there areas of your life you have fear? Maybe fear for your future, fear for your health, fear for your parents’ health.
让我们花一点时间检视一下自己的生命。在哪些方面你是充满信心的呢？也许对工作，健康，或是居住的地方有信心。生命中有哪些方面让你感到恐惧呢？或许是对自己的未来、健康、或是父母的健康状况有所担心吧。
Abraham had a lot of faith in a lot of areas, but there were still some areas of his life where he was fearful, and this caused him to make a decision affecting his wife and affecting Gerar. The Bible says they suffered because of Abraham’s fearful decision. He did something to try to protect himself. He lied. And his lie affected others and brought suffering to them. In the end his lie was exposed, and he had to give an account for the untruth.
亚伯拉罕在很多方面都充满信心-但是他生命中仍有些地方，使他感到恐惧，导致他做出的决定会危及妻子以及基拉尔整个国家。圣经上说众人都因亚伯拉罕惧怕时作的决定深受其害。他说谎是为了保护自己，但这个谎言却影响了他人，也给别人带来了苦难。最后，他的谎言被揭穿，不得不为这谎言作出解释。
Our Fears Affect Us and Others
恐惧会影响自己及他人
Sometimes we think our fears only affect us. But we see here Abraham’s fear pushed him to do something affecting other people.
有时我们以为恐惧只会影响自己。但我们看到亚伯拉罕的恐惧驱使他所做的事影响到了别人。
In what areas of your life do you have faith? Examples: God will help me find a new job. God will help me when I am feeling alone. God will provide all of my financial needs.
在生命中的哪些方面你是满有信心的呢？例如，神会帮我找到一份新工作。感觉孤单时神会帮助我。神会供应我所有的财务需求。
In what areas of your life do you have fear? Examples: No one will love me. I can never be as good as they want me to be. I will never get the promotion. People will laugh at me.
在生命中的哪些方面你感到恐惧呢？例如，没有人会爱我。我永远无法做到如大家所期望的那样好。我永远不会升职。人们会嘲笑我的。
How do your fears affect your daily life? Do they push you to do something which hurts you? Hurts others?
你的恐惧是如何影响你的日常生活的？它们会驱使你做一些伤害自己或是别人的事吗？
The process of overcoming fear can be difficult, but Jesus Christ can help us. His love for us is great and the Bible says perfect love casts out all fear.
克服恐惧的过程会很艰难，但是耶稣基督会帮助我们！衪对我们的爱是何等长阔高深，圣经上说，爱既完全，惧怕就除去了。
Be Encouraged!
大得鼓舞
And don’t be discouraged if you see you have fear or a lack of faith in your life. Remember even Abraham – the great father of faith – had fear. And God still used him and blessed him and made him into a great nation.
如果你发现生命中仍有惧怕或是缺乏信心，不要灰心丧气。要记得就连亚伯拉罕，这位信心之父也曾有过惧怕！但神仍旧使用他、祝福他，且让他成为大国！
