我又何必再说呢？若要一一细说，基甸、巴拉、参孙、耶弗他、大卫、撒母耳，和众先知的事，时候就不够了。他们因着信，制伏了敌国，行了公义，得了应许，堵了狮子的口，灭了烈火的猛势，脱了刀剑的锋刃；软弱变为刚强，争战显出勇敢，打退外邦的全军。And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.（希伯来书 Hebrews 11:32-34）
众先知 The Prophets
希伯来书十一章提到了「众先知」（来11:32），以他们为信心的榜样。信心的特征之一是坚忍（endurance），在逆境中不退缩，在艰难中不放弃，在逼迫中不妥协，在挫折中不泄气，「存心忍耐，奔那摆在我们前头的路程。」（来12:1）最能够表现这种精神的就是先知了。耶稣在登山宝训中，特别以先知为榜样来鼓励门徒：
人若因我辱骂你们，逼迫你们，捏造各样坏话毁谤你们，你们就有福了！应当欢喜快乐，因为你们在天上的赏赐是大的。在你们以前的先知，人也是这样逼迫他们。（太5:11-12）
先知是神的仆人，向神所指定的对象，说神所指定的话。他们被人所憎恶，被打被杀是常见的事（太23:34）。他们要忍受孤寂的生活，甚至有人住在旷野或藏在洞里（太3:1; 王上18:13）。先知的物质回报很低，有时仅能糊口（阿7:12），有时要靠乌鸦来养活（王上17:4）。有时实在是太、太…太苦了，忍不住对神说：「耶和华啊，罢了，求你取我的性命！」（王上19:4）这么苦的生活，除非有神的呼召，有谁要去做先知呢？
当神的呼召临到你 When God’s Call is Upon You
犹大国的末期，耶和华的话临到耶利米，呼召他去做先知：
耶利米说，耶和华的话临到我说：我未将你造在腹中，我已晓得你；你未出母胎，我已分别你为圣；我已派你作列国的先知。我就说：主耶和华啊，我不知怎样说，因为我是年幼的。 （耶1:4-6）
耶利米蒙召了，他的反应和一般人一样：推辞。推辞的原因也和一般人一样：怕自己做不来（我不知怎样说，因为我是年幼的！）先知的工作是说话，不知怎样说，那要如何做先知？耶利米的理由似乎很充足，没想到神却不接受：
你不要说我是年幼的，因为我差遣你到谁那里去，你都要去；我吩咐你说什么话，你都要说。你不要惧怕他们，因为我与你同在，要拯救你。这是耶和华说的。（耶1:7-8）
当神呼召的时候，任何推辞的理由，都不成为理由。你不会说话？神赐给你话语。你缺少能力？神赐给你能力。神的呼召是带着能力的，他呼召，他也赐能力。弟兄姊妹，当神呼召你的时候，你只要看神，不要看自己。你信神吗？你相信神既然呼召你，他就会负责一切吗？虽然神未必呼召我们去做先知，但他却呼召我们去做门徒。我们应当欣然奉召，以信心来经历神。
神对耶利米说：「我与你同在，要拯救你。」这是一个暗示，也是一个应许：暗示耶利米将要遭遇危难，应许耶利米将要得到拯救。果然，耶利米遭遇了许多危难，有几次几乎丧命，神却与他同在，拯救了他。
脱了刀剑的锋刃 Escaped the Edge of the Sword
想要杀耶利米的人很多，包括犹大王约雅敬。约雅敬王登基的时候，耶和华的话临到耶利米，叫他到圣殿去宣告信息：
你要对他们说，耶和华如此说：「你们若不听从我，不遵行我设立在你们面前的律法，不听我从早起来差遣到你们那里去我仆人众先知的话（你们还是没有听从），我就必使这殿如示罗，使这城为地上万国所咒诅的。」（耶26:4-6）
众人听了这些话有何反应？众人的反应是「抓住他，说：你必要死！」（耶26:8）反应最激烈的是「祭司、先知」，就是当时的宗教领袖。他们对首领和众民说：「这人是该死的，因为他说预言攻击这城，正如你们亲耳所听见的。」（耶26:11）耶利米解释说，我传递神的话语，目的是要你们改正行为，听从耶和华，好使灾祸不临到你们。众民接受了耶利米的解释，没有杀死他，可是约雅敬王就没有这么好说话了。有一个人，名叫乌利亚，他也照着耶利米的话「攻击这城和这地」，约雅敬王想要杀死他。乌利亚逃到埃及，约雅敬派人到埃及去捉他：
他们就从埃及将乌利亚带出来，送到约雅敬王那里；王用刀杀了他，把他的尸首抛在平民的坟地中。然而，沙番的儿子亚希甘保护耶利米，不交在百姓的手中治死他。（耶26:23-24）
在那一次的风波中，乌利亚死于刀下，耶利米的性命却得到了保全。
耶和华将他们隐藏 The Lord Hid Them
若干年后，耶和华的话临到了耶利米。耶利米说出神的话语，叫巴录记在书卷上。巴录将书卷交给长官，长官呈给约雅敬王。约雅敬命人读书卷上的话，当时正是冬天，王宫中烧着火盆：
犹底念了三四篇，王就用文士的刀将书卷割破，扔在火盆中，直到全卷在火中烧尽了…王就吩咐哈米勒的儿子耶拉篾和亚斯列的儿子西莱雅，并亚伯叠的儿子示利米雅，去捉拿文士巴录和先知耶利米。耶和华却将他们隐藏。（耶36:23,26）
在这一次的风波中，信息被刀割破，信差却得到保全，因为「耶和华将他们隐藏」。
“耶利米” 与 “司提反” The Jeremiahs and Stephens
在我写这篇文章之前，新闻上有一则报导：有两个中国人在巴基斯坦遭伊斯兰国（IS）恐怖份子绑架，已经不幸遭害。根据后来的消息，这二人是24岁的李某和26岁的孟某，是中国家庭教会所差派的宣教士。除了他们二人，同行的还有十一名宣教士，已经安全返国。像他们这样到危险地区工作的宣教士，还有许多。（South China Morning Post, 7/18/2017）
在现今的世代，神仍然在呼召人。许多信徒回应神的呼召，走上生死难卜的奉献之路。有些人的性命得以保全，像耶利米一样。有些人为主殉道，像初期教会的司提反，以及这两位宣教士一样。保全性命的人要为主走更远的路，为主殉道的人已经打完了美好的仗，回到主的身边。无论是生是死，他们都荣耀了神，为我们树立起信心的榜样。
耶利米的经历告诉我们：
- 当神的呼召临到你，要以信心来回应
- 无论是生是死，其中都有神的美意，以及信心的见证
【Life is a song】Escaped the Edge of the Sword
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. (Hebrews 11:32-34)
The Prophets
Hebrews chapter 11 mentions “the prophets” and portrays them as examples of faith. One of the characteristics of faith is endurance. Hebrews 12:1 tells us to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us”. Such endurance means that we stand firm in the face of adversity; we persist through hardship; we do not make compromises even in persecution; and in failure, we are not discouraged. The prophets best exemplify this spirit of endurance. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uses the prophets as examples to encourage his disciples:
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:11-12
A prophet is a servant of God. He is to speak only what God commands him, and only to the people to whom God sends him. Prophets are often hated by men, and it is not uncommon for prophets to be beaten and killed (Matthew 23:34). They bear the burden of a lonely life, some even living in the desert or in caves (Matthew 3:1; 1 Kings 18:13). They earn barely enough to live by (Amos 7:12), depending even on the ravens for food (1 Kings 17:4). At times, their lives are so difficult that they cannot help but cry out to God “I have had enough, Lord. Take my life!” (1 Kings 19:4) If not for God’s calling, who would willingly endure such a hard life as a prophet?
When God’s Call is Upon You
In the latter years of the kingdom of Judah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, calling him to become a prophet of God.
The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” “Ah, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” (Jeremiah 1:4-6)
When Jeremiah was called, his first reaction was to refuse. His reason? “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” He was afraid he would not be up to the task. A prophet speaks. If one does not know how to speak, how can he be a prophet? Jeremiah’s reason seemed legitimate, but God did not accept it.
Do not say, “I am only a child.” You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 1:7-8)
When God’s call is upon you, there can be no reason for refusing to heed His call. You do not know how to speak? God will give you the words. You lack ability? God will enable you. God’s call is full of power, and He will empower those whom He calls. Brothers and sisters, when God calls you, you must only look to God, and not look at yourself. Do you trust God? Do you believe that if God calls you, He will not fail you? Although God may not call us to be a prophet, but He does call us to be a disciple. We must gladly accept this call, and walk on this journey of faith with Him.
The Lord told Jeremiah that “I am with you and will rescue you”. This is both a forewarning and a promise: it forewarns that Jeremiah will encounter hardship, and promises that he will be rescued. Sure enough, Jeremiah experienced a lot of hardship, almost being killed on several occasions, yet God was with him and rescued him.
Escaped the Edge of the Sword
There were many people who wanted Jeremiah dead, including Jehoiakim king of Judah. Early in the reign of Jehoiakim, the Lord told Jeremiah to stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s house and speak to all the people this message:
Say to them, “This is what the Lord says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again (though you have not listened), then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.” (Jeremiah 26:4-6)
How did the people react to this message? They seized him and said “You must die!” (Jeremiah 26:8) The priests and prophets, who were the religious leaders of their day, were the most riled up. They told the officials and all the people, “This man should be sentenced to death because he has prophesied against this city. You have heard it with your own ears!” (Jeremiah 26:11) Jeremiah explained that the purpose of his message from God was to appeal to them to reform their ways and to obey the Lord, so that the Lord will relent and not bring the disaster He has pronounced against them. The people accepted his explanation and did not put him to death. But King Jehoiakim was not persuaded so easily. A man named Uriah also prophesied the same things “against this city and this land”, as Jeremiah did. So King Jehoiakim wanted to kill him. Uriah fled to Egypt, but Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt to capture him.
They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him struck down with a sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people. Furthermore, Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, and so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death. (Jeremiah 26:23-24)
And so Uriah died by the sword, while Jeremiah escaped this turmoil unscathed, his life preserved.
The Lord Hid Them
Several years later, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah again. Jeremiah dictated the word of the Lord to Baruch, who recorded all the words on a scroll. Baruch gave the scroll to the officials, who presented it to king Jehoiakim. The king ordered the scroll to be read to him. It was winter, and there was a fire burning in the firepot in front of him.
Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire…Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the Lord had hidden them. (Jeremiah 36:23, 26)
This time, the message was cut by a knife, while the messenger was protected because “the Lord had hidden them”.
The Jeremiahs and Stephens
Before I wrote this article, there was a news report about two Chinese nationals who were kidnapped and killed by ISIS terrorists in Pakistan. Later reports confirm 24-year-old Lee and 26-year-old Meng as missionaries sent by house churches in China. There were eleven missionaries traveling with them who have now safely arrived back home. There are many like them, who go as missionaries to dangerous areas. (South China Morning Post, 7/18/2017)
In this present generation, God is still calling us. There are believers who respond to God’s calling and give their lives completely to Him, embarking on a journey that could mean ultimate death. Some lives are preserved, like Jeremiah. Some end up giving their lives, like Stephen of the early church who was stoned to death, or like these two missionaries who were killed just a few weeks ago. Those whose lives were saved were rescued so that they may continue to serve the Lord. Those who were martyred have fought the good fight and are now in the presence of God. Whether in life or in death, they have set an example of faith for us, and brought glory to God.
The experience of Jeremiah teaches us:
- When God’s call is upon you, respond in faith.
- Whether one lives or dies, God has His purpose, and can use all situations as a testament to faith.
