Scripture Reading : Psalm 83
Theme : Prayer to Deliver Israel
- Danger of Destruction (1–8). The psalmist lamented the great danger from the many enemies that hemmed in Judah to crush her. He prayed that God would muster His power to destroy them, as He had done in former victories. Since Asaph had never personally witnessed Israel’s existential danger, he was prophesying, like his other psalms, about Israel’s end-times existential danger when all of Israel’s neighbors will come to attack Israel (cf. Zech. 14:1-5).
- Powerful Deliverance (9–18). When Israel is in danger, God will come to deliver them like He did in the past. The psalmist used the reference of Gideon’s victory over the Midianites (Jud. 7–8) and Deborah and Barak’s victory over Sisera (Jud. 4–5) as a pattern for future, end-times deliverance. Endor is near Taanach, mentioned in Judges 5:19. Oreb and Zeeb were the leaders of the Midianite warriors (Jud. 7:25) and Zebah and Zalmunna were Midianite kings (Jud. 8:5–6, 12, 18). Interestingly, Isaiah also referenced Gideon’s victory as a pattern of end-times victory (Is. 9:4, 10:26).
Praying the Scripture
Throughout history, there has been many instances of satan-inspired hatred against the Jews and the desire to kill them. It started with Haman (Esther 3:8-10) and then Hitler’s Nazis. But God is ultimately in charge and He will protect the Jews. The western church has a history of suspicion against the Jews because of the Jews’ hatred of gentiles and Jesus, and also their desire to rule over gentiles (See Martin Luther’s On the Jews and Their Lies). However, the church never desired to destroy the Jews because they are special to God (Rom. 11:28). The ultimate danger for Israel that the Bible speaks about and Jesus speaks about is the end-times tribulation of Israel (Matt. 24.15-17). That is when Jesus will return to deliver the Jews under existential threat and then all the nations will know Jesus is God and ruler of the world. At the meantime, our prayer is for Jesus to come back and deliver Israel and the world from their sins and suffering. Until Jesus returns, our task is to share the gospel of Jesus with all unbelievers, including Jews and Muslims. We also need to love others and seek justice when it is appropriate.
经文：诗篇83
主题：搭救以色列的祷告
- 面临灭亡（1-8）。诗人因犹大面临众多想围困并镇压她的敌人哀号。他求神施展能力消灭他们，如以往的胜利所显的。既然亚萨从未亲眼见证以色列受到灭绝的威胁，他与自己在其他诗篇一样，是在预言以色列末日时将面临的威胁，即邻国前往攻打以色列的时候（参：亚14:1-5）。
- 大有能力的拯救（9-18）。以色列面临危险时，神要像过去一样拯救她。诗人引用了基甸战胜米甸（士7-8）以及底波拉和巴拉战胜西西拉之例（士4-5）作末日拯救的模式。隐多珥在他纳附近，是士师记5:19提到的。俄立和西伊伯是米甸战士的首领（士7:25），而西巴和撒慕拿是米甸王（士8:5-6, 12, 18）。有趣的是，以赛亚也引用了基甸的胜利作末日胜利的模式（赛9:4, 10:26）。
用经文祷告
我们从历史中看到不少由撒旦发起对犹太人产生的仇恨和杀害他们的欲望。这由哈曼开始（斯3:8-10），接着是希特勒的纳粹。然而，神最终是掌管一切的，而祂要保护犹太人。由于犹太人憎恨外邦人和耶稣，并渴望统治外邦人，西方教会一直都对犹太人存疑虑（见：马丁路德《犹太人与他们的谎言》）。即便如此，教会从没想到要消灭犹太人，因为他们对神而言是特别的（罗11:28）。圣经与耶稣提及犹太人最大的威胁是以色列末日的患难（太24:15-17）。这就是耶稣将归来拯救以色列脱离威胁的时候，叫万国晓得耶稣是神，也是世界的统治者。这时，我们的祷告是求耶稣回来，从罪孽和苦楚中搭救以色列和世界。直到耶稣归来的那一刻，我们的任务是向非信徒传耶稣的福音；这包括犹太人和穆斯林教徒。我们也需要爱他人，并在适当的时候为人讨公道。
