We ended the previous article with the question, “With these concepts in place the question may be asked how is it that at 9/11 the book of Joel became the message Peter identified at Pentecost?”
我们在上一篇文章的结尾提出了这样一个问题：“在这些概念确立之后，我们可以问：为何在9/11时，《约珥书》会成为彼得在五旬节所指出的信息？”
Peter was identifying that Joel was being fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, which is a point in time marking the end of the Pentecostal season. In the Pentecostal season there was a manifestation of the Holy Spirit at the beginning, and then a greater manifestation of the Holy Spirit at the end. By faith understanding that both the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy apply Joel to the time of the latter rain we may know that the book of Joel became present truth at 9/11; and that every element of the book will speak directly of the prophetic history beginning at 9/11 on through to and including the seven last plagues, which Joel identifies as the “day of the Lord.”
彼得指出，《约珥书》的预言在五旬节那天正在应验；那是一个标志五旬节时期结束的时间点。在五旬节时期的起初有圣灵的显现，到了末了则有更大的圣灵显现。凭着信心明白，无论是圣经还是预言之灵，都把《约珥书》应用于晚雨的时期，我们就可以知道，《约珥书》在9/11时成为了现时真理；并且这卷书中的每一个要素都将直接论到从9/11开始、一直延续到包含末后的七灾在内的那段预言历史，而《约珥书》将其称为“耶和华的日子”。
As typified by 1888, on 9/11 the presentation of the Laodicean message became present testing truth. Isaiah typifies that same message in chapter fifty-eight with the trumpet voice showing God’s people their transgressions. The “day” when Isaiah begins sounding his voice like a trumpet is the same day he sings the song of the vineyard.
正如1888年所预表的那样，在9/11，老底嘉信息的宣讲成为现今的考验真理。以赛亚在第五十八章以号角般的声音预表了同样的信息，向神的百姓指出他们的过犯。以赛亚开始发出如号角之声的那个“日子”，就是他唱葡萄园之歌的同一天。
In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together. Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me. He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. Isaiah 27:2–6.
到那日，你们要为它歌唱：“红酒的葡萄园！”我耶和华看守它；我每时每刻浇灌它，免得有人伤害它；我昼夜保护它。我没有忿怒；谁敢以荆棘和蒺藜起来与我争战？我必穿过其间，把它们一并焚烧。或者，让他抓住我的力量，使他与我和好；他必与我和好。他必使雅各的后裔扎根；以色列要开花、发芽，以果实充满全地。以赛亚书 27:2-6
Modern spiritual “Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit” during the period of the latter rain, for the early rain cause the budding and blossoming of a plant, and the latter rain produces the fruit. When the buildings of New York came down on 9/11 the mighty angel of Revelation eighteen descended and the latter rain began to sprinkle. At that time God’s watchmen were to blow the trumpet to the Laodicean church. Isaiah’s message identifying the sins of God’s people is also the song of the vineyard of red wine. The first chapter of Joel is that very message.
现代属灵的以色列将在晚雨时期“开花发芽，并以果实充满全地”；因为早雨使植物萌芽开花，而晚雨使其结果。当纽约的建筑物在“9·11”倒塌之时，《启示录》十八章中的大能天使降临，晚雨开始洒落。那时，上帝的守望者要向老底嘉教会吹号角。以赛亚指出上帝子民之罪的信息，也是那“红酒的葡萄园之歌”。约珥书第一章正是这信息。
The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
耶和华的话临到毗土珥的儿子约珥。
Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
老年人哪，听这话；这地的一切居民，都要侧耳而听。这事在你们的日子，或在你们祖辈的日子，曾有过吗？你们要把这事告诉你们的子女，让你们的子女告诉他们的子女，他们的子女再传给下一代。
That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
剪虫所剩下的，蝗虫吃了；蝗虫所剩下的，尺蠖吃了；尺蠖所剩下的，毛虫吃了。
Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
醉酒的人哪，醒来哭泣吧；所有饮酒的人，都要因新酒而哀号，因为它已经从你们的口中断绝了。
For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the Lord’s ministers, mourn. The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
因为有一国上来侵入我的土地，强盛而不可胜数；它的牙齿如狮子的牙，又有大狮子的臼齿。它使我的葡萄树荒废，剥了我的无花果树的皮，把它剥得精光，又把它抛弃；它的枝条都露白。要哀号，如同束着麻衣的处女，为她年少所配的丈夫哀号。素祭和奠祭从耶和华的殿中断绝；耶和华的仆人——祭司——哀号。田地荒凉，土地哀号，因为庄稼毁坏；新酒干涸，油也衰微。
Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
农夫们啊，你们要羞愧；栽培葡萄的人啊，你们要哀号，为着小麦和大麦，因为田间的收成已经毁坏了。葡萄树枯干，无花果树衰残；石榴树、棕榈树以及苹果树，田间所有的树木都枯萎了，因为人的喜乐已经消逝。
Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord, Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
你们这些祭司，要束腰哀哭；侍奉祭坛的啊，要哀号。我神的仆人哪，你们要来，穿着麻衣通宵躺卧，因为素祭和奠祭从你们神的殿中断绝了。你们要分别为圣，宣告禁食，召集严肃会，把长老和这地的一切居民聚集到耶和华你们神的殿里，向耶和华呼求：哀哉，这日子！因为耶和华的日子临近了，它要像从全能者而来的毁灭临到。粮食不是在我们眼前断绝了吗？是的，喜乐和欢欣也从我们神的殿里止息了。种子在土块下朽烂，仓库荒凉，仓房倒塌，因为五谷枯干。牲畜多么哀鸣！牛群彷徨，因为没有草场；连羊群也受了荒凉。
O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness. Joel 1:1–20.
主啊，我必向你呼求，因为火已吞噬旷野的草场，火焰烧尽了田野的一切树木。田野的牲畜也向你哀号，因为溪水都枯干了，火已吞噬旷野的草场。约珥书 1:1-20。
The first chapter of Joel is addressing the destruction of God’s vineyard. Isaiah establishes “that day” as the day when the latter rain begins, for the plants on that day begin to blossom and bud. The fact that Isaiah informs us that God’s people will “take root,” “blossom and bud” and fill the earth with “fruit” is illustrating a progressive history of three steps. A plant takes “root” in the ground. To “take root” therefore means to stand upon the ground, which is the ground floor or the foundation. Those who “come out of Jacob” “take root” and then they are called “Israel.” Those who come out of the Laodicean experience are then called Philadelphians, though to retain that experience requires victory in a testing process that ends at the Sunday law.
约珥书第一章是在论到神的葡萄园被毁。以赛亚把“那日”确立为晚雨开始的日子，因为植物在那日开始开花发芽。以赛亚告诉我们，神的子民将“生根”、“开花发芽”，并以“果子”充满全地，这一事实说明了一个分三步推进的历史。植物在土里“生根”。因此，“生根”就意味着站立在地上，也就是地基或基础。“出于雅各”的人“生根”，随后他们被称为“以色列”。那些从老底嘉的经历中出来的人随后被称为非拉铁非人，然而要保持那样的经历，需要在一个以星期日法令结束的考验过程中得胜。
The prophetic relationship of Jacob, (the supplanter) and Israel, (the overcomer) is identifying that at 9/11 those who “take root” by returning to the foundations, there and then enter into a covenant relationship. Prophetically a change of name is a symbol of a covenant, as represented by Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel and others. In the verse those who returned to the old foundational truths at 9/11 entered into a covenant relationship as the rain began to produce blossoms and buds. At the Sunday law the whole world will be filled with “fruit” as the rain is then poured out without measure.
雅各（取代者）与以色列（得胜者）的预言性关系，指出在9/11，那些借着回归根基而“扎根”的人，就在那里、那时进入了立约的关系。按预言的意义，改名是盟约的象征，这在亚伯兰改为亚伯拉罕、撒莱改为撒拉、雅各改为以色列以及其他人的例子中都有所体现。在那节经文里，那些在9/11回到古老根基真理的人，随着雨开始催生花朵和花蕾，进入了立约的关系。到了星期日法令之时，雨将毫无保留地倾倒，整个世界都将充满“果子”。
Isaiah must agree with Isaiah, and of course all the other prophets, but Isaiah is to lift up his voice like a trumpet and show Laodicean Seventh-day Adventists their sins in the context of the song of the vineyard. That song was sung by Jesus in the parable of the vineyard. The vineyard caused him to weep as He for the last time before the cross looked out over Jerusalem; knowing ancient Israel had reached the end of their probationary period and were being passed by as God’s covenant people. Simultaneously Christ was entering into a covenant with a people who would bring forth the appropriate fruits from God’s vineyard. Whether the vineyard story of Joshua at the beginning or of Jesus at the end those who became the new covenant people typified the one hundred and forty-four thousand.
以赛亚必须与以赛亚一致，当然也要与所有其他先知一致；但以赛亚要像吹号角一样扬起他的声音，并且在“葡萄园之歌”的语境中，将老底嘉的基督复临安息日会信徒的罪指出来。那首歌是耶稣在葡萄园的比喻中所唱的。当他在上十字架前最后一次眺望耶路撒冷时，他因着那葡萄园而哭泣；因为他知道古代以色列的恩典期已经结束，他们作为上帝之约民正被越过。与此同时，基督正与一群会从上帝的葡萄园结出相称果子的子民立约。无论是起初约书亚的葡萄园故事，还是末了耶稣的葡萄园故事，成为新约子民的人都预表那十四万四千人。
Christ spoke of Isaiah’s vineyard prophecy, as does Sister White.
基督论及以赛亚的葡萄园预言，怀特姊妹也如此。
“The parable of the vineyard applies not alone to the Jewish nation. It has a lesson for us. The church in this generation has been endowed by God with great privileges and blessings, and He expects corresponding returns.” Christ Object Lessons, 296.
葡萄园的比喻并不仅仅适用于犹太民族。它对我们也有教训。这世代的教会蒙上帝赐予极大的特权和福分，祂也期待相应的回报。 《基督比喻教训》，第296页。
It is instructive to read the passage which leads to the last statement from the Spirit of Prophecy.
读一读引出《预言之灵》最后陈述的那段文字，颇有教益。
“Chapter 23—The Lord’s Vineyard
第二十三章：主的葡萄园
“The Jewish Nation
犹太民族
“The parable of the two sons was followed by the parable of the vineyard. In the one, Christ had set before the Jewish teachers the importance of obedience. In the other, He pointed to the rich blessings bestowed upon Israel, and in these showed God’s claim to their obedience. He set before them the glory of God’s purpose, which through obedience they might have fulfilled. Withdrawing the veil from the future, He showed how, by failure to fulfill His purpose, the whole nation was forfeiting His blessing, and bringing ruin upon itself.
“两个儿子的比喻”之后，接着是“葡萄园的比喻”。在前者，基督把顺服的重要性摆在犹太人的宗教领袖面前；在后者，祂指出赐给以色列的丰盛福分，并借此表明神对他们顺服的要求。祂把神旨意的荣耀摆在他们面前，这旨意他们若顺服就可以成全。祂又揭开未来的帷幕，指出由于未能成就祂的旨意，整个民族正丧失祂的福分，并自招毁灭。
“‘There was a certain householder,’ Christ said, ‘which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.’
“有一个家主，”基督说，“他栽了一个葡萄园，四周围上篱笆，在园里挖了一个榨酒池，又建了一座望楼，把它租给园户，就往远方去了。”
“A description of this vineyard is given by the prophet Isaiah: ‘Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching His vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill; and He fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein; and He looked that it should bring forth grapes.’ Isaiah 5:1, 2.
先知以赛亚对这葡萄园有这样的描述：“如今我要为我所亲爱的唱一首歌，是我所爱者关于他葡萄园的歌。我所亲爱的在一座非常肥美的山冈上有一座葡萄园；他在园四周筑了篱笆，捡去其中的石头，栽种上等的葡萄树，又在园中盖了一座楼，也在其中凿了一个榨酒池；他指望它结出葡萄。”以赛亚书5:1、2。
“The husbandman chooses a piece of land from the wilderness; he fences, clears, and tills it, and plants it with choice vines, expecting a rich harvest. This plot of ground, in its superiority to the uncultivated waste, he expects to do him honor by showing the results of his care and toil in its cultivation. So God had chosen a people from the world to be trained and educated by Christ. The prophet says, ‘The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant.’ Isaiah 5:7. Upon this people God had bestowed great privileges, blessing them richly from His abundant goodness. He looked for them to honor Him by yielding fruit. They were to reveal the principles of His kingdom. In the midst of a fallen, wicked world they were to represent the character of God.
农夫从荒野中选定一块土地；他为它筑起篱笆，清理、耕耘，并栽上上好的葡萄树，指望有丰盛的收成。这块地优于那未曾开垦的荒地，他盼望藉着其被栽培所显出的成果，彰显他的关怀与劳苦，为他增光。照样，神从世界中拣选了一群百姓，由基督训练并教导他们。先知说：“万军之耶和华的葡萄园，就是以色列家；犹大人是祂所喜悦的栽子。”以赛亚书5:7。神已将极大的特权赐给这百姓，并从祂丰盛的美善中厚厚地赐福他们。祂盼望他们借着结出果子来荣耀祂。他们要显明祂国度的原则。在这堕落、邪恶的世界中，他们要彰显神的品格。
“As the Lord’s vineyard they were to produce fruit altogether different from that of the heathen nations. These idolatrous peoples had given themselves up to work wickedness. Violence and crime, greed, oppression, and the most corrupt practices, were indulged without restraint. Iniquity, degradation, and misery were the fruits of the corrupt tree. In marked contrast was to be the fruit borne on the vine of God’s planting.
作为主的葡萄园，他们应当结出与外邦列国截然不同的果子。这些拜偶像的民族已经放纵自己去行恶。暴力与罪行、贪婪与压迫，以及最为腐败的行径，都被肆无忌惮地纵容。罪孽、堕落与苦难，是这棵败坏之树所结的果子。而神所栽种的葡萄树所结的果子，本应与此形成鲜明对比。
“It was the privilege of the Jewish nation to represent the character of God as it had been revealed to Moses. In answer to the prayer of Moses, ‘Show me Thy glory,’ the Lord promised, ‘I will make all My goodness pass before thee.’ Exodus 33:18, 19. ‘And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.’ Exodus 34:6, 7. This was the fruit that God desired from His people. In the purity of their characters, in the holiness of their lives, in their mercy and loving-kindness and compassion, they were to show that ‘the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.’ Psalm 19:7.
犹太民族所享有的特权，就是将上帝的品格，正如祂向摩西所启示的那样，彰显出来。为答复摩西的祈求：“求祢将祢的荣耀显给我看”，耶和华应许说：“我要使我一切的恩慈从你面前经过。”出埃及记33:18-19。“耶和华在他面前经过，宣告说：耶和华，耶和华，是有怜悯、有恩典的神，不轻易发怒，并有丰盛的慈爱和诚实，为千代存留慈爱，赦免罪孽、过犯和罪恶。”出埃及记34:6-7。这就是上帝所盼望祂子民结出的果子。他们当在品格的纯洁、生活的圣洁，以及他们的怜悯、仁爱和慈悲上，表明“耶和华的律法全备，能苏醒人心”。诗篇19:7。
“Through the Jewish nation it was God’s purpose to impart rich blessings to all peoples. Through Israel the way was to be prepared for the diffusion of His light to the whole world. The nations of the world, through following corrupt practices, had lost the knowledge of God. Yet in His mercy God did not blot them out of existence. He purposed to give them opportunity for becoming acquainted with Him through His church. He designed that the principles revealed through His people should be the means of restoring the moral image of God in man.
借着犹太民族，上帝旨意要把丰盛的祝福赐给万民。借着以色列，要为祂的光照耀全世界预备道路。世上的列国因随从败坏的行径，已经失去了对上帝的认识。然而，出于怜悯，上帝并没有把他们从世上除灭。祂旨在借着祂的教会，使他们有机会得以认识祂。祂的计划是，使祂借着祂的子民所显明的原则，成为在人类身上恢复上帝道德形象的途径。
“It was for the accomplishment of this purpose that God called Abraham out from his idolatrous kindred and bade him dwell in the land of Canaan. ‘I will make of thee a great nation,’ He said, ‘and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.’ Genesis 12:2.
为成就这个目的，神把亚伯拉罕从他那拜偶像的亲族中召出来，并吩咐他住在迦南地。他说：“我必使你成为大国，我必赐福给你，使你的名为大；你也要成为祝福。”创世记12:2。
“The descendants of Abraham, Jacob and his posterity, were brought down to Egypt that in the midst of that great and wicked nation they might reveal the principles of God’s kingdom. The integrity of Joseph and his wonderful work in preserving the lives of the whole Egyptian people were a representation of the life of Christ. Moses and many others were witnesses for God.
亚伯拉罕的后裔——雅各和他的子孙——被带到埃及，好叫他们在那强盛而邪恶的民族中彰显上帝国度的原则。约瑟的正直，以及他为保全全体埃及人民性命所成就的奇妙工作，预表了基督的生平。摩西和许多其他人也为上帝作见证。
“In bringing forth Israel from Egypt, the Lord again manifested His power and His mercy. His wonderful works in their deliverance from bondage and His dealings with them in their travels through the wilderness were not for their benefit alone. These were to be as an object lesson to the surrounding nations. The Lord revealed Himself as a God above all human authority and greatness. The signs and wonders He wrought in behalf of His people showed His power over nature and over the greatest of those who worshiped nature. God went through the proud land of Egypt as He will go through the earth in the last days. With fire and tempest, earthquake and death, the great I AM redeemed His people. He took them out of the land of bondage. He led them through the ‘great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought.’ Deuteronomy 8:15. He brought them forth water out of ‘the rock of flint,’ and fed them with ‘the corn of heaven.’ Psalm 78:24. ‘For,’ said Moses, ‘the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange God with him.’ Deuteronomy 32:9–12. Thus He brought them unto Himself, that they might dwell as under the shadow of the Most High.
在把以色列人从埃及领出来的时候，主再次显明了祂的大能和怜悯。祂在拯救他们脱离奴役上的奇妙作为，以及在他们经过旷野的旅程中对他们的带领与管教，并非只为他们自己的益处。这些事是要成为周围列国的鉴戒。主显明自己是超越一切人间权柄与伟大的上帝。祂为祂子民所行的神迹奇事，显示了祂对自然的权能，也显明祂胜过那些崇拜自然的人中最显赫的权势者。神曾经过那骄傲的埃及之地，正如祂在末后的日子将要经过全地一样。借着火与暴风、地震与死亡，那位伟大的自有永有者救赎了祂的百姓。祂把他们从奴役之地领出来。祂领他们经过“又大又可怕的旷野”，那里有火蛇、蝎子和干旱。申命记 8:15。祂使水从“燧石的磐石”流出，又用“天上的粮”喂养他们。诗篇 78:24。“因为，”摩西说，“耶和华的份是祂的百姓；雅各是祂产业的分。祂在旷野之地，在荒凉呼号的旷野遇见他；祂环绕他，教导他，像眼中的瞳人一样保守他。又如鹰搅动巢窝，在雏鹰上方盘旋，展开双翅接取他们，背负他们在翅膀上；这样，耶和华独自引导他，他那里并没有别的神与他同在。”申命记 32:9-12。于是祂把他们带到自己那里，使他们可以住在至高者的荫下。
“Christ was the leader of the children of Israel in their wilderness wanderings. Enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, He led and guided them. He preserved them from the perils of the wilderness, He brought them into the land of promise, and in the sight of all the nations that acknowledged not God He established Israel as His own chosen possession, the Lord’s vineyard.
基督是以色列人在旷野漂流时的领袖。日间在云柱中、夜间在火柱中，他引领并指引他们。他保守他们脱离旷野的危险，领他们进入应许之地，并且在一切不承认神的列国眼前，立以色列为他所拣选的产业——主的葡萄园。
“To this people were committed the oracles of God. They were hedged about by the precepts of His law, the everlasting principles of truth, justice, and purity. Obedience to these principles was to be their protection, for it would save them from destroying themselves by sinful practices. And as the tower in the vineyard, God placed in the midst of the land His holy temple.
神的圣言交托给了这百姓。他们被祂律法的诫命——真理、公义与纯洁的永恒原则——所环绕保护。遵守这些原则本是他们的保障，因为这会拯救他们，免于因罪恶的行为自取灭亡。又如葡萄园中的望楼，神在那地的中间设立了祂的圣殿。
“Christ was their instructor. As He had been with them in the wilderness, so He was still to be their teacher and guide. In the tabernacle and the temple His glory dwelt in the holy shekinah above the mercy seat. In their behalf He constantly manifested the riches of His love and patience.
基督是他们的教师。正如祂在旷野与他们同在，祂仍要作他们的教师和引导者。在会幕和圣殿中，祂的荣耀以圣洁的舍吉拿临于施恩座之上。为了他们的缘故，祂不断彰显祂的爱与忍耐的丰盛。
“God desired to make of His people Israel a praise and a glory. Every spiritual advantage was given them. God withheld from them nothing favorable to the formation of character that would make them representatives of Himself.
上帝愿意使祂的子民以色列成为赞美和荣耀。一切属灵的益处都赐给了他们。凡有助于形成那样的品格、使他们成为祂代表的一切，上帝都没有向他们保留。
“Their obedience to the law of God would make them marvels of prosperity before the nations of the world. He who could give them wisdom and skill in all cunning work would continue to be their teacher, and would ennoble and elevate them through obedience to His laws. If obedient, they would be preserved from the diseases that afflicted other nations, and would be blessed with vigor of intellect. The glory of God, His majesty and power, were to be revealed in all their prosperity. They were to be a kingdom of priests and princes. God furnished them with every facility for becoming the greatest nation on the earth.
他们对上帝律法的顺从，将使他们在世上一切列国面前成为繁荣的奇迹。那位能赐给他们智慧，并使他们在各样巧工上有技能的，必继续作他们的教师，并且藉着他们对祂律法的顺从，使他们高贵并得以提升。若顺从，他们就必被保守，免受临到其他民族的疾病，又蒙赐敏锐而充沛的才智。上帝的荣耀、祂的威严与大能，要在他们一切的昌盛中显明出来。他们要成为一个由祭司和王侯组成的国度。上帝为他们提供了一切条件，使他们成为地上最伟大的国度。
“In the most definite manner Christ through Moses had set before them God’s purpose, and had made plain the terms of their prosperity. ‘Thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God,’ He said; ‘the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth…. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations…. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them. Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which He sware unto thy fathers; and He will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: He will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which He sware unto thy fathers to give thee. Thou shalt be blessed above all people…. And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee.’ Deuteronomy 7:6, 9, 11–15.
基督借着摩西以最明确的方式把上帝的旨意摆在他们面前，并清楚说明他们昌盛的条件。祂说：“你是归耶和华你神为圣的民；耶和华你神拣选你，作属祂自己的子民，超乎地上万民之上……所以你要知道，耶和华你神乃是神，是信实的神，向爱祂并守祂诫命的人守约施慈爱，直到千代……所以你要谨守遵行我今日所吩咐你的诫命、律例和典章。因此，你们若听从这些典章，谨守遵行，耶和华你神就必向你守祂向你列祖起誓所立的约和所施的慈爱；祂必爱你，赐福与你，使你增多；并且必赐福于你身所生、地所产，就是你的五谷、新酒和油，牛群的增产与羊群的繁增，都在祂向你列祖起誓要赐给你的地上。你必在万民之上蒙福……耶和华必使一切疾病离开你，不将你所知道埃及的一切恶疾加在你身上。”申命记 7:6、9、11-15。
“If they would keep His commandments, God promised to give them the finest of the wheat, and bring them honey out of the rock. With long life would He satisfy them, and show them His salvation.
如果他们遵守祂的诫命，神应许赐给他们上好的麦子，并从磐石中带给他们蜜。祂要以长寿使他们满足，并向他们显明祂的救恩。
“Through disobedience to God, Adam and Eve had lost Eden, and because of sin the whole earth was cursed. But if God’s people followed His instruction, their land would be restored to fertility and beauty. God Himself gave them directions in regard to the culture of the soil, and they were to co-operate with Him in its restoration. Thus the whole land, under God’s control, would become an object lesson of spiritual truth. As in obedience to His natural laws the earth should produce its treasures, so in obedience to His moral law the hearts of the people were to reflect the attributes of His character. Even the heathen would recognize the superiority of those who served and worshiped the living God.
因违背上帝，亚当和夏娃失去了伊甸园，又因罪的缘故，全地都受了咒诅。但若上帝的子民遵行祂的指示，他们的土地就会恢复肥沃与美丽。上帝亲自赐下有关耕种土地的指引，他们也当与祂同工，使这片土地得以复兴。这样，在上帝的掌管之下，这片土地就会成为属灵真理的直观教训。正如大地顺服祂的自然律而结出丰盛的出产，照样，百姓的心也要顺从祂的道德律，反映祂品格的属性。连外邦人也会看出那些侍奉并敬拜永生上帝之人的优越之处。
“‘Behold,’ said Moses, ‘I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?’ Deuteronomy 4:5–8.
摩西说：“看哪，我照着耶和华我的神所吩咐我的，已经教导你们律例与典章，好使你们在将要进去得为业之地这样遵行。所以你们要谨守遵行，因为这就是你们在万民眼前的智慧和聪明；他们听见这一切律例，必说：‘这大国真是有智慧、有聪明的民！’哪一国是如此为大的呢？有神像耶和华我们的神这样，在我们所求告的一切事上与我们相近？又哪一国如此为大，有这样公义的律例与典章，像我今日摆在你们面前的这一切律法呢？”申命记4:5-8。
“The children of Israel were to occupy all the territory which God appointed them. Those nations that rejected the worship and service of the true God were to be dispossessed. But it was God’s purpose that by the revelation of His character through Israel men should be drawn unto Him. To all the world the gospel invitation was to be given. Through the teaching of the sacrificial service Christ was to be uplifted before the nations, and all who would look unto Him should live. All who, like Rahab the Canaanite, and Ruth the Moabitess, turned from idolatry to the worship of the true God, were to unite themselves with His chosen people. As the numbers of Israel increased they were to enlarge their borders, until their kingdom should embrace the world.
以色列人要占领上帝为他们指定的一切疆土。凡拒绝敬拜和事奉真神的那些民族，都要被驱逐。然而，上帝的旨意是，要藉着以色列所显明的祂的品格，使人被吸引归向祂。福音的邀请要传给普天之下。藉着献祭制度的教导，基督要在列邦面前被高举，并且凡仰望祂的都必得生。凡像迦南人喇合和摩押女子路得那样，从偶像崇拜转向敬拜真神的人，都当与祂所拣选的子民联合。随着以色列人数的增多，他们要扩张疆界，直到他们的国度遍及全世界。
“God desired to bring all peoples under His merciful rule. He desired that the earth should be filled with joy and peace. He created man for happiness, and He longs to fill human hearts with the peace of heaven. He desires that the families below shall be a symbol of the great family above.
上帝愿意将万民带到祂慈爱的统治之下。祂愿意大地充满喜乐与平安。祂创造人是为了幸福，并渴望以天上的平安充满人心。祂愿意地上的家庭成为天上大家庭的象征。
“But Israel did not fulfill God’s purpose. The Lord declared, ‘I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto Me?’ Jeremiah 2:21. ‘Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself.’ Hosea 10:1. ‘And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt Me and My vineyard. What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it? Wherefore when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For … He looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.’ Isaiah 5:3–7.
然而，以色列并没有成就神的旨意。主宣告：“我栽你为上等的葡萄树，全然是正种；你怎么向我变为外邦葡萄树的坏枝子呢？”耶利米书 2:21。“以色列是空虚的葡萄树；他为自己结果子。”何西阿书 10:1。“现在，请耶路撒冷的居民和犹大人，在我与我的葡萄园之间评断。我为我的葡萄园还能做什么，是我没有做的呢？我指望它结好葡萄，怎么倒结了野葡萄呢？现在请听，我要告诉你们我将怎样处置我的葡萄园：我必撤去它的篱笆，使它被吞灭；拆毁它的墙垣，使它被践踏。我必使它荒废，不再修剪，不再锄刨，却要长出荆棘和蒺藜；我还要吩咐云不降雨在其上。因为……他指望公平，谁知竟有欺压；指望公义，谁知竟有哀号。”以赛亚书 5:3-7。
“The Lord had through Moses set before His people the result of unfaithfulness. By refusing to keep His covenant, they would cut themselves off from the life of God, and His blessing could not come upon them. ‘Beware,’ said Moses, ‘that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping His commandments, and His judgments, and His statutes, which I command thee this day: lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God…. And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth…. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God.’ Deuteronomy 8:11–14, 17, 19, 20.
主曾借着摩西把不忠的后果摆在祂的子民面前。若他们拒绝遵守祂的约，就会使自己与神的生命隔绝，祂的赐福也无法临到他们。摩西说：“你要谨慎，免得你忘记耶和华你的神，不守我今日所吩咐你的祂的诫命、典章、律例；恐怕你吃得饱足，建造美好的房屋居住；你的牛群羊群增多，你的金银增多，你一切所有的都增多；你就心高气傲，忘记耶和华你的神……你心里说：‘这财富是凭着我的能力、我手的力量得来的’……你若忘记耶和华你的神，随从别神，事奉它们，敬拜它们，我今日郑重警告你们，你们必定灭亡。耶和华在你们面前所毁灭的那些列国怎样，你们也必照样灭亡，因为你们不听从耶和华你们神的话。”申命记 8:11-14，17，19，20。
“The warning was not heeded by the Jewish people. They forgot God, and lost sight of their high privilege as His representatives. The blessings they had received brought no blessing to the world. All their advantages were appropriated for their own glorification. They robbed God of the service He required of them, and they robbed their fellow men of religious guidance and a holy example. Like the inhabitants of the antediluvian world, they followed out every imagination of their evil hearts. Thus they made sacred things appear a farce, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these’ (Jeremiah 7:4), while at the same time they were misrepresenting God’s character, dishonoring His name, and polluting His sanctuary.
犹太人没有理会这警告。他们忘记了神，也失去了对自己作为祂代表这一崇高特权的认识。他们所得的福分并未给世界带来祝福。他们所有的优势都被用来荣耀自己。他们剥夺了神所当得的事奉，也使同胞失去宗教的引导和圣洁的榜样。像洪水以前世界的居民一样，他们任凭自己邪恶心中的一切意念去行。于是，他们把神圣的事当作儿戏，说：“这是耶和华的殿，这是耶和华的殿，这是耶和华的殿”（耶利米书7:4），却同时歪曲神的品格，辱没祂的名，并玷污祂的圣所。
“The husbandmen who had been placed in charge of the Lord’s vineyard were untrue to their trust. The priests and teachers were not faithful instructors of the people. They did not keep before them the goodness and mercy of God and His claim to their love and service. These husbandmen sought their own glory. They desired to appropriate the fruits of the vineyard. It was their study to attract attention and homage to themselves.
被派管理主的葡萄园的园户对所托不忠。祭司和教师并未忠心地教导百姓。他们没有常把上帝的良善和怜悯，以及祂有权得着他们的爱与事奉这件事，摆在眼前。这些园户只求自己的荣耀；他们想把葡萄园的出产据为己有。他们处心积虑，要把人的注意和尊崇吸引到自己身上。
“The guilt of these leaders in Israel was not like the guilt of the ordinary sinner. These men stood under the most solemn obligation to God. They had pledged themselves to teach a ‘Thus saith the Lord’ and to bring strict obedience into their practical life. Instead of doing this they were perverting the Scriptures. They laid heavy burdens upon men, enforcing ceremonies that reached to every step in life. The people lived in continual unrest, for they could not fulfill the requirements laid down by the rabbis. As they saw the impossibility of keeping man-made commandments, they became careless in regard to the commandments of God.
这些以色列领袖的罪责不同于普通罪人的罪咎。这些人肩负着对上帝最庄严的责任。他们曾立誓要以“主如此说”来教导人，并在实际生活中实行严格的顺服。他们却不这样做，反而曲解圣经。他们把沉重的担子加在人身上，强制推行礼仪，渗透到生活的每一个环节。百姓长期活在不安之中，因为他们无法满足拉比所规定的要求。既然看见人所制定的诫命根本无法遵行，他们便对上帝的诫命也变得漫不经心。
“The Lord had instructed His people that He was the owner of the vineyard, and that all their possessions were given them in trust to be used for Him. But the priests and teachers did not perform the work of their sacred office as if they were handling the property of God. They were systematically robbing Him of the means and facilities entrusted to them for the advancement of His work. Their covetousness and greed caused them to be despised even by the heathen. Thus the Gentile world was given occasion to misinterpret the character of God and the laws of His kingdom.
主曾教导祂的子民，祂是葡萄园的主人，他们一切的所有都是托付在他们手中的，为祂所用。但祭司和教师执行圣职的工作，并不像是在管理神的产业。他们系统地把为推进祂工作而托付给他们的资财与设施据为己有。他们的贪心和贪婪，甚至使外邦人也藐视他们。于是，外邦世界便有了机会去曲解神的品格和祂国度的律法。
“With a father’s heart, God bore with His people. He pleaded with them by mercies given and mercies withdrawn. Patiently He set their sins before them, and in forbearance waited for their acknowledgment. Prophets and messengers were sent to urge God’s claim upon the husbandmen; but instead of being welcomed, they were treated as enemies. The husbandmen persecuted and killed them. God sent still other messengers, but they received the same treatment as the first, only that the husbandmen showed still more determined hatred.
神以父亲的心肠忍耐祂的子民。祂或施怜悯、或撤回怜悯，以此恳劝他们。祂耐心地把他们的罪摆在他们面前，并以宽容等待他们承认。祂差遣先知和使者去敦促园户承认神的要求；但他们非但没有被欢迎，反而被当作仇敌。园户迫害并杀害了他们。神又差遣别的使者，但他们所受待遇与先前的一样，只是园户显出更加坚决的仇恨。
“As a last resource, God sent His Son, saying, ‘They will reverence My Son.’ But their resistance had made them vindictive, and they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill Him, and let us seize on His inheritance.’ We shall then be left to enjoy the vineyard, and to do as we please with the fruit.
作为最后的手段，神差遣祂的儿子，说：“他们会尊敬我的儿子。”但他们的抗拒使他们心生怨恨，彼此说：“这是承受产业的；来吧，我们杀了他，夺取他的产业。”这样一来，葡萄园就归我们享用，我们可以任意处置园中的果子。
“The Jewish rulers did not love God; therefore they cut themselves away from Him, and rejected all His overtures for a just settlement. Christ, the Beloved of God, came to assert the claims of the Owner of the vineyard; but the husbandmen treated Him with marked contempt, saying, We will not have this man to rule over us. They envied Christ’s beauty of character. His manner of teaching was far superior to theirs, and they dreaded His success. He remonstrated with them, unveiling their hypocrisy, and showing them the sure results of their course of action. This stirred them to madness. They smarted under the rebukes they could not silence. They hated the high standard of righteousness which Christ continually presented. They saw that His teaching was placing them where their selfishness would be uncloaked, and they determined to kill Him. They hated His example of truthfulness and piety and the elevated spirituality revealed in all He did. His whole life was a reproof to their selfishness, and when the final test came, the test which meant obedience unto eternal life or disobedience unto eternal death, they rejected the Holy One of Israel. When they were asked to choose between Christ and Barabbas, they cried out, ‘Release unto us Barabbas!’ Luke 23:18. And when Pilate asked, ‘What shall I do then with Jesus?’ they cried fiercely, ‘Let Him be crucified.’ Matthew 27:22. ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ Pilate asked, and from the priests and rulers came the answer, ‘We have no king but Caesar.’ John 19:15. When Pilate washed his hands, saying, ‘I am innocent of the blood of this just person,’ the priests joined with the ignorant mob in declaring passionately, ‘His blood be on us, and on our children.’ Matthew 27:24, 25.
犹太人的领袖并不爱上帝；因此他们把自己与祂隔绝，拒绝了祂一切为达成公正和解所发出的善意之举。上帝所爱的基督前来申明葡萄园主人的权利；但园户却对祂极尽轻蔑，说：“我们不要这人来管辖我们。”他们嫉妒基督那优美高尚的品格；祂的教导方式远胜于他们，他们惧怕祂的成功。祂规劝他们，揭露他们的虚伪，并指出他们所行之路必然的结果；这使他们怒不可遏。他们因那无法使之沉默的责备而感到刺痛；他们憎恨基督不断呈现的公义高标准。他们看见祂的教导使他们的自私无所遁形，便下定决心要杀害祂。他们憎恶祂所树立的诚实与虔敬的榜样，以及祂在一切作为中显露出的崇高属灵性。祂的一生都是对他们自私的责备；当最后的考验来到——这考验意味着顺服以至永生，或悖逆以至永死——他们却弃绝以色列的圣者。当人们让他们在基督和巴拉巴之间作选择时，他们喊叫说：“把巴拉巴释放给我们！”路加福音 23:18。彼拉多问：“那么，我该怎样处置耶稣？”他们凶狠地喊道：“把祂钉十字架。”马太福音 27:22。“我把你们的王钉十字架吗？”彼拉多问；祭司和官长回答说：“除了该撒，我们没有王。”约翰福音 19:15。彼拉多洗手，说：“流这义人的血，罪不在我。”祭司与那无知的群众一同激动地宣称：“祂的血归到我们和我们的子孙身上。”马太福音 27:24、25。
“Thus the Jewish leaders made their choice. Their decision was registered in the book which John saw in the hand of Him that sat upon the throne, the book which no man could open. In all its vindictiveness this decision will appear before them in the day when this book is unsealed by the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
于是，犹太人的领袖做出了他们的抉择。他们的决定被记在那书卷上，就是约翰看见坐在宝座上的那位手中的那书卷，那书卷无人能展开。在这书卷被犹大支派中的狮子揭开封印的那日，这个决定将以其全部的报复性显现在他们面前。
“The Jewish people cherished the idea that they were the favorites of heaven, and that they were always to be exalted as the church of God. They were the children of Abraham, they declared, and so firm did the foundation of their prosperity seem to them that they defied earth and heaven to dispossess them of their rights. But by lives of unfaithfulness they were preparing for the condemnation of heaven and for separation from God.
犹太人珍视这样一种观念：他们是天所眷爱的，并且将永远作为上帝的教会而被高举。他们宣称自己是亚伯拉罕的子孙，在他们看来，自己兴盛的根基是如此稳固，以至于他们向天地夸口，谁也不能剥夺他们的权利。然而，他们不忠的生活正为自己招致天上的定罪，并与上帝分离。
“In the parable of the vineyard, after Christ had portrayed before the priests their crowning act of wickedness, He put to them the question, ‘When the Lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?’ The priests had been following the narrative with deep interest, and without considering the relation of the subject to themselves they joined with the people in answering, ‘He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out His vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render Him the fruits in their seasons.’
在葡萄园的比喻中，基督把他们罪恶的顶点呈现在祭司面前之后，便问他们：“所以，葡萄园的主人来到的时候，要怎样对付那些园户呢？”祭司们一直饶有兴趣地听着这个故事，并未想到这件事与他们自己有关，便与众人一同回答说：“他要毫不留情地除灭那些恶人，把他的葡萄园租给别的园户，由他们按时把果子交给他。”
“Unwittingly they had pronounced their own doom. Jesus looked upon them, and under His searching gaze they knew that He read the secrets of their hearts. His divinity flashed out before them with unmistakable power. They saw in the husbandmen a picture of themselves, and they involuntarily exclaimed, ‘God forbid!’
他们在不知不觉间宣告了自己的灭亡。耶稣注视着他们，在祂洞察人心的目光之下，他们知道祂看透了他们心中的秘密。祂的神性以无可置疑的权能显现在他们面前。他们在那些园户身上看到了自己的写照，便不由得惊呼：“断乎不可！”
“Solemnly and regretfully Christ asked, ‘Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner; this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.’
基督郑重而惋惜地问：“你们难道没有读过经上所写的吗：‘匠人所弃的石头，反倒成了房角的头块石；这是主所成就的，在我们眼中看为奇妙’？所以我告诉你们，神的国必从你们夺去，赐给那能结出其果子的百姓。凡跌在这石头上的，必摔碎；但这石头落在谁身上，就要把他碾得粉碎。”
“Christ would have averted the doom of the Jewish nation if the people had received Him. But envy and jealousy made them implacable. They determined that they would not receive Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. They rejected the Light of the world, and thenceforth their lives were surrounded with darkness as the darkness of midnight. The doom foretold came upon the Jewish nation. Their own fierce passions, uncontrolled, wrought their ruin. In their blind rage they destroyed one another. Their rebellious, stubborn pride brought upon them the wrath of their Roman conquerors. Jerusalem was destroyed, the temple laid in ruins, and its site plowed like a field. The children of Judah perished by the most horrible forms of death. Millions were sold, to serve as bondmen in heathen lands.
如果百姓接纳他，基督本可以使犹太民族免于厄运。但嫉妒与忌恨使他们顽固不化。他们决意不接纳拿撒勒人耶稣为弥赛亚。他们拒绝了世界的光，从此他们的生活被如午夜般的黑暗所笼罩。预言中的厄运临到犹太民族。他们狂暴而失控的激情酿成了他们的灭亡。他们在盲目的怒火中彼此残杀。他们悖逆、顽梗的骄傲招致罗马征服者对他们的震怒。耶路撒冷被毁，圣殿化为废墟，其址被像田地一样犁过。犹大子民以最可怕的死法丧命。数百万人被贩卖，到异教之地为奴。
“As a people the Jews had failed of fulfilling God’s purpose, and the vineyard was taken from them. The privileges they had abused, the work they had slighted, was entrusted to others.
作为一个民族，犹太人未能履行上帝的旨意，葡萄园就从他们那里被收回。他们所滥用的特权、他们所轻忽的工作，都托付给了别人。
“The parable of the vineyard applies not alone to the Jewish nation. It has a lesson for us. The church in this generation has been endowed by God with great privileges and blessings, and He expects corresponding returns.” Christ’s Object Lessons. 284–296.
“葡萄园的比喻不仅仅适用于犹太民族。它对我们也有教训。当代的教会蒙上帝赐予丰厚的特权和福分，祂也期望相称的果效。”《基督比喻的教训》，第284—296页。
The book of Joel identifies the history of the latter rain at the end of the world. The latter rain is God’s final warning message of the third angel of Revelation fourteen. Although the latter rain represents the message of the third angel, it also represents the communication process between Divinity and humanity as symbolized by Zechariah’s golden oil, the early and latter rains, the fire from the altar and other representations. The latter rain is not only a message, and the communication process between God and man, but it is also the only sanctified “methodology” of Bible study sustained in God’s Word. That methodology is Isaiah’s “line upon line” found in chapter twenty-eight.
约珥书揭示了世界末了晚雨的历史。晚雨是启示录第十四章第三位天使所传的上帝的末后警告信息。虽然晚雨代表第三位天使的信息，它也代表上帝与人类之间的沟通过程，这一过程由撒迦利亚所说的金油、早雨与晚雨、坛上的火以及其他象征所表明。晚雨不仅是一则信息、也是上帝与人之间的沟通过程，还是唯一由上帝的话语所维系、被分别为圣的查经“方法论”。这套方法论就是以赛亚书第二十八章中的“律上加律”。
At the beginning of ancient and also modern Israel, God, “the husbandman” brought Israel “from the wilderness.” Whether the captivity of four hundred and thirty years captivity in Egypt or the captivity of the Dark Ages from 538 unto 1798, Israel was taken out of “the wilderness,” for a “wilderness” is a symbol of slavery and captivity. Whether ancient literal Israel or modern spiritual Israel God delivered them out of a wilderness captivity and “established” them “as His own chosen possession, the Lord’s vineyard” called to be priests and princes who “were committed” with the privilege of representing “the oracles of God.” The “oracles” for ancient Israel being the Law and to modern Israel being both the Law and the prophecies.
在古代以及现代以色列的起初，神这位“栽培的人”，把以色列从“旷野”中领出来。无论是在埃及四百三十年的被掳，还是在538年至1798年的黑暗时代的被掳，以色列都被从“旷野”带出来；因为“旷野”是奴役与被掳的象征。无论是古代的以色列民族，还是现代属灵的以色列，神都把他们从旷野的被掳中拯救出来，并“立”他们“成为他所拣选的产业——主的葡萄园”，召他们作祭司和君王，且“被托付”代表“神的圣言”的特权。对古代以色列而言，“圣言”指的是律法；对现代以色列而言，则包括律法和预言。
“God has called His church in this day, as He called ancient Israel, to stand as a light in the earth. By the mighty cleaver of truth, the messages of the first, second, and third angels, He has separated them from the churches and from the world to bring them into a sacred nearness to Himself. He has made them the depositaries of His law and has committed to them the great truths of prophecy for this time. Like the holy oracles committed to ancient Israel, these are a sacred trust to be communicated to the world. The three angels of Revelation 14 represent the people who accept the light of God’s messages and go forth as His agents to sound the warning throughout the length and breadth of the earth.” Testimonies, volume 5, 455.
“上帝在这时代呼召祂的教会，正如祂呼召古代以色列一样，要在地上作为光而立。借着真理这大能的利器，借着第一位、第二位和第三位天使的信息，祂已将他们从众教会中分别出来，也从世界中分别出来，为要使他们与祂自己进入一种神圣的亲近关系之中。祂使他们成为祂律法的受托者，并将这时代伟大的预言真理托付给他们。正如那托付给古代以色列的神圣圣言一样，这些乃是要传达给世人的神圣托付。启示录第14章中的三位天使，代表那些接受上帝信息之光并作为祂的使者出去，在全地各处发出这警告的人。”《证言》卷五，第455页。
Modern Israel was ordained to proclaim the loud cry of the third angel under the power of the latter rain, while manifesting the character of Christ in their personal experience under the power of the Holy Spirit. The loud cry of the third angel is fulfilled during the outpouring of the latter rain, during a time when a false peace and safety latter rain message is being promoted by a class of men who are drunken with the wine of Babylon. These are Isaiah’s drunkards of Ephraim and Joel’s drinkers of wine who have the new wine cut off from their mouths. Those receiving the true latter rain message are represented by Daniel, Mishael, Hananiah and Azariah who rejected the Babylonian food for heavenly fare. These are the one hundred and forty-four thousand who sing the song of Moses and the Lamb, but also of the vineyard, for the vineyard parable was fulfilled in the history of Moses in the beginning of ancient Israel’s covenant relationship, and it was fulfilled again at the end of ancient Israel’s covenant relationship in the history of the Lamb.
现代以色列被命定要借着晚雨的能力宣告第三位天使的大呼喊，同时借着圣灵的能力，在他们的个人经历中彰显基督的品格。第三位天使的大呼喊是在晚雨浇灌期间得以应验的；那时，一班被巴比伦之酒所醉的人正在宣扬一个宣称“平安稳妥”的虚假晚雨信息。这些人就是以赛亚所说的以法莲的醉徒，也是约珥所说的酒徒，他们口中的新酒已经断绝。接受真实晚雨信息的人，则以但以理、米沙利、哈拿尼雅和亚撒利雅为代表；他们弃绝了巴比伦的饮食，选择天上的粮食。这些人就是那十四万四千人，他们唱摩西的歌和羔羊的歌，也唱葡萄园之歌，因为葡萄园的比喻在古代以色列立约关系之初于摩西的历史中得以应验，又在古代以色列立约关系的末期于羔羊的历史中再度应验。
The song of the vineyard concludes with a former covenant people being passed by when a new covenant people are being married to the Lord. The Lord passed by those who died in the forty-year wilderness wandering and entered into covenant with Joshua at the very same time he was divorcing those who would die. The Lord was divorcing ancient Israel at the very same time He was marrying the Christian church. The alpha or beginning history is represented by Moses and the omega is represented by the Lamb. The history they both represent is the history of the vineyard parable, thus Isaiah’s song of the vineyard is John the Revelator’s song of Moses and the Lamb.
葡萄园之歌的结局是：从前的约民被撇下，而新约的子民正与主成婚。主越过了在四十年旷野漂流中死去的人，并且就在他休弃那些将要死的人之时，与约书亚立约。主正在休弃古代以色列的同时，正在迎娶基督教会。阿尔法（即起初的历史）由摩西代表，俄梅伽则由羔羊代表。他们所代表的历史，就是葡萄园比喻的历史，因此，以赛亚的葡萄园之歌，就是启示录的约翰所唱的摩西之歌和羔羊之歌。
We will continue these thoughts in the next article.
我们将在下一篇文章中继续这些思考。
“These are not the words of Sister White, but the words of the Lord, and His messenger has given them to me to give to you. God calls upon you to no longer work at cross purposes with Him. Much instruction was given in regard to men claiming to be Christian when they are revealing the attributes of Satan, counteracting in spirit, word, and action the advancement of truth, and are surely following the path where Satan is leading them. In their hardness of heart they have grasped authority which in no way belongs to them, and which they should not exercise. Saith the great Teacher, ‘I will overturn, overturn, overturn.’ Men say in Battle Creek, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we’ but they are using common fire. Their hearts are not softened and subdued by the grace of God.” Manuscript Releases, volume 13, 222.
这些话不是怀特姊妹的话，而是主的话；祂的使者把它们交给我，要我转交给你们。上帝呼召你们不要再与祂背道而驰。关于那些自称为基督徒，却显露撒但的品性，在心灵、言语和行为上对抗真理的推进，并且确实走在撒但引导他们的道路上的人，已给予了许多教诲。他们因心硬而攫取了根本不属于他们、他们也不应当行使的权柄。伟大的教师说：“我必倾覆、倾覆、再倾覆。”有人在巴特尔克里克说：“耶和华的殿，耶和华的殿，就是我们”，然而他们所用的是凡火。他们的心并未被上帝的恩典所柔化并制服。《手稿发布》，第13卷，第222页。
“The patience of God has an object, but you are defeating it. He is allowing a state of things to come that you would fain see counteracted by and by, but it will be too late. God commanded Elijah to anoint the cruel and deceitful Hazael king over Syria, that he might be a scourge to idolatrous Israel. Who knows whether God will not give you up to the deceptions you love? Who knows but that the preachers who are faithful, firm, and true may be the last who shall offer the gospel of peace to our unthankful churches? It may be that the destroyers are already training under the hand of Satan and only wait the departure of a few more standard-bearers to take their places, and with the voice of the false prophet cry, ‘Peace, peace,’ when the Lord hath not spoken peace. I seldom weep, but now I find my eyes blinded with tears; they are falling upon my paper as I write. It may be that erelong all prophesyings among us will be at an end, and the voice which has stirred the people may no longer disturb their carnal slumbers.
神的忍耐自有其目的，但你们正在使之落空。他正在容许一种局面临到，你们不久便会盼望加以挽回，然而那时已为时太晚。神曾吩咐以利亚膏那残忍诡诈的哈薛为亚兰王，好使他成为拜偶像之以色列的惩罚之杖。谁知道神会不会把你们交给你们所喜爱的迷惑呢？谁知道那些忠心、坚定、真实的传道人，会不会就是最后一次向我们这些不知感恩的教会传讲和平之福音的人？也许毁灭者已经在撒但的手下受操练，只等再有几位旗手离开，便要顶替他们的位置，并用假先知的声音喊着：“平安，平安”，其实主并未说有平安。我很少落泪，但此刻我发现双眼被泪水蒙蔽；当我写下这些，泪水正滴落在纸上。也许不久我们中间一切的预言都要止息，那曾经搅动众人的声音也许再也不能扰乱他们属肉体的沉睡。
“When God shall work His strange work on the earth, when holy hands bear the ark no longer, woe will be upon the people. Oh, that thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the things that belong unto thy peace! Oh, that our people may, as did Nineveh, repent with all their might and believe with all their heart, that God may turn away His fierce anger from them.” Testimonies, volume 5, 77.
当上帝在地上施行祂奇异的作为，当圣洁的手不再抬约柜的时候，祸患必临到众民。啊，但愿你在这日子里，连你也知道那关乎你平安的事！啊，愿我们的百姓像尼尼微一样，尽力悔改，全心相信，使上帝转离向他们的烈怒。《证言》第五卷，77。
“If you indulge stubbornness of heart, and through pride and self-righteousness do not confess your faults, you will be left subject to Satan’s temptations. If when the Lord reveals your errors you do not repent or make confession, his providence will bring you over the ground again and again. You will be left to make mistakes of a similar character, you will continue to lack wisdom, and will call sin righteousness, and righteousness sin. The multitude of deceptions that will prevail in these last days will encircle you, and you will change leaders, and not know that you have done so.” Review and Herald, December 16, 1890.
如果你纵容心中的刚硬，因着骄傲和自以为义而不承认自己的过错，你就会落在撒但的试探之下。若当主指示你的错误时，你不悔改，也不认罪，他的护理就会一再带你走同样的路。你就会被任凭再犯类似性质的错误，仍旧缺乏智慧，把罪称为义，把义称为罪。这末后的日子里将盛行的众多迷惑会把你团团围住，你会换了领袖，却不知道自己已经这样做了。 Review and Herald，1890年12月16日。