Manna issue 68 - The First Couple 第一對夫婦
Lessons learned from the first
husband and wife.
從第一對夫婦身上學習
Timothy Yeung—Vancouver, Canada
加拿大溫哥華 楊志豪傳道
Then the rib which the LORD God
had taken from man He made into a
woman, and He brought her to the
man. And Adam said: “This is now
bone of my bones and flesh of my
flesh; she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”
Therefore a man shall leave his
father and mother and be joined to
his wife, and they shall become one
flesh.
(Gen 2:22–24)
22耶和華神就用那人身上所取的肋骨造成一個女人，領他到那人跟前。
23那人說：這是我骨中的骨，肉中的肉，可以稱他為女人，因為他是從男人身上取出來的。
24因此，人要離開父母，與妻子連合，二人成為一體。
(創 2：22-24)
The first union of a man and a
woman in the history of mankind:
What a solemn moment for Adam
and Eve, when God personally put
them together for life! What joy,
what bliss, what excitement! What
bright hopes for their future! Their
hearts were so close, to the extent
that Adam called his wife “bone of his
bones and flesh of his flesh.” There is
no greater intimacy than that.
在人類的歷史中，第一次男人和女人聯合在一起：
是亞當和夏娃多麼隆重的一個時刻，
由其是由神親自把他們放在一起生活的。
生活很快樂，受到了很多祝福，也另人感到非常的激動！
他們的未來，充滿了很多光明的盼望！
他們的內心緊緊相繫，到了一種亞當稱乎他妻子
"他的骨中骨和肉中肉"的程度。
在世上在也沒有任何更親密的情況可以與此作比較。
Unfortunately Adam and Eve’s bliss
did not last. Only one chapter after
their “wedding,” they sinned against
God and, as a result, were driven out
from the garden of Eden, away from
the face of God. At the same time,
they began to experience problems
in their marriage. Note how Adam
addressed Eve when God required
an account of him for their sin: “The
woman whom You gave to be with
me…” (Gen 3:12). What a contrast
to his previous way of addressing
her! We can imagine how much they
had drifted apart from each other…
all because of sin.
很不幸的是，亞當和夏娃的祝福，並沒有維持很久。
在結完婚一章之後，他們就得罪神，
結果是，要被驅逐離開伊甸園，離開神的面。
同時之間，他們開始經歷了婚姻上的問題。
讓我們注意到的是，當神要亞當說明他們如何犯罪的時候，
亞當是如何評論夏娃的：
你所賜給我與我同居的女人...(創 3：12)
跟他前面描述她的方式，跟本就是一個很強烈的對比！
我們可以想見得到，他們互相之間是已經如何疏離了，
一切都只因為犯了罪。
In fact, our relationship with our
spouse is directly related to our
relationship with God, for if there is
discord between husband and wife,
their prayers are hindered (1 Pet 3:7).
事實上，我們和自已配偶的關係，都直接連繫到我們與神的關係，
若是夫妻之間有所不和，
他們所發出的禱告就會受到且礙。
(彼前 3：7)
Today, we may wonder why we
encounter difficulties in our marriage
even though God has put us together.
While it may be true that God has
matched us with our spouse, we still
have to make efforts to maintain and
manage our marriage.
今日，即使是神把我們放在一起，
我們或許會想，為何自已在婚姻上會遇到困難呢？
雖然神把我們和配偶媒合在一起，這或許是一件事實，
我們仍然要努力去維持和管理自已的婚姻生活。
Although Adam and Eve lived
thousands of years ago, the
challenges and problems they faced
in their marriage were quite similar to
those we face today. For this reason,
it is worth looking into their mistakes
to learn how we can preserve and
manage our own marriage.
雖然亞當和夏娃活在幾千年之前，
他們婚姻所面對的挑戰和問題，
仍然和今日我們所要面對的情況，還是非常的相似。
因為這個原因，值得我們好好深入探討他們的錯誤，並且從中學習，
這樣我們才能學到如何保守和管理自已的婚姻。
FLEE TEMPTATION 遠離試探
Now the serpent was more cunning
than any beast of the field which the
LORD God had made. And he said
to the woman, “Has God indeed
said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree
of the garden’?” And the woman
said to the serpent, “We may eat
the fruit of the trees of the garden;
but of the fruit of the tree which is
in the midst of the garden, God has
said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall
you touch it, lest you die.’ ” Then
the serpent said to the woman,
“You will not surely die. For God
knows that in the day you eat of it
your eyes will be opened, and you
will be like God, knowing good and
evil.”
(Gen 3:1–5)
1耶和華神所造的，惟有蛇比田野一切的活物更狡猾。蛇對女人說：神豈是真說不許你們吃園中所有樹上的果子麼？
2女人對蛇說：園中樹上的果子，我們可以吃，
3惟有園當中那棵樹上的果子，神曾說：你們不可吃，也不可摸，免得你們死。
4蛇對女人說：你們不一定死；
5因為神知道，你們吃的日子眼睛就明亮了，你們便如神能知道善惡。
(創 3：1-5)
Initially, Adam and Eve never
thought about eating the forbidden
fruit because there were so many
other fruits to eat in the garden
of Eden. They were satisfied with
what they had. However, when the
serpent told Eve about the benefits
of the forbidden fruit, her desire was
aroused and she ate of the fruit.
一開始，亞當和夏娃從沒有想過要吃禁果，
因為伊甸園中，他們有很多其他的水果可以吃。
他們對自已所有的一直感到很滿意。
然而，當蛇告訴夏娃，禁果是好東西的時候，
她就有了慾望，接著就吃了這禁果。
Many marital relationships break
down due to temptation. Just as
Satan made use of the serpent to
change the relationship of the first
couple, he offers many temptations
in the outside world to husbands and
wives today.
許多婚姻關係破裂了，都因為有外在引誘。
就如同撒旦用蛇來改變第一對夫妻，他們之間的關係，
他提供了許多外面世界的誘惑，給今日的丈夫和妻子。
There was once a brother who
had a beautiful female colleague. He
loved his wife, so he didn’t give any
thought to this colleague. However,
over time, he became attracted to
her because he had to work very
closely with her and they could
communicate well with each other.
When he realized that he looked
forward to going to work everyday
because of her, he knew that he was
in danger. In the end, he changed his
job to escape from this temptation
and to protect his marriage.
曾經有一個弟兄，她有很漂亮的女同事。
他很愛太太，所以從來沒有去想過這位同事。
然而隨著時間的增加，他開始被她吸引了，
因為他們工作的時候很緊密，彼此之間也可以很好的溝通。
當他了解到，自已想要每天去工作，只是因為想見她，
他知道自已已經很危險了。
到最後，他換了工作，來逃離這個試探，保護自已的婚姻。
Hence, if we are faced with
temptations from the opposite
gender, we must run. We may also
need to share this with our spouse
and ask him or her to pray for us.
Eve did not flee from the source of
temptation; she even talked to the
serpent—in the end, this caused her
downfall.
因此，若是我們從異性身上，面對到許多的引誘，我們一定要逃。
我們也或許要和自已的配偶分享這件事，
請他或她來為我們禱告。
夏娃沒有逃離引誘的來源；
她甚至和蛇聊天-後來，這就導致她墮落了。
Companionship should not be merely physical but should extend into the
spiritual realm. Just as husbands have the responsibility to bring their wives
before God, wives have the responsibility to keep their husbands close to God.
同靈之情，不該只有在同體上，而且同時要延伸到屬靈的國度。
就如丈夫有責任要把太太帶到神面前，
妻子也有責任要讓先生可以親近神。
FULFILL YOUR ROLES 作好你的角色
When God put the first husband and
wife together, He wanted them to
become one flesh. Yet He assigned
different roles to them.
當神把第一位丈夫和妻子放在一起的時候，
祂要他們可以成為一體。
然而祂卻分配不同的角色給他們。
God created the husband to be the
head of the wife, as Christ is the head
of the church (Eph 5:23). As such, the
husband should provide leadership
to his family, especially in spiritual
matters. For example, he should take
the initiative to bring his family for
church services and in building the
family altar. Furthermore, he should
correct his family members when
they are about to go against God’s
commandments.
神創造了先生成為妻子的頭，就如同基督是教會的頭。
(弗 5：23)
因為這樣，先生在自已的家裡，要有領導能力，特別是關於屬靈的事情。
例如，他應該要主動把家人帶到教會去作禮拜，並且建立好家庭祭壇。
更進一步，當有家人快要違背神的誡命之時，
他要糾正這家人的錯誤。
However, we see that Adam did
not lead his family during a time of
need (Gen 3:6–7). When his wife
became weak, ate of the forbidden
fruit and even gave it to him to eat,
he did not stop her; instead Adam
listened to her and compromised his
own spiritual life.
然而，我們看到在有需要的時候，
亞當並沒有負責帶領他的家。
(創 3。6-7)
當他太太變軟弱的時候，吃了禁果，
甚至把這禁果給他也吃了，
他並沒有阻止她；
相反地，亞當聽了她的話，犧牲了自已的屬靈生命。
When God formed Eve, He
wanted her to help Adam tend the
garden of Eden (Gen 2:18, 15) and
to be his companion. In fact, this
companionship was for both Adam
and Eve, and should not be merely
physical but should extend into the
spiritual realm. Just as husbands
have the responsibility to bring their
wives before God, wives have the
responsibility to keep their husbands
close to God. Instead of doing this,
Eve gave the fruit to Adam to eat,
leading him away from God (Gen
3:17).
當神造了夏娃，神希望她可以幫助亞當照顧伊甸園，(創 2：18，15)
成為他的伴侶。
事實上，這樣的伴侶之情，是針對亞當和夏娃雙方的，
而且不應該只有包含在肉體上，還應該延伸到屬靈的國度。
就如同丈夫有責任要把太太帶到神面前
而妻子也有責任要讓先生可以親近神。
夏娃不但沒有這麼作，她把禁果給亞當吃了，
從神面前，把他帶走。
(創 3：17)
In our life and faith journey, we will
inevitably meet with trials and setbacks.
At such times, God wants husbands
and wives to support each other.
在我們的生命和信仰旅程中，
我們不可避免的會遇見到試探和挫折。
遇到這種狀況的時候，
神要丈夫和太太彼此互相幫助。
Two are better than one, because
they have a good reward for their
labor. For if they fall, one will lift up
his companion.
(Eccl 4:9–10)
9兩個人總比一個人好，因為二人勞碌同得美好的果效。
10若是跌倒，這人可以扶起他的同伴；
(傳 4：9-10)
Abigail left us a good example.
When her husband Nabal risked
losing his life because he had reviled
David’s messengers, Abigail stepped
in. She took up the responsibility
for not meeting David earlier and
appeased him with her gift of food
and wine. She fulfilled her role as
her husband’s helper and supporter,
without blaming Nabal for his own
folly.
亞比該留給我們很好的榜樣。
當她的丈夫拿八，因為羞辱了大衛的使者，
生命受到威脅很危險的時候，這時候亞比該介入了事情的處理。
她肩負起責任，不提早和大衛見面，
而是送一些食物和好酒的禮物，來平息大衛的怒氣。
她盡了自已的角色，成為她丈夫的好幫助和支持者，
而不是只有責怪拿八行事很愚蠢。
IMPROVE COMMUNICATION 加強溝通
So when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree
desirable to make one wise, she
took of its fruit and ate. She also
gave to her husband with her, and
he ate.
(Gen 3:6)
6於是女人見那棵樹的果子好作食物，也悅人的眼目，且是可喜愛的，
能使人有智慧，就摘下果子來吃了，又給他丈夫，他丈夫也吃了。
(創 3：6)
When Eve ate of the forbidden fruit,
the Bible describes only actions; there
was no communication between her
and her husband. Eve acted on her
own without consulting her husband,
and was subsequently deceived.
當夏娃吃了禁果，聖經只有描寫動作；
其中並沒有她和先生之間的溝通和對話。
夏娃自已行動，並沒有詢問自已的先生，
接著就被騙了。
This goes to show that there must
be communication in a marriage.
Quite often, we lack communication
with our spouse because there are
too many distractions. After a busy
day at work, we often want to relax
by watching our favorite television
program, surfing the web or playing
a computer game.
這正好說明，在婚姻裡面一定要有溝通。
常常有時候，我們和配偶很缺乏溝通，
因為有許多讓人分心的事。
在一天的忙碌工作之後，
我們常想要放鬆，看一些愛看的電視節目，
上上網，還是打打電腦遊戲。
However, the less we talk to our
spouse, the colder our relationship
will grow because there will be less
and less common ground between us.
We need to remove these obstacles to
our communication. Instead of doing
our own thing all the time, let us try
to share quality time together—even
if it is just by switching off the TV and
talking to each other over dinner.
然而，我們越少和自已的配偶說話，
我們的關係就會變得越加冷淡，
因為我們之間的共通之處，就會變得越來越少。
我們要藉著溝通的機會，把這些阻礙移除。
不要一直只作自已的事情，
讓我們試著一起彼此分享一些沒有外界干擾的寶貴時光 -
即使只是把電視關掉，在吃晚餐的時候，好好聊一聊，這都很好。
COME BEFORE GOD TOGETHER 一起來到神面前
When God looked for Adam and Eve
after they had sinned, they withdrew
from God and hid themselves (Gen
3:8). But did this solve their problem?
當神在亞當和夏娃犯罪之後，在尋找他們，
他們遠離神，把自已隱藏起來。
(創 3：8)
但是他們這麼作，這的可以解決問題嗎？
When we encounter problems in
our marriage, we tend to think that
this is due to personality differences,
communication problems or
temptations. Quite often, that causes
us to repeat Adam and Eve’s mistake:
they blamed each other and the
serpent (Gen 3:11–13) instead of
looking at themselves.
當我們在婚姻中遇到問題的時候，
我們很容易認為，這是因為人格特質的差異，
溝通有問題，或是遇見了引誘。
很多時候，這就讓我們重覆了亞當和夏娃的錯誤：
他們責怪對方，及那條蛇(創 3：11-13)
而不是去看看自已犯了什麼錯。
In reality, our marital problems
are often linked to our relationship
with God. Perhaps we are too stiffnecked
and unwilling to change our
bad habits or listen to our spouse’s
opinion. That indicates a sense of
pride; yet God has said that He resists
the proud but gives grace to the
humble (Jas 4:6).
在真實的世界中，我們的婚姻問題時常連結到我們與神的關係。
或許我們非常的碩頸，不願意改變自已的壞習慣，
或是去聽聽配偶的意見。
這就代表了，有一點的騙傲；
6但神在聖經上說：祂阻擋驕傲的人，賜恩給謙卑的人。
(雅 4：6)
Maybe we are so busy pursuing our
careers or caring for our children that
we have forgotten about our spouse’s
needs and neglected to draw near to
God. Yet God has said, “do not worry
about your [or your children’s] life,
what you will eat or what you will
drink; nor about your body, what you
will put on… For after all these things
the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly
Father knows that you need all these
things. But seek first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and all
these things shall be added to you”
(Mt 6:25,32–33). Therefore, we
need to examine ourselves and our
relationship with God.
或許我們很忙在追求職場上的成就，
或是悉心照顧小孩，所以我們就忘了配偶的需要，
以及忽略了去親近神。
然而神已經說了，
25不要為生命(為小孩子)憂慮吃甚麼，喝甚麼；為身體憂慮穿甚麼。
32這都是外邦人所求的，你們需用的這一切東西，你們的天父是知道的。
33你們要先求他的國和他的義，這些東西都要加給你們了。
(太 6：25-33)
所以，我們要省查自已，及自已與神的關係。
Moreover, we need to come before
God together with our spouse. If
both husband and wife draw near
to God, they will also grow closer to
each other; for the Lord Himself will
bridge the gap between us.
不只這樣，我們要和自已的配偶一起來到神的面前。
若是丈夫和妻子雙雙都很親近神，他們之間也會變的更加親密；
因為神會親自來彌補我們之間的代溝。
The importance of having a family
altar cannot be underestimated.
In fact, it is vital to establish our
own family altar from the start of
our marriage. When we study the
Bible together, we can discuss and
understand each other’s weaknesses
and encourage each other with the
word of God. We will also experience
the joy of sharing with each other.
不要低估建立家庭祭壇的重要性。
事實上，從我們婚姻一開始之後，就建立自已的家庭祭壇是很重要的。
當我們一起讀經的時候，可以討論，了解彼此的弱點，
用神的話語互相鼓勵。
我們也就會體會到彼此分享的喜悅。
When we pray together, we can
experience the strength of two
people praying together. And as we
allow the Holy Spirit to constantly fill
us and work in us, we will be able to
forgive and support each other, as
well as to face the challenges in our
marriage together.
當我們一起禱告，可以體會到，二個人一起禱告的力量。
隨著我們讓聖經一直充滿我們，在我們心中動工，
我們就可以作到饒恕及彼此扶持，
同時也可以一起來面對婚姻上的挑戰。
Let us therefore draw near to
God with our spouse in the garden
of Eden…the place where God first
blessed mankind with the joy of
marriage.
所以，讓我們和自已的配偶在伊甸園中與神親近...
那裡是神第一次用婚姻的喜悅祝福人類的地方。
小頁 markvmax@hotmail.com
歡迎主內同靈來信加入英翻中的事工
Manna 嗎哪 56 (1)