14. Manna issue 88 - A Joyful Return 喜悅的回歸
aaliyah—UK 英國 aaliyah
When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us,
And we are glad.
Bring back our captivity, O LORD,
As the streams in the South.
Those who sow in tears
Shall reap in joy.
He who continually goes forth weeping,
Bearing seed for sowing,
Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
Bringing his sheaves with him. (Ps 126:1–6)
1（上行之詩。）當耶和華將那些被擄的帶回錫安的時候，我們好像做夢的人。
2我們滿口喜笑、滿舌歡呼的時候，外邦中就有人說：耶和華為他們行了大事！
3耶和華果然為我們行了大事，我們就歡喜。
4耶和華啊，求你使我們被擄的人歸回，好像南地的河水復流。
5流淚撒種的，必歡呼收割！
6那帶種流淚出去的，必要歡歡樂樂地帶禾捆回來！
(詩 126：1-6)
Psalm 126 is one of fifteen psalms known as the “Songs of Ascents,”
which were sung by the exiled Jews
as they “ascended” from Babylon to their homeland, Jerusalem,
during the time of Ezra the Scribe.
Seventy years before, God had allowed the Babylonians to capture Judah,
as punishment for the latter’s disobedience and idolatrous ways.
Yet, during this period of exile,
God still kept His covenant with Abraham.
At the appointed time,
He stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia,
to allow the exiled Jews to return to the promised land.
Later, as part of the Levites’ duties in the holy temple,
they would also sing these psalms, accompanied by instruments,
as they ascended the stairway to the inner court.
詩篇 126 篇，是15 首被稱為“上行之詩”的其中之一，
當那些被流放的猶太人，在文士以斯拉的時代，從巴比倫“上升”到自已家鄉耶路撒冷的時候，
所吟唱的詩歌。
七十年前，神允許巴比倫人佔領猶大，
作為猶大國不順服，拜偶像行為的懲罰。
然而，在這段流亡期間，
神仍然信守祂與亞伯拉罕的盟約。
在約定的時間，
祂激動了波斯王居魯士的心靈，
允許被虜的猶太人回歸應許之地。
後來，作為利未人在聖殿的部分職責，
當他們登上通往內院的樓梯時
也會用樂器伴奏，吟唱詩歌，。
GOD BROUGHT BACK WAVES OF CAPTIVES 神領回一波又一波的俘虜
In the darkness of their captivity,
God’s people yearned for the land they had left,
for the God they had forsaken.
Indeed, when the returning exiles sang of God’s mercy and deliverance,
they were poignantly described as being “like those who dream.”
God, in His mercy, had brought them back from the foreign land of Babylon to the promised land.
For any lost or wayward child of God,
the experience of returning to God’s fold is akin to a dream.
Today, we hear of numerous testimonies, going back many generations,
of God’s grace and guidance in bringing back those who were once lost.
在他們被虜的黑暗中，
神的百姓渴望他們所離開的土地，
因為他們已經離棄了神。
的確，當被虜的百姓回歸，歌頌神的憐憫和拯救時，
他們很深刻地被描述為“像那些做夢的人”。
神以祂的憐憫，將他們從異國巴比倫帶回應許之地。
對於任何迷失或任性的神子女，
回到神羊圈的體驗，就宛如做夢一般。
今日，我們聽過了無數的見證，可以追溯到以前許多世代，
神的恩典和帶導，使那些曾經迷失的人回歸。
In the UK, for example, the early believers
who emigrated from the island of Ap Chau in Hong Kong
underwent such a spiritual journey.
In the 1960s, the first batch of Ap Chau youths arrived in the UK.
They settled in areas far from the existing fellowship of True Jesus Church members,
primarily composed of Malaysian students in and around London.
The Ap Chau immigrants lived under the roofs of strangers,
in unfamiliar territories, without family or church support.
They lived like the people of the world.
As a result, their faith spiralled downwards.
Scattered throughout the UK,
they were like lost sheep without a shepherd
(Ezek 34:5–6).
Although there were moments of spiritual revival during fellowship gatherings,
their faith became stagnant without the guidance of a shepherd.
例如，英國早期的信徒，
他們從香港鴨洲島移民，
經歷了這樣的屬靈之旅。
1960年代，第一批鴨洲青年抵達英國。
他們定居於遠離了現有真耶穌教會信徒團契的地區，
基本上是由倫敦及其周邊地區的馬來西亞學生組成。
鴨洲移民住在陌生人的屋簷下，
在陌生的地區，沒有家族或教會的幫忙。
他們像世人一樣生活。
結果，他們的信仰呈現螺旋式的墮落。
遍佈散落在英國各地，
他們就像沒有牧人的迷失的羊
（結 34：5-6）。
雖然團契聚會的時候，會復興他們的靈性，
然而沒有牧人的引導，他們的信心就停滯不前。
As they ceased calling on the name of the Lord,
these members entered a period of spiritual darkness.
Nonetheless, God did not forsake them.
He sent His servants to encourage His people—in 1972,
the International Assembly started to send workers
to shepherd these members and help establish regular services.
By 1975, God had brought the majority of the Ap Chau population to the UK,
pushing the number of members to seven hundred.
And through the continual labor of the workers,
several prayer houses were established in the UK during this period.
By God’s bountiful grace, in 1976,
the first True Jesus Church in the UK was dedicated to the Lord in Newcastle upon Tyne.
當他們不再呼求主名的時候，
這些信徒就進入了屬靈的黑暗時期。
儘管如此，神並沒有拋棄他們。
在1972 年，祂派了僕人去鼓勵她的子女
—
聯總開始派遣工人
來牧養這些信徒，並且幫助建立定期聚會。
大約於 1975 年的時候，神將大部分鴨洲居民帶到了英國，
將信徒人數推昇至七百人。
在此期間，通過工人的不斷勞心勞力，
英國建立了幾間祈禱所。
靠著神豐盛的恩典，於1976年，
英國第一間真耶穌教會會堂於泰恩河畔，紐卡索獻堂。
When members recall these events, some forty years later,
they still clearly remember the abundant grace of God.
Such stories of God’s love and compassion
toward our forefathers in the midst of despair can seem like a dream,
and we can indeed proclaim:
“The LORD has done great things for us, and we are glad.”
大約四十年後，當信徒回憶起這些往事的時候，
他們仍然清楚地記得神豐富的恩典。
對於我們長輩處於絕望中
這些關於神的愛和憐憫的故事，就像是一場夢，
我們確實可以宣稱：
“3耶和華果然為我們行了大事，我們就歡喜。”
(詩 126：3)
SOWING IN TEARS FOR THOSE STILL CAPTIVE 為那些仍被虜的同胞流淚撒種
Many of us have made this same journey from captivity back to God.
In dark moments of our faith,
we may have been entrapped by the world,
before eventually being brought back by the Lord.
Therefore, we can testify to the Lord’s abidance,
and rejoice over His abundant mercy.
However, we will also find ourselves thinking of our brethren who are still lost in the world.
我們許多人，都經歷了同樣的旅程，從被虜之民回到神身邊。
在我們信仰的黑暗時刻，
於最終被主帶回來之前，
我們可能被這個世界困住了。
因此，我們可以見證主的同在，
並因祂豐盛的憐憫而歡喜。
然而，我們也仍發現自己會想著，那些仍然迷失於世界中的許多弟兄。
When the returned Jews sang,
“Bring back our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the South,”
many of their fellow countrymen were still in captivity.
Likewise, today, we want our loved ones to be set free from the world,
to join us as we ascend into the inner court of our King.
Some of these brethren may even be our physical family members.
Our hearts ache for their return.
當歸來的猶太人歌頌之時，
“耶和華啊，求你使我們被擄的人歸回，好像南地的河水復流”，
他們有許多同胞仍被俘禁著。
同樣，今日我們希望自已所愛的人，可以脫離世界，
當我們進入君王的內院時，他們可以加入我們。
有些弟兄甚至可能是我們肉體上的親人。
我們內心一直為他們的回歸而揪心。
For this reason, we “sow in tears” in prayer
and continually go “forth weeping” each day,
only to end each day still weeping.
It seems a strange phenomenon,
yet this is the result when you see your own still enslaved,
despite repeated efforts to bring them back.
At times, it seems as though the more abundantly we love them,
the less we are loved
(2 Cor 12:15).
Often, workers of God experience the most rejection
when reaching out to lost sheep.
It is deeply painful when you pour your heart out to someone,
only to be met with indifference or rejection.
This was the pain the Old Testament (OT) prophets experienced
as they “went in bitterness” to the captives
(Ezek 3:14).
Perhaps our early UK workers felt similarly,
toiling to re-establish the faith of the members.
因為如此，我們在禱告中“流淚播種”，
每天不斷地“一直流淚哭泣”，
只是為了結束每天還一直哭泣的情況。
這看起來很是很奇怪的現象，
然而，這就是當你仍看到自己依然被奴役之時，所產生的結果，
儘管會一再付出努力想要讓他們回歸。
有時候，似乎我們越更加愛他們，
我們被反愛得很少
（林後 12:15）。
通常，當工人伸出手去尋找迷羊的時候，
就會體驗到最多的拒絕
。
當你向某個人傾訴心聲，就會感到非常的痛苦，
因為只會遇到別人的冷漠或拒絕。
這就是舊約（OT）先知，所曾體驗過的痛苦，
因為他們“帶著痛苦的心”去接近那些被俘虜的百姓
（結 3:14）。
或許我們早期的英國工人，也有類似的感覺，
很努力地重新建立信徒的信仰。
The Bible shows us that, throughout the ages,
our Lord has patiently waited for His children to return to Him
(2 Pet 3:9).
Even in the beginning,
when Adam and Eve were ensnared by temptation,
God called out, “Where are you?”
(Gen 3:9).
As each generation falls captive to the world,
we see the heartache of our God,
who is “grieved” and “crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from [Him]”
(Gen 6:6; Ezek 6:9).
When Jesus was in the world, He lamented over Jerusalem:
“How often I wanted to gather your children together,
as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,
but you were not willing!”
(Lk 19:41, 13:34b).
聖經告訴我們，歷代以來，
我們的主耐心地等待祂的子女回到身邊
（彼後 3:9）。
即使一開始，
當亞當和夏娃被試探所困之時，
神呼喊道：“你們在哪裡？”
（創 3:9）。
隨著每一代人都被世界所俘虜，
我們看到神的心痛，
"他們因為淫亂之心而離開神"，讓神感到“憂傷”和“心碎”
（創 6:6；結 6:9）。
耶穌在世時，祂為耶路撒冷哀哭：
“34b我多次願意聚集你的兒女，好像母雞把小雞聚集在翅膀底下，只是你們不願意。”
（路 19:41, 13:34b）。
ONLY GOD CAN DELIVER 只有神拯救
From the history of the Jews and of the UK church,
we know that only God can deliver His people from captivity.
When we dwell upon the past forty-plus years of church development in the UK,
it is evident that
“the LORD has done great things for us.”
Our hope and trust is that He will continue to do the same, today and tomorrow.
The love and guidance of our Lord Jesus Christ are constant and,
as such, we should rely fully on Him who longs to gather us together.
從猶太人及英國教會發展的歷史來看，
我們知道，只有神才能將祂的子民，從俘虜中拯救出來。
當我們深思英國過去四十多年來的教會發展時，
很明顯地
“耶和華為我們做了大事。”
我們的盼望和依賴是，祂不論是今日和明日，都將永不改變。
我們主耶穌基督的愛和引領是恆久不變的，
因此，我們應該完全依靠神，因為祂渴望將我們全部聚集在一起。
As we rely on our Savior,
we can continue to “sow in tears,”
knowing that we will eventually “reap in joy”
and “shall doubtless come again with rejoicing”
—just like our forefathers.
The seeds that we sow are not only words of doctrine and life,
but also deeds of love.
Seeds of love have the best chance of surviving in the harsh environment of a heart in captivity.
It was the love of the OT prophets, our early workers,
and ultimately the love of God,
which brought back those in captivity.
Therefore, we have this assurance,
that “God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love
which you have shown toward His name,”
and we will no doubt
“come again with rejoicing, bringing [our] sheaves with [us]”
(Heb 6:10; Ps 126:6).
當我們依靠救主的時候，
我們可以一直持續“含淚播種”，
因為我們知道到最後，終將會“喜悅收割”，
並且“豪無疑問地，必定能歡歡喜喜地再來”
—就像我們的祖先一樣。
我們播下的種子，不僅是教義和生命的道理，
同時也是慈愛的行為。
慈愛的種子才最有可能，讓惡劣環境中被囚禁的心存活下來。
只有來自舊約先知的慈愛，
他們是我們早期的工人，
以及神最終的慈愛，
才讓那些被俘虜的人可以回歸。
因此，我們擁有這樣的保證，
“10因為神並非不公義，竟忘記你們所做的工和你們為他名所顯的愛心，”
我們將毫無遲疑
“必要歡歡樂樂地帶[我們]禾捆回來！”
（來 6:10；詩 126:6）。
Though the physical church has been established,
we must toil daily in the arduous task of building up the spiritual church.
May we continue to strive for this dream through relying on our Lord Jesus,
sowing seeds of love as we ascend into the inner courtyard of our Lord and King.
Amen.
雖然實體教會已經建立，
我們必須每天為了艱鉅的任務辛勤工作，好建立屬靈教會。
當我們昇天走進我們的主和王的院內時，
願我們靠著主耶穌，繼續為這個夢想奮鬥，而播下愛的種子。
阿門。
小頁 markvmax@hotmail.com
歡迎主內同靈來信加入翻譯
Manna 嗎哪 56 (1)