And I said to him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Archives for 10 月 2021
Bible Verse–Revelation 7:9
26 10 月, 2021 by Leave a Comment
After this I beheld, and, see, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
Bible Verses–Revelation 5:9-10
23 10 月, 2021 by Leave a Comment
And they sung a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And have made us to our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
When the Colleague Shirked Her Duties at Work, She Acted This Way
20 10 月, 2021 by Leave a Comment
By Zhang Jie
In a fine afternoon in early summer, the sun was high in the sky and roasting the earth. It was almost time for students to leave school. The murderous heat didn’t mean to fade away and the air was thick with heat, so that the normally active leaves on the both sides of the road lolled their heads.
When Zhang Jie returned to her workplace after meeting, she saw a pile of unwashed bowls and chopsticks sitting out there, the napkins on the floor, the grease marks on the tables, and the dirty rag lying there in plain sight. Everything was at sixes and sevens. At this moment, Zhang Jie got extremely angry and her face changed at once, her delight of having a meeting with brothers and sisters thoroughly wiped away. She was very unhappy and complained inside, “This colleague is too irresponsible. You think you’re the boss’ relative, so you can usually shirk your duties or take a stroll? Every time when picking vegetables, washing vegetables, washing the bowls and other cleaning, I did more than you. This time I was just on leave for several hours, but you’ve gone away, leaving me to do these work. It’s okay for me to do more work on ordinary days, but why did you still wait for me to do these work instead of washing them yourself in my absence?” The more Zhang Jie thought, the angrier she became. She thought: Even if I do more work, my wages won’t be more than others’, nor will you appreciate it. From now on, I’ll just do my own share of work and never do more. Though Zhang Jie thought this way, yet when she saw so many dirty bowls and chopsticks, she just ate humble pie and finished washing them.
Then one day, when Zhang Jie came back to the restaurant from her business, she again saw that there lay some unwashed bowls and chopsticks. Because of her delay, she immediately began to wash them. But halfway through washing, she thought inside, “Well, I went out on business, but you should do your share of work. Why do you see so many unwashed bowls and chopsticks but don’t wash them? Every time I worked more but the boss didn’t pay me more money. Today I’ll only do my own work and leave you the remaining part.” She was full of complaints inside but somewhat hesitated over whether she should do so or not. Then she thought she was a believer in God and shouldn’t calculate so much like the unbelievers but should have the likeness of a Christian. Hence, she reluctantly washed all the bowls and chopsticks, yet still had a bit of complaint toward her colleague in her heart.
When Zhang Jie got home after a busy day, she ached all over, as if every bone had scattered apart. She, harassed and fatigued, lay on the sofa and couldn’t help but think of what had happened between her colleague and her those days. Then she came before God and prayed, “God! My colleague always shirks her duties and leaves me lots of work to do, so my heart was filled with complaints toward her. I also have prejudices against her and don’t want to talk to her. God, I want to tolerate and forgive her, but I can’t do that. May You lead me to understand the truth and not to live in satanic corrupt disposition.”
After prayer, Zhang Jie read God’s words that say, “Man’s corrupt disposition stems from his being poisoned and trampled upon by Satan, from the egregious harm that Satan has inflicted upon his thinking, morality, insight, and sense. It is precisely because these fundamental things of man have been corrupted by Satan, and are utterly unlike how God originally created them, that man opposes God and does not understand the truth. Thus, changes in man’s disposition should begin with changes in his thinking, insight and sense that will change his knowledge of God and his knowledge of the truth.” Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life also says, “Now, the interpersonal relationships of all people are not normal. This is mainly because they have been deeply corrupted by Satan. Their character is extremely low: People all seek only profit and only focus on taking advantage of others when handling things; there are their own intentions and purposes in all things. People all live for themselves and for their flesh; they have no slightest care or love for others, and even no affection or love which man should be equipped with. People intrigue against each other, guard against each other and fight both openly and in secret, being unable to get along normally; the conscience and reason people should be equipped with has completely disappeared. People aren’t of one heart and mind with others; if they don’t have a little bit of patience, they will be arch-enemies. With their hearts filled with evil and fighting, people are opposed to each other and sworn enemies of each other, without the slightest likeness of a man. Their hearts have totally been occupied by Satan, and full of Satan’s philosophies.”
Zhang Jie realized that God’s words and the sermons and fellowship were saying exactly her behaviors and deeds. She thought, “In my interactions with others, I often quibbled about everything and calculated my own personal benefit; once I did more work, I would complain about it, and didn’t accept, care or understand others, so my interpersonal relationships weren’t normal. Since I worked in the gourmet kitchen with my colleague, I always did more work than she. On the outside, I didn’t openly dispute with her, but in reality I was unsatisfied with and belittled her, thinking she was too lazy. Even when I saw she didn’t work, I wanted to leave work behind. Was it not because my efforts were not rewarded that I had hatred for her? Would I make so much fuss, if the boss offered me more wages because of my doing more work? The definite answer is no. It was because my interests were infringed upon, I suffered more in the flesh, but my wages were not more than my colleague’s, that I had prejudices against her. Was it not the dominance of satanic philosophy—“Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost”—that caused this? Satan is using the principle of survival—“Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost”—to harm people, which causes people not to have true love or help in dealings with others, but to plot against each other for their profit. Now, I’m a believer, so I can’t live by satanic philosophy; instead, I should act according to God’s words. In all of my words and actions, I should bear witness to and glorify God. I can’t be like the unbelievers who shirk their duties for their profit and don’t do their own work.” At that point, Zhang Jie understood God’s will and determined to forsake her own satanic dispositions, rely on God and ask Him to guide her to interact harmoniously with her colleague.
Later, Zhang Jie read the following passage of God’s words, “If you want to have a proper relationship with God, your heart must turn to God, and on this foundation, you will also have a proper relationship with other people.” She also read a passage of Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life, “In order for people to interact normally with one another, they must possess a few principles of practice. These principles should not only include not taking advantage of others, not harming others, but having some love. They further include having a conscience and rationality, helping one another, showing tolerance to one another, caring for others, letting others benefit in all situations, considering others, not just caring about yourself, showing compassion for others’ weaknesses, and forgiving the transgressions of others. If we have these few principles, we will be able to build a normal relationship with others and we will be able to live in harmony with each other.”
After reading God’s words and the fellowship from the above, Zhang Jie’s heart suddenly became cheerful. She thought, “God’s words have pointed out the correct way to practice. It turns out that if one wants to maintain a normal relationship with others, he must practice according to God’s words, establish a normal relationship with God first, pray before God and rely on Him in all things, and accept all the situations, people, matters, and things that befall him from God. What’s more, he must follow the principles while practicing the truth: having a loving heart, tolerating and helping others, not doing things just for his own benefits but thinking more about others, learning to sympathize with and understanding others.” Thinking of this, Zhang Jie stopped frowning and smiled more and more. She deeply knew this environment was set by God for changing her corrupt dispositions, that this was God’s love and salvation of her, and that she couldn’t fixate her eyes on her colleague, but should treat her properly, and live out the likeness of a real person to glorify God and shame Satan thoroughly.
Work was busy as usual. Every day Zhang Jie prayed to God and entrusted her difficulties to God. She pondered God’s words in her heart and hummed hymns of God’s words from time to time, feeling very happy.
One day, the business was very good. Both the cooks and waiters were tied up. Meanwhile, Zhang Jie and her colleague also had their hands full. Just then, a friend of her colleague’s came to invite the colleague to play. Without thinking, her colleague was gone with her friend. Then Zhang Jie thought inside, “Even when we both do these work, we’re so busy. Now I’m left alone. When will I finish so much work? Working with you, I really lose out.” When Zhang Jie was thinking this, she was dying not to wash the bowls and chopsticks, but thought of these words of God, “Everything that happens to people is when God needs them to stand firm in their testimony to Him. Nothing major has happened to you at the moment, and you do not bear great testimony, but every detail of your daily life relates to the testimony to God.” At that moment, Zhang Jie calmed herself and mulled over God’s words, “Everything that happens to me relates to the testimony. God arranges perfect people, matters, and events for me to experience and practice according to His words. Though I have the will to interact with my colleague harmoniously, God wants me to truly forsake my flesh, to live it out in reality, and to stand witness for Him before Satan.” After understanding God’s intentions, Zhang Jie had strength in her heart. She was willing to obey God’s arrangements and do what she should do, no longer calculating her own personal benefit. When she put God’s words into practice, she finished all the work unconsciously and didn’t feel tired.
One day, her colleague asked her, “Zhang Jie, our business was very busy that day, but I went out with my friend. Were you angry with me?” Zhang Jie replied with a smile, “Yes, I indeed got angry then, but on second thoughts it was just that I needed to wash more bowls and chopsticks. We all have our own difficulties. What’s the use of haggling over every penny?” Hearing her words, her colleague felt embarrassed and then blamed herself, “Ever since you worked with me, I always neglected my duties every day, but you forgave me and did my work silently. It’s very kind of you and I want you as my elder sister. From now on, I’ll do my own work myself.” After hearing these words, Zhang Jie was very moved in her heart, thinking: Today, it’s not that I’m broad-minded, but that God’s words have changed me.
One day, something came up, so Zhang Jie needed to go out. Her colleague said to her, smiling, “Go. I’ll wash the remaining blows.” These simple words warmed Zhang Jie’s heart and she couldn’t help but offer thanks and praises to God, for she knew that was God’s love. When she had a little knowledge of God and was willing to rely on God, the environment surrounding her immediately was changed. After this experience, Zhang Jie deeply sensed that having a normal relationship with God naturally results in normal relationships with other people, and that all things are established on the basis of understanding the truth. She also tasted God’s earnest intention in saving her: God made her see His deeds through unfavorable people and matters she encountered, and more than that, God made her realize that when she truly repented and practiced in accordance with God’s words, God’s smile was revealed to her.
Zhang Jie was walking on a straightforward road which was stretched into the distance. The rain-washed leaves on the roadsides were shining in the sunlight, becoming more verdant. Recalling what had happened just now, Zhang Jie not only was somewhat touched, but also felt an inexpressible peace and joy in her heart. She strode forward with a firm look in her eyes.
Bible Verse–Revelation 20:7
19 10 月, 2021 by Leave a Comment
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Bible Verses–Revelation 20:1-3
16 10 月, 2021 by Leave a Comment
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Bible Verses–Revelation 19:19-21
12 10 月, 2021 by Leave a Comment
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that worked miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat on the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
During My Career, I Learned to Rely on God
10 10 月, 2021 by Leave a Comment
By Tangtang, Japan
On April 9, 2017, I came to Japan from China. And on the fourth day, I went to work in a car fitting factory—to mat produced-fittings with grinding tools. The temperature was over 40 Celsius degrees in the workshop with no air conditionings. In summer, I felt hot and tired but I had to work unceasingly. After three months of work, my right hand showed signs of numbness. Although a night’s rest would bring a little relief to my condition, I had to get on with my work the next day. Every day I went through the same routine and I felt so tired of it. Sometimes when I passed through the inspection workshop, I was filled with envy at the easy and comfortable work there. But my reason told me this good turn would not happen to a newcomer as I was.
On a day of early August, I went to my position to start the day’s work as usual. Then the monitor came to tell me that I was transferred to the inspection department from today. His words made me joyful and surprised, as if a big pie from the sky landed upon me exactly. I told myself secretly: I must try my best to do the work well.
After getting home from work in the evening, I told a sister excitedly about the change of my job. She said it was God’s blessing and encouraged me to work hard. I earnestly nodded. And I thought back to the past when I kept living in the dust all day. I breathed so much dust every day, and if this continued, my lungs wouldn’t be able to bear it. At the thought of this, I resolved in my heart: I must grasp this chance. Is the job not to check over products for defects? So easy! I will learn quickly.
The next day, in order to prove myself to the supervisor and the monitor, I inspected every finished product very, very carefully. As long as I found a slightest imperfection or something I couldn’t be certain of, I would go to consult the old guides. After getting their advice, I continued to work hard. However, little had I dared to hope that when I handed the final inspection team the products that I had inspected, all the products were substandard except those that the old guides taught me to check over; what was more infuriating, the girl of the inspection team simply passed all the substandard products to the supervisor and asked him to teach me. Although he didn’t criticize me directly, I still felt a lot of invisible pressure. To improve the quality and number of the inspected products, I dared not drink water and worked the whole morning without a rest. Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but think that the supervisor had called me for working, and if I still couldn’t do well tomorrow, they would immediately transfer me to my former post. I felt more pressure as I thought of it more and more. Then I thought: No, I must work harder than before and do this job well. In this way, they will not transfer me back! I kept pondering how to do the work well in the following days. Unwittingly, I became distant from God and I couldn’t quiet myself in the gathering for I was distracted by my job.
I remembered that every time when I met difficulties, my brothers and sisters would find God’s words to help me. Then I told all the problems I encountered to a sister, and she read a passage of God’s words to me, “People spend most of their time living in an unconscious state. They don’t know whether it’s right to rely on God or on themselves. Then most of the time they choose to rely on themselves, to rely on the beneficial conditions and environments around them, as well as the people, events and things around them that are beneficial to them. This is what people are best at. What people are worst at is relying on God and looking to God, because they feel that looking to God is too much bother. They can’t see Him or feel Him, and they feel it is vague and not realistic to do so. So people perform the worst with this lesson, and their entry into it is the shallowest. If you don’t learn how to look to God and rely on God, you will never see the work God does on you, or the guidance and enlightenment He gives to you” (“Young People Should See Through the Evil Trends of the World”).
“Oh, the corrupt ones! You must come to rely on Me today; if you do not, today I shall tell you that you will never achieve anything! All shall be in vain and your undertakings shall be worthless!” (“The Thirty-eighth Utterance”).
The sister fellowshiped with me, “God has dominion over all things and all events. Yet as a small creature of God, we always want to rely on ourselves to do this and that—it is a kind of arrogant disposition. We should honor God as the greatest in our hearts. No matter what problems we meet, we should believe in God’s almightiness, and learn to rely on Him and look to Him. Also, there is God’s love for you hidden in the change of your job. God empathized your weakness and knew that your hand became numb for the long-time working, so He raised your monitor up to transfer you to an easy post. If not for God’s love, maybe you would not get this job. So God has blessed us, and we should learn to be grateful to God in everything.”
Then she read another passage of God’s words, “Sometimes, looking to God doesn’t mean speaking clearly when people pray to God for something, or for God to guide them in some way, or for God to protect them; rather it is that, when they encounter some issue, they are able to call on Him sincerely. So, what is God doing there? When someone’s heart stirs, and they have this idea: ‘Oh God, I can’t do this myself, I don’t know how to do it, and I feel weak and negative,’ when these thoughts arise in them, does God not know about it? When these thoughts arise in man, are people’s hearts sincere? When they call on God sincerely in this way, does God assent to help them? Despite the fact that they may not have spoken a word, they show sincerity, and so God assents to help them. When someone encounters an especially thorny difficulty, when they have no one to turn to, when they feel especially helpless, they trust in God as their only hope. What are their prayers like? What is their state of mind? Is it sincere? Do they have any mixed purpose at that time? When you trust God as though He were the last straw that you clutch onto to save your life, when you hope God will help you, only then is your heart sincere. Though you may not have said much, your heart has already stirred. That is, you give your true heart, your sincere heart to God, and God listens. When God listens, He sees your difficulties, and He guides you, enlightens you and helps you” (“Young People Should See Through the Evil Trends of the World”). Through the words of God’s and the sister’s fellowship, I understood that the adjustment of my job was entirely from God’s rule and arrangements. His making me encounter this environment was to let me learn to draw close to Him, rely on Him and experience His love. I should pray to God and rely on Him to experience, and would not do this job by myself for I could do nothing by myself. After knowing God’s intentions, I felt quite blamed. I realized that although I was a believer in God, I had no place for God in my heart so that I still acted by my own ability when something happened to me. Was this not my rebellion against God? Thinking of this, I made up my mind: Although I didn’t do well today, I should obey first. Tomorrow I will rely on God to work and ask God to guide me.
The next day, when doing work I pondered what the sister fellowshiped—to rely on God and look to Him at all times. Then I silently prayed to God in my heart: “The unique Almighty God, You created all things and rule over everything. My life and work are all bestowed by You. Now I’ve been transferred to a new post, and it is because of Your arrangement. You know that my stature is small, and that I don’t know how to experience when encountering the matters, thus putting Your words to the back of my mind, not seeking and relying on You, much less seeing Your love for me. Oh God! Now I come before You sincerely and give myself entirely over into Your hands. Please guide and enlighten me.” After praying, I calmed down slowly. Later, I found that I got more skillful at this job as I went along so that I finished it quickly. Based on my pace of work in former days, these tasks couldn’t be finished until the next day, but I accomplished all the work that afternoon. I didn’t know how I had done, and I could only pray to God unceasingly that I was willing to obey God’s rule and arrangements no matter what results I would get.
That afternoon the girl, who reviewed my work, said to me, “Congratulations! The rate of qualified products inspected by you reaches 100%.” Hearing this news, I felt so excited that several days of strain and pressure were released at once. Thank and praise God! If not for God, I would have still struggled in distress. God guided me to finish this work easily, and allowed me to see His deeds and appreciate His loveliness. From this experience, I felt that when I honored God as the greatest in my heart and relied on Him in everything, I would feel relaxed, peaceful and happy. In the following days, I always reminded myself to come before God to rely on Him and treat this work given by God with a thankful heart. When I treated this work with such an attitude, I got more skillful at my work and did it better and better. Afterward, the supervisor suddenly asked me if I got accustomed to my new job and how my hand pain was. I realized more clearly that such attention was from God for I didn’t tell anyone in the factory that my hand hurt and was numb except my sister. Thank God!
One day, I walked on my way to work when hearing hymns and unexpectedly I heard a song: “From the beginning until today, only man has been capable of conversing with God. That is, among all living things and creatures of God, none but man has been able to converse with God. Man has ears that enable him to hear, and eyes that let him see, he has language, and his own ideas, and free will. He is possessed of all that is required to hear God speak, and understand God’s will, and accept God’s commission, and so God confers all His wishes upon man, wanting to make man a companion who is of the same mind with Him and who can walk with Him. Since He began to manage, God has been waiting for man to give his heart to Him, to let God purify and equip it, to make him satisfactory to God and loved by God, to make him revere God and shun evil. God has ever looked forward to and awaited this outcome” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself II”).
I wept as I heard this hymn. As a creature of God, only we can converse with God and know His will. What a great grace and uplifting of God! I only enjoyed all the things bestowed by God every day, but didn’t give my heart to Him and didn’t know how to experience His love. If not for this experience, I wouldn’t know that being close to God and relying on Him was so happy and peaceful. Thinking of this, I prayed to God silently, “God, though my stature is small, I am willing to do my duty well and invest myself fully in pursuing the truth to repay Your love. Thank You for everything You have given me!”
Bible Verse–Revelation 16:16
9 10 月, 2021 by Leave a Comment
And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
Bible Verse–Revelation 16:14
5 10 月, 2021 by Leave a Comment
For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Bible Verse–Revelation 7:10
2 10 月, 2021 by Leave a Comment
And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.
Why Did Job Curse the Day of His Birth
2 10 月, 2021 by Leave a Comment
At dusk, a grizzled old man was sitting among the ashes. His bare skin was covered with sore boils and these boils were festering and oozing pus, which was too horrifying.
Seen from the look on his face, the old man was extremely grieved but he was very silent. He picked up a potsherd on the ground to scrape the sore boils.
After a while, he opened his mouth to say: “Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived” (Job 3:3).
“Cut!”
After saying this, the director Bochu ran out in a hurry from behind the camera. Frowning, he anxiously looked at the old man and sighed and silently headed back to the monitor.
Seeing his expression, Yi Qian took the white wig off and said helplessly: “Director, don’t be anxious. Let’s think.”
“Let’s call it a day and go rest.”
Two months ago, the church prepared to shoot a documentary Back to the Book of Job. During the screen test, Brother Yi Qian, who was only 35 years old, with his natural and true virtuosity, successfully recreated Job’s grief of scraping his body among ashes. The camera crew, Bochu included, were full of praise for him. Thus, that day, he became the much-anticipated leading role.
His performances these days really didn’t disappoint anyone.
But since they started to film the scene of Job’s curse of the day of his birth, the filming had been stuck.
At night, Yi Qian went back to the break room. Thinking that because his acting over these two days hit a snag, the entire company had to knock off, he felt guilty. But he didn’t know why he could never act well in this scene.
Then he once again opened the Bible and read, “After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. And Job spoke, and said, Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived” (Job 3:1–3). Yi Qian was troubled and then was bent over his desk thinking: “When Job lost his possessions, children, and livestock all over the mountains and even when his body was covered with boils, he didn’t complain about God with his lips but bowed down to the ground and praised God’s name. His faith in God is always the example that Christians followed throughout the ages and God called him a perfect man. How could he, such a perfect man, not know when a man is born is decreed by God? But why did he curse the day of his birth? Is this really a complaint of Job in painful trials?” Yi Qian was a bit puzzled.
As hours passed, it was deep in the night.
Yi Qian did a search with the words “why Job cursed the day of his birth” on the Internet. He clicked on the link of a gospel website and then saw these words: “When Satan stretched forth its hand to afflict the bones of Job, Job fell into its clutches, without the means to escape or the strength to resist. His body and soul suffered enormous pain, and this pain made him deeply aware of the insignificance, frailty, and powerlessness of man living in the flesh. At the same time, he also gained a profound appreciation and understanding of why God is of a mind to care for and look after mankind. In Satan’s clutches, Job realized that man, who is of flesh and blood, is actually so powerless and weak. When he fell to his knees and prayed to God, he felt as if God was covering His face and hiding, for God had completely placed him in the hands of Satan. At the same time, God also wept for him, and, moreover, was aggrieved for him; God was pained by his pain, and hurt by his hurt…. Job felt God’s pain, as well as how unbearable it was for God…. Job did not want to bring any more grief upon God, nor did he want God to weep for him, much less did he want to see God pained by him. At this moment, Job wanted only to divest himself of his flesh, to no longer endure the pain brought upon him by this flesh, for this would stop God being tormented by his pain—yet he could not, and he had to tolerate not only the pain of the flesh, but also the torment of not wishing to make God anxious. These two pains—one from the flesh, and one from the spirit—brought heart-rending, gut-wrenching pain upon Job, and made him feel how the limitations of man who is of flesh and blood can make one feel frustrated and helpless. Under these circumstances, his yearning for God grew fiercer, and his loathing of Satan became more intense. At this time, Job would have preferred to have never been born into the world of man, would rather that he did not exist, than see God cry tears or feel pain for his sake. He began to deeply loathe his flesh, to be sick and tired of himself, of the day of his birth, and even of all that which was connected to him. He did not wish there to be any more mention of his day of birth or anything to do with it, and so he opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth: ‘Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine on it’ (Job 3:3–4). Job’s words bear his loathing for himself, ‘Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived,’ as well as the blame he felt toward himself and his sense of indebtedness for having caused pain to God, ‘Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine on it.’ These two passages are the ultimate expression of how Job felt then, and fully demonstrate his perfection and uprightness to all. At the same time, just as Job had wished, his faith and obedience to God, as well as his fear of God, were truly elevated. Of course, this elevation is precisely the effect that God had expected” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself II”).
After he read the passage above, his eyes were moist. He had speculated many times about why Job cursed the day of his birth and had suspicions about Job’s faith in God, thinking that in the trials, Job was weak so he complained to God. He never thought Job’s cursing of the day of his birth could confirm his faith and obedience to God. Through reading these words, his puzzled mind was completely unraveled. He truly acknowledged that God observes the deepest parts of people’s hearts and that Job was truly worthy of being called “a perfect man.”
Then, Yi Qian hurried to Bochu and shared these words with him.
“Thank the Lord. After reading this passage, I finally understand why Job cursed the day of his birth. It turns out that in such a painful environment, he felt God covered His face for God was concerned and aggrieved for him and could not bear seeing him suffer this pain. Because of his perfection and uprightness and moreover, because of his faith and obedience to God, he would rather endure suffering by himself than see God feel grieved and pain for his sake. Thus he wanted to overcome the weakness of the flesh. However, he could not transcend the bondage of the flesh. Because of this, he detested himself. Under the torment of physical and mental pain, Job cursed the day of his birth, for he thought if he hadn’t come to the world, God wouldn’t have been aggrieved by his pain. This is the true reason of Job doing this. Though I long to be a person like Job, I was always puzzled about why Job, so perfect and upright, cursed the day of his birth. Today, only after reading these words do I realize that the behaviors that Job lived out in such extreme pain totally prove that his humanity is indeed better than all of ours.” At this point, Yi Qian choked up.
Then Yi Qian bared his heart to Bochu, “I think of when I had a serious illness last year. I knew regardless of whether it is good or bad, everything contains God’s good intentions. But when my body suffered the torment of illness, though I didn’t say words of complaint about God, I was thinking about why God didn’t protect me. What I revealed in the trial was just my misunderstandings and complaints toward God. Contrarily, when Job’s flesh was painful and weak, he would rather curse the day of his birth than see God be aggrieved by his pain. From this, I see Job had true knowledge of God in his experiences. He knew God’s essence is love and God is the source of all positive things. And he realized that God had no intention to harm man or let man suffer pain and all of man’s sufferings were from Satan. Thus, when he suffered torment, he could feel the sadness and pain in God’s heart—God’s grieving and weeping for him, and he hated Satan in his very bones. Encountering this trial, he not only didn’t complain about God, but had a deeper understanding of God’s genuineness and loveliness. These are all manifestations of Job’s fear of God and shunning of evil.
“Thinking of our misunderstandings about Job in the past, I am very ashamed. Previously, we always thought Job, this perfect man, was flawed. This is not merely our misunderstandings of Job, but our notions about God and the expression that we don’t believe God’s words. The Bible said, ‘For Jehovah sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looks on the heart’ (1 Samuel 16:7). We only look at the exterior of things and judge them according to what we have seen. But God observes the deepest parts of people’s hearts and He can see clearly who truly believes in Him and who is absolutely faithful to Him.”
Bochu said very definitely, “Right. God has a thorough understanding of us mankind. However, we didn’t seek out God’s will in this matter. Only relying on our own conceptions and imaginings, we suspected that Job’s curse of the day of his birth is his complaints about God, and we even couldn’t completely accept that God praised Job as a perfect man. It can be seen that if we do not know God, we will easily develop notions about His words and work. In the future, we can no longer rely on our notions and imaginations to view God’s words and work and neither can we portray Job according to our own thoughts.”
“Absolutely! Thank the Lord so much for letting us see these words today. Job’s testimony moves us and is worthy of our imitation.” Yi Qian said briskly.
Bochu continued, “That’s all right. Filming this movie has so much value. By this, our mistaken views of Job are resolved and moreover, we have more understanding and knowledge of God’s intentions and disposition. When we have true knowledge of God’s intentions and disposition, we won’t complain about and resist the people, things and events God orchestrates for us, nor judge the matters we cannot see through or define people, much less disobey and oppose God. At that time, we can seek out God’s will in everything and fear and obey Him in our hearts.”
The next morning, the continuity man said, “Back to the Book of Job, Scene 20, take 10. Action!”
With a clap, the old man that was covered with boils started to scrape his body in the ashes.
After a while, he slowly raised his head. Tears seemed to well up in his eyes. At that moment, attachment, adoration, grief—various complex feelings burst out from his eyes.
Then, he sat on the ground. He tried to be strong enough to overcome the flesh. Such a strong wish shocked everyone.
At last, he extremely loathed himself, shouting with grief: “Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived” (Job 3:3).
The director, in front of the monitor, gave a satisfied smile.
“Pass!” He shouted.
The crew was so excited that they felt like jumping for joy and the applause broke forth.
Yi Qian rose up, and shed tears of joy.
近期评论