No Cursing 没有咒诅
Dexu Xia
A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. Numbers 24:17
William Shakespeare was a master of the insult, a “quality” that actor Barry Kraft adeptly leverages with his Shakespeare Insult Generator. The clever book consists of obscure insults drawn from Shakespeare’s plays. For instance, you might disparage someone by saying, “Thou thrasonical, logger-headed rampallian”—which is so much more creative than saying, “You brag a lot and you’re not very smart, you scoundrel!”
Kraft’s light-hearted book is in good fun. But an ancient king of Moab tried to pay a mysterious prophet not merely to insult the Israelites but to outright curse them. “Come and put a curse on these people,” King Balak told Balaam (Numbers 22:6). Instead, Balaam enraged the king by blessing the Hebrew people—multiple times (24:10). One of his blessings included this prophecy: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near” (24:17). Clearly the individual in view is not yet on the scene, but just who is Balaam talking about? The next line holds a clue. “A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel” (v. 17). The “star” would one day lead wise men to the promised Child (Matthew 2:1–2).
An ancient Mesopotamian prophet who knew nothing of Messiah pointed the world to a future sign declaring His arrival. From an unlikely source came not cursing, but blessing.
By: Tim Gustafson
How does Numbers 24 help you see the Christmas story differently? How might it change the way you act when you encounter people opposing the work of God?
God, please give me eyes to see Your hand at work in all things.
有星要出于雅各，有杖要兴于以色列。—民数记24章17节
莎士比亚骂人的技巧十分高超，演员贝瑞 ‧ 克莱夫（Barry Kraft）在他所写的一本书中（Shakespeare Insult Generator），收集了很多在莎剧中鲜为人知、骂人不带脏字的例子。比如想贬低某人时，你可以说：“汝虽夸夸其谈，实乃无名鼠辈。”比起你说：“你只会满口吹嘘，自己也不见得有多高明，根本是个无赖！”是不是更有创意呢？
克莱夫的这本书让人读了觉得很有趣。但古时有一位摩押王不但雇请一位神秘的先知来辱骂以色列人，还要他公开咒诅他们。摩押王巴勒对先知巴兰说：“求你来为我咒诅他们”（民数记22章6节）。没想到巴兰却反而多次祝福以色列人，令国王大为光恼火（24章10节）。在巴兰的祝福中有这么一段预言：“我看祂却不在现时，我望祂却不在近日”（17节）。显然巴兰所说的那个人尚未出现，而那个人究竟是谁呢？线索就在下一句经文，“有星要出于雅各，有杖要兴于以色列”（17节）。有一天，这颗“星”将带领智者找到上帝应许的那个婴孩（马太福音2章1-2节）。
这位对弥赛亚一无所知的古代美索不达米亚先知，向世人揭露一个未来将出现的征兆，宣告弥赛亚的降临。虽然这预言的来源出人意外，但所带来的并非咒诅，而是祝福。作者： 葛庭墨
民数记24章使你对基督降生有什么新的领悟？
有人抵挡上帝的工作时，这领悟如何改变你应对的方式？
上帝啊，求祢使我看见，祢的手正在每一件事上动工。