2025-07-04

July 4 ¶

Reading for Today:
今日读经：

2 Chronicles 3:1–4:22
历代志下 3:1–4:22
Psalm 79:5-10
诗篇 79:5-10
Proverbs 20:10-12
箴言 20:10-12
Acts 12:1-25
使徒行传 12:1-25

Notes:
注解：

2 Chronicles 3:10–13 two cherubim. This free-standing set of cherubim was in addition to the more diminutive set on the ark itself.
历代志下 3:10-13 两个基路伯。 这对独立的基路伯是另外设置的，除了约柜上的一对较小的基路伯之外。

2 Chronicles 3:14 veil. The veil separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place (the Holy of Holies), which was entered once annually by the high priest on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16). This highly limited access to the presence of God was eliminated by the death of Christ, when the veil in Herod’s temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51). It signified that believers had immediate, full access to God’s presence through their Mediator and High Priest Jesus Christ, who was the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice (Heb. 3:14–16; 9:19–22).
历代志下 3:14 幔子。 幔子是用来隔开圣所和至圣所（至圣所），大祭司每年赎罪日才能进入一次（利十六）。藉着基督的死，这种极其有限的进神面前的通道被废除了，因为希律圣殿的幔子从上到下裂为两半（太27:51）。这表明信徒可以藉着他们的中保和大祭司——耶稣基督，随时坦然无阻地来到神面前；祂是完全、一次永远的赎罪祭（来3:14-16；9:19-22）。

2 Chronicles 4:1 bronze altar. This is the main altar on which sacrifices were offered (the millennial temple altar, Ezek. 43:13–17). For comparison to the tabernacle’s altar, see Exodus 27:1–8; 38:1–7. If the cubit of 18 inches was used rather than the royal cubit of 21 inches, it would make the altar 30 feet by 30 feet by 15 feet high.
历代志下 4:1 铜坛。 这是主要的祭坛，是献祭的地方（千禧年圣殿的祭坛见结43:13-17）。和会幕的祭坛相比，参出27:1-8、38:1-7。若使用普通的18英寸肘量，而不是王肘21英寸的话，该坛尺寸为长30尺、宽30尺、高15尺。

2 Chronicles 4:2 the Sea. This large laver was used for ritual cleansing. In Ezekiel’s millennial temple, the laver will apparently be replaced by the waters that flow through the temple (Ezek. 47:1–12).
历代志下 4:2 海。 这是用于洁净礼的一个大铜洗濯盆。在以西结书所描述的千禧年圣殿中，这个洗濯盆显然将被圣殿流出之水所取代（结47:1-12）。

Psalm 79:9 atonement. The word, found 3 times in the Psalms (65:3; 78:38), means to cover away sin and its effects. In the Old Testament, atonement was symbolized in sacrificial ritual, though actual forgiveness of sin was ultimately based on the death of Christ applied to the penitent sinner (Heb. 9). For Your name’s sake. A defeat of a nation was believed to be a defeat of its god. A mark of spiritual maturity is one’s concern for the reputation of God.
诗篇 79:9 赎罪。 这个词在诗篇中出现三次（65:3；78:38），意思是遮盖罪及其后果。在旧约中，赎罪通过祭祀礼仪表现出来，但罪真正的赦免最终是基于基督之死归于悔改的罪人（来9章）。为祢名的缘故。古时以为一国的战败就是其神明的失败。属灵成熟的标志就是关心神的荣耀与名声。

Acts 12:12 Mary. Mark is called the cousin of Barnabas in Colossians 4:10, so Mary was his aunt.
使徒行传 12:12 马利亚。 马可在歌罗西书4:10被称为巴拿巴的表兄（堂兄），所以马利亚是马可的姑母。

John…Mark. Cousin of Barnabas (Col. 4:10), acquaintance of Peter in his youth (1 Pet. 5:13), he accompanied Barnabas and Paul to Antioch (v. 25) and later to Cyprus (13:4, 5). He deserted them at Perga (13:13), and Paul refused to take him on his second missionary journey because of that desertion (15:36–41). He accompanied Barnabas to Cyprus (15:39). He disappeared until he was seen with Paul at Rome as an accepted companion and coworker (Col. 4:10; Philem. 24). During Paul’s second imprisonment at Rome, Paul sought John Mark’s presence as useful to him (2 Tim. 4:11). He wrote the second Gospel that bears his name, being enriched in his task by the aid of Peter (1 Pet. 5:13).
约翰……马可。 他是巴拿巴的表兄（西4:10），年轻时就认识彼得（彼前5:13）。他跟随巴拿巴和保罗到了安提阿（12:25），随后去往居比路（13:4,5）。在别加时，他离开了他们（13:13），因此保罗第二次宣教时拒绝带他（15:36-41），而巴拿巴带他去了居比路（15:39）。之后他销声匿迹，直到后来在罗马，被看到和保罗一起，成为受接纳的同工（西4:10；门24）。保罗第二次被囚罗马时，还希望马可能来帮助他（提后4:11）。他写了以自己名字命名的福音书（马可福音），并得彼得在其写作上的大力帮助（彼前5:13）。

Acts 12:17 James. The Lord’s brother, now head of the Jerusalem church.
使徒行传 12:17 雅各。 主的兄弟，现在是耶路撒冷教会的领袖。

he departed. Except for a brief appearance in chapter 15, Peter fades from the scene as the rest of Acts revolves around Paul and his ministry.
彼得离开了。 除了在第十五章短暂出现外，彼得的活动逐渐淡出，后半部使徒行传几乎完全围绕保罗及其事工展开。

DAY 4: Who was the Herod of Acts 12 who violently persecuted the church?
第四天：使徒行传第12章中，残酷逼迫教会的希律是谁？

“Herod the king” of v. 1 was Herod Agrippa I, who reigned from A.D. 37 to 44 and was the grandson of Herod the Great. He ran up numerous debts in Rome and fled to Palestine. Imprisoned by Emperor Tiberius after some careless comments, he eventually was released following Tiberius’s death, and was made ruler of northern Palestine, to which Judea and Samaria were added in A.D. 41. As a hedge against his shaky relationship with Rome, he curried favor with the Jews by persecuting Christians.
第1节所说的“希律王”指的是希律亚基帕一世，他是大希律的孙子，主后37年至44年执政。他在罗马负债累累，后来逃回巴勒斯坦。因一句无心的话被皇帝提庇留下狱，等到提庇留去世被释放，接着成为巴勒斯坦北部的统治者，公元41年犹太和撒马利亚也归入他的辖区。因与罗马关系不稳定，他通过逼迫基督徒来讨好犹太人以巩固自己的地位。

He killed James the brother of John with the sword (v. 2). James was the first of the apostles to be martyred. The manner of his execution indicates James was accused of leading people to follow false gods (Deut. 13:12–15). He also imprisoned Peter and put him in the custody of “four squads” (v. 4). Each squad contained 4 soldiers and rotated the watch on Peter. At all times 2 guards were chained to him in his cell, while the other 2 stood guard outside the cell door (v. 6).
他用刀杀了约翰的兄弟雅各（2节）。雅各是第一个殉道的使徒。从他被处死的方式来看，他被控带领人去敬拜假神（申13:12-15）。他还捉拿彼得，留在监牢里，交给“四班兵丁”看守（4节）。每班有4人，轮流值守。每时每刻有两人用铁链与彼得锁在一起，另外两人在牢门外守卫（6节）。

After Peter’s rescue by an angel, Herod “put to death” the guards who were in charge (v. 19). According to Justinian’s Code (ix. 4:4), a guard who allowed a prisoner to escape would suffer the same fatal penalty that awaited the prisoner.
彼得被天使救出后，希律把看守的兵丁都杀了（19节）。根据查士丁尼法典（ix.4:4），如果看守让囚犯逃跑，自己就要承担囚犯本该受的死刑。

Later, Herod came under the judgment of God. “On a set day” (v. 21), at a feast in honor of Herod’s patron, the Roman emperor Claudius, Herod came out “arrayed in royal apparel.” According to Josephus, he wore a garment made of silver. When the people began shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” we are told that Herod “did not give glory to God” (v. 22), the crime for which Herod was struck down by an angel (A.D. 44). “And he was eaten by worms” (v. 23). According to Josephus, Herod endured terrible pain for 5 days before he died.
后来，希律遭到神的审判。“有一天”（21节），在为罗马皇帝克劳狄（他的庇护者）举行的庆典上，希律身穿皇袍出来。约瑟夫记载说，他穿的是银线织成的衣服。众人喊道：“这是神的声音，不是人的声音！”结果希律没有将荣耀归给神（22节），因此神差遣天使击打他，他就被虫咬死了（公元44年，23节）。据约瑟夫记载，希律痛苦挣扎了五天才死去。

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2025-07-04

July 4¶

July 4 ¶