2025-07-10

Reading for Today:
今日读经： - 2 Chronicles 15:1–16:14 - 历代志下 15:1–16:14 - Psalm 81:6-10 - 诗篇 81:6-10 - Proverbs 20:24-25 - 箴言 20:24-25 - Acts 16:1-21 - 使徒行传 16:1-21

Notes:
注解：

2 Chronicles 15:1 Spirit of God. An act of the Holy Spirit, common in the Old Testament, enabling servants of God to speak or act uniquely for Him. Azariah. This man was a prophet mentioned only here, who met Asa as he returned from the victory and spoke to him before all his army.
历代志下 15:1 神的灵。 旧约常见的圣灵工作，使神的仆人能够为祂说话或行事。亚撒利雅。 这个人只在此处被提及，是一位先知，他在亚撒王凯旋归来时迎接他，并在众军面前对他说话。

2 Chronicles 15:2 The spiritual truth here is basic, namely that God is present and powerful in defense of His obedient people. While good Asa ruled for 41 years, 8 wicked kings ruled in Israel, including Jeroboam, who, along with the others, was a negative illustration of this truth.
历代志下 15:2 这里的属灵真理十分基础：神同在且以大能保护那些顺服祂的百姓。在亚撒王行善统治的41年中，以色列却有八位作恶的王，包括耶罗波安；这些王正是这个真理的反面例证。

2 Chronicles 16:7 Hanani. God used this prophet to rebuke Asa 1) for his wicked appropriation of temple treasures devoted to God to purchase power, and 2) for his faithless dependence on a pagan king instead of the Lord, in contrast to before when opposed by Egypt (2 Chr. 14:9–15). army of the king of Syria has escaped. Asa forfeited by this sin the opportunity of gaining victory not only over Israel, but also Syria. This could have been a greater victory than over the Ethiopians, which would have deprived Syria of any future successful attacks on Judah. Though God had delivered them when they were outnumbered (13:3ff.; 14:9ff.), the king showed his own spiritual decline both in lack of trust and in his treatment of the prophet of God who spoke truth (v. 10).
历代志下 16:7 哈拿尼。 神使用这位先知来责备亚撒王：一是因他挪用了归神的圣殿财宝去买权势，二是因他没有信心仰望耶和华，反而倚靠外邦君王，这与他先前对抗埃及时（14:9-15）形成对比。亚兰王的军兵脱离了你的手。 因这罪，亚撒失去了战胜以色列和亚兰的机会，本可获得比击败古实人更大的胜利，使亚兰以后无法再得逞于犹大。尽管神曾在寡不敌众时多次搭救他们（13:3起；14:9起），但亚撒王却因不信和对待说真话的神的使者（10节）的方式，表现了他的灵性衰退。

Acts 16:1 a certain disciple…Timothy. A young man (late teens or early 20s) of high regard, a “true son in the faith” (1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2), who eventually became Paul’s right-hand man (1 Cor. 4:17; 1 Thess. 3:2; Phil. 2:19). In essence, he became John Mark’s replacement. After being commissioned by the elders of the local church (1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6), he joined Paul and Silas. his father was Greek. The grammar likely suggests his father was dead. By being both Jew and Gentile, Timothy had access to both cultures—an indispensable asset for missionary service.
使徒行传 16:1 有一个门徒……提摩太。 他是一位备受推崇的年轻人（十几岁到二十岁出头），被保罗称为“在信仰上真儿子”（提前1:2；提后1:2），后来成为保罗的得力助手（林前4:17；帖前3:2；腓2:19），在本质上代替了马可。被当地教会的长老按立之后（提前4:14；提后1:6），他加入了保罗和西拉的队伍。他父亲是希腊人。 原文暗示他的父亲已去世。由于既有犹太人血统又有外邦人血统，提摩太能够进入两个圈子，这对宣教工作非常重要。

Acts 16:3 circumcised him. This was done to aid his acceptance by the Jews and provide full access to the synagogues he would be visiting with Paul and Silas. If Timothy had not been circumcised, the Jews could have assumed he had renounced his Jewish heritage and had chosen to live as a Gentile.
使徒行传 16:3 给他行了割礼。 这是为了使他能被犹太人接纳，并得以与保罗和西拉一同进入各地会堂。如果不为提摩太行割礼，犹太人可能会认为他已经弃绝了犹太身份，选择了外邦人的生活。

Acts 16:6 Holy Spirit…Asia. Paul was not allowed to fulfill his intention to minister in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and to such cities as Ephesus, Smyrna, Philadelphia, Laodicea, Colosse, Sardis, Pergamos, and Thyatira.
使徒行传 16:6 圣灵……亚西亚。 保罗本想前往亚细亚（今土耳其）及以弗所、士每拿、非拉铁非、老底嘉、歌罗西、撒狄、别迦摩、推雅推喇等城传道，但圣灵不许他如此行。

Acts 16:9 Macedonia. The region located across the Aegean Sea on the mainland of Greece. The cities of Philippi and Thessalonica were located there. Most significantly, going there was to take the gospel from Asia into Europe.
使徒行传 16:9 马其顿。 这个地区位于爱琴海对岸的希腊本土，包括腓立比、帖撒罗尼迦等城。更为重要的是，这标志着福音从亚洲传入欧洲。

DAY 10: How did Lydia and the demon-possessed girl in Philippi respond differently to the gospel?
第十天：腓立比的吕底亚和被鬼附的使女对福音有何不同的回应？

When Paul arrived in Philippi (Acts 16:12), evidently the Jewish community did not have the minimum of 10 Jewish men who were heads of households required to form a synagogue. In such cases, a place of prayer under the open sky and near a river or sea was adopted as a meeting place. Most likely this spot was located where the road leading out of the city crossed the Gangites River. Paul spoke “to the women who met there” (v. 13). In further evidence of the small number of Jewish men, it was women who met to pray, read from the Old Testament law, and discuss what they read.
当保罗来到腓立比（徒16:12），当地的犹太群体显然没有达到建立会堂所需的至少十名有家室的男子。在这种情况下，人们通常选择露天、靠近河流或海边的地方祷告聚会。多半就在靠近城外跨越干基特河的道路旁。保罗就“对在那里聚会的几个妇女讲道”（13节）。从只有妇女聚集祷告、诵读旧约律法并讨论来看，足见犹太男子为数甚少。

Lydia was from the city of Thyatira, which was located in the Roman province of Lydia, thus the name “Lydia” was probably associated with her place of origin. She was a “seller of purple” (v. 14). Because purple dye was extremely expensive, purple garments were usually worn by royalty and the wealthy. As a result, Lydia’s business turned a nice profit, which enabled her to have a house large enough to accommodate the missionary team (v. 15) and the new church at Philippi (v. 40). “Who worshiped God.” Like Cornelius, she believed in the God of Israel but had not become a full proselyte (10:2).The Lord opened her heart, and she and her household were baptized.
吕底亚是推雅推喇城的人，这城属罗马行省吕底亚，所以“吕底亚”很可能与她的籍贯有关。她是“卖紫色布的”（14节）。因紫色染料非常昂贵，所以紫衣常为王公贵族穿用，因此吕底亚的生意赢利丰厚，足以让她有能力拥有一所大宅，可以接待宣教团队（15节），并容纳腓立比新成立的教会（40节）。“敬拜神的人”——像哥尼流一样，她信奉以色列的神，但还没有彻底归化为犹太教（10:2）。主开导她的心，她和她的全家都受了洗。

Also in Philippi was a slave girl “possessed with a spirit of divination” (v. 16), literally, “a python spirit.” That expression comes from Greek mythology. Python was a snake that guarded the oracle at Delphi. Essentially, this girl was a medium in contact with demons who could supposedly predict the future. For several days she followed Paul and rightly cried out in the streets, “These men are the servants of the Most High God” (v. 17). El Elyon, the Absolutely Sovereign God, is an Old Testament title (used about 50 times) for the God of Israel (Gen. 14:18–22; Ps. 78:35; Dan. 5:18). But the spirit was wrong, and Paul finally turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her” (v. 18). The demon left the girl in obedience to Paul’s command and his apostolic authority. The ability to cast out demons was a special ability of Christ’s apostles (Mark 3:15; 2 Cor.12:12).
同样在腓立比，还有一位被“巫鬼附着”（16节，直译为“蟒蛇的灵”）的使女。这一说法源自希腊神话，蟒蛇是德尔菲神谕的守护神。实际上，这使女是与邪灵沟通的灵媒，被认为能预言未来。她连续几天在街上跟随保罗，高声喊叫说：“这些人是至高神的仆人”（17节）。至高神（El Elyon）是旧约中用来描述以色列神（创14:18-22；诗78:35；但5:18）的尊贵名号。但这灵意图混乱视听，保罗最终转身，对那灵说：“我奉耶稣基督的名吩咐你，从她身上出来！”（18节）那鬼当即顺服保罗使徒权柄而离开了她。赶鬼能力是基督使徒独有的权能（可3:15；林后12:12）。

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