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出埃及记生命读经 · 第116篇

祭司的衣服（一）

The priestly garments (1)
1读经： 出埃及记二十八章一至四节；彼得前书二章五节，九节；启示录一章六节；五章九至十节。
1Scripture Reading: Exo. 28:1-4; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6; 5:9-10
2如果我们要懂得旧约和新约里的每一卷书或每一章圣经，我们就必须晓得该卷书或该章的基本思想。我们必须晓得在该卷书或该章圣经深处的观念是甚么，我们尤其需要晓得，把出埃及记二十七章和二十八章连接起来的基本思想。为甚么神圣的记载描述过帐幕以后，紧接着说到祭司的体系呢？要找出其中的原因相当不容易。我从来没 有读过一本书告诉我们说，二十七章论到帐幕的记载结束了以后，为甚么有很长的一段来论到祭司的体系。因此，我们必须找出，在出埃及记记载的顺序里，为甚么随着帐幕的是祭司的体系。
2If we would understand any book of the Bible, or any chapter, either in the Old Testament or in the New, we need to know the underlying thought of that book or chapter. We need to know what concept is beneath the surface. In particular, we need to know the underlying thought connecting Exodus 27 and 28. Why does the divine record speak of the priesthood immediately after the description of the tabernacle? It is rather difficult to find the reason. I have never read a book which tells us why, after the record concerning the tabernacle ending in chapter twenty-seven, we have a long section concerning the priesthood. Therefore, we need to find out why, in the sequence of the record in Exodus, the priesthood follows the tabernacle.
一 帐幕和祭司体系
The tabernacle and the priesthood
3二十七章末了两节说到在帐幕里点灯。这两节说明了出埃及记这两段摆在一起的原因。原因乃是：我们不能有帐幕而没有祭司体系，我们也不能有祭司体系而没有帐幕 。二十七章末了两节表明，有了帐幕以后，立刻需要祭司来点灯。从属灵方面说，这表明祭司体系和帐幕乃是一个实体。在这两章的豫表里，神启示出祂的赎民是帐幕，也是祭司体系。 帐幕乃是一个居所，但这个居所怎么会是一班活的子民呢？新约里这两个豫表的应验，把帐幕和祭司体系摆在一起。彼得前书二章五节说，我们被建造成为灵宫，作圣洁的祭司体系。照文法来看，这一节的“灵宫”和“圣洁的祭司体系”乃是同位语。这意 思是说，这两个词是指同一件事。因此，灵宫就是圣洁的祭司体系。 在英文里，“祭司体系”这个词是指两件事。首先，它表明祭司团，就是一班一同作工、一同事奉的祭司。其次，“祭司体系”这个词表明祭司的事奉，就是祭司所作的工 作或职事。许多读圣经的人强调这个词第二面的意义。以往你读到彼得前书二章五节的时候，你是怎样来领会本节所用的“祭司体系”这个词呢？希腊文有两个不同的字来表明祭司体系是祭司团和祭司的事奉。
3The last two verses of chapter twenty-seven speak of the lighting of the lamps in the tabernacle. These verses give us the reason that these two sections of Exodus are put together. Here is the reason: we cannot have the tabernacle without the priesthood, and neither can we have the priesthood without the tabernacle. The last two verses of chapter twenty-seven indicate that immediately after the tabernacle came into existence, there was the need of the priesthood for the lighting of the lamps. This indicates that, spiritually speaking, the priesthood and the tabernacle are one entity. In the typology of these chapters, God reveals that His redeemed people are both the tabernacle and the priesthood. The tabernacle is a dwelling place. But how can such a dwelling place be a living people? With the fulfillment of these types in the New Testament, the tabernacle and the priesthood are put together. First Peter 2:5 says that we are built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. In this verse, according to the grammar, the spiritual house and the holy priesthood are in apposition. This means that these terms refer to the same thing. Therefore, the spiritual house is the holy priesthood. In English the word priesthood refers to two things. First, it denotes a body of priests, a group of priests who work and serve together. Second, the word priesthood denotes the priestly service, the work or ministry done by the priests. Many readers of the Bible emphasize the second meaning of this word. Whenever you read 1 Peter 2:5 in the past, what did you understand by the word priesthood used in this verse? The Greek language has two different words to denote the priesthood as a body of priests and the priesthood as a priestly service.
4彼得前书二章五节的“祭司体系”不是祭司的事奉，而是一班一同生活、一同事奉并一同作工的祭司。这里的“祭司体系”不是一种事奉，而是一班建造在一起，成为一个实体来生活并事奉的祭司团。这个祭司体系就是灵宫。因此，祭司团也是一个居所。照样，建造在一起的圣徒就是灵宫，这个灵宫乃是一个团体的人。我在这里的点是说，“灵宫”和“祭司体系”乃是一个实体。
4In 1 Peter 2:5 the priesthood is not the service of the priests; rather, it is a group of priests who live, serve, and work together. The priesthood here is not a service; it is a body of priests built together to live and serve as one entity. This priesthood is the spiritual house. Hence, the body of priests is also a house. In like manner, the saints who are built together are a spiritual house. This spiritual house is a collective people. My point here is that the house and the priesthood are one entity.
5今天教会首先是神的居所。我们这些信徒建造在一起，成为一个灵宫。这个灵宫乃是一个事奉的身体、事奉的单位、事奉的子民，这个单位照圣经的说法就是祭司体系
5The church today is first the house of God. We the believers are being built together into a spiritual house. This spiritual house is a serving body, a serving unit, a serving people. The biblical term for this unit is the priesthood.
二 活的居所
A living house
6我们不是一个没有生命的居所。反之，我们乃是一个满了生命的居所。虽然我很欣赏安那翰的会所，但是有一个点它无法与神的灵宫相比。会所不是活的。会所是没有生命的。音响极好，楼梯也很妥当，但在这座建筑物里面没有生命。教会是神的灵宫，的确不是没有生命的。然而，历代以来，基督徒一直不晓得教会必须是活的东西。 有些人甚至把教堂或礼拜堂这种物质的建筑物说成了教会。教会不是一个没有生命的实体，反之，教会乃是基督与祂赎民的组成。这意思是说，教会是活的。因此，我们绝不该把物质的建筑物说成教会。礼拜堂、教堂或会所不是教会。我们都必须从传统里蒙拯救，绝不把会所说成了教会。教会乃是由生命来建造，其中满了生命并由生命所组成的居所。
6We are not a lifeless house. On the contrary, we are a house full of life. Although I appreciate the meeting hall in Anaheim very much, it cannot be compared to God’s spiritual house on one point: it is not living. The meeting hall is lifeless. The acoustics are excellent, and the stairways are very adequate. But in this building there is no life. As God’s spiritual house, the church certainly is not lifeless. However, for generations Christians have not realized that the church must be something living. Some even speak of a material building such as a chapel or cathedral as a church. The church is not a lifeless entity. Rather, the church is a constitution of Christ with His redeemed people. This means that the church is living. Therefore, we should never refer to a material building as a church. A chapel, a cathedral, or a meeting hall is not a church. We all must be delivered from tradition and never speak of the meeting place as the church. The church is a house built with life, filled with life, and constituted of life.
7倘若教会是神的居所，但不是由生命所组成并由生命来建造的话，教会怎么能彀成为祭司的体系呢？没有生命的居所是不可能成为祭司体系的，祭司体系乃是一班满了生命的人。
7If the church as the house of God were not constituted of life and built with life, how could it be the priesthood? It would be impossible for a lifeless house to be the priesthood. The priesthood is a group of people who are full of life.
8一方面，我们这些信徒是灵宫；另一方面，我们是祭司的体系、是祭司团。灵宫和祭司体系乃是一。用一个新的词来说，居所就是“体系”。灵宫就是祭司体系，祭司体系也就是灵宫。
8On the one hand, we, the believers, are a spiritual house; on the other hand, we are a priesthood, a body of priests. The house and the priesthood are one. To use a new term, the house is the “-hood.” The spiritual house is the priesthood, and the priesthood is the spiritual house.
三 需要建造
The need for the building
9如果我们不是灵宫，我们就无法成为祭司体系。照样，如果我们不是祭司体系，也无法成为灵宫。但如果我们是神的居所、是帐幕的话，那么我们的确就是一个祭司团 。照样，如果我们不是一个祭司团，我们也就不是神的居所了。
9If we are not a spiritual house, we cannot be the priesthood. Likewise, if we are not the priesthood, we cannot be a spiritual house. But if we are the dwelling place of God, the tabernacle, then surely we are a body of priests. In like manner, if we are not a body of priests, then we are not God’s dwelling place.
10要得着一个居所，就必须把各式各样的材料建造在一起。如果只是把材料堆在建筑基地上，就不可能得着一个居所了。我们只有一堆材料，这些材料也许排列得很整齐，显出它们的美好，可是灵宫不能产生出来。惟有把材料建造在一起，居所才能产生出来。
10In order to have a house, materials of different kinds must be built together. If the materials are simply piled up on the building site, it would be impossible to have a house. We would only have a heap of materials. These materials may be arranged in a very nice way to show forth their excellence. Nevertheless, there would not be a house. A house comes into existence only when the materials are built together.
11假设我们在安那翰建造会所的时候，只是把所有的材料堆在一起；有些材料很美观 ，我们也许很欣赏，但我们不会有一个会所，有一个可以在其中聚会的建筑物。居所也好，会所也好，都必须把材料建造在一起才行。
11Suppose when we were building the meeting hall in Anaheim, we did nothing more than pile up all the materials. We may have appreciated the beauty of certain materials, but we would not have a meeting hall, a building in which to meet. In the case of both a house and a meeting hall, there is the need for the materials to be built together.
12祭司体系的原则也是一样。既然祭司体系等于居所，而居所在于材料的建造，祭司体系也就需要圣徒的建造。我与弟兄会在一起的时候，听过许多篇论到祭司体系的信息。弟兄会坚决反对圣品阶级制度，他们还宣称所有的信徒都是祭司，他们既不是圣品阶级，也不是平信徒。弟兄会非常强调所谓普遍的祭司体系。照这种观念来看，祭司体系是普遍的，因为每一位信徒都是祭司。虽然弟兄会的教师强调这件事，但我从来没有听过一篇信息说，要有祭司体系，要有事奉的祭司团，就必须所有的祭司都建造在一起。他们有些教师强调彼得前书二章五节和九节。我听过好些篇论到这些经文的信息，我也很得这些信息的帮助。然而，这些信息没有强调祭司体系乃是一个建造的事实。
12The principle is the same with the priesthood. Since the priesthood equals the house, and the house depends on the building up of the materials, the priesthood also requires the building up of the saints. When I was with the Brethren, I heard a number of messages on the priesthood. The Brethren strongly oppose the clergy-laity system and declare that all believers are priests, that they are neither the clergy nor the laity. The Brethren put a strong emphasis on what is called the universal priesthood. According to this concept, the priesthood is universal because every believer is a priest. But although Brethren teachers emphasize this matter, I never heard a message saying that all the priests need to be built up together in order to have the priesthood, the body of serving priests. Some of their teachers emphasize 1 Peter 2:5 and 9. I heard several messages on these verses, and I was helped by these messages. However, there was no emphasis on the fact that the priesthood is a building.
13我们晓得祭司体系需要圣徒的建造，因为祭司体系就是灵宫。我们必须记得彼得前书二章五节的灵宫和祭司体系乃是同位语。我们能彀清楚地领会，灵宫需要建造，但祭司体系也需要建造，就不是显而易见的了。
13We know that the priesthood requires the building up of the believers because the priesthood is a spiritual house. We need to remember that in 1 Peter 2:5 the spiritual house and the priesthood are in apposition. In the matter of the spiritual house we can clearly understand the need for building. But with the priesthood the need for the building up is not apparent.
14我们都是建造神灵宫的材料，但我们已经同被建造成了神的居所么？你有把握、有平安说，你是神居所的一部分么？你所在之地的信徒们建造在一起成了一个灵宫么？在你里面深处，你也许没有把握说，你已经真正建造到基督的身体在地方上的彰显里面去了；你也许没有平安说，你已经真正建造到神的居所里面。
14We all are the materials for God’s spiritual house. But have we been built up together to be God’s house? Do you have the assurance and the peace to say that you are part of God’s house? Are the believers in your locality built up together as a spiritual house? Deep within, you may not have the assurance that you have truly been built into the local expression of the Body of Christ. You may not have the peace to say that you have actually been built into God’s house.
15彼得写彼得前书二章五节来嘱咐我们，并鼓励我们要被建造成为灵宫。我们已经强 调过，这个灵宫就是圣洁的祭司体系。你也许会希奇，为甚么这一节先题灵宫后题祭司体系呢？这个顺序乃是根据出埃及记先有帐幕后有祭司体系的顺序。祭司体系必须在作为居所的帐幕之后。为甚么灵宫也必须在先呢？为甚么教会必须先成为神的居所，然后成为祭司体系呢？答案在于我们必须建造在一起。因着需要建造，教会就必须先成为神的居所，然后才能彀成为祭司的体系。
15In 1 Peter 2:5 Peter writes in a way to charge us and encourage us to be built into a spiritual house. As we have emphasized, this spiritual house is a holy priesthood. You may wonder why in this verse the house is mentioned first and then the priesthood. This sequence is based upon that in the book of Exodus, where we first have the tabernacle and then the priesthood. The priesthood must come after the tabernacle, the house. Why must the spiritual house also come first? Why must the church first be God’s dwelling place and then the priesthood? The answer is found in our need to be built up together. Because of the need of the building up, the church must be the house of God before it can be the priesthood.
16我们是神建造的材料，我们已经蒙了拣选、豫定、呼召、拯救、赦免、称义、和好并重生。虽然我们是这样的材料，但我们还需要问问自己是不是已经与别人一同建造成为神的居所。今天基督徒中间有许多论到属灵能力或得胜的教训。四十多年前，我阅读了一些论到如何得胜、如何有能力、如何成圣的书籍。今天也许不像许多年前有那么多“如何”的书了，许多基督徒晓得这些“如何”的书里所教导的方法并不管用。圣经里所强调的不是如何圣洁或如何属灵，圣经里所强调的乃是神的建造。
16As the materials for God’s building, we have been chosen, predestinated, called, saved, forgiven, justified, reconciled, and regenerated. Although we are such materials, we must still ask ourselves if we have been built up with others into God’s house. Today there is much teaching among Christians about being spiritual, powerful, or victorious. More than forty years ago, I read books about how to be victorious, how to be powerful, and how to be sanctified. Today there may not be as many “how-to” books as there were years ago. Many Christians have learned that the methods taught in these “how-to” books do not work. The emphasis in the Bible is not on how to be holy or how to be spiritual. Instead, the emphasis is on God’s building.
17建造到安那翰会所里的材料是坚固牢靠的。但假设这些材料没有建造进来，却被弃置在地上多年，如今它们岂不是又脏又不起眼么？当然，那些材料会在可怜的光景里。如果把它们散置在地上，它们当然会破坏不堪。但因着这些材料建造在一起，它们就得着保全、保护而成为稳固的了。你要在基督徒的生活中蒙保护么？你要成为坚固，得着保全并得以成圣么？倘若这是你的愿望，你就必须建造到神的居所里面。
17The materials that have been built into the meeting hall in Anaheim are stable and strong. But suppose instead of being built in, these materials had been left to lie on the ground for years. By now would they not be unclean and unattractive? To be sure, those materials would be in a pitiful condition. Had they been left scattered on the ground, they would certainly have become damaged. But because they have been built up together, these materials have been preserved, protected, and made stable. Do you want to be protected in your Christian life? Do you want to be stable, preserved, and sanctified? If this is your desire, then you need to be built into God’s house.
18我们已经指出，没有圣徒的建造，就无法有祭司的体系；可能有祭司，但不会有祭司的“体系”。在安那翰的教会也许有许多的祭司，但如果这些祭司没有建造在一起，就没有“体系”。这个“体系”是在于祭司建造在一起。首先我们必须有建造，然后这个建造就会成为祭司的体系。
18We have pointed out that without the building up of the saints, there cannot be the priesthood. There would be the priests, but there would not be the “-hood.” In the church in Anaheim we may have many priests. But if these priests have not been built up together, we do not have the “-hood.” The “-hood” depends upon the priests being built up together. First we must have the building. Then this building will be the priesthood.
四 配搭事奉
Serving in coordination
19旧约里的祭司不是单独、个别地来事奉，反之，他们是一同配搭事奉的，他们的事奉不是单独的。甚至一位祭司独自作了甚么事，他所作的还是在祭司体系里、在祭司团里。他个人的事奉乃是在那一班配搭事奉的祭司里面。
19The priests in the Old Testament did not serve in an isolated, individualistic way. On the contrary, they served together in coordination. Their service was not individualistic. Even when a priest did something by himself, what he did was in the priesthood, in the priestly body. His personal service was in the coordination of that group of serving priests.
20我用手拿起一本书的时候，我身体上所发生的事可以说明这种配搭。不错，是手把书本拿起来，但手不是个别单独地行动，它乃是我身体上的一部分来尽功用。说话的原则也是这样。虽然是我的口说话，但口不是离开身体来说话，口是在身体的配搭里面来说话。我用手和口的尽功用来说明祭司一同事奉的事实，他们不是单独地来事奉。他们是一个配搭的单位、是一个身体、一个“体系”。因这缘故，他们一同生活、一同事奉，也一同工作。
20This coordination can be illustrated by what happens in my body when I use my hand to pick up a book. Yes, it is the hand which grasps the book. But the hand does not act separately or individualistically; it functions as part of my body. The principle is the same with speaking. Although my mouth speaks, it does not speak apart from the body. The mouth speaks in the coordination of the body. I use the function of the hand and the mouth to illustrate the fact that the priests serve together; they do not serve in an individualistic way. They are a coordinated unit, a body, a “-hood.” For this reason, they live together, serve together, and work together.
21如果我们仔细地读利未记，我们就会看见祭司也一同吃喝。他们甚至在饮食上也是配搭的，这指明他们生活在配搭里。然而，祭司配搭的生活与今天所谓的社团里所实行的不同。我们不该把社团和祭司体系里配搭的生活混为一谈。
21If we read the book of Leviticus carefully, we shall see that the priests also ate together. They were corporate even in their eating. This indicates that they lived in a corporate way. This corporate living of the priests, however, is not the same as that practiced in so-called communes today. We should not confuse a commune with the corporate living of the priests in the priesthood.
五 教会的两方面
Two aspects of the church
22我们建造在一起的时候，就成为神的居所，这是教会的头一方面。然后我们自然会成为教会的第二方面，就是祭司体系的一面。我们乃是一个团体人，作祭司来事奉神。这样的祭司不是单独的事奉，而是配搭的事奉。新约用“居所”、“祭司体系”和“身体”这些词来描述教会，原因就在这里。我们是教会、是基督的身体，在这身体上有许多肢体，但没有一个肢体是单独行动的。
22When we are built up together, we become the church in the aspect of God’s dwelling place. Then we automatically are the church in the second aspect, the aspect of the priesthood. We are a corporate people serving God as priests. Such priests do not serve individualistically; they serve corporately. This is the reason in the New Testament the church is described by terms such as house, priesthood, and Body. We, the church, are the Body of Christ. In this Body there are many members, but none of the members acts individualistically.
23在出埃及记的豫表里，神用两件事来描绘教会的功用。首先，教会是神的居所。没有教会，神就无家可归，好像一个飘流在旷野、无家可归的人一样。但有了教会，神就有了家，祂现今就在家里。因此，教会的功用就是作为神的家、神的居所。教会的另一个功用乃是事奉神。我们给神一个居所，同时我们也事奉祂。神的居所就是一班事奉的祭司。教会有居所和祭司体系的双重功用，乃是由出埃及记里的帐幕和祭司体系来豫表的。我们都必须看见教会有双重的功用，就是给神居住，并且来事奉祂。
23In the typology in the book of Exodus, God uses two matters to portray the function of the church. First, the church functions as God’s dwelling place. Without the church, God would be homeless. He would be like a person wandering in the wilderness, a person without a home. But with the church God has a home, and He is now in His home. Therefore, the church functions as God’s home, His dwelling place. Another function of the church is to serve God. As we afford God a dwelling place, we also serve Him. God’s dwelling place is a group of serving priests. This twofold function of the church, that of the dwelling place and the priesthood, is typified by the tabernacle and the priesthood in the book of Exodus. We all need to see that the church has a twofold function, the function to house God and the function to serve Him.