吉姆·帕潘德里亚是一位教师、作家、演说家和音乐家。 Jim Papandrea is a teacher, author, speaker, and musician.
吉姆从明尼苏达大学获得音乐和戏剧艺术学士学位后，继续攻读神学硕士学位。 After graduating from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor's degree in music and theater arts, Jim went on to receive his M.Div.
他在富勒神学院获得了神学硕士学位，专攻犹太事工。 degree from Fuller Theological Seminary with a concentration in Jewish ministry.
之后，他在传统事工中度过了几年，专注于青年和青年事工，并担任青年事工顾问。 He then spent several years in old-time ministry, focusing on youth and youth ministry, and serving as an consultant in youth ministry.
吉姆继续在西北大学获得了早期基督教会历史和 神学博士学位，辅修新约解释和罗马帝国历史。 Jim went on to achieve a PhD in the history and theology of the early Christian church from Northwestern University, with a secondary concentration in New Testament interpretation and the history of the Roman Empire.
他还研究了罗马历史和意大利罗马美国学院。 He has also studied Roman history and the American Academy of Rome, Italy.
吉姆目前是西北大学格里奇福音神学院的教会历史副教授，同时也是成人信仰 培育领域的顾问，并经常在芝加哥地区的格里奇和日间培育项目中发表演讲。 Jim is currently Associate Professor of Church History at Gerich Evangelical Seminary at Northwestern University, as well as a consultant in the area of adult faith formation, and a regular speaker at Gerich and day formation programs in Chicago area.
吉姆是圣经文学学会、北美基督教学会和公教会音乐融合协会的成员。 Jim is a member of the Society of biblical literature, the North American Christian Society, and the Catholic Association of Fusions of Music.
当他不教书或演奏音乐时，可以看到他和妻子朱莉一起 捕蟹、拍照，制作一些珍品，把它们放在抽屉里思考。 When he's not teaching or performing music, he can be found crabbing with his wife Julie, taking photographs, and making some riches, placing them on drawers and thinking.
请热烈欢迎吉姆·帕帕格雷特博士。 Please give a warm welcome to Dr. Jim Pappagret.
谢谢你，理查德，谢谢你，克里斯神父，还有布兰森圣母堂区。 Thank you, Richard, and thank you, Fr. Chris, and Our Lady of Branson Parish.
能来到这里是一种祝福和荣幸。 It is a blessing and honor to be here.
正如你们所听到的，我叫吉姆·麦金格雷尔，今晚我将与你们分 享一些想法和研究，这些都是我写《启示录》这本书时的成果。 As you heard, my name is Jim McIngrail, and I am going to be sharing with you tonight some of the thoughts and some of the research that went into the book I wrote on the book of Revelation.
如果你曾经尝试阅读新约中的启示录，你就会知道它可能有些令人困惑。 And if you've ever tried to read the book of Revelation in the New Testament, you know that it can be kind of confusing.
所以我今晚希望能澄清一些疑惑。 So what I hope to do tonight is maybe clear up some of the confusion.
在开始之前，我想提一下，你们刚才听到的音乐是 来自我最近录制的一张名为《静谧之声》的CD。 I do want to mention before I begin that the music you just heard is from a CD that I recently recorded called Still Quiet Voices.
我今天要说的一切都来自我的书，书名是《羔羊的婚礼：启示录的历史研究方法》。 And everything I'm here to say comes from my book, which is called The Wedding of the Lamb, A Historical Approach to the Book of Revelation.
为了让你们感到安心，这本书已获得教会的准印，因此得到了教会的认可。 And just to give you a sense of comfort with that, the book does have the imprimatur from the Church, and so it does have the endorsement of the Church.
所以我今晚所说的一切都不会与教会的任何教导相矛盾，你们可以放心。 So nothing that I'm going to say tonight is in contradiction to any of the Church's teachings, so you can rest assured of that.
现在，我不会声称我对启示录的解释是唯一有效的解释，但至 少我可以说，从教会的角度来看，这是一个可以接受的解释。 Now, I won't claim that my interpretation of the book of Revelation is the only valid interpretation of the book of Revelation, but at least I can say that it is an acceptable one for the Church's concern.
话虽如此，我今晚的演讲题目是「回顾未来：启示录的方法」。 So having said that, My talk tonight is called Looking Back on the Future, the Methods of the Book of Revelation.
在接下来的45分钟左右，我将尝试为你们概述启示 录的要点，如果你们想深入了解，可以阅读这本书。 And what I'm going to try to do in the next 45 minutes or so is give you the highlights of the Book of Revelation if you want to dig deeper than the book is available.
第一条规则。 Rule number one.
第一条规则是不要相信好莱坞告诉你的关于启示录的任何事情。 Rule number one is don't believe anything Hollywood tells you about the Book of Revelation.
或者关于末世的虚构小说。 or fictional novels about the end times for that matter.
我们所知道的所谓末世或启示录主要来自两个来源。 What we know about the so-called end times, or the apocalypse, comes from two sources primarily.
第一，福音书中耶稣教导未来事物的某些章节。 Number one, certain sections of the Gospels where Jesus teaches on future things.
第二，启示录。 And number two, the book of Revelation.
现在，启示录有时也被称为「天启」。 Now, the book of Revelation is also sometimes called the Apocalypse.
「天启」是一个希腊词，在英语中意为「启示」。 And the word Apocalypse is a Greek word, and in English it means Revelation.
「启示」这个词通常是希腊词「天启」的英语翻译。 The word Revelation is typically the English translation of the Greek word Apocalypse.
但重点是它意味着被揭示的事物。 But the point is that it means that which is revealed.
被揭示的事物。 That which is revealed.
有点像揭幕。 Kind of like an unveiling.
这是一个有趣的意象，因为你可以想象某物被揭开，但当 我们引入婚礼的意象时，你也可以想到新娘面纱的掀起。 And it's an interesting image because you can think of an unveiling of something, but also when we bring in the wedding imagery, you can think of the lifting of the veil of the bride as well.
那么，启示录中要揭示的是什么呢？ So, what is it that is to be revealed in the book of Revelation?
让我们再次回想耶稣的教导。 Well, think again back to Jesus' teaching.
耶稣在福音书中教导的核心是什么？ What was the core of Jesus' teaching in the Gospels?
全都是关于天国的。 It was all about the Kingdom.
神的国或天国。 The Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven.
它们的意思是一样的。 They both mean the same thing.
因此，要被揭示的就是天国。 And so, what is to be revealed is the Kingdom.
耶稣说天国好像芥菜种。 Jesus said the Kingdom is like the mustard seed.
它藏在土里，但有一天它会长成一棵大树。 It's hidden under the dirt, but one day it will grow to be a great tree.
现在它是一粒小种子。 Now it's a small seed.
在未来的某个时候，它会显现为一棵树。 Sometime in the future it will be revealed to be a tree.
在未来，在耶稣的怜悯比喻中，那棵树会成为天上所有飞鸟的栖息之所。 And in the future, in Jesus' parable of mercy, in the future that tree becomes a nesting place for all birds of the air.
这是神国未来的寓言，它将成为神所有子民的居所。 It's an allegory for the future of the kingdom of God, which will be the dwelling place of all God's people.
耶稣还说天国好像面酵。 Jesus also said the kingdom is like peace.
它藏在面团里，揉进了面团中。 It's hidden in the dough, folded into the dough.
但在未来的某个时候，它会在面包发起时显现出来。 But at some point in the future, it will show itself in the rising of the bread.
现在它隐藏在面团中，但稍后它会显现出来。 Right now it's concealed within the dough, but later it will be revealed.
它将成为生命的粮，永生的食物。 And it will become the bread of life, food for eternal life.
所以现在隐藏的将会被揭示。 So what is now concealed will be revealed.
现在隐藏的将会被揭开。 What is now hidden will be unveiled.
因此，神的国有这两个方面。 And so the Kingdom of God has these two aspects to it.
两个方面。 Two aspects.
现在和将来。 The present and the future.
有时这在耶稣的比喻中被表现为播种和收获。 Sometimes this is presented in Jesus' parables as the planting and the harvest.
种子被播下，收获还在未来的某个时候。 And seeds are planted, and the harvest is yet to come at a future time.
在此期间，我们等待。 In the meantime, we wait.
我们等待种子的生长。 We wait for the growth of the seeds.
天国也是如此。 And so it's like that with the kingdom.
目前，天国就在这里，但它是隐藏的，就像土里的种子，或面团里的酵。 At present, the kingdom is here, but it's concealed, like the seed under the dirt, or the yeast in the dough.
在未来，天国将会显现，如同长成的植物或发起的面包。 In the future, the kingdom will be revealed, like the full-grown plant or the risen bread.
现在，耶稣在福音书中用来谈论天国的另一个意象是婚礼。 Now, another image that Jesus uses in the Gospels to talk about the kingdom is the wedding day.
这是我最喜欢的比喻之一，婚礼的比喻。 This is one of my favorite parables, the parable of the wedding day.
你可能记得马太福音中的这个比喻。 And you probably remember the parable from Matthew.
国王为即将结婚的王子举办婚宴。 The king is throwing a wedding reception for a prince's son who is getting married.
在这个想法背后，在这个天国的意象背后，是每个婚姻都有两个部分的假设。 Behind this idea, though, behind this imagery of the kingdom is the assumption that every marriage has two parts.
直到今天，这种模式仍然适用。 And it still works like this to this day.
每个婚姻都有两个部分。 Every marriage has two parts.
订婚，然后是婚礼。 The engagement, and then the wedding.
耶稣用这个两部分的概念来描述天国。 And Jesus uses this two-part idea to describe the kingdom.
你可能记得其他的比喻，比如新郎，聪明和愚拙的童女，对吧？ You may remember other parables like the bridegroom, the wise and foolish bridegroom, right?
在那个比喻中，订婚已经发生了。 The engagement in that parable has already taken place.
但婚礼还没有举行。 But the wedding has not taken place yet.
他们等待婚礼。 They wait for the wedding.
他们等待。 They wait.
这些是关于等待的比喻。 These are waiting parables.
这些比喻讲述的是知道某事已经发生，但还没有完全显现。 Parables about knowing that something has happened, but it hasn't been fully revealed yet.
因此，耶稣用这种意象来谈论天国。 And so, Jesus uses this imagery to talk about the Kingdom of Heaven.
就其现在的方面而言，天国已经在这里，因为它是由基督的降临带来的。 In its present aspect, the Kingdom is here because it was brought by the advent of Christ.
道成肉身如同种子一样播下了天国。 The Incarnation planted the Kingdom like a seed.
耶稣来了，他说，天国近了。 And Jesus came and He said, the Kingdom is at hand.
它就在附近。 It's near.
它在你们里面。 It's within you.
它在你们中间。 It's among you.
天国在我们里面。 The Kingdom is in us.
它隐藏在我们里面，像种子一样被播种。 It's hidden in us, planted like a seed.
这就像婚礼的订婚期。 This is like the engagement period of a wedding.
订婚是已经确定的事。 The engagement is a done deal.
事实上，在古代，要解除这种法律契约需要离婚。 In fact, in the ancient world, the legal contract required a divorce to break it.
所以契约已经订立，承诺已经做出，但还没有实现。 So the contract has been made, the promise has been made, but it's not yet been realized.
在未来的方面，天国将完全显现，承诺将得以实现。 In its future aspects, the kingdom will be fully revealed, and the promise will be realized.
天国的未来方面将由基督的第二次降临带给我们，有时称为基督的再来。 And the future aspects of the kingdom will be brought to us by the second advent of Christ, sometimes called the second coming of Christ.
这就像婚礼。 This is like the wedding.
这是揭示。 This is the unveiling.
在婚礼上发生了什么，而在过去的时代还没有发生？ And what happened at the wedding that didn't happen yet in the ages?
新郎来迎娶新娘，带她回家。 Well, the groom comes to claim the bride and take her to his home.
耶稣不是在约翰福音中说过，他会回来接我们到他的家吗？ And didn't Jesus say in the Gospel of John that he would be coming back to us to take us to his home?
这就是我们所等待的。 And so this is what we wait for.
天国的这个未来方面，那时天国不再隐藏在我们里面。 This future aspect of the kingdom when it will no longer be the case that the kingdom is hidden in us.
我们不会在我们里面。 We won't be in us.
我们将在其中。 We'll be in it.
我们将在天国里。 We will be in the kingdom.
我们将在神的同在中。 We will be in the presence of God.
这就是我们在主祷文中祈求的，当我们说「愿你的国降临」时。 And this is what we pray for in our Father when we say, Thy kingdom come.
我们祈求耶稣回来，向我们揭示天国，并带我们进入其中。 We're praying for Jesus to return and reveal the kingdom to us and bring us into it.
这就是未来的延续。 That's the future as it continues.
但在此期间，我们也祈祷「愿你的旨意行在地上，如同行在天上」。 But in the meantime, we also pray, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
我们生活在这个期间，在这个中间时期，在播种和收获之间，在订婚和婚礼之间。 We live in the meantime, in the in-between time, between the planting and the harvest, between the engagement and the wedding.
你知道新约中有教会作为基督新娘的意象，对吧？ And you know that the imagery of the church as the bride of Christ is in the New Testament, right?
这在新约中出现了几次。 It comes up several times in the New Testament.
教会是基督的新娘。 The church is the bride of Christ.
所以我们，教会，等待我们的新郎回来接我们到他的家。 So we, the church, we wait for our groom to return for us and take us to his home.
现在教会与基督订婚了，但在未来的某个时候，教 会将在罪的池中成为基督的新娘，嫁给羔羊神。 Now the Church is engaged to Christ, but at some future time, the Church becomes the bride of Christ in the pool of sin, married to the Lamb God.
好的，如果这就是启示录要描绘的画面，那么启示录试图告诉我们什么呢？ Okay, so, if that's what the book of Revelation is about to take picture, what is the book of Revelation trying to tell us then?
现在当你问启示录试图告诉我们什么时，当我问你这个问题时，这有点 像一个陷阱问题，因为我们必须首先承认启示录不是为我们而写的。 Now when you ask what the book of Revelation is trying to tell us, When I ask you that, it's kind of a trick question, because we have to begin by admitting that the book of Revelation was not written for us.
别误会我的意思，其中确实有给我们的信息，但启示 录是为当时的人而写的，在它被写下的那个时代。 Now don't get me wrong, there is a message in it for us, but the book of Revelation was written for the people who lived back then, at the time it was written.
这并不意味着这本书中没有预言。 Now that doesn't mean that there's no prophecy in the book.
书中确实有预言，但预言主要是神给当时人的信息。 There is prophecy in the book, But prophecy is primarily a message from God for the people of the present time.
所以如果一位先知传达神的信息，这信息是给先知当时的人的，而不是给未来的人。 So if a prophet speaks a message from God, the message is for the people of the prophet's own time, not for some future people.
当然，预言确实包含对未来的警告和应许。 Now, prophecy does include warnings and promises for the future.
因此我们可以在启示录的文本中看到这些。 And so we can see those in the text of Revelation.
启示录中有些内容与我们相关，但我们必须首先承认它不是为我们而写的。 And there are things in the text of the book of Revelation that are relevant to us, but we have to begin by admitting that it wasn't written for us.
它是为当时的人而写的。 It was written for the people at the time.
什么时候？ What time?
嗯，你知道，对此有一些争议，但我会告诉你我的看法。 Well, you know, there's some debate over this, but I'll tell you what I think.
我相信启示录的作者是使徒约翰，那位蒙爱的门徒。 I believe the author of the book of Revelation was John the Apostle, the beloved disciple.
事实上，大多数教父，几乎所有的教父都相信这一点，所以 我默认早期教父的见证，即这份文件的作者是使徒约翰。 And, in fact, Most of the Church Fathers, virtually all of the Church Fathers, believed that question, so I default to the witness of the early Church Fathers, that the author of this document was the Apostle John.
启示录写作的背景和环境是迫害。 The setting, the context for the writing of the book of Revelation is persecution.
教会正在遭受迫害。 The Church is persecuted.
时间是公元95年，几乎到了第一世纪末。 The year is 95 A.D. or C.E., almost to the end of the first century.
第一世纪早期的迫害仅限于罗马地区，但到了第一世纪90年代，迫害已经蔓延到各省。 Persecution earlier in the first century was localized and limited only to Rome, but by the time we get to the 90s of the first century, the persecution spread to the provinces.
我们的使徒，使徒约翰，被逮捕并流放到一个监狱岛， 帕特莫斯岛，这是现在土耳其海岸附近的一个岛屿。 And our apostle, the Apostle John, was arrested and exiled to a prison island, the island of Patmos, which is an island off the coast of what is now Turkey.
在那里他得到了一个异象。 And there he had a vision.
他把这个异象记录下来。 And he wrote this vision down.
再次说明，如果你读过启示录，你就知道试图理解这个异象的意象有多令人困惑。 And again, if you've ever read the book of Revelation, you know how confusing it can be to try and read through imagery of this vision.
我认为这里发生了几件事。 And I believe that a couple of things are going on here.
我相信约翰确实得到了一个异象。 I believe John did have a vision.
我不认为这只是一种文学手法。 I don't think it's just a literary device.
我相信约翰得到了一个先知的异象。 I believe John had a prophetic vision.
但我相信他看到的事物超越了人类的语言。 But I believe he saw things that defied human language.
所以他尽力记录下一些事物，对于其他事物，他试图 借用他已经从旧约中知道的意象来描述他所看到的。 And so some of the things he tried to write down as best he could, and other things he tried to borrow imagery that he already knew from the Old Testament to try and describe the things that he saw.
所以当你读启示录时，你会发现其中有很多来自旧约的意象。 And so when you read the book of Revelation, you'll find in it a lot of imagery from the Old Testament.
好消息是，虽然我们可以用我们对旧约的了解来理解启示录 中的意象，但我们不必试图将旧约的预言融入启示录中。 The good news, though, is that while we can use our knowledge of the Old Testament to understand the quality imagery in the book of Revelation, we don't have to try and incorporate Old Testament prophecy into the book of Revelation.
启示录是独立的。 The book of Revelation stands on its own.
关键在于启示录第1章19节。约翰被告知要写下，这些是使 者的话，「你所看见的事，和现在的事，并将来必成的事」。 The key is Revelation chapter 1, verse 19. Where John is told that he is to write down, and these are the words of the messenger, the things which you have seen, the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.
你所看见的事，现在的事，以及这些事以后将要发生的事。 The things which you have seen, the things which are, and the things which will take place after the event.
换句话说，他将写下象征性的意象来描述他过去、现在和未来的事件。 In other words, he's going to write down symbolic images that describe events in his past, at his present time, and in his future.
你所看见的事，现在的事，以及这些事以后将要发生的事。 Things which you have seen, things which are, and things which will take place after the event.
所以启示录包括了约翰过去已经发生的事件，但问题是最后一部分有两个方面。 So the book of Revelation includes events that are already in John's past, The problem, though, is that last one has two parts.
因为，如果你仔细想想，约翰的未来在我们的时间里包括了大约1918年。 Because, if you think about it, John's future includes about 1918 years in our text.
换句话说，对约翰来说是未来的所有那些时间，对我们来说已经是过去了。 In other words, there's all that time that was future to John that is already in our past.
所以启示录包含了约翰过去已经发生的事，约翰写作时正在发生的事，约翰 未来但对我们来说已经是过去的事，以及对我们来说还未发生的一些事。 So the book of Revelation contains things that were already in John's past, that were happening at the time John was writing, that were in John's future but in our past, and a few things yet come for us.
但问题是，这些事并不是按时间顺序呈现的。 The problem is, though, these things are not all presented in Knight's chronological order.
它们更像是以一种螺旋下降的方式呈现的。 They're presented as something more like a downward spiral.
比如，想象你去度假拍了照片。 Like, imagine if you went on vacation and took a picture.
还记得幻灯片吗？ Remember slides?
还记得我们过去放幻灯片时，幻灯机顶部有个旋转盘吗？ Remember when we used to have slideshows and you had that carousel on top of the slide projector?
想象一下，如果你为度假拍了幻灯片，它们都按顺序排好了，但在去幻灯机的路上你绊 了一跤，所有的幻灯片都掉在地上，你随便把它们放回旋转盘，然后就这样放映了。 Imagine if you took slides for your vacation and you had them all in order, but on your way to the slide projector you tripped and they all fell on the floor, and you just put them back in the carousel forever, and then showed that slideshow.
这有点像一个糟糕的梦，你知道，你可以想象这可能就是约翰看到他异象的方式。 It's a little bit like a bad dream, which, you know, you can kind of think that that's maybe how John saw his vision.
所以，幻灯片是乱序的，这意味着新约中给出的章节和经文编号 并不能帮助你理清这些，因为这些编号是很久以后才加上的。 So, the slides are out of order, and what this means is that the chapter and verse numbers that you're given here in the New Testament are not going to help you sort this out, because those were put on much, much later.
约翰本人并没有在里面写下章节和经文编号。 John himself did not write the chapter and verse numbers in there.
这些是后来添加的，目的是帮助我们引用某些经文 ，但它们并不能帮你理清事件发生的先后顺序。 Those were added later to try and help us refer to certain verses, but they aren't going to help you sort out what happens when.
当然，启示录中描述的事件是以象征性的语言呈现的，而不是字面意义的语言。 And, of course, the events that are described in the book of Revelation are presented in symbolic language, not literal language.
所以，你不能一手拿着圣经，一手拿着报纸来阅 读启示录，好像你在预言中寻找时代的征兆。 So, you cannot read the book of Revelation with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other, as if you're looking for the signs of the times in prophecy.
它不是这样运作的，因为启示录全是关于另一个时代的征兆。 It doesn't work that way, because the book of Revelation is all about the signs of a different time.
所以如果你想阅读启示录，你需要的更像是一本 罗马历史教科书，而不是手里拿着别的东西。 So you need something more like a Roman history textbook if you want to read the book of Revelation than something else in the other hand.
你可以这样想。 You think about it this way.
如果2000年后，有人挖出一段文字并读到这个会怎样？ What if, 2000 years from now, someone dug up a text and read this?
我在异象中看见一个人骑着一匹白色的野马。 I saw in my vision a man riding a white Bronco.
现在，这是关于什么的？ Now, what's that about?
有人知道吗？ Anyone?
我在异象中看见一个人骑着一匹白色的野马。 I saw it in my vision a man riding a white Bronco.
他在英格兰的闪耀城市靠近海边骑行。 He rode near the seas in the shining city of England.
跟随他的是许多男女，他们骑在一个戴领子的人身上，闪烁着黑白红蓝的光。 Following him were many men and women riding one man in collars, flashing black and white and red and blue.
没有人知道谁能审判那个人，因为他们在等待审判。 And no one knew who could judge the man as they waited for the judgment.
好了，现在你明白了，因为你当时在场。 Okay, now, you got it because you were there.
如果你在2000年后读到这段话，你就不会理解，因为语言太富诗意了。 If you read that 2,000 years from now, you wouldn't get it, because the language is too poetic.
所以，这就是我们阅读启示录时遇到的问题。 So, that's the problem when we read the book of Revelation.
你正在阅读这种诗意的、象征性的语言，它经常描 述的是2000年前正在发生或已经发生的事情。 You're reading this poetic, symbolic language that is often describing things that were happening or had already happened 2,000 years ago.
因此，要理解启示录，我们必须首先在原始背景下理解这些象征。 So to understand the book of Revelation, we have to first understand the symbols in their original context.
正如我所说，许多象征来自旧约，但它们在启示录中的含义与在旧约中的含义不同。 And as I said, many of the symbols come from the Old Testament, but they mean something different in the book of Revelation than they did in the Old Testament.
所以这些是约翰的读者可能理解的常见象征，但他以新的方式使用它们。 So they're kind of common symbols that John's audience might have understood, but he's using them in a new way.
在我的书《羔羊的婚礼》中，我详细解释了启示录中所有的象征，包括所有数字的含义。 Now, in my book, The Wedding of the Lamb, I go through all the symbols in the book of Revelation and explain what every single one means, including all the numbers.
我们现在没有时间详细讲解，但一旦你了解这些象征的含义，基于它 们在旧约和当时文化中的用法，并且一旦你理解了历史背景，换句话 说，一旦你将圣经和历史结合起来，你就可以开始解释启示录了。 We don't have time to do that now, but once you know what symbols mean, based on their use in the Old Testament and the culture of the time, and once you understand the historical context, in other words, once you put together Scripture and history, then you can begin to interpret the book of Revelation.
直到我这样做了，我才开始理解它，因为我研究了新 约解释、圣经，以及早期教会历史和罗马帝国历史。 And it really wasn't until I did that that I started to understand it, because I've studied both New Testament interpretation, Scripture, and also early Church history, the history of the Roman Empire.
当你把这两件事结合起来，就会有些意义了。 When you put those two things together, it kind of makes sense.
那么让我们从第一部分开始。 So let's start with the first section.
约翰的过去，「你所看见的事」，信息对约翰说。 John's past, the things which you have seen, the message says to John.
现在，如果你没有读过启示录，那真是太糟糕了，所以如果没读过的话要注意了。 Now, if you haven't read the book of Revelation, it's really bad, so pay attention to it if it's not.
但启示录中描述的事情，那些在约翰过去已经发生的事，包 括像撒但的堕落，被描述为一条龙和从天上坠落的星星。 But the things that are described in the book of Revelation, that they've already taken place in John's past, There are things like the fall of Satan described as a dragon with stars falling from the sky.
撒但与那些堕落并成为魔鬼的天使一同坠落。 Satan falling with the angels that fell and became demons.
这都是约翰显然接受的犹太神话的一部分。 This is all part of the Jewish mythology that John apparently accepts.
基督的诞生被描述了。 The birth of Christ is described.
有一个头戴星冠的妇人生了一个儿子。 There's a woman crowned with stars who gives birth to a son.
嗯，这应该不难理解。 Well, that should be too hard to figure out.
这个妇人是马利亚。 The woman is Mary.
她所生的儿子是耶稣。 The son she gives birth to is Jesus.
龙试图杀死这个儿子，这是指希律王企图杀害耶稣。 And the dragon tries to kill the son, a reference to the attempt on Jesus' life by Herod.
然后经文说，当龙无法杀死这个孩子时，它就去追赶妇人的其他儿女。 And then it says that when the dragon can't kill the child, He goes after the woman's other children.
这很有趣。 That's interesting.
这些其他的儿女是谁？ Who are the married other children?
是的，这指的是对教会的迫害。 Yeah, it's the persecution of the church.
同样驱使希律王试图杀害耶稣的邪灵，后来也驱使罗马帝国。 The same demonic spirit that was energizing Herod to try and kill Jesus was also then later energizing the Roman Empire.
罗马帝国和罗马皇帝在迫害教会。 The Roman Empire and the Roman Emperors were persecuting the church.
当然，经文也用象征性的术语描述了基督的死亡和复活。 The text also, of course, describes in symbolic terms the death and resurrection of Christ.
耶稣是被杀的羔羊，也是站立受赞美的羔羊。 Jesus is the Lamb who was slain and the Lamb who is standing in praise.
所以这是基督的死亡和复活。 So the death and the resurrection of Christ.
现在，这里还有很多象征，印和号。 Now, there's also a lot of symbols here, seals, trumpets.
这描述了巨大的苦难。 This describes great suffering.
有时你会听到「大灾难」这个词。 Sometimes you hear the word tribulation.
「大灾难」只是一个意味着巨大苦难的词。 Tribulation is simply a word that means great suffering.
我要说，大多数时候，当你看到「大灾难」这个词 时，你可以将其理解为迫害，对早期教会的迫害。 And I would say that most of the time, whenever you see the word tribulation, you can translate that as persecution, persecution of the early church.
因此我们看到罗马帝国的皇帝，这些迫害者，被描述为七头十角。 And so we have The emperors of the Roman Empire, the persecutors, described as seven heads and ten horns.
我们看到描述的震撼世界的事件，这些是埃及灾难的残余。 We have the earth-shattering events described that are remnants of the plagues of Egypt.
这引向了在约翰的过去，在最近的过去被认为是最震撼世界的事件，那就是发生在公元70 年的耶路撒冷被围攻和陷落。现在你可能记得，在启示录中经常出现的一个数字是三年半。 And this leads up to what would have been thought of as the most earth-shattering event in John's past, in the recent past, and that is the siege and fall of the city of Jerusalem that took place in the year 70. Now you may remember that one of the numbers that comes up frequently in the book of Revelation is three and a half.
三年半是多次被描述的时间框架。 Three and a half years is the time frame that's described several times.
它以不同的方式被描述，以年、月、日计，但总是三年半。 And it's described in different ways, in years, in months, in days, but it's always three and a half years.
猜猜导致耶路撒冷陷落的战争持续了多长时间？ Guess how long the war lasted that led up to the fall of Jerusalem?
三年半。 Three and a half years.
然后我们读到彩色的马，通常被称为启示录的四骑士。 And then we read of the colored horses, usually referred to as the horsemen of the apocalypse.
但实际上不是关于骑马，而是关于马本身。 But it's not really about the riding of the horses, it's about the horses themselves.
红马，我们被告知它代表什么。 The red horse, and we're told that that's what it represents.
红马代表战争带来的死亡。 The red horse represents death by war.
导致耶路撒冷陷落的战争。 The war leading up to the fall of Jerusalem.
然后我们读到一群从无底坑里出来的蝗虫。 And then we read about a swarm of locusts that come up out of the abyss.
当你读到描述时，它们穿着胸甲和头盔，看起来非常像罗马士兵。 And when you read the description, they're wearing breastplates and helmets and they look, they seem to look an awful lot like Roman soldiers.
这些蝗虫被允许折磨人，但不杀死他们，而是折磨五个月。 And these locusts are given permission to torment people, but not kill them, but torment for five months.
这似乎是一段很长的时间，不是吗？ Now that seems like a lot of time period, isn't it?
五个月。 Five months.
猜猜在城墙被攻破、城市陷落之前，耶路撒冷被围攻持续了多长时间？ Guess how long the siege of Jerusalem lasted before the walls were breached and the city fell?
四个月零三周。 Four months and three weeks.
足够接近了。 Close enough.
对。 Right.
五个月，耶路撒冷的围攻。 Five months, the siege of Jerusalem.
人们受到折磨，但没有被杀，即使他们不在城里。 People were tormented, but not killed, even when they were not in the city.
城市还没有陷落。 The city had fallen yet.
然后我们读到黑马，代表饥荒带来的死亡。 And then we read of the black horse, death by famine.
灰马，代表疾病带来的死亡。 The pale horse, death by disease.
这两件事在长期围城中必然会发生。 Two things that would absolutely happen during a long siege.
饥荒和疾病，缺乏清洁的水。 Famine and disease, lack of clean water.
然后耶路撒冷城陷落了。 And then the city of Jerusalem falls.
如果允许这样类比的话，耶路撒冷的陷落就像是他 们的9·11。这是他们认为永远不会发生的事。 And if you'll allow the analogy, the fall of Jerusalem would have been there at 9-11. It would have been the thing that they thought would never happen.
他们认为神永远不会允许发生的事。 The thing they thought God would never allow.
耶路撒冷陷落，圣殿被毁。 Jerusalem to fall and the temple to be destroyed.
所以这是一个震撼世界的事件，对许多人来说，他们认为这就是他们所知的世界末日。 And so it was an earth-shattering event, and for many people they thought it was the end of the world, that they knew it.
因此，启示录回顾了这个事件，这个事件发生在约翰写启示录的25年前。 And so the book of Revelation looks back on this event, which now was 25 years before John wrote the book of Revelation.
它已经发生了。 It already has.
但启示录以这些非常象征性的、末世性的术语回顾这 个事件，因为这对犹太人来说是一个悲剧性的事件。 But the book of Revelation looks back on this event in these very symbolic, hematocalyptic terms, because it was a tragic event for the Jewish people.
但好消息是白马。 But the good news is the white horse.
白马来了，现在骑士变得重要了。 Here comes the white horse, and now the rider matters.
现在骑士很重要。 Now the rider matters.
他来了，希腊文是这样说的，他来是要征服，并且要得胜。 And he comes, in the Greek it says this, he comes conquering and to conquer.
征服并得胜。 Conquering and to conquer.
换句话说，他已经征服了，而且他还要继续征服。 In other words, he's already conquered, and he's going to conquer.
这意味着，他在复活中已经战胜了死亡一次，他还会再次这样做。 Meaning, he's conquered death once already in his resurrection, and he will do it again.
这就是好消息。 That's the good news.
所以，这本书的第一部分包含警告和应许。 So, this first section of the book comes with warning and promises.
正如我刚才所说，一个应许是耶稣已经战胜了撒但一次，他还会再次这样做。 A promise, as I just said, is that Jesus has defeated Satan once and he will do it again.
这是一个应许。 That's a promise.
但警告是，在迫害时期，教会的人可能会被诱惑屈服 于迫害，进行异教祭祀，为了保全生命而否认信仰。 The warning, though, is that during the time of persecution, The people of the church may be tempted to give in to the persecutions, to make pagan sacrifices, to deny the faith to save their lives.
警告是，不要这样做。 The warning is, don't do it.
不要这样做。 Don't do it.
因为耶稣不是说过，「凡在人面前不认我的，我在我天上的父面前也必不认他」吗？ Because didn't Jesus say, whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my Father in Heaven.
所以否认信仰就是冒着失去救恩的风险。 So to deny the faith is to risk loss of salvation.
所以，有趣的是，当约翰写这段文字时，所有这些事情已经是他的过去了，不是吗？ So isn't it interesting, though, that all that stuff is already in John's past when he's writing this text?
现在我们来到约翰的现在，然后他转向写给七个教会的信。 Now we get to John's presence, and then he moves the letters to the seven churches.
这七个城市的教会，如果你仔细想想，约翰就像是他们的主教。 The churches in these seven cities, and if you think about it, John is like their bishop.
他写这些信，你可以认为是主教的书信，目的是鼓励这些教会的人并坚固他们。 And he's writing these, what you might consider, episcopal letters that are meant to encourage the people of these churches and strengthen them.
尽管有迫害，福音仍在传播，教会在成长。 The gospel is spreading in spite of the persecution, and the church is growing.
在启示录中，教会被描述为一体两面的教会。 And the church is described in the book of Revelation as two churches in one.
这是早期教会的典型特征。 This is typical of the early church.
事实上，罗马的教堂中有描绘这个概念的马赛克。 In fact, there are mosaics in the churches of Rome that depict this idea.
这个概念是这样的。 And the idea is this.
教会是一体两面的。 The church is two churches in one.
犹太教会和外邦教会。 The Jewish church and the Gentile church.
换句话说，一个是来自以色列民族并接受基督为弥赛亚的人组成的 教会，另一个是来自异教世界、归信基督教的外邦人组成的教会。 In other words, the church of people who come from the people of Israel, who have accepted Christ as their Messiah, and the church of people who come from the pagan world, the Gentiles, who have converted to Christianity.
这是一个教会，所以别误会，它是一个一个建立起来的，对吧？ It's one church, so don't get me wrong, it's built one by one, right?
但它由这两个教会组成，犹太教会和外邦教会。 But it's made up of these two churches, the Jewish church and the Gentile church.
你可以在罗马的马赛克中看到这一点，其中两个教会， 犹太和外邦，分别由耶路撒冷和伯利恒两个城市代表。 And you can see this in the Mosaic of Rome, where the two churches, Jewish and Gentile, are represented by two cities, Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
现在，你可以想象为什么耶路撒冷代表犹太教会，但为什么伯利恒会代表外邦教会呢？ Now, you can imagine why Jerusalem represents the Jewish church, but why would Bethlehem represent the Gentile church?
因为伯利恒是第一批敬拜耶稣的外邦人，即东方博士。 Because Bethlehem were the first Gentiles to worship Jesus, the Magi.
这是一个美丽的意象，在启示录中，你可能记得 有一处提到14万4千人被印上印记，受了洗。 So it's a beautiful image, and in the book of Revelation, you may remember at one point it talks about 144,000 who are sealed, baptized.
印上印记，受洗。 Sealed, baptized.
14万4千这个数字是新约圣经中的。 The 144,000, that number is new Bible.
它是12和12和千。 It's 12 and 12 and thousands.
十二乘以众多。 the twelve multiplied by multitudes.
但重点是十二代表以色列，以色列的十二个支派。 But the point is that the twelve represents Israel, the twelve tribes of Israel.
然后外邦教会被称为无数的众多，甚至没有人能数得过来。 And then the Gentile church is represented by what is then called countless multitudes and nobody even counts.
所以，教会在成长。 So, the church is growing.
但在这个传播福音的时期，传福音、分享信仰就是冒着生命危险。 But during this time of spreading the Gospel, to evangelize, to share the faith, is to risk your life.
所以约翰在这里的鼓励是，这是值得的。 And so John's words of encouragement here are, it's worth it.
即使你冒着生命危险，这也是值得的。 Even if you risk your life, it is worth it.
在这个背景下，约翰还看到了天上敬拜的异象。 And also in this context, John has a vision of worship in the heavenly realm.
你可能记得约翰看到天使唱新歌的异象。 You may remember the vision of John seeing the angels singing a new song.
他们唱新约的歌。 They sing the song of the new covenant.
但同时，在幕后，正在进行着属灵的争战。 But at the same time, behind the scenes, there is spiritual warfare going on.
这就是许多人被误导的地方，因为他们假设启示录中谈到的战争是地上的实际战争。 And this is where a lot of people get tricked up, because they assume that talk of warfare in the book of Revelation is literal warfare on the earth.
但大多数时候，并非如此。 And most of the time, it's not.
有一些确实是，但对约翰来说，其中一些已经是过去的事了，比如围绕耶路撒冷的战争。 Some of it is, but some of that is already in the past for John, in terms of the war over Jerusalem.
但启示录中大量关于战争的意象并不是要被理解为字面意义上的战争。 But a lot of the imagery around warfare in the Book of Revelation is not meant to be taken as literal warfare.
它应该被理解为属灵争战。 It's meant to be taken as spiritual warfare.
这场属灵争战就是，那条龙、撒但、曾试图杀害 耶稣并攻击教会的同一个邪灵正在继续迫害。 And the spiritual warfare is that the same dragon, the same Satan, the same demonic spirit that tried to kill Jesus and attacked the church is continuing the persecution.
罗马帝国，特别是罗马皇帝，罗马皇帝的内部机构，被描绘成这个巨兽。 And the Roman Empire, and the Roman Emperors specifically, the interior office of the Roman Emperors, is depicted as this great beast.
所以启示录中的兽就是罗马皇帝。 So the beast in Revelation is the Roman Emperor.
罗马皇帝得到假先知的帮助，这些假先知就是罗马祭司，他们鼓励人们崇拜皇帝。 And the Roman emperors are aided by the false prophets, who are the priests of the Roman priesthood, who encourage people to worship the emperor.
我是说，这就写在经文里。 I mean, it's got it right in the text.
假先知使人们崇拜兽。 The false prophets make people worship the beast.
罗马祭司鼓励人们崇拜皇帝。 The Roman priests encourage people to worship the emperor.
皇帝崇拜是复杂的，我们现在不深入讨论这个。 And emperor worship is complicated, and we won't go into that now.
但是，你知道，当然还有启示录中非常著名的部分，约翰说，好，我要给你们一个数字。 But, you know, there's, of course, the very famous part of the book of Revelation Where John says, OK, I'm going to give you a number.
这是一个人名字的数字。 It's the number of a man's name.
不要搞错了。 Make no mistake.
你知道是谁。 You know who it is.
666。对吧？ 666. Right?
你知道那个。 You know that one.
在古代世界，你可以用字母作为数字。 Well, in the ancient world, you could use letters as numbers.
他们没有像我们这样的独立数字。 They didn't have separate numbers like we do.
所以，你知道，就像如果A是1，B是2，C是3，你知道，你可以用字母或数字。 And so, you know, it would be like if A was 1 and B was 2 and C was 3, you know, you could use letters or numbers.
所以任何词或名字，你只需把字母加起来就能得到一个数字。 So any word or name, you could just add up the letters and get a number.
说实话，如果你真的想的话，你几乎可以从666中得出任何东西，无论好坏。 And truthfully, you could make almost anything out of 666 if you really want to, with bad or bad.
但是，如果你生活在约翰写作的公元95年，你口袋里有硬币，那 么你拿出那枚硬币，你会看到硬币上有当时皇帝多米田的形象。 But, if you lived at the time John was writing in the year 95, and you had in your pocket coins, Then you took out that coin and you would see on that coin the image of the current member, named Domitian.
在那枚硬币的边缘会用简短的字母写着多米田所有头衔的缩写。 And around the end of that coin would be written in brief letters the abbreviations of all of Domitian's titles.
如果你把那些字母加起来，猜猜加起来是多少？ And if you added up those letters, guess what it adds up to?
666。没错。 666. That's right.
所以看，各位，我们不必在未来寻找什么666兽。 So look folks, we do not have to look for some 666 beast coming in our future.
它就是这份文献写作时的皇帝。 It was the emperor of the time the document was written.
它并不比这更高深。 It's not any more superior than that.
当然，除了约翰不想在文件中点名，所以他告诉人们他们会知道的事。 Except that, of course, John didn't want to name names in the document, so he told people what they would know.
但这里的重点是这个。 But the point here is this.
迫害使一个选择摆在了前面。 that the persecution brings to the forefront a choice.
耶稣面对的选择，门徒面对的选择，基督徒一直以这样 或那样的形式面对的选择，这个选择就是忠诚的选择。 The same choice that Jesus was confronted with, and the disciples were confronted with, the same choice that Christians have been confronted with forever in one form or another, and that choice is a choice of loyalty.
基督还是凯撒？ Christ or Caesar?
神还是文化？ God or the culture?
敬拜独一的神，还是敬拜文化的神？ Worship the one and only God, or worship the God of the culture?
这就是约翰知道他的人民将面临的选择，如果他 写这些信来鼓励他们，如果他解释这些异象。 And that's the choice that John knew his people would be facing if he wrote these letters to encourage them, and if he broke down these visions.
在启示录中，我们看到已经有殉道者了。 And in the book of Revelation, we see they're already martyrs.
启示录中的殉道者在说，这种情况持续多久了？ And the martyrs in the book of Revelation are saying, how long has this been going on?
他们得到了一个答案。 And they're given an answer.
这不是一个很好的答案。 It's not a great answer.
这不是一个很明确的答案，但他们确实得到了答案。 It's not a very identified answer for that, but they're actually given it.
等待。 Wait.
因为这还没有结束，还会有更多的殉道者。 Because it's not over, and there are going to be more martyrs.
有趣的是，如果你仔细阅读启示录的文本，它说殉道者在哪里？ The interesting thing about this is that if you read carefully the text of Revelation, where does it say the martyrs are?
它谈到祭坛下的殉道者。 It talks about the martyrs under the altars.
在罗马的历史教堂中，殉道者被埋在哪里？ And in the historic churches in Rome, where are the martyrs buried?
在教堂的祭坛下。 Under the altars, the churches.
所以，在启示录的这一部分，涉及约翰的现在，再次有一个警告和应许。 So, within this section of the book of Revelation, then dealing with John's presence, There is, again, a warning in the promise.
警告是，不要屈服于文化。 The warning is, do not give in to the culture.
实际上，这就是启示录对我们的信息。 And really, this is the message of the book of Revelation for us.
这就是它对我们变得相关的地方。 This is where it becomes relevant for us.
不要屈服于文化。 Do not give in to the culture.
不要为了文化的神而牺牲你对基督的忠诚。 Do not sacrifice your loyalty to Christ for the God of the culture.
不要用那些文化的神来替代你所信的独一真神。 Do not substitute those gods of the culture for the one you are God of.
现在，问题是，注意这一点，约翰并没有承诺说 ，嘿，如果你忠诚，你就不会被杀或遭受迫害。 Now, the problem is, and notice this, John does not promise, hey, if you're faithful, you won't get killed or get into persecution.
他没有承诺这一点。 He does not promise that.
但他确实承诺了这个。 But he does promise this.
那些从死亡中跟随耶稣的人将在复活中跟随他。 Those who follow Jesus from death will follow him in resurrection.
这就是应许。 That's the promise.
所以，忠诚可能导致生命的失去，但那些从死亡中跟随耶稣的人将在复活中跟随他。 So, being faithful might lead to lost life, but those who follow Jesus from death will follow him in resurrection.
好的，现在让我们谈谈约翰的未来，那些在约翰未来的事情。 Alright, now let's talk about John's future, things that are in John's future.
但第一类是约翰未来的事情，他的异象预言将要发生的事 情，那些尚未发生的事情，但在我们的过去已经发生了。 But the first category is things that are in John's future, things that his vision predicts that are going to come, that are things that are yet to take place, but they've already taken place in our past.
你知道，这并不神秘，因为看哪，约翰预言了罗马帝国的衰落。 And, you know, this is not all that mysterious because, lo and behold, John predicts the fall of the Roman Empire.
猜猜怎么着？ Well, guess what?
罗马帝国已经不复存在了。 The Roman Empire is back.
你不需要想象一个新的罗马帝国崛起，以便它在未来某个时候衰落。 And you don't need to imagine a new Roman Empire rising up so that it could fall sometime in the future.
这已经发生了。 It's already happened.
所以当约翰开始谈论将要发生的事情时，这里有好消息和坏消息。 And so there's this good news, bad news thing going on here when John starts talking about what's to come.
好消息是那些罗马迫害者将得到应有的报应。 The good news is those Roman persecutors are going to get what's coming.
嗯，如果你生活在那个时代，这就是好消息。 Well, that was the good news if you were living at the time.
但坏消息是，情况会在好转之前变得更糟。 The bad news is, though, it's going to get worse before it gets better.
迫害会在好转之前变得更糟。 The persecution is going to get worse before it gets better.
是的，确实如此。 And yes, it did.
迫害确实在好转之前变得更糟。 Persecution did get worse before it got better.
在三世纪中叶，情况发展到皇帝要求帝国中的每个人都 必须进行异教祭祀以证明他们对国家和皇帝的忠诚。 In the middle of the third century, it got to the point where the emperor demanded that everyone in the empire had to make a pagan sacrifice to prove their loyalty to the state and the emperor.
当你进行异教祭祀时，你会得到一张收据。 And when you made your pagan sacrifice, you got a receipt.
这样你就可以证明你已经做了。 So that you could prove you had made it.
这张收据不言而喻。 And this receipt goes without saying.
我们现在还保存着一些。 We still have some of them.
你应该随身携带它，因为你可能会被要求出示你的证明。 You were meant to carry it around you because you could be asked to show your papers.
以证明你是一个好的、忠诚的公民。 to prove that you were a good, loyal citizen.
没有这些证明，你可能会被禁止在市场上买卖。 And without the papers, you could be prevented from buying and selling in the marketplace.
这不正是启示录预言的关于兽的印记的内容吗？ And isn't that exactly what Revelations predicts about the Mark of the Beast?
兽的印记将成为帝国的典型标志，没有它人们将无法买卖。 The Mark of the Beast will be the example through-hole of the empire without which people will not be able to buy or sell.
所以，迫害继续恶化，直到4世纪初，随着第一 位基督教皇帝康斯坦丁的崛起，迫害最终结束。 So, The persecution continued to get worse until the early 4th century when it finally ended with the rise of the Emperor Constantine, the first Christian Emperor.
现在，我们不会过多谈论康斯坦丁，因为那是一个永恒的话题。 Now, we aren't going to talk about Constantine too much because that is a topic for all time to come.
但重点是启示录预言，不出所料，启示录预言有一天经文将被欢呼。 But the point is that the book of Revelation predicts Not surprisingly, the book of Revelation predicts that some day the verses will be jubilated.
当这发生时，帝国将被转化，意味着局势将会逆转。 And when it does, the empire will be converted in the sense that the tables will be turned.
有一天教会将战胜帝国。 There will come a day when the church will win over the empire.
基督将通过教会影响世界。 When Christ will influence the world through the church.
这确实发生了。 It certainly did.
这就是经文所指的千禧年。 And this is what the text refers to as the Millennium.
现在，关于千禧年，你知道，很多解经者过分夸大了它的重要性。 Now, the Millennium, you know, a lot of interpreters make too big a deal out of this.
启示录中千禧年的概念只有半节经文。 The concept of the Millennium in the book of Revelation is only half a verse.
这不是什么大事。 It's not a big deal.
它不应该被字面理解为1000年。 And it's not meant to be taken in the literal 1,000 years.
它应该被理解为基督通过教会影响世界的长时期。 It's meant to be taken in the long period of time in which Christ influences the world through the church.
从4世纪以来，我们一直在享受这个教会时代。 And we've been enjoying that church age ever since the 4th century.
所以千禧年，嗯，我们正处在其中。 And so the millennium, well, we're in it.
它何时结束？ When will it end?
我不知道。 I don't know.
但约翰在启示录的这部分预言，再次强调，它并没有为我们 组织成19个部分，但约翰预言的是这种碗倾倒的意象。 But what John predicts in this part of the book of Revelation, again, it's not organized in 19 sections for us, but what John predicts is this imagery of bowls being poured out.
碗被倾倒，就像你在祭坛上倾倒奠祭的酒一样。 Bowls being poured out like you would pour out a wine offering on an altar.
这些被倾倒的碗是对迫害者的惩罚。 These bowls being poured out are a punishment of the persecutors.
所以他再次预言迫害者将得到应有的报应，神会惩罚他们，罗马将会衰落。 So again, he's predicting that the persecutors will get what's coming from them, that God will punish them, and that Rome will fall.
罗马确实衰落了。 And Rome did fall.
重点是这个。 And the point is this.
罗马帝国是暂时的。 The empire of the Romans is temporary.
神的国是永恒的。 The kingdom of God is eternal.
这就是约翰在帝国和神的国之间做出的对比。 And that's the contrast that John makes between the empire and the kingdom.
顺便说一下，帝国和王国这两个词在英语中是不同的 ，但如果你同意的话，它们表达的是同一个概念。 And by the way, those words empire and kingdom are two different words in English, but it'd be the same idea if you agreed.
这就像说罗马人的国是暂时的，神的国是永恒的。 It's like saying the kingdom of the Romans is temporary, the kingdom of God is eternal.
这就是帝国和神的国之间的对比。 So that's the contrast between the empire and the kingdom.
约翰还使用巴比伦的不忠妇人（代表帝国）和新妇的概念来做这个对比。 And John makes this contrast Also using the idea of the unfaithful woman of Babylon, who is the empire, and the briar.
所以这两个象征性术语之间存在对比，不忠的妇人和新妇。 So there's this contrast between these two symbolic terms, the unfaithful woman and the briar.
巴比伦是错误的，因为在旧约中，谁攻占耶路撒冷并摧毁了圣殿？ And Babylon is wrong, because in the Old Testament, who sat in Jerusalem and destroyed the temple?
巴比伦。 Babylon.
在公元70年，谁洗劫了耶路撒冷并摧毁了第二圣殿？ In the year 70, who sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple?
罗马。 Rome.
所以罗马是新的巴比伦。 So Rome is the new Babylon.
所以这里有一个警告和一个应许，不是吗？ So there's a warning and a promise here, isn't there?
警告是，不要站在罗马人一边，因为他们的帝国将会衰落。 The warning is, don't take sides with the Romans, because their empire will fall.
这也是一个应许。 And so that's also a promise.
应许是，罗马将会衰落。 The promise is, Rome will fall.
所以，这就带我们到了最后一部分，我们必须问，好吧，还剩下什么？ So, that brings us to the last part of it, and we have to ask, okay, well, what's left?
我的意思是，我刚刚描述了约翰过去的事情，约翰当时正在发生的事情，以 及约翰未来预言的事情，这些事情已经在我们的过去了，比如罗马的衰落。 I mean, I've just described things in John's past, things going on in the present time for John, and the things that were predicted in John's future that are already in our past, like the fall of Rome.
还剩下什么？ What's left?
实际上，启示录的文本中剩下的内容不多，但启示录中 预言的一些事情已经发生，而另一些仍在我们的未来。 Actually, there isn't a lot that's left in the text of Revelation, but there are things predicted in the book of Revelation that have happened, that are still in our future.
但首先，在我说那是什么之前，我必须说这个。 But first of all, before I say what that is, I have to say this.
你可能熟悉「哈米吉多顿」这个词，对吧？ You're probably familiar with the term Armageddon, right?
你听说过这个词。 You've heard that term.
当你听到这个词时，你可能会想到世界末日、世界大战之类的事情，对吧？ And when you hear that term, you probably think, End of the world, world war, that kind of stuff, right?
因为这是好莱坞对你的影响。 Because that's what Hollywood has done to you.
但让我告诉你一些事。 But let me tell you something.
再说一次，这不是字面意义上的词。 Again, this is not the literal word.
哈米吉多顿是一个地方。 Armageddon is a place.
它是希伯来词「哈米吉多」的希腊版本的英语版本，意思是米吉多山。 It's sort of the English version of the Greek version of the Hebrew word par megiddo, meaning Megiddo Hill.
米吉多山是一个地方。 Megiddo Hill is a place.
这是旧约中发生战斗的地方。 It's a place where battles took place in the Old Testament.
这是拜偶像的耶洗别王后死去的地方。 It's a place where the idolatrous Queen Jezebel died.
但重点是，你知道，如果你对那个时代的人说哈米吉 多，他们会想，哦，是的，我知道那里发生了什么。 But the point is that, you know, if you were to say harmagino to a person who lived back in this time, they would think, oh yeah, I know what happened there.
神得胜。 God wins.
那就是在那里发生的事。 That's what happened there.
那是邪恶被击败的地方。 That's the place where evil is defeated.
所以哈米吉多顿不是一个事件，而是一个应许。 So Armageddon is not an event, it's a promise.
再次提到哈米吉多顿，指的是属灵争战，是神最终会得胜，邪恶将被击败的应许。 Armageddon again, referring to spiritual warfare, is the promise that God will win and evil will be defeated in the end.
那么，在我们的未来还有什么要被揭示的？ So, what is left to be revealed in our future?
嗯，羔羊的婚礼。 Well, The Wedding of the Lamb.
基督的再来，迎娶他的新妇，就是教会。 The return of Christ to claim his bride, the Church.
新郎来接他的新妇回家。 The groom comes to take his bride to his home.
这就是我们有时所说的再来。 This is again what we sometimes refer to as the second coming.
现在，我应该说对很多人来说，这在个人层面上发生，就是在他们去世时。 Now, I should say that for many people, this happens on a personal level, simply when they pass away.
但会有一个时候，这将一劳永逸地发生。 But there is going to be a time when it happens once and for all.
将会有审判，将会有复活，将会有新天新地。 And there will be a judgment, and there will be a resurrection, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
这不是两个分开的地方。 And these are not two separate places.
这是一种谈论被救赎的创造的方式。 A way of talking about redeemed creation.
但关于新天新地和新耶路撒冷的重要之处是，在启示录中它被描绘成是降下来的。 But the important thing about the new heaven and the new earth and the new Jerusalem is that the way it's depicted in the book of Revelation is that it descends.
它从上面降下来。 It descends from above.
再说一次，不要字面理解这个，但重点是它是神的礼物。 Again, don't take this literally, but the point is that it is a gift from God.
这不是我们要创造的东西。 It is not something we're going to create.
我们不能引入天上的事物。 We don't usher in the things from heaven.
我们不创造奥秘。 We don't create the secrets.
神把它作为礼物赐给我们。 God gives it to us as a gift.
然后永生就是神的同在。 And then eternal life is the presence of God.
这一切就是启示。 And all of this is the revelation.
这一切就是被揭示的，就是启示。 All of this is that which is revealed, the revealing.
在启示录中，神的国最终在其未来的缺席中被完全揭示。 In the book of Revelation, the Kingdom of God is finally fully revealed in its future absence.
然后你开始回想耶稣的诞生，收割的意象，婚宴的 意象，我最喜欢的天堂意象，一个大丰收，对吧？ And then you begin to think back to Jesus' birth, images of the harvest, the image of the wedding banquet, my favorite image for heaven, a big harvest, right?
所以，这就是我们要期待的。 And so, this is what we have to look forward to.
但正如我们所看到的，启示录的大部分，如果不是大 多数的话，在约翰写它的时候已经是过去的事了。 But as we can see, Much, if not most, of the book of Revelation, or much of the book of Revelation, was already in the past when John even wrote it.
所以首先，你知道，他在回想并描述基督的到来 和耶路撒冷的陷落，这是一个悲剧性的事件。 And so first, you know, he's thinking back and he's describing the coming of Christ and the fall of Jerusalem, which was a tragic event.
然后他写这些信给教会，在迫害期间鼓励他们。 And then he writes these letters to the churches to encourage them during the persecution.
在这里我们再次应该听到给我们的信息。 And here again we should hear the message for us.
这就是启示录与我们相关的地方。 This is where the book of Revelation is relevant for us.
不要屈服于你周围的文化。 Don't give in to the culture around you.
不要屈服于崇拜你周围无神论文化的诱惑。 Don't give in to the temptation to worship the godless culture around you.
因为你的家是天国里永恒的家。 Because your home is the permanent home in the kingdom of heaven.
但是，即使当约翰看到未来时，我们也在回顾他的未来。 But then, even when John sees into the future, we are looking back on his future.
罗马的衰落和帝国的改变。 The fall of Rome and the conversion of the empire.
所以实际上，只有最后的启示还在我们的未来。 And so really, only the final revelation is left in our future.
我们不知道那会在什么时候发生，我们也不够聋。 We don't know when that will take place, and we're not deaf enough.
我的意思是，我确信我不需要告诉你这个，但重点是要始终保持准备。 I mean, I'm sure I don't have to tell you this, but the point is to always be ready.
所以即使启示录不是为我们而写的，它对我们仍然有意义 ，因为即使在今天我们也面临着选择，基督还是凯撒。 So even though the book of Revelation is not written for us, It is still relevant for us, in that even today we face a choice, Christ or Caesar.
你会被神印上印记，还是被这个世界的神明标记？ Will you be sealed for God or marked for the gods of this world?
你会选择神的国还是我们文化的帝国？ Will you choose the kingdom of God or the empire of our culture?
如果我们选择神的国，这个世界仍然会以某些方式迫害我们。 And if we choose the kingdom, there are ways in which the world still persecutes.
我认为随着时间的推移，这种情况会越来越多。 And I think this is going to be the case increasingly as time goes on.
在早期教会的空间里，我们可能会以更微妙的方式受到迫害。 We can be persecuted in more subtle ways in the early church space.
但我们也必须承认，现在世界上有些地方的迫害如果不是早期教会，就被认为是危险的。 But we also have to acknowledge that there are places in the world right now where the persecution is known as dangerous if it wasn't early church.
但即使对我们来说，即使在这个国家，我们也可能被 称为落后的、未开化的，或者我们可能被边缘化。 But even for us, even in this country, we can be called backward, or unenlightened, or we can be marginalized.
我认为成为一个公教会基督徒会变得越来越不方便。 And I think it's going to become more and more inconvenient to be a Catholic Christian.
在某个时候，千禧年将结束，随之而来的是世界变成后基督教时代。 At some point, the millennium will wind down, and as it does, the world becomes post-Christian.
教会对世界的影响将减少。 The church will have less influence on the world.
随着这种情况的发生，教会将变得越来越反文化。 And as that happens, the church will become more and more counter-cultured.
所以我会说我们必须奔跑。 So I would say we have to run.
我们影响文化已经很长很长时间了。 We influenced the culture for a long, long time.
有时我们并不总是忠于那个责任。 Sometimes we weren't always faithful with that responsibility.
我认为，作为一个真正的基督徒在社会上可以被接受的日子可能已经结束了。 And I think that the days when being a real Christian was acceptable in society might be over.
所以，请记住启示录的信息。 So, just remember the message of the book of Revelation.
文化的帝国是暂时的。 The empire of the culture is temporary.
神的国是永恒的。 The kingdom of God is eternal.
谢谢。 Thanks.