感谢您购买由约瑟圣人传播制作的这个系列。 Thanks for purchasing this series produced by St. Joseph Communications.
上次我讲这个主题时，整个第一场演讲的音响系统都出了问题。 The last time I gave a talk on this subject, the sound system wouldn't work for the whole first talk.
所以大卫所说的属灵争战可能确实是真的。 So what David was saying about spiritual warfare may very well be true.
但是否有可能在任何时刻发生一次秘密被提，将耶稣的信徒带到天堂，而让 世界其他人，包括大多数公教徒，陷入一个持续七年无法逃脱的大灾难呢？ But is it possible that at any moment a secret rapture could occur that would take believers in Jesus to heaven while plunging the rest of the world, including most Catholics, into an inescapable Great Tribulation that occurs for seven years?
在那七年结束时，基督再来，开始一个称为千禧年的千年统治。 At the end of that seven years, Christ comes back again, and a thousand-year reign called the Millennium begins.
在那千年统治之后，还会有另一次审判，另一场战争，然后永恒就开始了。 After that thousand-year reign, there would then be another judgment, another battle, and then eternity begins.
这就是我们要试图回答的问题，而且这个问题很重要。 That's the question we're going to try to answer, and the reason is it's important.
因为如果作为公教徒，我们在这个问题上错了，那我们可能就有麻烦了，对吧？ Because if, as Catholics, we're wrong about this issue, then we may be in trouble, right?
明白吗？ Okay?
但如果我们在这个问题上是对的，如果教会在这个问题上说的是真的，那么人 们就是在根据一个不真实的事情做出非常糟糕的决定——非常糟糕的决定。 But if we're right about this issue, if what the Church says is true about this issue, then people are making very bad decisions based on something that's not true—very bad decisions.
但比任何个人可能做出的错误决定更重要的是，真理正处于危险之中。 But even more important than the bad decisions that any one individual may make is the fact that truth is at stake.
这两种立场中只有一个是真的，它们不可能同时为真。 One of these two positions is true; they cannot both be true.
不是这个真就是那个真。 One is true or the other.
双方都同意这是互相排斥的。 Both sides agree that it's mutually exclusive.
双方都同意，一个人不可能既是好公教徒，又相 信在基督再来之后会有一个未来的千年统治。 Both sides agree that you can't be a good Catholic and believe that there will be a future thousand-year reign of Christ after the Second Coming.
双方都同意，如果真有这种被提的话，大多数好公教徒可能都不会被提走。 Both sides agree that probably most good Catholics will not be raptured away if there is going to be such a thing.
让我们先退一步。 So let's back up just for a minute.
我们现在是在21世纪。 We're in the 21st century.
我想退后一步，看看历史。 What I'd like to do is back up for just a minute and look at history.
我们要快速浏览一下历史，让你明白：我们是否真的处在你所知的世界末日？ We're going to take a real quick stroll through history just to give you an idea: Are we at the end of the world as you know it?
明白吗？ Okay?
在公元154年，要让你知道这有多早，那时还有认识使徒的人在世。 In 154, now just to give you an idea how early that is, there are people alive that knew the Apostles.
在154年，一个叫孟他努的人说基督会在他那一代再来。 In the year 154, a man named Montanus said that the Second Coming would occur in his generation.
他带人离开教会，开始了自己的教派。 He took people out of the Church and started his own sect.
结果并没有发生。 It didn't happen.
公元177年，爱任纽认定世界会在公元1000年左右结束。这也没有发生。 In 177 AD, Irenaeus decided that the world would end around 1000 AD. It did not happen.
他的门徒，同时也是祭司的希波吕托，认定世界会在公元500年左右 结束。如果你想知道的话，也没有发生。稍后，尤利乌斯·阿弗里加努 写道世界不可能延续到公元500年之后。最后这三个人都是公教徒。 His disciple, Hippolytus, who was also a priest, decided that the world would end around 500 AD. In case you're wondering, it didn't. A little bit later, Julius Africanus decided and wrote that the world could not go on any longer than 500 AD. The last three men were all Catholics.
大约在四世纪中叶，圣马丁，一位圣人，断定基督必定会在那个世纪末再来。 Around the middle of the fourth century, St. Martin of Tours, a saint, decided that by the end of that century, the Second Coming would have to occur.
然后一位杰出人物出现在教会舞台上，帮助人们摆脱了对世界末日的这种着迷。 Then a brilliant man came on the Church scene and helped people to get over this fascination with the end of the world.
他就是圣奥古斯丁，在圣奥古斯丁之后的几百年里，真的很少有公教 徒说世界末日会在50年内，或100年内，或500年内发生。 His name was St. Augustine, and for the next several years after St. Augustine, there really were not very many Catholics saying the end of the world is going to occur within 50 years, or 100 years, or 500 years.
但在8世纪左右，一位叫贝阿图斯的修道院院长宣称世界将在796年复活节晚上结束。 But around the 8th century, Beatus, who was an abbot, preached that the world would end in 796 on Easter evening.
这个预言非常具体。 It was very specific.
图尔的格列高利也说世界会结束，他预言的日期在799年到806年之间。图林根的伯 纳德稍后说世界会在公元992年结束。方济会士约阿希姆·德·弗洛雷说世界会在59 年后，也就是1260年结束。他是在那个世纪之交，进入13世纪时说的这些话。 Gregor of Tours also said the world would end; his date was somewhere between 799 and 806. Bernard of Thuringia, a little bit later, said that the world would end in 992 AD. Joachim of Fiore, a Franciscan Catholic, said that the world would end in 59 years, in the year 1260. He was speaking right around the turn of that century, going into the 13th century.
诺查丹玛斯大约生于1503年。有人听说过诺查丹玛斯吗？ Nostradamus was born about 1503. Anybody ever heard of Nostradamus?
他说在1999年，这是原话：「1999年，恐怖大王将从天而降。」 He said that in the year 1999, this is a quote: In the year 1999, from the sky will come the great king of terror.
许多人把这当作基督再来或被提的预言。 Many people took that as prophecy of the Second Coming or of the rapture.
1501年，有一位著名的探险家——你们有多少人听说过哥伦布？ In 1501, there was a famous explorer named—how many of you have heard of Christopher Columbus?
他声称世界最迟会在1656年结束。就在这个时期，在哥伦布之后，一个新的 团体形成了：重洗派，他们可以追溯到塔波派，而塔波派又可以追溯到胡斯派。 He claimed that the world would end no later than 1656. Right around this time, just after Columbus, a new group was formed: the Anabaptists, who could trace their roots back to the Taborites, who could trace their roots back to the Hussites.
1534年，他们占领了德国明斯特市。那个接管城市的基督徒 ——这是一个新教教派——自称为正义之王，新耶路撒冷之王。 They took over the city of Munster, Germany, in 1534. The man, the Christian that took over the city—this was a Protestant sect—called himself the King of Justice, the King of New Jerusalem.
他的真名是巴克霍尔德。 His name was actually Buckhold.
他声称千禧年将在那一年开始。 He claimed that the Millennium was going to start that year.
如你们大多数人所知，路德是新教徒。 Martin Luther, as most of you know, was a Protestant.
他说世界末日最迟不会超过19世纪中叶。 He said that the end of the world could be no later than the mid-1800s.
他比其他预言的人要聪明一些，他至少把日期往后推了 很远——换句话说，他不用活着看到自己的预言落空。 He was a little smarter than some of the other people that claimed it; he at least put a good piece—back in other words, he didn't have to live to see his prophecy not come true.
1593年，有一个叫约翰·纳皮尔的人。 In 1593, there was a man named John Napier.
他可不是傻子；他发明了数学对数。 He was no dummy; he invented mathematical logarithms.
这里有谁懂数学对数吗？ Anybody here understand mathematical logarithms?
哦，我们这里有人懂啊；我是不懂的，好吧？ Oh, we have somebody that understands that; I don't understand them, okay?
但他说世界末日会在1688年到1700年之间。 在17世纪中叶，有一个叫第五君主国派的团体。 But he said that the end of the world would be between 1688 and 1700. In the mid-17th century, there was a group called the Fifth Monarchy Men.
他们在克伦威尔政府中实际上很有影响力，他们声称千禧年、第五国度—— 这就是他们从《但以理书》得到的第五国度——会在他们有生之年开始。 They actually were very instrumental in Cromwell's government, and they claimed that the Millennium, the Fifth Kingdom—that's where they got the Fifth Kingdom of Daniel—the Millennium would start within their lifetime.
他们说这会在1650年到1700年之间开始。1694年，约翰· 梅森说基督会在1694年4月16日复活节星期天回来。在复活节后 的第二天，他声称基督实际上已经回来了，只是我们没有注意到。 They said it would start sometime between 1650 and 1700. In 1694, John Mason said that Christ would return on Easter Sunday, April 16, 1694. He claimed on the day after Easter that Christ had in fact come back, but that we just hadn't been able to notice it.
在他死后的16年里，他的会众仍然声称基督在那天回来过。 For 16 years after his death, his congregation still claimed that Christ had come back on that day.
1733年，艾萨克·牛顿爵士相信世界末日的时间即将来临。 In 1733, Sir Isaac Newton believed that the time of the end of the world was drawing near.
大约一个世纪后，约瑟·史密斯创立了一个团体。 About a century after that, Joseph Smith started a group.
有人知道他创立了什么团体吗？ Does anybody know what group he started?
末日圣徒，也就是摩门教。 Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormons.
他在1832年说56年后就会结束，这是他的原话——结束。 He stated in 1832 that 56 years will wind it up, that's his words—wind it up.
换句话说，世界会在19世纪结束之前终结。 In other words, the world is going to end before the end of the 19th century.
然后出现了一个叫威廉·米勒的人，他创立了一个叫米勒派的团体。 Then along came a man named William Miller, who started a group called the Millerites.
他说基督会在1843年3月21日到第二年同一天之间的某个时候回来。 He said that Christ would return sometime between March 21, 1843, and that same date the next year.
当预言没有实现时，他又决定说其实会在1844年1 0月22日发生，这是处理预言失败的一个有趣方式。 When it didn't happen, he decided that it was really going to happen on October 22, 1844, which is an interesting way to handle a failed prophecy.
我把这叫做滚动式的世界末日；当预言不成真时，你就选择一个更晚的日期。 I call it the rolling end of the world; when it doesn't come true, you just pick a later date.
这种事一直都在发生。 It happens all the time.
可能把这种做法发展成一门完整科学的是19世纪成立的耶和华见证人教派。 Probably the people that have gotten this down to a total science were the people in the 19th century that formed the Jehovah's Witness sect.
他们曾说基督会在1874年、1914年、1918年、1920年、1925年、19 41年、1975年，以及最近的1994年回来。说到滚动式预言，就是这样了，对吧？ They have said that Christ would return in the years 1874, 1914, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, 1975, and most recently, 1994. Talk about rolling into the world, okay?
他们已经把这套玩得很熟练了。 They've got it down.
在1890年代中期，一个名叫安东尼奥·孔塞列罗的巴西人说服了20, 000名巴西人，如果他们推翻佩德罗二世皇帝，千禧年就会在巴西开始。 In the mid-1890s, a Brazilian by the name of Antonio Conselheiro convinced 20,000 Brazilians that if they overthrew Emperor Pedro II, the Millennium would begin in Brazil.
政府对他的宣讲非常愤怒，派出了10,000名士兵；那些巴西人没有一个生还。 The government was so upset by his preaching that they sent 10,000 soldiers; not one of those Brazilians survived.
但在1830年代，一个人开始传道，永远地改变 了美国新教，这个人就是约翰·纳尔逊·达比。 But in the 1830s, a man started to preach that changed American Protestantism forever, and that man's name was John Nelson Darby.
我相信他的教导在美国扎根有一个很简单的原因：他 是在南北战争之后才开始在美国传播他的教导的。 His teaching took root in America, I believe, for one very simple reason: he started to teach his teachings here in America right after the Civil War.
现在回想一下你所知道的关于南北战争的任何事。 Now think back to anything you know about the Civil War.
那是一个巨大动荡的时期；兄弟相残。 It was a time of tremendous upheaval; brothers took up arms against each other.
要说服人们世界末日非常非常接近并不难。 It was not at all hard to convince people that the end of the world was very, very close.
他的追随者实际上形成了一个教派，虽然他们不喜欢被称为教派，叫做普利茅斯弟兄会。 His followers actually formed a denomination, although they don't like to be called a denomination, called the Plymouth Brethren.
现在他的大多数追随者被称为达比派，不过他们非常不喜欢这个称呼。 Most of his followers now are known as Darbyites; however, they don't like that name at all.
他们有些人稍微更喜欢时代论者这个称呼，但是很多人也不喜欢这个名字。 A name that some of them like a little bit better is Dispensationalists; however, many of them do not like that name either.
所以我称他们为被提派，原因很简单，因为没有其他他们喜欢的称呼。 So I call them Rapturists for the simple reason that there is no other name that they like.
他们经常自称为信徒，但其实他们是约翰·达比的追随者。 They call themselves believers many times, but they're the followers of John Darby.
他所教导的就是我们一开始描述的：耶稣随时都可能 来临但不会踏足地面，真信徒会在云中与他相遇。 What he taught is what we described right at the very beginning: that Jesus would come at any moment but not set foot on the earth, and the true believers would go up to meet Him in the clouds.
然后，七年后，在地上经历了七年可怕的时期之后，他会再来。 Then, seven years later, after seven horrible years here on earth, He would come back again.
现在，也许他自己都没有意识到，约翰·达比实际上是把基督再来分成了两个部分。 Now, without maybe realizing it, what John Darby had actually done is taken the Second Coming and split it into two parts.
至少，或者说最糟糕的是，他把圣经中关于基督再来的教导变成了第二次和第三次来临。 At the very least, at the very worst, what he'd done is change the biblical teaching of a Second Coming into a second and a third coming.
现在他们通过说他第一次并不会真正降临地面来 回避这个问题，我们待会儿会详细讨论这点。 Now they get around this problem by saying He never touches down the first time, and we're going to talk about that a little bit later on.
老实说，我觉得这有点虚伪。 I think that's a little disingenuous, to be honest with you.
但至少，他把圣经中关于基督再来的明确教导分成了两个部分。 But at the very least, what he did is he took the clear teaching of Scripture about a Second Coming and split it into two parts.
在那七年之后，才会有真正的再来，而在再来之后，将会有一个千年统治。 After the seven years, then will come the real Second Coming, and after the Second Coming, then will be a thousand-year reign.
在那段时期，教会不再是神计划的主要焦点。 During that time, the Church is not the primary focus of God's plan.
在那千年统治期间，以色列——种族意义上的以色列，生来就是 犹太人，旧约中的圣洁血统——成为神救赎计划的主要焦点。 During that thousand-year reign, Israel—ethnic Israel, Jewish people by birth, the Old Testament holy bloodline—becomes the primary focus of God's plan of salvation.
他迫使他的追随者接受一种相当奇怪的教会观，即教会不再是神救赎 计划的主要焦点；神救赎计划的主要焦点是种族意义上的以色列。 He forced his followers into a rather strange view of the Church in that the Church is no longer the main focus of God's plan of salvation; the main focus of God's plan of salvation is ethnic Israel.
继续我们的历史，1916年，威廉·E·布莱克斯通说世界肯定会在20年内结束。 In 1916, to continue our history, William E. Blackstone said that the world will surely end within 20 years.
最迟不会超过1934年或1935年。 1934 or 1935 were the very latest.
奥斯瓦尔德·J·史密斯，如果你是福音派或基要主义信徒的话，你一定知道 这个名字，他说世界会在1933年之前结束。C.I.斯科菲尔德，如果你 是基要主义信徒的话，你一定知道这个名字，他写了一本很有名的附注圣经。 Oswald J. Smith, who if you are an evangelical or a fundamentalist, you know that name, said that the world would end before the year 1933. C.I. Schofield, who if you're a fundamentalist, you know that name, wrote a very famous Bible with notes.
他说第一次世界大战……毫无疑问是哈米吉多顿、最后一战的开始。 He said that World War I... Was without a doubt the beginning of Armageddon, the final battle.
当第二次世界大战来临时，他说这是以西结书38和39章的 应验，这意味着他认为第二次世界大战是哈米吉多顿的开始。 When World War II came, he said that it was a fulfillment of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, which means he felt like World War II was the beginning of Armageddon.
就连像葛培理这样地位的人在1950年也说：「两年之内一切就都结束了。」 Even someone of the stature of Billy Graham in 1950 said, Two years and it's all going to be over.
在1995年，他说：「结局会在什么时候？」 In 1995, he said, When will the end be?
我们不知道，但所有迹象都表明它会比我们想象的更快到来。 We don't know, but every indication is that it will be sooner than we think.
1978年，《今日基督教》刊登了加里·威尔伯恩的一篇 文章，说世界必定会在以色列建国后的一代人之内结束。 In 1978, Christianity Today ran an article by Gary Wilburn that said the world must end within one generation from the birth of the state of Israel.
现在被提派开始使用耶和华见证人已经发展得如此纯熟的滚动式世界末日理论。 Now Rapturists are starting to use the rolling end of the world that Jehovah's Witnesses have gotten down to such a science.
他们最初说必须在以色列建国后40年内结束，以色列 是1948年建国的。从那时起40年是什么时候？ They first started it and said it had to end within 40 years of the state of Israel being founded, which is 1948. Forty years from there is when?
1988年。1988年发生过什么真正重要的事情吗？没有，我想不出来，对吧？ 1988. Did anything really important happen in the year 1988? No, not that I can think of, okay?
什么都没有。 Nothing like that.
所以现在他们说也许1967年才是重要的年份。 So now they're saying that perhaps 1967 is the important year.
那是耶路撒冷统一的年份。 That was the year that Jerusalem was unified.
而且为了防止再过四五年还是不灵，他们已经开始 谈论1993年了，那是和平协议签署的年份。 And in case it doesn't work out in another five years or four years, they've already started to talk about the year 1993, which is when the peace accords were signed.
他们可以从任何选定的日期开始算40年，而且可以一直往后推。 They have 40 years from whatever date they pick, and they can keep putting that back.
1978年，在加利福尼亚牧养一个大教会的查克·史密斯牧师说 ，主会在1981年底之前为他的教会而来。《晚期伟大的地球》 ，这本算是《末世迷踪》系列前身的书，是由哈尔·林赛写的。 In 1978, Pastor Chuck Smith, who pastors a huge church out in California, said the Lord is coming for His Church before the end of 1981. The Late Great Planet Earth, which was sort of the predecessor of the Left Behind series, was written by Hal Lindsey.
他说1980年代将是历史的最后十年；我们是将要看到末世和基督再来的这一代。 He said the decade of the 1980s will be the last decade of history; we are the generation that will see the end times, the return of Christ.
1994年，虽然明显已经过了那个日期，但他仍然说： 「我不会做任何长期的世俗计划；末世几乎就在眼前。」 In 1994, he was obviously past that date, but he still said, I wouldn't make any long-term earthly plans; the end times are almost here.
1988年，那个关键的年份来了又去，但有一本畅销书卖出了惊人的4500万 册，名叫《1988年被提的88个理由》。这是由埃德加·C·惠斯南特写的。 In 1988, that crucial year came and went, but there was a bestseller that sold an incredible 45 million copies called 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988. It was written by a man named Edgar C. Whisenant.
当预言没有实现时，第二年他写了一本小册子叫《1989年 被提的89个理由》。第二本书的销量远远不到450万册。 When it didn't occur, the next year he wrote a book pamphlet called 89 Reasons the Rapture Will Be in 1989. He sold substantially less than four and a half million copies of the second book.
1989年，杰里·法维尔说：「再过几天，我们就要进入很可能是最后的十年。」 In 1989, Jerry Falwell said, In just a few days, we will enter what may very well be the final decade.
1993年，大卫·科雷什突然出现在全国舞台上，他 说哈米吉多顿会在1995年发生，这上了头条新闻。 In 1993, David Koresh, who burst onto the national scene as a person that said Armageddon would occur in 1995, made headlines.
帕特·罗伯逊在1995年也说：「所有迹象都指向世界的终结和我们所知生活的结束。」 Pat Robertson in 1995 also said, All signs point to the end of the world and the end of life as we have known it.
1994年，电台传道人杰克·范恩普说被提会在2000年左右发生。 现在，三年后，他也开始使用我们刚才谈到的那种滚动式世界末日理论。 In 1994, Jack Van Impe, who is a radio preacher, said the rapture will occur around the year 2000. Now, three years later, he practiced that little rolling end of the world that we were talking about.
他说会在2001年到2012年之间，所以他还有大约八年时间让这个预言实现。 He said it will be between the year 2001 and 2012, so he's still got eight years or so for that to happen.
蒂姆·拉海耶，与詹金斯一起写《末世迷踪》系列的 作者，在他的《我们正生活在末世吗？》一书中说 Tim LaHaye, who wrote the Left Behind series along with Jenkins, said in his book Are We Living in the End Times?
在世纪之交到21世纪第一个四分之一期间的某个时候，基督的被提就会发生。 that sometime between the turn of the century and the first quarter of the 21st century, Christ's rapture will occur.
所以他还有23年的时间。 So he's still got another 23 years.
几年前世贸中心被烧毁时，有两个朋友给我打电话。 When the World Trade Center burned a couple of years ago, I had two friends call me.
一个人引用了启示录中巴比伦将在一日之内被烧毁的经文。 One quoted the verse from the Book of Revelation that Babylon would be burned up in a single day.
他们说：「这就是开始。」 They said, This is the beginning.
另一个人打电话给我说：「这是马太福音预言将有打仗和打仗的风声的应验。」 Another called me and said, This is the fulfillment of Matthew's prophecy that there would be wars and rumors of wars.
五旬节派的格兰特和杰弗里说，这是末日灾难的一部分。 Grant and Jeffrey at Pentecostal said that this is a part of the distress of the last days.
费城的奥尔登·盖恩斯说：「这正在发生。」 Alden Gaines of Philadelphia said, It's happening right now.
我相信这将为那个敌基督的出现搭建舞台。 I believe it's going to set the stage for this particular Antichrist to step forward.
现在我看到一切都吻合了。 Now I see it all fitting in.
为什么我要带你们回顾这段历史？ Why did I take you through this little history?
当然不是要嘲笑这些人。 It's certainly not to make fun of these people.
我这样做的全部原因是要帮助我们正确看待今天人们对我们说的话。 The whole reason I wanted to do this is to help us put into perspective what is being said to us today.
从公元154年以来，19个世纪以来——差不多19个世纪，1 8个半世纪——人们一直在告诉公教徒说世界末日很快就要来临。 It has been said to Christians since 154 AD, for 19 centuries—almost 19 centuries, 18 and a half centuries—Catholics have been told that the end of the world was going to occur very soon.
而在这18个半世纪里，教会一直在说：「我们不知道那日子，我们不知道那时辰。」 And for 18 and a half centuries, the Church has said, We don't know the time; we don't know the hour.
他们因此受到嘲笑。 And they have been ridiculed.
但时间证明他们是对的。 But time has shown that they have been right.
那么我们的行动方针将是什么？ So what is our modus operandi going to be?
今天我想讲解所有相关的经文段落。 What I'd like to do is take all of the relevant passages today.
顺便说一句，感谢你们今天陪伴我。 And by the way, thanks for spending today with me.
当我告诉我上高中的儿子我今天要做什么时，他说 ：「我简直不敢相信有人会听你讲六个小时。」 When I told my high school son what I was going to do today, he said, I can't believe anybody would listen to you for six hours.
所以，我们要试着讲解所有相关的经文段落。 So, we're going to try to take all the relevant passages.
现在，我们要按照它们写作的顺序来讲解，这很重要，因为如果你试图在 不理解耶稣在橄榄山讲论中所说的话就去看启示录，你就会问错问题。 Now, we're going to take them in the same order in which they were written, and this is important because if you try to look at Revelation without understanding what Jesus said in the Olivet Discourse, you're going to ask the wrong questions.
如果你试图在没有好好研究但以理书的情况下理解橄榄 山讲论或启示录，你就无法理解他们想要表达的意思。 And if you try to understand the Olivet Discourse or Revelation without doing some good work in Daniel, you're going to have no clue as to what they're trying to say.
如果你在不了解旧约背景的情况下看但以理书，你也不会很好地理解但以理书。 And if you look at Daniel without understanding the milieu of the Old Testament, you're not going to understand Daniel very well either.
所以这就是我们要开始的地方，好吗？ So that's where we're going to start, okay?
现在让我首先说明，我要为你们讲解的不仅是为什么被 提派是错的，还要讲解公教会对这些相同经文的理解。 Now let me first of all say what I'm going to do is lay out for you not just why the Rapturists are wrong, but a Catholic understanding of these very same passages.
对大多数圣经段落，公教会都有不止一种理解。 There is more than one Catholic understanding of most passages of Scripture.
正如庇护十二世所说，很少有经文的含义是由教会权威明确规定的。 As Pope Pius XII said, there are few texts whose sense has been defined by the authority of the Church.
这意味着大多数时候当我们读圣经时，我们可以采用教会的教导并试图应 用到经文中，两个公教徒可能对经文的含义有不同理解，这也没关系。 What that means is most of the time when we go to the Bible, we can take Church teaching and try to apply it to the text, and two Catholics may disagree on what that text means, and that's okay.
但我希望向你们展示的是，至少有一种公教会对这些经文的理解 远远优于任何被提派的观点，优于任何说我们会被撇下的观点。 But what I hope to do is show you that at least one Catholic view of these texts is far superior to any Rapturist view, to any view that says we're going to be left behind.
G.K.切斯特顿用我认为最好的方式说过：为什么我是公教徒？ G.K. Chesterton said it in a way that I think is as good as anybody: Why am I a Catholic?
他说，公教徒知道他们一致认同的两三个超验真理，而 且他们在其他所有事情上的分歧反而让他们感到愉快。 He said, Catholics know the two or three transcendental truths on which they do agree, and they take rather a pleasure in disagreeing on everything else.
所以如果你不同意我处理这些经文段落的某些方式，那也没关系。 So if you disagree with some of how I handle some of these passages, that's okay.
我想要向你们展示的是，公教会对这些经文的理解有很多都比被提派的 观点要好，但我没有时间全部展示给你们看，我只能给你们展示一个。 What I'm trying to do is show you that a Catholic understanding of these passages is there are many that are better than the Rapturist view, but I don't have time to show them all to you, and I'm going to show you one.
如果你听到一些你从未听过的新东西，不要自动地产生戒备。 If you hear something new that you've never heard before, don't automatically put your guard up.
正如庇护十二世所说，所有人都应该摒弃那种不当的热忱， 即认为凡是耳朵听到的新事物就应该因此而反对或怀疑。 As Pope Pius XII said, All should abhor that intemperate zeal which imagines that whatever is new to the ear should for that very reason be opposed or suspected.
所以我要试着给你们一些新的信息，把它和你们已经知道的信息 结合起来，好吗，然后得出一个公教会对末世的理解，好吗？ So what I'm going to try to do is give you some new information, put it with the information that you already know, okay, and come up with a Catholic understanding of the end times, okay?
现在我要提醒你们，我相信旧约和新约全部都是无误的，我坚定地站在公教会的传 统立场上，这传统在梵二会议、梵一会议和无数的教会通谕和文件中都有阐述。 Now I should warn you, I believe that the Old Testament and the New Testament in their entirety are without error, and that I stand firmly in the tradition of the Catholic Church as enumerated in Vatican II, in Vatican I, and in countless encyclicals and documents of the Church.
如果你今天是来找一个现代主义者，期待他告诉你圣经中有错误，说"哦，别担心，那 只是个错误"，或者"哦，别担心，你知道我们现在懂得更多了"，那你来错地方了。 If you're looking for a modernist up here today that is going to tell you that there are errors in Scripture and, Oh, don't worry about that; that's just a mistake, or, Oh, don't worry about that; you know we know better now, you came to the wrong place.
你可能要去别的地方，好吗？ You probably want to go down someplace else, okay?
因为我不会那样对待圣经。 Because I'm not going to approach Scripture that way.
我要坚定地站在教会传统的立场上，即圣经和它们的教导是 无误的，你会发现我有时因此而与现代主义者意见相左。 I'm going to stand firmly in the tradition of the Church that says the Scripture and what they're teaching is without error, and you're going to find that I sometimes disagree with the modernists because of that.
现在，为了开始，我想首先列出九个基本规则。 Now, in order to get started, what I'd like to do is take, first of all, nine ground rules.
我要试着给你们一个背景环境，通过它我们可以开始看这些经文段落。 I'm going to try to give you a milieu through which we can start to look at all the passages.
现在，这可能是我们最难熬的30分钟，好吗？ Now, this is probably going to be the hardest 30 minutes that we do, okay?
但如果我们能度过这段时间，那么所有其他的经文就会开始变得有意义了。 But if we can get through this, then all of the other Scriptures are going to start to make sense.
所以首先，让我们从第一条开始：预言预先告知任何人类远见所不能及的事件。 So first of all, let's start with the first one: prophecy foretells events in advance of any human foresight.
我想你们大多数人都不会反对这点，但我想很清楚地说明圣经中确实有真实的预言。 I don't think most of you disagree with that, but I wanted to make very clear that there is true prophecy in the Bible.
旧约确实预言了耶稣将要诞生的地方。 The Old Testament really did foretell the place that Jesus was going to be born.
例如，当博士们来见希律王时，他转向犹太领袖们问道：这个犹太人的王应该在哪里出生？ For example, King Herod, when the wise men came to him, turned to the Jewish leaders and said, Where is this Jewish king supposed to be born?
他们翻到弥迦书第5章第2节和撒母耳记下第5章第2节，说道：你知道吗？ They turned to Micah chapter 5, verse 2, and 2 Samuel chapter 5, verse 2, and they said, You know what?
他将要生在伯利恒。 He's going to be born in Bethlehem.
他们是怎么知道的？ How did they know that?
因为旧约确实预言了一个超出任何人所能预见的事件。 Because the Old Testament really did foretell an event beyond what any human could have seen.
没有人会选择伯利恒作为弥赛亚出生的地方，但圣经预言了这 点，而且还需要凯撒对犹大地的人民征收新税才使这事发生。 No human would have picked Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born, but Scripture foretold it, and it took the Caesar to put a new tax on the people in Judea to make it happen.
但神使它发生了。 But God made it happen.
第二条基本规则：预言中的数字具有象征意义，这种意义优先于所有其他含义。 Ground rule two: numbers in prophecy have a symbolic meaning that takes precedence over all other meanings.
现在，我这样说是什么意思？ Now, what do I mean by that?
我们都在手腕上戴着这样一个东西。 We all wear one of these on our wrists.
你们中有多少人手上戴着手表？ How many of you have a watch on your hand?
数字对我们来说有不同的含义。 Numbers mean something different to us.
耶稣手腕上没有戴这个；马利亚从未戴过这个；约瑟也从未有过这个。 These were not on Jesus' wrist; Mary never wore one of these; Joseph never had one of these.
数字对他们来说有不同的含义。 Numbers meant something different to them.
诚然，有些数字是用来计数的，你在市场上也不想被 骗，但在属灵事务上，数字的象征意义高于一切。 Granted, there were numbers that counted things, and you didn't want to be cheated in the marketplace, but when it came to spiritual affairs, the symbolic meaning of a number took precedence over everything else.
例如，神的数字是三；世界的数字是四。 For example, the number of God is three; the number of the world is four.
神在世界中完美工作的数字是七，或十二，这是那两个数字相加或相乘。 God working in the world perfectly is the number seven, or twelve, which is those two numbers added together or multiplied.
完整的数字是十；完全完整的数字是一千，因为那是十的立方。 The number of completeness is ten; the number of complete completeness is a thousand because that's ten cubed.
这些数字对他们来说非常非常具有象征意义。 These numbers were very, very symbolic to them.
例如，在旧约中说——我记得有一首关于这个的歌——我要在这里 试着给你们唱：他拥有千山上的牲畜，拥有每个矿藏中的财富。 For example, in the Old Testament, it says—and I remember a song about this—I'm going to try to sing it for you here: He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the wealth in every mine.
现在你们知道为什么我不靠唱歌赚钱了！ Now you know why I don't make my money singing!
你们中有多少人听过这首歌？ How many of you have heard that song?
哦，天哪，就一个人！ Oh, golly, one of you!
这是直接引用自诗篇：神拥有千山上的牲畜。 Now, that's a direct quote from the Psalms: God owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
是哪一千座山？ Which thousand?
他拥有哪一千座山上的牲畜？ Which thousand does He own that on?
这是个荒谬的问题，不是吗？ That's a ridiculous question, isn't it?
这不是这节经文想要表达的意思。 That's not what the verse is trying to say.
这个'千'表示他拥有一切；他需要的，他都拥有。 The thousand is the fact that He owns everything; that He needs, He owns it all.
这是完整的；他的财富是完整的。 It's complete; His wealth is complete.
他不需要我们的供物，明白吗？ He doesn't need our offerings, okay?
这在耶利米书29章10节中非常清楚，耶利米在那里预 言巴比伦帝国将来征服耶路撒冷，使他们被掳七十年。 This is very clear in Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 10, where Jeremiah predicts that the Babylonian Empire will come and conquer Jerusalem and take them into captivity for 70 years.
现在，70是3加4，7年乘以10——表示神在世界中完全的工作。 Now, 70 is 3 plus 4, 7 years times 10—God working in the world completely.
这是神对以色列人所做之事施行审判的完整时期。 It's a complete time of God's working His judgment out on the people of Israel for what they've done.
但你知道吗？ But you know what?
当我们查看历史，他们并不是被掳了70年。 When we look at history, they weren't in captivity for 70 years.
你知道这点吗？ Did you know that?
确实不是。即使像约翰·沃尔沃德博士这样对圣经持字面解释的人——他可能 比美国任何人都更多地推广被提理论，他几个月前刚在92岁高龄去世——在 《但以理书：预言启示的钥匙》中说，这个预言必定是67年或71年。 They weren't. Even someone as literalistic about Scripture as Dr. John Walvoord, who did more to promote the rapture idea here in America probably than any other one man—he just died a few months ago at the ripe old age of 92—said in Daniel the key to prophetic revelation that this prophecy had to have either been 67 years or 71 years.
无论如何都不可能算出正好70年。 There's no way to make it work out to 70 years.
处理旧约中的日历非常非常复杂，所以我们不会深入讨论这个。 Working in the Old Testament with calendars is very, very complicated, so we're not going to get all into it.
但为什么神给耶利米一个错误的数字？ But why did God give Jeremiah the wrong number?
如果将是67年，为什么他不说，耶利米，你们要被掳67年？ If it was going to be 67 years, why didn't He say, Jeremiah, you're going to be in captivity for 67 years?
因为70这个数字的象征意义比实际是67年还是71年更重要。 Because the number 70 symbolically was more important than the fact that it was 67 or 71 years.
大约是70年，但这个数字的象征意义比确切的年数更重要，明白吗？ It was about 70 years, but the number's symbolic importance was more important than the exact years that it was, okay?
这说得通吗？ Does that make sense?
好，我们来看下一条。 Okay, we're going to go to the next one.
第三条基本规则：一个事件可以是指向未来最终应验的预言，当是这种 情况时，我们应该仔细考虑所研究的最初圣经预言的整个历史背景。 Ground rule three: an event can be a prophecy pointing to a still future and final fulfillment, and when it is, we should carefully consider the entire historical context of the initial Scripture prophecy under examination.
让我给你们一个例子：以赛亚书7章14节：看哪，主自己要给你 们一个兆头：看哪，必有童女怀孕生子，给他起名叫以马内利。 Let me give you an example: Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14: Behold, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a young woman, a virgin, shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Emmanuel.
现在，我们大多数人都没有意识到这个预言在以赛亚书的下一章就应验了。 Now, most of us don't realize that this prophecy was fulfilled in the very next chapter of Isaiah.
在以赛亚书8章4节，以赛亚告诉我们这预言已经应验了，一个年轻女子 生了一个儿子，到这个孩子断奶的时候，耶路撒冷的敌人已经被驱散了。 In Isaiah chapter 8, verse 4, Isaiah tells us it was fulfilled that a young woman had a son, and that by the time that son was weaned, the enemies of Jerusalem had been dispersed.
这就是这个应许的全部内容。 That's what the promise was all about.
但在这个预言应验之后，立即开始发生一些有趣的事情。 But something interesting started to happen immediately after that prophecy was fulfilled.
以色列的犹太领袖们看着这些事件，说这些事件本身预言了另一个 未来的事件，那个要怀孕生子的童女——我们知道她叫什么名字？ The Jewish leaders of Israel looked at those events and said that the events themselves prophesied another future event, and that virgin that would conceive and bear a son—we know by what name?
马利亚。 Mary.
生下弥赛亚的马利亚。 Mary when she had the Messiah.
所以这个预言在当时就应验了，但是以赛亚书7章14节中发生的整个事 件背景——所有这些事件本身都成为弥赛亚来临时将要发生之事的预言。 So the prophecy was fulfilled within that lifetime, but then that entire milieu of what happens in Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14—all those events stand as a prophecy themselves to what would happen when the Messiah came.
因此，到耶稣出现的时候，大家都普遍知道，事实上，七十士译本把那个词翻译成童 女，而且那个预言，那个发生在以赛亚时代的事件，将在弥赛亚来临时得到应验。 And so, by the time Jesus came on the scene, it was very common knowledge that, in fact, the Septuagint translated that word as virgin, and that that prophecy, that event that happened back in Isaiah's time, was going to be fulfilled when the Messiah came.
所以当我们看预言时，有时它很快就应验了，但那个事件本身也可能会在末世再次应验。 So when we look at a prophecy, sometimes it's fulfilled rather rapidly, but that event itself is also going to possibly be fulfilled at the end of time.
现在，为什么这对我们很重要？ Now, why is this important for us?
这很重要是因为一个很简单的原因：圣经中99%的预言已经应验了， 但很多这些事件本身就是对末世将要发生之事的预言性宣告，明白吗？ Well, it's important for one very simple reason: 99% of the prophecy in Scripture is already fulfilled, but many of those events stand as a prophetic announcement of what will happen at the very end, okay?
所以当我们查看一些预言并说，好吧，那个已经应验了，是的，这可能是对的。 So as we go through some of the prophecies and we say, Well, that one's already been fulfilled, yes, that may be true.
但这并不意味着它不能告诉我们一些关于将来要发生的事。 But it doesn't mean that that doesn't tell us something about what will come.
我说的这些一点都不特别。 What I'm saying is not at all unusual.
让我引用圣托马斯的话，让你们知道这个基本规则并不是新的。 Let me quote St. Thomas to just let you know that this ground rule is not a new one.
圣托马斯说，圣经的作者是神，他有能力不仅赋予话语意义，也赋予事件本身意义。 St. Thomas says, The author of Scriptures is God, who has the power to endow with significance not only the words but also the events themselves.
在每个科学中，词语都有含义；但唯独在这门科学中 ，也就是在圣经中，词语的含义还有更深的意义。 In every science, words have meaning; in this science alone, in other words, in Scripture, what is meant by the words has a further meaning.
他实际上是在为早期的圣格列高利做注释，圣格列高利说圣经超 越所有其他科学，因为它用同一段话既讲述历史又揭示奥秘。 He was actually giving us a commentary on someone earlier called St. Gregory, and what St. Gregory said is that Scripture transcends all other sciences by the way it uses one and the same discourse to tell history and to reveal mystery.
换句话说，历史事件本身，旧约的历史本身，那段历史就是对新约将要来临之事的预言。 In other words, the events of history itself, the history of the Old Testament itself, that very history stands as a prophecy of what will come in the New Covenant.
让我引用庇护十二世的话，他也有话要对我们说。 Let me quote Pope Pius XII, who also has something to say for us.
他说，旧约中所说和所行的都是神以完全的智慧所命定和安排的 ，过去的事情以属灵的方式预表了在新恩典时代将要来临的事。 He said, What was said and done in the Old Testament was ordained and disposed by God with such consummate wisdom that things past prefigured in a spiritual way those that were to come under the new dispensation of grace.
换句话说，事件本身就是一个预言。 In other words, the events themselves stand as a prophecy.
好，第四条基本规则：如果你是个非常讲究的人 ——这里有谁的车库看起来非常非常整洁吗？ Okay, ground rule number four: if you are a real stickler— is there anybody here whose garage looks really, really nice?
好的，很好。 Okay, good.
好的，两个。 Okay, two.
我牙医的车库绝对一尘不染，这是我喜欢我牙医的一点，好吗？ My dentist's garage is absolutely immaculate, and that's one thing I like about my dentist, okay?
因为当有人要在我嘴里钻牙的时候，你知道，我想确保他把每样东西都 放在该放的地方，因为这样他在处理我的牙齿时也会这么做，对吧？ Because when I have somebody, you know, drilling in my mouth, I want to make sure that he has everything where he's supposed to have it, because then he has it that way in my mouth, right?
所以给个建议：在看牙之前一定要去看看你牙医的车库，好吗？ So just a word of advice: always go by and look at your dentist's garage before you go in, okay?
但如果你是那种人，下一条规则可能会让你有点不舒服，因为它有点混乱。 But if you're that kind of person, this next rule may bother you a little bit because it's a little bit messy.
那就是启示性异象可能用一个物体来象征多个现实。 And that is that apocalyptic visions may use one object to symbolize more than one reality.
它可能象征两个现实。 It may symbolize two realities.
这与我们作为21世纪的美国人所相信的完全相反，所以我要给你们引 用启示录17章3到10节。如果你们想的话可以稍后查看，但在那个 异象中，约翰告诉我们一个女人坐在朱红色的兽上，那兽有七头十角。 This goes so against what we believe as 21st-century Americans that I'm just going to quote for you Revelation chapter 17, verses 3 through 10. You can look it up later if you want to, but in that vision, John tells us that a woman was sitting on a scarlet beast, and it had seven heads and ten horns.
然后他告诉我们这七头是什么。 Then he tells us what the seven heads are.
他说，那七头就是女人所坐的七座山；它们也是七位王。 He says, The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman is seated; they are also seven kings.
所以七头，约翰特别告诉我们——这是我们在所有启示文学中都能 找到的——但他明确指出这一个象征，七头，实际上有两个含义。 So the seven heads, John tells us specifically—something that we find in all apocalyptic literature—but he spells it out that one symbol, the seven heads, actually has two meanings.
它们是七座山，但也是七位王。 They're seven hills, but they're also seven kings.
我们会在启示文学中反复看到这种情况，尤其是因为圣约翰喜欢这样做。 We're going to find it over and over in apocalyptic literature, especially since St. John liked to do this.
好，第五条基本规则：启示文学使用天体剧变的戏剧性意象来描述人类政治领域内的变化。 Okay, ground rule number five: apocalyptic literature uses dramatic imagery of cataclysmic heavenly disruptions to describe changes within the human political sphere.
当一个王被打败时，启示文学喜欢说一颗星从天上坠落。 When a king is defeated, apocalyptic literature likes to talk about a star falling from heaven.
当一个帝国被摧毁时，启示文学会将其描述为天塌下来，像书卷一样被卷起，地震发生。 When an empire is destroyed, apocalyptic literature is going to describe that as the heavens falling, being rolled up as a scroll, and earthquakes occurring.
换句话说，他们用壮观的语言来描述政治变化。 In other words, they take political changes and describe them in phenomenal language.
现在，我们怎么知道这一点？ Now, how do we know this?
因为这就是旧约使用它的方式。 Because that's how the Old Testament uses it.
例如，在以赛亚书13章9至13节，以赛亚描述了公元前539年玛代人和波斯 人对巴比伦的毁灭。但以理当时还活着，但这是他如何描述的：耶和华的日子临到 ，使地荒凉；天上的星宿和星座都不发光；日头一出就变黑暗，月亮也不放光。 For example, in Isaiah chapter 13, verses 9 through 13, Isaiah is describing the destruction of Babylon by the Medes and the Persians that happened in 539 BC. Daniel was alive when that happened, but this is how he describes it: The day of the Lord comes to make the earth a desolation; for the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.
我要使天震动，使地摇撼离其本位；在万军之耶和华发烈怒的日子，因他的愤怒。 I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of His fierce anger.
这是对巴比伦陷落的描述，但当你看这段话时，这种语言让它看起来像是世界末日。 This is a description of Babylon falling, but when you look at it, the language makes it look like it's the end of the world.
对巴比伦人来说确实如此；对他们来说这就是世界末日。 Well, it was for the Babylonians; it was the end of the world for them.
如果你在不理解这一点的情况下看启示文学，就什么都说不通。 And if you look at apocalyptic literature without understanding this right here, none of it makes sense.
现在，我要引用几处这种情况出现的地方，如果你想以后查看的话。 Now, I'm just going to quote a couple of the places, if you want to look later, where this same thing occurs.
在以赛亚书34章4至10节，我们被告知天要 像书卷被卷起，众星要像葡萄树的叶子凋落。 In Isaiah 34, verses 4 through 10, we're told that the skies will roll up like a scroll and all the stars shall fall as leaves fall from the vine.
这在公元前6世纪以东被毁灭时应验了。圣经学者看这些经文时说，是的，这已经应验了。 This was fulfilled when Edom was destroyed in the 6th century BC. Bible scholars look at these verses and say, Yes, this was fulfilled.
有时他告诉我们这在以西结书32章7和8节中应验了，那里预言了法老和埃及 的覆灭，说：我要遮蔽诸天，使众星昏暗；我要用云遮蔽太阳，月亮也不放光。 Sometimes he's telling us this was fulfilled in Ezekiel chapter 32, verses 7 and 8, where the downfall of Pharaoh and Egypt is foretold, and it says, I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.
当我们研究橄榄山讲论和启示录时，理解这一点是至关重要的。 This is essential for us to understand when we get into the Olivet Discourse and when we get into Revelation.
当启示文学这样说话时，它是在谈论世界上的政治变化，并把它转化成更宏大的事物。 When apocalyptic literature talks like this, it's talking about a political change in the world, and it translates that into something bigger.
那鸿书1:5谈到尼尼微的毁灭，说：大山震动，小山融化。 Nahum 1:5 talks about the destruction of Nineveh and says, The mountains will quake and the hills will melt.
在以西结书32章，我已经提到过了。 In Ezekiel 32, I already mentioned that.
耶利米书4章23至28节预言了耶路撒冷在巴比伦手中的毁灭。 Jeremiah chapter 4, verses 23 through 28, the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of Babylon is foretold.
如果你想的话可以稍后自己读，但这个要点已经说明白了。 You can read that on your own if you want to later, but the point is well made.
我希望当你读到启示文学说太阳要从天上坠落，月亮不发光，三分 之一的星辰坠落在地上时，你明白这是政治变革的启示性意象。 I hope that when you get into apocalyptic literature and it says that the sun is going to fall out of the sky and that the moon is not going to give light and a third of the stars fall to the ground, that is apocalyptic imagery for political change.
世界的帝国将在那时改变，明白吗？ The empires of the world are going to change at that moment, okay?
我们的时间掌控得很好。 We're doing good on time.
第六条规则... Rule number six...
圣经中的大多数实物都象征着属灵的现实。 Most physical objects in the Bible signify spiritual realities.
对于我们今天的研究来说，云很重要，要认识到每当我们在圣经中看到与 神或基督相关的云时，都是关于他以世界的审判者的身份在荣耀中降临。 For us in our examination today, clouds are very important to realize that whenever we see clouds in the Bible associated with God or with Christ, it has to do with Him coming in His glory as judge of the world.
这不是一个新想法。 Now, this is not a new idea.
我给你们一些参考经文，你们可以在闲暇时查看：出埃及记16章10节；出埃及记 34章5节；利未记16章2节；列王纪上8章10-11节。云象征着神的荣耀。 I'll give you a few references that you can look up if you want to at your own leisure: Exodus chapter 16, verse 10; Exodus 34, verse 5; Leviticus 16, verse 2; 1 Kings 8, verses 10-11. Clouds signify the glory of God.
我们在新约的登山变像中看到这一点。 We see it in the New Testament at the Transfiguration.
在马太福音17章，耶稣和三个门徒在山上，以利亚和摩西来与他说话。 In Matthew 17, Jesus is up there with three disciples, and Elijah and Moses come and talk to Him.
还有一个人在场，那是谁？ And there's one other person present, and who is that?
除了摩西和以利亚，我们看到圣父在那里，他是用什么来表示的？ Besides Moses and Elijah, we see God the Father there, and He's signified by what?
一朵云。 A cloud.
有一朵云来遮盖他们，彼得被吓得说了一些很愚蠢的话，好吗？ A cloud comes and overshadows them, and Peter gets so shook up that he says some really stupid things, okay?
但我们被告知有声音从云中出来说：「这是我的儿子，我所拣选的；你们要听他。」 But we're told that a voice came out of the cloud and said, This is my Son, my chosen; listen to Him.
当彼得有点糊涂的时候，神在他的荣耀中来支持他的儿子。 God, in His glory, came to back up His Son when Peter got a little bit goofy.
这发生在登山变像的时候。 It happened at the Transfiguration.
有时这些云甚至不是你能看到的东西。 And sometimes these clouds aren't even something that you see.
圣经在实际上没有云的时候也使用云的意象。 Scripture uses clouds when really there are no clouds around.
例如，在诗篇104篇1-3节中说——可能当时并没有 云——但云开始带有神作为审判者来临的这种象征意义。 For example, in Psalm chapter 104, verses 1-3, it says—probably there were no clouds involved—but clouds started to take on this symbolic meaning of God coming as judge.
在以赛亚书19章1至2节中，这一点变得非常清楚。 In Isaiah chapter 19, verses 1 through 2, this becomes very clear.
经上说：「耶和华驾着快云临到埃及。」 It says, The Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt.
现在，这个预言是什么时候应验的？ Now, when did that prophecy get fulfilled?
神什么时候驾云临到埃及？ When did God ride the clouds and come to Egypt?
当亚述军队征服埃及的时候他来了。 He came when the Assyrian army conquered Egypt.
我们被告知神要驾云临到埃及审判他们，而你我在历史 中看到的是神使用亚述军队作为他的云来毁灭埃及。 We're told that God is going to come in a cloud to Egypt and judge them, and what you and I see in history is the Assyrian army being used by God in His cloud to destroy Egypt.
在但以理书中也发生了同样的事。 The same thing happens in Daniel.
当我们讲到但以理书时没有时间看这段，所以让我现在谈谈。 We won't have time to look at it when we get to Daniel, so let me talk about it now.
记得吗，但以理已经是个老人了，伯沙撒拿出圣殿的金器皿，他们在向酒神和金神祝酒。 Remember, Daniel's an old man, and Belteshazzar takes out the golden goblets from the temple, and they're toasting the god of wine and the god of gold.
然后有一只手——就是一只手——出现在墙上写字。 And then there's a hand—just a hand—that comes and writes on the wall.
你们记得但以理书中的这个故事吗？ Do you remember this story in Daniel?
它写了一些字，基本上毁了这场宴会。 It says some words, and basically, it ruins the party.
每个人都看着墙；有这只手，就是一只手，在写字。 Everybody looks at the wall; there's this hand, just a hand, writing.
王母说，去叫但以理来；他知道这是什么意思。 And the king's mother says, Go get Daniel; he knows what that means.
但以理来了，他说，让我告诉你这是什么意思，伯沙撒。 Daniel comes, and he says, Let me tell you what it means, Belteshazzar.
这意味着神今晚要审判你。 It means God is going to judge you tonight.
那么，神那晚来了吗？ Now, did God come that night?
是的，他来了，以古列和玛代波斯军队的形式来临。 Yes, He did, in the form of Cyrus and the Medo-Persian army.
那天晚上，伯沙撒受了审判。 That night, Belteshazzar was judged.
但以理说，神要审判你。 Daniel said, God's going to judge you.
街上的人看到的是波斯军队穿过巴比伦城，但这是神的审判吗？ What all the people in the streets saw was the Persian army marching through the city of Babylon, but was it God's judgment?
你说对了，确实是。 You bet it was.
确实是神的审判。 You bet it was.
这就是第六条基本规则。 So that's ground rule six.
第七条基本规则是关于以西结书37章的启示文学——整个以色列已经被摧毁了，好吗？ Ground rule seven: apocalyptic literature that is about Ezekiel 37—the whole Israel has been decimated, okay?
以西结应许这种情况不会永远持续下去。 And Ezekiel is promising that that will not go on forever.
巴比伦不会永远统治以色列。 Babylon will not rule over Israel forever.
神要把那些枯干的骸骨——就是耶路撒冷——聚 集起来，他要使耶路撒冷和以色列重新活过来。 God is going to take those dead, dry bones—that is, Jerusalem—and He's going to gather them up, and He's going to make Jerusalem and Israel alive again.
当你看以西结书37章的经文时，它用复活的语言来描述这些骸骨，但它所 描述的是神的子民从分散中被聚集，以及神子民属灵的更新、复兴和改革。 When you look at the verses in Ezekiel chapter 37, it uses resurrection language with these bones, but what it's describing is the gathering together of God's people that have been scattered and the spiritual reformation, rejuvenation, and reformation of God's people.
现在，在新约中，我们使用同样的语言。 Now, in the New Testament, we use the same language.
如果你仔细听过婴儿受洗时的话，他们把它说成是一次复活。 If you've listened carefully to whenever a child is baptized, they talk about it as a resurrection.
为什么？ Why?
因为那个孩子在属灵上是死的，现在在属灵上活过来了。 Because that child was spiritually dead, and he is now spiritually alive.
这是一次复活。 It's a resurrection.
耶稣在路加福音15章24节讲述浪子的故事。 Jesus, in Luke chapter 15, verse 24, tells the story of the prodigal son.
你们中有多少人知道浪子的故事？ How many of you know the story of the prodigal son?
当然！ Of course!
但当父亲远远看见儿子时，他没有说，太好了，我儿子回来了。 But when the father sees the son far away, he doesn't say, Oh good, my son's back.
他说，我这个儿子是死而复活了。 He says, This my son was dead and is alive again.
这个儿子真的死了吗？ Did the son really die?
没有。但对你我来说，不与父亲相交，不与父亲联系，就如同死亡一样糟糕。 No. But not being in communion, not being in contact with the father, for you and me, is just as bad as death.
当我们回到他面前时，无论是通过洗礼第一次回到他面前，还是通过我们四点钟要进 行的和好圣事第二次回到他面前，当我们回到他面前时，这都是一次属灵的复活。 And when we come back to Him, whether it be the first time through baptism or the second time through what we're going to do at four o'clock, which is the Sacrament of Reconciliation, when we come back to Him, it is a spiritual resurrection.
这种属灵的复活比任何可能发生的肉体复活都更重要 ，因为要发生肉体的复活，必须先有属灵的复活。 And that spiritual resurrection is more important than any physical resurrection that can ever occur because, for the physical resurrection to occur, there must first be the spiritual resurrection.
想想耶稣医治瘸子的时候。 Think about Jesus when He healed the lame man.
当他医治那个瘸子时，法利赛人批评他。 When He healed that lame man, the Pharisees criticized Him.
他们为什么批评他？ Why did they criticize Him?
因为他说，你的罪赦了。 Because He said, Your sins are forgiven.
他对那人进行了属灵的复活，因此他受到了批评。 He did a spiritual resurrection on the man, and so he was criticized for that.
他说，哪一个更难？ And He said, Which is harder?
哪一个更难？ Which is harder?
是属灵的复活还是让这人重新行走？ The spiritual resurrection or making this man walk again?
给他肉体的更新？ Giving him a physical rejuvenation?
他的观点很明显：属灵的复活是更难的。 And His point is obvious: the spiritual resurrection is the harder one.
好的，所以我们需要认识到复活的语言有时在圣经中使用 ，特别是在启示文学中，是用来表示属灵的复活或更新。 Okay, so we need to realize that resurrection language will sometimes be used in the Bible, and especially in apocalyptic literature, for a spiritual resurrection or rejuvenation.
好的，还有两条。 Okay, two more.
第八条：永远不要假设时间顺序是异象中的统一要素。 Number eight: chronological order should never be assumed as the unifying element in visions.
事实上，几乎从来都不是。 In fact, it almost never is.
例如，人们在解读启示录时最大的错误之一就是假设这些事情都是按时间顺序发生的。 One of the biggest mistakes that people make in the Book of Revelation, for example, is they assume that these things all happen in chronological order.
在教会的头12个世纪里，没有人相信这一点。 For the first 12 centuries of the Church, nobody believed that.
直到约阿希姆·德·弗洛雷提出这个想法之前，这是闻所未闻的。 That was unheard of until Joachim of Fiore came up with that idea.
没有人把那些异象一个接一个地排列。 Nobody took those visions and put them back to back.
那些异象一次又一次地看同样的事件。 Those visions look at the same events over and over again.
异象总是这样的。 Visions always do.
异象一直都是这样的。 Visions always have.
我们将在但以理书中看到，但以理就是这样处理异象的。 We're going to see in the Book of Daniel that that's how Daniel treats the visions.
但如果你回到更早之前的约瑟，第一个做梦的人——第一个做梦的人做了两个梦。 But if you go even before that to Joseph, the first dreamer of dreams—the first dreamer of dreams had two dreams.
他做的第一个梦是关于禾捆的：十一个禾捆向一个禾捆下拜，对吧？ The first one he dreamed was about the sheaves: eleven sheaves bowed down to one sheaf, right?
那是他的兄弟们要向谁下拜？ That was his brothers were going to bow down to who?
向他。 To him.
然后他的第二个异象是十二颗星、一个月亮和一个太阳，十 一颗星向那一颗星下拜，月亮和太阳也向那一颗星下拜。 Then the second vision that he had was twelve stars, a moon, and a sun, and eleven of the stars bowed down to the one star, and the moon and the sun bowed down to that one star.
而月亮和太阳——这个梦让他父亲不高兴是因为那代表谁？ And the moon and the sun—this dream got his father upset because that was who?
那是他的父母要向他下拜。 That was his father and mother who were going to bow down to him.
现在，我们要把这些按时间顺序排列吗？ Now, do we put these chronologically behind each other?
不。第二个异象是给我们第一个异象的更多细节，这在但以理书中也是如此。 No. The second vision is giving us a few more details of the first vision, and that's what happens in Daniel as well.
然后是最后一条基本规则：基督的第一次降临——当基督来临， 他的受难，他的复活——把人类推进到了末世或最后的日子。 Then the last ground rule: Christ's first advent—when Christ came, His passion, His resurrection—catapulted humanity into the end of the age or the last days.
你们都看过那些举着标语牌说'末日临近'的人的漫画。 You've all seen the cartoons of people with placards that say, The end is near.
你知道，他们走过，通常是个留着长胡子的人，他说'末日将至'或'末日临近'，对吧？ You know, they're walking by, and usually it's a guy with a long beard, and he says, The end is coming or The end is near, right?
教会不同意：末世已经在这里了。 The Church disagrees: the end is here.
自从基督来了以后，末世就已经在这里了。 The end has been here ever since Christ came.
每当我们看圣经中谈论末世的经文时，我们需要认识到，对于犹太人的思维方 式——这就是早期教会的思维方式——末世在弥赛亚来临的那一刻就开始了。 Whenever we look at the verses in Scripture that talk about the end, we need to realize that for the Jewish mindset—which is what the early Church was—the end occurred the moment the Messiah came.
只有三个时代：摩西之前的时代，摩西到弥赛亚之间 的时代，以及末世，就是弥赛亚来临之后的时代。 There were only three ages: there was the age before Moses, there was the age between Moses and the Messiah, and there was the end, which was after the Messiah had come.
这完全渗透在整个新约中。 This totally permeates all of the New Testament.
例如，犹大书18节显示了这一点。 For example, Jude chapter 18 shows this.
他说，在末世必有好讥诮的人。 He says, In the last times there will be scoffers.
亲爱的，你们要记住；他对他们说，你们正处在末时；你们正处在末世。 You must remember this, beloved; he's talking to them and saying, You're in the last time; you're in the end times.
在希伯来书1章1-2节，他说，神在这末世藉着他儿子晓谕我们。 In Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 and 2, he says, God has spoken to us in these last days by His Son.
在希伯来书9:26，他说基督在世代的末了显现一次，把自己献为祭，好除掉罪。 In Hebrews 9:26, he says that Christ has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
在使徒行传第2章，圣彼得讲道使数千人加入教会，他引用先知约珥的 话说，在末后的日子，他把这段经文应用到公元30年正在发生的事。 我们已经在末世中将近两千年了，当我们读圣经时，我们需要明白，圣 经中最关键的事件是道成肉身，从那时起，我们就一直在末世中。 In Acts chapter 2, St. Peter preaches the first sermon that brings in thousands of people into the Church, and he quotes the prophet Joel and says, In the last days, and he applies that passage to what's going on in 30 AD. We've been in the last days for almost two millennia, and when we read Scripture, we need to understand that the pivotal event in all of Scripture was the Incarnation, and ever since then, we've been in the last days.
《教理》很好地总结了这一点。 The Catechism sums this up well.
它在第670段说，自从升天以来，神的计划已经进入了实现阶段。 It says in paragraph 670, Since the Ascension, God's plan has entered into its fulfillment.
我们已经在末时了；世界的最后时代已经与我们同在，世界的更新已经不可逆转地开始了。 We are already in the last hour; already the final age of the world is with us, and the renewal of the world is irrevocably underway.
现在甚至以一种真实的方式被预见到了。 It is now even anticipated in a real way.
这就是我们的基本规则。 So that is our ground rules.
我们会回到这些规则，但我希望我们不必再为这些规则辩护了，好吗？ We're going to come back to these, but I hope we won't have to justify these again, okay?
所以我们要把这个标志放在这里，这样你们可以看到这些基本规 则，或者也许你们已经记下来了，我们会回来，当我们讲到某段 经文时，我可能只会说，这是第三条基本规则的例证，好吗？ So what we'll do is we'll keep this sign up here so you can see these ground rules, or maybe you've written them down, and what we'll do is we'll come back, and when we come to a passage, I may just say, That's an illustration of ground rule three, okay?
这样每次我们讲到经文时，我们就不必再处理这个问题了。 So that every time we get into the passage, we won't have to deal with that.
现在让我给你们一点提示，告诉你们下一个小时我们要去哪里，然后我们就结束。 Now let me just give you a little bit of a hint about where we're going next hour, and then we're going to close.
我们要从这里进入但以理书。 We're going to go from here into the Book of Daniel.
我认为但以理书是旧约中最令人兴奋的书。 Now, I think Daniel is the most exciting book of the Old Testament.
毫无疑问，它是最被误解的书。 There is no doubt about the fact it is the most misunderstood.
事实上，这是我所知道的唯一一卷书，耶稣如此纠正了犹太人对但以 理书所说内容的理解，以至于早期教会把它放在正典的不同部分。 In fact, it's the only book of the Bible that I know of that Jesus so corrected the Jewish idea of what was being said in the Book of Daniel that the early Church took it and put it in a different part of the canon.
犹太人看但以理书说，哦，那都是历史；都已经应验了 ；都是200年前安提阿古时代发生的事；都结束了。 The Jewish people looked at the Book of Daniel and said, Oh, that's all history; that's all been fulfilled; that has all happened in Antiochus' time 200 years ago; it's all done.
顺便说一下，现代主义者现在也这么说，但耶稣说，不 ，但以理书的部分内容还要来；部分内容还要应验。 By the way, the modernists say that now, but Jesus said, No, part of Daniel is still to come; part of Daniel will still be fulfilled.
早期教会把这本历史书从犹太正典中拿出来，放在预言书中。 The early Church took that historical book from the Jewish canon and placed it in with the prophetic books.
我们的圣经中有四位大先知：以赛亚、耶利米、以西结和但以理。 There are four major prophets in our Bible: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.
他们拿着这本历史书，相信耶稣所说的，说，不，其中有些内容还要来，这是一本预言书。 They took this historical book and they believed what Jesus said, and they said, No, some of this is still to come, and it's a prophet.
有一个主题把这四位大先知联系在一起，那就是他们都谈到新约。 There's one theme that ties all four of the major prophets together, and that is that all four of them talk about the New Covenant.
这四位大先知都谈到这个约。 The four major prophets all speak of this covenant.
让我快速给你们讲一下这个，然后我们就休息。 Let me give that to you real quick, and then we're going to take our break.
以赛亚书55章3节：你们当就近我来；侧耳而听，就必得活。我必与你们立永约。 Isaiah chapter 55, verse 3: Incline your ear and come to me; hear that your soul may live, and I will make an everlasting covenant.
以西结谈到了平安的约。 Ezekiel talked about a covenant of peace.
在以西结书37章26节，他说——这是神在说话——我要与他们立平安的约。 In Ezekiel 37, verse 26, he says—this is God speaking—I will make a covenant of peace with them.
耶利米也谈到这个；这可能是最著名的：耶利米书31 章31-34节：我要与以色列家和犹大家立新约。 Jeremiah spoke of this; this is probably the most well-known: Jeremiah 31, verses 31-34: I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
我要将我的律法放在他们里面，写在他们心上。我要作他们的神，他们要作我的子民。 I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
但以理书第2章谈到这个新的永远平安的约，但被提派甚至看不到这一点。 Daniel 2 talks about this new everlasting covenant of peace, and the Rapturists don't even see it.
他们甚至没有看到但以理所说的坚固之约以及他关于这约的话，正 是早期教会把这本历史书和其他三位大先知的书归在一起的原因。 They don't even see that the strong covenant of Daniel and what he says about the strong covenant is the reason that the early Church took that historical book and grouped it with the other three major prophets.