好，我们要花大约一个小时来谈论《启示录》。 Okay, we're going to spend about an hour on the Apocalypse or Revelation.
你已经知道我们要往哪个方向走了，对吧？ You already know which direction we're going on this one, right?
换句话说，我相信《启示录》最好的理解方式是它是为原始读者写的。 In other words, I believe that the Apocalypse is best understood as having been written for its original audience.
如果《启示录》不是为原始读者——第一世纪的人们—— 写的，那就是神唯一一次给一群人信息却不适用于他们。 If the Apocalypse was not written for its original audience, the people of the first century, it is the only time that God has ever given a message to a group of people that did not apply to them.
你明白我刚才说的吗？ Did you catch what I just said?
神不会那样做。 God doesn't do that.
神给人的信息是他们能有所作为的。 God gives messages to people that can do something about it.
所以这是《启示录》。 So here's the Apocalypse.
有祝福；我们已经讲过祝福。 There's a blessing; we already covered the blessing.
但我们不要犯错。 Let's not make a mistake, though.
仅仅因为《启示录》主要针对第一世纪的情况，我们不要忘记第三条 基本原则：圣经中的每个事件都可以作为预言应用于我们的生活。 Just because the Apocalypse primarily speaks to the first-century situation, let's not forget the ground rule number three: that every event in Scripture can then stand as a prophecy itself that can be applied to our lives.
《启示录》的教训应该而且必须应用于我们的生活。 The lessons of the Apocalypse should be and must be applied to our own lives.
现在，我相信《启示录》是为第一世纪的教会写的，有两个原因。 Now, I believe that the Apocalypse was written for the first-century Church for two reasons.
有很多原因，但我只说两个。 A lot of reasons, but I'm going to tell you two of them.
第一，如果不是这样，那它就是圣经中唯一一本这样写的书。 Number one, if not, it's the only book of the Bible that was written that way.
第二，它在书的一开始就说了。 Number two, it says it was the very beginning of the book.
《启示录》1章1节一开始就说：这是关于将要快快发生的事。 It says in Revelation 1:1, the very first thing it says: this is about what must soon take place.
这些事要在第一世纪发生。 What's going to happen in the first century?
在第19节，它说这书是关于现在的事——换句 话说，就是当时的情况——和将来必成的事。 In verse 19, it says this book is about what is—in other words, the situation as it is—and what is about to take place hereafter.
所以这书声称是关于第一世纪的，如果不是，那 它就是唯一一本写给一群人却无法理解的书。 So the book claims to be about the first century, and if it isn't about the first century, it would be the only book written to a group of people that couldn't understand it.
所以我们要跟随多数人的意见。 So we're going to go with the majority.
如果排除那些持「被提论」的神学家，在学术界，无论是公教会还是新教， 大多数意见认为《启示录》——至少很大一部分——适用于公元67到70 年的事件。这对你来说可能是个新消息，但如果排除那些在广播中声音很大 的「被提论」者，排除他们，大多数意见认为它确实适用于那些事件。 If you factor out the Rapturist group of theologians, the majority opinion in scholarly circles, both Catholic and Protestant, is that the Apocalypse applies—at least a good portion of it applies—to the events of 67 to 70 AD. That may be news to you, but if you factor out the Rapturists, who are so loud on the radio that that's all you hear, if you factor them out, the majority opinion is that it does apply to those events.
现在，这是大纲，好吗？ Now, here's the outline, okay?
我要很快地讲一遍。 I'm going to go through it real quick.
如果你不明白，我把但以理的纲要放在旁边，这样你就能记住。 If you can't understand it, I've got Daniel's outline right next to it, so if you would, you can remember.
我说过这是完全相同的纲要吗？ Did I say it's the exact same outline?
确实是。 It is.
我们从历史背景开始：神的子民在受迫害。 We start out with the historical setting: God's people in persecution.
记得我说过，但以理，如果你不敬拜王而向神祷告，会怎样？ Remember I said, Daniel, if you didn't worship the king and you prayed to God, what happened?
你会被扔进狮子坑。 You got thrown into the lion's den.
在《启示录》中，在尼禄统治下，如果你不敬拜王，会怎样？ In Revelation, what happens under Nero if you don't worship the king?
你会被扔进斗兽场喂狮子。 You get thrown to the lions in the Colosseum.
所以在前三章中有七封书信，谈到当时的情况：神的子民在受迫害。 So we have seven letters here in the first three chapters talking about the situation as it was: God's people in persecution.
第二个主要部分是第一个异象。 The second major division is the first initial vision.
记得在这里，最初的异象是神国的奥秘被揭示。 Remember back here, the initial vision was the mystery of God's kingdom revealed.
就是那像；石头下来，这国度将会怎样的奥秘被揭示——它要消灭地上的一切国度。 It's the statue; the stone comes down, and the mystery of what this kingdom is going to be like is revealed—that it's going to wipe away all the other kingdoms of the earth.
记得那奥秘提到八次，所以我们知道这是在谈论弥赛亚的国度吗？ Remember that the mystery was mentioned eight times, so we knew it was the Messianic kingdom talked about?
在《启示录》中，整个第一个异象是关于什么的，你猜？ In Revelation, the entire first vision is about, guess what?
神国的奥秘被揭示。 The mystery of God's kingdom revealed.
这和但以理的主题是一样的。 It's the same topic as what Daniel had.
你看，整个早期教会，包括圣约翰，都读但以理书。 You see, the whole early Church, including St. John, read the book of Daniel.
他们对它了如指掌。 They knew it backwards and forwards.
为什么？ Why?
这是他们的民族历史。 It was their national history.
他们不学乔治·华盛顿和亚伯拉罕·林肯；他们学旧约。 They didn't study George Washington and Abraham Lincoln; they studied the Old Testament.
但这也是他们的文学。 But it was also their literature.
他们不学爱默生；他们学旧约。 They didn't study Emerson; they studied the Old Testament.
但这也是他们的宗教。 But it was also their religion.
他们把它当作文学、历史和宗教来学习。 They studied it as literature, history, and religion.
这是他们学习的全部内容。 It was the sum and substance of what they studied.
他们对这本书和旧约的其他书了如指掌，几乎没有人能像他们那样了解。 They knew this book and the other books of the Old Testament backwards and forwards, as few, if any, of us ever could know it.
所以圣约翰是按照但以理书的模式来写他的书。 So St. John is patterning his book after the book of Daniel.
第三部分是三个关键人物。 The third section is the three key personalities.
现在，我们在但以理书中跳过了这一部分——影响国度降临的三个人物。 Now, we skipped this section in Daniel—the three personalities that affect the kingdom's coming.
我们稍微谈到过伯沙撒；他是其中一个人物。 We talked a little bit about Belshazzar; that was one of those personalities.
但我们也要稍微跳过这一部分。 But we're going to have to skip over this one a little bit too.
但在第12章有三个人物。这是第12章；是第三部分：三个关键人物。 But there are three personalities in chapter 12. This is chapter 12; it's the third section: the three key personalities.
他们非常重要，这一章可能是整本书的关键章节。 They're very important, and this chapter is probably the pivotal chapter in the whole book.
但我们在这方面与「被提论」者没有太多分歧，所以我们不会详细讨论。 But we don't disagree with the Rapturists that much on it, so we're not going to cover it a whole lot.
但这三个关键人物是整本书的关键。 But those three key personalities are what the whole book hinges on.
这是一个总结；第三部分是对但以理最后一周、七十年的总结。 That is a summation; that third section is a summation of Daniel's last week, his seven decades.
它给我们提供了从弥赛亚诞生到耶路撒冷被毁的第二个七十年的历史。 It gives us the history of the second seven decades from the birth of the Messiah to the destruction of Jerusalem.
第四部分是一个很长的部分，因为里面有五个异象，就像但以理书一样。 The fourth section is a nice long section because it's got five visions in it, just like Daniel had.
这五个异象是对最初异象的重述，整个教会都相信这些异象是重述，直到13世纪。 The five visions are the initial vision recapitulated, which the whole Church believed that the visions were recapitulations until the 13th century.
在教会的前十二个世纪，所有人都相信这些是对前面所教导内容的重述。 For the first 12 centuries of the Church, everybody believed that these were recapitulations of what was taught up here.
就像但以理在兽的异象中重述，他有同样的四个国 度，并给了我们更多细节，因为它们现在是兽。 Just like Daniel recapitulated in the vision of the beast, he had the same four kingdoms and he gave us more details because they were now beasts.
在龙的战斗策略异象中也是一样。 The same thing in the vision of the battle strategy of the dragon.
他要给我们看龙对国度奥秘揭示的回应。 He's going to give us the dragon's response to the mystery of the kingdom being revealed.
在重述的第二个异象中，他要给我们看羔羊的战斗策略。 In the second vision of the recapitulation, he's going to give us the battle strategy of the Lamb.
在但以理书中，是公绵羊的战斗策略；现在是羔羊的战斗策略。 In Daniel, it was the battle strategy of the ram; now it's the battle strategy of the Lamb.
谁是羔羊？ Who's the Lamb?
耶稣，弥赛亚。 Jesus, the Messiah.
第三个是神子民战斗策略的异象，就像但以理书中的战斗策略是「你若建造，他就会来」。 The third one is the vision of the battle strategy of God's people, just like the battle strategy in Daniel was, If you build it, he will come.
在《启示录》中，这是战斗策略的异象。 In Revelation, it's the vision of the battle strategy.
我们要看新约中神子民的策略是什么。 We're going to see what the strategy of God's people in the New Testament is.
然后是大战的异象，就像但以理书中有大战的异象，我们没有讲到。 Then there's the vision of the great battle, just like there's a vision of a great battle in Daniel, which we didn't cover.
然后是从此到永恒的异象。 And then there's the vision of from here to eternity.
现在，有些人可能会把最后两个异象合并；如果他们 这样做，我没有太大异议，但我认为分开讲更容易。 Now, some people might combine those last two visions; I don't have a real big argument with them if they do, but I think it's easier to talk about them if they're separate.
最后是主题总结。 Then the last thing is the thematic summary.
就像但以理书有主题总结，他在第13和14章回顾并谈论本书 的主题。主题总结的异象从2:15开始，一直到书的结尾。 Just like Daniel has a thematic summary, he goes back and talks about the themes of the book in chapters 13 and 14. The vision of the thematic summary starts in 2:15 and goes to the end of the book.
这就是我们的大纲。 So that's our outline.
现在注意，在这右边，我列出了哪些是过去，哪些是未来。 Now, notice that to the right of this, I gave what's past and what's future.
这是从我们的角度看：几乎整本书，从头到尾直到从此到永恒的 异象，都是过去的，直到我们到达第20章第2节。在那时，我 们从21世纪的经验中已经发生的事情过渡到现在的情况。 This is from our perspective: almost the entire book, all the way through to the vision of from here to eternity, is past until we get to chapter 20, verse 2. At that point, we transition from what has already happened from our 21st-century experience to what is now present.
圣约翰用了五节经文描述现在的情况；这是从第20章第2节到第6节。但他在 主题总结中又花了基本上两章，从2:15到书的结尾，也在谈论现在的情况。 St. John takes a whopping five verses and describes the present situation; it's from chapter 20, verses 2 through 6. But then he comes back on the thematic summary and spends another basically two chapters, from 2:15 to the end of the book, on the present situation as well.
那么哪部分仍然是未来的呢？ So what part of it is still future?
未来的部分是从第20章第7节到2:15。对 我们来说，那是未来的事件；大约一章，好吗？ The part of the future is from chapter 20, verse 7, until 2:15. That's future events to us; it's about a chapter, okay?
所以让我们回过头来，从头开始读这本书。 So let's go back and start through the book.
现在，在我们正式进入这本书之前，我们要跳过这个历史背景，就是那些书信。 Now, before we get into the book exactly, we're going to skip this historical setting, the letters.
我们要从41开始。持「被提论」的人大做文章 ，说在接下来的18章中根本没有提到教会。 We're going to start right here with 41. Rapturists make a big issue out of the fact that the Church itself is not mentioned anywhere in these next 18 chapters.
他们说，你知道吗？ They're saying, and they say, You know what?
看到了吗？ See?
我们是对的。 We're right.
被提已经发生；没有提到教会，因为地上没有教会。 The Rapture has occurred; the Church isn't mentioned because there is no Church here on Earth.
错了！ Wrong!
圣徒提到11次——大约每章一次。 Saints are mentioned 11 times—about once a chapter.
不仅如此，如果圣约翰相信这里有一个秘密的被 提，那被提是如此秘密，以至于他忘了写出来。 Not only that, but if St. John believed that there was a secret Rapture in here somewhere, that Rapture is so secret that he forgot to write about it.
因为他从现存的教会开始，然后在第4章第1节说，我要将以后必成的事指示你。 Because he starts with churches that are in existence, and then he says in chapter 4, verse 1, I will show you what must take place after this.
换句话说，就是接下来的事件，而且没有被提。 In other words, the very next events, and there's no Rapture.
没有被提，因为他不相信被提。 There's no Rapture because he didn't believe in a Rapture.
圣徒在地上；他们参与这些事情，因为我们要在这里面对善恶的最后对决。 The saints are on the Earth; they're involved in these issues because we're going to be here for the final confrontation between evil and good.
好吧，所以它从神的宝座开始。 Okay, so it starts out in the throne room of God.
让我们谈谈神国奥秘的揭示。 Let's talk about the mystery of God's kingdom revealed.
这是书卷的异象。 This is the vision of the scroll.
现在，人们都被这书卷上的七印吸引住了，最后一个 印有七号，最后三号也是三祸，这里面还有七雷。 Now, people get all caught up in the fact that there are seven seals on this scroll and that the last of these seven seals has seven trumpets in it, and that the last three trumpets are also three woes, and that there are also seven thunders in here.
我们被这些东西吸引，以至于忘了书卷。 We get so caught up in all that stuff that we forget about the scroll.
但书卷才是异象的主题。 But the scroll is what the vision's about.
那些印只是启示。 The seals are just the revelation.
换句话说，想象一个书卷上有七个印——蜡封。 In other words, imagine a scroll with seven seals on it—wax seals.
哪个更重要：揭开那些印，还是当印都揭开时知道书卷说什么？ What's more important: the taking off of the seals or finding out what the scroll says when the seals are all taken off?
那才是重要的部分，对吧？ That's the important part, right?
好吧，所以这第一个异象是关于这书卷的奥秘。 Okay, so what this first vision is about is the mystery of this scroll.
书卷里有什么？ What is in the scroll?
现在，只有一个人能打开这些印。 Now, there's only one person that can open these seals.
事实上，在神的宝座前，有人哭泣，因为没有人能打开，直到第 5章第5节，犹大支派的狮子，大卫的根，出来揭开那些印。 In fact, in the throne room of God, there's weeping because nobody can open it until, in chapter 5, verse 5, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David, steps forward and opens the seals.
于是全天都欢唱，他们说：你配拿书卷，配揭开七印，因为你曾被杀， 用自己的血从各族、各方、各民、各国中买了人来，叫他们归于神。 And the whole heaven bursts out in song, and this is what they say: Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for thou wast slain, and by thy blood didst ransom men for God.
这很重要：你叫他们成为国民，作祭司，归于神，在地上执 掌王权（第5章9至10节）。这首歌总结了书卷的信息。 This is important: From every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on Earth (verses 9 and 10 of chapter 5). This song summarizes the message of the scroll.
书卷的信息是国度的奥秘。 The scroll—the message of it—is the mystery of the kingdom.
这就是全部的意思：有这神秘的书卷，我们不能打开的国度，只有一个人能打开。 That's the whole idea: there's this mysterious scroll, the kingdom that we can't open, and only one person can open it.
为什么？ Why?
唯一的原因是因为他用自己的血付了代价。 The only reason is because he has paid with his blood.
这奥秘是什么？ What is the mystery?
就是不再有犹太人或外邦人，不再有男人或女人，不再有奴隶或自由人。 That there's no longer any Jews or Gentiles, there's no longer any men or women, there's no longer any slave or free.
重要的是现在有得赎的和未得赎的。 The important thing is there is now redeemed and unredeemed.
这就是书卷的信息：国度。 That's the message of the scroll: the kingdom.
注意他说国度已经建立。 Notice he says the kingdom is established.
这就在《启示录》的一开始。 This is right at the very beginning of Revelation.
那些说国度要到千禧年才建立的人，是忽略了这本书的前半部分。 People that say that the kingdom isn't going to be established until the millennium are ignoring the whole first part of the book.
国度在书卷第一次打开时就已经建立，就在书的一开始。 The kingdom is already established when the scrolls are first opened, right at the very beginning of the book.
国度已经在这里。 The kingdom is already here.
那是公教会的神学。 That's Catholic theology.
持「被提论」的人对此有困难，但我们相信国度在基 督受难时就建立了，《启示录》也同意我们的看法。 Rapturists have trouble with that, but we believe that the kingdom was established at the Passion, and Revelation is agreeing with us.
它说国度已经在这里，那国度充满了各族、各方、各民、各国的人。 It's saying the kingdom is already here, and that kingdom is filled with people from every tribe, every tongue, every people, and every nation.
这回到我们一开始所说的。 It goes back to what we were saying at the beginning.
犹太人和外邦人一起共融是闻所未闻的。 It was unheard of for Jews and Gentiles to commune together.
在罗马制度下，奴隶和自由人一起敬拜是闻所未闻的。 It was unheard of in the Roman system for slaves and free people to worship together.
男人和女人一起敬拜是闻所未闻的。 It was unheard of for men and women to worship together.
但这发生了。 But this happened.
这在哪里发生？ This happened where?
在基督用他的血买来的国度里。 In the kingdom that Christ bought with his blood.
现在，这是什么样的国度？ Now, what kind of a kingdom?
它已经建立，拥有如此众多不同的人。 It's already set up, and it has these vast numbers of different people.
你看，我们不觉得这很有趣；我们不觉得这很奇妙。 See, we don't find this very interesting; we don't find this very phenomenal.
为什么？ Why?
因为两千年来，事情就是这样。 Because for 2,000 years, that's the way things have been.
但这对第一世纪的人来说是个新消息。 But this was news to them in the first century.
在教会里不再有犹太人和外邦人，这是惊人的。 This was phenomenal that there were no longer Jews and Gentiles in the Church.
你是犹太人还是外邦人并不重要，重要的是你是基督徒。 It didn't matter if you were Jew or Gentile; it just mattered that you were a Christian.
这与旧约所说的一切相悖。 That went against everything that the Old Testament said.
现在，这是什么样的国度？ Now, what kind of kingdom is this?
他使我们成为国民，作祭司。 He's made us a kingdom and priests.
这是一个教会的国度。 It's an ecclesiastical kingdom.
你看，持「被提论」的人仍在寻找要在千禧年实现的地上政治国度。 You see, the Rapturists are still looking for the earthly political kingdom to be fulfilled in the millennium.
但《启示录》在这第一个异象的一开始就很清楚地告诉我们，耶稣通过揭 开这些印所揭示奥秘的国度不是一个政治国度，而是一个教会的国度。 But Revelation, right at the very beginning of this first vision, is making very clear to us that the kingdom that Jesus is revealing the mystery of by opening these seals is not a political kingdom; it's an ecclesiastical kingdom.
你明白为什么如果你不是公教徒，开始玩弄这些东西是多么危险吗？ Do you see why it's so dangerous to start playing around with this stuff if you're not Catholic?
唯一能找到与《启示录》教导稍微接近的东西的地方就是公教会。 The only place to find anything that remotely approaches what Revelation teaches is in the Catholic Church.
所以圣约翰已经知道这一点。 So St. John already knew this.
但当印被揭开时会发生什么？ But what happens when the seals are opened?
当这些印被揭开时会发生什么？ What happens when these seals are opened?
现在谁明白书卷的奥秘？ Who now understands the mystery of the scroll?
当书卷的印被揭开时，整个世界都能看到基督在他死时成就了什么。 The entire world, when the seals of the scroll are opened, can see what Christ accomplished when he died.
你看，直到圣殿被毁，世人都把基督教看作犹太教内的一个小派别，耶稣 不过是个有些怪异想法的好犹太男孩，但他肯定不是在创立一种新宗教。 You see, up until when the temple was destroyed, the world looked at Christianity as a mere sect within Judaism, and Jesus was a good little Jewish boy that maybe had some weird ideas, but he certainly wasn't starting a new religion.
但这不是耶稣所说的。 But that's not what Jesus said.
虽然他的跟随者中有些人比其他人理解得更好——圣保罗当然比大 多数人理解得更好——但这国度要去向何方，世人当然不明白。 And although his followers understood some better than others—St. Paul certainly better than most—where this kingdom was going to go, the world certainly did not understand it.
好吗？ Okay?
当印被揭开，书卷被看见时，世人都要看见什么？ And when the seals are opened, when the scroll can be seen, all the world will see what?
基督所建立的国度是一个包括万国的教会国度，不是犹太教下的一个子集。 That the kingdom that Christ founded was an ecclesiastical kingdom that encompasses all nations, and it is not a subset under Judaism.
好吗？ Okay?
你跟上我了吗？ Are you with me so far?
这就是第一个书卷的信息。 That's the message of this first scroll.
好，这对持「被提论」的人来说是无法解释的，但让我们进入具体的七印。 Okay, now this is impossible for the Rapturists to explain, but let's get into the exact seven seals.
现在，为什么有七个印？ Now, why are there seven of them?
首先，因为这是审判的完全数字。 First of all, because that's a complete number for judgment.
在《利未记》26章14至18节，摩西警告以色列说，如果你们 不听从我，我要七倍惩罚你们；因你们的罪，我要七倍惩罚你们。 In Leviticus chapter 26, verses 14 through 18, Moses warned Israel that if you don't obey me, I will sevenfold punish you; I will chastise you again sevenfold for your sins.
所以约翰把这些安排成七个，表明这是对犹太教拒绝弥赛亚的预言审判。 So John arranges these into sevens to show that this is the prophesied judgment on Judaism for the fact that they rejected their Messiah.
第一印：白马上的骑士。 The first seal: a white rider on a horse.
我喜欢称他为白骑士。 I like to call him the white rider.
这白骑士最好理解为在印的开端，一个希望的信息。 This white rider is best understood as, right at the very beginning of the seals, a message of hope.
异象以白骑士开始，当我们进入第19章时，异象以白骑士结束。 The visions start with the white rider, and the visions, when we get into chapter 19, end with the white rider.
在这两处，特别是在第19章，很清楚地表明白马的骑士是基督。 And in both places, particularly in 19, it's very, very clear that the rider of the white horse is Christ.
所以就在揭开印的开始，会有一些相当可怕的印出现。 So right here at the beginning of the opening seals, there's going to be some pretty nasty seals that come along.
但第一个印向我们保证白骑士将要得胜。 But the first one assures us that the white rider is going to be victorious.
白骑士是基督。 The white rider is Christ.
第二、第三和第四印也是骑士。 The second, third, and fourth seals are also riders.
红马象征战争，黑马象征饥荒，灰马象征死亡。 The red horse symbolizes war, the black horse symbolizes famine, and the pale horse symbolizes death.
现在，如果你曾在军队中——我从未在军队中——但我想说战争可能导 致饥荒，战争和饥荒加在一起肯定会导致死亡，这是很合乎逻辑的。 Now, if you've ever been in the army—I’ve never been in the army—but I'd say it's probably pretty much logical that war can cause famine, and war and famine put together can definitely cause death.
这与耶稣在橄榄山讲论中谈到这些事件的顺序相同。 This is the same order that Jesus talks about these exact same events in the Olivet Discourse.
换句话说，这第一个异象谈到的事件与耶稣在橄榄 山讲论中回答第一个问题时所谈到的事件相同。 In other words, this first vision is talking about the same events that Jesus talked about in answer to the first question of the Olivet Discourse.
当罗马进入以色列攻击耶路撒冷时，有战争、饥荒和死 亡，这发生的顺序与耶稣在橄榄山讲论中所说的相同。 When Rome came into Israel and attacked Jerusalem, there was war, famine, and death, and it happens in the same order that Jesus talked about it in the Olivet Discourse.
第五印——我知道我们这里讲得很快，但即使这样，我们也会有麻烦 ，所以我尽量不放慢速度——第五印是在天上祭坛下的一群殉道者。 The fifth seal—and I know we're going fast here, but even at this speed, we're going to be in trouble, so I'm trying not to slow down—the fifth seal is a group of martyrs underneath the altar up in heaven.
现在，你会说，天哪，这是什么？ Now, you say, Golly, what in the world?
那真是一个奇怪的画面。 That is a really weird picture.
这意味着几件事。 It means several things.
首先，它证实了为教会而死的基督徒并没有停止活着。 First of all, it substantiates that Christians that die for the Church have not stopped being alive.
换句话说，他们的灵魂仍然活着。 In other words, their souls are still alive.
这与罗马人的信仰相悖，他们认为死亡就是停止存在。 It flies in the face of the Roman belief that at death, you just stop being.
但为什么他们在祭坛下？ But why are they under the altar?
在《利未记》17章17节，祭物的血流在祭坛下，旧约教导说，肉体的生命在血中。 Well, in Leviticus 17:17, the blood of the sacrifices flowed under the altar, and the Old Testament taught that the life of the flesh was in the blood.
所以这是一个象征，这些人在尼禄的花园里被当作火把烧死取 乐，被扔进斗兽场喂狮子，他们的生命仍然保存在祭坛下。 So it's a symbol that these people who had been burned as torches in Nero's gardens for fun, who had been thrown to the lions in the Colosseum, that their life was still preserved under the altar.
他们没有浪费生命，虽然当你看着他们被狮子吃掉时，确实是这样。 They didn't waste their life, although that's certainly what it looked like when you were watching them get eaten by the lions.
但他们的牺牲有永恒的意义，他们在世上的事务中仍有发言权。 But their sacrifice had eternal significance, and they still have a voice in earthly affairs.
他们向迫害他们的人呼求公义，给他们的回答是，我们要再等一会儿。 They're crying out for justice against their persecutors, and the answer given to them is, We're going to wait a little longer.
为什么要等？ Why do we wait?
这对我们来说很难接受，但我们被告知要再等一会儿，直到殉道者的数目满足。 Now, this is a hard one for us to sort of accept, but we're told we're going to wait a little longer until the fullness of the martyrs has been filled.
换句话说，基督对我们的目标并不总是地上的幸福，而是人的神化。 In other words, Christ's objective for us is not always earthly happiness but human divinization.
这听起来很可怕，除非我们知道神化是教父们、早期教会教父们常常谈论的主题。 Now, that sounds really scary to us unless we know that human divinization was a theme constantly talked about by the Patristic Fathers, the early Church Fathers.
那是受难和复活的目的：使我们与神共融。 That was the purpose of the Passion and the Resurrection: to bring us into communion with God.
第六印实际上是最后一个。 The sixth seal is actually the final one.
原因是他这样安排：所有七号都在第七印内。 Now, the reason is the way he's arranged this: all seven trumpets are inside this seventh seal.
所以他揭开七印，但当他揭到第七印时，实际上是七号。 So he's breaking seven seals, but when he gets to the seventh one, it's actually seven trumpets.
这对我们21世纪的人来说有点难以理解，为什么他要这样安排？ This is a little hard for us as 21st-century people to say, Why in the world did he arrange it this way?
这在启示文学中是很常见的。 This is pretty common back in apocalyptic literature.
所以第六印现在是进入号之前的最后一个，这是政治王朝被连根拔起的经典语言。 So the sixth seal is now the final one before we get into the trumpets, and it's classical language for political dynasties being uprooted.
我忘了这里的第五条基本原则：在第六印中，政治王朝被驱逐，这确实发生在公元 67到70年。耶路撒冷和可追溯到所罗门的哈斯蒙祭司王朝都在此时被驱逐。 I forget here ground rule number five: in the sixth seal, political dynasties are dislodged, and that did happen in 67 to 70 AD. Both Jerusalem and the Hasmonean priesthood dynasty, which had gone all the way back to Solomon, were dislodged at this point.
在第七章，圣约翰也把地上发生的事描述为大灾难。 In chapter seven, St. John also describes what's happening on the Earth as the great tribulation.
这大灾难，正如我们在橄榄山讲论中看到的，发生在公元64年 至67年。另有一群人被提到，就是十四万四千人。十四万四千 是一个非常象征性的数字；是12的平方乘以10的立方。 This great tribulation, as we already saw in the Olivet Discourse, occurred from 64 AD until 67 AD. Another group of people is mentioned, and it's the 144,000. 144,000 is a very symbolic number; it's 12 squared times 10 cubed.
这些都是重要的数字。 All those are important numbers.
12是3乘以4——神在世界上工作，3乘以4。那是 12；你把它平方，10是完全的数字，你把它立方。 12 is 3 times 4—God working in the world, 3 times 4. That's 12; you square that, and 10 is the number of completion, and you cube that.
注意，十四万四千人特别是犹太基督徒；他们不是外邦基督徒。 Notice that the 144,000 specifically are Jewish Christians; they're not Gentile Christians.
事实上，外邦基督徒在第9节中单独提到，他们是大批的人。 In fact, the Gentile Christians are mentioned separately in verse 9, and they are a great multitude.
那么十四万四千人是什么？那是犹太基督徒的数目。 So what is the 144,000? That's the number of Jewish Christians.
当然，这是一个象征性的数字，但它是一个大的象征性数字。 Granted, it's a symbolic number, but it's a large symbolic number.
那是基督在耶路撒冷被毁之前等待进入他教会的犹太基督徒的数目。 That's the number of Jewish Christians that Christ was waiting for to come into his Church before Jerusalem was destroyed.
第七章的其余部分让我们稍微瞥见将要发生的庆典。 The remainder of chapter 7 gives us a little bit of a glimpse of the celebration that's going to happen.
我要回到一两个小时前的《加拉太书》。 I'm going to go back to Galatians from last hour or two hours ago.
当夏甲的儿子以实玛利被赶出亚伯拉罕的家，以撒就成为应许的儿子。 When Hagar's son, Ishmael, is cast out of the household of Abraham, Isaac becomes the son of promise.
这就是我们在这里看到的。 That's what we're seeing here.
我们在这里看到的是旧约的犹太教被推到一边，向 全世界明确表明新约教会是神此时对创造的计划。 What we're seeing here is Old Testament Judaism being pushed aside and making it clear to the entire world that the New Testament Church is God's plan for creation at this point.
当这最终发生时，就会发生这样的事：天上爆发出歌声， 他们说，救恩归于坐在宝座上我们的神，也归于羔羊！ And this is what happens when that finally happens: heaven breaks out in song, and they say, Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb!
阿们！ Amen!
愿颂赞、荣耀、智慧、感谢、尊贵、权柄、大力都归给我们的神，直到永永远远！ Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!
阿们！ Amen!
我们现在在第一个循环的末尾。 We are now at the end of the first cycle.
我们只走到第一个异象的一半，但约翰现在在第七个异象中 ，从神的宝座室重新开始，这也是第一个异象开始的地方。 We're only halfway through this first vision, but John now, in the seventh vision, starts all over again at the throne room of God, which is where the first vision started.
他从地上人的角度重述所有相同的事件。 He recapitulates all those same events from the perspective of people here on Earth.
到目前为止，视角一直是基督的。 So far, the perspective has been that of Christ.
现在我们要看犹太人如何看待所发生的事。 Now we're going to see how the Jewish people look at what's happening.
在第一号中，有雹子与火搀着血丢在地上，树的三 分之一被烧了（第8章第3节）。这确实发生了。 In the first trumpet, we have hail and fire mixed with blood, and a third of the trees are destroyed (chapter 8, verse 3). This really did happen.
耶路撒冷周围几英里内的森林被砍伐，罗马军队需要木材的主要用途是…… Jerusalem around it was deforested for miles, and the main thing that the Roman army needed wood for was...
有两件事：建造他们的战争机器。 Was two things: to build their war machines.
换句话说，他们在建造可以攀登城墙的平台，但他们也在建造十字架。 In other words, they were building platforms upon which they could scale the walls, but they were also building crosses.
他们平均每天钉死超过500人。 They were crucifying, on average, over 500 people every single day.
当他们没有木头时，他们就把一个人拉下来，再把一个新人挂上去。 When they ran out of wood, what they'd do is tear a guy down and put a new guy up.
破坏，生态破坏，是可怕的。 The devastation, the ecological devastation, was horrific.
到处是血；没有树木。 There was blood everywhere; there were trees nowhere.
那是第一号。 That's the first trumpet.
我们看到的是第一次看到的同样的事，只是这次我们从被征服者的角度来看。 We're looking at the same thing that we saw the first time, only this time we're looking at it from the perspective of the conquered peoples.
第二号：有烧着的大山扔在海中（第8章第8节）。这是经典的启示文学 ，正如我们在基本原则中看到的，我相信是第5条，关于君主制的毁灭。 The second trumpet: something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea (chapter 8, verse 8). This is classic apocalyptic literature, as we see in ground rule, I believe it was 5, for the destruction of a monarchy.
如果你想在旧约中看到它，《阿摩司书》1和2章 谈到一座大山，就是一个君主制，被扔在海中。 If you want to look at it in the Old Testament, Amos 1 and 2 talks about a great mountain, which is a monarchy, being thrown into the sea.
事实是，这个哈斯蒙祭司制度，这个犹大·马加比重建的王室祭司血统，虽然 有一些间隙，但可以一直追溯到所罗门，从那里一直追溯到摩西，被推翻了。 It's the fact that this Hasmonean priesthood, this kingly priestly line that Judas Maccabee refounded but could trace this line really all the way back—with some gaps—all the way to Solomon, and from there all the way back to Moses, was overthrown.
那条血统永远消失了；我们不知道它在哪里。 That line is lost forever; we do not know where it is.
那座大山被扔在海中；它消失了。 That mountain has been thrown into the sea; it's gone.
第三号：众水的三分之一变为茵蔯，因水变苦，就死了许多人。 The third trumpet: a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died of the water because it was made bitter.
现在，持「被提论」的人声称这是生化或核战争，将摧毁水源。 Now, the Rapturists claim that this is biochemical or nuclear war that will destroy the water supplies.
事实上，这是对旧约中茵蔯用法的误解。 Actually, that's a misunderstanding of the Old Testament use of wormwood.
茵蔯在《耶利米书》23章15节。如果你想查阅 ，很清楚茵蔯相当于我们说的「你要自食其言」。 Wormwood is in Jeremiah 23:15. If you want to look it up, it's very, very clear that what wormwood is is equivalent to our statement of saying you're going to eat your words.
所以换句话说，当你喝茵蔯时，就等于说你要自食其言。 So in other words, when you drink wormwood, it's the same as saying you're going to eat your words.
在整个围攻期间——围攻持续了三年半…… All throughout the siege—and the siege went for three and a half years...
耶路撒冷的领导层预言神会拯救他们。 The leadership of Jerusalem was predicting that God would save them.
历史学家约瑟夫告诉我们，当时有许多假先知被暴君收买，欺骗百姓要他们等候 神的拯救，这是为了防止他们逃跑，使他们因这样的希望而不至于恐惧和忧虑。 Josephus, the historian, tells us, There was then a great number of false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose on the people that they should wait for deliverance from God, and this was in order to keep them from deserting and that they might be buoyed up above fear and care by such hopes.
茵蔯是一个象征，正如在耶利米书中，那些先知将不得不自食其言。 The wormwood is a symbol of the fact, just like in Jeremiah, that those prophets were going to have to eat their words.
但有一个更重要的群体必须自食其言，那就是公会。 But there was a more important group that had to eat their words, and that was the Sanhedrin.
你记得吗？ Do you remember?
所有这些事件都是在40年前公会判耶稣死刑时开始的。 All of these events were put into play 40 years earlier when the Sanhedrin condemned Jesus to death.
他们也必须自食其言；他们必须承认自己错了。 They too had to eat their words; they had to admit that they were wrong.
第四号：日头的三分之一、月亮的三分之一、星辰的三分之一都 被击打（第8章第12节）。再次，基本原则5：政治毁灭。 The fourth trumpet: a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon and a third of the stars (chapter 8, verse 12). Once again, ground rule 5: political destruction.
第五号，也是第一祸，顺便说一下，圣约翰看见一个星从天落到地，有无底坑的 钥匙赐给他（9:1）。对这第五号最好的解释可能是尼禄或犹太的大祭司。 The fifth trumpet, which is also the first woe, by the way, St. John saw a star fall from heaven to earth, and he was given the key of the shaft of the bottomless pit (9:1). Probably the best interpretation of this fifth trumpet is that it was either Nero or the Jewish high priest.
两者都可以；很可能，按照基本原则——我想是第二条——圣约翰实际上指的是他们两个。 Either one of them works; it's very possible, as with ground rule—I think it's number two—that St. John actually meant both of them.
我们马上就会看到这星从天上落下，在政治上被驱逐 ，但他打开了这个坑，从中出来一个蝗虫蝎子军队。 We're going to see here in just a minute that this star falls from heaven, which politically has been dislodged, but he opens up this pit, out of which comes a locust-scorpion army.
会这样做的两个人，在位的，是大祭司发动战争和尼禄宣战。 The two people that would have done that, who were in power, were the high priest by starting the war and Nero by declaring the war.
所以可能是他们中的任何一个，或者很可能，正如我们 在基本原则中看到的，圣约翰实际上指的是他们两个。 So it could have been either one of them, or it's very possible, as we saw in the ground rules, that St. John actually meant both of them.
我相信，基本原则四是从那坑里，他得了一个坑，从那坑里出来一个蝗虫军队。 Ground rule four, I believe, was that out of that pit, he was given a pit, and out of that pit comes a locust army.
现在，蝗虫字面意思是土地的焚烧者，这正是罗马 军队渡过幼发拉底河横扫整个以色列地时所做的。 Now, locust means literally burners of the land, and that is exactly what the Roman army did when they came across the Euphrates River and swept over the whole land of Israel.
罗马被激怒了；罗马发怒了。 Rome was ticked; Rome was mad.
这些犹太人已成为眼中钉。 These Jewish people had become a pain in the neck.
他们要给他们一个教训，不仅是他们，而是全世界都永远不会忘记的：你不能惹罗马。 And they were going to teach them a lesson that the world—not just them, but that the world—would never forget: that you don't mess with Rome.
这就是罗马要告诉他们的；他们是神审判的工具。 That's what Rome was about to tell them; they are an instrument of God's judgment.
几乎每次我们在旧约中看到蝗虫，甚至在最初的出埃及 记——记得《出埃及记》第10章，当我们有灾祸时？ Almost every time we see locusts in the Old Testament, even in the original Exodus—remember Exodus chapter 10, when we have the plagues?
蝗虫是神对埃及审判的工具。 The locusts were an instrument of God's judgment against Egypt.
在《约珥书》2章1至11节，巴比伦军队被称为蝗虫军队。 In Joel chapter 2, verses 1 to 11, the Babylonian army is said to be an army of locusts.
所以蝗虫军队是人；据我所知，巴比伦军队里有人，约珥说他们是蝗虫军队。 So the army of locusts are human; the Babylonian army, as far as I know, had humans in it, and Joel says that they were an army of locusts.
现在，这是我们在《启示录》中看到的对罗马军队的描述。 Now, here's the description that we see in Revelation of this Roman army.
我想如果你想象一下罗马骑兵在明亮的以色列阳 光下全副武装，你就会明白这幅画面是什么。 I think if you think about a Roman cavalry all decked out in bright Israeli sunlight, you see exactly what this picture is.
蝗虫好像预备出战的马。 The locusts were like horses arrayed for battle.
头上戴的好像金冠冕，脸面好像男人的脸面，头发像女人的头发，牙齿像狮子的牙齿。 On their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces; their hair like women's hair; their teeth like lion's teeth.
胸前有甲，好像铁甲。他们翅膀的声音好像许多车马奔跑上阵的声音。 They had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of them was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle.
那就是一支军队！ That's an army!
唯一听起来不像人类军队的是狮子的牙齿，这直接来自约珥书中谈到 巴比伦军队的那段话——巴比伦军队是蝗虫，他们有狮子的牙齿。 The only thing that doesn't sound like a human army is the whole idea of teeth like lion's teeth, and that comes directly out of that passage in Joel that talked about the Babylonian army—that the Babylonian army were locusts and that they had teeth like lion's teeth.
所以圣约翰借用了非常常见、众所周知的旧约意象来说将有一支蝗虫军队来征服以色列。 So St. John is borrowing very common, well-known Old Testament imagery to say that there's going to be a locust army that comes and conquers Israel.
现在，《启示录》在这号中甚至告诉我们这罗马 军队，这蝎子军队，这蝗虫军队要在那里多久。 Now, Revelation here in this trumpet even tells us how long this Roman army, this scorpion army, this locust army will be there.
他们要在那里五个月。 It will be there for five months.
他们要从五月到九月在那里。 They will be there from May to September.
现在，提多实际上只在一个夏天率领军队；在此之前是韦斯帕芗。 Now, Titus actually led the army for only one summer; Vespasian did it before that.
猜猜提多在以色列的战斗季节有多长？ Guess how long the fighting season was that Titus was in Israel?
有人想猜猜它是哪个月开始的吗？ Anybody want to take a guess on what month it started?
五月。 May.
有人想猜猜它什么时候结束吗？ Anybody want to take a guess on when it ended?
九月。 September.
这正是圣约翰所说会发生的，确实发生了。 That's exactly what St. John said would happen, and it's exactly what did happen.
他们的折磨就像蝎子蛰人的折磨，在那些日子， 人要求死，决不得死；愿意死，死却远避他们。 Their torture was like the torture of a scorpion when it stings a man, and in those days, men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death will fly from them.
这是第9章第6节中的可怕画面，是圣约翰写的，他是一个非常近距离看到钉十字架的人。 That is a horrific picture in chapter 9, verse 6, and it was written by St. John, a man that saw crucifixion up very close.
他看到这蝎子军队带走了他所爱的一个——事实上，是他最爱的一个——蛰了他。 He'd seen this scorpion army take one of his beloved—in fact, his most beloved—and sting him.
那就是钉十字架：你被蛰，你想死；你想死。 That's what crucifixion is: where you sting and you want to die; you want to die.
罗马军队，围攻本身，在五个月内杀了一百万人，其中许多人是被钉死的。 The Roman army, the siege itself, killed one million people in five months, many of them from crucifixion.
罗马军队用十字架包围耶路撒冷，十字架彼此相连。 The Roman armies circled Jerusalem with crosses that touched each other.
当一个人死了，他被拉下来，另一个人被挂上去。 When a man died, he was ripped down, and another man was put up.
尸体被扔进山谷。 The body was thrown into the valley.
提多为什么这样做？ Why did Titus do that?
他是想把耶路撒冷的居民吓死，或者吓得他们投降。 He was trying to scare the inhabitants of Jerusalem to death or scare them into surrender.
那正是他想做的。 That's exactly what he was trying to do.
现在，这蝗虫军队，这蝎子军队，有一个王。 Now, this locust army, this scorpion army, has a king.
他的名字叫亚巴顿。 His name is Abaddon.
亚巴顿是无底坑的使者；他被那星释放，那星带着钥匙落下，打开了坑。 Abaddon is the angel of the bottomless pit; he's released by the star that falls with the key and opens it up.
在《俄巴底亚书》12节，我们找到亚巴顿，当我们把这节（9:11）与杀 害两个见证人的兽比较，我们将在第11章第7节看到，以及第17章第8节 中那曾有、如今没有、将要上来的第八王，当我们比较所有这些经文时，我们 发现亚巴顿有一个名字，我们知道他的名字：他的名字是提多凯撒将军提多。 In Obadiah 12, we find Abaddon, and when we compare this verse (9:11) with the beast that kills the two witnesses, which we're going to get to in chapter 11, verse 7, and with the eighth king that was and is not and is to come in chapter 17, verse 8, when we compare all those passages, what we find out is Abaddon has a name, and we know his name: his name was General Titus Caesar Titus.
他是蝎子军队的首领，蛰了那些人，用那些十字架包围耶路撒冷。 He was the head of the scorpion army that stung those men and rounded Jerusalem with those crosses.
他不是一个特别好的人。 He was not a particularly nice man.
犹太传统告诉我们，当他们最终占领圣殿时，提多抓起一 些律法书卷，扔在地上，带了一个妓女，在至圣所行淫。 Jewish tradition tells us that when they finally took over the temple, Titus grabbed some of the scrolls of the Torah, flung them on the ground, took a prostitute, and committed an act of fornication in the Holy of Holies.
这人是个兽；他是亚巴顿。 This man was a beast; he's Abaddon.
这个词字面意思是毁灭；那就是他所做的。 The word literally means destruction; that's what he did.
第六号从第9章第13节到第11章第14节。但在第六号 开始之前，我们在第9章第15节被告知必须有一个延迟。 The sixth trumpet goes from chapter 9, verse 13, through chapter 11, verse 14. But before the sixth trumpet can start, we're told in verse 15 of chapter 9 that there has to be a delay.
现在，我们看到早先有一个延迟，当时必须有更多的殉道者为教会；那是在大灾难期间。 Now, we saw an earlier delay when there had to be more martyrs for the Church; that was during the great tribulation.
这是一个不同的延迟。 This is a different delay.
这延迟必须等待，才能开始毁灭，因为在第15节 ，它说毁灭必须预备好，等候那年、月、日、时。 This delay has to wait before the destruction can start because, in verse 15, it says the destruction had to be held ready for the hour, the day, the month, and the year.
换句话说，这事发生的那一年已经在天上计划好了。 In other words, the very year that this happened was already planned in heaven.
那个月，那一天，那一时。 The very month, the very day, the very hour.
为什么？ Why?
为什么那一时如此重要？ Why was the hour so important?
我告诉你为什么。 I'll tell you why.
当你们看见军队围困耶路撒冷，就当逃到犹太的山上。 When you see the armies surrounding the city of Jerusalem, flee to the Judean hills.
我的教会，离开这城；这是你们唯一的希望。 Get out of the city, my Church; it's your only hope to get out.
为什么神阻止韦斯帕芗将军？ Why did God hold back General Vespasian?
为什么神说毁灭还不能发生？ Why did God say the destruction cannot happen yet?
时候未到，因为他有一个教会要拯救。 The hour is not here because he had a Church to save.
你看，在人一切的阴谋背后是神的手。 You see, behind all of the machinations of men is the hand of God.
有时很难看见，但毁灭的时刻必须等待，以便教会，国度，不被毁灭。 Sometimes it's difficult to see, but the hour of destruction had to wait so that the Church, the kingdom, would not be destroyed.
现在，提多将军带来的这军队，亚巴顿带来的，我们被告知它的规模。 Now, this army that General Titus brings, that Abaddon brings, we're told the size of it.
骑兵——我们没有被告知军队的规模——是二十万万。有谁对数字很在行吗？ The cavalry—we're not told the size of the army—was twice 10,000 times 10,000. Anybody real good with numbers?
那是什么？ What is that?
两亿，对吧？ 200 million, right?
单是骑兵就有两亿。 The cavalry alone was 200 million.
现在，这是一个象征性的数字；只是两个回合——换句话说，一千，一千，然后加倍。 Now, this is a symbolic number; it's just two rounds—in other words, a thousand, a thousand, and then doubled.
这是什么意思？ What is the meaning?
我想我们可以在《启示录》中找到答案。 I think we can find it right in Revelation.
首先，提多带来了一支庞大的军队。 First of all, Titus brought a huge army.
事实上，他的军队如此庞大，以至于与他作战的历史学家约瑟夫是 第一个反对他的将军，他的大部分军队在第一次战斗前就逃跑了。 In fact, his army was so huge that Josephus, the historian who fought against him, was the first general to go against him, and most of his army deserted before the first battle.
他们看到这庞大的军队，就说，哦，我们要走了！ They saw this huge host of people and they said, Oh, we're out of here!
你知道…… You know...
但更重要的是，他说这是二十万万。现在，我们没有提到这一点，但当我们在第一个异象 和宝座室时，圣徒们在书卷被打开时围绕羔羊的宝座，我们被告知圣徒和天使的数目。 But more importantly, he says that it's twice 10,000 times 10,000. Now, we didn't mention this, but back when we were in the first vision and in the throne room, the saints were circling the throne around the Lamb when the scroll was being opened, and we're told the number of saints that there are and angels.
天上的军队是十万万。显然，十万是一个象征性的数字，但在神的一边是一个庞大的军队。 The host of heaven is 10,000 times 10,000. Obviously, 100,000 is a symbolic number, but it's a huge host on God's side.
但你猜怎么着？ But guess what?
谁的人更多——神还是兽？ Who's got more on their side—God or the beast?
我们的人数是二比一；有二十万万——是那个数字的两倍。 We're outnumbered two to one; there's twice 10,000 times 10,000—twice that number.
在旧约犹太人的时代，神的数字是三，人的数字是六。 In Old Testament Jewish time, the number of God was three, and the number of man was six.
神总是被人的力量压倒。 God is always outnumbered by man's forces.
但不要忘记白骑士。 But don't forget the white rider.
我们知道，即使他们有两倍的人数——一支不可逾越的军队——那也只是军队的骑兵。 We know that even though they've got twice as many—an insurmountable army—that's only the cavalry of the army.
我们会赢；白马要得胜。 We're going to win; the white horse is going to be victorious.
我们也被告知这时这蝗虫军队要统治以色列42个月。 We're also told at this point that this army of locusts is given sway over Israel for 42 months.
现在，我想你大概知道那42个月是什么时候开始的。 Now, I think you probably know when that 42 months started.
它始于67年2月，直到70年8月——正好是42个月。 It started in February of 67 and went until August of 70—it's 42 months precisely.
好，现在我们在其他地方也找到这42个月，但这是圣经中审判的时间。 Okay, now elsewhere we find this 42 months mentioned in other places, but it's the biblical time of judgment.
你记得在旧约中以利亚阻止降雨吗？ Do you remember in the Old Testament when Elijah held back the rain?
有人说以利亚是典型的先知，那绝对是真的。 Someone said that Elijah was the quintessential prophet, and that's absolutely true.
以利亚阻止了多久的降雨？ How long did Elijah hold back the rain?
三年半——四十二个月——这是完全审判的时间。 Three and a half years—forty-two months—it's the time of perfect judgment.
这是完全审判的时间：三年半。 It's the time of perfect judgment: three and a half years.
那就是战争实际持续的时间——三年半。 And that's how long the war actually lasted—three and a half years.
这也是两个见证人预言的时间；他们在这42个月中作见证。 It's also the time that the two witnesses prophesy; they're witnessing during these 42 months.
在11:3，这也是妇人在第12章第6节和第14节中逃避龙的时间。那妇人就是教会。 In 11:3, it's also the time during which the woman flees from the dragon in chapter 12, verses 6 and 14. That woman is the Church.
实际上，第12章的妇人象征两样东西：马利亚和教会。 Actually, the woman in chapter 12 symbolizes two things: Mary and the Church.
但在这一点上，是教会逃避龙，就是兽和他的势力。 But at this point, it's the Church fleeing from the dragon, who would be the beast and his forces.
他们要去哪里？ And where are they going?
他们要去外约旦的比拉，在亚基帕王的保护下待42个月，同时耶路撒冷的战斗继续进行。 They're going to Pella in Transjordan to be under King Agrippa for 42 months while the battle over Jerusalem goes on.
然后在135年，我们再次看到兽只被赋予一定时间的权柄——三年半。 Then in 135, we see again that the beast is given power for only a certain time—three and a half years.
路加告诉我们，这段时间有个绰号：就是外邦人的时期。 Luke tells us that this time has a nickname: it's the time of the Gentiles.
外邦人的时期将是三年半。 The time of the Gentiles will be for three and a half years.
那段时间已经发生了。 That time has already happened.
外邦人的时期，他们来到耶路撒冷攻击它，已经是历史了。 The time of the Gentiles, where they come on Jerusalem and attack it, is already history.
那是从67年2月到70年8月的42个月。顺便说一下 ，那在《路加福音》21章24节：外邦人的时期满了。 It was the 42 months from February 67 to August 70. Now, that's in Luke chapter 21, verse 24, by the way: the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
我们怎么知道将来不会有外邦人的时期？ How do we know that there's not going to be a time of the Gentiles in the future?
因为这种区别再也没有意义了。 Because that distinction doesn't make any sense anymore.
外邦人和犹太人不再重要；现在我们谈论的是得赎的和未得赎的，那就是战斗的分界线。 Gentiles and Jews aren't important anymore; now we're talking redeemed and unredeemed, and that's where the battle lines are drawn.
现在，在新约中，犹太人和外邦人的区别是无关紧要的。 Now, Jew and Gentile is an irrelevant distinction in the New Covenant.
在这42个月期间，我们也看到有两个见证人在耶路撒冷城内作见证。 During these 42 months, we also see that there are two witnesses that witness within the city of Jerusalem.
现在，这两个见证人的身份——你可以找100个人，你会有102种不同的意见。 Now, the identity of these two witnesses—you can get 100 people together, and you'll have 102 different opinions.
我相信最好的理解是，这是律法和先知在以利亚和摩西身上的人格化。 I believe that the best understanding of it is that it's the Law and the Prophets as personified in Elijah and Moses.
记得但以理被告知，那是我们第一次看到42个月，三年半，一载二载半载。 Remember that Daniel was told that was the first time we saw the 42 months, the three and a half years, the times, two times, and half a time.
记得在但以理书中吗？ Remember that back in Daniel?
我们被告知，尼禄凯撒，就是那小角，要与圣民和律法争战42个月。 We were told that Caesar Nero, which was the little horn, would make war for 42 months on the times and the Law.
我想如果你把这些信息应用在这里，就有意义了，这就是在谈论尼禄对律法和先知的攻击。 I think if you take that information and apply it here, it makes sense that this is talking about the assault that Nero did on the Law and the Prophets.
你看，当耶路撒冷——尼禄说，你知道吗？ You see, when Jerusalem—Nero said, You know what?
这些人是眼中钉。 These guys are a pain in the neck.
我们要把这种宗教从地上抹去，我们不想再听人告诉我们通奸是错的，我们不想 再听人告诉我们敬拜皇帝是错的，我们不想再听人告诉我们他们的罪必须赎罪。 We're going to wipe this religion off the face of the earth, and we're not going to have to deal with people telling us it's wrong to have adultery, and we're not going to have people telling us it is wrong to have emperor worship, and we're not going to have people telling us that their sins have to be atoned for.
我们要除掉这些人。 We're going to get rid of these guys.
战争不仅仅是针对耶路撒冷这政治城市；战争是针对旧约的宗教。 The war was against more than just the political city of Jerusalem; the war was against the religion of the Old Covenant.
所以战争是针对这些先知，律法和先知，旧约和耶路撒冷用来对抗罗马帝国的。 So the war was against these prophets, the Law and the Prophets, that the Old Testament and the Jerusalem used against the Roman Empire.
但更重要的是，教会现在用来对抗罗马的生活方式。 But more importantly, that the Church was now using against the Roman way of life.
在《启示录》中，这两位发生了什么事？ In Revelation, what happens to these two?
他们被杀，他们复活，升到天上的城，新耶路撒冷。 They're killed, and they rise up and go to the city in heaven, the New Jerusalem.
他们进入天上。 They go into heaven.
这是公元70年耶路撒冷陷落时发生的完美画面。 This is a perfect picture of what happened in 70 AD when Jerusalem fell.
罗马帝国庆祝；实际上有人在罗马分发礼物。 The Roman Empire celebrated; there were actually gifts given to people in Rome.
是啊，嘿，我们摆脱了那些人；现在我们可以随心所欲地生活了。 Yeah, hey, we're done with those people; we can live like we want now.
但在罗马知道发生了什么之前，律法和先知已经被 纳入一个他们无法攻打的城，那新城叫做教会。 But before Rome knew what had happened, the Law and the Prophets had now been subsumed into a city over which they could not make war, and that new city is called the Church.
你看，现在教会带着律法和先知的信息，没有一个城可以被你毁灭以除掉教会。 You see, now the Church took the message of the Law and the Prophets, and there was no city that you could destroy to get rid of the Church.
没有一个地方的圣殿可以被你毁灭以除掉教会。 There was no temple in one place that you could destroy to get rid of the Church.
律法和先知已经到了新天上的耶路撒冷，他们无法被触及，他们的信息仍要被传递。 The Law and the Prophets had gone to the New Heavenly Jerusalem, and they could not be reached, and their message was still going to be given.
这是当时的看法，甚至罗马的领导层也证明了这一点。 This was the view, as evidenced even by the leadership in Rome.
有一位历史学家——有些名字真的很难——但苏 尔皮乌斯·塞维鲁斯是我能做到的最好，好吗？ There's a historian—some of these names are just really difficult—but Sulpius Severus is the best I can do on this name, okay?
他说：提多自己认为圣殿应该被特别推翻，以便犹太人和基督徒的宗教可 以更彻底地被颠覆；因为这些宗教，虽然彼此对立，却都出自同一作者。 This is what he said: Titus himself thought that the temple ought specially to be overthrown in order that the religion of the Jews and of the Christians might be more thoroughly subverted; for these religions, although contrary to each other, had nevertheless proceeded from the same authors.
什么作者？ What authors?
律法和先知。 The Law and the Prophets.
如果根被拔除——换句话说，如果犹太教被拔除— —那么分枝，换句话说，基督教，就会迅速消亡。 If the root were extirpated—in other words, if Judaism was extirpated—the offshoot, in other words, Christianity, would speedily perish.
世人以为如果耶路撒冷被毁，基督教就会灭亡，那就是书卷的信息。 The world thought that if Jerusalem was destroyed, Christianity would die out, and that is the message of the scroll.
记得书卷吗？ Remember the scroll?
这初始异象的全部信息就是这个。 That's the whole message of this initial vision.
这初始异象是关于书卷——教会不仅仅是犹太教的一部分。 This initial vision is about the scroll—the fact that the Church is not simply a part of Judaism.
现在他给我们一个这事发生的时间的概念。 Now he gives us an idea of when this happens.
他再次给了我们各种线索，但他说当这事发生时——当律法和先知不再是犹太教的一 部分，而成为教会信息的一部分——全世界的人都知道这是真的，就会有大地震。 Again, he's given us all kinds of clues, but he says when this happens—when the Law and the Prophets are no longer a part of Judaism but become a part of the Church's message—and everybody in the world knows that that's true, there will be a big earthquake.
他在第11章第13节说：正在那时候，地大震动 ，城倒塌了十分之一，因地震而死的有七千人。 He says in chapter 11, verse 13, At that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell, and 7,000 people were killed.
你知道吗？ You know what?
那确实发生了。 That actually happened.
圣殿占据了耶路撒冷城的十分之一。 The temple encompassed a tenth of the city of Jerusalem.
我们知道它倒塌的日子：公元70年8月10日。那一天，犹太人——不 是罗马军队，而是犹太狂热分子——意识到他们再也无法保护圣殿了。 We know what day it fell: August 10th, 70 AD. On that day, the Jewish—not the Roman army, but the Jewish zealots—realized they couldn't protect the temple anymore.
他们试图逃到也在耶路撒冷的王宫。 They tried to escape to the royal palace, which was also in Jerusalem.
挡在他们面前的是大约七千到九千无辜的犹太人，他们决定不管不顾，杀了七千多同胞。 What stood in their way were about 7,000 to 9,000 innocent Jewish people, and they decided that they didn't care, and they killed over 7,000 of their countrymen.
我们知道这事发生的日子。 We know what day this happened.
这是第六印中的地震，发生在公元70年。现在圣约翰要告诉我们 ——以防我们还没明白——他要给我们这些事发生的具体地点。 This is the earthquake in the sixth seal, and it happened in 70 AD. Now St. John is going to give us—in case we haven't caught on yet—he's going to give us the specific location where all this stuff happens.
他说这要发生在那城，就是灵意叫所多玛，又叫埃及，就是他们的主钉十字架之处。 He said it's going to happen in the great city, which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.
现在，主在哪里被钉十字架？ Now, where was the Lord crucified?
是在耶路撒冷，就在城墙外。 It was in Jerusalem, just outside the walls.
圣约翰在这里用一个非常明确的信息告诉我们两件事：我在谈论耶路撒冷——那是 基督被钉十字架的地方——第二，我要开始用旧约中的寓意名称来称呼耶路撒冷。 St. John is using a very clear message here to tell us two things: I'm talking about Jerusalem—that's where Christ was crucified—and number two, I'm going to start using allegorical names from the Old Testament for Jerusalem.
我们会看到他在这里用了很多。 We're going to see that he uses many of them here.
我们知道他要称他们为所多玛和埃及；他会称他们 为妓女，这是旧约中很常见的耶路撒冷的称呼。 We know he's going to call them Sodom and Egypt; he would call them a harlot, which is a very common Old Testament term for Jerusalem.
旧约先知，特别是小先知，一次又一次地用它来描述耶路撒冷。 The Old Testament prophets, particularly the minor prophets, used that to describe Jerusalem over and over and over again.
事实上，何西阿甚至通过娶一个妓女使他的一生成为关于这事的信息。 In fact, Hosea even made his whole life a message about this by marrying a harlot.
你能想象吗？ Can you imagine that?
他故意娶了一个妓女，在他生命中显示神与以色列、与耶路撒冷订婚所经历的。 He married a harlot on purpose to show in his life what God was going through being betrothed to Israel, to Jerusalem.
还有巴比伦——那是我们要找到的最后一个名字。 And Babylon—that's the last name that we're going to find.
这些都是耶路撒冷的名字，象征性地代表耶路撒冷的本质。 Those are all names for Jerusalem, all symbolically representing what Jerusalem is about.
那就是他在谈论的对象，但他提醒我们他要用这些名字。 That's who he's talking about, but he's put us on notice that he's going to use those kinds of names.
现在，最后第七号吹响，我们听见有大声音说，世上的 国成了我主和主基督的国，他要作王，直到永永远远。 Now, the last and seventh trumpet sounds, and we hear, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.
在第七位天使吹号发声的时候，神的奥秘——记得神的奥秘吗？ And in the days of the trumpet called to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God—remember the mystery of God?
这就是整个书卷的主题。 That's what this whole scroll is all about.
神的奥秘，正如他所传给他仆人众先知的，应当成就。 The mystery of God, as he announced to his servants the prophets, should be fulfilled.
这向全世界明确表明，这新国度是独立建立的。 It made clear to the entire world that this new kingdom was established in its own right.
它不是犹太教的一部分；你不需要成为犹太人才能成为基督徒。 It was not a part of Judaism; you didn't need to be a Jew to be a Christian.
在这国度里，犹太人和外邦人是平等的。 And that Jews and Gentiles were equals within this kingdom.
它不是政治性的；这国度是属灵的，是个人的，是教会的。 It was not political; the kingdom was spiritual, it was personal, it was ecclesiastical.
男人和女人，奴隶和自由人，将有平等的尊严。 Men and women, slave and free, would have equal dignity.
但最重要的是，犹太人和外邦人将忘记洁食律法，一起吃饭。 But most important, Jews and Gentiles would forget about the kosher laws and eat together.
那是最重要的事。 That was the most important thing.
这就是为什么圣餐如此重要；它显示基督所建立的。 That's why the Eucharist is so important; it shows what Christ built.
圣餐重要还有很多其他原因；我们稍后会讨论其中一些。 There's a lot of other reasons why the Eucharist is important; we'll get into some of those later.
在《歌罗西书》1:24，圣保罗写到这奥秘——教会的奥秘。 In Colossians 1:24, St. Paul writes about this mystery—the mystery of the Church.
这奥秘就是基督在你们心里，这国度现在是个人的，是教会的。 This mystery is Christ in you, that the kingdom is now personal, that the kingdom is now ecclesiastical.
耶稣不想成为一个地上的君主，从耶路撒冷的宝 座上统治一个地上的国度，像某种人间的君王。 That Jesus is not interested in being an earthly potentate ruling from a throne in Jerusalem over an earthly kingdom as some kind of a human king.
那不是他感兴趣的；那不是他所预言的。 That's not what he's interested in; that's not what he prophesied.
这是先知们渴望看到的，这就是书卷所揭示的——不仅是向教会，因为教会明白这一点。 This is what the prophets longed to see, and this is what the scroll reveals—not just to the Church, because the Church understood this.
揭开印向全世界揭示了这一点。 The opening of the seals reveals it to the whole world.
全世界都能看到基督教不同于犹太教。 The whole world can see that Christianity is distinct from Judaism.
好，我们到了第一个异象的结尾。 Okay, we are at the end of the first vision.
呼！ Whew!
好，我们的时间怎么样？ Okay, how are we doing on time?
这样吧，我们来讲关键人物，然后再回来看看我们能做什么。 Tell you what, let's cover the key personalities, and then we'll come back and try to see what we can do.
希望我们能更快地讲完第二个。 Hopefully, we'll be able to go through the second one faster.
但下一个部分，三个关键人物——首先，让我问你们一些问题。 But this next division, the three personalities—first of all, let me ask you something.
到目前为止，有人看到任何东西说我们应该在这里插入一个秘密被提吗？ Has anybody seen anything so far that says that we should insert in here a secret Rapture?
有人看到这里有任何东西说我们需要有一个七年的大灾难吗？ Has anybody seen anything in here that says we need to have a seven-year great tribulation?
有人看到这里有任何东西谈到第二次降临后的未来千禧年吗？ Has anybody seen anything in here that talks about a future millennium after the second coming?
我希望没有，因为我没有看到。 I hope not, because I don't see it.
现在，这第12章，就是我们的第三部分——三个关键人物——这是但以理的第七十个七。 Now, this 12th chapter, which is our third division—the three key personalities—this is Daniel's 70th week.
那是从基督诞生到耶路撒冷被毁的70年。 That's 70 years that goes from the birth of Christ to the destruction of Jerusalem.
那是70年；那是七个十年。 That's 70 years; that's seven decades.
但以理所列出的最后一个七，其中将有约的改变，在这里第12章中描述。就 像但以理在他的初始异象之后给了我们三个人物，圣约翰也要做同样的事。 The time that Daniel laid out as his last week, during which there will be covenantal changes, is described here in chapter 12. Just like Daniel gave us three personalities here after his initial vision, St. John is going to do the same thing.
有三个人物：有孩子，我想我们可以安全地说孩子是谁？ There are three personalities: there's the child, and the child I think we can safely say is who?
基督——基督耶稣或羔羊。 Christ—Christ Jesus or the Lamb.
第二个人物是妇人。 The second person is the woman.
妇人实际上象征两样东西，我们不应该对此有问题，因为我们已经知道这可能发生。 The woman actually symbolizes two things, which we shouldn't have a problem with since we already know that can happen.
在基本原则第4章，妇人首先是马利亚，然后也象征教会逃避龙。 In ground rule chapter 4, the woman is first of all Mary, and then it also symbolizes the Church as it flees from the dragon.
第三个象征是龙。 The third symbol is the dragon.
龙就是撒但，他试图毁灭妇人，试图毁灭孩子。 The dragon is Satan, as he tries to destroy the woman and as he tries to destroy the child.
在《启示录》的下半部分——信不信由你，我们已经过了一半——我们要尽量快速地讲完。 In the next half of the Apocalypse—we're over halfway through, believe it or not—and we're going to try to really race through this.
这第一个异象被重述；换句话说，他们把同样的事件再看一遍，就像但以理所做的。 This first vision is recapitulated; in other words, they take the same events and look at them over again, just like Daniel did.
好吗？ Okay?
我们要快速地讲完，我们要尽量非常简短地讲述。 And we're going to fly through that, and we're going to try to just cover it real, real briefly.
我的笔记告诉我我已经过了一半，但我们要比一半快得多地完成。 My notes tell me I'm a little over halfway through, but we're going to do it a lot faster than halfway through.