Name: 基督徒忽視的離奇故事：比你記憶中更糟糕 (The Bizarre Story Christians Ignore: Worse Than You Remember!)
Uploaded: 2025-08-31T23:31:16.000Z
Duration: 17 min

情態副詞

Today I want to talk about a Bible story that many of you probably know, but I want to get into more detail and more context, and that is the story of Balaam.

今天我要講的是一個聖經故事，你們中的許多人可能都知道，但我想更詳細地介紹一下這個故事的來龍去脈，這就是巴蘭的故事。

轉承詞

Now if you know it, you probably know it because it's usually reduced to its most absurd point, which is that of a talking donkey.

現在，如果你知道它，你可能知道它，因為它通常被簡化為最荒謬的一點，那就是一頭會說話的驢子。

Some Christian will be going on and on about the intellectual prowess of this religion, the philosophical and theological points that prove this religion is absolutely true.

一些基督徒會滔滔不絕地講述這一宗教的智慧，以及證明這一宗教絕對真實的哲學和神學觀點。

And all a skeptic has to do is say, wait, you mean from the source material that includes a talking donkey?

懷疑論者只需說，等等，你是說原著裡有一頭會說話的驢？

And it can be a little bit pedantic, and it's also kind of weak when holding up on its own because this is a religion that already promotes the miraculous.

這可能有點迂腐，而且它本身也有點軟弱無力，因為這是一個已經在宣揚奇蹟的宗教。

This religion has adherents that believe that the Son of God was born as a human and turned water into wine.

該宗教的信徒相信神子降生為人，並將水變成了酒。

That one of its foremost prophets held up a staff and split the Red Sea.

一位最重要的先知舉起一根杖，劈開了紅海。

That a talking serpent already convinced people that couldn't know the difference between wrong and right to go eat of a tree that would give them that knowledge that then caused original sin that made that same water to wine turning son have to sacrificially die so that his blood could be used as magic for your invisible original sin.

一條會說話的蛇已經說服了分不清是非對錯的人們去吃那棵能給他們知識的樹，然後造成了原罪，使那個水變酒的兒子不得不犧牲生命，讓他的血可以被用作魔法來治療你們看不見的原罪。

A talking donkey is icing on the cake with these kinds of stories.

會說話的驢子是這類故事的錦上添花。

Now this is an extremely strange miracle, and it deserves its ridicule, but we can do more here.

現在看來，這是一個極其奇怪的奇蹟，理應受到嘲笑，但我們可以在這裡做得更多。

This story is additionally absurd to the levels of baffling theology, divine contradictions, the ambiguity, morally speaking, of this God.

這個故事在令人費解的神學、神聖的矛盾、上帝在道德上的模稜兩可等層面上也是荒誕不經的。

And it's not going to take us long to do so, so turn with me, if you'd like, in your Bibles to the fourth book of the Bible, which is Numbers.

我們不需要花很長時間來做這件事，如果你們願意，請和我一起翻開《聖經》第四卷，即《民數記》。

The story begins in Numbers 22, and some context here is the Israelites just got done with their war path where they completely obliterated the Amorites.

故事開始於《民數記》第 22 章，其背景是以色列人剛剛結束了他們的戰爭之路，在那裡他們徹底消滅了亞摩利人。

So now they're camping in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan at Jericho, and you have the king of Moab at this time, Balak.

現在，他們在約旦河外耶利哥的摩押平原安營紮寨，摩押王巴拉克就在此時出現。

He knows what the Israelites just did, and he knows his people are next.

他知道以色列人剛剛做了什麼，也知道他的子民是下一個。

But he knows of a prophet, Balaam, whose blessings and curses always come through and at first were not introduced to Balaam's background.

但他知道有一個先知巴蘭，他的祝福和詛咒總是通過巴蘭來實現，起初並沒有介紹巴蘭的背景。

And one could easily, if they don't know greater context or other parts of the Bible that mention back to Balaam, just think of him as this desert dweller that is worshiping a false God or maybe has demonic powers or doing these things.

如果不瞭解《聖經》中提到巴蘭的更多背景或其他部分，人們很容易就會認為他是一個住在沙漠裡的人，崇拜的是假神，或者擁有惡魔的力量，或者在做這些事情。

But we're going to learn later in the story that it is God, the Lord God, Yahweh, that he serves and seemingly has given him these powers.

但我們在後面的故事中會知道，他所侍奉的是上帝，耶和華，似乎是上帝賦予了他這些能力。

A non-Israelite prophet that is trying to be hired here by the king of Moab, Balak, to perform a curse on the Israelite people.

摩押王巴拉受僱於一位非以色列人的先知，試圖在此對以色列人實施詛咒。

So Balak sends all these messengers to Balaam.

於是，巴拉克派這些使者去找巴蘭。

They tell him, hey, the Israelites are going to attack us.

他們告訴他，嘿，以色列人要攻擊我們了。

And he says, hold on, camp here night, let me go and talk with God.

他說，等一下，晚上在這裡紮營，讓我去和上帝談談。

And God gives him a very specific answer.

上帝給了他一個非常明確的答案。

You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.

你們不可咒詛百姓，因為他們是有福的。

So Balaam gets up and he goes and he tells the messengers, sorry, can't do it.

於是巴蘭起身去告訴使者："對不起，我辦不到。

So they go back and they tell King Balak and he says, no, we must have him.

於是他們回去告訴巴力王，巴力王說："不，我們一定要得到他。

And he sends better messengers, better offers.

他派出了更好的信使、更好的提議。

And he goes and he waits and talks with God another time.

他去了，他在等待，並在另一個時間與上帝交談。

And God, for this non-Israelite, by the way, has no problem showing up just at his command.

順便說一句，對於這個非以色列人來說，上帝只需一聲令下就會出現。

So here is God showing up the second time.

And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, if the men have come to call you, rise, go with them, but only do what I tell you.

神在夜裡來到巴蘭那裡，對他說："如果有人來叫你，你就起來，跟他們走，只要照我的話去做。

God changes his mind for seemingly no reason.

上帝似乎毫無理由地改變了主意。

He got Balaam a better deal about what he will be paid for these curses.

他為巴蘭爭取到了更好的條件，讓他為這些詛咒付出代價。

But God's not going to have him do the curses.

He's just going to have him go on this journey anyways.

無論如何，他都要讓他踏上這段旅程。

Just listen to how absurd this is about to get.

聽聽看，這將會變得多麼荒謬。

So verse 21 says, so Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab, just like God told him.

是以，第 21 節說，巴蘭早晨起來，備好驢鞍，按照神的吩咐，和摩押王公一起去了。

Verse 22 says, but God's anger was kindled because he went and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary.

第 22 節說，但神的怒氣因他去而燃起，耶和華的使者在路上站住，作他的敵手。

He consults with God as he's supposed to, and he tells these men, I can only do it if God lets me.

他按規定向上帝請示，並告訴這些人，只有上帝允許我這麼做，我才能這麼做。

God tells him yes, but with specific instructions, which Balaam seems ready to follow.

上帝告訴他可以，但有具體的訓示，巴蘭似乎準備遵從。

And in the morning, he sends an angel, this angel of the Lord, some people will say is even Satan, the adversary, the accuser, a Satan, maybe not even the Satan that is charged against this man, doing the very thing God told him to do.

早上，他派了一位天使，這位耶和華的天使，有人會說甚至是撒旦，是敵對者，是控告者，是撒旦，也許甚至不是控告這個人的撒旦，做了上帝讓他做的事。

Now he was riding on the donkey and his two servants were with him.

現在，他騎在驢子上，兩個僕人和他在一起。

And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand.

驢子看見耶和華的使者站在路上，手裡拿著一把拔出來的劍。

And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field.

And Balaam struck the donkey to turn her into the road.

巴蘭擊打驢子，讓它轉到路上。

Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards with a wall on either side.

這時，耶和華的使者站在葡萄園之間的一條窄道上，兩邊有一堵牆。

And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam's foot against the wall.

驢子看見耶和華的使者，就推著牆，把巴蘭的腳按在牆上。

Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.

於是，耶和華的使者走在前面，站在一個狹窄的地方，那裡左右都無法轉彎。

When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam and Balaam's anger was kindled and he struck the donkey with his staff.

驢子看見耶和華的使者，就躺在巴蘭身下，巴蘭怒火中燒，用杖打了驢子。

So the angel is floating there, sword drawn, not letting Balaam pass, but he's not revealing himself to Balaam.

天使拔出劍，漂浮在那裡，不讓巴蘭通過，但他並沒有向巴蘭顯露自己。

And the donkey is apparently trying to save its master's life.

It keeps trying to get out of the way until the angel is so close and blocking that there's nowhere else to go.

它一直試圖躲開，直到天使近在咫尺，擋在面前，無處可逃。

Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey and she said to Balaam, what have I done to you that you have struck me these three times?

耶和華打開驢子的嘴，驢子對巴蘭說：我對你做了什麼，你打了我三次？

And Balaam said to the donkey, because you have made a fool of me, I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.

巴蘭對驢子說，因為你愚弄了我，我真希望我手裡有一把劍，那樣我就會殺了你。

And the donkey said to Balaam, am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all of your life long to this day?

驢子對巴蘭說，我不是你的驢子嗎，你一生騎著它，直到今天。

I love this little conversation because at no time is Balaam shocked about this talking donkey.

我喜歡這段對話，因為巴蘭從來沒有對這頭會說話的驢子感到震驚。

This donkey is making very clear, articulate, and logical points, which is actually more than we get for most of the rest of these first five books of the Bible.

這頭驢子的觀點非常清晰、明確，邏輯性很強，這實際上比我們在《聖經》前五卷的其他大部分內容中得到的都要多。

But we see just this blatant cause and effect and judge me based off my past actions.

但我們看到的只是這種公然的因果關係，並根據我過去的行為對我做出判斷。

And why would you not just trust me in this difficult time?

在這個困難的時刻，你為什麼不相信我呢？

Like if only God could be this clear when his people are confused about his actions.

就像當他的子民對他的行為感到困惑時，如果上帝也能如此清晰就好了。

So now God's going to jump in and help clear things up.

所以，現在上帝要跳出來，幫我們把事情弄清楚。

Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, and he bowed down and fell on his face.

耶和華開了巴蘭的眼睛，他看見耶和華的使者手持拔出的劍站在路上，就俯伏在地。

And the angel of the Lord said to him, why have you struck your donkey these three times?

耶和華的使者對他說，你為什麼打你的驢三次呢？

Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me.

看哪，我出來反對你，因為你的道路在我面前是悖謬的。

The donkey saw me and turned aside before me three times.

驢子看見了我，在我面前轉了三圈。

If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.

如果她沒有背棄我，剛才我肯定會殺了你，放她一條生路。

Now, we have some issues here, obviously.

現在，我們顯然遇到了一些問題。

One is that God himself was covering Balaam's eyes from being able to see this angel, which we're about to hear.

其一是上帝自己遮住了巴蘭的眼睛，使他無法看到這位天使，這就是我們將要聽到的。

And we can already tell from Balaam's character, he wouldn't have crossed this angel.

從巴蘭的性格中我們已經可以看出，他是不會越過這位天使的。

He is only doing exactly what the Lord told him to do.

他只是在按照上帝的旨意行事。

This angel of the Lord, being sent by the Lord, doing the Lord's bidding, was going to kill Balaam if he continued on this way, the way the Lord sent him just the night before.

耶和華的這位天使受耶和華差遣，聽從耶和華的吩咐，如果巴蘭繼續走這條路，按照耶和華前一天晚上派他走的路，他就會被殺死。

The talking donkey is one of the least problematic parts here when we consider what this means, again, for the moral ambiguity and the divine contradictions of this God.

當我們再次考慮這對這位上帝的道德模糊性和神聖矛盾性意味著什麼時，會說話的驢子是最沒有問題的部分之一。

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基督徒忽視的離奇故事：比你記憶中更糟糕 (The Bizarre Story Christians Ignore: Worse Than You Remember!)

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