弟兄姐妹平安。今天我们的读经进度是申命记的第13章。
在这一章中，我们看到上帝对于异教崇拜有严厉的警告和惩罚。如果有人试图引诱以色列人远离他们原有的信仰，那么将面临严重的后果，甚至可能是死亡的惩罚。这章非常重要，也记录了严格的规定。
当阅读这一部分时，有人可能会质疑上帝为什么如此严格，只要崇拜异教就会受到惩罚，这似乎不关心信仰的自由，对吧？然而，在阅读圣经时，我们必须要理解当时的历史背景。在那个时候，一些异教崇拜包括极为邪恶的仪式，甚至涉及焚烧他们自己的儿女作为献给假神的祭品。当以色列人刚刚进入迦南地时，容易受到这些邪恶崇拜的诱惑，因此上帝需要明确警告他们，以防止他们偏离正确的信仰和真理。
其实，我们也可以从中学到一些重要的教训。例如，纳粹的种族清洗思想曾经导致了大规模的屠杀，帝国主义统治他人的思想也带来了无数的苦难。这些思想通常从个人开始萌芽，然后逐渐扩展到群体，最终可能波及整个国家，甚至整个世界。当你深入了解希特勒的影响力时，你会惊讶于一个人如何能够推动整个国家，甚至整个世界陷入战争。
同时，我们也可以看到耶稣在马太福音5:29-33中给我们的警告：
27「你们听说过，不可奸淫。」 28然而，我告诉你们，凡看见妇女就心生淫念的，那人已经在心里犯了奸淫。 29如果你的右眼叫你跌倒，就把它剜出来，丢掉；宁可失去百体中的一部分，不叫全身被扔进地狱。 30如果你的右手叫你跌倒，就砍下来，丢掉；宁可失去百体中的一部分，不叫全身进入地狱。
同样的道理，耶稣给我们的是原则而不是律法。耶稣警告我们要小心防范心中的罪，而不是等到犯罪后再面对惩罚。同时，我们也要感谢耶稣的宽恕之恩，因为他的宽恕使我们能够免受每次犯罪后的惩罚。
此外，当我们看待律法时，我们应该记住的是律法的精神。我们要理解思想上的教义实际上是整个社会的核心价值观。如果一个教育体系没有教授正确的思想，那么这个社会就容易偏离正道。每个人的行为都受到品德教育的影响，如果我们不对孩子进行正确的道德教育，那么他们可能会受到许多偏差教导的影响。如果我们不保护并教导正确的价值观，一旦偏离正道就会变得非常危险。
所以在这里所警告的是我们不可拜其他的神实际上是在警告错误的价值观。因为当我没有把上帝或者是正确的真理和价值观放在首位的时候，我们就会把其他东西当作崇拜对象，比如金钱、权力或者一些个人私欲，这些会成为我们价值观的中心，我们所有的行为就会为了追求这些东西而开始走偏。我们在社会上看到了许多人为了金钱而出卖自己的灵魂，因为追逐世俗的事物而牺牲了自己的精神。当我们看到这些人的结局时，就会明白正确的价值观有多么强大的影响力。
因此，当我们阅读圣经的这一段时，我们不必将律法看作是要刻板执行的规则，而是要理解律法的精神，它告诉我们要警惕一切世俗的价值观。我们不能让其他事物取代上帝，对于罪恶，我们也不能松懈警惕。
感谢大家的聆听，明天我们将继续研读第十四章。
Brothers and sisters, peace be with you. Today, our reading takes us to Deuteronomy chapter 13.
In this chapter, we see that God issues a severe warning and punishment for idolatry and worship of foreign gods. If anyone attempts to lead the Israelites away from their original faith, they will face serious consequences, even death as a punishment. This chapter is significant and contains strict regulations.
When reading this portion, some may question why God is so strict, punishing those who worship other gods. It may seem like God doesn't care about religious freedom, right? However, when reading the Bible, we must understand the historical context. During that time, some forms of idol worship included extremely wicked rituals, such as sacrificing their own children to false gods. When the Israelites first entered the land of Canaan, they were susceptible to the temptations of these evil practices. Therefore, God needed to issue clear warnings to prevent them from straying away from the right faith and truth.
We can also learn important lessons from this. For example, the Nazi ideology of racial cleansing led to massive atrocities, and the idea of imperialism and domination over others has caused immense suffering. These harmful ideologies often start with an individual and gradually expand to a group, ultimately affecting entire nations or even the world. When you delve into the influence of figures like Hitler, you'll be astonished at how one person can propel an entire country and the world into war.
Likewise, Jesus provides us with principles rather than strict laws. He warns us to be cautious of the sins in our hearts, rather than waiting for punishment after committing them. We should also be grateful for Jesus' forgiveness, which spares us from punishment after each sin.
Furthermore, when we look at the law, we should remember that it's about the spirit of the law. We should understand that the doctrines of thought are the key to the entire society's values. If an education system fails to teach the right ideologies, society can easily veer off course. All human behavior stems from moral education, and if we neglect to provide children with the correct moral values, they may be influenced by many deviant teachings. If we don't protect and teach the right values, it can be very dangerous once we deviate from the right path.
So, what's being warned here is that we should not worship other gods, which is essentially warning against wrong values. When we fail to place God or the correct truth and values at the forefront, we may substitute other things for God. Things like money, power, or personal desires can become the center of our values, and all our actions can start to deviate as we pursue these things. We've seen many people in society who have sold their souls for the pursuit of money, sacrificing their spirits for the sake of worldly things. When we see the outcome of these people, we understand how powerful the right values can be.
Therefore, when we read this portion of the Bible, we don't need to see it as a set of rules to be strictly followed. Instead, we should understand the spirit of the law, which warns us to be cautious of all worldly values. We shouldn't allow other things to replace God, and we should never relax our vigilance against sin.
Thank you for listening, and we will continue to study chapter 14 tomorrow.
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