【双语灵修】各国、各民、各方EVERY NATION, PEOPLE, AND LANGUAGE

启示录 7:9-17

此后我观看，见有许多的人，没有人能数过来，是从各国、各族、各民、各方来的，站在宝座和羔羊面前，身穿白衣，手拿棕树枝，大声喊着说：「愿救恩归于坐在宝座上我们的神，也归于羔羊！」众天使都站在宝座和众长老并四活物的周围，在宝座前面伏于地，敬拜神，说：「阿们！颂赞、荣耀、智慧、感谢、尊贵、权柄、大力都归于我们的神，直到永永远远！阿们。」

长老中有一位问我说：「这些穿白衣的是谁？是从哪里来的？」我对他说：「我主，你知道。」他向我说：「这些人是从大患难中出来的，曾用羔羊的血把衣裳洗白净了。所以，他们在神宝座前，昼夜在他殿中侍奉他；坐宝座的要用帐幕覆庇他们。他们不再饥、不再渴，日头和炎热也必不伤害他们，因为宝座中的羔羊必牧养他们，领他们到生命水的泉源；神也必擦去他们一切的眼泪。」

2月4日

「见有许多的人，没有人能数过来，是从各国、各族、各民、各方来的，站在宝座和羔羊面前，身穿白衣，手拿棕树枝。」 -启 7:9

神给了使徒约翰一个广阔宏大的异象——来自各族各方的人们，组成了一个庞大的咏唱队伍在敬拜主，并宣告祂胜过了那恶者。

这个异象描绘了基督信徒在多个世纪以来一直努力和祷告的目标。神透过基督所要达成的使命，就是让全地都接受祂的救恩和敬拜祂。但这个庞大的咏唱队伍尚未组建成，神的子民还未全部聚集在一起，还有许多人尚未加入。在一些特殊群体和民族中，仍然没有跟随耶稣的人。

新约中「国族」一词的希腊原文是ethnos，我们的「族裔」一词就来源于此。有时，ethnos指的是圣经时代的主要国家，如埃及、叙利亚和波斯。有时译为「外邦人」，是指非犹太人群体。又有时，ethnos指的是较小的文化和语言群体。一个国家可能有好多这样的群体。

因此，尽管今天世界上每个国家都有基督徒，但有许多民族或群体仍没有基督徒。作为耶稣的跟随者，我们需要把福音（耶稣的好消息）带给他们。神希望你在这个使命中承担什么角色呢？

祷告

主啊，求祢使用我去完成祢的大使命，带领世界上每一个群体的人加入祢的大家庭。奉耶稣的名求，阿们。

EVERY NATION, PEOPLE, AND LANGUAGE

Before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.     —Revelation 7:9

God gave the apostle John a magnificent vision of a diverse multitude—people from every part of the human family—forming a great chorus worshiping the Lord and proclaiming his victory over evil.

This vision portrays what believers in Christ have been laboring and praying for through the centuries. The goal of God’s mission in Christ is that people from all over the earth will receive his salvation and worship him. But this great chorus is not yet complete. Not all of God’s people are gathered in; many are missing. There are still language groups and people groups that have no followers of Jesus.

The original Greek word used for “nation” in the New Testament is ethnos, from which our word “ethnic” comes. Sometimes ethnos refers to major countries in Bible times, like Egypt, Syria, and Persia. Sometimes it is translated as “Gentiles,” referring to non-Jewish groups of people. And sometimes ethnos refers to smaller cultural and linguistic groups. One country can include many such groups.

So even though there are Christians in every country on earth today, there are still many people and language groups that have no Christians. As Jesus’ followers, we need to bring the gospel (the good news of Jesus) to them. What role does God want you to play in this task?

Use me, Lord, in your great mission to bring people from every group on earth into your family. In Jesus, Amen.