先知的有限 Limitations of A Prophet

【先知系列之四】
先知的有限（若1:19-28）

天主是全知的，但祂所派遣的代言人，即先知，是有限的受造物。所以先知們有很多事物，並不知情。甚至連自己的身份，也不完全清楚。
猶太人根據瑪拉基亞先知書最後的兩句話，預料在默西亞出現前，天主會派遣先知厄里亞，預備百姓的心靈迎接他：「看，在上主偉大及可怕的日子來臨以前，我必派遣先知厄里亞到你們這裡來；他將使父親的心轉向兒子，使兒子的心轉向父親…」（拉3:23-24）洗者若翰在母親體內成胎之前，天主派遣加俾額爾總領天使，引用瑪拉基亞先知的話，確立洗者若翰將來，「要以厄里亞的精神和能力，在上主前面先行，使為父的心轉向兒子…為上主預備一個善良的百姓。」（路1:17）作為默西亞的前驅。後來耶穌在顯聖容後，亦肯定洗者若翰，就是預言中的厄里亞（谷9:13；瑪17:13）。當然，這是從全知的天主的角度所看到的。可是，從先知自己有限知情的角度看，偏差在所難免。

例如瑪拉基亞先知，把默西亞出現的日子，等同世界的末日，所以是「偉大及可怕的日子」！殊不知天主子要兩度來臨，祂第一次來臨時，是慈悲的日子，是悔改得救的日子，而不是「偉大及可怕的日子」！與此相似，國仇家恨閉塞了約納先知的心，他容納不了尼尼微人，悔改蒙受寬恕的可能性，並且是由他一手促成，簡直是荒天下之大謬。他寧可求死，也不願看見尼尼微人蒙恩（納4:3，8）！至於洗者若翰自己，可能他也深信默西亞在末日纔出現，但天主沒有告訴他，世界快到末日，所以他不覺得自己是厄里亞，他祇是「在曠野裡呼喊者的聲音」而已（若1:23）！

是的，我們分擔耶穌基督先知職的人，真的要謙遜。即使是蒙天主差遣，也要接受自身的有限和不足。我們始終都是有限的器皿，未必有能力完全盛載天主的訊息。我們惟有經常保持著與天主的聯系，纔不會令天主的說話「失真」。
天主啊！我們都是無用的僕人。求祢減少我們的「噪音」，不要讓我們誤傳祢的旨意。亞孟。

圖片鳴謝：https://askgramps.org/lesson-god-want-teach-jonah-story-gourd-worm/

生命恩泉

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"Prophet Series #4"
Limitations of A Prophet (John 1:19-28)

God is omniscient but the spokesmen He sent, i.e. prophets, are creatures with limitations. There are many things which the prophets do not know. Sometimes, they even do not know clearly their identity.
Based on the last two sentences of the Book of Malachi, the Jews expected that before the Messiah appears, God would send Elijah to prepare the hearts of the people. Elijah would appear first, "Now I am sending you Elijah the prophet, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and terrible day; He will turn the heart of fathers to their sons and the heart of sons to their father ..." (Malachi 3:23-24) Before John the Baptist was conceived in his mother's womb, God sent archangel Gabriel to mark the future of John the Baptist, quoting Malachi's words, "He will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers towards children ... to prepare a people fit for the Lord" (Luke 1:17). Of course, this comes from the perspective of an omniscient God. However, from the limited vision of the prophets themselves, deviations are inevitable.

For example, Malachi equated the day of the Lord with the Judgment Day. Therefore, it is "the great and terrible day"! Unbeknown to him, the Son of God would come twice. His first coming was a day of mercy, a day of repentance to obtain redemption and not a great and terrible day! Similarly, the heart of Jonah was filled up with nationalism and racism. He could not accept the possibility of repentance and forgiveness of the inhabitants of Nineveh. It was even scandalous for Jonah to mediate it himself. He preferred death to seeing the inhabitants being forgiven (Jonah 4:3, 8)! As for John the Baptist himself, perhaps he was convinced that the Messiah would come at the end of the world. But God had not told him that the end of the world was imminent. Thus, the Baptist did not think that he himself was the Elijah. He was only "the voice of one crying out in the desert" (John 1:23)!

Indeed, we who partake in the prophetic ministry of Jesus Christ should be humble. Even if we are commissioned by God, we still have to accept our limitations and inadequacies. After all, we are only limited vessels. We may not be able to carry God's message faithfully. In order not to lose the high fidelity of God's words, we need to maintain our good relationship with God.
My God! We are unworthy servants. Help us reduce "noises" in our hearts. Don't allow us to misrepresent Your will. Amen.