Going Down The Toilet (Chinese/English)

JEREMIAH 2:13 –For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

 耶利米书 2:13 –因为我的百姓做了两件恶事，就是离弃我这活水的泉源，为自己凿出池子，是破裂不能存水的池子。 

Going Down The Toilet
This is what is happening to the nation of Judah.

下到茅厕里去
这是发生在犹大民族身上的事情。

The nation of Judah had seen what happened to Israel, its larger neighbor.  It saw that God had pronounced judgement on Israel and they were carried into exile. Although Judah had several godly kings such as Hezekiah and Josiah, they still fell into idolatry and sin.  

犹大国亲眼目睹了以色列这个比自己还大一些国家的遭遇。 它看到神已宣告对以色列人的审判，他们被掳去。 犹大国虽然有希西家、约西亚等几位敬虔的君王，但他们也陷入偶像崇拜和罪恶之中。

This verse speaks of Judah’s rejection of the glory of God’s presence and power, to chase after worthless idols.  

这节经文谈到犹大拒绝神同在和能力的荣耀，去追逐无价值的偶像。

Look at the verses before this, the NLT Bible puts it very well in Chapter 2: 8 and Chapter 2:10-12:
8 -Even their priests cared nothing for the Lord, and their judges ignored me; their rulers turned against me, and their prophets worshipped Baal and wasted their time on nonsense.
10-11 -Look around you and see if you can find another nation anywhere that has traded in its old gods for new ones—even though their gods are nothing. Send to the west to the island of Cyprus; send to the east to the deserts of Kedar. See if anyone there has ever heard so strange a thing as this. And yet my people have given up their glorious God for silly idols!

看此前的经文，圣经在第 8 和 10-12 节中说得很好：
8祭司都不说，耶和华在哪里呢？传讲律法的都不认识我。官长违背我；先知藉巴力说预言，随从无益的神。

10你们且过到基提海岛去察看，打发人往基达去留心查考，

看曾有这样的事没有。11岂有一国换了他的神吗？

其实这不是神！但我的百姓将他们的荣耀换了那无益的神。

The prophet Jeremiah is amazed at what THE NATION OF Judah had done.  I can hear the prophet saying, “You have pure water – you can see its pure water – but you deliberately choose to drink stinking rotten water!”  Judah chose to reject pure water (God’s presence) that is available for free and work hard to obtain filthy water that will make them sick.  

 先知耶利米对犹大民族的所作所为感到惊讶。 我能听到先知说：“你有纯净水——你可以看到它的纯净水——但你却故意选择喝发臭的烂水！” 犹大人选择拒绝免费提供的纯净水（上帝的存在），并努力获得会让他们生病的脏水。

 Christians in this present age have the pure holy water of Jesus, but they hew out the cisterns that hold no water by living in carnality and sin.  We often struggle to place Jesus first in our lives because we are consumed with chasing money, wealth, sports, and TV.  Consider this: How many Christians watch over 25 hours of TV every week, but can’t spend an hour in prayer?

当今时代的基督徒拥有耶稣纯净的圣水，但他们因生活在肉体和罪恶中而凿出无水的水池。 我们常常难以将耶稣放在我们生活的首位，因为我们沉迷于追逐金钱、财富、运动和电视。 想一想：有多少基督徒每周看电视超过 25 小时，却不能花一个小时祷告？

 When will we stop making cisterns or idols for ourselves that can’t hold water, which means that they have no value to our lives?  It’s almost like Jesus isn’t enough for some believers.

我们什么时候才能停止为自己制造不能盛水的水池或偶像，这意味着它们对我们的生活毫无价值？ 对一些信徒来说，耶稣似乎还不够。

Isn’t He lovely enough? 

他还不够可爱吗？

Isn’t He glorious enough?

他还不够荣耀吗？

Isn’t His sacrifice at Calvary enough?

他在各各他的献祭还不够吗？

It’s time to tear down our idols.  Let me leave the final words to Charles Haddon Spurgeon on how beautiful Jesus is: The incomparable sweetness of Christ! 

是时候拆毁我们的偶像了。 让我把最后的话留给查尔斯·哈登·司布真 (Charles Haddon Spurgeon) 关于耶稣是多么美丽的表述：
基督无比的甘甜！

At our very best we are strangers to much of the incomparable sweetness of Christ. 

在我们最好的时候，我们对基督无与伦比的甜蜜仍然很陌生。

We shall never exhaust His goodness by our praise, for He is ever so fresh and has so much of the dew of His youth, that every day He has a new song to sing.  

我们永远不会因赞美他的良善而耗尽自己，因为他总是那么新鲜，充满了他青春的甘露，以至于他每天都有一首新歌要唱。

We shall find Him a new Christ every day of our lives, and yet He is ever the same; His surpassing excellence and unexhausted fullness thus constantly renew our love. 

我们在生活中的每一天都会发现他是一位新基督，但他又是永恒不变的； 祂的卓越和永不枯竭的丰盛会不断地更新我们的爱。

O Jesus! none can guess how great the least of Your attributes is, or how rich the poorest of Your gifts.

哦，耶稣啊！ 没有人能猜出你最微小的属性有多么伟大，或者你最贫乏的礼物有多么丰富。

 It is time to stop drinking dirty water out of man-made cisterns and drink the pure water of Christ and his Word.

是时候停止喝人造水池里的脏水，喝基督和他话语的纯净水了

 God bless you.0
上帝祝福你