我的神啊！我們以色列認識你了(何8章)

「你用口吹角罷！敵人如鷹來攻打耶和華的家，因為這民違背我的約，干犯我的律法。」他們必呼叫我說：「我的神啊！我們以色列認識你了。」(何 8：1-2)

這裡先知何西阿照神的吩咐大聲呼喊，因為百姓與君王犯罪，所以神要使「敵人如鷹來攻打耶和華的家」。意思是敵人行動將迅速如鷹、也殘忍如鷹活吃獵物，比喻殘忍可怕的戰爭將要臨到，甚至國家滅亡。這樣的災難強度，必然可以讓以色列百姓「很有感」，不禁喊著說：「我的神啊！我們以色列認識你了。」

對於忘記神的人，神有時就會用困苦、患難、病痛來提醒祂所愛的人，目的就是要他們「認識」神，知道自己是屬神的，言行舉止都要符合神的要求。至於作奸犯科，卻又長命百歲的人，是因神已經放棄他們，他們是亙古之先，就已經沒有在基督裡被揀選的人。

今天，或許我們正在痛苦、患難、甚至是病痛之中，除了可能是神所命定的之外，或許也可能是因為神對我們的表現不甚滿意，在為人處事各方面，並沒有真認識祂。若是後者，我們所遭遇的患難、困苦、病痛，就可能在我們展現出「真認識祂」的時候，突然解除。

就像約伯，他真的是完全人，在約伯記第一章就已經被神所親口認證。但是，有些「完全」，是因為還沒有接受更深的考驗，所以還顯不出瑕疵來。就像約伯，他其實對於患難困苦病痛，即使心裡不美麗，也不至於離棄神。其實，讓他顯出他的不完全之處，是「人說的話」，因他最後是因為被朋友激動，才整個爆發出來。

約伯的遭遇，常讓我深深省思。

在我的事奉經驗中，壓力、難度，經常可以順利通過。但是人的閒言閒語、尖酸刻薄的話，總是令人難以忍受。

今天(2026.10.30)早上，剛好自己擔任台灣總會早禱的主領，進度是詩篇六十四篇，其中就有一句話，是神的工人最難以忍受的操練：

他們磨舌如刀，發出苦毒的言語，好像比準了的箭，要在暗地射完全人。他們忽然射他，並不懼怕。他們彼此勉勵設下惡計，他們商量暗設網羅，說：「誰能看見？」他們圖謀奸惡，說：「我們是極力圖謀的。」他們各人的意念心思是深的。(詩 64：3-6)

但是約伯在面對最困難的言語暴力攻擊之後，神接下來的一番言論讓他思考。最後，他「認識」神了。這時，苦難也結束了。甚至，接下來更有神賞賜他比以前更多的賞賜，使他福杯滿溢。這是因為他說：

「我從前風聞有你，現在親眼看見你。因此我厭惡自己〔自己或作我的言語〕，在塵土和爐灰中懊悔。」(伯 42：5-6)

這句話，是教科書級的結束苦難關鍵詞。因為真認識神，是神管教人的主要目的。今天我們真認識神嗎？真認識神的時候，會厭惡自己；真認識神，將不在乎苦難是否因為自己已經達標而結束，而是願意與苦難共存。像主耶穌比喻中的乞丐拉撒路一樣，一生窮、苦、潦倒、病痛纏身，甚至一直到生命結束都沒回轉，卻毫無怨言。因此死後得以在主的懷抱之中，享受永生福樂，直到永遠！

又有一個討飯的，名叫拉撒路，渾身生瘡，被人放在財主門口，要得財主桌子上掉下來的零碎充飢，並且狗來餂他的瘡。後來那討飯的死了，被天使帶去放在亞伯拉罕的懷裏；財主也死了，並且埋葬了。(路 16：20-22)

By Isaiah Kao

My God! We of Israel Acknowledge You! (Hosea 8)

October 30, 2026 

“Put the trumpet to your lips! An enemy comes like an eagle against the house of the LORD, because the people have broken My covenant and rebelled against My law. They cry out to Me, ‘My God, we of Israel acknowledge You!’” (Hos. 8:1–2)

Here, the prophet Hosea loudly proclaims God's message as He commands him to do. Because the people and their kings have sinned, God will bring about a situation in which “an enemy comes like an eagle against the house of the LORD.” This means that the enemy will attack swiftly like an eagle and will also be as cruel as an eagle devouring its prey. It is a metaphor for a terrible and brutal war that is about to come upon them, even to the point of national destruction. Such a severe disaster will certainly make the Israelites "deeply feel" the consequences, causing them to cry out, “My God! We of Israel acknowledge You!”

For those who have forgotten God, He sometimes uses hardship, adversity, and illness to remind those whom He loves. His purpose is to lead them to recognize Him, to understand that they belong to Him, and to ensure that their words and actions meet His requirements. As for those who commit evil deeds yet live to an old age, it is because God has already given them up. They were never among those chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.

Today, perhaps we are going through pain, adversity, or even illness. Apart from the possibility that these circumstances have been ordained by God, they may also be the result of God's dissatisfaction with our conduct, because we have not truly come to know Him in the way we deal with people and handle various matters. If the latter is the case, the hardships, adversities, and illnesses we experience may suddenly come to an end when we show that we "truly know Him".

Consider Job. He was indeed a blameless man, as God Himself testified in Job chapter 1. However, some aspects of our so-called perfection may simply be because we have not yet experienced deeper trials, so our flaws have not yet been exposed. In Job's case, even when facing adversity, hardship, and illness, he would not have abandoned God, even though his heart might not have been in the right state. What actually exposed his imperfection was the "words spoken by others". It was because his friends provoked him that he eventually burst out in anger.

Job's experience often leads me to deep reflection.

In my experience of serving God, I have often been able to get through pressure and difficult challenges successfully. However, people's gossip, careless remarks, and cutting words are always difficult to endure.

Today (October 30, 2026), I happened to be leading the morning prayer session at the Taiwan General Assembly. The assigned passage was Psalm 64, which contains these words describing a trial that God's workers find particularly difficult to endure:

“Who have sharpened their tongue like a sword. They aimed bitter speech as their arrows, to shoot from concealment at the blameless; Suddenly they shoot at him, and do not fear. They hold firmly to themselves an evil purpose; They talk of laying snares secretly; They say, ‘Who can see them?’ They devise injustices, saying, ‘We are ready with a well-conceived plot’; For the inward thought and the heart of a person are mysterious.” (Ps. 64:3–6, NASB 2020)

After Job endured the most difficult attacks of verbal abuse, God spoke to him in a way that made him reflect deeply. Eventually, he came to truly know God. At that point, his suffering also came to an end. Moreover, God later blessed him with even greater blessings than before, so that his cup overflowed. This was because Job said:

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent, sitting on dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5–6, NASB 2020)

These words are a textbook example of the key to bringing suffering to an end. For truly knowing God is the primary purpose of His discipline. Do we truly know God today? When we truly know God, we will dislike ourselves. When we truly know God, we will no longer be concerned about whether our suffering ends because we have met God's requirements. Instead, we will be willing to live with suffering.This is like Lazarus, the beggar in the parable of the Lord Jesus. He lived a life of poverty, misery, and hardship, with his body covered in sores. Even until the end of his life, his circumstances did not change, yet he had no complaints. Therefore, after his death, he was carried into the bosom of the Lord, where he could enjoy the eternal blessings of life forever!

“And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed from the scraps which fell from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s arms; and the rich man also died and was buried.” (Luke 16:20–22, NASB 2020)

By Isaiah Kao