Translations in Focus - Doctrine According to Godliness (Amharic)

This month on the blog, we're looking forward to the RFPA Annual Association meeting in a few weeks by highlighting our translations. Today's "translation in focus" is the Amharic translation of Doctrine According to Godliness (translated by Selam Kefyalew). Amharic is the official language and lingua franca of Ethiopia. Read on for a side-by-side comparison of chapter 328 from the English and Amharic versions of Doctrine!

Chapter 328: Heavenly Glory

Regarding the glories of the eternal state, or heaven, and of the place every believer shall have there, we should understand that the language Scripture uses to describe heaven and its glories is largely figurative. When we read of a crown of life, of our being pillars in the temple of God, and of receiving the morning star, we should understand that it is not in these things that the glory of heaven consists.

Certainly literal things such as these are of no value to those who have become like the angels and are no longer earthly (1 Cor. 6:13). Revelation 21 and 22 help to make this clear when they say that the city described there is the glorified church (21:9–10) and that the tree of life is Christ himself (Rev. 2:7; Rev. 22:2, 14).

Why does Scripture use such language? It does this because the things of heaven are things that “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor. 2:9). In other words, heaven is so glorious and wonderful that we cannot even begin to comprehend it except through pictures and figures.

But if the glory and wonder of heaven is not gold and pearls and precious stones, what is it? Revelation 21 and 22 answer this question very clearly. It is God himself, and especially God as he reveals himself in Jesus our Savior. God has created all things for himself (Rev. 4:11), and in heaven that becomes a living reality to God’s people.

Scripture tells us that God and Christ are the light of that city, its temple, and its citizens (Rev. 21:23–24; Rev. 22:5). These chapters tell us the real glory of heaven when they speak of God’s dwelling with his people and being their God (Rev. 21:3; Rev. 22:3–4).

Being with all the believers, being raised and changed into the likeness of Christ, having every tear wiped away, being forever delivered from the presence, power, and possibility of sin—all these are part of heaven’s delights. But the best of heaven’s glory is none of those things. It is the presence there of God and him only (Ps. 16:11; Ps. 17:15; Ps. 73:25).

This means, of course, that the glory of heaven for us is the realization of God’s covenant of grace. Always that covenant has meant that God is our God and we are his people. In heaven this will reach its highest glory, for then all God’s people shall live in God’s presence, shall see his face, shall know him, and shall enjoy him forever.

For that we wait, but it has application to us now. Those who do not really desire the glory of heaven must not assume that they do. The person who is not interested in God and his glory, who has no delight in the fellowship of God, and who does not above all things desire to see God’s face is not interested in heaven, no matter what he may say.

So let us examine ourselves and our lives and see that God is all our desire and all our joy. Then we will not only know what heavenly glory is all about, but we shall be assured of our place and portion in it.

ሰማያዊ ክብር

ስለ ዘላለማዊ መንግስት፣ ወይም መንግስተ ሰማይ፣ እና የቦታው ክብር ለመግለጸ ቅዱሳት መጻሕፍት የተጠቀሙት በአብዛኛው ምሳሌያዊ መሆኑን እያንዳንዱ አማኝ ማውቅ እና ቋንቋውን መረዳት አለበት

ስለ ሕይወት አክሊል፡ በቤተመቅደስ ውስጥ ምሰሶዎች መሆናችን እግዚአብሔር እና የንጋትን ኮከብ ስለ መቀበል  ስናነብ፣ መንግሥተ ሰማያት ክብር ያለው በእነዚህ ነገሮች እንዳልሆነ መረዳት አለብን።

በእርግጠኝነት እንደነዚህ ያሉት ነገሮች እንደ መላእክት ለሆኑ እና ምድራዊ ላልሆኑ ሰዎች ምንም ዋጋ የላቸውም

 (1ቆሮ. 6፡13)። ራእይ 21 እና 22 ይህን ግልጽ ለማድረግ ይረዳሉ የተገለጸችው ከተማይ የከበረች ቤተ ክርስቲያን እንደሆነች እና (21፡9-10) እና የሕይወት ዛፍ ክርስቶስ ራሱ እንደሆነ ይነግሩናል። (ራዕ. 2:7፤ ራእ. 22:2, 14)

ቅዱሳት መጻሕፍት ለምን እንዲህ ዓይነት ቋንቋ ይጠቀማሉ? ይህን የሚያደርገው የሰማይ ነገር “ዓይን ያላየችው ጆሮም ያልሰማው በሰውም ልብ ያልታሰበው እግዚአብሔር ለሚወዱት ያዘጋጀው” (1ኛ ቆሮ. 2፡9) ነው። በሌላ አነጋገር መንግስተ ሰማያት በሥዕሎች እና በምሳሌዎች ካልሆነ በስተቀር ልንረዳው እንኳን የማንችለው ክቡር እና ድንቅ ስለሆነ ነው።

ነገር ግን የሰማይ ክብርና ድንቅ  ወርቅና ዕንቍ፡ የከበረ ድንጋይ ካልሆነ ምንድር ነው? ራዕይ 21 እና 22 ለዚህ ጥያቄ በግልጽ መልስ ይሰጣሉ። እግዚአብሔር ራሱ ነው፣በተለይም እግዚአብሔር ራሱን በኢየሱስ አዳኛችን ሲገልጥ ነው። እግዚአብሔር ሁሉንም ነገር የፈጠረው ለራሱ ነው (ራዕ. 4፡11) ይህም በሰማይ ለእግዚአብሔር ሕዝብ ሕያው እውነት ይሆናል።

እግዚአብሔር እና ክርስቶስ ለዚያች ከተማ ቤተመቅደስ፣ እና ዜጎቿ ብርሃን እንደሆኑ ቅዱሳት መጻሕፍት ይነግሩናል። (ራዕ. 21፡23–24፤ ራዕ. 22፡5)። እነዚህ ምዕራፎች ስለ እግዚአብሔር ከሕዝቡ ጋር መኖርን እና አምላካቸው ስለመሆኑ ሲናገሩ እውነተኛው የሰማይ ክብር ይነግሩናል። (ራዕ. 21፡3፤ ራዕ. 22፡3-4)። ከሚያምኑ ሁሉ ጋር መሆን፣ ክርስቶስን ወደመምስል መለወጥ፤ እንባ ሁሉ መታበስ  ከኃጢአት ኃይል እና ዕድል ለዘላለም ነጻ መውጣት - እነዚህ ሁሉ የሰማይ ደስታ ክፍሎች ናቸው። ነገር ግን ከሁሉ የተሻለው የሰማይ ክብር ከእነዚህ ነገሮች ውስጥ አንዱም አይደለም. እሱም የእግዚአብሔር መገኘትና እርሱ ብቻ ነው (መዝ. 16፡11፣ መዝ. 17፡15፣ መዝ. 73፡25)።

ይህ ማለት፣ በእርግጥ፣ ለእኛ የሰማይ ክብር የእግዚአብሔር የጸጋ ቃል ኪዳን መፈጸሙ ነው። ሁል ጊዜ ያ ቃል ኪዳን ማለት እግዚአብሔር አምላካችን ነው እኛም ህዝቡ መሆናችን ነው። በሰማይ ይህ ወደ ከፍተኛ ክብሩ ይደርሳል ከዛም የእግዚአብሔር ሕዝብ ሁሉ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ይኖራሉ, ፊቱን ያያሉ.

ያውቁታል ለዘላለምም በእርሱ ደስ ይላቸዋል።

ያንን እንጠብቃለን ግን አሁን  ቢሆን ለእኛ ትርጉም አለው።.በእውነት የሰማይን ክብር የማየምኙ እንደሚመኙት ማሰብ የለባቸውም። በእግዚአብሔር እና በክብሩ የማይደሰት ሰው፡ ከእግዚአብሔር ጋር ባለ ኅብረት የማይደሰት እና ከሁሉም በላይ የእግዚአብሔርን ፊት ማየት የማይፈልግ ምንም ቢናገር ስለ መንግሥተ ሰማያት ፍላጎት የለውም።

ስለዚህ ራሳችንን እና ሕይወታችንን እንመርምር እና እግዚአብሔር የእኛ ፍላጎት እና ደስታ መሆኑን እንመልከት ። ያኔ ሰማያዊ ክብር ምን እንደሆነ ብቻ ሳይሆነ ነገር ግን በእሱ ውስጥ ስላለን ቦታ እና ድርሻ እርግጠኞች እንሆናለን።

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