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Ezekiel 32

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1 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

2 Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharao the king of Egypt, and say to him: Thou art like the lion of the nations, and the dragon that is in the sea: and thou didst push with the horn in thy rivers, and didst trouble the waters with thy feet, and didst trample upon their streams.

3 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: I will spread out my net over thee with the multitude of many people, and I will draw thee up in my net.

4 And I will throw thee out on the land, I will cast thee away into the open field: and I will cause all the fowls of the air to dwell upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of all the earth with thee.

5 And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and will fill thy hills with thy corruption,

6 And I will water the earth with thy stinking blood upon the mountains, and the valleys shall be filled with thee.

7 And I will cover the heavens, when thou shalt be put out, and I will make the stars thereof dark: I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.

8 I will make all the lights of heaven to mourn over thee: and I will cause darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God, when thy wounded shall fall in the midst of the land, saith the Lord God.

9 And I shall provoke to anger the heart of many people, when I shall have brought in thy destruction among the nations upon the lands, which thou knowest not.

10 And I will make many people to be amazed at thee, and their kings shell be horribly afraid for thee, when my sword shall begin to fly upon their faces: and they shall be astonished on a sudden, every one for his own life, in the day of their ruin.

11 For thus saith the Lord God: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee,

12 By the swords of the mighty I will overthrow thy multitude: all these nations are invincible: and they shall waste the pride of Egypt, and the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.

13 I will destroy also all the beasts thereof that were beside the great waters: and the foot of man shall trouble them no more, neither shall the hoof of beasts trouble them.

14 Then will I make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord God:

15 When I shall have made the land of Egypt desolate: and the land shall be destitute of her fulness, when I shall have struck all the inhabitants thereof: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

16 This is the lamentation, and they shall lament therewith: the daughters of the nations shall lament therewith: for Egypt, and for the multitude thereof they shall lament therewith, saith the Lord God.

17 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month that the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

18 Son of man, sing a mournful song for the multitude of Egypt: and cast her down, both her, and the daughters of the mighty nations to the lowest part of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.

19 Whom dost thou excel in beauty? go down and sleep with the uncircumcised.

20 They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain with the sword : the sword is given, they have drawn her down, and all her people.

21 The most mighty among the strong ones shall speak to him from the midst of hell, they that went down with his helpers, and slept uncircumcised, slain by the sword.

22 Assur is there, and all his multitude: their graves are round about him, all of them slain, and that fell by the sword.

23 Whose graves are set in the lowest parts of the pit: and his multitude lay round about his grave: all of them slain, and fallen by the sword, they that heretofore spread terror in the land of the living.

24 There is Elam and all his multitude round about his grave, all of them slain, and fallen by the sword; that went down uncircumcised to the lowest parts of the earth: that caused their terror in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with them that go down into the pit.

25 In the midst of the slain they have set him a bed among all his people: their graves are round about him: all these are uncircumcised, and slain by the sword: for they spread their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with them that descend into the pit: they are laid in the midst of the slain.

26 There is Mosoch, and Thubal, and all their multitude: their graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised and slain, and fallen by the sword: though they spread their terror in the land of the living.

27 And they shall not sleep with the brave, and with them that fell uncircumcised, that went down to hell with their weapons, and laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities were in their bones, because they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

28 So thou also shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt sleep with them that are slain by the sword.

29 There is Edom, and her kings, and all her princes, who with their army are joined with them that are slain by the sword: and have slept with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down into the pit.

30 There are all the princes of the north, and all the hunters: who were brought down with the slain, fearing, and con- founded in their strength: who slept uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword, and have borne their shame with them that go down into the pit.

31 Pharao saw them, and he was comforted concerning all his multitude, which was slain by the sword: Pharao, and all his army, saith the Lord God:

32 Because I have spread my terror in the land of the living, and he hath slept in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword: Pharao and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.

   

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A Brief Exposition of New Church Doctrine #78

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78. BRIEF ANALYSIS

In the prophetic parts of the Word, statements similar to the one in Matthew 24:29, occur concerning the sun, moon and stars. Thus it is written in Isaiah:

Behold the cruel day of Jehovah cometh . . . the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened at his rising and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. Isaiah 13:9-10.

In Ezekiel:

When I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens and darken the stars thereof; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light; . . . and I will set darkness upon thy land.Ezekiel 32:7-8.

In Joel:

The day of Jehovah cometh, ... a day of darkness, . . . the sun and moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.Joel 2:1-2, 10.

The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and the terrible day of Jehovah cometh. Joel 2:31.

The day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision, the sun and moon shall be darkened. Joel 3:14-15.

In the Revelation:

The fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, . . . and the day shone not for a third part of it. Revelation 8:12.

The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. Revelation 6:12.

All these passages treat of the last time of the Jewish Church, when the Lord came into the world. The meaning here is similar in Matthew and the Revelation, but they refer to the last time of the Christian Church, when the Lord would come again in the Word which is Himself, and in which He is. Wherefore, immediately after those words in Matthew 24:29, it is said:

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man . . . coming in the clouds of the heavens.Matthew 24:30.

By the sun in the above passages is meant love, by the moon faith, and by the stars the cognitions of good and truth. By the powers of the heavens are meant those three essentials as the supports and foundations of the heavens where the angels are, and of the Churches where men are. Therefore, by the foregoing passages collected into one idea is meant that neither love nor faith, nor any cognitions of good and truth remain in the Christian Church, in the last time thereof when it draws to its end. That the sun signifies love has been shown in THE APOCALYPSE REVEALED 53-54, 413, 796, 831, 961; that the moon signifies faith, THE APOCALYPSE REVEALED 53, 332, 413, 423, 533; and that stars signify cognitions of good and truth, THE APOCALYPSE REVEALED 51, 74, 333, 408, 419, 954.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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Apocalypse Revealed #419

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419. CHAPTER 9

1. Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth, and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit.

2. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.

3. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

4. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

5. And it was given them not to kill them, but to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.

6. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

7. The locusts in appearance were like horses prepared for battle, and on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.

8. They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth.

9. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle.

10. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails, and their power was to hurt men five months.

11. And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but who in Greek has the name Apollyon.

12. One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.

13. Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

14. saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."

15. And the four angels were released, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, to kill a third of mankind.

16. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million, and I heard the number of them.

17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision and those who sat on them, having breastplates that were fiery, hyacinthine and sulfurous; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.

18. By these three a third of mankind was killed - by the fire and smoke and brimstone coming out of their mouths.

19. Their power was in their mouth [and in their tails]; for their tails were like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm.

20. But the rest of mankind, who were not killed in these plagues, still did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.

21. And they did not repent of their murders or their enchantments or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter

An examination and disclosure of the state of life of those people in the Protestant Reformed church who are called learned and wise because of their defense of faith divorced from charity and of justification and salvation by it alone. This is the subject of verses 1-12.

An examination and disclosure of the state of life of those people in that church who are not so learned and wise, who are caught up in faith alone and live as they please. This is the subject of verses 13-19.

Finally, concerning people in that church who know only that faith is the whole means by which a person is saved, and nothing more beyond that. Verses 20, 21.

The Contents of the Individual Verses:

Verse ContentsSpiritual Meaning
1. Then the fifth angel sounded,An examination and disclosure of the state of life of those people in the Protestant Reformed Church who are called learned and wise because of their defense of faith divorced from charity and of justification and salvation by it alone.
and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth,Spiritual Divine truth flowing in from heaven into the church with them, examining and exposing them.
and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit.Their hell opened.
2. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace,Falsities accompanying the lusts of the natural self springing from those people's evil loves.
and the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.Therefore the light of truth became thick darkness.
3. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth,From them issued falsities of the lowest sort, such as are found in the case of people who have become sensual and who view and judge everything in accordance with the senses and their fallacies.
and to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.Their power to persuade that their falsities are true.
4. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.The Lord's Divinely providing that they be unable to take away any truth or good of faith, or any affection for or perception of these, from any others than people lacking in charity and so having no faith,
5. And it was given them not to kill them, but to torment them for five months,and that they also be unable to take away their faculty for understanding and willing truth and good, but be able only for a short time to induce a mental numbness,
and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.and this owing to their persuasiveness.
6. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.They wish the intellect to be closed and the will stopped up in matters of faith, which extinguishes spiritual light and life, but that this is impossible.
7. The locusts in appearanceThe appearance and likeness of those people who affirmed in themselves a faith divorced from charity,
were like horses prepared for battle,who because of their ability to reason appeared to themselves to be battling from an understanding of truth founded on the Word.
and on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold,They seemed to themselves to be conquerors.
and their faces were like the faces of men.They seemed to themselves to be wise.
8. They had hair like women's hair,They seemed to themselves to have an affection for truth.
and their teeth were like lions' teeth.Matters of the senses, which constitute the lowest elements of the natural self's life, appeared to them to have power over all else.
9. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron,Their arguments based on fallacies, with which they battled and prevailed, appeared to them too strong to be refuted.
and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle.Their reasonings, as though founded on doctrinal truths from the Word fully understood, which they had to ardently defend.
10. They had tails like scorpions,The Word's truths falsified, by which they induce a mental numbness.
and there were stings in their tails, and their power was to hurt men five months.Their clever falsifications of the Word, by which for a short time they darkened and enchanted the intellect, and so deceived and captivated it.
11. And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but who in Greek has the name Apollyon.Those caught up in falsities springing from lusts, who by a total falsification of the Word destroyed the church, are in a satanic hell.
12. One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.Further lamentations over the state of the church.
13. Then the sixth angel sounded,An examination and exposure of the state of life among those people in the Protestant Reformed Church who were not so wise, and yet who placed the whole of religion in faith, thinking of it alone and living as they pleased.
and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14. saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet,A command by the Lord out of the spiritual heaven to those who were to examine and expose it,
"Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."to remove from them external bonds, to enable the interiors of their minds to appear.
15. And the four angels were released,When the external bonds were removed, the interiors of their minds became apparent.
who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, to kill a third of mankind.Their being in a perpetual effort to take away spiritual light and life from the people of the church.
16. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million,Their reasonings concerning faith alone, with which they had filled the interiors of the minds, springing from nothing but an abundance of falsities accompanying evil.
and I heard the number of them.Their character perceived.
17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision and those who sat on them,The discovery then that the reasonings of the interiors of their minds concerning faith alone were fanciful and illusory, and that they themselves were insane because of them.
having breastplates that were fiery, hyacinthine and sulfurous;Their fanciful and illusory arguments springing from a hellish love and their own inherent intelligence, and from the attendant lusts.
and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions;Their delusions with respect to faith alone, as though they had power.
and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.Interiorly regarded, their thoughts and discourses contained nothing else, and issuing from them was nothing but a love of self and the world, a conceit in their own intelligence, and from these two the lusts attendant on evil and falsity.
18. By these three a third of mankind was killed - by the fire and smoke and brimstone coming out of their mouths.It is because of these that the people of the church perish.
19. Their power was in their mouthThey prevailed only by their discourse affirming faith.
[and in their tails,] for their tails were like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm.The reason being that they are sensual and turned upside down, speaking truths with their mouths, but falsifying them by the postulate which forms the chief tenet of their religion, and thus deceiving others.
20. But the rest of mankind, who were not killed in these plagues,Those people in the Protestant Reformed Church who were not as spiritually dead as the former were because of their illusory reasonings and love of self, a conceit in their own intelligence, and the attendant lusts, and yet who made faith alone the chief tenet of their religion.
still did not repent of the works of their hands,Nor did they refrain from their native proclivities, which are evils of every kind, as being sins.
so as not to worship demons,Thus they were caught up in the evils of their lusts, and acted in concert with their like in hell.
and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood,Thus they engage in worship founded on nothing but falsities,
which can neither see nor hear nor walk.which do not have in them any spiritual or truly rational life.
21. And they did not repent of their murders or their enchantments or their sexual immorality or their thefts.The heretical belief in faith alone induces in their hearts stupidity, backsliding, and intransigence, so that they give no thought to the Ten Commandments, not even to any sin as something to be shunned because it is on the side of the Devil and against God.

THE EXPOSITION

Then the fifth angel sounded. (9:1) This symbolizes an examination and disclosure of the state of life of those people in the Protestant Reformed Church who are called learned and wise because of their defense of faith divorced from charity and of justification and salvation by it alone.

That this is the subject in what follows now up to verse 12, is clear from the several particulars, understood in their spiritual sense.

To sound a trumpet means, symbolically, to examine and expose the state of the church and consequent life in people for whom religion is faith alone, as may be seen in no. 397 above.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

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