Bible

 

Deuteronomy 10

Studie

   

1 At that time Jehovah said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood.

2 And I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark.

3 So I made an ark of acacia wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in my hand.

4 And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which Jehovah spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and Jehovah gave them unto me.

5 And I turned and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they are as Jehovah commanded me.

6 (And the children of Israel journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office in his stead.

7 From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water.

8 At that time Jehovah set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, to stand before Jehovah to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.

9 Wherefore Levi hath no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; Jehovah is his inheritance, according as Jehovah thy God spake unto him.)

10 And I stayed in the mount, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights: and Jehovah hearkened unto me that time also; Jehovah would not destroy thee.

11 And Jehovah said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people; and they shall go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them.

12 And now, Israel, what doth Jehovah thy God require of thee, but to fear Jehovah thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

13 to keep the commandments of Jehovah, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

14 Behold, unto Jehovah thy God belongeth heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that is therein.

15 Only Jehovah had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all peoples, as at this day.

16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.

17 For Jehovah your God, he is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the terrible, who regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward.

18 He doth execute justice for the fatherless and widow, and loveth the sojourner, in giving him food and raiment.

19 Love ye therefore the sojourner; for ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

20 Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God; him shalt thou serve; and to him shalt thou cleave, and by his name shalt thou swear.

21 He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.

22 Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now Jehovah thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

True Christianity # 675

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 853  
  

675. Circumcision was instituted as a sign that the people of the Israelite church were descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as the following passages show:

God said to Abraham, "This is a covenant with me that you will observe between me and you and your descendants after you. Circumcise every male among you. Circumcise the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. " (Genesis 17:9-11)

The practice of circumcision as a sign of the covenant was later reinforced by Moses (Leviticus 12:1-3).

Because this sign differentiated the Israelite church from other religions, before the children of Israel crossed the Jordan river they were commanded again to be circumcised (Joshua 5:2). The reason for this was that the land of Canaan symbolized the church and the Jordan river symbolized introduction into it.

For another thing, the children of Israel were given the following command to remind them of this sign once they were in the land of Canaan.

When you have come into the land and have planted some tree for food, you are to circumcise the foreskin of its fruit. For three years it will be uncircumcised to you; it is not to be eaten. (Leviticus 19:23)

[2] The fact that circumcision symbolized and meant rejecting the cravings of the flesh and therefore being purified from evils (which is also what baptism means) is clear from the passages in the Word where we read that the people were to circumcise their heart. For example, in the following passages:

Moses said, "Circumcise the foreskin of your heart. Do not be stiff-necked any longer. " (Deuteronomy 10:16)

Jehovah God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants so that you love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and your whole soul, and you will live. (Deuteronomy 30:6)

In Jeremiah:

Circumcise yourselves for Jehovah so that he will remove the foreskins of your heart, O man of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, to prevent my anger from going forth like a fire because of the wickedness of your doings. (Jeremiah 4:4)

In Paul:

What counts with Jesus Christ is not our circumcision or lack of circumcision but faith working through goodwill and our being a new creation. (Galatians 5:6; 6:15)

[3] This makes it clear, then, that baptism was instituted to replace circumcision because circumcision of the flesh symbolizes circumcision of the heart. Circumcision of the heart also means being purified from evils, because evils of every kind rise up from the flesh; the foreskin means the filthy loves that belong to the flesh. Because circumcision and the washing of baptism have the same meaning, we read in Jeremiah: "Circumcise yourselves for Jehovah so that he will remove the foreskins of your heart" (Jeremiah 4:4); and soon after that we read, "Wash wickedness from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved" (Jeremiah 4:14). The Lord teaches us in Matthew 15:18-19 what circumcision and washing of the heart means.

  
/ 853  
  

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