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Deuteronomy 24

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1 When a man taketh a wife, and marrieth her, then it shall be, if she find no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

2 And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's [wife].

3 And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, who took her to be his wife;

4 her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before Jehovah: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

5 When a man taketh a new wife, he shall not go out in the host, neither shall he be charged with any business: he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer his wife whom he hath taken.

6 No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone to pledge; for he taketh [a man's] life to pledge.

7 If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and he deal with him as a slave, or sell him; then that thief shall die: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee.

8 Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do.

9 Remember what Jehovah thy God did unto Miriam, by the way as ye came forth out of Egypt.

10 When thou dost lend thy neighbor any manner of loan, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge.

11 Thou shalt stand without, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring forth the pledge without unto thee.

12 And if he be a poor man, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge;

13 thou shalt surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his garment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before Jehovah thy God.

14 Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy sojourners that are in thy land within thy gates:

15 in his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto Jehovah, and it be sin unto thee.

16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

17 Thou shalt not wrest the justice [due] to the sojourner, [or] to the fatherless, nor take the widow's raiment to pledge;

18 but thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and Jehovah thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing.

19 When thou reapest thy harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the sojourner, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hands.

20 When thou beatest thine olive-tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the sojourner, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

21 When thou gatherest [the grapes of] thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it after thee: it shall be for the sojourner, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

22 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 794

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794. "And the sound of a mill shall not be heard in you anymore." This symbolically means that those caught up in the Roman Catholic religion because of its doctrine and a life in accordance with it do not inquire into, investigate, or confirm spiritual truth, because the falsity they have accepted, affirmed, and so enrooted in themselves stands in the way.

The sound of a mill symbolizes nothing else but an inquiry, investigation, and confirmation of spiritual truth, especially that drawn from the Word. This is the symbolic meaning of the sound of a mill or milling because wheat and barley, the grains milled, symbolize celestial and spiritual goodness, and wheat flour and barley meal symbolize the truth springing from that goodness. For all truth originates from goodness, and every truth that does not spring from spiritual goodness is not spiritual truth.

It is called the sound of a mill because spiritual entities are designated here and there in the Word by devices consisting of the most external things of nature, such as spiritual truths and goods by cups, bowls, wineskins, dishes, and many other kinds of vessels (see no. 672 above).

That wheat symbolizes the goodness of the church from the Word may be seen in no. 315; and that flour milled from wheat symbolizes truth springing from that goodness, no. 778.

[2] That a mill symbolizes an inquiry, investigation, and confirmation of spiritual truth can be seen from the following passages:

(Jesus said,) "(At the end of the age) two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be milling: one will be taken and the other left." (Matthew 24:40-41)

The final period of the church is meant by the end of the age, when the Last Judgment takes place. The field symbolizes the church, because that is the place of harvest. The women milling symbolize people in the church who inquire into truths. The people taken symbolize people who find and accept those truths, and the people left symbolize people who do not inquire into or accept truths, because they are caught up in falsities.

I will take from them the sound of mirth and the sound of gladness, the sound of the bridegroom and the sound of the bride, the sound of mills and the light of the lamp. (Jeremiah 25:10)

The sound of mills has the same symbolic meaning here as in this verse of the book of Revelation.

No man shall take in pledge a mill or millstone, for he would be taking the person's life in pledge. (Deuteronomy 24:6)

The mill here is called a person's life, because the life or soul symbolizes the truth of wisdom and faith (no. 681).

[3] In an opposite sense a mill symbolizes an investigation and confirmation of falsity, as is apparent from these passages:

They took away young men to mill, and youths collapse under the wood. (Lamentations 5:13)

...sit on the dust, O... daughter of Babylon... Take the mill and grind meal. Uncover your hair..., uncover your thigh, pass through the rivers. Let your nakedness be uncovered and your shame be seen. (Isaiah 47:1-3)

To take the mill and grind meal means, symbolically, to inquire into and investigate in order to confirm falsities.

  
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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.