Bible

 

Deuteronomy 29

Studie

   

1 These are the words of the covenant which Jehovah commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.

2 And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that Jehovah did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;

3 the great trials which thine eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders:

4 but Jehovah hath not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxed old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxed old upon thy foot.

6 Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink; that ye may know that I am Jehovah your God.

7 And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:

8 and we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites.

9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.

10 Ye stand this day all of you before Jehovah your God; your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel,

11 your little ones, your wives, and thy sojourner that is in the midst of thy camps, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water;

12 that thou mayest enter into the covenant of Jehovah thy God, and into his oath, which Jehovah thy God maketh with thee this day;

13 that he may establish thee this day unto himself for a people, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he spake unto thee, and as he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath,

15 but with him that standeth here with us this day before Jehovah our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day

16 (for ye know how we dwelt in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which ye passed;

17 and ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them);

18 lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;

19 and it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to destroy the moist with the dry.

20 Jehovah will not pardon him, but then the anger of Jehovah and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book shall lie upon him, and Jehovah will blot out his name from under heaven.

21 And Jehovah will set him apart unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law.

22 And the generation to come, your children that shall rise up after you, and the foreigner that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses wherewith Jehovah hath made it sick;

23 [and that] the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, [and] a burning, [that] it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Jehovah overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:

24 even all the nations shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?

25 Then men shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt,

26 and went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods that they knew not, and that he had not given unto them:

27 therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curse that is written in this book;

28 and Jehovah rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as at this day.

29 The secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 9207

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

9207. 'And your sons orphans' means that at the same time truths will do so, that is to say, will perish. This is clear from the meaning of 'orphans' as those who possess truth but not as yet good, and still have a desire for good, dealt with in 9199, at this point those who have truth but no desire for good, thus those with whom truths perish; for it is speaking about evil people whose sons will become orphans. The fact that truths perish with those who have no desire for good is evident from what has been stated immediately above in 9206 regarding goodness and truth when joined together. But something further must be stated regarding that joining together. Truths that have been joined to good always hold within them a desire to do good, and at the same time to be joined more closely to good by doing it. Or what amounts to the same thing, those who possess truths always have a desire to do good and to join it thereby to their truths. People therefore who think that they are in possession of truths but who have no desire to do good do not in fact possess truths; that is, they have no belief in them, however much they imagine they do have.

[2] Their condition is portrayed by the Lord when He speaks of 'salt', in Matthew,

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt is tasteless, by what will it be made salty? It no longer has any use, except to be thrown outdoors and trodden down by people. Matthew 5:13-14.

The Lord says these things to the disciples and to the people. By 'the salt of the earth' He means the Church's truth that has a desire for good, and by 'tasteless salt' He means truth devoid of any desire for good. The fact that such truth is worthless is portrayed by the idea of salt which has become tasteless and no longer has any use, except to be thrown outdoors and trodden down by people. Having a desire for good means having a desire to do good and thereby be joined to good.

[3] In Mark,

Everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt. Salt is good; but if the salt becomes tasteless, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and seek 1 peace with one another. Mark 9:49-50.

'Being salted with fire' means good that has a desire for truth, and 'being salted with salt' truth that has a desire for good. 'Tasteless salt' is truth devoid of any desire for good; 'having salt in oneself' means possessing that desire.

[4] In Luke,

Any of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be My disciple. Salt is good; but if the salt is made tasteless, by what will it be seasoned? It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill; people throw it outdoors. Luke 14:33-35.

Here 'salt' in a similar way stands for truth that has a desire for good, and 'tasteless salt' for truth that is devoid of any desire for good, 'unfit for the land or for the dunghill' standing for its total inability to serve any use, good or bad. People possessing such truth are called the lukewarm, as is evident from the words immediately before, stating that a person cannot be the Lord's disciple if he does not renounce all his possessions, that is, if he does not love the Lord above all things. For those loving the Lord and also themselves equally are the ones who are called the lukewarm and who are unfit to serve any use, good or bad.

[5] In Moses,

Every offering of your minchah shall be salted with salt; you shall not leave the salt of the covenant of your God off your minchah. 2 On all your offerings you shall offer salt. Leviticus 2:13.

Salt in every offering was a sign that truth's desire for good and good's desire for truth should be present in all worship. This also explains why this salt is called 'the salt of God's covenant'; for 'a covenant' is a joining together, 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 2037, 6804, 8767, 8778, and 'salt' is the desire for the joining together.

[6] When each desires to be joined to the other, that is, good to truth and truth to good, they look towards each other. But when truth tears itself away from good, they turn away from each other and look backwards or behind themselves. This is what is meant in Luke by Lot's wife who had become a pillar of salt,

Whoever will be on the housetop with his vessels in the house, let him not come down to take them away; and whoever is in the field likewise, let him not return to the things behind him. Remember Lot's wife. Luke 17:31-32.

This means looking behind oneself or backwards, see 3652, 5895 (end), 5897, 7857, 7923, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8516.

[7] One reason why 'salt' means the desire truth possesses is that salt renders land fertile and makes food tasteful, and another reason is that salt contains a fiery property and at the same time a conjunctive power, even as truth contains a burning desire for good and at the same time a conjunctive power. 'A pillar of salt' is a separation from truth, for 'salt' in the contrary sense means truth that has been destroyed and laid waste, as in Zephaniah 2:9; Ezekiel 47:11; Jeremiah 17:6; Psalms 107:33-34; Deuteronomy 29:23; Judges 9:45; 2 Kings 2:19-22.

These matters have been introduced so that people may know what truth's desire for good is, and what good's desire for truth is, meant by 'orphan' and 'widow'.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, cultivate

2. literally, you shall not cause to cease the salt of the covenant of your God upon your minchah

  
/ 10837  
  

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