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Matthew 8

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1 And when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

2 And behold, there came to him a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

3 And he stretched forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou made clean. And straightway his leprosy was cleansed.

4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

5 And when he was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,

6 and saying, Lord, my servant lieth in the house sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

7 And he saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

8 And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.

9 For I also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers: and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

10 And when Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

11 And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven:

12 but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; as thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee. And the servant was healed in that hour.

14 And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother lying sick of a fever.

15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she arose, and ministered unto him.

16 And when even was come, they brought unto him many possessed with demons: and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were sick:

17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying: Himself took our infirmities, and bare our diseases.

18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandments to depart unto the other side.

19 And there came a scribe, and said unto him, Teacher, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven [have] nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

21 And another of the disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

22 But Jesus saith unto him, Follow me; and leave the dead to bury their own dead.

23 And when he was entered into a boat, his disciples followed him.

24 And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the boat was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.

25 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Save, Lord; we perish.

26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

27 And the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?

28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, there met him two possessed with demons, coming forth out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man could pass by that way.

29 And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

30 Now there was afar off from them a herd of many swine feeding.

31 And the demons besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine.

32 And he said unto them, Go. And they came out, and went into the swine: and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep into the sea, and perished in the waters.

33 And they that fed them fled, and went away into the city, and told everything, and what was befallen to them that were possessed with demons.

34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought [him] that he would depart from their borders.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 586

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586. That they should not adore demons, signifies that they should not worship their own cupidities. This is evident from the signification of "to adore," as being to worship, and from the signification of "demons," as being evil cupidities. "Demons" are evil cupidities because by demons infernal spirits are meant, and all spirits that are in the hells are nothing but evil cupidities; for all spirits that are in the hells, as well as all angels in the heavens, are from the human race; and every man after death becomes such as his life has been in the world, consequently such as his affection has been; therefore after death man is wholly his affection, a good man the affection of good and truth, and an evil man the affection of evil and falsity. Moreover, every man after death thinks, wills, speaks, and acts in accordance with his affection. The affection of evil and falsity is what is called cupidity, and is what is signified by "demon. "

[2] But what is meant by "worshiping demons" shall also be told briefly. Every man is associated with spirits; without association and conjunction with them no one can live; and the spirits with man are such as his affections or cupidities are; therefore when man in his worship does not look to the Lord or to the neighbor, but looks to himself and to the world, that is, when he worships God for the sole end of being carried to honors, and of gaining wealth, or of being able to do injury to others, then he worships demons; for then the Lord is not present in his worship, but infernal spirits are present, who are closely associated with him. These spirits are so insane as to believe that they are gods, and that they are to be worshiped; for every spirit, as well as every man, who is in the love of self, is eager to be worshiped as a god; consequently this insane cupidity continues with men after death, when they become demon-spirits; and this is what is signified by "adoring demons."

[3] This worship is meant also by "sacrificing to demons." In Moses:

They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations they made Him angry. They sacrificed to demons that were not God, to gods that they knew not (Deuteronomy 32:16, 17).

The sons of Israel shall sacrifice at the entrance of the tent, and they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices unto demons, after whom they go whoring (Leviticus 17:7).

The sacrifices that were offered at the entrance of the tent represented the worship of the Lord, because the altar, and also the tabernacle, represented heaven where the Lord is present; but the sacrifices that were offered elsewhere represented worship where the Lord is not present, thus the worship of demons; this was because all things at that time were representative.

[4] In David:

They sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons (Psalms 106:37).

This was altogether infernal; but in the spiritual sense "to sacrifice sons and daughters" signified to pervert and destroy the truths and goods of the church by evil cupidities; "sons" signifying the truths of the church, and "daughters" its goods.

[5] In Isaiah:

The tziim shall encounter the ijim, and the demon of the wood shall meet his fellow, the night-monster shall also settle there and find for itself rest (Isaiah 34:14).

This treats of the total devastation of the church by corporeal and merely natural lusts, from which flow forth falsities and evils of every kind; such lusts are signified by "the tziim and the ijim," also by "the night-monster, and the demon of the wood" (or satyr).

[6] So elsewhere in the same:

The tziim shall sing 1 there, and their houses shall be full of ochim, and the daughters of the owl shall dwell there, and the demons of the wood shall dance there (Isaiah 13:21).

This is said of Babylon; that there are such corporeal and purely natural lusts with those who are meant by Babylon, and that these constitute the life of their mind is signified by "their houses shall be full of such things," and "they shall dwell and dance there." "House" signifies the mind or disposition of man, with the things therein; "daughters of the owl" signify falsities, and "demons of the wood" (or satyrs) cupidities merely corporeal. Like things are said of Babylon in Revelation:

Babylon is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird (Revelation 18:2).

The demons cast out by the Lord, by which many were then obsessed, signify falsities of every kind by which the church was infested, and from which it was delivered by the Lord (as in Matthew 8:16, 28; 9:32, 33; 10:8; 12:22; 15:22; Mark 1:32-34; Luke 4:33-38, 41; 8:2, 26-40; 9:1, 37-44, 49, 50; 13:32; and elsewhere).

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. Latin has "sing," the Hebrew "lie," as also in AE 1029; AR 548, 757.

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