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Numbers 11

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1 And the people were as murmurers, [speaking] evil in the ears of Jehovah: and when Jehovah heard it, his anger was kindled; and the fire of Jehovah burnt among them, and devoured in the uttermost part of the camp.

2 And the people cried unto Moses; and Moses prayed unto Jehovah, and the fire abated.

3 And the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of Jehovah burnt among them.

4 And the mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt for nought; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic:

6 but now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all save this manna to look upon.

7 And the manna was like coriander seed, and the appearance thereof as the appearance of bdellium.

8 The people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.

9 And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

10 And Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent: and the anger of Jehovah was kindled greatly; and Moses was displeased.

11 And Moses said unto Jehovah, Wherefore hast thou dealt ill with thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?

12 Have I conceived all this people? have I brought them forth, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing-father carrieth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?

13 Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, give us flesh, that we may eat.

14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.

15 And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.

16 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with thee.

17 And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

18 And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall eat flesh; for ye have wept in the ears of Jehovah, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore Jehovah will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.

19 Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days,

20 but a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you; because that ye have rejected Jehovah who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?

21 And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.

22 Shall flocks and herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?

23 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Is Jehovah's hand waxed short? now shalt thou see whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.

24 And Moses went out, and told the people the words of Jehovah: and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the Tent.

25 And Jehovah came down in the cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, but they did so no more.

26 But there remained two men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the Spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but had not gone out unto the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp.

27 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.

28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.

29 And Moses said unto him, Art thou jealous for my sake? would that all Jehovah's people were prophets, that Jehovah would put his Spirit upon them!

30 And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

31 And there went forth a wind from Jehovah, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth.

32 And the people rose up all that day, and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.

33 While the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the anger of Jehovah was kindled against the people, and Jehovah smote the people with a very great plague.

34 And the name of that place was called Kibrothhattaavah, because there they buried the people that lusted.

35 From Kibrothhattaavah the people journeyed unto Hazeroth; and they abode at Hazeroth.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 657

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657. Seven angels having the seven last plagues. This symbolizes the evils and falsities that exist in the church in its last state exposed in their entirety by the Lord.

Seven angels symbolize the whole of heaven. However, because heaven is heaven owing not to the angels' own inherent qualities, but to the Lord, therefore the seven angels symbolize the Lord. Moreover, only the Lord can expose the evils and falsities that are present in the church. That angels symbolize heaven, and in the highest sense the Lord, may be seen in nos. 5, 258, 344, 465, 644, 647, 648 above.

Plagues symbolize evils and falsities - evils that are matters of love, and falsities that are matters of faith. For these are what are described in the following chapter, symbolized by the foul and noxious sore; by the blood as though of someone dead, causing every living creature to die; by the blood into which the waters of the rivers and springs were turned; by the heat of the fire that scorched people; by the unclean spirits looking like frogs, which were demons; and by the great hail.

The evils and falsities symbolized by all of these are the plagues here. Last plagues symbolize evils and falsities in the church's last state. Seven means, symbolically, all (nos. 10, 390). However, because the evils symbolized by the plagues in the following chapter are not all evils in particular, but all evils in general, seven here symbolically means all universally; for a universal entity embraces all of its constituents in particular.

It is apparent from this that John's seeing seven angels having the seven last plagues means symbolically that the evils and falsities that exist in the church and their character in its last state were exposed in their entirety by the Lord.

[2] That plagues symbolize spiritual plagues, which afflict people with respect to their souls and destroy them, and that these plagues or afflictions are evils and falsities, can be seen from the following passages:

From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness..., but a fresh wound not lanced; neither has it been bound up or softened... (Isaiah 1:6)

(Jehovah) is striking the peoples wrathfully with an incurable plague... (Isaiah 14:6)

(Jehovah,) remove Your plague from me; I am consumed by the blow of Your hand. (Psalms 39:10)

Your fracture is beyond hope...; for I have struck you with the affliction of an enemy... for the multitude of your iniquities; your sins have become many... But I will... heal you of your afflictions... (Jeremiah 30:12, 14, 17)

If you do not carefully keep all the words of (the Law)..., Jehovah will bring upon you... extraordinary plagues - great and prolonged plagues - (and) every plague... which is not written in this book of the Law... until you are destroyed. (Deuteronomy 28:58-59, 61)

No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your tent. (Psalms 91:10)

Edom shall become a desolation. Everyone who goes by... will hiss at all its plagues. (Jeremiah 49:17)

...she shall be a desolation. Everyone who passes by Babylon shall be dumbfounded, and hiss over all her plagues. (Jeremiah 50:13)

...plagues will come (upon Babylon) in one day... (Revelation 18:8)

(The two witnesses will) strike the earth with every plague... (Revelation 11:6)

The plagues in Egypt, which were in part like the plagues described in the following chapter, symbolized nothing else but evils and falsities. You may find the plagues in Egypt enumerated in no. 503 1 above. They are also called plagues in Exodus 9:14; 11:1.

It is apparent from this that plagues and afflictions mean, symbolically, nothing other than spiritual plagues and afflictions, which afflict people with respect to their souls and destroy them. So also in Isaiah 30:26; Zechariah 14:12, 15; Psalms 38:5, 11; Revelation 9:20; 16:21; Exodus 12:13; 30:12; Numbers 11:33; Luke 7:21; and elsewhere.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. No. 503:4.

  
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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.