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Exodus 20

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1 And God said all these words:

2 I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house.

3 You are to have no other gods but me.

4 You are not to make an image or picture of anything in heaven or on the earth or in the waters under the earth:

5 You may not go down on your faces before them or give them worship: for I, the Lord your God, am a God who will not give his honour to another; and I will send punishment on the children for the wrongdoing of their fathers, to the third and fourth generation of my haters;

6 And I will have mercy through a thousand generations on those who have love for me and keep my laws.

7 You are not to make use of the name of the Lord your God for an evil purpose; whoever takes the Lord's name on his lips for an evil purpose will be judged a sinner by the Lord

8 Keep in memory the Sabbath and let it be a holy day.

9 On six days do all your work:

10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on that day you are to do no work, you or your son or your daughter, your man-servant or your woman-servant, your cattle or the man from a strange country who is living among you:

11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and everything in them, and he took his rest on the seventh day: for this reason the Lord has given his blessing to the seventh day and made it holy.

12 Give honour to your father and to your mother, so that your life may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

13 Do not put anyone to death without cause.

14 Do not be false to the married relation.

15 Do not take the property of another.

16 Do not give false witness against your neighbour.

17 Let not your desire be turned to your neighbour's house, or his wife or his man-servant or his woman-servant or his ox or his ass or anything which is his.

18 And all the people were watching the thunderings and the flames and the sound of the horn and the mountain smoking; and when they saw it, they kept far off, shaking with fear.

19 And they said to Moses, To your words we will give ear, but let not the voice of God come to our ears, for fear death may come on us.

20 And Moses said to the people, Have no fear: for God has come to put you to the test, so that fearing him you may be kept from sin.

21 And the people kept their places far off, but Moses went near to the dark cloud where God was.

22 And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, You yourselves have seen that my voice has come to you from heaven

23 Gods of silver and Gods of gold you are not to make for yourselves.

24 Make for me an altar of earth, offering on it your burned offerings and your peace-offerings, your sheep and your oxen: in every place where I have put the memory of my name, I will come to you and give you my blessing.

25 And if you make me an altar of stone do not make it of cut stones: for the touch of an instrument will make it unclean.

26 And do not go up by steps to my altar, for fear that your bodies may be seen uncovered.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 7573

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7573. 'And Jehovah gave forth voices' means the departure and severance of communication with those governed by good and guided by truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'voices', which are claps of thunder, as God's truths which enlighten and perfect those in heaven, but frighten those in hell and subject them to vastation; and since they devastate the latter they mean the departure and severance of communication with those governed by good and guided by truth, this being the way in which they are devastated. The situation in all this is evident from what has been stated already in 7502, 7541, 7542, 7545, 7554. In these places it was shown that those who have belonged to the Church and consequently absorbed cognitions of truth and good from the Word, yet have led an evil life, have a line of communication with heaven through the truths and forms of good which they have brought with them from their time in the world, where they were in the Church. (A person brings with him into the next life whatever he knew in the world, indeed whatever he saw, heard, thought, spoke, willed, or did, see 2474, 2475, 2481-2486, 7398). This communication is what is taken away when they undergo vastation; and when communication has been taken away, so are truths and forms of good, and cognitions of them, removed. For whatever spirits, and indeed angels know flows in from the Lord by way of heaven, thus through communications that are made, see 6053-6058, 6180, 6215, 6307-6717, 6466-6495, 6613-6626. All this shows what is meant by a departure and severance of communication with those who are guided by truth and governed by good. The situation with God's truth in heaven and in hell - the truth that is meant by 'voices' - is like that with claps of thunder on earth. On high mountains claps of thunder are heard as no more than a gentle, quiet sound; but on the land lying below they are heard as a frightening crash. In the same way God's truth in heaven is gentle and mild, whereas in hell it is frightening.

[2] The meaning of 'voices', which are claps of thunder, as God's truths that enlighten and perfect those in heaven, and that frighten those in hell and subject them to vastation, is evident from the following places: In Isaiah,

You will have joy of heart, as when one marches with a pipe to come to the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel. Then Jehovah will cause His glorious voice 1 to be heard, and will cause His arm to see repose, in the indignation of [His] anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, [in] scattering, and deluging, and hailstones. For by the voice of Jehovah Asshur will be dismayed. Isaiah 30:29-31.

Here 'the voice of Jehovah' stands for God's truth which enlightens and perfects those who are governed by good but frightens those under the influence of evil and subjects them to vastation. In Joel,

The earth quaked before Him, the sun and moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew their shining; and Jehovah uttered His voice before His army, His camp is exceedingly great; for that which executes His word is uncountable. For great is the day of Jehovah, and extremely frightening. Joel 3:16.

Here the meaning is similar.

[3] In the same prophet,

Jehovah will roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem will give forth His voice; and the heavens and the earth will be shaken. But Jehovah will be a shelter for His people, and a fortification for the children of Israel. Joel 3:16.

'The voice of Jehovah' likewise stands for God's truth. It is given forth 'from Jerusalem' because that city means the Lord's spiritual kingdom, inhabited by those who are moved by truth to be governed by good and moved by good to be guided by truth.

[4] In David,

Jehovah thundered in the heavens, and the Most High gave forth His voice, hail, and coals of fire, so that He sent His arrows and scattered them, and many thunder-bolts, and threw them into confusion. Psalms 18:13-14.

'Giving forth voice, hail, and coals of fire' stands for the devastation of truth and good by means of falsities and evil desires. In the same author,

The clouds dropped water, the skies gave voice, also Your arrows went out, the voice of Your thunder into the earth; the lightnings lit up the earth. Psalms 77:16-18.

'A voice' stands for God's truth which enlightens those who belong to the Church.

[5] In the same author,

The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters, the God of glory causes it to thunder, Jehovah is over great waters; the voice of Jehovah is powerful; the voice of Jehovah is majestic; the voice of Jehovah breaks the cedars, Jehovah breaks to pieces the cedars of Lebanon; the voice of Jehovah strikes as flames of fire; the voice of Jehovah causes the wilderness to shake; the voice of Jehovah causes the hinds to calve, and strips the forests bare. Psalms 29:3-11.

Here 'the voice of Jehovah' stands for God's truth and the power it has. Thus it also stands for the Word since this is God's truth.

[6] In John,

A mighty angel coming down called out with a loud voice; and when he called out, seven thunders uttered their voices. I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them. Revelation 10:3-4.

'Voices' stands for God's truth, 'thunders' for those who convey it, bringing it from heaven to earth. No one can fail to see that 'thunders and 'voices' mean things that are Divine, not thunders and crashes. And since they mean Divine things and are called Jehovah's voices it is evident that they are Divine Truth. This was why, when Jehovah came down on Mount Sinai and proclaimed Divine Truth, there were voices, lightnings, and thunders, Exodus 19:16; 20:18, and why He spoke out of the midst of the fire, Deuteronomy 4:11-12; 5:22-24.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, the voice of His glory

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