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Ezekiel 10

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1 Then looking, I saw that on the arch which was over the head of the winged ones there was seen over them what seemed like a sapphire stone, having the form of a king's seat.

2 And he said to the man clothed in linen, Go in between the wheels, under the winged ones, and get your two hands full of burning coals from between the winged ones and send them in a shower over the town. And he went in before my eyes.

3 Now the winged ones were stationed on the right side of the house when the man went in; and the inner square was full of the cloud.

4 And the glory of the Lord went up from the winged ones and came to rest over the doorstep of the house; and the house was full of the cloud and the open square was full of the shining of the Lord's glory.

5 And the sound of the wings of the winged ones was clear even in the outer square, like the voice of the Ruler of all.

6 And when he gave orders to the man clothed in linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the winged ones, then he went in and took his place at the side of a wheel.

7 And stretching out his hand to the fire which was between the winged ones, he took some of it and went out.

8 And I saw the form of a man's hands among the winged ones under their wings.

9 And looking, I saw four wheels by the side of the winged ones, one wheel by the side of a winged one and another wheel by the side of another: and the wheels were like the colour of a beryl stone to the eye.

10 In form the four of them were all the same, they seemed like a wheel inside a wheel.

11 When they were moving, they went on their four sides without turning; they went after the head in the direction in which it was looking; they went without turning.

12 And the edges of the four wheels were full of eyes round about.

13 As for the wheels, they were named in my hearing, the circling wheels.

14 And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a winged one, and the second was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

15 And the winged ones went up on high: this is the living being which I saw by the river Chebar.

16 And when the winged ones went, the wheels went by their side: and when their wings were lifted to take them up from the earth, the wheels were not turned from their side.

17 When they were at rest in their place, these were at rest; when they were lifted up, these went up with them: for the spirit of life was in them.

18 Then the glory of the Lord went out from the doorstep of the house, and came to rest over the winged ones.

19 And the winged ones, lifting up their wings, went up from the earth before my eyes, with the wheels by their side: and they came to rest at the east doorway of the Lord's house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them on high.

20 This is the living being which I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and it was clear to me that they were the winged ones.

21 Every one had four faces and Every one had four wings; and hands like a man's hands were under their wings.

22 As for the form of their faces, they were the faces whose form I saw by the river Chebar; when they went, every one of them went straight forward.

   

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True Christianity # 260

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260. It is important to know as well that the literal meaning is a protection to prevent harm to the genuine truths that lie inside it. The nature of this protection is that the literal meaning can be turned this way and that and explained to different levels of comprehension without damaging or violating what is inside. It does no harm if one person takes the literal meaning one way and another takes it another way. It is harmful, however, if people bring in false ideas that go against divine truths. Only people who are adamant about falsities do this. Doing so does violence to the Word. The literal meaning offers protection to prevent this from happening. It also offers protection to people who have been given false ideas by their religion but have not become adamant about them.

The angel guardians in the Word both stand for and portray the protecting role of the Word's literal meaning. This protection is the meaning of the angel guardians who were placed at the entrance of the garden of Eden after Adam was thrown out with his wife. About this we read,

When Jehovah God expelled the human, he made angel guardians dwell on the east side of the garden of Eden and made the flame of a sword turning this way and that to guard the pathway to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:23-24)

[2] No one could see what these details mean without knowing the meaning of "angel guardians," "the garden of Eden," the garden's "tree of life," and "the flame of a sword" turning this way and that. These details have been explained in the relevant chapter of Secrets of Heaven, published in London [Secrets of Heaven 305-313]. To be specific, the "angel guardians" mean protection. The "pathway to the tree of life" means the access to the Lord available to people through the truths in the Word's spiritual meaning. The "flame of a sword turning" means divine truth on the outermost level, which is like the Word in its literal meaning; it is similarly capable of being turned this way and that.

The same thing is meant by the angel guardians made of gold that were placed on the two ends of the mercy seat that was on top of the ark in the tabernacle (Exodus 25:18-21). The "ark" meant the Word because the Ten Commandments are the most basic thing in the Word. The "angel guardians" meant protection, which is why the Lord spoke with Moses from between the angel guardians (Exodus 25:22; 37:9; Numbers 7:89). Further, the Lord spoke to Moses in the earthly meaning because he does not speak with us unless he speaks in a complete way, and divine truth has its complete form in the literal meaning (see 214-224 above).

The angel guardians on the curtains and the veil in the tabernacle (Exodus 26:31) had a similar meaning. The curtains and the veil in the tabernacle meant the outermost aspects of heaven and the church; therefore they meant the outermost aspects of the Word as well (see 220 above).

The same applies to the angel guardians carved on the walls and doors of the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 6:29, 32, 35); see 221 above. Likewise, the angel guardians in the new temple (Ezekiel 41:18-20).

[3] Angel guardians mean the protection that prevents people from going directly to the Lord, heaven, and the divine truth in the form it takes inside the Word, and steers them instead to go indirectly through the [Word's] outermost level. For this reason we read the following statements about the king of Tyre:

You who seal up your measurement; full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, you were in the Garden of Eden. Every precious stone was your covering. You, O angel guardian, were the stretching out of a covering. I lost you, O protecting angel guardian, in the midst of the stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28:12-14, 16)

"Tyre" means the church's knowledge of goodness and truth. "The king of Tyre" means the Word where that knowledge exists and originates. The king clearly means the Word on its outermost level and the angel guardian means protection, because it says, "You who seal up your measurement, every precious stone is your covering, you, O angel guardian, were the stretching out of a covering," and "O protecting angel guardian. " On the precious stones listed in that passage as referring to aspects of the literal meaning, see 217, 218 above. Since "angel guardians" mean the Word at the outermost level and protection as well, therefore we read the following phrases in David:

Jehovah bowed down the heavens and came down. He rode upon an angel guardian. (Psalms 18:9-10)

Shine forth, O Shepherd of Israel who sits upon angel guardians. (Psalms 80:1)

Jehovah sitting upon angel guardians. (Psalms 99:1)

Riding and sitting "upon angel guardians" refers to the Word's outermost meaning.

The Word's divine truth and the qualities of that truth are portrayed by four creatures that are also called angel guardians (Ezekiel 1:9-10), and by four creatures in the middle of the throne and next to it (Revelation 4:6-7). See Revelation Unveiled (which I published in Amsterdam) 239, 275, 314.

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