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Ezekiel 43

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1 And he took me to the doorway looking to the east:

2 And there was the glory of the God of Israel coming from the way of the east: and his voice was like the sound of great waters, and the earth was shining with his glory.

3 And the vision which I saw was like the vision I had seen when he came for the destruction of the town: and like the vision which I saw by the river Chebar; and I went down on my face.

4 And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the doorway looking to the east.

5 And the spirit, lifting me up, took me into the inner square; and I saw that the house was full of the glory of the Lord.

6 And the voice of one talking to me came to my ears from inside the house; and the man was by my side.

7 And he said to me, Son of man, this is the place where the seat of my power is and the resting-place of my feet, where I will be among the children of Israel for ever: and no longer will the people of Israel make my holy name unclean, they or their kings, by their loose ways and by the dead bodies of their kings;

8 By putting their doorstep by my doorstep, and the pillar of their door by the pillar of my door, with only a wall between me and them; and they have made my holy name unclean by the disgusting things which they have done: so in my wrath I sent destruction on them.

9 Now let them put their loose ways and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will be among them for ever.

10 You, son of man, give the children of Israel an account of this house, so that they may be shamed because of their evil-doing: and let them see the vision of it and its image.

11 And they will be shamed by what they have done; so give them the knowledge of the form of the house and its structure, and the ways out of it and into it, and all its laws and its rules, writing it down for them: so that they may keep all its laws and do them.

12 This is the law of the house: On the top of the mountain all the space round it on every side will be most holy. See, this is the law of the house.

13 And these are the measures of the altar in cubits: (the cubit being a cubit and a hand's measure;) its hollow base is a cubit high and a cubit wide, and it has an overhanging edge as wide as a hand-stretch all round it:

14 And from the base on the earth level to the lower shelf, the altar is two cubits high and a cubit wide; and from the smaller shelf to the greater shelf it is four cubits high and a cubit wide.

15 And the fireplace is four cubits high: and coming up from the fireplace are the horns, a cubit high.

16 And the fireplace is twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide, square on its four sides.

17 And the shelf is fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide, on its four sides; the edge round it is half a cubit; the base of it is a cubit all round, and its steps are facing the east.

18 And he said to me, Son of man, the Lord God has said, These are the rules for the altar, when they make it, for the offering of burned offerings on it and the draining out of the blood.

19 You are to give to the priests, the Levites of the seed of Zadok, who come near to me, says the Lord God, to do my work, a young ox for a sin-offering.

20 You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns and on the four angles of the shelf and on the edge all round: and you are to make it clean and free from sin.

21 And you are to take the ox of the sin-offering, and have it burned in the special place ordered for it in the house, outside the holy place.

22 And on the second day you are to have a he-goat without any mark on it offered for a sin-offering; and they are to make the altar clean as they did with the young ox.

23 And after you have made it clean, let a young ox without a mark be offered, and a male sheep from the flock without a mark.

24 And you are to take them before the Lord, and the priests will put salt on them, offering them up for a burned offering to the Lord.

25 Every day for seven days you are to give a goat for a sin-offering: and let them give in addition a young ox and a male sheep from the flock without any mark on them.

26 For seven days they are to make offerings to take away sin from the altar and to make it clean; so they are to make it holy.

27 And when these days have come to an end, then on the eighth day and after, the priests will make your burned offerings on the altar and your peace-offerings; and I will take pleasure in you, says the Lord.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 219

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219. Verse 12. He that overcometh I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, signifies that those who are steadfast will be in Divine truth in heaven. This is evident from the signification of "overcoming," as being to be steadfast in the genuine affection of truth (See above n. 128); here in faith from charity, since that faith is treated of in what is written the angel of this church see 203; also from the signification of "pillar" as being Divine truth sustaining; also from the signification of "the temple of God" as being in the highest sense, the Lord's Divine Human, and in the relative sense, the Lord's spiritual kingdom, thus the heaven that constitutes that kingdom (of which presently). "A pillar in the temple" means Divine truth sustaining, because "temple" signifies heaven, and heaven is heaven from the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord; for by heaven all angels are meant, because heaven is made up of angels, and from them is called heaven: and angels are angels in the measure in which they receive the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord; and for this reason angels in the Word also signify Divine truths (See above, n. 130, 200).

Now as heaven is Divine truth, and "temple" signifies heaven, it follows that all things of the temple signify such things as pertain to Divine truth, and that the "pillars" therein signify Divine truths sustaining. Divine truths sustaining are in general lower truths, because these sustain the higher; for there are lower and higher Divine truths, as there are lower and higher heavens. (There are degrees of these, on which see in the work on Heaven and Hell 38, 208, 209, 211.) The heavens that belong to a lower degree sustain those that belong to a higher degree; here, therefore, by the Lord's making him that overcometh "a pillar in the temple" is meant that such will be in a lower heaven. They who are in the faith of charity are also in the lower heaven, which is called the spiritual heaven; while those who are in love to the Lord are in the higher heaven, which is called the celestial heaven, and this is sustained by the lower or spiritual heaven. (But a clearer idea can be had of these things from what is shown in three chapters in the work on Heaven and Hell, namely, in the chapter where it is shown that The Divine of the Lord in Heaven is Love to Him and Charity towards the Neighbor, n. 13-19; in another where it is shown that Heaven is distinguished into Two Kingdoms, Celestial and Spiritual, n 20-28; and in a third where it is shown that There are Three Heavens, n. 29-40.)

[2] "Pillars" are here and there mentioned in the Word, and they signify lower truths, because they sustain the higher. That lower truths are signified by "pillars" in the Word can be seen from the following. In Jeremiah:

Behold I have given thee this day for a fenced city, and for a pillar of iron, and for walls of brass against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes and against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land, that they may fight against thee and not prevail (Jeremiah 1:18-19).

These things were said to the prophet, because all prophets signify the doctrines of Divine truth, and because the church in which Divine truths are falsified is here treated of it is therefore said, "Behold I have given thee this day for a fenced city, for a pillar of iron, and for walls of brass against the whole land;" "a fenced city" signifies the doctrine of truth; "a pillar of iron" truth sustaining it; "walls of brass" good defending, and "land" the church. It is said, also, "against the kings of Judah, against the princes, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land;" and "the kings of Judah," and "princes," signify truths falsified; "priests," goods adulterated, and "the people of the land," falsities in general; of these it is said, that they will fight against truths themselves, but shall not prevail.

[3] In the same:

Set thee up signs, place for thee high pillars, set thine heart to the highway, the way thou mayest go; return, O virgin of Israel, return to thy cities (Jeremiah 31:21).

The restoration of the church is here treated of. "The virgin of Israel" signifies the church; "to set up signs, and to place high pillars," signifies instruction in such things as are the fundamentals of the church, which are called "high pillars" because they sustain: "to set the heart to the highway, the way thou mayest go," signifies the affection of truth leading to life.

[4] In David:

I will judge in uprightness; the earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved; I will make firm the pillars of it (Psalms 75:2-3).

"The earth dissolving" signifies those of the church who are not in truths but yet long for them; "to make firm the pillars" of it signifies to sustain the church by those truths upon which it is founded. Again, in Job:

Who causeth the earth to shake out of its place, so that the pillars thereof tremble (Job 9:6).

"The earth" here signifies the church, and "pillars" the truths that sustain it. That:

The pillars of the court of the tabernacle (mentioned in Exodus 27:10-12, 14-17);

also signify the ultimate truths sustaining the higher ones, see Arcana Coelestia, in the explanation of that chapter and those verses. Like truths are signified by:

The pillars of the house of the forest of Lebanon built by Solomon (mentioned in 1 Kings 7:2, 6).

[5] Similar also is the signification of:

The two pillars that Solomon set up in the porch of the temple, and that are described in the first book of Kings. He fashioned two pillars of brass, eighteen cubits was the height of each pillar; and a line of twelve cubits compassed the second pillar. And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars; seven chains for the one chapiter, and seven chains for the other chapiter. And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple; and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar and called the name thereof Boaz (1 Kings 7:15-21).

Since "the temple" signified heaven (as will be shown presently), therefore all things of the temple signified such things as are of heaven, thus of Divine truth there; for, as said above, heaven is heaven from the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord; therefore "the porch of the temple" signified the things pertaining to the ultimate heaven, and as this sustains the two higher heavens, those two pillars were placed in the porch.

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

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1 Kings 7

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1 Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.

2 For he built the house of the forest of Lebanon; its length was one hundred cubits, and its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars.

3 It was covered with cedar above over the forty-five beams, that were on the pillars; fifteen in a row.

4 There were beams in three rows, and window was over against window in three ranks.

5 All the doors and posts were made square with beams: and window was over against window in three ranks.

6 He made the porch of pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits; and a porch before them; and pillars and a threshold before them.

7 He made the porch of the throne where he was to judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from floor to floor.

8 His house where he was to dwell, the other court within the porch, was of the like work. He made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter (whom Solomon had taken as wife), like this porch.

9 All these were of costly stones, even of cut stone, according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside, even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside to the great court.

10 The foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.

11 Above were costly stones, even cut stone, according to measure, and cedar wood.

12 The great court around had three courses of cut stone, and a course of cedar beams; like as the inner court of the house of Yahweh, and the porch of the house.

13 King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.

14 He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill, to work all works in brass. He came to king Solomon, and performed all his work.

15 For he fashioned the two pillars of brass, eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits encircled either of them about.

16 He made two capitals of molten brass, to set on the tops of the pillars: the height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits.

17 There were nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital.

18 So he made the pillars; and there were two rows around on the one network, to cover the capitals that were on the top of the pillars: and so did he for the other capital.

19 The capitals that were on the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work, four cubits.

20 There were capitals above also on the two pillars, close by the belly which was beside the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows around on the other capital.

21 He set up the pillars at the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called its name Jachin; and he set up the left pillar, and called its name Boaz.

22 On the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished.

23 He made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it.

24 Under its brim around there were buds which encircled it, for ten cubits, encircling the sea: the buds were in two rows, cast when it was cast.

25 It stood on twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; and the sea was set on them above, and all their hinder parts were inward.

26 It was a handbreadth thick: and its brim was worked like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it held two thousand baths.

27 He made the ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height.

28 The work of the bases was like this: they had panels; and there were panels between the ledges;

29 and on the panels that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the ledges there was a pedestal above; and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work.

30 Every base had four bronze wheels, and axles of brass; and the four feet of it had supports: beneath the basin were the supports molten, with wreaths at the side of each.

31 The mouth of it within the capital and above was a cubit: and its mouth was round after the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and also on its mouth were engravings, and their panels were foursquare, not round.

32 The four wheels were underneath the panels; and the axles of the wheels were in the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit.

33 The work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axles, and their rims, and their spokes, and their naves, were all molten.

34 There were four supports at the four corners of each base: its supports were of the base itself.

35 In the top of the base was there a round compass half a cubit high; and on the top of the base its stays and its panels were of the same.

36 On the plates of its stays, and on its panels, he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths all around.

37 In this way, he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one form.

38 He made ten basins of brass: one basin contained forty baths; and every basin was four cubits; and on every one of the ten bases one basin.

39 He set the bases, five on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south.

40 Hiram made the basins, and the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he worked for king Solomon in the house of Yahweh:

41 the two pillars, and the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars;

42 and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars;

43 and the ten bases, and the ten basins on the bases;

44 and the one sea, and the twelve oxen under the sea;

45 and the pots, and the shovels, and the basins: even all these vessels, which Hiram made for king Solomon, in the house of Yahweh, were of burnished brass.

46 In the plain of the Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.

47 Solomon left all the vessels [unweighed], because they were exceeding many: the weight of the brass could not be found out.

48 Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of Yahweh: the golden altar, and the table whereupon the show bread was, of gold;

49 and the lampstands, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, of pure gold; and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold;

50 and the cups, and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold; and the hinges, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, [to wit], of the temple, of gold.

51 Thus all the work that king Solomon worked in the house of Yahweh was finished. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated, [even] the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the house of Yahweh.