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Jeremiah 39

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1 And it came about, that when Jerusalem was taken, (in the ninth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, with all his army, came against Jerusalem, shutting it in on every side;

2 In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the town was broken into:)

3 All the captains of the king of Babylon came in and took their places in the middle doorway of the town, Nergal-shar-ezer, ruler of Sin-magir, the Rabmag, and Nebushazban, the Rab-saris, and all the captains of the king of Babylon.

4 And when Zedekiah, king of Judah, and all the men of war saw it, they went in flight from the town by night, by the way of the king's garden, through the doorway between the two walls: and they went out by the Arabah.

5 But the Chaldaean army went after them and overtook Zedekiah in the lowlands of Jericho: and they made him a prisoner and took him up to Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, to be judged by him.

6 Then the king of Babylon put the sons of Zedekiah to death before his eyes in Riblah: and the king of Babylon put to death all the great men of Judah.

7 And more than this, he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and had him put in chains to take him away to Babylon.

8 And the Chaldaeans put the king's house on fire, as well as the houses of the people, and had the walls of Jerusalem broken down.

9 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, took away to Babylon as prisoners, all the rest of the workmen who were still in the town, as well as those who had given themselves up to him, and all the rest of the people.

10 But Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, let the poorest of the people, who had nothing whatever, go on living in the land of Judah, and gave them vine-gardens and fields at the same time.

11 Now Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, gave orders about Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, saying,

12 Take him and keep an eye on him and see that no evil comes to him; but do with him whatever he says to you.

13 So Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, sent Nebushazban, the Rab-saris, and Nergal-shar-ezer, the Rabmag, and all the chief captains of the king of Babylon,

14 And they sent and took Jeremiah out of the place of the watchmen, and gave him into the care of Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him to his house: so he was living among the people.

15 Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the place of the armed watchmen, saying,

16 Go and say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: See, my words will come true for this town, for evil and not for good: they will come about before your eyes on that day.

17 But I will keep you safe on that day, says the Lord: you will not be given into the hands of the men you are fearing.

18 For I will certainly let you go free, and you will not be put to the sword, but your life will be given to you out of the hands of your attackers: because you have put your faith in me, says the Lord.

   

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The Word

  
A detail from the Winchester Bible, this shows God putting words in the mouth of Jeremiah.

Consider the beautiful but cryptic statements of John 1:1:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

God's love has always been and will always be infinite and perfect. That means the expression of God's love -- His truth -- has also always been and will always be infinite and perfect.

The Lord has shared this truth with us in various ways since the beginning of humanity. The earliest people received truth directly, flowing into the inner parts of their minds from heaven. Later, people understood it through nature seeing the Lord's love expressed in mountains, trees, rivers, and the sun, moon and stars. By using natural language as a container for spiritual language, the Lord expressed truth within the Bible inside its stories, laws and prophecies. When humanity reached its lowest point, God took on a human form and walked among us as Jesus. In this way, the Lord brought us Divine truths in an accessible and tangible way. By accepting and loving the Lord as Jesus we can open ourselves to His love.

Finally, the Heavenly Doctrine received through the pen of Emanuel Swedenborg are themselves a container for Divine Truth, both in speaking plainly about heaven and by unlocking the truth as it is contained in the Bible.

The Word itself is Divine Truth; the Lord's expression of love has and never will change.

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Apocalypse Explained # 27

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27. The faithful witness, signifies from whom is all truth in heaven. This is evident from the signification of "faithful witness," as being, in reference to the Lord, the acknowledgment of the Divine Human from whom is all truth in heaven (of which in what follows). It is said in heaven, because Divine truth, proceeding from the Lord's Divine good, makes heaven in general, and with each angel there in particular. (This may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 13, 126-140; and that this is from the Lord's Divine Human, n. 7-12, 78-86.) The Lord as to the Divine Human is called the "faithful witness," because Divine truth proceeding from Him, bears witness in heaven concerning Him.

This testimony is universally in the Divine truth in heaven; as may be seen from this, that angels of the interior heaven can think of the Divine in no other way than under a human form, thus as the Divine Human, and for the reason that the Divine Human of the Lord fills the universal heaven and forms it, and the thoughts of angels proceed and flow according to the form of heaven (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 59-102, 200-212, 265-275). From this it is that "the testimony of Jesus Christ" (See n. 10) signifies the acknowledgment of the Divine of the Lord in His Human.

[2] From this can be seen what is meant in the spiritual sense by "bearing witness" and by "testimony" in the following passages:

John [that is, the Baptist] came for a witness, that he might bear witness of the Light, that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but came that he might bear witness of the Light. It was the true Light, which lighteth every man. And I have seen and have borne witness (John 1:7-9, 34).

"Light" signifies Divine truth; therefore the Lord is here called "the true Light, which lighteth every man," and to "bear witness of the light" signifies an acknowledgment of His Divine Human, from which Divine truth proceeds. (That "light" signifies Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, see in the work on Heaven and Hell, in the chapter on The Light of Heaven, n. 120-140.)

[3] In the same:

Ye sent unto John, and He bare witness unto the truth; but I receive not testimony from man (John 5:33-34).

In the same:

Jesus said, Verily I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and bear witness of what we have seen. He that cometh from heaven is above all. What He hath seen and heard, of that He beareth witness (John 3:11, 31-32).

In the same:

Jesus said, Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true; for I know whence I came and whither I go (John 8:14).

By this is signified that He bears witness concerning Himself from Himself, because He was Divine truth. In the same:

When the Comforter is come, the Spirit of Truth, He shall bear witness of Me (John 15:26).

"The Comforter, the Spirit of Truth," is the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord (See Arcana Coelestia 9818, 9820, 10330; and above, n. 25).

[4] In the same:

Pilate said, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest it, because I am a king. For this have I been born, and for this am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth My voice. Pilate said, What is truth? (John 18:37-38).

The Lord thus answered when He was asked whether He was a king, because the Lord, as king, is Divine truth, for this is the royalty of the Lord in heaven, while His Divine good is the priesthood there. This is why the Lord said that He was a king, that to this end He was born, and to this end He came into the world, that He should bear witness unto the truth; and that everyone that is in truth heareth His voice; and therefore Pilate asked him, "What is truth?" thus whether that was king. (That Divine truth is the royalty of the Lord in the heavens, see Arcana Coelestia 3009, 5068; and that "kings," therefore, in the Word, signify those who are in Divine truths, or abstractly from persons, signify Divine truths, see n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044.) That "kings" signify those who are in Divine truths, will appear more clearly in the explanation of what follows in Revelation, where kings are mentioned; and just below, where it is said, "He hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father." From this it can be seen that by the words, "from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness," is signified the Lord as to the acknowledgment of His Divine Human, from which is all truth in heaven.

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