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Leviticus 14

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1 And the Lord said to Moses,

2 This is the law of the leper on the day when he is made clean: he is to be taken to the priest;

3 And the priest is to go outside the tent-circle; and if, after looking, the priest sees that the mark of the disease has gone from him,

4 Then the priest is to give orders to take, for him who is to be made clean, two living clean birds and some cedar wood and red thread and hyssop.

5 And the priest will give orders for one of the birds to be put to death in a vessel made of earth, over flowing water.

6 And he will take the living bird and the wood and the red thread and the hyssop and put them in the blood of the bird which was put to death over flowing water.

7 And shaking it seven times over the man who is to be made clean, he will say that he is clean and will let the living bird go free into the open country.

8 And he who is to be made clean will have his clothing washed and his hair cut and have a bath, and he will be clean. And after that he will come back to the tent-circle; but he is to keep outside his tent for seven days.

9 And on the seventh day he is to have all the hair cut off his head and his chin and over his eyes--all his hair is to be cut off--and he will have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and he will be clean.

10 And on the eighth day let him take two male lambs, without any marks on them, and one female lamb of the first year, without a mark, and three tenth parts of an ephah of the best meal, mixed with oil, and one log of oil.

11 And the priest who is making him clean will put the man who is being made clean, together with these things, before the door of the Tent of meeting.

12 And the priest is to take one of the male lambs and give it as an offering for wrongdoing, and the log of oil, waving them for a wave offering before the Lord;

13 And he is to put the male lamb to death in the place where they put to death the sin-offering and the burned offering, in the holy place; for as the sin-offering is the property of the priest, so is the offering for wrongdoing: it is most holy.

14 And let the priest take some of the blood of the offering for wrongdoing and put it on the point of the right ear of him who is to be made clean, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the great toe of his right foot;

15 And take some of the oil and put it in the hollow of his left hand;

16 And let the priest put his right finger in the oil which is in his left hand, shaking it out with his finger seven times before the Lord;

17 And of the rest of the oil which is in his hand, the priest will put some on the point of the right ear of the man who is to be made clean, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the great toe of his right foot, over the blood of the offering for wrongdoing;

18 And the rest of the oil in the priest's hand he will put on the head of him who is to be made clean; and so the priest will make him free from sin before the Lord.

19 And the priest will give the sin-offering, and take away the sin of him who is to be made clean from his unclean condition; and after that he will put the burned offering to death.

20 And the priest is to have the burned offering and the meal offering burned on the altar; and the priest will take away his sin and he will be clean.

21 And if he is poor and not able to get so much, then he may take one male lamb as an offering for wrongdoing, to be waved to take away his sin, and one tenth part of an ephah of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering, and a log of oil;

22 And two doves or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; and one will be for a sin-offering and the other for a burned offering.

23 And on the eighth day he will take them to the priest, to the door of the Tent of meeting before the Lord, so that he may be made clean.

24 And the priest will take the lamb of the offering for wrongdoing and the oil, waving them for a wave offering before the Lord;

25 And he will put to death the lamb of the offering for wrongdoing and the priest will take some of the blood of the offering for wrongdoing and put it on the point of the right ear of him who is to be made clean, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the great toe of his right foot;

26 And the priest will put out some of the oil in the hollow of his left hand,

27 Shaking out drops of oil with his right finger before the Lord seven times:

28 And the priest will put some of the oil which is in his hand on the point of the ear of the man who is to be made clean and on the thumb of his right hand and on the great toe of his right foot, on the place where the blood of the offering for wrongdoing was put;

29 And the rest of the oil which is in the priest's hand he will put on the head of him who is to be made clean, to take away his sin before the Lord.

30 And he will make an offering of one of the doves or the young pigeons, such as he is able to get;

31 And of these, he will give one for a sin-offering and one for a burned offering, with the meal offering; and the priest will take away the sin of him who is to be made clean before the Lord.

32 This is the law for the man who has the disease of the leper on him, and who is not able to get that which is necessary for making himself clean.

33 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

34 When you have come into the land of Canaan which I will give you for your heritage, if I put the leper's disease on a house in the land of your heritage,

35 Then let the owner of the house come and say to the priest, It seems to me that there is a sort of leper's disease in the house.

36 And the priest will give orders for everything to be taken out of the house, before he goes in to see the disease, so that the things in the house may not become unclean; and then the priest is to go in to see the house;

37 And if he sees that the walls of the house are marked with hollows of green and red, and if it seems to go deeper than the face of the wall;

38 Then the priest will go out of the door of the house, and keep the house shut up for seven days:

39 And the priest is to come again on the seventh day and have a look and see if the marks on the walls of the house are increased in size;

40 Then the priest will give orders to them to take out the stones in which the disease is seen, and put them out into an unclean place outside the town:

41 And he will have the house rubbed all over inside, and the paste which is rubbed off will be put out into an unclean place outside the town:

42 And they will take other stones and put them in place of those stones, and he will take other paste and put it on the walls of the house.

43 And if the disease comes out again in the house after he has taken out the stones and after the walls have been rubbed and the new paste put on,

44 Then the priest will come and see it; and if the disease in the house is increased in size, it is the leper's disease working out in the house: it is unclean.

45 And the house will have to be pulled down, the stones of it and the wood and the paste; and everything is to be taken out to an unclean place outside the town.

46 And, in addition, anyone who goes into the house at any time, while it is shut up, will be unclean till evening.

47 And anyone who has been sleeping in the house will have to have his clothing washed; and anyone who takes food in that house will have to have his clothing washed.

48 And if the priest comes in, and sees that the disease is not increased after the new paste has been put on the house, then the priest will say that the house is clean, because the disease is gone.

49 And in order to make the house clean, let him take two birds and cedar-wood and red thread and hyssop;

50 And put one of the birds to death in a vessel of earth over flowing water;

51 And take the cedar-wood and the hyssop and the red thread and the living bird and put them in the blood of the dead bird and in the flowing water, shaking it over the house seven times.

52 And he will make the house clean with the blood of the bird and the flowing water and with the living bird and with the cedar-wood and the hyssop and the red thread.

53 But he will let the living bird go out of the town into the open country; so he will take away sin from the house and it will be clean.

54 This is the law for all signs of the leper's disease and for skin diseases;

55 And for signs of disease in clothing, or in a house;

56 And for a growth or a bad place or a bright mark on the skin;

57 To make clear when it is unclean and when it is clean: this is the law about the disease of the leper.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 419

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419. CHAPTER 9

1. Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth, and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit.

2. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.

3. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

4. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

5. And it was given them not to kill them, but to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.

6. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

7. The locusts in appearance were like horses prepared for battle, and on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.

8. They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth.

9. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle.

10. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails, and their power was to hurt men five months.

11. And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but who in Greek has the name Apollyon.

12. One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.

13. Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

14. saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."

15. And the four angels were released, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, to kill a third of mankind.

16. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million, and I heard the number of them.

17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision and those who sat on them, having breastplates that were fiery, hyacinthine and sulfurous; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.

18. By these three a third of mankind was killed - by the fire and smoke and brimstone coming out of their mouths.

19. Their power was in their mouth [and in their tails]; for their tails were like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm.

20. But the rest of mankind, who were not killed in these plagues, still did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.

21. And they did not repent of their murders or their enchantments or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter

An examination and disclosure of the state of life of those people in the Protestant Reformed church who are called learned and wise because of their defense of faith divorced from charity and of justification and salvation by it alone. This is the subject of verses 1-12.

An examination and disclosure of the state of life of those people in that church who are not so learned and wise, who are caught up in faith alone and live as they please. This is the subject of verses 13-19.

Finally, concerning people in that church who know only that faith is the whole means by which a person is saved, and nothing more beyond that. Verses 20, 21.

The Contents of the Individual Verses:

Verse ContentsSpiritual Meaning
1. Then the fifth angel sounded,An examination and disclosure of the state of life of those people in the Protestant Reformed Church who are called learned and wise because of their defense of faith divorced from charity and of justification and salvation by it alone.
and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth,Spiritual Divine truth flowing in from heaven into the church with them, examining and exposing them.
and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit.Their hell opened.
2. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace,Falsities accompanying the lusts of the natural self springing from those people's evil loves.
and the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.Therefore the light of truth became thick darkness.
3. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth,From them issued falsities of the lowest sort, such as are found in the case of people who have become sensual and who view and judge everything in accordance with the senses and their fallacies.
and to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.Their power to persuade that their falsities are true.
4. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.The Lord's Divinely providing that they be unable to take away any truth or good of faith, or any affection for or perception of these, from any others than people lacking in charity and so having no faith,
5. And it was given them not to kill them, but to torment them for five months,and that they also be unable to take away their faculty for understanding and willing truth and good, but be able only for a short time to induce a mental numbness,
and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.and this owing to their persuasiveness.
6. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.They wish the intellect to be closed and the will stopped up in matters of faith, which extinguishes spiritual light and life, but that this is impossible.
7. The locusts in appearanceThe appearance and likeness of those people who affirmed in themselves a faith divorced from charity,
were like horses prepared for battle,who because of their ability to reason appeared to themselves to be battling from an understanding of truth founded on the Word.
and on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold,They seemed to themselves to be conquerors.
and their faces were like the faces of men.They seemed to themselves to be wise.
8. They had hair like women's hair,They seemed to themselves to have an affection for truth.
and their teeth were like lions' teeth.Matters of the senses, which constitute the lowest elements of the natural self's life, appeared to them to have power over all else.
9. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron,Their arguments based on fallacies, with which they battled and prevailed, appeared to them too strong to be refuted.
and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle.Their reasonings, as though founded on doctrinal truths from the Word fully understood, which they had to ardently defend.
10. They had tails like scorpions,The Word's truths falsified, by which they induce a mental numbness.
and there were stings in their tails, and their power was to hurt men five months.Their clever falsifications of the Word, by which for a short time they darkened and enchanted the intellect, and so deceived and captivated it.
11. And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but who in Greek has the name Apollyon.Those caught up in falsities springing from lusts, who by a total falsification of the Word destroyed the church, are in a satanic hell.
12. One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.Further lamentations over the state of the church.
13. Then the sixth angel sounded,An examination and exposure of the state of life among those people in the Protestant Reformed Church who were not so wise, and yet who placed the whole of religion in faith, thinking of it alone and living as they pleased.
and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14. saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet,A command by the Lord out of the spiritual heaven to those who were to examine and expose it,
"Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."to remove from them external bonds, to enable the interiors of their minds to appear.
15. And the four angels were released,When the external bonds were removed, the interiors of their minds became apparent.
who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, to kill a third of mankind.Their being in a perpetual effort to take away spiritual light and life from the people of the church.
16. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million,Their reasonings concerning faith alone, with which they had filled the interiors of the minds, springing from nothing but an abundance of falsities accompanying evil.
and I heard the number of them.Their character perceived.
17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision and those who sat on them,The discovery then that the reasonings of the interiors of their minds concerning faith alone were fanciful and illusory, and that they themselves were insane because of them.
having breastplates that were fiery, hyacinthine and sulfurous;Their fanciful and illusory arguments springing from a hellish love and their own inherent intelligence, and from the attendant lusts.
and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions;Their delusions with respect to faith alone, as though they had power.
and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.Interiorly regarded, their thoughts and discourses contained nothing else, and issuing from them was nothing but a love of self and the world, a conceit in their own intelligence, and from these two the lusts attendant on evil and falsity.
18. By these three a third of mankind was killed - by the fire and smoke and brimstone coming out of their mouths.It is because of these that the people of the church perish.
19. Their power was in their mouthThey prevailed only by their discourse affirming faith.
[and in their tails,] for their tails were like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm.The reason being that they are sensual and turned upside down, speaking truths with their mouths, but falsifying them by the postulate which forms the chief tenet of their religion, and thus deceiving others.
20. But the rest of mankind, who were not killed in these plagues,Those people in the Protestant Reformed Church who were not as spiritually dead as the former were because of their illusory reasonings and love of self, a conceit in their own intelligence, and the attendant lusts, and yet who made faith alone the chief tenet of their religion.
still did not repent of the works of their hands,Nor did they refrain from their native proclivities, which are evils of every kind, as being sins.
so as not to worship demons,Thus they were caught up in the evils of their lusts, and acted in concert with their like in hell.
and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood,Thus they engage in worship founded on nothing but falsities,
which can neither see nor hear nor walk.which do not have in them any spiritual or truly rational life.
21. And they did not repent of their murders or their enchantments or their sexual immorality or their thefts.The heretical belief in faith alone induces in their hearts stupidity, backsliding, and intransigence, so that they give no thought to the Ten Commandments, not even to any sin as something to be shunned because it is on the side of the Devil and against God.

THE EXPOSITION

Then the fifth angel sounded. (9:1) This symbolizes an examination and disclosure of the state of life of those people in the Protestant Reformed Church who are called learned and wise because of their defense of faith divorced from charity and of justification and salvation by it alone.

That this is the subject in what follows now up to verse 12, is clear from the several particulars, understood in their spiritual sense.

To sound a trumpet means, symbolically, to examine and expose the state of the church and consequent life in people for whom religion is faith alone, as may be seen in no. 397 above.

  
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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.

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Romans 2:25-27

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25 For circumcision indeed profits, if you are a doer of the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

26 If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the law, won't his uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision?

27 Won't the uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfills the law, judge you, who with the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the law?