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以西結書 20

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1 第七年五初十日,有以色列的幾個長老求問耶和華在我面前。

2 耶和華的臨到我說:

3 人子啊,你要告訴以色列的長老耶和華如此:你們是求問我麼?耶和華:我指著我的永生起誓,我必不被你們求問。

4 人子啊,你要審問審問他們麼?你當使他們知道他們列祖那些可憎的事,

5 對他們耶和華如此:當日我揀選以色列,向雅各家的後裔起誓,在埃及將自己向他們顯現,:我是耶和華─你們的

6 那日我向他們起誓,必領他們出埃及,到我為他們察看的流奶與蜜之;那在萬國中是有榮耀的。

7 我對他們,你們各要拋棄眼所喜愛那可憎之物,不可因埃及偶像玷污自己。我是耶和華─你們的

8 他們卻悖逆我,不肯從我,不拋棄他們眼所喜愛那可憎之物,不離棄埃及偶像。我就,我要將我的忿怒傾在他們身上,在埃及向他們成就我怒中所定的。

9 我卻為我名的緣故沒有這樣行,免得我名在他們所住的列國人眼前被褻瀆;我領他們出埃及,在這列國人的眼前將自己向他們顯現。

10 這樣,我就使他們出埃及,領他們到曠野,

11 將我的律例賜他們,將我的典章指示他們;人若遵行就必因此活著。

12 又將我的安息日賜他們,好在我與他們中間為證據,使他們知道我─耶和華是叫他們成為的。

13 以色列家卻在曠野悖逆我,不順從我的律例,厭棄我的典章(人若遵行就必因此活著),大大干犯我的安息日。我就,要在曠野將我的忿怒傾在他們身上,滅絕他們。

14 我卻為我名的緣故,沒有這樣行,免得我的名在我領他們出埃及的列國人眼前被褻瀆。

15 並且我在曠野向他們起誓,必不領他們進入我所賜他們流奶與蜜之(那在萬國中是有榮耀的);

16 因為他們厭棄我的典章,不順從我的律例,干犯我的安息日,他們的隨從自己的偶像

17 雖然如此,我眼仍顧惜他們,不毀滅他們,不在曠野將他們滅絕淨盡。

18 我在曠野對他們的兒女:不要遵行你們父親的律例,不要謹守他們的惡規,也不要因他們的偶像玷污自己。

19 我是耶和華─你們的,你們要順從我的律例,謹守遵行我的典章,

20 且以我的安息日為。這日在我與你們中間為證據,使你們知道我是耶和華─你們的

21 只是他們的兒女悖逆我,不順從我的律例,也不謹守遵行我的典章(人若遵行就必因此活著),干犯我的安息日。我就,要將我的忿怒傾在他們身上,在曠野向他們成就我怒中所定的。

22 雖然如此,我卻為我名的緣故縮沒有這樣行,免得我的名在我領他們出埃及的列國人眼前被褻瀆。

23 並且我在曠野向他們起誓,必將他們分散在列國,四散在列邦;

24 因為他們不遵行我的典章,竟厭棄我的律例,干犯我的安息日,眼目仰望他們父親偶像

25 我也任他們遵行不美的律例,謹守不能使人活著的惡規。

26 因他們將一切頭生的經火,我就任憑他們在這供獻的事上玷污自己,好叫他們淒涼,使他們知道我是耶和華

27 人子啊,你要告訴以色列耶和華如此:你們的列祖在得罪我的事上褻瀆我;

28 因為我領他們到了我起誓應許賜他們的,他們見各山、各茂密,就在那裡獻祭,奉上惹我發怒的供物,也在那裡焚燒馨的祭牲,並澆上奠祭。

29 我就對他們:你們所上的那甚麼呢?(那處的名字巴麻直到今日。)

30 所以你要對以色列耶和華如此:你們仍照你們列祖所行的玷污自己麼?仍照他們可憎的事行邪淫麼?

31 你們奉上供物使你們兒子的時候,仍將一切偶像玷污自己,直到今日麼?以色列家啊,我豈被你們求問麼?耶和華:我指著我的永生起誓,我必不被你們求問。

32 你們:我們要像外邦人和列國的宗族一樣,去事奉頭與石頭。你們所起的這心意萬不能成就。

33 耶和華:我指著我的永生起誓,我總要作王,用大能的和伸出來的膀,並傾出來的忿怒,治理你們。

34 我必用大能的和伸出來的膀,並傾出來的忿怒,將你們從萬民中領出來,從分散的列國內聚集你們。

35 我必你們到外邦人的曠野,在那裡當面刑罰你們。

36 我怎樣在埃及的曠野刑罰你們的列祖,也必照樣刑罰你們。這是耶和華的。

37 我必使你們從杖經過,使你們被約拘束。

38 我必從你們中間除淨叛逆和得罪我的人,將他們從所寄居的方領出,他們卻不得入以色列。你們就知道我是耶和華

39 以色列家啊,至於你們,耶和華如此:從此以若不從我,就任憑你們去事奉偶像,只是不可再因你們的供物和偶像褻瀆我的名。

40 耶和華:在我的,就是以色列處的,所有以色列的全家都要事奉我。我要在那裡悅納你們,向你們要供物和初熟的土產,並一切的物。

41 我從萬民中領你們出來,從分散的列國內聚集你們,那時我必悅納你們好像馨之祭,要在外邦人眼前在你們身上顯為

42 我領你們進入以色列,就是我起誓應許賜你們列祖之,那時你們就知道我是耶和華

43 你們在那裡要追念玷污自己的行動作為,又要因所做的一切惡事厭惡自己。

44 耶和華以色列家啊,我為我名的緣故,不照著你們的惡行和你們的壞事待你們;你們就知道我是耶和華

45 耶和華的臨到我說:

46 人子啊,你要面向南方,向南滴下預言攻擊方田野的樹林。

47 方的,要耶和華的耶和華如此:我必使在你中間著起,燒滅你中間的一切青和枯,猛烈的燄必不熄滅。從,人的臉面都被燒焦。

48 凡有血氣的都必知道是我─耶和華使火著起,這火必不熄滅。

49 於是我:哎!耶和華啊,人都指著我:他豈不是比喻的麼?

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 183

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183. These things saith He that hath the seven spirits of God, signifies the Lord from whom are all the truths of heaven and of the church. This may appear from the fact that it is the Lord who is meant, because it is the Son of man who said these things, as well as those said to the angels of the other churches; and the Son of man is the Lord in respect to the Divine Human (See n. 63, 151). By "the seven spirits of God" all the truths of heaven and of the church are meant, because "the Spirit of God" in the Word signifies Divine truth proceeding from the Lord. "Spirit" is mentioned in many passages in the Word, and "spirit," when used in reference to man, signifies Divine truth received in the life, thus it signifies man's spiritual life; but in reference to the Lord, by "spirit" is meant the Divine that proceeds from Him, which is called by the general term Divine truth. But since few at this day know what is meant by "spirit" in the Word, I will first show by passages from the Word that "spirit," in reference to man, signifies Divine truth received in the life, thus man's spiritual life. But because there are two things that constitute man's spiritual life, namely, the good of love and the truth of faith, in many passages in the Word mention is made of "heart and spirit," and also of "heart and soul;" and by "heart" the good of love is signified, and by "spirit" the truth of faith; the latter is also signified by "soul," for this means in the Word man's spirit.

[2] That "spirit," in reference to man, signifies truth received in the life, is clear from the following passages. In Ezekiel:

Make you a new heart and a new spirit; why will ye die, O house of Israel (Ezekiel 18:31).

In the same:

A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I give in the midst of you (Ezekiel 36:26).

And in David:

Create for me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in the midst of me. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart God doth not despise (Psalms 51:10, 17).

In these passages "heart" signifies the good of love, and "spirit" the truth of faith, from which man has spiritual life; for there are two things that make all of man's life, namely, good and truth; these two when united in man make his spiritual life.

[3] As "heart" signifies good, and "spirit" truth, both received in the life, so "heart," in the contrary sense, signifies evil, and "spirit" falsity; for most expressions in the Word have also a contrary sense. In this sense "heart" and "spirit" are mentioned, in David:

A generation that doth not set its heart aright, neither is its spirit steadfast with God (Psalms 78:8).

And in Ezekiel:

Every heart shall melt, and every spirit shall faint (Ezekiel 21:7).

In Moses:

Jehovah hardened the spirit of the king of Heshbon, and confirmed his heart (Deuteronomy 2:30).

In Isaiah:

Conceive chaff, bring forth stubble; your spirit fire shall devour (Isaiah 33:11).

In Ezekiel:

Woe unto the foolish prophets that go away after their own spirit (Ezekiel 13:3).

In the same:

That which ascendeth upon your spirit shall never come to pass (Ezekiel 20:32).

[4] From this it is clear that the whole of man's life is meant by "heart and spirit;" and as his whole life refers itself to these two, namely, to good and truth, and in a spiritual sense to love and faith, so these two lives of man are meant by "heart and spirit." From this also it is that "heart and spirit" signify the will and the understanding of man; since these two faculties in man make all his life; nowhere else than in these has man life; and for the reason that the will is the receptacle of good and its love, or of evil and its love; and the understanding is the receptacle of truth and 1 its faith, or of falsity and its faith; and as has been said, all things with man refer themselves to good and truth, or to evil and falsity, and in a spiritual sense to love and faith (See The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 28-35). In reference to man, "spirit" signifies truth or falsity, and man's life from one or the other; because by "spirit" is meant especially the spirit that is in man and that thinks, and it thinks 2 either from truths or from falsities. But as was said just above, there are two things that make the life of man, understanding and will; the life of the understanding is to think either from truths or from falsities, and the life of the will is to affect or inflame with love those things that the understanding thinks. These two lives of man correspond to the two lives of his body, which are the life of the respiration of the lungs, and the life of the pulse of the heart; it is by this correspondence that spirit and body with man are united (See above, n. 167); and in the work on Heaven and Hell 446-447).

[5] Because of this correspondence the word that means spirit in the Hebrew, as well as in many other languages, means wind or breath; so also to expire [to breathe out] is expressed by the term "to give up the spirit [breath, or ghost];" and this also in the Word; as in David:

I gathered in 3 their spirit, he expired (Psalms 104:29).

In Ezekiel:

The Lord Jehovih said to the dry bones, Behold I bring spirit into you, that ye may live; and the Lord Jehovih said, From the four winds come, O spirit, and breathe into these slain; and the spirit came into them, and they revived (Ezekiel 37:5, 9-10).

In Revelation:

The two witnesses were slain by the beast that cometh up out of the abyss; but after the three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them, so that they stood upon their feet (Revelation 11:7, 11).

In Luke:

Jesus, taking the hand of the dead girl, called, saying, Maiden, arise. Therefore her spirit came again, and she rose up immediately (Luke 8:54-55).

[6] When these passages are understood it can be seen what "spirit" signifies, when predicated of man, in many places in the Word, of which I will cite only these. In John:

Except one be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth; so is everyone that is born of the spirit (John 3:5, 8).

The Lord breathed on the disciples, and said, Receive ye the Holy Spirit (John 20:22).

And in the book of Genesis:

Jehovah breathed into man's nostrils the breath of lives (Genesis 2:7);

besides other places.

[7] That "spirit," in the spiritual sense, signifies truth, and man's life therefrom, which is intelligence, is clear from the following passages. In John:

The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth (John 4:23).

In Daniel:

In him was an excellent spirit of knowledge and understanding. I have heard of thee that the spirit of God is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee (Daniel 5:12, 14).

In Moses:

Thou shalt speak to all the wise in heart, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom (Exodus 28:3).

In Luke:

John grew, and waxed strong in spirit (Luke 1:80).

And concerning the Lord:

The child Jesus grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was filled with wisdom (Luke 2:40).

[8] When it is known what "spirit," in reference to man, signifies, it can be known what it signifies when predicated of Jehovah or the Lord, to whom are attributed all things that a man has, as face, eyes, ears, arms, hands, as also heart and soul, and so also a spirit, which in the Word is called "the Spirit of God," "the Spirit of Jehovah," "the Spirit of His nostrils," "the Spirit of His mouth," "the Spirit of truth," "the Spirit of holiness," and "the Holy Spirit." That "spirit" means Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is plain from many passages in the Word. Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is "the Spirit of God," because from it men have all their life; and those who receive that Divine truth in faith and life have heavenly life. That this is "the Spirit of God" the Lord Himself teaches. In John:

The words that I speak unto you are spirit and are life (John 6:63).

In Isaiah:

There went forth 4 a shoot out of the stock of Jesse; the spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and intelligence, the spirit of counsel and of might (Isaiah 11:1, 2). In the same:

I have given My spirit unto Him: He shall bring forth judgment to the nations (Isaiah 42:1).

In the same:

He shall come like a flood; the spirit of Jehovah shall lift up a standard against Him (Isaiah 59:19).

In the same:

The spirit of the Lord Jehovih is upon me, therefore Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor (Isaiah 61:1). In John:

He whom the Father hath sent speaketh the words of God, for not by measure hath God given the spirit (John 3:34).

These things are said of the Lord.

[9] That the Holy Spirit is Divine truth proceeding from the Lord can be seen in John:

I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go away I will send Him unto you. When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He shall guide you into all truth; He shall not speak from Himself, but He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you (John 16:7, 13, 14).

That "the Comforter (Paraclete)" here is Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is plainly evident, for it is said that the Lord Himself spoke to them the "truth," and that, when He should go away, He would send the Comforter, the "Spirit of truth," who should "guide them into all truth," and that He would "not speak from Himself," but from the Lord. It is said "He shall take of Mine," because Divine truth proceeds from the Lord, and what proceeds is called "Mine;" for the Lord Himself is Divine love; and what proceeds from Him is Divine truth, thus it is His (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 139, 140, and the preceding numbers; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 307). "Being sent" and "sending" mean proceeding and going forth (See Arcana Coelestia., n. 2397, 4710, 6831, 10561); the same is meant here by "I will send Him to you." That "the Comforter" is the Holy Spirit is evident in John:

The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, He shall teach you all things (John 14:26).

[10] In the same:

Jesus cried with a great voice, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. This He saith of the spirit which they that believe on Him were to receive; the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:37-39).

It is clear from this that the Holy Spirit is Divine truth, proceeding from the Lord, which flows in with man, both immediately from the Lord Himself and mediately through angels and spirits; for the Lord says first, that "he who believes on Him, out of His belly shall flow rivers of living water," and then that "He spake this of the spirit which they were to receive;" for "water" in the spiritual sense, signifies truth, and "rivers of living water," Divine truth from the Lord in abundance; the like is therefore meant by "the spirit which they were to receive." (That "water" signifies truth," and "living water" Divine truth," see above, n. 71.) And as Divine truth proceeds from the glorified Human of the Lord and not immediately from the Divine Itself, for this was glorified in Itself from eternity, so it is here said, "the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified." That to "glorify" is to make Divine, and that the Lord fully glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine by His last temptation and victory on the cross, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 293-295, 300-306).

[11] It is greatly wondered at in heaven that the man of the church does not know that the Holy Spirit, which is Divine truth, proceeds from the Lord's Human, and not immediately from His Divine, when yet the doctrine received in the whole Christian world teaches that:

As is the Father so also is the Son, uncreate, infinite, eternal, omnipotent, God, Lord; neither of them first or last, nor greatest or least. Christ is God and man: God from the nature of the Father, and man from the nature of the mother; but although He is God and man, yet they are not two, but one Christ; He is one, but not by changing the Divine into the Human but the Divine took the Human to Itself. He is altogether one, not by a mingling of two natures, but He is a single person, because as body and soul are one man, so God and man is one Christ. (This from the Creed of Athanasius).

Now as the Divine and the Human of the Lord are not two, but a single person, and are united as soul and body, it may be known that the Divine which is called the Holy Spirit goes out and proceeds from His Divine through the Human, thus from the Divine Human; for nothing whatever can go forth from the body except from the soul through the body, since all the life of the body is from its soul. And since "As is the Father so is the Son, uncreate, infinite, eternal, omnipotent, God and Lord, and neither of them is first or last, nor greatest nor least," it follows that the proceeding Divine, which is called the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Divine Itself of the Lord through His Human, and not from another Divine that is called the Father; for the Lord teaches that the Father and He are one, and that the Father is in Him and He in the Father (See below, n. 200. But the reason why most of those in the Christian world think otherwise in their hearts, and thence believe otherwise, is, the angels said, because they think of the Lord's Human as separate from His Divine, although this is contrary to the doctrine which teaches that the Divine and the Human of the Lord are not two persons, but a single person, united as soul and body. That this should be the doctrine of the whole Christian world was provided by the Lord, because it is the essential of the church, and the essential of the salvation of all. But they have divided the Divine and the Human of the Lord into two natures, and have said that the Lord is God from the nature of the Father, and man from the nature of the mother, because they do not know that when the Lord fully glorified His Human He put off the human from the mother, and put on a Human from the Father (according to what is shown in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 295. That this distinction was made in a certain council by those who were there, for the pope's sake, that he might be acknowledged as the Lord's vicar, see Arcana Coelestia 4738).

[12] That the "Spirit of God" is Divine truth, and thence spiritual life to the man who receives it, is further evident from these passages. In Micah:

I am full of power with the spirit of Jehovah and of judgment (Micah 3:8).

And in Isaiah:

I will pour out waters upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground, and My spirit upon thy seed (Isaiah 44:3).

In that day shall Jehovah Zebaoth be for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for might to them (Isaiah 28:5-6.

In Ezekiel:

And ye shall know that I will put my spirit in you that ye may live (Ezekiel 37:14).

In Joel:

I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh, and upon the menservants and upon the maidservants (Joel 2:28).

In Revelation:

The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10).

Since the "Spirit of God" signifies Divine truth, it is called:

The spirit of the mouth of Jehovah (Psalms 33:6);

The spirit of His lips (Isaiah 11:4);

The breath of God and the spirit of His nostrils (Lamentations 4:20; Psalms 18:16; Job 4:9).

In Matthew:

John said, I baptize you with water unto repentance; but He that cometh after me, He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11).

In the spiritual sense, "to baptize" signifies to regenerate; the "Holy Spirit" is Divine truth, and "fire" Divine good. (That to "baptize" signifies to regenerate, see above, n. 71; and that "fire" signifies the good of love, n. 68)

[13] From this it can now be seen what is meant by the words of the Lord to His disciples:

Go ye, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).

Here "the Father" is the Divine Itself, "the Son" is the Divine Human, and "the Holy Spirit" is the proceeding Divine which is Divine truth; thus there is one Divine, and yet there is a trine. That this is so the Lord teaches in John:

Henceforth ye know the Father, and have seen Him. He that seeth Me seeth the Father. I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:7, 9-10).

[14] Since the proceeding Divine, which is Divine truth, flows in with men immediately, as well as mediately through angels and spirits, it is believed that the Holy Spirit is a third person, distinct from the two called Father and Son. But I can affirm that no one in heaven knows any other Holy Divine than the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord. And since Divine truth is also communicated to men mediately through angels, it is said in David:

Jehovah God maketh His angels spirits (Psalms 104:1, 4).

These passages have been cited that it may be known that "the seven spirits" signify all the truths of heaven and of the church from the Lord. It is made still more manifest that "the seven spirits" are all the truths of heaven and of the church, from these passages in Revelation:

The seven lamps of fire burning before the throne are the seven spirits of God (Revelation 4:5).

And further:

In the midst of the elders a Lamb standing, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth (Revelation 5:6).

It is plain that the spirits here are not spirits, from the fact that the "lamps" and the "eyes of the Lamb" are called spirits. "Lamps" signify Divine truths, and "eyes" the understanding of truth; and when predicated of the Lord, His Divine wisdom and intelligence (See above, n. 152).

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. The Latin has "or," but the context requires "and."

2. The Latin for "thinks either" has "either thinks either."

3. For "I gathered in" the Hebrew has "thou gatherest in. "

4. For "there went forth," the Hebrew has, "There shall go forth," as found in Arcana Coelestia 2826[1-14], 9818; Apocalypse Revealed 46, 962.

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