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民數記 16

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1 利未的曾孫、哥轄的孫子、以斯哈的兒子可拉,和流便子孫中以利押的兒子大坍、亞比蘭,與比勒的兒子安,

2 以色列會中的二五十個首領,就是有名望選入會中的人,在摩西面前一同起來

3 聚集攻擊摩西亞倫:你們擅自專權!全會眾個個既是聖潔,耶和華也在他們中間,你們為甚麼自高,超過耶和華的會眾呢?

4 摩西見這話就俯伏在地,

5 可拉和他一黨的人:到了早晨耶和華必指示誰是屬他的,誰是聖潔的,就叫誰親近他;他所揀選的是誰,必叫誰親近他。

6 可拉阿,你們要這樣行,你和你的一黨要拿香爐來。

7 明日,在耶和華面前,把盛在爐中,把香放在其上。耶和華揀選誰,誰就為聖潔。你們這利未的子孫擅自專權了!

8 摩西又對可拉:利未的子孫哪,你們

9 以色列的以色列會中將你們分別出來,使你們親近他,辦耶和華帳幕的事,並站在會眾面前替他們當差。

10 耶和華又使你和你一切弟兄─利未的子孫─一同親近他,這豈為小事?你們還要求祭司的職任麼?

11 你和你一黨的人聚集是要攻擊耶和華亞倫算甚麼,你們竟向他發怨言呢?

12 摩西打發人去召以利押的兒子大坍、亞比蘭。他們:我們不上去!

13 你將我們從流奶與蜜之領上來,要在曠野殺我們,這豈為小事?你還要自立為王轄管我們麼?

14 並且你沒有將我們領到流奶與蜜之,也沒有把田葡萄園我們為業。難道你要剜這些人的眼睛麼?我們不上去!

15 摩西就甚發怒,對耶和華:求你不要享受他們的供物。我並沒有奪過他們,也沒有害過他們個人。

16 摩西可拉:明天,你和你一黨的人,並亞倫,都要站在耶和華面前;

17 要拿一個香爐,共二五十個,把香放在上面,到耶和華面前。你和亞倫也各拿自己的香爐。

18 於是他們各拿一個香爐,盛上,加上香,同摩西亞倫站在會幕前。

19 可拉招聚全會眾會幕前,要攻擊摩西、亞倫;耶和華的榮光就向全會眾顯現。

20 耶和華曉諭摩西亞倫

21 你們離開這會眾,我好在轉眼之間把他們滅絕。

22 摩西、亞倫就俯伏在地,,萬之靈的阿,犯罪,你就要向全會眾發怒麼?

23 耶和華曉諭摩西

24 你吩咐會眾:你們離開可拉、大坍、亞比蘭帳棚的四圍。

25 摩西起來,往大坍、亞比蘭那裡去;以色列的長老也隨著他去。

26 他吩咐會眾:你們離開這惡人的帳棚罷,他們的物件,甚麼都不可摸,恐怕你們陷在他們的中,與他們一同消滅。

27 於是眾人離開可拉、大坍、亞比蘭帳棚的四圍。大坍、亞比蘭帶著妻子、兒女、小孩子,都出來,站在自己的帳棚口。

28 摩西:我行的這一切事本不是憑我自己意行的,乃是耶和華打發我行的,必有證據使你們知道

29 這些人若與世人無異,或是他們所遭的與世人相同,就不是耶和華打發我來的。

30 倘若耶和華創作一件新事,使地開,把他們和一切屬他們的都吞下去,叫他們活活的墜落陰間,你們就明白這些人是藐視耶和華了。

31 摩西剛說完了這一切,他們腳的地就開了口,

32 把他們和他們的家眷,並一切屬可拉的人丁、財物,都吞下去。

33 這樣,他們和一切屬他們的,都活活的墜落陰間;口在他們上頭照舊合閉,他們就從會中滅亡。

34 在他們四圍的以色列眾人聽他們呼號,就都逃跑:恐怕也把我們吞下去。

35 又有耶和華那裡出來,燒滅了那獻香的二五十

36 耶和華曉諭摩西

37 你吩咐祭司亞倫的兒子以利亞撒從中撿起那些香爐來,把撒在別處,因為那些香爐是的。

38 把那些犯罪、自害己命之人的香爐,叫人錘成片子,用以包。那些香爐本是他們在耶和華面前獻過的,所以是的,並且可以給以色列人作記號。

39 於是祭司以利亞撒將被燒之人所獻的銅香爐拿來,人就錘出來,用以包

40 以色列人紀念,使亞倫後裔之外的不得近前來在耶和華面前燒香,免得他遭可拉和他一黨所遭的。這乃是照耶和華藉著摩西所吩咐的。

41 第二天,以色列全會眾都向摩西亞倫發怨言說:你們殺了耶和華的百姓了。

42 會眾聚集攻擊摩西亞倫的時候,向會幕,不料,有彩遮蓋了,耶和華的榮光顯現。

43 摩西亞倫會幕前。

44 耶和華吩咐摩西

45 你們離開這會眾,我好在轉眼之間把他們滅絕。他們二人就俯伏於地。

46 摩西亞倫:拿你的香爐,把上的盛在其中,又加上香,快快帶到會眾那裡,為他們贖罪;因為有忿怒從耶和華那裡出來,瘟疫已經發作了。

47 亞倫照著摩西的拿來,跑到會中,不料,瘟疫在百姓中已經發作了。他就加上香,為百姓贖罪。

48 他站在活人人中間,瘟疫就止住了。

49 除了因可拉事情的以外,遭瘟疫的,共有一萬四人。

50 亞倫回到會幕口,到摩西那裡,瘟疫已經止住了。

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 10044

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10044. 'On the ram's head' means, to the whole of it. This is clear from the meaning of 'the head' as the whole person, thus the whole [of the good of innocence in the internal man], dealt with in 10011. The reason why 'the head' means the whole is that it is highest and holds the inmost part of a person within it; and what is highest is the fountainhead of everything below it, just as what is inmost is the hub of everything outside it. For what lies outside or below is dependent on that which is inmost or highest. What is inmost in the human being is his will and understanding; these have their beginnings in the head. What flows from these inner powers is activity, that is, effects which they generate in the body. When therefore will and understanding are mentioned the whole person should be understood, for it is by virtue of these that a person is a person. The actions performed by the body also owe their entire nature to the will; and this is why a person is not regarded from the point of view of bodily actions or deeds but from that of the will within them. This being so, soul is used in the Word to mean the whole person, and a person is called a soul, as in Leviticus 4:27; 5:1, 4, 17; 6:2; 17:10, 15, and elsewhere.

[2] There are two things that mean the whole, namely the highest and the lowest. The reason why the lowest or last also has this meaning is that all interior things, beginning with the first or highest, terminate in those that are lowest and exist together there, see 9828, 9836. So it is that the highest by means of the lowest holds all the interior or intermediate things in connection and form, in order that they may all have the same end in view, 9828. The fact that the lowest also means the whole is clear from very many places in the Word, such as those which speak of the whole person as 'flesh', for example, Genesis 6:12; Numbers 16:22; 27:16; Isaiah 40:5; Zechariah 2:13, and elsewhere.

[3] Since the last things also mean all or the whole, the hair on the head, hair on the body, and the beard, which are last or outermost things growing out of a person's body, are used to mean those things, as also are the feet, or rather the toes on them, and the fingers on the hands. The fact that the hair on the head, hair on the body, and the beard have this meaning is clear in Isaiah,

On that day the Lord will shave with a razor - by means of the king of Asshur - the head, the hair of the feet, and also the beard. Isaiah 7:20.

'The king of Asshur' means reasoning, the kind that is used by people to destroy Divine things, 1186. 'Shaving the head, the hair of the feet, and the beard' means taking lowest things away, for when these have been taken away those within fall apart and perish. This also was why a priest was forbidden to shave his head, Leviticus 21:10, as was a Nazirite, whose hair according to Numbers 6:7 was called the Naziriteship of God, 6437, 9407, and is what 'the crown of the head of the Nazirite among [his] brothers', Genesis 49:25-26; Deuteronomy 33:16, should be taken to mean. Therefore also it says in Matthew 10:30 that the hairs of one's head are all numbered, meaning that every single thing in a person is so 'numbered', and in Luke 21:18 that not a hair on one's head will perish.

[4] The fact that the feet, the toes on them, and the fingers on the hands mean all things and so the whole is clear in John,

Peter said, Lord, You shall not wash my feet only, but also my hands and head. Jesus said to him, He who has been washed has no need except to wash his feet, and the whole person is clean. John 13:9-10.

'Feet' are the natural, which is last, 2162, 3147, 4938-4952, 9406. And in the following words of the present chapter,

You shall put some of the ram's blood on the tip of Aaron's ear, and on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot. Verse 20.

That is, it was to be put on every single thing, meant by 'ear', 'hand', and 'foot'.

[5] Since highest and lowest, or what amounts to the same thing, first and last, equally mean every single thing, or the whole with all its parts, the Lord's Omnipotence and Omniscience is described by the words stating that He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega, Revelation 1:8; 21:6; 22:13; Isaiah 41:4.

[6] The situation in which all things are held in connection and stand together, from that which is first or highest through to those that are last or lowest, is described in the following words in Isaiah,

I am the First and I am the Last, indeed My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand measured out heaven. I am summoning them; they stand together. Isaiah 48:12-13.

Jehovah's or the Lord's 'hand' and 'right hand' mean His almighty power, 'the earth' which He laid the foundation of is that which is last, 'heaven' which He stretched out is that which is between the first and the last, 'summoning them, that they may stand together' is holding all the interior things in connection and in form by means of what is last, that they may have a single end in view. This single end to be held in view is He who is the First and the Last. That this is the Lord is clear in Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, I am the First and I am the Last. Isaiah 44:6.

'The King of Israel' is the Lord, John 18:37, and so, as is self-evident, is 'his Redeemer'. And in the Book of Revelation,

These things says the First and the Last, who was dead and came to life. Revelation 2:8.

[7] The truth that what is first holds all things in connection by means of what is last may be recognized from the Word and from humanness. In the case of the Word its last and lowest things are its literal sense; that which is first and highest is the Lord; and the interior things within it are its internal sense, which the heavens perceive and which causes those who are there to have the same end in view, namely the Lord. Regarding this arcanum, see 9360, 9824.

[8] As to humanness, this as it exists in the things that are last is the Church on earth; as it exists in that which is first it is the Lord; and as it exists in the interior things it is heaven. For in the Lord's sight the Church and heaven are like one human being; therefore heaven is called the Grand Man, which has been the subject at the ends of a number of chapters, see the places referred to in 10030 (end). There is an unbroken connection, and an influx in keeping with that connection, of all things from the Lord through the heavens to the Church on earth. By the heavens the angels who are there should be understood; by the Church people who are true members of the Church; and by humanness as it exists in that which is first the Lord in respect of His Divine Human. The truth that what is first by means of what is last holds all things in connection and makes them stand as one is meant by the Lord's words in Isaiah quoted above,

I am the First and I am the Last, indeed My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand measured out heaven. I summoning them, they stand together. Isaiah 48:12-13.

The fact that 'the earth' is used in the Word to mean the Church has also been shown on many occasions, see the places referred to in 9325.

[9] An idea of this matter may be had from what is last or outermost with a person and what is inmost. His outermost is the skin, his inmost the heart, while the things in between or his interiors are the organs of the body. From the heart all the way to the skin by way of the organs there is an unbroken connection through blood vessels; for these emanate from the heart and end in the skin. The skin is self-evidently the last or outermost part holding the interior things in connection, for when the skin has been taken away the interiors fall apart.

[10] From all this it may be seen why it is that just as what is highest or inmost means every single thing, so too does what is lowest or last. Also evident from it all is the arcanum of why the Lord also glorified His Human right down to its last and lowest levels, called the bones and flesh, which explains why the Lord told His disciples, who thought that they were seeing a spirit,

See My hands and My feet, that it is I; handle Me and see; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see Me having. Luke 24:37, 39.

It is well recognized that Divinity itself was the First in Him, for He was conceived from Jehovah, and what is conceived from the father is pre-eminently first in a person. The truth that the Lord also glorified the last and lowest levels of His Human in which they co-exist is evident from His words recorded in those verses, and also from the fact that He left nothing of His Human in the tomb. It is true of spiritual things as well that interior things terminate and come to rest in last and lowest ones in which they co-exist, and that the last hold the interior ones in connection, see 9216, 9828. Therefore the lowest things have might and power within them, 9836, and for the same reason have holiness within them, 9824; and revelations are made and answers are given in them, 9905.

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