1154. “亚实基拿, 利法, 陀迦玛” 是具有这类敬拜的众多民族, 也表源于歌篾所具有的外在敬拜的众多教义, 也就是仪式. 这同样从提及这些民族的先知书清楚可知. 他们各方面都表教义或仪式, 通常具有两种意义, 有时具有正面意义, 有时具有反面意义. 如耶利米书提及的 “亚实基拿”:

要在地上竖立大旗, 在各族中吹角; 祝圣各族攻击巴比伦, 使亚拉腊, 米尼, 亚实基拿各国听到攻击她. (耶利米书 51:27)

这论及巴比伦的毁灭, “亚实基拿” 表它的偶像崇拜, 或毁灭巴比伦的脱离内在的外在敬拜. 它尤表虚假的教义, 因而具有反面意义. 以西结书提及的 “陀迦玛”:

雅完人, 土巴人, 米设人都与你交易人的灵魂, 他们用铜器兑换你的货物. 陀迦玛族用马和战马并骡子兑换你的货物. (以西结书 27:13-14)

这论及推罗, 推罗代表拥有对属天和属灵事物的认知之人. 和前面一样, “雅完人, 土巴人, 米设人” 表各种代表性或相应的仪式; “陀迦玛族” 也表这些. 前者的外在仪式涉及属天事物, 而后者的外在仪式则涉及属灵事物, 这从他们所交易货物的含义明显可知. 他们在此具有正面意义. 同一先知书:

歌篾人和他的全军, 北方极处的陀迦玛族和他的全军. (以西结书 38:6)

此处, 他们表歪曲的教义, 也就是 “北方极处” 所指的. 歌篾人和陀迦玛族在此具有反面意义.

Stones in the Bible in general represent truths, or things we know concerning the Lord and what He wants from us and for us in life. This is why the people of Israel built altars of stone, and is also why stoning was a principal form of capital punishment (using truth to destroy falsity, or in the negative sense using falsity to destroy truth). It is also why precious stones are described in such detail on Aaron's breastplate and ephod, and also in the New Jerusalem in Revelation; precious stones represent true ideas directly from the Lord with the various colors showing various forms of love. Stones are not alone in representing truth, of course -- it sometimes seems that almost everything in the Bible represents either true ideas or desires for good. But that makes sense, since our thoughts and our desires together are everything we are in life, and the interplay between them is what life is all about. The many ways they are represented in the Bible reflect the incredible variety in our feelings and thoughts, though we can only distantly understand how those representations work. In the case of stones, in their weight, strength and permanence they tend to represent true ideas that come from a desire for good, the understanding we can have if we are truly good and loving -- and in the highest sense the exalted ideas that come from the Lord's love. Those ideas are ones that are not easily moved or changed, and make wonderful foundations for the things we want to build in our spiritual lives.