真实的基督教 # 93
93. 因為迦百列對瑪利亞說:"從你生出的聖者將被稱為上帝的兒子。"我現在就從聖言中列舉經句來說明, 以祂的人身顯現的主就是那所稱的"聖者":
我在異象觀看; 看, 一位守望者, 一位聖者, 從天而降(但以理書4:13, 23)。上帝從提幔而來, 聖者從巴蘭山臨到(哈巴穀書3:3)。我是耶和華聖者, 以色列的創造者, 你們的聖者(以賽亞書43:14-15)。以色列的救贖主, 他的聖者, 如此說(以賽亞書49:7)。我是耶和華你的上帝, 以色列的聖者, 你的救主(以賽亞書43:1, 3)。至於我們的救贖主, 萬軍之耶和華是祂的名, 以色列的聖者(以賽亞書47:4)。耶和華你的救贖主說, 以色列的聖者(以賽亞書43:14; 48:17)。萬軍之耶和華是祂的名, 你的救贖主是以色列的聖者(以賽亞書54:5)。他們試探上帝和以色列的聖者(詩篇78:41)。他們離棄耶和華, 藐視以色列的聖者(以賽亞書1:4)。他們說:"讓以色列的聖者離開我們的面"; 所以, 以色列的聖者如此說(以賽亞書30:11-12)。那些說:"讓趕快成就工作, 讓我們看看, 讓以色列聖者的目的臨近並出現"(以賽亞書5:19)。在那日, 他們必將依靠耶和華, 以色列的聖者, 真的(以賽亞書10:20)。揚聲歡樂吧, 錫安的居民, 因為在你們中間為大的是以色列的聖者(以賽亞書12:6)。以色列上帝的話:"在那日, 他的眼睛將必望向以色列的聖者"(以賽亞書17:6-7)。人中貧窮的必因以色列的聖者而快樂(以賽亞書29:19)。地充滿了違背以色列聖者的罪過(耶利米書51:5)。也可看以賽亞書55:5; 60:9 以及其它地方。
"以色列的聖者"表示在祂人身顯現的主, 因為天人對瑪利亞說:"從你生出的聖者將被稱為上帝的兒子"(路加福音1:35)。
儘管"耶和華"與"以色列的聖者"是分開提及, 但可明顯看出兩者是一,並且相同, 從以上列舉的經句中, 可證明以色列的聖者就是耶和華。
有許許多多的經句來說明主被稱為"以色列的上帝", 例如以賽亞書17:6; 21:10, 17; 24:15; 29:23;耶利米書7:3; 9:15; 11:3; 13:12; 16:9; 19:3, 15; 23:2; 24:5; 25:15, 27; 29:4, 8, 21, 25; 30:2; 31:23; 32:14-15, 36; 33:4; 34:2, 13; 35:13, 17-19; 37:7; 38:17; 39:16; 42:9, 15, 18; 43:10; 44:2, 7, 11, 25; 48:1; 50:18; 51:33;以西結書8:4; 9:3; 10:19-20; 11:22; 43:2; 44:2;撒迦利亞書2:9;詩篇41:13; 59:5; 68:8。
The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Teachings # 248
248. The Jewish church and Jews. 1 The statutes, judgments, and laws that were commanded in the Jewish church were somewhat like those of the ancient church: 4449, 4834. How the symbolic rites of the Jewish church differed from the symbolic rites of the ancient church: 4288, 10149. A symbolic church was established for the people of that nation, but there was no real church among them: 4899, 4912, 6304. So they had something that symbolized a church but not an actual church: 4281, 4288, 4311, 4500, 6304, 7048, 9320, 10396, 10526, 10531, 10698. Because of the stubborn insistence of their ancestors and Moses, the Israelite and Jewish people were accepted as a church, not because they actually were a chosen people but rather so that they would symbolize a church: 4290, 4293, 7051, 7439, 10430, 10535, 10632. Their worship was solely external, without any inner worship: 1200, 3147, 3479, 8871. They knew absolutely nothing about inner worship and did not want to know: 301, 302, 303, 3479, 4429, 4433, 4680, 4844, 4847, 10396, 10401, 10407, 10694, 10701, 10707. What they thought of the inner aspects of worship, the church, and the Word: 4865. Their inner natures were foul, full of their love for themselves and the world and of avarice: 3480, 9962, 10454-10457, 10462-10466, 10575. Therefore the inner teachings of the church were not disclosed to them, because otherwise they would have defiled them: 2520, 3398, 3480, 4289. The Word was completely closed to them: 3769. They saw the Word from the outside and not from the inside (10549, 10550, 10551), so their inner self was closed when they were engaged in worship (8788, 8806, 9320, 9377, 9380, 9962, 10396, 10401, 10407, 10492, 10498, 10500, 10575, 10629, 10692). All the same, this people was more capable than any other of being outwardly holy despite the fact that their inner self was closed: 4293, 4311, 4903, 9373, 9377, 9380. Their state at such times: 4311. That is also why they have been preserved to this day: 3479. Their holy outward behavior was miraculously raised up and exhibited to heaven by the Lord, and as a result deeper levels of worship, the church, and the Word were perceived there: 3480, 4307, 4311, 6304, 8588, 10499, 10500, 10602. So that this could happen, they were driven by external pressures to a strict observance of their rituals in outward form: 3147, 4281, 8006. Because they could be outwardly holy without inner holiness, they were able to represent what is truly holy in the church and heaven: 3479, 3881, 4208, 6304, 8588, 9377, 10430, 10500, 10570. Nevertheless, they were not interested in what is truly holy: 3479. It does not matter what a person who symbolizes something is like, because symbolism focuses on the issue and not on the person: 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806.
[2] Those people were worse than other peoples; a description of what they were like, including material from the Word of both Testaments: 4314, 4316, 4317, 4444, 4503, 4750, 4751, 4815, 4820, 4832, 5057, 5998, 7248, 8819, 9320, 10454-10457, 10462-10466. The tribe of Judah strayed more than the other tribes: 4815. How they took pleasure in cruelly treating other peoples: 5057, 7248, 9320. That people was idolatrous at heart and worshiped other gods more than other peoples did: 3732, 4208, 4281, 4825, 5998, 6877, 7401, 8301, 8871, 8882. Even their worship, seen in the context of that people, was idolatrous, since it was superficial, with no inner substance: 4281, 4825, 8871, 8882. They worshiped Jehovah in name only (6877, 10559, 10560, 10561, 10566), and only because of the miracles he did (4299). It is incorrect to think that the Jews are going to be converted at the end of the church 2 and brought back into the land of Canaan: 4847, 7051, 8301. A copious selection of passages from the Word on this subject-passages that are, however, to be understood in their inner meaning and therefore not taken literally: 7051. The Word was changed in its outer meaning because of that people, but not in its inner meaning: 10453, 10461, 10603, 10604. The way Jehovah appeared to them on Mount Sinai was shaped by their own nature, so he appeared in devouring fire, thick cloud, and smoke like that of a furnace: 1861, 6832, 8814, 8819, 9434. The way the Lord appears to each of us depends on what we ourselves are really like-as a life-giving and creative fire if we are devoted to doing good, but as a devouring fire if we are bent on doing evil: 934, 1861, 6832, 8814, 8819, 9434, 10551. One lineage of that people was of Canaanite ancestry and two others were the result of fornication with a daughter-in-law: 1167, 4818, 4820, 4874, 4899, 4913. Those stories represent the nature of their relationship with the inner truth of the church, namely, that it was like that of union with a Canaanite or fornication with a daughter-in-law: 4868, 4874, 4899, 4913. Their state in the other life: 939, 940, 5057.
[3] Because despite all this that people symbolized the church, and because the Word was composed among and about them, their names-for example, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Ephraim, Joseph, and the rest-have divine and heavenly meanings. In its inner meaning, "Judah" means the Lord in respect to his heavenly love and his heavenly kingdom: 3654, 3881, 5583, 5603, 5782, 6363. An explanation of Israel's prophecy concerning Judah in Genesis 49:8-12, which is about the Lord: 6362-6381. Both the tribe of Judah and Judea mean the heavenly church: 3654, 6364. The twelve tribes represented and meant all the aspects of love and faith taken together (3858, 3926, 4060, 6335), and therefore heaven and the church as well (6337, 6637, 7836, 7891). Their meanings depend on the order in which they are named: 3862, 3926, 3939, 4603 and following, 6337, 6640. The twelve tribes were divided into two kingdoms so that the Judeans could represent the heavenly kingdom and the Israelites could represent the spiritual kingdom: 3654, 8770. The seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob means the goodness and truth that belong to the church: 3373, 10445.
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. On problematic material in Swedenborg's works, including his attitude toward Jews, see the discussion in the translator's preface, pages 19-21. [Editors]
2. From early Christian times it has been believed that all Jews will convert to Christianity before the Last Judgment. Augustine refers to this belief as "a very frequent topic in the conversation of the faithful and a very familiar thought in their hearts" ( City of God 20:29 [= Augustine 1952, 557]). The notion is based at least in part on Romans 11:26-27, in which Paul says, "All Israel will be saved," and goes on to quote Isaiah 59:20-21 (from the Septuagint version) and Jeremiah 31:33 (with reference also perhaps to Isaiah 27:9) to the effect that a Deliverer out of Zion will turn away the ungodliness of the descendants of Jacob and thus fulfill God's covenant with them. Malachi 4:5-6 is sometimes also cited in support. This prophecy has been discussed and even promoted by many major Christian theologians over the centuries, and it remains a topic of discussion in Christian circles. [SS]
