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5 Mosebog 29

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1 Det er den Pagts Ord, som HE EN bød Moses at slutte med Israelitterne i Moabs Land foruden den Pagt, han havde sluttet med dem ved Horeb.

2 Og Moses kaldte hele Israel sammen og sagde til dem: I har set alt, hvad HE EN i Ægypten for eders Øjne gjorde ved Farao og alle hans Tjenere og hele hans Land,

3 de store Prøvelser, I så med egne Øjne, disse store Tegn og Undere.

4 Men hidindtil har HE EN ikke givet eder Hjerte til at forstå med eller Øjne til at se med eller Ører til at høre med.

5 I fyrretyve År har jeg ført eder om i Ørkenen; eders Klæder blev ikke slidt af Kroppen på eder, og dine Sko blev ikke slidt af Fødderne på dig;

6 Brød fik I ikke at spise, og Vin og stærk Drik fik I ikke at drikke, for at I skulde kende, at jeg er HE EN eders Gud.

7 Og da I kom til Stedet her, drog Kong Sihon af Hesjbon og Kong Og af Basan ud til Kamp imod os, men vi slog dem

8 og erobrede deres Land og gav ubeniterne og Gaditerne og Manasses halve Stamme det til Arvelod.

9 Tag derfor Vare på denne Pagts Ord og gør efter dem, for at I kan få Lykke til al eders Gerning.

10 I står i Dag alle for HE EN eders Guds Åsyn, eders Stammeoverhoveder, Dommere, Ældste og Tilsynsmænd, hver Mand i Israel,

11 eders Småbørn og Hustruer og de fremmede, der opholder sig i din Lejr, både dine Brændehuggere og Vandbærere,

12 for at indtræde i HE EN din Guds Pagt og det Edsforbund, HE EN din Gud.i Dag slutter med dig,

13 for at han i dag kan gøre dig til sit Folk, så han bliver din Gud, som han lovede dig og tilsvor dine Fædre, Abraham, Isak og Jakob.

14 Og ikke med eder alene slutter jeg denne Pagt og dette Edsforbund,

15 men både med dem, der i Dag står her hos os for HE EN vor Guds Åsyn, og med dem, der i Dag ikke er til Stede hos os her.

16 Thi I ved jo selv, at vi boede i Ægypten, og at vi drog igennem de forskellige Folkeslags Lande,

17 og I så deres væmmelige Guder og de Afgudsbilleder af Træ og Sten, af Sølv og Guld, som de har.

18 Så lad der da ikke iblandt eder findes nogen Mand eller Kvinde, Slægt eller Stamme, hvis Hjerte i Dag vender sig bort fra HE EN vor Gud, så de går hen og dyrker disse Folks Guder; lad der ikke iblandt eder nådes nogen od, hvoraf Gift og Malurt vokser op,

19 så at han, når han hører dette Edsforbunds Ord, i sit Hjerte lover sig selv alt godt og tænker: "Det skal nok mig vel, selv om jeg vandrer med genstridigt Hjerte!" Thi så vil han ødelægge både frodigt og tørt.

20 HE EN vil ikke tilgive den Mand, nej, hans Vrede og Nidkærhed skal blusse op mod sådan en Mand, og al den Forbandelse, der er optegnet i denne Bog, vil lægge sig på ham, og HE EN vil udslette hans Navn under Himmelen!

21 HE EN vil udskille ham af alle Israels Stammer og bringe Ulykke over ham i Overensstemmelse med alle de Pagtens Forbandelser, som er skrevet i denne Lovbog.

22 Og når den kommende Slægt, eders Børn, der kommer efter eder. og de fremmede, der kommer langvejsfra, ser de Plager, der har ramt dette Land, og de Sygdomme, HE EN har hjemsøgt det med,

23 Svovl og Salt, hele Landet afsvedet, så det ikke kan tilsåes og ingen Afgrøde give, og ingen Urter kan gro deri, som dengang Sodoma og Gomorra, Adma og Zebojim blev ødelagt, da HE EN lod dem gå under i sin Vrede og Harme, da skal de spørge,

24 og alle Folkeslag skal spørge: "Hvorfor har HE EN handlet således med dette Land? Hvorledes hænger det sammen med denne vældige Vredesglød?"

25 Så skal man svare: "Det er, fordi de sveg den Pagt, HE EN, deres Fædres Gud, havde sluttet med dem, da han førte dem ud af Ægypten,

26 og gik hen og dyrkede fremmede Guder og tilbad dem, Guder, som de ikke før havde kendt til, og som han ikke havde tildelt dem;

27 derfor blussede HE ENs Vrede op imod dette Land, så han lod al den Forbandelse, som er optegnet i denne Bog, komme over det,

28 og derfor oprykkede han dem fra deres Land i Vrede og Harme og heftig Forbitrelse og slængte dem ud i et fremmed Land, som det nu er sket."

29 De skjulte Ting er for HE EN vor Gud, men de åbenbare er for os og vore Børn evindelig, at vi må lære at handle efter alle denne Lovs Ord!

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

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Apocalypse Explained # 578

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578. And out of their mouths went forth fire, and smoke, and brimstone.- That this signifies thought and reasonings therefrom springing from the love of evil, and from the love of falsity, and from the lust (concupiscentia) of destroying truths and goods by means of the falsities of evil, is evident from the signification of the mouth as denoting thought and reasoning therefrom of which we shall speak in the explanation of the 19th verse; and from the signification of fire, as denoting the love of self, and the love of evil thence (see above, n. 504, 539); and from the signification of smoke, as denoting the dense falsity springing from the love of evil (see above, n. 494, 539); and from the signification of brimstone, as denoting the lust of destroying the truths and goods of the church by means of the falsities of evil.

[2] That this is the signification of brimstone, is evident from the Word where it is mentioned, as in Moses:

"Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire" (Genesis 19:24).

And in Luke:

"On the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed" (17:29, 30).

The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, mean those who are in the falsities of evil from the love of self; and since the falsities of evil from that love destroyed them, therefore it rained brimstone and fire, brimstone, from the lust (concupiscentia) of destroying the church by means of the falsities of evil, and fire because that lust burst forth from the love of self. That this would be the case when the Son of man should be revealed, signifies, that then also the falsities of evil from the love of self would destroy the church. Rain of such a kind also appears in the spiritual world, when the evil, who are in falsities from that love, are cast down into hell.

[3] So again, in Moses:

What shall your sons "and the stranger say when they shall see the plagues of this land and its sicknesses? The whole land is brimstone, salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor germinates, nor doth any grass grow thereon, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim" (Deuteronomy 29:22, 23).

These are the curses with which the sons of Israel were threatened if they did not keep the precepts and statutes, and if they worshipped other gods; and because then the church would become vastated and destroyed by the falsities of evil, and the evils of falsity, hence it is said that then the whole land [should be] brimstone, salt, burning, the land denoting the church. By its not being sown, nor germinating, nor any grass growing thereon, is signified, that there should be no more any reception or production of truth from good.

[4] Again, in Isaiah:

"For Tophet is prepared from yesterday; yea, for the king it is prepared; he shall descend into a deep and wide [place]; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it" (30:33).

Tophet here signifies the hell where the direful and cruel love of destroying all the truths and goods of the church reigns, especially the savage desire of destroying the goods of innocence. That dreadful hell originates in the falsities of evil, and is signified by, he shall descend into a deep and wide [place]. The king, for whom it is prepared, signifies the infernal falsity itself. The pile thereof is fire and much wood signifies evils of every kind which pertain to that love. And because that hell burns from the lust of destroying, it is said that "the breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it." For there, as soon as they hear the truths of the church from any one, and perceive its goods, they are inflamed with the frenzy of destroying and annihilating them.

[5] Again, in the same prophet:

"The day of the vengeance of Jehovah, the year of retribution for the controversy of Zion. And the torrents thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch; It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall ascend for ever" (34:8, 10).

The day of the vengeance of Jehovah, and the year of retribution for the controversy of Zion, signifies the coming of the Lord, and the last judgment then wrought by Him. By the torrents turned into pitch, and the dust into brimstone, is signified the hell into which those, who are in the falsities of evil, and in the evils of falsity, are cast. The evil of infernal love, and its punishment, are signified by the pitch burning night and day, and not quenched; and the dire falsity from that evil is signified by the smoke ascending for ever.

[6] Again, in Ezekiel:

"I will contend with" Gog "with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, an overflowing rain, and hailstones, fire and brimstone" (38:22).

Gog means those who place all worship in a holy and pious external, and not in that which is internal, when yet external is according to the quality of internal worship; and it is said that "Jehovah shall rain upon them an overflowing rain, and hailstones, fire, and brimstone," which signifies falsities and evils destroying all the truths and goods of the church; fire and brimstone denote the evils of falsity, and the falsities of evil, both being diabolical.

[7] Again in David:

"Upon the wicked" Jehovah "shall rain snares, fire and brimstone; and the wind of storms shall be the portion of their cup" (Psalm 11:6).

These words signify, that the impious are destroyed by their own evils of falsity, and by their own falsities of evil, which destroy in them all the truths of the church. Snares, fire, and brimstone, denote the evils of falsity, and the falsities of evil; and the wind of storms which shall be the portion of their cup, signifies the destruction of all truth. That it does not mean that [Jehovah], shall rain fire and brimstone upon the wicked is clear, for it is also said that snares shall rain upon them; fire and brimstone therefore must mean such things as are wholly destructive of the truths and goods of the church.

[8] Similarly in Job:

"Brimstone shall be scattered upon the habitation of the wicked" (18:15);

for brimstone means such falsity of evil as destroys every thing of the church in man; this is falsity from the evil of the love of self such as prevailed with those who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. It is said of the brimstone, not only that it destroyed the cities and the inhabitants, but also the plain and that which springeth up in the field. That which sprouteth in the field signifies the truth of the church springing up (Genesis 19:25). The signification of fire and brimstone in the following passages in the Apocalypse is similar:

"If any man worship the beast and his image, he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone" (14:9, 10).

Again:

"The beast, and the false prophet were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone" (19:20).

"The devil was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are" (20:10).

"Murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolators, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone" (21:8).

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.