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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!

   


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Arcana Coelestia # 4317

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4317. In the internal historical sense 'because he touched, in the hollow of Jacob's thigh, the sinew of that which was displaced' means because of their heredity which could not be rooted out through regeneration because they would not allow that to happen. This is clear from the meaning of 'the thigh' as conjugial love, and consequently all celestial and spiritual love, dealt with in 4280, and 'the hollow of the thigh' as the place where conjugial love, and also all celestial and spiritual love, is joined to natural good, 4277, 4280. Consequently 'touching it', that is, so damaging it that limping results, means destroying the good that flows from those loves. And since it was Jacob in whom this was done, that among his descendants which had come down from him, and so was hereditary, is meant. 'The sinew of that which was displaced' means falsity, see 4303, in this case falsity which stems from hereditary evil. The fact that this heredity could not be rooted out through regeneration because they would not allow that to happen follows from this and from the whole train of thought.

[2] The possession of such a heredity and their inability to be regenerated is quite clear from all that is recorded in the Word about them, and especially from the following in Moses,

Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, You yourselves saw all that Jehovah did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants, and to all his land; and Jehovah has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, even to this day. Deuteronomy 29:2, 4.

In the same author,

I know the people's imagination, which they are performing today, before I bring them into the land which I have sworn [to give them]. Deuteronomy 31:21.

And further on,

I will hide My face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, sons with no truth in them. I would scatter them far, I would make the memory of them cease from mankind, except that I feared the wrath of the enemy. For they are a nation from whose counsel is perishing and in whom there is no intelligence. For from the vine of Sodom comes their vine, and from the fields of Gomorrah their grapes; they have grapes of hemlock, clusters that are bitter. The poison of dragons is their wine, and the cruel head of asps. Is not this stored up with Me, sealed up in My treasuries? Deuteronomy 32:20, 26-34.

The same things are said in many other places, in particular in Jeremiah.

[3] Further evidence that their heredity is meant by the touching of Jacob's thigh and his consequently having a limp may be seen in Hosea,

The controversy of Jehovah with Judah: He will make a visitation on Jacob over his ways, and will render to him according to his deeds. In the womb he supplanted his brother; in his grief he contended with God, and contended against the angel and prevailed; he wept and appealed to him. Hosea 12:2-4.

Here 'contending with God' means, in the internal historical sense, their insistence that a representative of the Church should exist with them, 4290, 4293. From this it is evident that the kind of heredity they possessed had been derived from Jacob himself, as may be shown from further places still but must be passed over for the time being.

[4] As regards heredity specifically, the belief at the present day in the Church is that all hereditary evil is derived from the first parent and that all are therefore condemned in respect of that evil. But this is untrue. The origin of hereditary evil in everyone lies with his parents and parents' parents, that is, with successive generations of ancestors. Every evil which each of these has acquired to himself by his own actions in life, inasmuch as it becomes so to speak part of his character through regular practice or habit, is passed on to his children and becomes hereditary in them; and that evil accompanies what has been implanted in parents from grandparents and ancestors. Hereditary evil coming from the father is more internal, and hereditary evil from the mother more external. That coming from the father cannot be rooted out easily whereas that from the mother can. When a person is being regenerated the deeply-implanted hereditary evil that is received from immediate forbears is rooted out; but with those who are not being regenerated, or who are unable to be, it remains. This then is hereditary evil; see also 313, 494, 2122, 2910, 3518, 3701. This matter is also plain to anyone who reflects, as well as from the fact that every family has some evil or good characteristic by which it is distinguished from other families; and that characteristic, as is well known, is inherited from parents and ancestors. The same applies to the Jewish nation which is still in existence. It is clearly different from all other nations and may be recognized not only from its particular disposition but also from its customs, speech, and facial characteristics.

[5] But few people know what hereditary evil is. It is believed to consist in the doing of evil, when in fact it consists in the willing and therefore thinking of it. It is within the will itself and therefore within thought that hereditary evil dwells. It is the actual inclination to evil which is within them and which attaches itself even when the person does what is good. It is recognized through the kind of delight which enters in when evil befalls another. This root lies hidden deep down, for the interior form itself receiving good and truth from heaven, that is, from the Lord by way of heaven, is perverted and so to speak twisted out of shape, with the result that when good and truth flow in from the Lord these are either cast back or perverted or smothered. This is why no perception of what is good and true exists at the present day, but instead, in the case of the regenerate, conscience which acknowledges as good and true that which has been learned from parents and teachers. Hereditary evil leads to loving oneself more than others, willing evil on another if he does not promote oneself to honour, and taking delight in acts of revenge. It also leads to loving the world more than heaven and to all evil desires or evil affections, which spring from the same source. Man does not know that such things exist within him, still less that they are the opposite of heavenly affections. In the next life however he is shown plainly how much evil, hereditary in origin, he has drawn to himself through his own actions in life, and also how far he has removed himself from heaven through evil affections from the same source.

[6] The fact that hereditary evil in Jacob's descendants could not be rooted out through regeneration because they would not allow that to happen is also evident from the historical descriptions in the Word - in all their temptations in the desert they gave in, as described in Moses, which they also did subsequently in the land of Canaan as often as they did not see miracles taking place. Those temptations however were external ones, and not internal or spiritual. In spiritual things they were incapable of being tempted because they had no knowledge of internal truths nor any possession of internal goods, as shown already; and nobody is able to be tempted except in what he knows or possesses. Temptations are the actual means by which regeneration is accomplished. This is what is meant by them not allowing regeneration to happen. Concerning their state and fate in the next life, see 939-941, 3481.

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