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Ezekiel 38

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1 HE ENs Ord kom til mig således:

2 Menneskesøn, vend dit Ansigt mod Gog i Magogs Land, Fyrsten over osj, Mesjek og Tubal, og profeter imod ham

3 og sig: Så siger den Herre HE EN: Se, jeg kommer over dig, Gog, Fyrste over osj, Mesjek og Tubal.

4 Jeg vender dig og sætter Kroge i dine Kæber og trækker dig frem med hele din Hær, Heste og yttere, alle i smukke Klæder, en vældig Skare med store og små Skjolde, alle med Sværd i Hånd.

5 Persere, Ætiopere og Putæere er med dem, alle med Skjold og Hjelm,

6 Gomer med alle dets Hobe, Togarmas Hus fra det yderste Nord med alle dets Hobe, mange Folkeslag er med.

7 ust dig og hold dig rede med hele din Skare, som er samlet om dig, og vær mig rede til Tjeneste.

8 Lang Tid herefter skal der komme Bud efter dig; ved Årenes Fjende skal du overfalde et Land, som atter er unddraget Sværdet, et Folk, som fra mange Folkeslag er sanket sammen på Israels Bjerge, der stadig lå øde hen, et Folk, som er ført bort fra Folkeslagene og nu bor trygt til Hobe.

9 Du skal trække op som et Uvejr og komme som en Sky og oversvømme Landet, du og alle dine Hobe og de mange Folkeslag, som følger dig.

10 siger den Herre HE EN: På hin Dag skal en Tanke stige op i dit Hjerte, og du skal oplægge onde åd

11 og sige: "Jeg vil drage op imod et åbent Land og overfalde fredelige Folk, som bor trygt, som alle bor uden Mure og hverken har Portstænger eller Porte,

12 for at gøre Bytte og røve ov, lægge Hånd på genopbyggede ruiner og på et Folk, der er indsamlet fra Folkene og vinder sig Fæ og Gods, og som bor på Jordens Navle."

13 Sabæerne og Dedaniterne, Tarsiss Købmænd og alle dets Handelsfolk skal sige til dig: "Kommer du for at gøre Bytte, har du samlet din Skare for at røve ov, for at bortføre Sølv og Guld, rane Fæ og Gods og gøre et vældigt Bytte?"

14 Profeter derfor, Menneskesøn, og sig til Gog: Så siger den Herre HE EN: Ja, på hin Dag skal du bryde op, medens mit Folk Israel bor trygt,

15 og komme fra din Hjemstavn yderst i Nord, du og de mange Folkeslag, der følger dig, alle til Hest, en stor Skare, en vældig Hær;

16 som en Sky skal du drage op mod mit Folk Israel og oversvømme Landet. I de sidste Dage skal det ske; jeg fører dig imod mit Land; og Folkene skal kende mig, når jeg for deres Øjne helliger mig på dig, Gog.

17 siger den Herre HE EN: Er det dig, jeg talede om i gamle dage ved mine Tjenere, Israels Profeter, som profeterede i hine Tider, at jeg vilde bringe dig over dem?

18 Men på hin dag, når Gog overfalder Israels Land, lyder det fra den Herre HE EN, vil jeg give min Vrede Luft.

19 I Nidkærhed, i glødende Vrede udtaler jeg det: Sandelig, på hin Dag skal et vældigt Jordskælv komme over Israels Land;

20 for mit Åsyn skal Havets Fisk, Himmelens Fugle, Markens vilde Dyr og alt kryb på Jorden og alle Mennesker på Jordens Flade skælve, Bjergene skal styrte, Klippevæggene falde og hver Mur synke til Jord.

21 Jeg nedkalder alle ædsler over ham, lyder det fra den Herre HE EN; den enes Sværd skal rettes mod den anden;

22 jeg går i ette med ham med Pest og Blod, med egnskyl og Haglsten; Ild og Svovl lader jeg regne over ham, hans Hobe og de mange Folkeslag, som følger ham.

23 Jeg viser mig stor og hellig og giver mig til Kende for de mange Folks Øjne; og de skal Kende, at jeg er HE EN.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

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Arcana Coelestia # 4303

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4303. 'Therefore the children of Israel do not eat the sinew of that which was displaced, which is on the hollow of the thigh' means that no truths containing falsities were assimilated. This is clear from the meaning of 'eating' as being joined to and made one's own, dealt with in 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513, 3596, 3832, and from the meaning of 'the sinew' as truth, for truths within good are like sinews within the flesh, and truths are also meant in the spiritual sense by 'sinews' and good by 'flesh', 3579, 3813. 'Sinews' and 'flesh' have a similar meaning in Ezekiel,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih to these bones, I will lay sinews upon you and cover you with flesh, and I will put spirit within you I looked, and behold, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up. Ezekiel 37:6, 8.

Here the new creation of man, that is, the regeneration of him, is the subject. But once truths have been distorted they cease to be truths any longer; and the more they are distorted into the reverse of truths the nearer they get to falsities. This is why 'the sinew of that which was displaced' means falsity. For 'the hollow of the thigh' means the point where conjugial love is joined to natural good, and therefore the point where the influx of spiritual truth into natural good takes place, see 4277, 4280. From this it is evident that 'therefore the children of Israel do not eat the sinew of that which was displaced, which is on the hollow of the thigh' means that no truths containing falsities were assimilated. The reason why these things are said concerning the children of Israel is that 'Israel' means the Divine celestial-spiritual, 4286, while 'children' or 'sons' means truths, 489, 491, 2623. So the meaning is that the truths belonging to the Divine celestial-spiritual did not assimilate any falsities as part of themselves.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 4783

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4783. 'To comfort him' means to provide explanations based on the sense of the letter of the Word. This is clear from the meaning of 'comforting' as calming a turbulence of mind with a hope concerning some thing, dealt with in 3610, in this case a turbulence or mourning over lost good and truth. And because this mourning cannot be subdued except by means of explanations based on the Word, and because reference is being made at this point to Jacob's sons and daughters, who mean those governed by falsities and evils, 4781, 4782, 'comforting' means explanations based on the sense of the letter. For the sense of the letter of the Word contains general ideas which, being like vessels, can be filled with truths or else with falsities and so can be given whatever explanation suits one's own point of view. And because they are general ones they are also obscure compared with other ideas, receiving light from nowhere else than the internal sense. For the internal sense exists in the light of heaven because it is the Word as angels know it, whereas the sense of the letter exists in the light of the world because it is the Word as men know it before they come to the light of heaven received from the Lord, by which light they are then enlightened. From this it is evident that the sense of the letter serves to introduce the simple to the internal sense.

[2] This use of explanations when one is expounding the Word - explanations which are based on the sense of the letter and which fit in with one's own point of view - is quite evident from the fact that all religious ideas, including heretical ones, are substantiated by such explanations. For example, the accepted teaching about faith separated from charity is substantiated by the following words spoken by the Lord,

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16.

From these words and other places people deduce that eternal life is acquired through faith alone without works. And once these people have become convinced of this they no longer pay any attention to what the Lord said so many times about love to Him, and about charity and works, 1017, 2373, 3934. Thus they pay no attention to the following in John,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13.

If they are told that no one can believe in the Lord except him who has charity, they instantly take refuge in explanations like these: The law has been abolished; people are born in sins and so cannot do good of themselves, and those who do do it cannot do other than claim merit for it. These explanations too they substantiate from the sense of the letter of the Word, for example from what is stated in the parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector, Luke 18:10-14, and from other things that are stated. But these statements have an altogether different meaning from the explanations they resort to.

[3] Also, the adherents to faith separated from charity can have no other belief than that everyone is able by grace to be admitted into heaven, no matter what kind of life he has been leading, so that it is not a person's life but his faith that awaits him after death. This too they substantiate from the sense of the letter of the Word. But from the spiritual sense of the Word it is clear that the Lord has mercy on everyone, so that if a person reached heaven by mercy or grace irrespective of whatever life he has led everyone would be saved. The reason the adherents to faith separated from charity believe the way they do is that they have no knowledge at all of what heaven is because they do not know what charity is. If they knew how much peace, joy, and happiness is present within charity they would know what heaven is; but this is entirely hidden from them.

[4] Nor can the adherents to faith separated from charity have any other belief than that they will rise again with the physical body, though not until judgement day. This too they substantiate from many places in the Word, explained according to the sense of the letter. They give no thought at all to what the Lord said - many times in addition to the following - about the rich man and Lazarus, Luke 16:22-31, or to what He told the robber,

Truly I say to you, Today you will be with Me in paradise. Luke 23:43.

The reason the adherents to faith separated from charity believe the way they do is that if they were told that the body is not going to rise again they would refuse to believe in any resurrection at all, for what the internal man is they neither know nor have any conception of. Indeed no one can know what the internal man is and the internal man's life after death is except him who has charity; for charity is an attribute of the internal man.

[5] The adherents to faith separated from charity can have no other belief than that the works of charity consist solely in giving to the poor and helping the distressed. This belief too they substantiate from the sense of the letter of the Word. But in fact the works of charity consist in each person doing what is right and fair in his employment, from a love of what is right and fair, and of what is good and true.

[6] The adherents to faith separated from charity do not see anything in the Word apart from what substantiates their own accepted teachings, for they have no real insight. Indeed people who are not moved by the affection belonging to charity have merely external sight, or an inferior insight. With this no one can possibly behold higher things, for higher things are seen by him as darkness. Consequently such people see falsities as truths, and truths as falsities, and so by explanations based on the sense of the letter they ruin the good pasture and pollute the pure waters of that sacred spring which is the Word, as accords with the following in Ezekiel,

Is it a small thing to you? You feed off the good pasture and tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures; you drink the water that has settled down 1 and stir up the rest with your feet. You butt with your horns all the weak [sheep] till you have scattered them abroad. Ezekiel 34:17-18, 21.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, the sediment of the waters

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