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Daniel 6

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1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty satraps, who should be in all the kingdom;

2 and over these, three presidents -- of whom Daniel was one -- to whom these satraps should render account, and that the king should suffer no loss.

3 Now this Daniel surpassed the presidents and the satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to appoint him over the whole realm.

4 Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find a pretext against Daniel with respect to the kingdom; but they could not find any pretext or fault; inasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

5 Then said these men, We shall not find any pretext against this Daniel, unless we find [it] against him touching the law of his God.

6 Then these presidents and satraps came in a body to the king, and said thus unto him: King Darius, live for ever!

7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects, and the satraps, the counsellors, and the governors have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, except of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.

8 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked.

9 Therefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.

10 And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and, his windows being open in his upper chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled on his knees three times a day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

11 But those men came in a body, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.

12 Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king's decree: Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask [anything] of any god or man within thirty days, except of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked.

13 Then they answered and said before the king, That Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.

14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore distressed thereby, and set his heart on Daniel to save him; and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him.

15 Then these men came in a body unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.

16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast [him] into the den of lions. The king spoke and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will save thee.

17 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his nobles, that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.

18 Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; neither were concubines brought before him; and his sleep fled from him.

19 Then the king arose with the light at break of day, and went in haste unto the den of lions.

20 And when he came near unto the den, he cried with a mournful voice unto Daniel: the king spoke and said unto Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, hath thy God whom thou servest continually been able to save thee from the lions?

21 Then Daniel spoke unto the king, O king, live for ever!

22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me; forasmuch as before him innocence was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.

23 Thereupon was the king exceeding glad, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.

24 And the king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and broke all their bones in pieces ere they came to the bottom of the den.

25 Then king Darius wrote unto all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you.

26 I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for he is the living God, and steadfast for ever, and his kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.

27 He saveth and delivereth, and he worketh signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth: who hath saved Daniel from the power of the lions.

28 And this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

   

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True Christian Religion # 776

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776. VII. This, the Lord's second coming, is not in person, but in the Word, which is from Him and which He is.

We read in many passages that the Lord will come in the clouds of heaven 1 ; e.g, Matthew 17:5; 24:30; 26:64; Mark 14:62; Luke 9:34-35; 21:27; Revelation 1:7; 14:14; Daniel 7:13. But no one up to the present has known what the clouds of heaven mean; they have thought that He would appear in them in person. It has so far been unknown that the clouds of heaven mean the Word in its literal sense, and that glory and power, with which He is to come at that time (Matthew 24:30), mean the spiritual sense of the Word. This is because no one has even guessed that there is a spiritual sense in the Word, as there is in essence in this example. Since the Lord has now revealed to me the spiritual sense of the Word, and has allowed me to associate with angels and spirits in their world, as if I were one of them, it has been disclosed that the cloud of heaven means the Word in its natural sense, glory the Word in its spiritual sense, and power means the Lord's strength through the Word. This meaning of the clouds of heaven can be seen from these passages in the Word:

There is none like the God of Jeshurun, riding on the heaven, and in magnificence upon the clouds, Deuteronomy 33:26-27.

Sing to God, praise His name, extol Him who rides upon the clouds, Psalms 68:4.

Jehovah riding upon a light cloud, Isaiah 19:1.

[2] To ride means to instruct in Divine truths from the Word, for a horse means the understanding of the Word (see Apocalypse Revealed 298). Anyone can see that God does not ride upon the clouds. Further:

God rode upon the cherubim, and made the clouds of the heavens His tent, Psalms 18:10-11.

Cherubim also mean the Word (see Apocalypse Revealed 239, 672).

Jehovah binds the waters in His clouds, and stretches out His cloud over His throne, Job 26:8-9.

Give strength to God 2 , strength upon the clouds, Psalms 68:34, Jehovah will create 3 over every dwelling of Zion a cloud by day; for glory will be a covering over all, Isaiah 4:5.

The Word in its literal sense was also represented by the cloud in which Jehovah came down on Mount Sinai, when He proclaimed the Law. The provisions of the Law then proclaimed were the rudiments of the Word.

[3] The following facts may be added in support. The spiritual world has clouds just as the natural world does, but they are of a different origin. In the spiritual world there are sometimes shining clouds over the heavens of the angels, but dark clouds over the hells. Shining clouds over the heavens of the angels betoken obscurity there resulting from the literal sense of the Word; but when those clouds are dispersed, it means that the spiritual sense has brought them its clarity 4 . Dark clouds over the hells betoken the falsification and profanation of the Word. The reason clouds have such meanings in the spiritual world is because light, which is radiated from the Lord as the sun of that world, stands for Divine truth. This is why He is Himself called light (John 1:9; 12:35). This also is why the Word itself, which is stored in the sanctuaries of church-buildings there, is to be seen with a halo of shining light; when dimmed, this is due to clouds.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. Or: of the sky.

2. The Latin has 'to Jehovah', corrected in the Author's copy.

3. The Latin has 'has created', corrected in the Author's copy.

4. The Latin has 'charity' for 'clarity'.

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