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Deuteronomy 32

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1 Give ear, ye heavens, and I will speak; And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth!

2 My doctrine shall drop as rain, My speech flow down as dew, As small rain upon the tender herb, And as showers on the grass.

3 For the name of Jehovah will I proclaim: Ascribe greatness unto our God!

4 [He is] the Rock, his work is perfect, For all his ways are righteousness; A ùGod of faithfulness without deceit, Just and right is he.

5 They have dealt corruptly with him; Not his children's is their spot: -- A crooked and perverted generation!

6 Do ye thus requite Jehovah, Foolish and unwise people? Is not he thy father that hath bought thee? Hath he not made thee and established thee?

7 Remember the days of old, Consider the years of generation to generation; Ask thy father, and he will shew thee; Thine elders, and they will tell thee.

8 When the Most High assigned to the nations their inheritance, When he separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel.

9 For Jehovah's portion is his people; Jacob the lot of his inheritance.

10 He found him in a desert land, And in the waste, howling wilderness; He compassed him about, he watched over him, He preserved him as the apple of his eye.

11 As the eagle stirreth up its nest, Hovereth over its young, Spreadeth out its wings, Taketh them, beareth them on its feathers,

12 So Jehovah alone did lead him, And no strange ùgod [was] with him.

13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, And he ate the produce of the field; And he made him suck honey out of the crag, And oil out of the flinty rock;

14 Cream of kine, and milk of sheep, With the fat of lambs, And rams of the breed of Bashan, and he-goats, With the fat of kidneys of wheat; And thou didst drink pure wine, the blood of the grape.

15 Then Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked -- Thou art waxen fat, Thou art grown thick, And thou art covered with fatness; -- He gave up +God who made him, And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

16 They moved him to jealousy with strange gods, With abominations did they provoke him to anger.

17 They sacrificed unto demons who are not +God; To gods whom they knew not, To new ones, who came newly up, Whom your fathers revered not.

18 Of the Rock that begot thee wast thou unmindful, And thou hast forgotten ùGod who brought thee forth.

19 And Jehovah saw it, and despised them, Because of the provoking of his sons and of his daughters.

20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be; For they are a perverse generation, Children in whom is no faithfulness.

21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is no ùGod; They have exasperated me with their vanities; And I will move them to jealousy with that which is not a people; With a foolish nation will I provoke them to anger.

22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, And it shall burn into the lowest Sheol, And shall consume the earth and its produce, And set fire to the foundations of the mountains.

23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; Mine arrows will I spend against them.

24 They shall be consumed with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, And with poisonous pestilence; And the teeth of beasts will I send against them, With the poison of what crawleth in the dust.

25 From without shall the sword bereave them, and in the chambers, terror -- Both the young man and the virgin, The suckling with the man of gray hairs.

26 I would say, I will scatter, I will make the remembrance of them to cease from among men,

27 If I did not fear provocation from the enemy, Lest their adversaries should misunderstand it, Lest they should say, Our hand is high, and Jehovah has not done all this.

28 For they are a nation void of counsel, And understanding is not in them.

29 Oh that they had been wise! they would have understood this, They would have considered their latter end!

30 How could one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight, Were it not that their Rock had sold them, And Jehovah had delivered them up?

31 For their rock is not as our rock: Let our enemies themselves be judges.

32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, And of the fields of Gomorrah: Their grapes are grapes of poison, Bitter are their clusters;

33 Their wine is the poison of dragons, And the cruel venom of vipers.

34 Is not this hidden with me, Sealed up among my treasures?

35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense, For the time when their foot shall slip. For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things that shall come upon them make haste.

36 For Jehovah will judge his people, And shall repent in favour of his servants; When he seeth that power is gone, And there is none shut up or left.

37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, Their rock in whom they trusted,

38 Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, [And] drank the wine of their drink-offering? Let them rise up and help you, That there may be a protection over you.

39 See now that I, I am HE, And there is no god with me; I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal, And there is none that delivereth out of my hand,

40 For I lift up my hand to the heavens, and say, I live for ever!

41 If I have sharpened my gleaming sword, And my hand take hold of judgment, I will render vengeance to mine adversaries, And will recompense them that hate me.

42 Mine arrows will I make drunk with blood, And my sword shall devour flesh; [I will make them drunk] with the blood of the slain and of the captives, With the head of the princes of the enemy.

43 Shout for joy, ye nations, with his people, For he avengeth the blood of his servants, And rendereth vengeance to his enemies, And maketh atonement for his land, for his people.

44 And Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Hoshea the son of Nun.

45 And when Moses had ended speaking all these words to all Israel,

46 he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words that I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to take heed to do, all the words of this law.

47 For it is no vain word for you, but it is your life, and through this word ye shall prolong your days on the land whereunto ye pass over the Jordan to possess it.

48 And Jehovah spoke to Moses that same day, saying,

49 Go up into this mountain Abarim, mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, which is opposite Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession,

50 and die on the mountain whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy peoples, as Aaron thy brother died on mount Hor, and was gathered unto his peoples;

51 because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye hallowed me not in the midst of the children of Israel.

52 For thou shalt see the land before [thee]; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 9780

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9780. 'And let them bring to you olive oil' means the good of charity and faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'olive oil' as the good of celestial love, dealt with in 886, but in the present verse the good of spiritual love, which is the good of charity towards the neighbour and the good of faith. The reason why the good of charity and faith is meant here by 'olive oil' is that it was for the light or lampstand, and 'the lampstand' means the spiritual heaven, 9548, the spiritual heaven on earth being the spiritual Church. 'Oil' and 'the olive tree' mean in the Word both celestial good and spiritual good, celestial good when the celestial kingdom or Church is the subject, and spiritual good when the spiritual kingdom or Church is the subject. What makes these kingdoms or Churches different from each other is the types of good. The celestial kingdom or Church's types of good are the good of love to the Lord and the good of mutual love, and the spiritual kingdom or Church's types of good are the good of charity towards the neighbour and the good of faith, 9741. These types of good and the types of truth that spring from them are the subject throughout the Word; for the Word consists wholly of teachings about good. It does so because it consists wholly of teachings about love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, Matthew 22:35-40, and all good is an attribute of love, including the good of faith since this comes into being from the good of love and does not exist without it.

[2] Since the Word consists of teachings about good, people need to know what good is if they are to have any understanding of the Word. But no one can know what good is unless he tries to lead a good life in accordance with the Word. For when someone tries to lead a good life in accordance with the Word the Lord instills good into that person's life. The person then comes to perceive that good and has a feeling for it, and as a result recognizes the essential nature of it. In no other circumstances does it appear, because it does not come to be perceived. All this makes clear what the condition is of those who merely know the things contained in the Word, convince themselves that they are true, yet fail to act on them. They are people with no real awareness of good, nor consequently of truth, for truth is known from good, and never exists without good except as some piece of lifeless knowledge which passes away in the next life.

[3] The fact that 'oil' and 'olive' mean good is clear from places in the Word where they are mentioned, as in Zechariah,

I saw a lampstand of gold, two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the bowl and one to the left of it. These are the two sons of oil, standing beside the Lord of the whole earth. Zechariah 4:2-3, 14.

'Two olive trees' and 'the two sons of oil' are the good of love to the Lord, which is on His right, and the good of charity towards the neighbour, which is to His left. Something similar occurs in John,

The two witnesses prophesied one thousand two hundred and sixty days. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. Revelation 11:3-4.

'The two olive trees and the two lampstands' are the same two types of good, which, since they come from the Lord, are called 'the two witnesses'.

[4] In the same book,

I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, Do no harm to oil and wine. Revelation 6:6.

'Oil' stands for the good of love and charity, 'wine' for the good and truth of faith. In Isaiah,

I will plant 1 in the wilderness the cedar of shittah, and the myrtle, and the oil tree. 2 Isaiah 41:19.

In Jeremiah,

They will come and sing on the height of Zion, and converge towards the goodness of Jehovah, towards wheat, and towards new wine, and towards oil. Jeremiah 31:12.

In Joel,

The field has been devastated, the land has been mourning because the grain has been laid waste, the new wine has failed, the oil languishes. Joel 1:10.

In the same prophet,

The threshing-floors are full of clean grain, and the presses overflow with new wine and oil. Joel 2:24.

In Moses,

I will give the rain for your land in its season, that you may gather your grain, your new wine, and your oil. Deuteronomy 11:14.

[5] This verse speaks of grain, new wine, and oil, but it becomes clear to anyone who stops to consider the matter that it is not these actual products that are meant. For being Divine the Word is spiritual, not worldly, so that what it says does not have to do with grain, new wine, or oil of the land, inasmuch as they serve the body as forms of food, only inasmuch as they serve the soul. For all forms of food in the world mean, when mentioned in the Word, heavenly kinds of food, as also the bread and wine in the Holy Supper do. What it is that 'grain' and 'new wine' mean in the places quoted above, see 3580, 5295, 5410, 5959, from which it is evident what 'oil' means.

[6] The same applies to all those things spoken by the Lord when He was in the world, such as those regarding the Samaritan - that he went near the one wounded by the robbers, bound his wounds, and poured in oil and wine, Luke 10:33-34. In this instance oil and wine are not what is meant but the good of love and charity, the good of love by 'oil' and the good of charity and faith by 'wine'. For the subject is the neighbour, thus charity towards him. As regards this meaning of 'wine', see 6377.

[7] The same applies to the things spoken by the Lord regarding the ten virgins, five of whom took their lamps without at the same time any oil, and five who took theirs with oil as well - that the latter five were admitted into heaven, whereas the former five were turned away, Matthew 25:3-4ff. 'Oil in the lamps' is the good of love and charity within the truths of faith; 'the virgins who took lamps but no oil' are those who hear the Word, read it, and say that they are believers, yet do not on that account perform any good deed at all, or who if they do, are not moved by a love of good or of truth but by selfish and worldly love.

[8] Since oil was a sign of the good of charity the sick were also anointed with oil and healed, as it says about the Lord's disciples, that when they went out they cast out demons, and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them, Mark 6:13. In David,

You will make my head fat with oil, my cup will overflow. Psalms 23:5.

'Making the head fat with oil' stands for endowing with heavenly good. In Moses,

Jehovah fed [the people] with the produce of the fields; He caused them to suck honey out of the crag and oil out of the stony rock. Deuteronomy 32:13.

This refers to the Ancient Church. 'Sucking oil out of the stony rock' stands for being imbued with good through the truths of faith.

[9] In Habakkuk,

The fig tree will not blossom, neither will there be any produce on the vines; the olive crop will fail, 3 and the fields will not yield food. Habakkuk 3:17.

Neither the fig tree, vines, olives, nor fields should be understood here but the heavenly sources of food to which they correspond. This is also something which all who acknowledge that the Word has to do with such things as belong to heaven and the Church, and so to the soul, can recognize for themselves. But people who have no thought of anything other than worldly, earthly, and bodily things do not see it, indeed have no wish to see it. They say to themselves, What are spiritual things? What are heavenly realities? and so say, What are heavenly sources of food? They indeed know, when they are told, that these are the kinds of things which contribute to intelligence and wisdom, but they have no wish to know that they are what contribute to faith and love. They have no wish to know because they do not let such things enter into their life and as a result do not go far enough to attain intelligence and wisdom in heavenly truths and forms of goodness.

[10] In Ezekiel,

I washed you with water, and washed away the blood 4 from upon you, and anointed you with oil. I clothed you with embroidered cloth. Your garments were fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, and honey, and oil. But you took your embroidered garments and covered the images, and you set My oil and My incense before them. Ezekiel 16:9-10, 13, 18.

Is there anyone who cannot see that garments made of embroidered cloth, fine linen, or silk are not meant here, nor oil, honey, or fine flour, but Divine things belonging to heaven and the Church? For these words refer to Jerusalem, by which the Church is meant, and therefore the matters that are mentioned mean such things as have to do with the Church. Each detail clearly means something specific about the Church, for in the Word, which is Divine, not a single word is devoid of meaning. For the meaning of Jerusalem as the Church, see 3654; and as regards what anything further means, for 'embroidered cloth', 9688; 'fine linen', 5319, 9469; 'fine flour', 2177; 'honey', 5620, 6857; 'washing with water', 3147, 5954 (end), 9088; and 'washing away the blood', 4735, 9127.

[11] In Hosea,

Ephraim feeds the wind; they make a covenant with the Assyrian, and oil is carried down into Egypt. Hosea 12:1.

These words are altogether unintelligible unless one knows what is meant by 'Ephraim', 'the Assyrian', and 'Egypt'. They describe the understanding part in the mind of a member of the Church when that part is perverted by means of mere reasonings based on factual knowledge. For 'Ephraim' is that understanding part, 3969, 5354, 6222, 6238, 6267; 'the Assyrian' reasoning, 1186; and 'Egypt' factual knowledge, 9391. Consequently 'carrying oil down into Egypt' means defiling the Church's good in that manner.

[12] The reason why the Lord went so often up to the Mount of Olives, Luke 21:37; 22:39, was that 'oil' and 'olive' were signs of the good of love, as also was 'a mountain', 6435, 8758. This was so because while the Lord was in the world all things in Him were representative of heaven; through them the whole of heaven was linked to Him. Therefore whatever He did and whatever He spoke was Divine and heavenly, and the last and lowest things were representative. The Mount of Olives represented heaven in respect of the good of love and charity, as also becomes clear in Zechariah,

Jehovah will go out and fight against the nations; His feet will stand on that day upon the Mount of Olives, which faces 5 Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will be split, that part of it [may lean] towards the east and towards the sea, 6 with a large valley; and part of the mountain will move away towards the north, and part of it towards the south. Zechariah 14:3-4.

[13] This refers to the Lord and His Coming. 'The Mount of Olives' means the good of love and charity, and so means the Church, for those forms of good make the Church. The fact that the Church would depart from the Jewish nation and be established among gentile nations is meant by the description that this mountain would be split towards the east, towards the sea, and towards the north and south. Something similar is meant by the Lord's words in Luke,

You yourselves will be thrown out of doors. On the other hand people will come from the east and the west, and from the north and the south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God. Luke 13:28-29.

The overall meaning of the statement that Jehovah will go out and fight against the nations, and His feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem, is that the Lord would fight from Divine Love against the hells; for evils springing from the hells are meant by 'the nations', 1868, 6306, and Divine Love by 'the Mount of Olives' on which His feet will stand.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, give

2. literally, the wood of oil

3. literally, the work of the olive will lie (i.e. prove false)

4. literally, your bloods

5. literally, which is before the face of

6. i.e. the west

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