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Exodus 14

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1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea: before Baal-Zephon, opposite to it, shall ye encamp by the sea.

3 And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness has hemmed them in.

4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he may pursue after them; and I will glorify myself in Pharaoh, and in all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah. And they did so.

5 And it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his bondmen was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from our service?

6 And he yoked his chariot, and took his people with him.

7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.

8 And Jehovah hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel; and the children of Israel had gone out with a high hand.

9 And the Egyptians pursued after them, -- all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them where they had encamped by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, opposite to Baal-Zephon.

10 And Pharaoh approached; and the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and the children of Israel were much afraid, and cried out to Jehovah.

11 And they said to Moses, Is it because there were no graves in Egypt, thou hast taken us away to die in the wilderness? why hast thou done this to us, that thou hast led us out of Egypt?

12 Is not this what we told thee in Egypt, when we said, Let us alone, and we will serve the Egyptians? For [it had been] better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.

13 And Moses said to the people, Fear not: stand still, and see the salvation of Jehovah, which he will work for you to-day; for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

14 Jehovah will fight for you, and ye shall be still.

15 And Jehovah said to Moses, Why dost thou cry unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.

16 And thou, lift thy staff, and stretch out thy hand over the sea, and divide it; and the children of Israel shall go on dry [ground] through the midst of the sea.

17 And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall pursue after them; and I will glorify myself in Pharaoh and in all his host, in his chariots and in his horsemen.

18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have glorified myself in Pharaoh, in his chariots and in his horsemen.

19 And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before them, and stood behind them.

20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and was a cloud and darkness, and lit up the night; and the one did not come near the other all the night.

21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and Jehovah made the sea go [back] by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry [land], and the waters were divided.

22 And the children of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry [ground]; and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

23 And the Egyptians pursued and came after them -- all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his horsemen, into the midst of the sea.

24 And it came to pass in the morning watch, that Jehovah looked upon the camp of the Egyptians, in the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and embarrassed the camp of the Egyptians.

25 And he took off their chariot wheels, and caused them to drive with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, Let us flee before Israel, for Jehovah is fighting for them against the Egyptians!

26 And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the sea, that the waters may return upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and upon their horsemen.

27 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength toward the morning; and the Egyptians fled against it; and Jehovah overturned the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.

28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen of all the host of Pharaoh that had come into the sea after them; there remained not even one of them.

29 And the children of Israel walked on dry [ground] through the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

30 Thus Jehovah saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the sea-shore.

31 And Israel saw the great power [with] which Jehovah had wrought against the Egyptians; and the people feared Jehovah, and believed in Jehovah, and in Moses his bondman.

   

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Face

  
Photo by Caleb Kerr

“The eyes are the windows of the soul.” That's a sentiment with roots somewhere in murky antiquity, but one that has become hopelessly cliché because it is both poetic and obviously true. We feel that if we can look in someone's eyes, we can truly know what they are inside. And it's not just the eyes; really it is the face as a whole that conveys this. As Swedenborg puts it, the face is “man's spiritual world presented in his natural world” (Heaven and Hell, No. 91). Our faces reveal our interior thoughts and feelings in myriad ways, which is why psychologists, poker players and criminal investigators spend so much time studying them. It makes sense, then, that people's faces in the Bible represent their interiors, the thoughts, loves and desires they hold most deeply. We turn our faces to the ground to show humility when we bow in worship; we turn them to the mountains when seeking inspiration; we turn them toward our enemies when we are ready to battle temptation. When things are hard, we need to “face facts,” or accept them internally. When the topic is the Lord's face, it represents the Lord's interiors, which are perfect love and perfect mercy. And when people turn away from the Lord and refuse his love, it is described as the Lord “hiding his face.”

(Odkazy: Heaven and Hell 91)


Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 8215

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8215. 'And He took off the wheels of his chariots' means that the power to advance falsities was taken away. This is clear from the meaning of 'taking off' as taking away; from the meaning of 'wheel' as the power to go forward, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'Pharaoh's chariots' as doctrinal teachings that uphold falsity, dealt with in 8146, 8148, thus as falsities. What 'wheel' means in the genuine sense may be recognized from the meaning of 'chariot'. There were two kinds of chariots 1 - those used to carry merchandise, and those used in battle. Chariots used for carrying merchandise served to mean doctrinal teachings that conveyed the truth, or in the contrary sense to mean those that conveyed falsity. Chariots used in battle likewise served to mean doctrinal teachings in either of those senses, but teachings involved in conflict. That is, they were used to mean actual truths or actual falsities lined up for conflict. From this one may see what 'a chariot wheel' is used to mean, namely the power to move forward, here to advance falsities and fight against truths. Since this power belongs to the understanding part of a person's mind, 'wheel' also means the understanding so far as matters of doctrine are concerned.

[2] In the next life chariots are frequently seen, laden with various kinds of merchandise; and these chariots differ from one another in outward appearance and size. When they are seen they serve to mean truths in their entirety, or doctrinal teachings, which are so to speak receptacles of truth, while their 'merchandise' serves to mean knowledge or cognitions that have different kinds of use. These things are seen in heaven when religious teachings are the object of conversation among angels. For since angels' conversation is incomprehensible to people who are below them, representatives are used to present it. To some it is presented, as has been stated, by means of chariots, which represent visually to them every single detail of the conversation; from that representation the contents of the conversation can be understood and seen in an instant. Some details are seen in the outward appearance of the chariot, some in its structure, some in its colour, some in its wheels, some in the horses pulling it, and others in the merchandise that the chariot is carrying. From these representatives springs the use of 'chariots' in the Word to mean doctrinal teachings.

[3] From all this one may in some measure be able to see that 'chariot wheels' means power that the understanding possesses; for just as a chariot is moved and sent forward by means of its wheels, so are the truths contained in doctrinal teachings sent into action by the power of understanding. This is also the meaning of 'wheels' in Isaiah,

Whose arrows are sharp, and all bows bent. His horses' hoofs are considered as flint, His wheels as the whirlwind. Isaiah 5:28.

This refers to one who lays truth waste, 'arrows' being falsities, and 'bows' false doctrine, 2686, 2709, while 'the hoofs' of the horses are the sensory knowledge belonging to perverted powers of understanding, 7729, 'wheels' powers to pervert and destroy truths, like a whirlwind.

[4] In Ezekiel,

I saw the living creatures, and behold, one wheel was on the earth with [each of] the living creatures, beside its four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their works were like a kind of tarshish, 2 and the four had the same likeness. In addition the appearance of them, and their works, was like a wheel in the middle of a wheel. They went along on four sides in the direction they went; they did not turn aside as they went. Their rims were so high that they were awesome; 3 in addition their rims were full of eyes round about all four of them. Thus when the living creatures went, the wheels went along with them. The spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. Ezekiel 1:15-21; 10:9-14.

The Lord's providence is meant by 'the four living creatures', which were cherubs, 308, and Divine intelligence, or foresight, by 'the wheels'. This is why it says that the wheels went along together with the living creatures, that their rims were full of eyes, and also that the spirit of the living creatures, which was the truth of wisdom, was in them.

[5] In Daniel,

I saw, until thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days was seated His clothing was white as snow, the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was flames of fire; His wheels were burning fire. Daniel 7:9.

'The Ancient of Days' here is the Lord in respect of Divine Goodness; 'the thrones' that were placed are falsities; 'His clothing' is God's truth in its outward appearance; 'the hair of His head' is God's goodness in its outward appearance; 'His throne' is heaven and the Church; 'His wheels' are forms of wisdom and intelligence, that is, God's truths, and 'burning fire' the flames of love and charity. Under the ten lavers around Solomon's temple there were also

Wheels of bronze. The workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel; their axles, 4 and their rims 5 , and their tires, and their spokes were all of cast [bronze]. 1 Kings 7:30-33.

Those 'lavers' or stands served to mean the receptacles of truth by means of which a person is purified and regenerated. 'The wheels' served to mean the powers of understanding by means of which advances are made.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. chariot is used here in the original sense of a wheeled vehicle, which served as a cart, or as a carriage, or as a car in ancient warfare.

2. Possibly beryl

3. literally, and they had height, and they had fear

4. literally, hands

5. literally, backs

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