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Exodus 28

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1 And thou shalt take thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may serve me as priest -- Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons.

2 And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and for ornament.

3 And thou shalt speak with all [that are] wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to hallow him, that he may serve me as priest.

4 And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a cloak, and a checkered vest, a turban, and a girdle; and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may serve me as priest.

5 And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined byssus,

6 and shall make the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, scarlet and twined byssus, of artistic work.

7 It shall have two shoulder-pieces joined at the two ends thereof, where it is joined together.

8 And the girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to its work of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet and twined byssus.

9 And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel:

10 six of their names on the one stone, and the six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth.

11 According to the work of an engraver in stone, as the engravings of a seal, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel; surrounded by enclosures of gold shalt thou make them.

12 And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulder-pieces of the ephod [as] stones of memorial for the children of Israel; and Aaron shall bear their names before Jehovah upon his two shoulders for a memorial.

13 And thou shalt make enclosures of gold;

14 and two chains of pure gold; of laced work shalt thou make them, of wreathen work, and fasten the wreathen chains to the enclosures.

15 And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment of artistic work, like the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined byssus shalt thou make it.

16 Square shall it be, doubled; a span the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof.

17 And thou shalt set in it settings of stones -- four rows of stones: [one] row, a sardoin, a topaz, and an emerald -- the first row;

18 and the second row, a carbuncle, a sapphire, and a diamond;

19 and the third row, an opal, an agate, and an amethyst;

20 and the fourth row, a chrysolite, and an onyx, and a jasper; enclosed in gold shall they be in their settings.

21 And the stones shall be according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, engraved as a seal: every one according to his name shall they be for the twelve tribes.

22 And thou shalt make on the breastplate chains of laced work, of wreathen work, of pure gold.

23 And thou shalt make on the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.

24 And thou shalt put the two wreathen [cords] of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate;

25 and the two ends of the two wreathen [cords] thou shalt fasten to the two enclosures, and shalt put [them] on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, on the front thereof.

26 And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and shalt put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the border thereof, which faceth the ephod inwards.

27 And two rings of gold shalt thou make, and shalt put them upon the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod underneath, to the front thereof just by the coupling thereof, above the girdle of the ephod.

28 And they shall bind the breastplate with its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod.

29 And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment on his heart, when he goes in to the sanctuary, for a memorial before Jehovah continually.

30 And thou shalt put into the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, that they may be upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before Jehovah; and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before Jehovah continually.

31 And thou shalt make the cloak of the ephod all of blue.

32 And its opening for the head shall be in the midst thereof; there shall be a binding of woven work at its opening round about; as the opening of a coat of mail, it shall be in it -- it shall not rend.

33 And on the skirts thereof thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, round about the skirts thereof; and bells of gold between them round about:

34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, in the skirts of the cloak round about.

35 And it shall be on Aaron for service; that his sound may be heard when he goeth into the sanctuary before Jehovah, and when he cometh out, that he may not die.

36 And thou shalt make a thin plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, as the engravings of a seal, Holiness to Jehovah!

37 And thou shalt put it on a lace of blue, and it shall be upon the turban -- upon the front of the turban shall it be.

38 And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all gifts of their holy things; and it shall be continually on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Jehovah.

39 And thou shalt weave the vest of byssus; and thou shalt make a turban of byssus; and thou shalt make a girdle of embroidery.

40 And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make vests; and thou shalt make for them girdles; and high caps shalt thou make for them, for glory and for ornament.

41 And thou shalt clothe with them Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and hallow them, that they may serve me as priests.

42 And thou shalt make them linen trousers to cover the flesh of nakedness; from the loins even to the hips shall they reach.

43 And they shall be upon Aaron and his sons when they enter into the tent of meeting, or when they come near to the altar to serve in the sanctuary; that they may not bear iniquity and die -- an everlasting statute for him and his seed after him.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 951

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951. As "the seven angels that had the seven last plagues," signify the manifestation of the evils and falsities that have devastated the church, and as these are made manifest by means of the Divine truth in the Word, therefore those angels appeared "clothed in linen clean and bright;" for "linen clean and bright" signifies genuine truth. All angels appear clothed according to their functions; for the garments in which they go clothed correspond to their ministries, and in general to their interiors. The angels who are wise from Divine truth appear in white garments of muslin, lawn, or linen, because "muslin," "lawn," and "linen," correspond to the truths in which they are; and for this reason Aaron and his sons had garments of linen in which they ministered. These are described in Moses:

Thou shalt make for Aaron and his sons linen breeches to cover the flesh of their nakedness, from the loins even unto the thighs; these shall be upon them when they shall go into the Tent of meeting and when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place, that they bear not iniquity and die (Exodus 28:42, 43).

Again:

When Aaron shall enter into the holy place he shall put on the linen coat of holiness and the linen breeches shall be upon his flesh, and he shall gird himself with a linen belt and shall put on a linen miter (Leviticus 16:4).

He should put on the same garments when expiating the people (Leviticus 16:32).

Also when he took the ashes from the altar after the burnt-offering (Leviticus 6:10).

[2] In like manner the priests were to minister in the new temple. In Ezekiel:

When the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok shall enter at the gates of the inner court they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they shall minister in the gates of the inner court and within; linen miters shall be upon their head and linen breeches shall be upon their loins (Ezekiel 44:15, 17, 18).

They put on linen garments when they ministered holy things, because all holy administration is effected by the Divine truth. For the priesthood in which Aaron and his sons officiated represented the Lord as to the Divine good; and this ministers all things by means of the Divine truth. Moreover, the Divine truth protects from falsities and evils, which are from hell; therefore it is said "that they bear not iniquity and die," which signifies that otherwise falsities from hell would destroy them. These garments were called "garments of holiness," because holiness is predicated of the Divine truth. As the garments of ministry were linen garments, the priests wore a linen ephod when they ministered, as is read of Samuel (1 Samuel 2:18), and of the priests whom Saul slew (1 Samuel 22:18), and of David when he went before the ark (2 Samuel 6:14).

[3] Also of the Lord Himself in John:

Jesus rose up from supper and laid aside His garments, and took a linen cloth and girded Himself, and poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the linen cloth with which He was girded (Jeremiah 13:4, 5).

The washing of the disciples' feet represented and thus signified purification from evils and falsities by means of the Divine truth from the Lord; for all purification from evils and falsities is effected by the Lord by means of the Divine truth; and this is signified by "the linen cloth" with which the Lord girded Himself and with which He wiped the disciples' feet.

[4] Besides these seven angels treated of in Revelation there have been other angels seen in linen garments; as:

The angel who shall set a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh; and who shall go in between the wheels of cherubim and take coals of fire and scatter them over the city (Ezekiel 9:3, 4, 11; 10:2, 6, 7).

Likewise the angel seen by Daniel, clothed in linen, whose loins were girt with gold of Uphas (Daniel 10:5; 12:6, 7).

These appeared clothed in linen because girded for ministry. The angel who measured the new temple, whose appearance was like that of brass:

Was seen to have a line of flax in his hand and a measuring reed (Ezekiel 40:3).

By "the measuring of the temple" there, is described the New Church as to its quality; this is signified by the number of the measures; and as all the quality of the church is known by the Divine truth, therefore "a line of flax" was in his hand.

[5] As "linen" signifies truth, and "a girdle" everything of it, for it is what embraces and includes all things, and as nothing of truth any longer remained with the sons of Israel, therefore:

The prophet Jeremiah was commanded to buy himself a linen girdle, and to hide it in the cleft of a rock at the Euphrates; and at the end of many days it was spoiled and was profitable for nothing (Jeremiah 13:1-7).

"The linen girdle" signifies all the truth of doctrine from the Word. What is signified by its being "hidden in the cleft of a rock at the Euphrates and was there spoiled," may be seen above n. 569.

[6] "Linen" signifies the truth of the church also in Isaiah:

A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not extinguish, and He will bring forth judgment in truth (Isaiah 42:3).

This was said of the Lord; and "the smoking flax," that He will not extinguish signifies the small amount of truth from good with anyone. (The rest may be seen explained above, n. 627.) "Linen" signifies also truth from the Word, especially the truth of the sense of its letter (Hosea 2:5, 9).

[7] Moreover, it was a statute with the sons of Israel:

That they should not wear a garment of wool and linen mixed together (Deuteronomy 22:11).

The reason was that "wool" signifies good and "linen" truth, also because man has communication with the societies of heaven by means of his garments; and there are societies that are in good and societies that are in truth; and man must not have communication with different societies at the same time, which would cause confusion. That this was the reason for this statute no one has heretofore known. But it has been granted me to know it from changing my garments; for when I have laid aside a linen garment those in the spiritual world who were in truths have complained that they could not be present; and when I again put on the garment the same spirits became present. That there is such correspondence with the very garments of man has not been known heretofore, and yet it can be seen from the passages cited above, namely, from what is said of the linen garments of Aaron and his sons, the linen ephod that the priests and David wore, the linen in which the angels appeared clothed, and the linen cloth with which the Lord girded Himself and wiped the disciples' feet, also the other garments of Aaron and his sons, all of which were representative; also from the signification of garments in general, as being truths clothing good (See above, n. 64, 65, 195, 271, 395, 475, 476, 637).

(Continuation respecting the First Commandment)

[8] It is not believed in the world that the love of ruling from the mere delight of ruling, and the love of possessing goods from the mere delight of possession, and not from the delight of uses, conceal in themselves all evils, and also a contempt for and rejection of all things pertaining to heaven and the church; and for the reason that man is stirred up by the love of self and the love of the world to doing good to the church, the country, society, and the neighbor, by making good deeds honorable and looking for reward. Therefore this love is called by many the fire of life, and the incitement to great things. But it is to be known that so far as these two loves regard uses in the first place and self in the second they are good, while so far as they regard self in the first place and uses in the second they are evil, since man then does all things for the sake of self and consequently from self, and thus in every least thing he does there is self and what is his own [proprium], which regarded in itself is nothing but evil. But to regard uses in the first place and self in the second is to do good for the sake of the church, the country, society, and the neighbor; and the goods that man does to these for the sake of these are not from man but from the Lord. The difference between these two is like the difference between heaven and hell. Man does not know that there is such a difference, because from birth and thus from nature he is in these loves, and because the delight of these loves continually flatters and pleases him.

[9] But let him consider that the love of ruling from the delight of ruling, and not from the delight of uses, is wholly devilish; and such a man may be called an atheist; for so far as he is in that love he does not in his heart believe in the existence of God, and to the same extent he derides in his heart all things of the church, and even hates and pursues with hatred all who acknowledge God, and especially those who acknowledge the Lord. The very delight of their life is to do evil and to commit wicked and infamous deeds of every kind. In a word, they are very devils. This a man does not know so long as he lives in the world; but he will know that it is so when he comes into the spiritual world, as he does immediately after death. Hell is full of such, where instead of having dominion they are in servitude. Moreover, when they are looked at in the light of heaven they appear inverted, with the head downwards and the feet upwards, since they gave rule the first place and uses the second, and that which is in the first place is the head, and that which is the second is the feet; and that which is the head is loved, but that which is the feet is trampled upon.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.