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Ezekiel 3

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1 And he said unto me, Son of man, eat what thou findest; eat this roll, and go, speak unto the house of Israel.

2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.

3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll which I give thee. And I ate, and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.

4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.

5 For thou art not sent to a people of strange language, and of difficult speech, [but] to the house of Israel;

6 not to many peoples of strange language and of difficult speech, whose words thou canst not understand: had I sent thee to them, would they not hearken unto thee?

7 But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee, for none of them will hearken unto me. For all the house of Israel are hard of forehead and stiff of heart.

8 Behold, I have made thy face hard against their faces, and thy forehead hard against their foreheads.

9 As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead. Fear them not, neither be dismayed at them, for they are a rebellious house.

10 And he said unto me, Son of man, all my words which I shall speak unto thee, receive in thy heart, and hear with thine ears;

11 and go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, -- whether they will hear or whether they will forbear.

12 And the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great rushing, [saying,] Blessed be the glory of Jehovah from his place!

13 -- and the sound of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great rushing.

14 And the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of Jehovah was strong upon me.

15 And I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river Chebar, and I sat where they sat; and I sat there astonied among them seven days.

16 And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

17 Son of man, I have appointed thee a watchman unto the house of Israel, and thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, and give them warning from me.

18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt certainly die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, that he may live: the same wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

19 But if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

20 And when a righteous [man] doth turn from his righteousness, and do what is wrong, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die; because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous acts which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

21 And if thou warn the righteous [man], that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall certainly live, for he hath taken warning; and thou hast delivered thy soul.

22 And the hand of Jehovah was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the valley, and there I will talk with thee.

23 And I arose, and went forth into the valley, and behold, the glory of Jehovah stood there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.

24 And the Spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet; and he spoke with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thy house.

25 And thou, son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee therewith, and thou shalt not go out among them.

26 And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house.

27 And when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.

   

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Psalms 119:103

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103 How sweet are thy ùwords unto my taste! more than honey to my mouth!

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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.