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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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Israel

  

'The children of Israel,' in Isaiah 14:2, signify the Gentiles.

In Jeremiah 23:8, 'Israel' represents the spiritual natural church.

(Odkazy: Apocalypse Explained 768)


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Apocalypse Explained # 64

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64. Clothed with a garment down to the foot, signifies Divine truth proceeding from Him. This is evident from the signification of "garments" as being truths that clothe good (See Arcana Coelestia, n. 1073, 2576, 5248, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10536). Here is only mentioned "a garment down to the foot," which is a general covering; by which, as the Lord is treated of, all Divine truth in general is meant. Since the Lord is here described in respect to the Divine Human, which is here the "Son of man seen in the midst of the lampstands," and it is said that He was "clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the paps with a golden girdle," and afterwards that "His face shone as the sun in his power," I wish to give an explanation of what is said in the Evangelists about the Lord when He was transfigured, where some similar expressions are used; and afterwards of what is said about the soldiers dividing His garments, and casting the lot upon His tunic.

[2] Of the Lord's transfiguration it is thus written:

Jesus took Peter, James, and John, into a very high mountain, and He was transfigured before them; and His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became white as the light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah speaking with Him. And behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him (Matthew 17:1-5; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36).

The Lord took Peter, James, and John, because by them the church in respect to faith, charity, and the works of charity was represented; He took them "into a high mountain," because "mountain" signifies heaven; "His face did shine as the sun," because "face" signifies the interiors, and it did shine as the sun because His interiors were Divine, for the "sun" is Divine love; "His garments became white as the light," because "garments" signify Divine truth proceeding from Him; the like is signified by "light." "Moses and Elijah" appeared, because the two signify the Word, "Moses" the historical Word, and "Elijah" the prophetical Word; "a bright cloud overshadowed them," because "a bright cloud" signifies the Word in the letter within which is the internal sense; "a voice out of the cloud said, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him," because "a voice out of the cloud" signifies Divine truth out of the Word, and "beloved Son," the Lord's Divine Human. And because Divine truth is from Him, and thence all truth of the church, it was said out of the cloud, "in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him."

[3] It was plainly the Divine Human of the Lord that was thus seen, for the Divine Itself cannot be seen by anyone, except through the Divine Human. This the Lord also teaches in John:

No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath brought Him forth to view (John 1:18).

And in another place:

Ye have neither heard the voice of the Father at any time, nor seen His shape (John 5:37).

(That such things are signified by these words in the Evangelists, can be seen in the Arcana Coelestia where the particulars are made known, namely, that by "Peter," "James," and "John," in the Word, are signified faith, charity, and the works of charity, n. 3750, and above, n. 8-9; by "high mountain" is signified heaven, n. 8327, 8805, 9420, 9422, 9434, 10608; by "face," the interiors which are of the mind, n. 1999, 2434, 3527, 4066, 4796, 5102, 9306, 9546; and by "the face of the Lord," mercy, peace, and every good, n. 222-223, 5585, 9306, 9546, 9888; by "the sun," Divine Love, n. 2495, 4060, 7083; and in the work on Heaven and Hell 116-125; by "garments," when the Lord is treated of, Divine truth, n. 9212, 9216; and the like by "light," n. 3195, 3222, 5400, 8644, 9399, 9548, 9684; and in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 126-140. That "Moses and Elias" signify the Word; "Moses," see Arcana Coelestia 5922, 6723, 6752, 6771, 6827, 7010, 7014, 7089, 7382, 9372, 10234; and "Elias," see n. 2762, 5247. That "clouds" signify the Word in the letter, see above, n. 36; that "beloved Son" is the Divine Human of the Lord is evident.) From the fact that the "Lord's garments" signify Divine truth, it may be known what is signified by the soldiers dividing the garments of the Lord among them, and casting a lot upon His tunic, of which it is thus written in John:

The soldiers took His garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part, also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore one to another, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for whose it shall be; that the Scripture might be fulfilled which saith, They parted My garments among them, and upon My vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did (John 19:23-24).

[4] He who is not aware that in every particular of the Word there is an internal sense which is spiritual, cannot see any arcanum in these things; he knows only that the soldiers divided the garments and not the tunic; and beyond this he knows nothing; when not only in this fact is there a Divine arcanum, but also in every particular of what is recorded concerning the passion of the Lord. The arcanum in this fact is that the garments of the Lord signified Divine truth, thus the Word, because the Word is Divine truth; the "garments" that they divided, the Word in the letter, and the "tunic" the Word in the internal sense; to "divide them" signifies to disperse and falsify; and "the soldiers" signify those that are of the church, who should fight in behalf of Divine truth. This is why it is said, "These things therefore the soldiers did." From this it is clear that the meaning of these words in the spiritual sense is that the Jewish Church dispersed the Divine truth which is in the sense of the letter, but could not disperse the Divine truth which is in the internal sense. That the "garments of the Lord" signified Divine truth, thus the Word, was shown above; that His "tunic" signified Divine truth, or the Word, in the internal sense, see Arcana Coelestia n.9826, 9942; that to "divide" is to disperse and separate from good and truth, thus to falsify, see n. 4424, 6360, 6361, 9094; that "the soldiers" signify those that are of the church, here of the Jewish church, who should fight in behalf of Divine truth, is clear from the spiritual sense of "warfare" and of "war;" that "war" signifies spiritual combats, which are of truth against falsity, see n. 1659, 1664, 8295, 10455; it is therefore said of the Levites, whose function pertained to such things as are of the church, that they were discharging military duty and were serving in war, when they were exercising their ministry in the tent of the assembly (Numbers 4:23, 35, 39, 43, 47; 8:23, 24).

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