Bible

 

Ezekiel 31

Studie

   

1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third [month], on the first of the month, [that] the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, say unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude: Whom art thou like in thy greatness?

3 Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature: and his top was amidst the thick boughs.

4 The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high; its streams ran round about his plantation, and it sent out its rivulets unto all the trees of the field.

5 Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long, because of great waters, when he shot forth.

6 All the fowl of the heavens made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all the great nations.

7 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: because his root was by great waters.

8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him; the cypresses were not like his boughs, and the plane-trees were not as his branches: no tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.

9 I had made him fair by the multitude of his branches; and all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.

10 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast lifted up thyself in stature, ... and he hath set his top amidst the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height,

11 I have given him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.

12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off and have left him; upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken in all the watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.

13 Upon his fallen [trunk] do all the fowl of the heavens dwell, and all the beasts of the field are upon his branches:

14 to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, nor set their top amidst the thick boughs, and that none of them that drink water stand up in his height by himself; for they are all given over unto death in the lower parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.

15 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In the day when he went down to Sheol, I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed; and I made Lebanon black for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.

16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol, with them that go down into the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the lower parts of the earth.

17 They also went down into Sheol with him unto them that were slain with the sword, and [that were] his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the nations.

18 To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden, unto the lower parts of the earth; thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord Jehovah.

   

Komentář

 

The Word

  
A detail from the Winchester Bible, this shows God putting words in the mouth of Jeremiah.

Consider the beautiful but cryptic statements of John 1:1:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

God's love has always been and will always be infinite and perfect. That means the expression of God's love -- His truth -- has also always been and will always be infinite and perfect.

The Lord has shared this truth with us in various ways since the beginning of humanity. The earliest people received truth directly, flowing into the inner parts of their minds from heaven. Later, people understood it through nature seeing the Lord's love expressed in mountains, trees, rivers, and the sun, moon and stars. By using natural language as a container for spiritual language, the Lord expressed truth within the Bible inside its stories, laws and prophecies. When humanity reached its lowest point, God took on a human form and walked among us as Jesus. In this way, the Lord brought us Divine truths in an accessible and tangible way. By accepting and loving the Lord as Jesus we can open ourselves to His love.

Finally, the Heavenly Doctrine received through the pen of Emanuel Swedenborg are themselves a container for Divine Truth, both in speaking plainly about heaven and by unlocking the truth as it is contained in the Bible.

The Word itself is Divine Truth; the Lord's expression of love has and never will change.

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 3384

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

3384. 'Isaac dwelt in Gerar' means the Lord's state as regards matters of faith in respect to the rational concepts which were to be allied. This is clear from the meaning of 'dwelling in Gerar' as possessing what are matters of faith, and so a state as regards those things, since 'dwelling in' means living, 1293, and 'Gerar' matters of faith, 1209, 2504, 3365; and from the representation of 'Isaac' as the Lord as regards the Divine Rational, dealt with in 1893, 2066, 2072, 2083, 2630. Their being matters of faith in respect to the rational concepts that were to be allied is clear from what comes before and after, for in the whole of this chapter those things are the subject, that is to say, rational concepts which, when enlightened from the Lord's Divine, are appearances of truth.

[2] That 'dwelling in' means one's being and life, and so one's state, is evident from very many places in the Word, as in David,

I will dwell in the house of Jehovah for the length of days. Psalms 23:6.

One thing have I asked from Jehovah, that will I seek: I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of the my life. Psalms 27:4

He shall not dwell within My house who practices deceit. Psalms 101:7.

Here 'dwelling in the house of Jehovah' stands for one's being and life residing in good that stems from love, for this good is 'the house of Jehovah'. In Isaiah,

Those dwelling in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shone out. Isaiah 9:2.

'Those dwelling in the land of the shadow of death' stands for the state of those who have no knowledge of good and truth. In the same prophet,

Babel will not be dwelt in for ever. Isaiah 13:20.

This stands for the state of condemnation of those meant by 'Babel'.

[3] In the same prophet,

O Jehovah God of Israel, dwelling among the cherubim. Isaiah 37:16.

O Shepherd of Israel, dwelling among the cherubim, shine forth. Psalms 80:1.

'Dwelling among the cherubim' means the Lord at work in a providential state, in which He prevents anyone's access to the sacred things of love and faith unless that person has been prepared for it by the Lord, 308. In David,

In peace I both lie down and sleep, for You, O Jehovah, alone make me dwell in safety. Psalms 4:8.

'Making a person dwell in safety' stands for a state of peace. In Jeremiah,

You who dwell on many waters, great in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your gain. Jeremiah 51:13.

This refers to Babel. 'Dwelling on many waters' stands for possessing cognitions concerning truth.

[4] In Daniel,

God Himself reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him. Daniel 2:22.

'Dwelling' stands for having its being. In the same prophet,

The beast of the field had shade under that tree, and in its branches dwelt the birds of the air. Daniel 4:12.

And in Ezekiel,

Under its branches every wild beast of the field brought forth, and in its shadow dwelt all great nations. Ezekiel 31:6.

'Dwelling' stands for one's being and life. In Hosea,

Threshing-floor and winepress will not feed them, and new wine will be deceptive to her. They will not dwell in Jehovah's land, but Ephraim will return to Egypt. Hosea 9:2-3.

'Not dwelling in Jehovah's land' stands for not being in a state where the good of love is present, and so for not being in the Lord's kingdom.

  
/ 10837  
  

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