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Leviticus 17

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1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

2 Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, This is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded, saying,

3 Every one of the house of Israel that slaughtereth an ox, or sheep, or goat, in the camp, or that slaughtereth it out of the camp,

4 and doth not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to Jehovah, before the tabernacle of Jehovah, blood shall be reckoned unto that man: he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people,

5 to the end that the children of Israel bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, that they bring them to Jehovah, unto the entrance of the tent of meeting, unto the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace-offerings to Jehovah.

6 And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of Jehovah, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and burn the fat for a sweet odour to Jehovah.

7 And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices unto demons, after whom they go a whoring. This shall be an everlasting statute unto them for their generations.

8 And thou shalt say unto them, Every one of the house of Israel, and of the strangers who sojourn among them, that offereth up a burnt-offering or sacrifice,

9 and bringeth it not to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to offer it up to Jehovah -- that man shall be cut off from his peoples.

10 And every one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, that eateth any manner of blood, -- I will set my face against the soul that hath eaten blood, and will cut him off from among his people;

11 for the soul of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul.

12 Therefore have I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall the stranger who sojourneth among you eat blood.

13 And every one of the children of Israel, and of the strangers who sojourn among them, that catcheth in the hunt a beast or fowl that may be eaten, he shall pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with earth;

14 for as to the life of all flesh, its blood is the life in it; and I have said unto the children of Israel, Of the blood of no manner of flesh shall ye eat, for the life of all flesh is its blood: whoever eateth it shall be cut off.

15 And every soul that eateth of a dead carcase, or of that which was torn, be it one home-born, or a stranger, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the even: then he shall be clean.

16 And if he wash them not nor bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 586

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586. That they should not adore demons, signifies that they should not worship their own cupidities. This is evident from the signification of "to adore," as being to worship, and from the signification of "demons," as being evil cupidities. "Demons" are evil cupidities because by demons infernal spirits are meant, and all spirits that are in the hells are nothing but evil cupidities; for all spirits that are in the hells, as well as all angels in the heavens, are from the human race; and every man after death becomes such as his life has been in the world, consequently such as his affection has been; therefore after death man is wholly his affection, a good man the affection of good and truth, and an evil man the affection of evil and falsity. Moreover, every man after death thinks, wills, speaks, and acts in accordance with his affection. The affection of evil and falsity is what is called cupidity, and is what is signified by "demon. "

[2] But what is meant by "worshiping demons" shall also be told briefly. Every man is associated with spirits; without association and conjunction with them no one can live; and the spirits with man are such as his affections or cupidities are; therefore when man in his worship does not look to the Lord or to the neighbor, but looks to himself and to the world, that is, when he worships God for the sole end of being carried to honors, and of gaining wealth, or of being able to do injury to others, then he worships demons; for then the Lord is not present in his worship, but infernal spirits are present, who are closely associated with him. These spirits are so insane as to believe that they are gods, and that they are to be worshiped; for every spirit, as well as every man, who is in the love of self, is eager to be worshiped as a god; consequently this insane cupidity continues with men after death, when they become demon-spirits; and this is what is signified by "adoring demons."

[3] This worship is meant also by "sacrificing to demons." In Moses:

They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations they made Him angry. They sacrificed to demons that were not God, to gods that they knew not (Deuteronomy 32:16, 17).

The sons of Israel shall sacrifice at the entrance of the tent, and they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices unto demons, after whom they go whoring (Leviticus 17:7).

The sacrifices that were offered at the entrance of the tent represented the worship of the Lord, because the altar, and also the tabernacle, represented heaven where the Lord is present; but the sacrifices that were offered elsewhere represented worship where the Lord is not present, thus the worship of demons; this was because all things at that time were representative.

[4] In David:

They sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons (Psalms 106:37).

This was altogether infernal; but in the spiritual sense "to sacrifice sons and daughters" signified to pervert and destroy the truths and goods of the church by evil cupidities; "sons" signifying the truths of the church, and "daughters" its goods.

[5] In Isaiah:

The tziim shall encounter the ijim, and the demon of the wood shall meet his fellow, the night-monster shall also settle there and find for itself rest (Isaiah 34:14).

This treats of the total devastation of the church by corporeal and merely natural lusts, from which flow forth falsities and evils of every kind; such lusts are signified by "the tziim and the ijim," also by "the night-monster, and the demon of the wood" (or satyr).

[6] So elsewhere in the same:

The tziim shall sing 1 there, and their houses shall be full of ochim, and the daughters of the owl shall dwell there, and the demons of the wood shall dance there (Isaiah 13:21).

This is said of Babylon; that there are such corporeal and purely natural lusts with those who are meant by Babylon, and that these constitute the life of their mind is signified by "their houses shall be full of such things," and "they shall dwell and dance there." "House" signifies the mind or disposition of man, with the things therein; "daughters of the owl" signify falsities, and "demons of the wood" (or satyrs) cupidities merely corporeal. Like things are said of Babylon in Revelation:

Babylon is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird (Revelation 18:2).

The demons cast out by the Lord, by which many were then obsessed, signify falsities of every kind by which the church was infested, and from which it was delivered by the Lord (as in Matthew 8:16, 28; 9:32, 33; 10:8; 12:22; 15:22; Mark 1:32-34; Luke 4:33-38, 41; 8:2, 26-40; 9:1, 37-44, 49, 50; 13:32; and elsewhere).

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. Latin has "sing," the Hebrew "lie," as also in AE 1029; AR 548, 757.

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