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Numbers 12

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1 And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had taken; for he had taken a Cushite as wife.

2 And they said, Has Jehovah indeed spoken only to Moses? has he not spoken also to us? And Jehovah heard it.

3 But the man Moses was very meek, above all men that were upon the face of the earth.

4 Then Jehovah spoke suddenly to Moses, and to Aaron, and to Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tent of meeting. And they went out, they three.

5 And Jehovah came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood at the entrance of the tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forth.

6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I Jehovah will make myself known to him in a vision, I will speak to him in a dream.

7 Not so my servant Moses: he is faithful in all my house.

8 Mouth to Mouth do I speak to him openly, and not in riddles; and the form of Jehovah doth he behold. Why then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?

9 And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against them, and he went away;

10 and the cloud departed from off the tent. And behold, Miriam was leprous as snow; and Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

11 Then Aaron said to Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not this sin upon us, wherein we have been foolish, and have sinned!

12 Let her not be as one stillborn, half of whose flesh is consumed when he comes out of his mother's womb.

13 And Moses cried to Jehovah, saying, O ùGod, heal her, I beseech thee!

14 And Jehovah said to Moses, But had her father anyways spat in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? She shall be shut outside the camp seven days, and afterwards she shall be received in [again].

15 And Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days; and the people did not journey till Miriam was received in [again].

16 And afterwards the people journeyed from Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 862

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862. We have said that the nations' surrounding the camp of the saints and the beloved city means, symbolically, that these people attempted to destroy everything connected with the New Church, both its truths and goods and its fundamental doctrine regarding the Lord and life, as stated in the preceding number. This is the symbolic meaning because the camp of the saints symbolizes all the truths and goods of the church which is the New Jerusalem.

That a camp in the spiritual sense symbolizes everything connected with the church with respect to its truths and goods can be seen from the following passages:

The sun and moon grew dark, and the stars diminished their brightness. Jehovah uttered His voice before His army, for His camp is very great; for numberless are those who obey His Word. (Joel 2:10-11)

I will encamp for My house some of the army... (Zechariah 9:8)

...God has scattered the bones of them who encamp against you..., because God has rejected them. (Psalms 53:5)

The angel of Jehovah encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them. (Psalms 34:7)

(An angel of God met Jacob, and said to Jacob,) "This is God's camp." Therefore he called the name of that place Mahanaim (Two Camps). (Genesis 32:1-2)

And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 29:3, Ezekiel 1:24, Psalms 27:3.

That an army or host in the Word symbolizes the church's truths and goods, and also its falsities and evils, may be seen in nos. 447, 826, 833; and so, too, does a camp.

[2] Since the children of Israel and their twelve tribes symbolize the church in respect to all its truths and goods (nos. 349, 350), they were therefore called the armies or hosts of Jehovah (Exodus 7:4; 12:41, 51), and the places where they stopped and assembled were called camps, as in Leviticus 4:12; 8:17; 13:46; 14:8; 16:26, 28; 24:14, 23; Numbers 1; 2; 3; 4:5 ff., 5:2-4; 9:17-23; 10:1-10, 11-28; 11:31-32; 12:14-15; 21:10-15; 33:1-49; Deuteronomy 23:9-14; Amos 4:10.

It is apparent from this now that the nations' surrounding the camp of the saints and the beloved city means, symbolically, that these people tried to destroy all the truths and goods of the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, and also its doctrine regarding the Lord and life.

The same symbolism is found in these verses in Luke:

When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near... (At length) Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:20, 24)

This is said in reference to the end of the age, which is the final period of the church. Jerusalem here also symbolizes the church.

That Gog and Magog, that is, people who engage in external worship divorced from any internal worship, will then invade the church and try to destroy it, is something we are told also in Ezekiel 38:8-9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 39:2, and that the New Church will then be established by the Lord, Ezekiel 39:17-29.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.