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Exodus 33

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1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: God, get thee up from this place, thou and thy people which thou has brought out of the land of Egypt, into the land concerning which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: To thy seed I will give it.

2 And I will send an angel before thee, that I may cast out the Chanaanite, and the Amorrhite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite.

3 That thou mayst enter into the land that floweth with milk and honey. For I will not go up with thee, because thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I destroy thee in the way.

4 And the people hearing these very bad tidings, mourned: and no man put on his ornaments according to custom.

5 And the Lord said to Moses: Say to the children of Israel: Thou are a stiffnecked people; once I shall come up in the midst of thee, and shall destroy thee. Now presently lay aside thy ornaments, that I may know what to do with thee.

6 So the children of Israel laid aside their ornaments by mount Horeb.

7 Moses also taking the tabernacle, pitched it without the camp afar off, and called the name thereof, The tabernacle of the covenant. And all the people that had any question, went forth to the tabernacle of the covenant, without the camp.

8 And when Moses went forth to the tabernacle, all the people rose up, and every one stood in the door of his pavilion, and they beheld the back of Moses, till he went into the tabernacle.

9 And when he was gone into the tabernacle of the covenant, the pillar of the cloud came down, and stood at the door, and he spoke with Moses.

10 And all saw that the pillar of the cloud stood at the door of the tabernacle. And they stood, and worshipped at the doors of their tents.

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man is wont to speak to his friend. And when he returned into the camp, his servant Josue the son of Nun, a young man, departed not from the tabernacle.

12 And Moses said to the Lord; Thou commandest me to lead forth this people: and thou dost not let me know whom thou wilt send with me, especially whereas thou hast said: I know thee by name, and thou hast found favour in my sight.

13 If therefore I have found favour in thy sight, show me thy face, that I may know thee, and may find grace before thy eyes: look upon thy people this nation.

14 And the Lord said: My face shall go before thee, and I will give thee rest.

15 And Moses said: If thou thyself dost not go before, bring us not out of this place.

16 For how shall we be able to know, I and thy people, that we have found grace in thy sight, unless thou walk with us, that we may be glorified by all people that dwell upon the earth?

17 And the Lord said to Moses: This word also, which thou hast spoken, will I do: for thou hast found grace before me, and thee I have known by name.

18 And he said: Shew me thy glory.

19 He answered: I will shew thee all good, and I will proclaim in the name of the Lord before thee: and I will have mercy on whom I will, and I will be merciful to whom it shall please me.

20 And again he said: Thou canst not see my face: for man shall not see me and live.

21 And again he said: Behold there is a place with me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock.

22 And when my glory shall pass, I will set thee in a hole of the rock, and protect thee with my right hand, till I pass:

23 And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face thou canst not see.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 10441

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10441. 'And repent [of the evil] against Your people' means having mercy on them. This is clear from the meaning of 'repenting', when it has reference to Jehovah, as having mercy. The reason why 'repenting' means having mercy is that Jehovah does not ever repent, since He foresees and makes provision for all things from eternity. Repentance is a reaction that can take place only in someone who has no knowledge of the future and who sees, as events unfold, that he has made a mistake. Nevertheless the Word speaks of Jehovah's reacting in that kind of way because the sense of the letter consists of ideas of things as man sees them. For it is intended for very simple people and for young children, who at first go no further than that sense. Also young children and very simple people's interests lie in the most external things, from which they start out and in which after this their inner thoughts and feelings terminate. For this reason the Word in the letter must be understood differently by those who have become wiser.

[2] The situation with the Word is similar to that with the human being. Everything within him terminates in flesh and bones; these are the container of everything there. Unless they existed in place of a foundation or support a person could not remain in being; for he would have no final level in which all things within him could terminate and on which they could rest. The situation is similar with the Word. This must have a final level in which everything within it terminates; that final level is the sense of the letter, and the inner things are the heavenly matters belonging to the internal sense. From all this it is now evident that the way things appear to man is the reason why Jehovah is said to repent, when in fact He does not repent.

[3] The fact that Jehovah is said to repent is clear from a large number of places in the Word, such as the following: In Jeremiah,

If [a nation] does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, I will repent of the good with which I said I would benefit it. Jeremiah 18:10.

In the same prophet,

It may be that they will listen and every man turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the evil which I am thinking to do to them on account of the wickedness of their doings. Jeremiah 26:3.

In Ezekiel,

When My anger is accomplished and I make My wrath rest on them, I will repent. Ezekiel 5:13.

In Amos,

Jehovah repented. It shall not happen, He said. Amos 7:3, 6.

In Moses,

Jehovah will judge His people, and repent over 1 His servants. Deuteronomy 32:36.

In Jonah,

The king of Nineveh said, Who knows, God may turn and be moved to repentance 2 , and turn from the heat of His anger, and we may not perish! And they turned from their evil way; therefore God repented of the evil which He had said He would do to them, so that He did not do it. Jonah 3:9-10.

In the Book of Genesis,

Jehovah repented that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Genesis 6:6.

In the first Book of Samuel,

I have repented that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me. 1 Samuel 15:11, 35.

[4] From these places which speak of Jehovah's having repented, when in fact He cannot repent since He knows all things before He does them, it is evident that 'repenting' means having mercy. The fact that Jehovah never repents is also clear from the Word, as in Moses,

Jehovah 3 is not a man (vir), that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will not act? Or has He spoken, and will not carry it out? Numbers 23:19.

And in the first Book of Samuel,

The Invincible One of Israel does not lie, nor does He repent, for He is not a man (homo), that He should repent. 1 Samuel 15:29.

The fact that when Jehovah is said to repent His mercy is meant is clear in Joel,

Jehovah is gracious and merciful, long-suffering, and great in compassion, and One who is accustomed to repent of evil. Joel 2:13.

And in Jonah,

God is gracious and merciful, long-suffering, and great in kindness, and One who repents of evil. Jonah 4:2.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. i.e. has compassion on

2. literally, be led by repentance

3. The Hebrew at this point uses the word meaning God.

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