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Exodus 35

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1 And all the multitude of the children of Israel being gathered together, he said to them: These are the things which the Lord hath commanded to be done.

2 Six days you shall do work: the seventh day shall be holy unto you, the sabbath, and the rest of the Lord: he that shall do any work on it, shall be put to death.

3 You shall kindle no fire in any of your habitations on the sabbath day.

4 And Moses said to all the assembly of the children of Israel: This is the word the Lord hath commanded, saying:

5 Set aside with you firstfuits to the Lord. Let every one that is willing and hath a ready heart, offer them to the Lord: gold, and silver, and brass,

6 Violet and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen, goats' hair,

7 And rams' skins dyed red, and violet coloured skins, setim wood,

8 And oil to maintain lights, and to make ointment, and most sweet incense.

9 Onyx stones, and precious stones, for the adorning of the ephod and the rational.

10 Whosoever of you is wise, let him come, and make that which the Lord hath commanded:

11 To wit, the tabernacle and the roof thereof, and the cover, the rings, and the board work with the oars, the pillars, and the sockets:

12 The ark and the staves, the propitiatory, and the veil that is drawn before it:

13 The table with the bars and the vessels, and the loaves of proposition:

14 The candlestick to bear up the lights, the vessels thereof and the lamps, and the oil for the nourishing of fires:

15 The altar of incense, and the bars, and the oil of unction and the incense of spices: the hanging at the door of the tabernacle:

16 The altar of holocaust, and its grate of brass, with the bars and vessels thereof: the laver and its foot:

17 The curtains of the court with the pillars and the sockets, the hanging in the doors of the entry,

18 The pins of the tabernacle and of the court with their little cords:

19 The vestments that are to be used in the ministry of the sanctuary, the vesture of Aaron the high priest, and of his sons, to do the office of priesthood to me.

20 And all the multitude of the children of Israel going out from the presence of Moses,

21 Offered firstfruits to the Lord with a most ready and devout mind, to make the work of the tabernacle of the testimony. Whatsoever was necessary to the service, and to the holy vestments,

22 Both men and women gave bracelets and earrings, rings and tablets: every vessel of gold was set aside to be offered to the Lord.

23 If any man had violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, fine linen and goats' hair, rams' skins dyed red, and violet coloured skins,

24 Metal of silver and brass, they offered it to the Lord, and setim wood for divers uses.

25 The skilful women also gave such things as they had spun, violet, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen,

26 And goats' hair, giving all of their own accord.

27 But the princes offered onyx stone, and precious stones, for the ephod and the rational,

28 And spices and oil for the lights, and for the preparing of ointment, and to make the incense of most sweet savour.

29 All both men and women with devout mind offered gifts, that the works might be done which the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses. All the children of Israel dedicated voluntary offerings to the Lord.

30 And Moses said to the children of Israel: Behold the Lord hath called by name Beseleel the son of Uri the son of Hur of the tribe of Juda.

31 And hath filled him with the spirit of God, with wisdom and understanding and knowledge and all learning.

32 To devise and to work in gold and silver and brass,

33 And in engraving stones, and in carpenters' work. Whatsoever can be devised artificially,

34 He hath given in his heart: Ooliab also the son of Achisamech of the tribe of Dan:

35 Both of them hath he instructed with wisdom, to do carpenters' work and tapestry, and embroidery in blue and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen, and to weave all things, and to invent all new things.

   

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Exodus 39:32

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32 And they offered the tabernacle and the roof and the whole furniture, the rings, the boards, the bars, the pillars, and their sockets,

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Arcana Coelestia # 643

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643. As for the meaning itself of these expressions - that 'planks of gopher' means lusts and 'rooms' the two parts of this man - this becomes clear from the Word. Gopher is a wood full of sulphur, as is the fir and others of that group. It is on account of the sulphur in it that it is said to mean lusts, for it catches fire easily. The most ancient people compared and likened those elements that exist with man to gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, his inmost celestial to gold, the lower celestial to bronze, and the lowest or bodily descending from this to wood, while the inmost spiritual they compared and likened to silver, the lower spiritual to iron, and the lowest degree of it to stone. When those objects are mentioned in the Word these are the things meant by them in the internal sense, as in Isaiah,

Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver, and instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. And I will make peace your assessment and righteousness your tax-collectors. Isaiah 60:17.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom in which no such metals exist, but instead celestial and spiritual elements. It is quite clear that the latter are meant because of the reference to peace' and 'righteousness'. Here, gold, bronze, and wood correspond to one another and mean celestial elements or those belonging to the will, as has been stated. Silver, iron, and stone also correspond to one another, and mean spiritual elements or those belonging to the understanding.

[2] In Ezekiel,

They will spoil your riches, they will despoil your merchandise, your stones and your timbers. Ezekiel 26:12.

It is quite clear that 'riches' and 'merchandise' do not mean material riches and merchandise, but celestial and spiritual ones. So also 'stones' and 'timbers' - 'stones' being things of the understanding and 'timbers' those of the will. In Habakkuk,

The stone cries out from the wall, and the beam out of the woodwork answers back. Habakkuk 2:11.

'Stone' stands for the lowest degree of the understanding, and 'wood' for the lowest degree of the will, which answers back when anything is drawn from sensory knowledge. In the same prophet,

Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, Awake! or to a dumb stone, Arise, this will teach! Behold, this is bound in gold and silver, and there is no spirit 1 at all in the midst of it. But Jehovah is in His holy temple. Habakkuk 2:19-20.

Here also 'wood' stands for evil desire, 'stone' for the lowest degree of the understanding, and therefore 'being dumb' and 'teaching' are used in reference to that stone. 'No spirit in the midst of it' means that it represents nothing celestial or spiritual, like a temple in which there is stone and wood, overlaid with gold and silver, existing with people who give no thought to what those things represent.

[3] In Jeremiah,

Our waters we drink for silver, our timbers come for a price. Lamentations 5:4.

Here 'waters' and 'silver' mean things of the understanding, 'timbers' those of the will. In the same prophet,

Who say to wood, You are my father; and to a stone, You gave birth to us. Jeremiah 2:27.

Here 'wood' stands for desire which belongs to the will, from which there is conception, and 'stone' for sensory knowledge, from which there is birth. All through the Prophets therefore 'serving wood and stone' stands for images carved out of wood or stone, which means that people were slaves to evil desires and to delusions. The Prophets also speak of 'committing adultery with wood and stone', as in Jeremiah 3:9. In Hosea,

The people inquire of their piece of wood, and their staff makes declaration to them, for the spirit of whoredom has led them astray. Hosea 4:12.

This stands for their inquiring of a wooden image, or evil desires. In Isaiah,

The tophet has been prepared since yesterday. Its pyre is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah is like a stream of burning brimstone. Isaiah 30:33.

Here 'fire', brimstone', and 'wood' stand for filthy desires.

[4] In general 'wood' means those elements which constitute the lowest parts of the will. Precious kinds of wood, such as cedar and so on, mean elements that are good - for example, the cedar timbers in the Temple, or the cedarwood used in cleansing leprosy, Leviticus 14:4, 6-7, or the wood cast into the bitter waters at Marah, by which the waters were made sweet, Exodus 15:25. These in the Lord's Divine mercy will be dealt with in their proper places. Non-precious kinds of wood however, also those which were made into images, and those that were used for a pyre as well, and the like, mean evil desires, as do planks of gopher here on account of the brimstone or sulphur in them. As in Isaiah,

The day of Jehovah's vengeance - her streams will be turned into pitch, and her dust into brimstone, and her land will become burning pitch. Isaiah 34:8-9.

'Pitch' stands for dreadful delusions, 'brimstone' for filthy desires.

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1. or breath

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