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Ezekiel 41

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1 And he brought me into the temple, and he measured the fronts six cubits broad on this side, and six cubits on that side, the breadth of the tabernacle.

2 And the breadth of the gate was ten cubits: and the sides of the gate five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and he measured the length thereof forty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.

3 Then going inward he measured the front of the gate two cubits: and the gate six cubits, and the breadth of the gate seven cubits.

4 And he measured the length thereof twenty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits, before the face of the temple: and he said to me: This is the holy of holies.

5 And he measured the wall of the house six cubits: and the breadth of every side chamber four cubits round about the house on every side.

6 And the side chambers one by another, were twice thirty-three: and they bore outwards, that they might enter in through the wall of the house in the sides round about, to hold in, and not to touch the wall of the temple.

7 And there was a broad passage round about, going up by winding stairs, and it led into the upper loft of the temple all round: therefore was the temple broader in the higher parts: and so from the lower parts they went to the higher by the midst.

8 And I saw in the house the height round about, the foundations of the side chambers which were the measure of a reed the space of six cubits:

9 And the thickness of the wall for the side chamber without, which was five cubits: and the inner house was within the side chambers of the house.

10 And between the chambers was the breadth of twenty cubits round about the house on every side.

11 And the door of the side chambers was turned towards the place of prayer: one door was toward the north, and another door was toward the south: and the breadth of the place for prayer, was five cubits round about.

12 And the building that was separate, and turned to the way that looked toward the sea, was seventy cubits broad: and the wall of the building, five cubits thick round about: and ninety cubits long.

13 And he measured the length of the house, a hundred cubits: and the separate building, and the walls thereof, a hundred cubits in length.

14 And the breadth before the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, a hundred cubits.

15 And he measured the length of the building over against it, which was separated at the back of it: and the galleries on both sides a hundred cubits: and the inner temple, and the porches of the court.

16 The thresholds, and the oblique windows, and the galleries round about on three sides, over against the threshold of every one, and floored with wood all round about: and the ground was up to the windows, and the windows were shut over the doors.

17 And even to the inner house, and without all the wall round about within and without, by measure.

18 And there were cherubims and palm trees wrought, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub, and every cherub had two faces.

19 The face of a man was toward the palm tree on one side, and the face of a lion was toward the palm tree on the other side: set forth through all the house round about.

20 From the ground even to the upper parts of the gate, were cherubims and palm trees wrought in the wall of the temple.

21 The threshold was foursquare, and the face of the sanctuary, sight to sight.

22 The altar of wood was three cubits high: and the length thereof was two cubits: and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof were of wood. And he said to me: This is the table before the Lord.

23 And there were two doors in the temple, and in the sanctuary.

24 And in the two doors on both sides were two little doors, which were folded within each other: for there were two wickets on both sides of the doors.

25 And there were cherubims also wrought in the doors of the temple, and the figures of palm trees, like as were made on the walls: for which cause also the planks were thicker in the front of the porch without.

26 Upon which were the oblique windows, and the representation of palm trees on this side, and on that side in the sides of the porch, according to the sides of the house, and the breadth of the walls.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 239

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239. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures. This symbolizes the Word of the Lord from the firsts of it in its lasts, and its protections.

I know people will be surprised at my saying that the four living creatures symbolize the Word. This is nevertheless their symbolic meaning, as we will later show.

The four living creatures here are the same as the cherubim in Ezekiel. In chapter 1 there they are called likewise living creatures, but cherubim in chapter 10, and they were, as here, a lion, an ox, a human being, and an eagle. 1

In the Hebrew there they are called hayyoth, 2 a word which indeed means creatures, but one derived from hayyoh, 3 meaning life, from which the name of Adam's wife, Hawwah, 4 also was derived (Genesis 3:20). In Ezekiel a creature is also called hayyah, so that these creatures can be called living ones.

It does not matter that the Word is described by creatures, since the Lord Himself is sometimes called in the Word a lion, and often a lamb, and people possessing charity from the Lord are called sheep. Moreover, an understanding of the Word, too, is in subsequent chapters called a horse.

It is apparent that these living creatures or cherubim symbolize the Word from the fact that they were seen in the midst of the throne and around the throne. The Lord was in the midst of the throne, and because the Lord embodies the Word, it could not appear elsewhere. They were also seen around the throne, because they were seen in the angelic heaven, where the Word exists also.

[2] The fact that cherubim symbolize the Word and its protection is something we showed in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture 97, , where we said the following:

...the literal sense of the Word is a protection for the genuine truths which lie within; and the protection consists in the fact that the literal sense can be turned this way or that, (or) explained in accordance with one's comprehension, and yet without harming or violating the Word's inner meaning. For it does no harm for the literal sense to be interpreted differently by different people. But harm is done if the Divine truths that lie within are distorted, for this does violence to the Word.

The literal sense protects this from happening, and it does so in the case of people caught up in falsities derived from their religion, who do not defend those falsities; for they do not inflict any violence.

This protection is symbolized by the cherubim and also described by them in the Word. The same protection is symbolized by the cherubim which, after Adam and his wife were cast out of the Garden of Eden, were placed at its entrance, regarding which we read the following:

(When) Jehovah God... drove out the man..., He caused cherubim to dwell at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:23-24)

The cherubim symbolize a protection. The way to the tree of life symbolizes an entryway to the Lord, which people have through the Word. The flaming sword which turned every way symbolizes Divine truth in outmost expressions, which is like the Word in its literal sense, which can (as we said) be turned in the way stated.

[3] The cherubim of gold positioned on either end of the mercy seat which was on top of the ark (Exodus 25:18-21) have the same meaning. Because this is what the cherubim symbolized, therefore Jehovah spoke with Moses from between them (Exodus 25:22; 30:6, 36, Numbers 7:89)....

This, too, was what the cherubim on the curtains of the Tabernacle and on the veil in it symbolized (Exodus 26:1, 31). For the curtains and veils of the Tabernacle represented the outmost elements of heaven and the church, thus also the outmost expressions of the Word.

This was also what the cherubim inside the temple at Jerusalem symbolized (1 Kings 6:23-28), and what the cherubim carved on the walls and doors of the temple symbolized (1 Kings 6:29, 32, 35). Likewise the cherubim in the new temple (Ezekiel 41:18-20)....

[4] Since cherubim symbolized a protection to prevent a direct approach to the Lord and heaven and to Divine truth such as it is inwardly in the Word, so that people must approach indirectly through its outward expressions, therefore the following is said of the king of Tyre:

You, the seal of the measure, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, were in Eden, the garden...; every precious stone was your covering... You were the cherub, the spreader of a covering... I destroyed you, O covering cherub, in the midst of fiery stones. (Ezekiel 28:12-14, 16)

Tyre symbolizes the church in respect to its concepts of truth and goodness, and therefore its king symbolizes the Word where those concepts are found and from which they are drawn. It is apparent that here he symbolizes the Word in its outmost expression, which is its literal meaning, and the cherub, its protection, for the passage says, "You, the seal of the measure," "every precious stone was your covering," "You were the cherub, the spreader of a covering." The precious stones mentioned here as well symbolize the truths in the Word's literal sense (no. 231).

[5] Since cherubim symbolize Divine truth in outmost expressions as a protection, therefore we are told in the book of Psalms:

...O Shepherd of Israel..., You who sit upon the cherubim, shine forth! (Psalms 80:1)

Jehovah..., sitting upon the cherubim. (Psalms 99:1)

(Jehovah) bowed the heavens and came down... And He rode upon cherubim... (Psalms 18:9-10)

To ride upon cherubim, to sit on them and be seated on them is to do so upon the outmost meaning of the Word.

The Divine truth in the Word and its character is described by cherubim in the first, ninth and tenth chapters in Ezekiel. But inasmuch as no one can know what the particulars of their description symbolize except one to whom the spiritual meaning has been disclosed, and inasmuch as this meaning has been disclosed to me, we will relate briefly what is symbolized by each of the particulars mentioned regarding the four creatures or cherubim in the first chapter in Ezekiel. They are as follows:

[6] The outward Divine atmosphere of the Word is described in verse 4.

It is represented as human in verse 5; as conjoined with spiritual and celestial qualities in verse 6.

The character of the natural component of the Word is described in verse 7.

The character of the spiritual and celestial components of the Word conjoined with the natural one, in verses 8-9.

The Divine love of the celestial, spiritual and natural goodness and truth present in it, separately and together, in verses 10-11.

Their looking to a single end, in verse 12.

The atmosphere of the Word emanating from the Lord's Divine goodness and truth, which give the Word life, in verses 13-14.

The doctrine of goodness and truth present in the Word and emanating from the Word, in verses 15-21.

The Lord's Divinity transcending it and present in it, in verses 22-23; and emanating from it, in verses 24-25.

The Lord's transcending the heavens, in verse 26.

His possessing Divine love and wisdom, in verses 27-28.

These are the symbolic meanings in summary form.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. See Ezekiel 1:10; 10:14, 22.

2. חַיּוֹת

3. חָיָה

4. חַוָּה

  
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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.