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Zechariah 5

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1 And I turned and lifted up my eyes: and I saw, and behold a volume flying.

2 And he said to me: What seest thou? And I said: I see a volume flying: the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.

3 And he said to me: This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the earth: for every thief shall be judged as is there written: and every one that sweareth in like manner shall be judged by it.

4 I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts: and it shall come to the house of the thief, and to the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it, with the timber thereof, and the stones thereof.

5 And the angel went forth that spoke in me, and he said to me: Lift up thy eyes, and see what this is, that goeth forth.

6 And I said: What is it? And he said: This is a vessel going forth. And he said: This is their eye in all the earth.

7 And behold a talent of lead was carried, and behold a woman sitting in the midst of the vessel.

8 And he said: This is wickedness. And he cast her into the midst of the vessel, and cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.

9 And I lifted up my eyes and looked: and behold there came out two women, and wind was in their wings, and they had wings like the wings of a kite: and they lifted up the vessel between the earth and the heaven.

10 And I said to the angel that spoke in me: Whither do these carry the vessel?

11 And he said to me: That a house may be built for it in the land of Sennaar, and that it may be established, and set there upon its own basis.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 376

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376. Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?" And I said to him, "Lord, you know." (7:13-14)

This symbolizes their desire to know and wish to inquire, and the reply and instruction given.

John was asked these questions because it is common in all Divine worship for a person to first wish, desire, and pray, and for the Lord then to reply, instruct, and effect. A person does not otherwise accept anything Divine.

Now because John saw those who were arrayed in white robes, and desired to know and ask who they were, and because this was perceived in heaven, therefore he was first asked about them, and afterward informed.

The case was similar with the prophet Zechariah when he saw the many representations displayed before him, as can be seen from Zechariah 1:9, 19, 21; 4:2, 5, 11-12; 5:2, 6, 10; 6:4.

Moreover in the Word we frequently read that the Lord answers when people call on Him or cry out to Him (as in Psalms 4:1; 17:6; 20:9; 34:4; 91:15; 120:1), and that He gives to people when they ask (Matthew 7:7-8; 21:22). Yet, even so, it is the Lord who gives people to ask and what they should ask for, and the Lord knows it, therefore, beforehand. But still it is the Lord's will that a person first ask, in order that the person may do so as though on his own, and that the petition may thus be assigned to him. Otherwise, if the petition itself did not emanate from the Lord, it would not have been said in those passages that people would receive whatever they ask.

  
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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.