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Josuo 9

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1 Kaj kiam auxdis cxiuj regxoj, kiuj logxis trans Jordan, sur la monto kaj en la valo, kaj sur la tuta bordo de la Granda Maro kontraux Lebanon, la HXetidoj, kaj la Amoridoj, la Kanaanidoj, la Perizidoj, la HXividoj, kaj la Jebusidoj,

2 ili kolektigxis kune, por militi unuanime kontraux Josuo kaj kontraux Izrael.

3 Kaj la logxantoj de Gibeon auxdis, kion faris Josuo al Jerihxo kaj al Aj,

4 kaj ili ankaux faris ruzajxon:ili iris kaj provizis sin per mangxajxoj, kaj metis malnovajn sakojn sur siajn azenojn kaj malnovajn dissxiritajn kaj flikitajn vinsakojn;

5 kaj sxuoj malnovaj kaj flikitaj estis sur iliaj piedoj, kaj vestoj malnovaj estis sur ili, kaj ilia tuta pano estis malfresxa kaj sximigxinta.

6 Kaj ili iris al Josuo en la tendaron cxe Gilgal, kaj diris al li kaj al la tuta Izrael:El lando malproksima ni venis; faru do kun ni interligon.

7 Kaj la Izraelidoj diris al la HXividoj:Eble vi logxas apude de ni; kiel do ni povas fari kun vi interligon?

8 Kaj ili diris al Josuo:Ni estas viaj sklavoj. Kaj Josuo diris al ili:Kiuj vi estas? kaj el kie vi venas?

9 Kaj ili diris al li:El lando tre malproksima venis viaj sklavoj pro la nomo de la Eternulo, via Dio; cxar ni auxdis Lian gloron, kaj cxion, kion Li faris en Egiptujo,

10 kaj cxion, kion Li faris al la du regxoj de la Amoridoj transe de Jordan, al Sihxon, regxo de HXesxbon, kaj al Og, regxo de Basxan, kiu logxis en Asxtarot.

11 Kaj diris al ni niaj plejagxuloj kaj cxiuj logxantoj de nia lando jene:Prenu en viajn manojn mangxajxon por la vojo, kaj iru renkonte al ili, kaj diru al ili:ni estas viaj sklavoj; faru do kun ni interligon.

12 CXi tiu nia pano estis varma, kiam ni prenis gxin provize el niaj domoj en la tago, en kiu ni eliris, por iri al vi; kaj nun jen gxi malfresxigxis kaj sximigxis.

13 Kaj cxi tiuj niaj felsakoj kun vino, kiujn ni plenigis novajn, jen ili disfendigxis; kaj cxi tiuj niaj vestoj kaj sxuoj malnovigxis pro la tre longa vojo.

14 Tiam la homoj prenis iom el ilia pano, kaj la Eternulon ili ne demandis.

15 Kaj Josuo faris pacon kun ili, kaj starigis interligon kun ili, por lasi ilin vivaj; kaj la cxefoj de la komunumo jxuris al ili.

16 Sed post paso de tri tagoj, post kiam ili faris kun ili interligon, ili ekauxdis, ke ili estas iliaj najbaroj kaj logxas apude de ili.

17 Kaj la Izraelidoj elmovigxis, kaj venis al iliaj urboj en la tria tago; iliaj urboj estis Gibeon kaj Kefira kaj Beerot kaj Kirjat-Jearim.

18 Kaj la Izraelidoj ne batis ilin, cxar la estroj de la komunumo jxuris al ili per la Eternulo, Dio de Izrael. Kaj la tuta komunumo ekmurmuris kontraux la estroj.

19 Kaj cxiuj estroj diris al la tuta komunumo:Ni jxuris al ili per la Eternulo, Dio de Izrael, kaj nun ni ne povas tusxi ilin;

20 tion ni faros al ili:ni lasu ilin vivaj, por ke ne trafu nin kolero pro la jxuro, kiun ni jxuris al ili.

21 Kaj la estroj diris al ili:Ili vivu. Kaj ili farigxis lignohakistoj kaj akvoportistoj por la tuta komunumo, kiel diris al ili la estroj.

22 Kaj Josuo alvokis ilin, kaj diris al ili jene:Kial vi nin trompis, dirante, ke vi estas tre malproksimaj de ni, dum vi logxas apude de ni?

23 estu do nun malbenitaj:ne cxesigxu inter vi sklavoj kaj lignohakistoj kaj akvoportistoj por la domo de mia Dio.

24 Kaj ili respondis al Josuo kaj diris:Estis dirite al viaj sklavoj, ke la Eternulo, via Dio, promesis al Sia servanto Moseo, ke Li donos al vi la tutan landon kaj ekstermos antaux vi cxiujn logxantojn de la lando; tial ni tre ektimis antaux vi pri nia vivo, kaj ni faris tiun aferon.

25 Kaj nun jen ni estas en via mano:kiel vi trovas bona kaj justa agi kun ni, tiel agu.

26 Kaj li agis kun ili tiel:li savis ilin kontraux la manoj de la Izraelidoj, kaj cxi tiuj ne mortigis ilin.

27 Sed Josuo destinis al ili en tiu tago, ke ili estu lignohakistoj kaj akvoportistoj por la komunumo kaj por la altaro de la Eternulo, gxis la nuna tago, sur la loko, kiun Li elektos.

   

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Exploring the Meaning of Joshua 9

Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff, Julian Duckworth

Joshua 9: The Gibeonites deceive Israel.

After Israel conquered Jericho and then Ai, the news about the strength of the Children of Israel - and their mighty God, Jehovah - spread quickly among the people of Canaan. In this chapter, the people of Gibeon came up with a plan to trick Joshua and the Israelites into granting them safety.

To preserve themselves, the Gibeonites cooked up a story that they had come from far away. They dressed in old clothing and worn-out sandals, and brought shabby wine-skins and moldy bread as proof of their long journey. After questioning these travelers, Joshua agreed to guarantee their safety, and the Israelites made a covenant to let them live. Note that the Israelites did not consult the Lord.

In the end, the Gibeonites admitted that they lived close by and were neighbors of Israel, just as the Hivites (the Gibeonites' ancestors) had been with Abraham. Joshua, unable to revoke his promise to them, made them wood-cutters and water-carriers for the altars of the Lord.

This chapter offers us several spiritual lessons. The main one is that there is a place for simple, well-intentioned goodness in our spiritual life, along with our love of God and our love for other people (See Swedenborg's exegetical work, Arcana Caelestia 3436, for details). This is what the Gibeonites stand for; they were not warlike but peaceful, content to live usefully day after day. This is an illustration of natural good, which is an important part of life in this world and in heaven (Arcana Caelestia 3167).

On a spiritual level, their story about living in a country far-away means that when we live good, well-intentioned lives, we are ‘far away’ from the evils of the Canaanites. Although the Gibeonites lived among the Canaanites, their higher values were entirely different. So while the Gibeonites deceived Israel to save themselves, they spoke truthfully when they said: “we come from a place a very long way away” (See Swedenborg's work, Heaven and Hell 481).

Their tattered and torn appearance is meant to illustrate the hard work of doing good. It can be quite wearing to continue doing good things, especially when we feel it is all up to us. Acknowledging that all good is from the Lord renews us, and keeps us from the burden of merit.

In the same vein, their worn-out appearance is also about our relationship with the Word. Little children love and delight in the stories of the Word, but as they grow up, this love dwindles (Arcana Caelestia 3690). But as adults, we have the choice to find those guiding principles from the Word, helping us to keep leading good lives.

The fact that Joshua commanded the Gibeonites to cut wood and draw water also holds spiritual significance. The beauty of wood is that it comes from living trees, and can be turned into many, many useful things. It stands for the steady, humble wish to do good each day (See Swedenborg's work, True Christian Religion 374). This must be present in our worship at the altars of the Lord.

Drawing water provides essential, life-giving refreshment for others. Water stands for truth, and our better actions draw the water of life for the sake of others. Truly, acknowledging the goodness in other people is part of our faith in God. This story shows us that we must allow others to live and to serve everything of God, just as Joshua showed mercy toward the Gibeonites.

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Heaven and Hell # 481

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481. We come into heaven if our love is heavenly and spiritual and into hell if our love is carnal and worldly without any heavenly and spiritual dimension. My evidence for this conclusion is all the people I have seen raised into heaven and cast into hell. The ones who were raised into heaven had lives of heavenly and spiritual love, while the ones who were cast into hell had lives of carnal and worldly love. Heavenly love is loving what is good, honest, and fair because it is good, honest, and fair, and doing it because of that love. This is why they have a life of goodness, honesty, and fairness, which is a heavenly life. If we love these things for their own sakes and do or live them, we are also loving the Lord above all because they come from him. We are also loving our neighbor, because these things are our neighbor who is to be loved. 1 Carnal love, though, is loving what is good and honest and fair not for their own sakes but for our own sake, because we can use them to gain prestige, position, and profit. In this case we are not focusing on the Lord and our neighbor within what is good and honest and fair but on ourselves and the world, and we enjoy deceit. When the motive is deceit, then whatever is good and honest and fair is actually evil and dishonest and unfair. This is what we love within [the outward appearance].

[2] Since these loves define our lives, we are all examined as to our quality immediately after death, when we arrive in the world of spirits, and we are put in touch with people of like love. If we are focused on heavenly love, we are put in touch with people in heaven; and if we are focused on carnal love, we are put in touch with people in hell. Further, once the first and second states have been completed the two kinds of people are separated so that they no longer see or recognize each other. We actually become our own love not only as to the deeper levels of our minds but outwardly as well, in face, body, and speech, since we become images of our love even in outward things. People who are carnal loves look coarse, dim, dark, and misshapen; while people who are heavenly loves look lively, clear, bright, and lovely. They are completely different in spirit and in thought as well. People who are heavenly loves are intelligent and wise, while people who are carnal loves are dense and rather silly.

[3] When leave is given to examine the inner and outer aspects of the thoughts and affections of people engaged in heavenly love, the inner reaches look as though they were made of light, in some cases like the light of a flame; and their outer manifestations are of various lovely colors, like a rainbow. In contrast, the inner reaches of people who are engaged in carnal love look gloomy because they are closed in, in some cases like a smoky fire for people who were inwardly maliciously deceptive. Their outer manifestations have an ugly color, depressing to look at (both the inner and outer aspects of the mind and spirit are presented visually in the spiritual world whenever it so pleases the Lord).

[4] People who are engaged in carnal love do not see anything in heaven's light. Heaven's light is darkness to them, while hell's light, which is like the light of glowing embers, is like daylight to them. In fact, in heaven's light their inner sight is deprived of light to the point that they become insane. As a result, they run away from it and hide in caves and caverns of a depth that corresponds to the false convictions that stem from their evil intentions. Exactly the reverse is true for people who are engaged in heavenly love, though. The deeper or higher they enter into heavenly light, the more clearly they see everything and the lovelier it all looks, and the more intelligently and wisely they grasp what is true.

[5] There is no way that people who are engaged in carnal love can live in heaven's warmth, because heaven's warmth is heavenly love. They can live in hell's warmth, though, which is a love of cruelty toward people who do not support them. The pleasures of this love are contempt for others, hostility, hatred, and vengefulness. When they are absorbed in these they are in their very life, with no knowledge whatever of what it means to do good for others out of sheer goodness and for the sake of the good itself. All they know is how to do good out of malice and for the sake of malice.

[6] People who are engaged in carnal love cannot breathe in heaven either. When evil spirits are taken there, they draw breath like someone who is struggling painfully. On the other hand, people who are engaged in heavenly love breathe more freely and feel more alive the deeper into heaven they come.

We may gather from this that a heavenly and spiritual love is heaven for us because everything heavenly is written on that love; and that carnal and worldly love apart from heavenly and spiritual love is hell for us because everything hellish is written on that love.

We can see, then, that people come into heaven who have a heavenly and spiritual love, and people come into hell who have a carnal and worldly love without a heavenly and spiritual one.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. [Swedenborg's footnote] In the highest sense, the Lord is our neighbor because he is to be loved above all; however, loving the Lord is loving what comes from him because he is in everything that comes from him, so [our neighbor is] whatever is good and true: Arcana Coelestia 2425, 3419, 6706, 6711, 6819, 6823, 8123. Loving what is good and true, which come from him, is living by them, and this is loving the Lord: 10143, 10153, 10310, 10336, 10578, 10648. Every individual and community, our country and church, and in the broadest sense the Lord's kingdom, is our neighbor; and loving our neighbor is helping them from a love for their good in keeping with their state. This means that their welfare, which we are to value, is the neighbor: 6818-6824, 8123. Moral good, or what is honest, and civic good, or what is fair, are our neighbor as well; and acting honestly and fairly out of a love for what is honest and fair is loving the neighbor: 2915, 4730, 8120-8123. Consequently, thoughtfulness toward our neighbor includes all aspects of our lives, and doing what is good and fair, and acting honestly from the heart in every position we hold and in everything we do, is loving our neighbor: 2417, 8121, 8124. The doctrine of the early church was a doctrine of charity, and this was the source of their wisdom: 2417, 2385, 3419-3420, 4844, 6628.

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