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Hesekiel 11

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1 Siis Vaim tõstis minu üles ja viis mu Issanda koja Idaväravasse, mis on ida poole; ja vaata, värava suus oli kakskümmend viis meest ja ma nägin nende keskel Jaasanjat, Assuri poega, ja Pelatjat, Benaja poega, rahva ülemaid.

2 Ja ta ütles mulle: 'Inimesepoeg, need on mehed, kes kavatsevad nurjatust ja peavad kurja nõu selle linna vastu;

3 nad ütlevad: 'Aeg ei ole käes, et ehitada kodasid. See linn on pott ja meie oleme liha.'

4 Seepärast kuuluta neile prohvetlikult, kuuluta prohvetlikult, inimesepoeg!'

5 Siis langes mu peale Issanda Vaim ja ütles mulle: 'Räägi: Nõnda ütleb Issand: Nii te ütlete, Iisraeli sugu, ja mis teil mõttes on, seda ma tean!

6 Palju on teie poolt mahalööduid selles linnas ja te olete mahalöödutega täitnud selle tänavad.

7 Seepärast ütleb Issand Jumal nõnda: Teie mahalöödud, keda te olete pannud selle keskele, on liha, ja see linn on pott, aga ma viin teid sellest välja.

8 Mõõka te kardate, aga mina toon mõõga teie kallale, ütleb Issand Jumal.

9 Ma viin teid välja selle keskelt ja annan teid võõraste kätte; otsused teie kohta viin ma täide.

10 Te langete mõõga läbi, Iisraeli piiril mõistan ma kohut teie üle ja te saate tunda, et mina olen Issand.

11 See linn ei ole teile potiks ja teie ei ole lihaks selle sees: Iisraeli piiril mõistan ma kohut teie üle.

12 Ja te saate tunda, et mina olen Issand, sest te ei ole käinud mu määruste järgi ega ole teinud mu seaduste järgi, vaid olete teinud nende paganate seaduste järgi, kes asuvad teil ümberkaudu.'

13 Aga kui ma prohvetlikult kuulutasin, suri Pelatja, Benaja poeg; siis ma langesin silmili ja kisendasin suure häälega ning ütlesin: 'Oh Issand Jumal! Kas sa teed lõpu Iisraeli jäägile?'

14 Ja mulle tuli Issanda sõna; ta ütles:

15 'Inimesepoeg, su vennad, su vennad, sugulased ja kogu Iisraeli sugu üheskoos on need, kelle kohta Jeruusalemma elanikud ütlevad: 'Nad on Issandast kaugel, maa on antud omandiks meile!'

16 Seepärast ütle: Nõnda ütleb Issand Jumal: Kuigi ma olen nad viinud kaugele paganate sekka ja kuigi ma olen nad pillutanud mööda maid, olen ma siiski pisut olnud neile pühamuks maades, kuhu nad on sattunud.

17 Seepärast ütle: Nõnda ütleb Issand Jumal: Mina kogun teid rahvaste seast ja korjan teid maadest, kuhu teid on pillutatud, ja ma annan teile Iisraeli maa.

18 Siis nad tulevad sinna ja kõrvaldavad sealt kõik selle põlastusväärsused ja kõik selle jäledused.

19 Mina annan neile ühesuguse südame ja annan nende sisse uue vaimu: ma kõrvaldan nende ihust kivise südame ja annan neile lihase südame,

20 et nad käiksid mu määruste järgi ning peaksid mu seadusi ja täidaksid neid; siis on nad mulle rahvaks ja mina olen neile Jumalaks.

21 Aga kelle süda käib nende põlastusväärsuste ja nende jäleduste meele järgi, nende eluviisid panen ma nende oma pea peale, ütleb Issand Jumal.'

22 Siis tõstsid keerubid oma tiivad ja üheaegselt nendega tõusid rattad ning ülal nende kohal oli Iisraeli Jumala auhiilgus.

23 Ja Issanda auhiilgus tõusis üles linna keskelt ning jäi seisma mäele, mis on ida pool linna.

24 Aga Vaim tõstis mind üles ja viis mind Kaldeasse vangide juurde nägemuses, Jumala Vaimus; siis kadus mul nägemus, mida ma olin näinud.

25 Ja ma jutustasin vangidele kõigist Issanda sõnadest, mis ta mulle oli ilmutanud.

   

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Ezekiel 40:6

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6 Then came he unto the gate which looketh toward the east, and went up the stairs thereof, and measured the threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad; and the other threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad.

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Arcana Coelestia # 8945

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8945. 'And you shall not go up to My altar by steps' means not raising themselves to more internal levels, that is, celestial ones. This is clear from the meaning of 'going up by means of steps' as raising oneself to higher or more internal levels (whether you say more internal or higher it amounts to the same thing, since more internal things are seen as higher ones, 2148, 3084, 4210, 4599); and from the meaning of 'altar' as the chief representative of the Lord, dealt with in 921, 2777, 2811. Thus 'going up by steps to My altar' means raising oneself to the Lord, consequently to more internal levels, which are celestial ones; for the Lord's presence is greater on more internal levels. The term 'celestial' is used for things in the inmost heaven, but 'spiritual' for those in the middle heaven. For heaven is divided into two kingdoms - the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. Those in the celestial kingdom are in the inmost or third heaven, and so are nearest the Lord; for they are governed by love to the Lord, possessing innocence and consequently wisdom in greater measure than all the rest. But those who are in the spiritual kingdom are in the middle or second heaven, and so are more remote from the Lord; and those there am governed by charity towards the neighbour, and through charity dwell with the Lord. Regarding those two kingdoms and the difference between them, see 2048, 2088, 2227, 2507, 2669, 2708, 2715, 2718, 3235, 3246, 3374, 3887, 4448, 4585, 4938, 4939, 5113, 5922, 6367, 6435, 7877.

[2] Let a brief explanation be given of what is implied by raising oneself towards more internal levels, that is, celestial ones, which is meant by 'going up by steps to the altar'. No one in the next life is allowed to be raised into heaven to a level higher than that of the good which governs him. If he is raised to some higher level the foul things about him are revealed, that is, the evils he loves, and the resulting falsities; for the more internal something is, the purer and holier it is in heaven. Those whose state is not so pure are kept in a lower sphere in which impurities go unnoticed or are not apparent; for such people are governed by grosser good and guided by duller truth.

[3] Sometimes it happens that those coming into heaven have a strong desire to go to a more internal heaven, believing that by doing this they will experience greater joy. To the end that this strong desire which clings to them may be removed, they are indeed raised to a more internal heaven. But when they get there they start to feel anguished, on account of those evils they love which are then perceptible to them; they also become visibly disfigured on account of the falsities that spring from the evils residing with them. Having perceived these things they cast themselves down from the more internal heaven, and do not attain a calm and peaceful state until they return to the position they occupied previously. These are the things that are meant by 'you shall not go up to My altar by steps, in order that your nakedness may not be revealed on it'.

[4] The same applies to those below heaven, if they have a strong desire to rise to heaven before they have been prepared for it. When they are raised there they feel torment almost hellish and seem to themselves to be like dead bodies. Their life becomes laboured, like that of those in the throes of death. Therefore they cast themselves down headlong from there, and after that no longer have any desire to rise above the state of life in which they live.

[5] It should be recognized that the Lord refuses heaven to no one in the next life, and that people can be allowed in as often as they wish. Heaven consists of communities of angels, who are governed by the good of love towards the neighbour and of love to the Lord. When introduced into heaven people are let into communities of such angels. But when the sphere of their life, that is, the life of their love, is out of agreement, conflict arises, as a result of which they feel anguished and cast themselves down from there. From this experience they learn about the life of heaven, and about the condition of their own life in comparison. They also learn from it that heaven does not become anyone's simply by his being received or let in, as the common idea is in the world, and also that a person must live in such a way in the world that he becomes fit to be with those in heaven. But see what has already been stated and shown from experience previously regarding these matters, in 3938, 4225, 4226, 4299, 4674, 5057, 5058, 7186, 7519, 8794, 8797. These are the considerations which are meant by the regulation that they must not go up by steps to the altar, in order that their nakedness may not be revealed on it, and also by a similar regulation at Exodus 28:42-43.

[6] The words 'going up by steps' are used because a raising to more internal levels is seen in the world of spirits - where celestial and spiritual realities are presented within forms similar to those in the world - as raising oneself by means of steps. I have often been allowed to see this representative sight. So it was too that in a dream Jacob saw angels going up to the Lord by the steps of a stairway, Genesis 28:12. Therefore also by 'steps' in the Word is meant going up to higher, that is, more internal levels, as in Ezekiel 40:6, 22, 26, 31, 34; and in Amos,

The Lord Jehovih Zebaoth builds His steps in the heavens. Amos 9:6.

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