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Kohtunikud 10

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1 Ja pärast Abimelekit tõusis Iisraeli päästma Toola, Doodo poja Puua poeg, issaskarlane, kes elas Saamiris Efraimi mäestikus.

2 Tema mõistis Iisraelile kohut kakskümmend kolm aastat; siis ta suri ja maeti Saamirisse.

3 Ja pärast teda tõusis gileadlane Jair ja mõistis Iisraelile kohut kakskümmend kaks aastat.

4 Temal oli kolmkümmend poega; need ratsutasid kolmekümne eesli seljas ja neil oli kolmkümmend linna, mida tänapäevani hüütakse 'Jairi telklaagreiks'; need on Gileadimaal.

5 Jair suri ja maeti Kamonisse.

6 Ja Iisraeli lapsed tegid jälle kurja Issanda silmis ning teenisid baale ja astartesid, Süüria jumalaid, Siidoni jumalaid, Moabi jumalaid, ammonlaste jumalaid ja vilistite jumalaid, ja nad jätsid maha Issanda ega teeninud teda.

7 Siis Issanda viha süttis põlema Iisraeli vastu ja ta andis nad vilistite ja ammonlaste kätte.

8 Need vaevasid ja rõhusid Iisraeli lapsi sel aastal ja veel kaheksateist aastat, kõiki Iisraeli lapsi, kes olid teisel pool Jordanit Gileadis oleval emorlaste maal.

9 Ja ammonlased läksid üle Jordani sõdima ka Juuda, Benjamini ja Efraimi soo vastu; ja Iisraelil oli väga kitsas käes.

10 Siis Iisraeli lapsed kisendasid Issanda poole, öeldes: 'Me oleme sinu vastu pattu teinud, sest me oleme maha jätnud oma Jumala ja oleme teeninud baale!'

11 Ja Issand ütles Iisraeli lastele: 'Eks ma ole teid päästnud egiptlaste, emorlaste, ammonlaste ja vilistite käest?

12 Siidonlased, Amalek ja Maon rõhusid teid. Siis te kisendasite minu poole ja ma päästsin teid nende käest.

13 Aga te jätsite mind maha ja teenisite teisi jumalaid, sellepärast ma ei päästa teid enam!

14 Minge ja kisendage nende jumalate poole, keda te olete valinud! Päästku nemad teid teie ahastuse ajal!'

15 Siis Iisraeli lapsed ütlesid Issandale: 'Me oleme pattu teinud! Talita sina meiega, nagu see sinu silmis hea on, aga päästa meid praegu!'

16 Ja nad kõrvaldasid eneste keskelt võõrad jumalad ning teenisid Issandat; siis ei sallinud tema hing enam Iisraeli vaeva.

17 Aga ammonlased kutsuti kokku ja nad lõid leeri üles Gileadi; ja Iisraeli lapsed kogunesid ning lõid leeri üles Mispasse.

18 Siis ütlesid inimesed, Gileadi vürstid, üksteisele: 'Kes oleks see mees, kes hakkaks sõdima ammonlaste vastu? Saagu ta pealikuks kõigile Gileadi elanikele!'

   

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Exploring the Meaning of Judges 10

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

Judges 10: Tola, Jair; Israel oppressed again.

This chapter opens by mentioning the judges Tola and Jair, who judged for twenty-three years and twenty-two years, respectively. The text gives us very little information about them, except that Jair had thirty sons, who rode on thirty donkeys and had thirty cities in the land of Gilead.

After Jair died, the people soon disobeyed the Lord, and worshipped the gods of Syria, Sidon, Moab, Philistia, and Ammon. This provoked the Lord’s anger, so He caused the Philistines and Ammonites to oppress Israel. The Ammonites first attacked the two-and-a-half tribes living on the eastern side of the Jordan, then crossed the river to attack Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim.

The people cried out to the Lord, saying that they had forsaken Him, but He told them to go to the other gods they had chosen. However, the people asked again for forgiveness, stopped worshipping foreign gods, and turned back to the Lord, so His anger toward them subsided.

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This chapter describes another episode in Israel’s cycle of disobedience and punishment, in which the people repeatedly turn away from the Lord when there is no leader. No matter how often we affirm our faith in the Lord, we, too, will default to our natural desires and false thinking. As we come to recognize and accept this fact of life, we can find comfort in the Lord. He understands this completely, and does not blame or punish us.

The first judge mentioned is Tola. His name means “a worm-like grub”, suggesting the idea of metamorphosis and regeneration (see Swedenborg’s work, True Christian Religion 106[2]). Tola’s father was Puah (meaning “shining”), his grandfather was Dodo (meaning “amorous, loving”), and their city was Shamir (which means “keeping the commandment”). These names bring to mind the spiritual qualities of truth, love and life in the Lord (see Swedenborg’s work, Arcana Caelestia 977).

The next judge is Jair, whose name means ”he whom God enlightens”. The number thirty (used in reference to his thirty sons and their thirty towns) means fullness or readiness. This readiness refers to our spiritual ‘remains’, or states of innocence and charity that the Lord imparts to us during childhood. These remains are essential during regeneration (Arcana Caelestia 1050).

The Philistines, soon to be a major enemy of Israel, stand for the belief in “faith alone” salvation. This way of thinking instills the idea that we will be saved if we “believe in the Lord”, regardless of our actions. “Faith alone” doctrine is present in many religious practices (see Swedenborg’s work, Doctrine of Life 4).

The people of Ammon stand for profaning what is true, by turning the truths of the Word into false ideas. We profane the truth when we claim to know what the Word teaches, but live in a way that is contrary to the Lord’s commandments (Arcana Caelestia 6348[3]).

This chapter, like many others in the book of Judges, shows Israel’s decline into chaos and evil. The two judges, Tola and Jair, provide a picture of spiritual integrity, in contrast with Israel’s oppression by the very evils they have turned to. In our regeneration, with its highs and lows, we must avoid the temptation of shallow faith by acting according to our values.

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Doctrine of Life # 4

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4. Nevertheless, there are in the Christian churches many who teach that faith alone saves, and not any goodness of life or good work. They add, too, that no evilness of life or evil work condemns those who have been justified by faith alone, because they abide in God and in His grace.

What is astonishing, however, is that although they teach these ideas, still they acknowledge, as a result of their common perception from heaven, that those who live right are saved, and that those who do not live right are damned.

That they still acknowledge this is apparent from the prayer read out to the people in churches, both in England and in Germany, Sweden and Denmark, when they come to Holy Supper. It is common knowledge that in those kingdoms they teach the aforesaid faith alone.

The prayer read out to the people in England who come to the sacrament of the Supper is as follows:

  
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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.