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Hesekiel 47

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1 Sitten hän vei minut takaisin temppelin ovelle. Ja katso, vettä kumpusi temppelin kynnyksen alta itään päin, sillä temppelin etusivu oli itää kohti. Ja vesi juoksi alas temppelin oikeanpuolisen sivuseinämän alitse, alttarin eteläpuolitse.

2 Sitten hän toi minut ulos pohjoisportin kautta ja kierrätti minut ulkopuolitse ulkoportille, joka antoi itää kohden; ja katso, vesi virtasi oikeanpuoliselta sivuseinämältä päin.

3 Mennessänsä itää kohti mies, mittanuora kädessään, mittasi tuhat kyynärää ja antoi minun käydä veden poikki: vettä oli nilkkoihin asti.

4 Sitten hän mittasi tuhat ja antoi minun käydä veden poikki: vettä oli polviin asti. Sitten hän mittasi tuhat ja antoi minun käydä poikki: vettä oli lanteisiin asti.

5 Sitten hän mittasi tuhat: tuli virta, jonka poikki minä en voinut käydä, sillä vesi nousi uimavedeksi, virraksi, josta ei voinut käydä poikki.

6 Niin hän kysyi minulta: "Oletko nähnyt, ihmislapsi?" ja kuljetti minua ja toi takaisin pitkin virran rantaa.

7 Mutta kun minä tulin takaisin, niin katso: virran rannalla kasvoi hyvin paljon puita molemmilla puolin.

8 Ja hän sanoi minulle: "Nämä vedet juoksevat itäiselle alueelle, virtaavat alas Aromaahan ja tulevat mereen; niiden jouduttua mereen vesi siinä paranee.

9 Ja kaikki elolliset, kaikki, jotka liikkuvat, virkoavat elämään kaikkialla, mihin tämä kaksoisvirta tulee. Ja kaloja on oleva hyvin paljon; sillä kun nämä vedet sinne tulevat ja vesi paranee, niin kaikki virkoaa elämään, minne vain virta tulee.

10 Ja kalastajia seisoo sen rannalla. Een-Gedistä Een-Eglaimiin asti se on oleva yhtä verkkoapajaa. Siinä on kaikenlaisia kaloja, aivan kuin suuren meren kaloja, hyvin paljon.

11 Sen rämeet ja lätäköt eivät parane: ne jätetään suolan valtaan.

12 Mutta virran varrella, sen molemmilla rannoilla, kasvaa kaikkinaisia hedelmäpuita. Niistä eivät lakastu lehdet eivätkä lopu hedelmät: joka kuukausi ne kantavat tuoreet hedelmät, sillä niitten vedet juoksevat pyhäköstä, ja niitten hedelmät ovat ravitsevaiset ja niitten lehdet parantavaiset.

13 Näin sanoo Herra, Herra: Tämä on raja, jonka mukaan teidän on jaettava maa perintöosiksi kahdelletoista Israelin sukukunnalle-Joosef saakoon kaksi osaa-.

14 Ja te saatte siitä perintöosan jokainen kohdaltansa; sillä minä olen kättä kohottaen luvannut antaa sen teidän isillenne, ja niin tämä maa tulee teille perintöosaksi.

15 Tämä on maan pohjoispuolinen raja: Suuresta merestä Hetlonin tietä siihen asti, mistä mennään Sedadiin.

16 Hamat, Beerota, Sibraim, joka on Damaskon alueen ja Hamatin alueen välissä, keskimmäinen Haaser, joka on Hauranin rajalla;

17 ja näin menee raja merestä Hasar-Eenoniin-Damaskon alue jää pohjoiseen ja pohjoiseen myös Hamatin alue. Tämä on pohjoispuoli.

18 Sitten itäpuoli: Hauranin ja Damaskon välistä sekä Gileadin ja Israelin maan välistä, Jordania pitkin. Mitatkaa se rajasta Idänmereen. Tämä on itäpuoli.

19 Sitten eteläpuoli, päivään päin: Taamarista Meriban veteen, joka on Kaadeksessa, Puroon ja Suureen mereen. Tämä on päivänpuoli, etelään päin.

20 Sitten länsipuoli: Suuri meri rajasta sen paikan kohdalle, mistä mennään Hamatiin. Tämä on länsipuoli.

21 Jakakaa tämä maa keskenänne Israelin sukukuntien mukaan.

22 Ja arpokaa se perintöosiksi itsellenne ja muukalaisille, jotka asuvat teidän keskuudessanne ja ovat synnyttäneet lapsia teidän keskuudessanne. Olkoot he teille saman arvoisia kuin maassa syntyneet israelilaiset: he saakoot arvalla perintöosan Israelin sukukuntain keskuudessa teidän kanssanne.

23 Missä sukukunnassa muukalainen asuu, siinä antakaa hänelle perintöosa, sanoo Herra, Herra."

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 342

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342. CHAPTER 7

1. After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.

2. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea,

3. saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads."

4. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of Israel:

5. of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;

6. of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;

7. of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;

8. of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

9. After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

10. and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

11. And all the angels stood around the throne, with the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

12. saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving, and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."

13. Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?"

14. And I said to him, "Lord, you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.

15. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.

16. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; neither shall the sun strike them, nor any heat;

17. for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter

This chapter describes people who are and who will be in the Christian heaven. It describes first their separation from evil people (verses 1-3); after that, those of them who are impelled by love toward the Lord and so by wisdom, of whom the higher heavens consist (verses 4-8); and those who are impelled by charity from the Lord and its accompanying faith because they fought against evils, of whom the lower heavens consist (verses 9-17).

The Contents of the Individual Verses:

Verse ContentsSpiritual Meaning
1. After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,The whole of heaven now in an effort to execute the Last Judgment.
holding back the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.The Lord's holding back and restraining a closer and thus stronger influx into the lower regions where good people were attached to evil ones.
2. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun,The Lord providing and moderating,
having the seal of the living God.who alone knows the character of each and every person, and can distinguish and separate them from each other.
And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3. saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the treesThe Lord's restraining and holding back the closer and stronger influx into the lower regions,
till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads."before those people were separated who were governed by truths springing from goodness from the Lord.
4. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand,All people who acknowledge the Lord as God of heaven and earth and are governed by truths of doctrine springing from the goodness of love, received from Him through the Word.
sealed out of every tribe of Israel:The heaven and the Lord's church formed from them.
5. of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;Celestial love, which is love toward the Lord, and this in all those people who will be in the New Heaven and in the New Church.
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;Wisdom springing from celestial love in those people who will be there.
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;Useful life endeavors, which are the exercises of wisdom springing from that love, in those people who will be there.
6. of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;Mutual love in those people.
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;A perception of useful endeavor, and of what is useful, in those people.
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;A will to serve and to put into practice in those people.
7. of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;Spiritual love, which is love for the neighbor, in those people.
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;An affection for truth springing from goodness, producing intelligence in those people.
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;Goodness of life in those people.
8. of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;The conjugal love of goodness and truth in those people.
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;A doctrine of goodness and truth in those people.
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.A life of truth springing from goodness in accord with doctrine in those people.
9. After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could number,All other people who are not among those enumerated and yet are in the New Heaven and the Lord's New Church, who form the lowest heaven and the external church, and whose character is known to the Lord alone.
of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues,All in the Christian world who have some religion springing from goodness and are guided by truths from doctrine,
standing before the throne and before the Lamb,listening to the Lord and doing what He commands.
clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,A communication and conjunction with the higher heavens, and a confession springing from Divine truths.
10. and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"An acknowledgment from the heart that the Lord is their Savior.
11. And all the angels stood around the throne, with the elders and the four living creatures,All in the whole of heaven listening and doing what the Lord commands.
and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,A humbling of their heart, and in their humility an adoration of the Lord.
12. saying, "Amen!Divine truth and an affirmation in response to it.
Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving,The Lord's spiritual Divine attributes;
and honor and power and might,the Lord's celestial Divine attributes;
be to our God forever and ever.these being in the Lord and emanating from the Lord to eternity.
Amen."The agreement of all.
13. Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?" 14. And I said to him, "Lord, you know."Their desire to know and wish to inquire, and the reply and instruction given.
So he said to me, "These are ones who are coming out of the great tribulation,They are people who have undergone temptations or trials, and have fought against evils and falsities,
and have washed their robeswho have cleansed their religious beliefs of the evils accompanying falsity,
and made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.and by truths have purified those religious beliefs from the falsities accompanying evil, and so have been reformed by the Lord.
15. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.They are in the Lord's presence, and live constantly and faithfully in His church in accordance with the truths that they receive from Him.
16. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore;Hereafter they will not lack goods and truths.
neither shall the sun strike them, nor any heat;Hereafter they will not possess lusts for evil, nor for the falsity accompanying evil.
17. for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd themThe Lord alone will teach them
and lead them to living fountains of waters.and lead them by the truths in the Word to conjunction with Him.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."They will be caught up no longer in battles against evils and the accompanying falsities, and so will no longer experience times of distress, but will be surrounded by goods and truths and thus by heavenly joys emanating from the Lord.

THE EXPOSITION

After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. (7:1) This symbolizes the whole of heaven now in an effort to execute the Last Judgment on the people who were in the world of spirits.

There follows now much concerning the state of the spiritual world just before the Last Judgment, which no one could know without its being revealed by the Lord. And because I have been given to see how the Last Judgment was executed, including the transformations which preceded it and the dispositions following it, I can relate therefore the symbolic meaning of everything in this chapter and in the chapters that follow.

[2] The four angels here symbolize the whole of heaven. The four corners of the earth symbolize the entire world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell. For the Last Judgment was executed on people who were in the world of spirits, and not on anyone in heaven, nor on anyone in hell.

Angels symbolize heaven because an angel in the highest sense means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity (no. 344), and as heaven is heaven owing to the Lord, angels symbolize heaven as well.

[3] The four angels here symbolize the whole of heaven because they were seen standing at the four corners of the earth, and the four corners symbolize the four quarters of the compass.

They symbolize that the whole of heaven was now in an effort to execute the Last Judgment for the reason that when the Last Judgment was at hand, the Lord caused the heavens to draw closer over the world of spirits, and the closeness of the heavens produced such a change in the state of the inner constituents of the people's minds below that they saw nothing but terrors before their eyes.

[4] That corners symbolize quarters of the compass, and thus the four quarters all points, can be seen from the following passages:

You shall measure, outside the city, the corner toward the east..., the corner toward the south..., the corner toward the west..., and the corner toward the north... (Numbers 35:5)

You shall make the boards for the Tabernacle, ...for the south corner..., and for... the north corner... (Exodus 26:18, 20, 23)

And... the court..., for the south corner..., for the north corner..., for the west corner..., and... for the east corner... (Exodus 27:9, 11-13)

[5] The four quarters are also called four corners often in Ezekiel, as in Ezekiel 47:18-20, and 48.

Since corners symbolize the quarters of the compass, they also therefore symbolize everything, such as everything in heaven or in hell, or everything pertaining to goodness or to truth, as is apparent from the following:

(Satan) will go out to lead astray the nations which are at the four corners of the earth... (Revelation 20:8)

I will cut off nations, (and) their corners will be devastated. (Zephaniah 3:6)

...(Israel) gathered together as one man... And the corners of all the people stationed themselves... (Judges 20:1-2)

A scepter shall rise out of Israel, and crush the corners of Moab... (Numbers 24:17)

A day of trumpet and alarm... upon the high corners. (Zephaniah 1:16)

I will cast them into the ends of the corners. (Deuteronomy 32:26)

[6] That a corner symbolizes the lowest component supporting higher ones, as a foundation does a house, and so symbolizes also everything, is apparent from the following:

(He) will lay in Zion a corner stone..., the price of the laying of a foundation. (Isaiah 28:16)

They shall not take from it a stone for a corner... (Jeremiah 51:26)

From (Judah) shall come the corner stone... (Zechariah 10:4)

The stone which (they) rejected has become the corner stone. (Psalms 118:22, Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17-18)

  
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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.

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Apocalypse Revealed # 343

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343. Holding back the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. This symbolizes the Lord's holding back and restraining a closer and thus stronger influx into the lower regions where good people were attached to evil ones.

It must be known that a last judgment takes place when evil people multiply below the heavens in the world of spirits, and this to such a degree that angels in the heavens cannot continue in the state of their love and wisdom, as they are then without a support and foundation. Since this results from a multiplication of evil people below, therefore in order to preserve the angels' state, the Lord flows in more and more strongly with His Divinity, and this continually until no influx can preserve them unless the evil people below are separated from the good. This is accomplished by a subsidence and closing in of the heavens, with a consequently stronger influx, until the evil cannot bear it. And at that point the evil flee away and cast themselves into hell.

This, too, is what is symbolized in the preceding chapter by the statement, "They said to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'" (Revelation 6:16-17)

[2] Now for the exposition:

The four winds symbolize an influx of the heavens. The earth, the sea, and every tree symbolize all the lower regions and all that they contain - the earth and sea symbolizing all the lower regions, and every tree all that they contain.

That a wind symbolizes influx - properly speaking, the influx of truth into the intellect - can be seen from the following passages:

Thus says the Lord Jehovih, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live." (Ezekiel 37:9-10)

(There appeared four chariots to which were harnessed four horses.) These are the four winds of the heavens... (Zechariah 6:1-5)

You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and... cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. (John 3:7-8)

The Maker of the earth... prepares the world by His wisdom... He brings the wind out of His treasuries. (Jeremiah 10:12-13; 51:15-16, cf. Psalms 135:7)

He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow. He declares His Word..., His statutes and His judgments... (Psalms 147:18-19)

It praises Jehovah..., the stormy wind, doing His Word... (Psalms 148:7-8)

(Jehovah) makes His angels winds... (Psalms 104:4)

(Jehovah) rode... upon the wings of the wind. (Psalms 18:10, cf. 104:3)

The wings of the wind are Divine truths that flow in. The Lord is therefore called "the breath of our nostrils" (Lamentations 4:20), and we are told that He "breathed into (Adam's) nostrils the breath of life" (Genesis 2:7); moreover, that "He breathed on (the Disciples) and said..., "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:21-22). The Holy Spirit is the Divine truth emanating from the Lord, the influx of which into the Disciples was represented and thus symbolized by the Lord's breathing on them.

[3] A wind and breathing symbolize the influx of Divine truth into the intellect, owing to the correspondence of the lungs with the intellect, a treatment of which may be seen in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 371-429.

Since a closer and stronger Divine influx through the heavens dispels truths in the case of evil people, therefore a wind symbolizes the dispersion of truth in them, and thus their conjunction with hell and perishing - as may be seen from the following passages:

I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four ends of heaven and scatter him. (Jeremiah 49:36)

You shall scatter them, that the wind may carry them away and the storm disperse them. (Isaiah 41:16)

The breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, sets them on fire. (Isaiah 30:33)

The workers of iniquity... perish by the breathing of God, and by the breath of His nostrils they are consumed. (Job 4:8-9)

...the foundations of the world were uncovered at the rebuke (of Jehovah), at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. (Psalms 18:15)

I saw in my vision..., and behold, the four winds... were rushing upon the Great Sea. And four beasts came up... (Daniel 7:2-3ff.)

...from a storm of Jehovah has gone forth fury... It will rush upon the head of the wicked. (Jeremiah 23:19; 30:23)

O my God..., ...pursue them with Your storm, ...frighten them with Your tempest. (Psalms 83:13, 15)

(Jehovah's) way in the storm and in the tempest... (Nahum 1:3)

And so also elsewhere, as in Jeremiah 25:32, Ezekiel 13:13, Hosea 8:7, Amos 1:14, Zechariah 9:14, Psalms 11:6; 50:3; 55:8, and Psalms 107, where we read:

...He commands the stormy wind to blow... (God) causes the storm to subside, so that its waves are still. (Psalms 107:25, 29)

[4] It is apparent from this what is symbolically meant in the spiritual sense by the following:

(Jesus in the boat) rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ."..be still!" And... there was a... calm. (Mark 4:39, cf. Luke 8:23-24)

The sea here symbolizes hell, and the wind an influx from it.

A strong influx, too, is symbolically meant by the east wind in Ezekiel 17:10, Jeremiah 18:17, Ezekiel 19:12, Hosea 13:15, Psalms 48:7. And by that same wind which dried up the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21), regarding which Moses said:

At the blast of Your nostrils the waters were heaped up... You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them. (Exodus 15:8, 10)

It can now be seen from this that holding back the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, symbolizes the holding back and restraining of a closer and thus stronger influx into the lower regions.

  
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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.