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Jérémie 23

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1 Malheur aux pasteurs qui détruisent et dissipent le troupeau de ma pâture, dit l'Eternel!

2 C'est pourquoi ainsi a dit l'Eternel, le Dieu d'Israël, touchant les pasteurs qui paissent mon peuple : vous avez dissipé mes brebis, et vous les avez chassées, et ne les avez point visitées; voici, je m'en vais visiter sur vous la malice de vos actions, dit l'Eternel.

3 Mais je rassemblerai le reste de mes brebis de tous les pays auxquels je les aurai chassées, et les ferai retourner à leurs parcs, et elles fructifieront et multiplieront.

4 J'établirai aussi sur elles des pasteurs qui les paîtront, et elles n'auront plus de peur, et ne s'épouvanteront point, et il n'en manquera aucune, dit l'Eternel.

5 Voici, les jours viennent, dit l'Eternel, que je ferai lever à David un Germe juste, qui régnera [comme] Roi; il prospérera, et exercera le jugement et la justice sur la terre.

6 En ses jours Juda sera sauvé, et Israël habitera en assurance; et c'est ici le nom, duquel on l'appellera : l'Eternel notre justice.

7 C'est pourquoi voici, les jours viennent, dit l'Eternel, qu'on ne dira plus : l'Eternel est vivant, qui a fait remonter les enfants d'Israël du pays d'Egypte;

8 Mais, l'Eternel est vivant, qui a fait remonter, et qui a ramené la postérité de la maison d'Israël, du pays de devers l'Aquilon, et de tous les pays auxquels je les avais chassés, et ils habiteront en leur terre.

9 A cause des Prophètes mon cœur est brisé au dedans de moi, tous mes os en tremblent, je suis comme un homme ivre, et comme un homme que le vin a surmonté, à cause de l'Eternel, et à cause des paroles de sa sainteté.

10 Car le pays est rempli [d'hommes] adultères, et le pays mène deuil à cause des exécrations : les pâturages du désert sont devenus tous secs, l'oppression de ces gens est mauvaise, et leur force n'est pas en faveur de l'équité.

11 Car le Prophète et le Sacrificateur se contrefont; j'ai même trouvé dans ma maison leur méchanceté, dit l'Eternel.

12 C'est pourquoi leur voie sera comme des lieux glissants dans les ténèbres, ils y seront poussés, et y tomberont; car je ferai venir du mal sur eux, [en] l'année de leur visitation, dit l'Eternel.

13 Or j'avais bien vu des choses mal convenables dans les Prophètes de Samarie, [car] ils prophétisaient de par Bahal, et faisaient égarer mon peuple Israël.

14 Mais j'ai vu des choses énormes dans les Prophètes de Jérusalem; car ils commettent des adultères, et ils marchent dans le mensonge; ils ont donné main forte aux hommes injustes et pas un ne s'est détourné de sa malice; ils me sont tous comme Sodome, et les habitants de la ville, comme Gomorrhe.

15 C'est pourquoi, ainsi a dit l'Eternel des armées touchant ces Prophètes : voici, je m'en vais leur faire manger de l'absinthe, et leur faire boire de l'eau de fiel; parce que la profanation s'est répandue des Prophètes de Jérusalem par tout le pays.

16 Ainsi a dit l'Eternel des armées : n'écoutez point les paroles des Prophètes qui vous prophétisent; ils vous font devenir vains, ils prononcent la vision de leur cœur, [et] ils ne [la tiennent] pas de la bouche de l'Eternel.

17 Ils ne cessent de dire à ceux qui me méprisent : l'Eternel a dit : vous aurez la paix; et ils disent à tous ceux qui marchent dans la dureté de leur cœur : il ne vous arrivera point de mal.

18 Car qui s'est trouvé au conseil secret de l'Eternel? et qui a aperçu et ouï sa parole? qui a été attentif à sa parole, et l'a ouïe?

19 Voici la tempête de l'Eternel, sa fureur va se montrer, et le tourbillon prêt à fondre tombera sur la tête des méchants.

20 La colère de l'Eternel ne sera point détournée qu'il n'ait exécuté et mis en effet les pensées de son cœur; vous aurez une claire intelligence de ceci sur la fin des jours.

21 Je n'ai point envoyé ces Prophètes-là, et ils ont couru; je ne leur ai point parlé, et ils ont prophétisé.

22 S'ils s'étaient trouvés dans mon conseil secret, ils auraient aussi fait entendre mes paroles à mon peuple, et ils les auraient détournés de leur mauvais train, et de la malice de leurs actions.

23 Suis-je un Dieu de près, dit l'Eternel, et ne suis-je point aussi un Dieu de loin?

24 Quelqu'un se pourra-t-il cacher dans quelque retraite, que je ne le voie point? dit l'Eternel. Ne remplis-je pas, moi, les cieux et la terre? dit l'Eternel.

25 J'ai ouï ce que les Prophètes ont dit, prophétisant le mensonge en mon Nom, [et] disant : j'ai eu un songe, j'ai eu un songe.

26 Jusques à quand ceci sera-t-il au cœur des Prophètes qui prophétisent le mensonge, et qui prophétisent la tromperie de leur cœur?

27 Qui pensent comment ils feront oublier mon Nom à mon peuple, par les songes qu'un chacun d'eux récite à son compagnon, comme leurs pères ont oublié mon Nom pour Bahal.

28 Que le Prophète par devers lequel est le songe, récite le songe; et que celui par devers lequel est ma parole, profère ma parole en vérité. Quelle [convenance y a-t-il] de la paille avec le froment? dit l'Eternel.

29 Ma parole n'est-elle pas comme un feu, dit l'Eternel; et comme un marteau qui brise la pierre?

30 C'est pourquoi voici, j'en veux aux Prophètes, dit l'Eternel, qui dérobent mes paroles, chacun de son prochain.

31 Voici, j'en veux aux Prophètes, dit l'Eternel, qui accommodent leurs langues, et qui disent : il dit.

32 Voici, j'en veux à ceux qui prophétisent des songes de fausseté, dit l'Eternel, et qui les récitent, et font égarer mon peuple par leurs mensonges, et par leur témérité, quoique je ne les aie point envoyés, et que je ne leur aie point donné de charge; c'est pourquoi ils ne profiteront de rien à ce peuple, dit l'Eternel.

33 Si donc ce peuple t'interroge, ou qu'il interroge le Prophète, ou le Sacrificateur, en disant : quelle est la charge de l'Eternel? tu leur diras : quelle charge? Je vous abandonnerai, dit l'Eternel.

34 Et quant au Prophète, et au Sacrificateur, et au peuple qui aura dit : la charge de l'Eternel; je punirai cet homme-là, et sa maison.

35 Vous direz ainsi chacun à son compagnon, et chacun à son frère : qu'a répondu l'Eternel; et qu'a prononcé l'Eternel?

36 Et vous ne ferez plus mention de la charge de l'Eternel; car la parole de chacun lui sera pour charge; parce que vous avez perverti les paroles du Dieu vivant, [les paroles] de l'Eternel des armées, notre Dieu.

37 Tu diras ainsi au Prophète : que t'a répondu l'Eternel, et que t'a prononcé l'Eternel?

38 Et si vous dites : la charge de l'Eternel; à cause de cela, a dit l'Eternel, parce que vous avez dit cette parole, la charge de l'Eternel; et que j'ai envoyé vers vous, pour vous dire : ne dites plus : la charge de l'Eternel.

39 A cause de cela me voici, et je vous oublierai entièrement, et j'arracherai de ma présence, vous et la ville que j'ai donnée à vous et à vos pères.

40 Et je mettrai sur vous un opprobre éternel, et une confusion éternelle, qui ne sera point mise en oubli.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 608

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608. Verse 6 (Revelation 10:6). And he sware by Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages, signifies the verity from His own Divine. This is evident from the signification of "to swear," as being a strong assertion and confirmation, and in reference to the Lord the verity (of which presently); also from the signification of "Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages," as being the Divine from eternity, which alone lives, and which is the source of life to all in the universe, both angels and men. (That this is signified by "Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages" may be seen above, n. 289, 291, 349.) That "to swear" signifies asseveration and confirmation, but here verity (since it is the Lord that is meant by the angel that swears), can be seen from this, that "to swear" means to asseverate and confirm that a thing is so, and when done by the Lord means Divine verity; for oaths are made only by those who are not interiorly in truth itself, that is, by those who are not interior but only exterior men; consequently they are never made by angels, still less by the Lord; but He is said in the Word to swear, and the Israelites were allowed to swear by God, because they were only exterior men, and because the asseveration and confirmation of the internal man, when it comes into the external, falls into the form of an oath. In the Israelitish Church all things were external, representing and signifying things internal. The Word in the sense of the letter is similar. From this it can be seen that "the angel sware by Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages" cannot mean that he thus sware, but that he said in himself that this is verity, and that when this came down into the natural sphere it was changed, according to correspondences, into the form of an oath.

[2] Now as "to swear" is only an external corresponding to the confirmation that belongs to the mind of the internal man, and is therefore significative of that, so in the Word of the Old Testament it is said to be lawful to swear by God, yea, that God Himself is said to swear. That this signifies confirmation, asseveration and simply verity, or that it is true, can be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:

Jehovah hath sworn by His right hand and by the arm of His strength (Isaiah 62:8).

In Jeremiah:

Jehovah of Hosts hath sworn by His soul (Jeremiah 51:14; Amos 6:8).

In Amos:

The Lord Jehovih hath sworn by His holiness (Amos 4:2).

In the same:

Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob (Amos 8:7).

In Jeremiah:

Behold, I have sworn by My great name (Jeremiah 44:26).

Jehovah is said "to have sworn by His right hand," "by His soul," "by His holiness," and "by His name," to signify by Divine verity; for "the right hand of Jehovah," "the arm of His strength," "His holiness," "His name," and "His soul," mean the Lord in relation to Divine truth, thus Divine truth proceeding from the Lord; the like is meant by "the excellency of Jacob," for "the mighty One of Jacob" means the Lord in relation to Divine truth.

[3] That "to swear," in reference to Jehovah, signifies confirmation by Himself, that is, from His Divine, is evident in Isaiah:

By Myself have I sworn, the word has gone forth from My mouth, and shall not be recalled (Isaiah 45:23).

In Jeremiah:

By Myself I have sworn that this house shall become a desolation (Jeremiah 22:5).

Because "to swear" in reference to Jehovah signifies Divine verity it is said in David:

Jehovah hath sworn truth unto David, He turneth 1 not from it (Psalms 132:11).

[4] Jehovah God, or the Lord, never swears, for to swear is not becoming to God Himself, or the Divine verity; but when God, or the Divine verity, wills to have anything confirmed before men, then that confirmation in its descent into the natural sphere falls into the form or formula of an oath, such as is used in the world. This shows why it is said in the sense of the letter of the Word, which is the natural sense, that God swears, although He never swears. This, then, is the signification of "to swear" in reference to Jehovah or the Lord in the preceding passages, and also in the following. In Isaiah:

Jehovah of Hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass (Isaiah 14:24).

In David:

I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn unto David My servant. Lord, Thou hast sworn unto David in verity (Psalms 89:3, 35, 49).

In the same:

Jehovah hath sworn and will not repent (Psalms 110:4).

In Ezekiel:

I have sworn unto thee, and have entered into a covenant with thee, that thou mightest become Mine (Ezekiel 16:8).

In David:

Unto whom I have sworn in Mine anger (Psalms 95:11).

In Isaiah:

I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more pass over the earth (Isaiah 54:9).

In Luke:

To remember His holy covenant, the oath which He sware to Abraham our father (Luke 1:72, 73).

In David:

He hath remembered His covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath with Isaac (Psalms 105:8, 9).

In Jeremiah:

That I may establish the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers (Jeremiah 11:5; 32:22).

In Moses:

The land which I have sworn to give unto your fathers (Deuteronomy 1:35; 10:11; 11:9, 21; 26:3, 15; 31:20; 34:4).

[5] From this it can be seen what is meant by "the angel lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages," as it is likewise said in Daniel:

And I heard the man clothed in linen, that he held up his right hand and his left hand unto the heavens, and sware by Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages (Daniel 12:7);

as meaning to bear witness before the angels respecting the state of the church, that what follows is Divine verity.

[6] Because the church that was instituted with the sons of Israel was a representative church, in which all things that were commanded were natural things representing and signifying spiritual things, the sons of Israel, with whom that church existed, were permitted to swear by Jehovah, and by His name, likewise by the holy things of the church; and this represented and thus signified internal confirmation, and also verity, as can be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:

He that blesseth himself in the earth let him bless himself in the God of truth, and he that sweareth in the earth let him swear in the God of truth (Isaiah 65:16).

In Jeremiah:

Swear by the living Jehovah, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness (Jeremiah 4:2).

In Moses:

Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God, Him shalt thou serve, and shalt swear in His name (Deuteronomy 6:13; 10:20).

In Isaiah:

In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that swear to Jehovah of Hosts (Isaiah 19:18).

In Jeremiah:

If in learning they will learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, Jehovah liveth! (Jeremiah 12:16).

In David:

Everyone that sweareth by God shall glory, but the mouth of them that speak a lie shall be stopped (Psalms 63:11).

"To swear by God" here signifies to speak the truth, for it is added, "the mouth of them that speak a lie shall be stopped." (That they swore by God see also Genesis 21:23, 24, 31; Joshua 2:12; 9:20; Judges 21:7; 1 Kings 1:17.)

[7] As the ancients were allowed to swear by Jehovah God, it follows that it was an enormous evil to swear falsely or to swear to a lie, as is evident from these passages. In Malachi:

I will be a witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those that swear to a lie (Malachi 3:5).

In Moses:

Thou shalt not swear to a lie by My name, so that thou profane the name of thy God; also, Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain (Leviticus 19:12; Deuteronomy 5:11; Exodus 20:7; Zechariah 5:4).

In Jeremiah:

Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see whether there be any who say, By the living Jehovah; surely they swear by a lie. Thy sons have destroyed 2 Me, and sworn by one not God (Jeremiah 5:1, 2, 7).

In Hosea:

Israel, ye shall not swear, Jehovah liveth (Hosea 4:15).

In Zephaniah:

I will cut off them that swear by Jehovah, and that swear by their king, and them that are turned back from following Jehovah (Zephaniah 1:4-6).

In Zechariah:

Love not the oath of a lie (Zechariah 8:17).

In Isaiah:

Hear ye, O house of Jacob, who swear by the name of Jehovah, not in truth nor in righteousness (Isaiah 48:1).

In David:

The clean in hands and the pure in heart doth not lift up his soul unto vanity, nor swear with deceit (Psalms 24:4).

[8] From this it can be seen that the ancients, who were in the representatives and the significatives of the church, were permitted to swear by Jehovah God in order to bear witness to the truth, and by that oath it was signified that they thought what is true and willed what is good. Especially was this granted to the sons of Jacob, because they were wholly external and natural men, and not internal and spiritual; and merely external or natural men wish to have the truth confirmed and witnessed to by oaths; but internal or spiritual men do not wish this; indeed, they turn away from oaths and shudder at them, especially those in which God and the holy things of heaven and the church are appealed to, and are content with saying and with having it said that a thing is true, or that it is so.

[9] As swearing does not belong to the internal or spiritual man, and as the Lord, when He came into the world, taught men to be internal or spiritual, and to that end abrogated the externals of the church, and opened its internals, therefore He forbade swearing by God and by the holy things of heaven and the church. This is evident from these words of the Lord in Matthew:

Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not swear [falsely], but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oath; but I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by the heaven, for it is the throne of God; neither by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; neither by Jerusalem, for it is a city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black (Matthew 5:33-37).

Here the holy things by which one must not swear are mentioned, namely, "heaven," "earth," "Jerusalem," and the "head;" and "heaven" means the angelic heaven, wherefore it is called "the throne of God" (that "the throne of God" means that heaven, see above, n. 253, 462, 477); "the earth" means the church (See above, n. 29, 304, 413, 417), which is called therefore "the footstool of God's feet" (that "the footstool of God's feet" also means the church, see above, n. 606; "Jerusalem" means the doctrine of the church, wherefore it is called "the city of the great king" (that "city" means doctrine, see above, n. 223; and the "head" means intelligence therefrom (See above, n. 553, 577), therefore it is said "thou canst not make one hair white or black," which signifies that man of himself can understand nothing.

[10] Again, in the same:

Woe unto you, ye blind guides, for ye say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind; for whether is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And whosoever shall swear by the altar it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it he is a debtor. Ye fools and blind; whether is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? But whosoever sweareth by the altar sweareth by it and by everything thereon. And whosoever sweareth by the temple sweareth by it and by Him that dwelleth therein. And he that sweareth by heaven sweareth by the throne of God and by Him that sitteth thereon (Matthew 23:16-22).

One must not swear "by the temple and by the altar," because to swear by these was to swear by the Lord, by heaven, and by the church; for the "temple" in the highest sense means the Lord in relation to Divine truth, and in a relative sense heaven and the church in respect to truth, likewise all worship from Divine truth (See above, n. 220); and the "altar" signifies the Lord in relation to Divine good, and in a relative sense heaven and the church in respect to that good, likewise all worship from Divine good (See above, n. 391); and because by the Lord all Divine things that proceed from Him are meant, for He is in them and they are His, so he who swears by Him swears by all things that are His; likewise he who swears by heaven and by the church, swears by all the holy things that belong to heaven and the church, for heaven is the complex and containant of these things; so, in like manner, is the church; therefore it is said that the temple is greater than the gold of the temple, because the temple sanctifies the gold, and that the altar is greater than the gift which is upon it, because the altar sanctifies the gift.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. Latin has "turneth," the Hebrew "turn back," which is found in Arcana Coelestia 2842.

2. Latin has "destroyed," the Hebrew "forsaken. "

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

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Ezekiel 7:23

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23 Make the chain; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.