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4 Mose 24

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1 Und als Bileam sah, daß es gut war in den Augen Jehovas, Israel zu segnen, so ging er nicht, wie die anderen Male, auf Wahrsagerei aus, (Eig. Wahrzeichen entgegen; vergl. Kap. 23,15) sondern richtete sein Angesicht nach der Wüste hin.

2 Und Bileam erhob seine Augen und sah Israel, gelagert nach seinen Stämmen; und der Geist Gottes kam über ihn.

3 Und er hob seinen Spruch an und sprach: Es spricht Bileam, (Eig. Spruch Bileams… und Spruch des Mannes. So auch v 4. 15. 16.) der Sohn Beors, und es spricht der Mann (Eig. Spruch Bileams… und Spruch des Mannes. So auch v 4. 15. 16.) geöffneten Auges.

4 Es spricht, der da hört die Worte Gottes, (El) der ein Gesicht des Allmächtigen sieht, der hinfällt und enthüllter Augen ist:

5 Wie schön sind deine Zelte, Jakob, deine Wohnungen, Israel!

6 Gleich Tälern breiten sie sich aus, gleich Gärten am Strome, gleich Aloebäumen, die Jehova gepflanzt hat, gleich Cedern am Gewässer!

7 Wasser wird fließen aus seinen Eimern, und sein Same wird in großen Wassern sein; und sein König wird höher sein als Agag, und sein Königreich wird erhaben sein.

8 Gott (El) hat ihn aus Ägypten herausgeführt; sein ist die Stärke des Büffels. Er wird die Nationen, seine Feinde, fressen und ihre Gebeine zermalmen und mit seinen Pfeilen sie zerschmettern.

9 Er duckt sich, er legt sich nieder wie ein Löwe und wie eine Löwin; wer will ihn aufreizen? (Vergl. 1. Mose 49,9) Die dich segnen, sind (O. seien. Vergl. 1. Mose 27,29) gesegnet, und die dich verfluchen, sind (O. seien. Vergl. 1. Mose 27,29) verflucht!

10 Da entbrannte der Zorn Balaks wider Bileam, und er schlug seine Hände zusammen; und Balak sprach zu Bileam: Meine Feinde zu verwünschen habe ich dich gerufen, und siehe, du hast sie sogar gesegnet, nun dreimal!

11 Und nun fliehe an deinen Ort. Ich hatte gesagt, ich wolle dich hoch ehren; und siehe, Jehova hat dir die Ehre verwehrt.

12 Und Bileam sprach zu Balak: Habe ich nicht auch zu deinen Boten, die du zu mir gesandt hast, geredet und gesagt:

13 Wenn Balak mir sein Haus voll Silber und Gold gäbe, so vermöchte ich nicht den Befehl Jehovas zu übertreten, um aus meinem eigenen Herzen Gutes oder Böses zu tun; was Jehova reden wird, das werde ich reden?

14 Und nun siehe, ich gehe zu meinem Volke. Komm, ich will dir anzeigen, was dieses Volk deinem Volke tun wird am Ende der Tage.

15 Und er hob seinen Spruch an und sprach: Es spricht Bileam, der Sohn Beors, und es spricht der Mann geöffneten Auges.

16 Es spricht, der da hört die Worte Gottes, (El) und der die Erkenntnis des Höchsten besitzt, der ein Gesicht des Allmächtigen sieht, der hinfällt und enthüllter Augen ist:

17 Ich sehe ihn, aber nicht jetzt, (d. h. nicht als bereits erschienen) ich schaue ihn, aber nicht nahe; es tritt hervor ein Stern aus Jakob, und ein Scepter erhebt sich aus Israel und zerschlägt die Seiten Moabs und zerschmettert alle Söhne des Getümmels.

18 Und Edom wird ein Besitz sein und Seir ein Besitz, sie, seine Feinde; und Israel wird Mächtiges tun.

19 Und einer aus Jakob wird herrschen, und er wird aus der Stadt den Überrest (O. den Überrest der Stadt) vertilgen. -

20 Und er sah Amalek und hob seinen Spruch an und sprach: Die erste der Nationen war Amalek, aber sein Letztes wird dem Untergang verfallen. -

21 Und er sah die Keniter und hob seinen Spruch an und sprach: Fest ist dein Wohnsitz, und auf den Felsen gesetzt dein Nest;

22 doch der Keniter (W. Kain) soll vertilgt werden, bis (O. wenn) Assur dich gefangen wegführt. -

23 Und er hob seinen Spruch an und sprach: Wehe! Wer wird am Leben bleiben, sobald Gott dieses herbeiführt?

24 Und Schiffe werden kommen von der Küste von Kittim (Cypern) und werden Assur demütigen, und Heber demütigen, und auch er wird dem Untergang verfallen. -

25 Und Bileam machte sich auf und ging und kehrte zurück an seinen Ort; und auch Balak zog seines Weges.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 9293

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9293. 'And My face shall not be seen empty-handed' means the reception of good out of mercy, and thanksgiving. This is clear from the meaning of 'Jehovah's face' as good, mercy, and peace, dealt with in 222, 223, 5585, 7599; and from the meaning of 'not being seen empty-handed', or not coming without a gift, as bearing witness because good has been received, and thanksgiving. For gifts which were offered to Jehovah meant the kinds of things that are offered to the Lord by a person from the heart and are accepted by the Lord. The situation with those gifts is as it is with all a person's deeds. A person's deeds are merely acts performed by the body, and when regarded in isolation from his will are no more than variously regulated, so to speak articulated movements, not unlike the movements of a machine, and so are lifeless. But deeds regarded together with the will are not like those movements. Rather they are outward expressions of the will displayed before the eyes, for deeds are nothing other than witness-bearers to such things as compose the will. They also derive their soul or life from the will. Therefore something similar may be said of deeds as of movements, namely that nothing in deeds has life apart from the will, just as nothing in movements has life apart from endeavour. Mankind also knows this to be so, for someone endowed with intelligence pays no attention to a person's deeds, only to his will, the source, the means, and the reason for the deeds. Indeed someone endowed with wisdom scarcely notices the deeds but rather sees in the deeds what his will is like and how great it is. The same applies to gifts, in that in them the Lord looks on the will. So it is that by 'gifts' offered to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, such things as are present in the will or the heart are meant, 'the heart' being what the Word calls a person's will. From all this it is also evident how to understand the teaching in Matthew 16:27 that everyone will receive judgement in the next life according to his deeds or works, namely that he will receive it according to what is in his heart and consequently his life.

[2] It is evident from the Word that such things are meant by 'gifts offered to Jehovah', as in David,

Sacrifice and gift You have not desired; burnt offering and sin-sacrifice You have not sought. I have delighted to do Your will, O My God. Psalms 40:6, 8.

In Moses,

Jehovah your God, He is God of gods, and Lord of lords, who shows no partiality 1 and does not accept a gift. 2 Deuteronomy 10:17.

And in Matthew,

If you offer your gift on the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, you shall leave the gift there before the altar, and go away. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24.

From this it is evident that gifts offered to the Lord served to bear witness to things offered from the heart, which are those of faith and charity. 'Being reconciled to a brother' means charity towards the neighbour.

[3] In the same gospel,

Wise men from the east came, and they offered gifts to the new-born Lord - gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:1, 11.

'Gold, frankincense, and myrrh' means all forms of the good of love and faith offered to the Lord, 'gold' being forms of the good of love, 'frankincense' forms of the good of faith, and 'myrrh' forms of both in external things. The reason why 'wise men from the east' offered them was that among some in the east there remained from ancient times the knowledge and wisdom of the people of old, which consisted in their understanding and seeing heavenly and Divine realities within things in the world and on earth. For it was well known to the ancients that all things had a correspondence and were representative, and therefore had a spiritual meaning, as is also evident from the gentiles' oldest books and their monuments. This was how they knew that gold, frankincense, and myrrh meant the forms of good that should be offered to God. They knew also from their prophecies, which were those of the Ancient Church and which have been spoken of in 2686, that the Lord would come into the world, at which time a star would appear to them, about which also Balaam, who likewise was one of 'the sons of the east', prophesied, Numbers 24:17 - see 3762. 'A star' furthermore means cognitions or knowledge of internal goodness and truth, which come from the Lord, 2495, 2849, 4697.

[4] In David,

The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring a gift, the kings of Sheba and Seba will bring a present; and all kings will bow down [to Him], and all nations will serve Him. Psalms 72:10-11.

These things were said in reference to the Lord. 'Bringing a gift' and 'bringing a present' mean the good of love and faith. For 'Tarshish' means doctrinal teachings about love and faith, 1156; 'Sheba and Seba' cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, 1171, 3240; 'kings' the Church's truths, 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148; and 'nations' the Church's forms of good, 1159, 1258-1260, 1416, 1849, 4574, 6005, 8771; from all of which meanings it is evident what 'all kings will bow down and all nations serve' is used to mean.

[5] In Isaiah,

They will announce My glory among the nations. At that time they will bring all your brothers from all nations as a gift to Jehovah, on horses, and in chariots, and in covered wagons, and on mules, and on fast runners, 3 to My holy mountain, Jerusalem, even as the children of Israel bring their gift in a clean vessel to the house of Jehovah. Isaiah 66:19-20.

A person unacquainted with the internal sense of the Word may think that these things were said of the Jews who were to be brought in such a manner to Jerusalem by gentile nations. But forms of the good of love to and faith in the Lord are what those prophetic words describe and what 'a gift' is used to mean. 'Horses', 'chariots', 'covered wagons', 'mules', and 'fast runners' on or in which they were to be brought mean intellectual concepts, doctrinal teachings, and factual knowledge of truth and good, as is evident from the meaning of these carriers - for example, from that of 'horses', 2760-2762, 3217, 5321, 6125, 6401, 6534, 8029, 8146, 8148; from the meaning of 'chariots', 5321, 5945, 8146, 8148, 8215; and from the meaning of 'mules', 2781.

[6] In Malachi,

He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and purge them like gold, and like silver, in order that they may bring to Jehovah a gift in righteousness. Then the gift of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to Jehovah, as in the days of old, and as in former years. Malachi 3:3-4.

Since 'a gift offered to Jehovah' means the good of love and faith, it speaks here of their 'bringing to Jehovah a gift in righteousness' and of a gift 'acceptable to Jehovah'. 'Purifying the sons of Levi and purging them like gold and silver' means purifying goodness and truth from evils and falsities, 'the sons of Levi' being those who have faith and charity, thus who belong to the spiritual Church, 3875, 4497, 4502, 4503, and 'Judah' being the good of celestial love, thus those with whom that good exists, 3654, 3881.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, does not accept faces

2. i.e. a bribe

3. i.e. dromedaries or swift camels

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