Hebraeer 12
1
Deshalb nun, da wir eine so große Wolke von Zeugen um uns haben, laßt auch uns, indem wir jede Bürde und die leicht umstrickende Sünde ablegen, mit Ausharren laufen den vor uns liegenden Wettlauf,
2
hinschauend auf Jesum, den Anfänger und Vollender des Glaubens, welcher, der Schande nicht achtend, für die vor ihm liegende Freude das Kreuz erduldete und sich gesetzt hat zur Rechten des Thrones Gottes.
3
Denn betrachtet den, der so großen Widerspruch von den Sündern gegen sich erduldet hat, auf daß ihr nicht ermüdet, indem ihr in euren Seelen ermattet.
4
Ihr habt noch nicht, wider die Sünde ankämpfend, bis aufs Blut widerstanden,
5
und habt der Ermahnung vergessen, die zu euch als zu Söhnen spricht: "Mein Sohn! Achte nicht gering des Herrn Züchtigung, noch ermatte, wenn du von ihm gestraft wirst;
6
denn wen der Herr liebt, den züchtigt er; er geißelt aber jeden Sohn, den er aufnimmt".
7
Was ihr erduldet, ist zur Züchtigung: Gott handelt mit euch als mit Söhnen; denn wer ist ein Sohn, den der Vater nicht züchtigt?
8
Wenn ihr aber ohne Züchtigung seid, welcher alle teilhaftig geworden sind, so seid ihr denn Bastarde und nicht Söhne.
9
Zudem hatten wir auch unsere Väter nach dem Fleische zu Züchtigern und scheuten sie; sollen wir nicht viel mehr dem Vater der Geister unterwürfig sein und leben?
10
Denn jene freilich züchtigten uns für wenige Tage nach ihrem Gutdünken, er aber zum Nutzen, damit wir seiner Heiligkeit teilhaftig werden.
11
Alle Züchtigung aber scheint für die Gegenwart nicht ein Gegenstand der Freude, sondern der Traurigkeit zu sein; hernach aber gibt sie die friedsame Frucht der Gerechtigkeit denen, die durch sie geübt sind.
12
Darum "richtet auf die erschlafften Hände und die gelähmten Knie",
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und "machet gerade Bahn für eure Füße!", auf daß nicht das Lahme vom Wege abgewandt, sondern vielmehr geheilt werde.
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Jaget dem Frieden nach mit allen und der Heiligkeit, ohne welche niemand den Herrn schauen wird;
15
indem ihr darauf achtet, daß nicht jemand an der Gnade Gottes Mangel leide, daß nicht irgend eine Wurzel der Bitterkeit aufsprosse und euch beunruhige, und viele durch diese verunreinigt werden;
16
daß nicht jemand ein Hurer sei oder ein Ungöttlicher wie Esau, der für eine Speise sein Erstgeburtsrecht verkaufte,
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denn ihr wisset, daß er auch nachher, als er den Segen ererben wollte, verworfen wurde (denn er fand keinen Raum für die Buße), obgleich er ihn mit Tränen eifrig suchte.
18
Denn ihr seid nicht gekommen zu dem Berge , der betastet werden konnte, und zu dem entzündeten Feuer, und dem Dunkel und der Finsternis und dem Sturm,
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und dem Posaunenschall, und der Stimme der Worte, deren Hörer baten, daß das Wort nicht mehr an sie gerichtet würde,
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(denn sie konnten nicht ertragen, was geboten wurde: "Und wenn ein Tier den Berg berührt, soll es gesteinigt werden."
21
Und so furchtbar war die Erscheinung, daß Moses sagte: "Ich bin voll Furcht und Zittern"),
22
sondern ihr seid gekommen zum Berge Zion und zur Stadt des lebendigen Gottes, dem himmlischen Jerusalem; und zu Myriaden von Engeln,
23
der allgemeinen Versammlung; und zu der Versammlung der Erstgeborenen, die in den Himmeln angeschrieben sind; und zu Gott, dem Richter aller; und zu den Geistern der vollendeten Gerechten;
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und zu Jesu, dem Mittler eines neuen Bundes; und zu dem Blute der Besprengung, das besser redet als Abel.
25
Sehet zu, daß ihr den nicht abweiset, der da redet! Denn wenn jene nicht entgingen, die den abwiesen, der auf Erden die göttlichen Aussprüche gab: wieviel mehr wir nicht, wenn wir uns von dem abwenden, der von den Himmeln her redet!
26
Dessen Stimme damals die Erde erschütterte; jetzt aber hat er verheißen und gesagt: "Noch einmal werde ich nicht allein die Erde bewegen, sondern auch den Himmel."
27
Aber das "noch einmal" deutet die Verwandlung der Dinge an, die erschüttert werden als solche, die gemacht sind, auf daß die, welche nicht erschüttert werden, bleiben.
28
Deshalb, da wir ein unerschütterliches Reich empfangen, laßt uns Gnade haben, durch welche wir Gott wohlgefällig dienen mögen mit Frömmigkeit und Furcht.
29
"Denn auch unser Gott ist ein verzehrendes Feuer."
Arcana Coelestia # 878
878. 'He put out his hand' means his own power. 'And he took hold of it, and brought it in to himself into the ark' means that self was the source of the good he did and of the truth he thought. This is clear from the meaning of 'the hand' as power. Here therefore his own power from which he acts is meant. Indeed 'putting out his hand and taking hold of the dove and bringing it in to himself' is attaching and attributing to himself the truth meant by the dove. That 'the hand' means power, and also the exercise of power, and resulting self-confidence, is clear from many places in the Word, as in Isaiah,
I will visit upon the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Asshur, for he has said, By the power of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding. Isaiah 10:12-13.
Here 'hand' clearly stands for his own power to which he attributed what he had done, on account of which visitation was made on him.
[2] In the same prophet,
Moab will stretch out his hands in the midst of him as swimmer does to swim, but He will lay low his pride together with the powerfulness 1 of his hands. Isaiah 25:11.
'Hands' stands for his own power resulting from projection of self above others, and so from pride. In the same prophet,
Their inhabitants were shorn of power, 2 they were dismayed and filled with shame. Isaiah 37:27.
'Shorn of power' 2 stands for having no power. In the same prophet,
Will the clay say to its potter, What are you making? or your work [say], He has no hands? Isaiah 45:9.
'He has no hands' stands for no power to it. In Ezekiel,
The king will mourn, and the prince will be wrapped in stupidity, and the hands of the people of the land will be all atremble. Ezekiel 7:17.
Here 'the hands' stands for power. In Micah,
Woe to those devising iniquity and working out evil upon their beds, which they carry out at morning light, and because they make their own hand their god! Micah 2:1.
'Hand' stands for their own power which they trust in as their god. In Zechariah,
Woe to the worthless shepherd deserting the flock! The sword will fall upon his arm and upon his right eye. His arm will be wholly withered, and his right eye utterly darkened. Zechariah 11:17.
[3] Since 'hands' means powers, men's evils and falsities are throughout the Word therefore called 'the works of their hands'. Evils come from the will side of man's proprium, falsities from the understanding side. The fact that this is the source of evils and falsities becomes quite clear from the nature of the human proprium, that it is nothing but evil and falsity. That this is the nature of the proprium see what has been stated already in 39, 41, 141, 150, 154, 210, 215. Because 'the hands' in general means power, the Word therefore frequently attributes hands to Jehovah, or the Lord. And in those contexts 'hands' in the internal sense means omnipotence, as in Isaiah, Jehovah, Your hand has been lifted up. Isaiah 26:11. 'Hand' stands for Divine power. In the same prophet,
Jehovah stretches out 3 His hand, they are all destroyed. Isaiah 31:3.
'Hand' stands for Divine power. In the same prophet,
Over the work of My hands command Me. My hands stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. Isaiah 45:11-12.
'Hands' stands for Divine power. In the Word regenerate people are often called 'the work of Jehovah's hands'. In the same prophet,
My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand measured out the heavens. Isaiah 48:13.
'Hand' and 'right hand' stand for omnipotence.
[4] In the same prophet,
Has My hand been shortened, that it cannot redeem? Is there no power in Me to deliver? Isaiah 50:2.
'Hand' and 'power' stand for Divine power. In Jeremiah,
You did bring Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm. Jeremiah 32:17, 21.
'Power' in verse Jeremiah 32:17 and 'hand' in verse Jeremiah 32:21 stand for Divine power. It is quite often stated that 'they were brought out of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm': in Ezekiel,
Thus said the Lord Jehovih, On the day I chose Israel and lifted up My hand to the seed of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I lifted up My hand to them, to lead them out of the land of Egypt. Ezekiel 20:5-6, 23.
In Moses,
Israel saw the great work 4 which Jehovah did on the Egyptians. Exodus 14:31.
[5] All these quotations plainly show that 'the hand' means power. Indeed so much was the hand the symbol of power that it also became its representative, as is clear from the miracles performed in Egypt, when Moses was commanded to stretch out his rod or his hand and they were accomplished -
Moses stretched out his hand and there was hail all over Egypt. Exodus 9:22-23.
Moses stretched out his hand and there was darkness. Exodus 10:21-22.
Moses stretched out his hand and rod over the Sea Suph and it was dried up, and he stretched out his hand and it returned. Exodus 14:11, 27. 5
No mentally normal person can believe that any power resided in Moses' hand or rod. Rather, because the lifting up and stretching out of the hand symbolized Divine power, that action also became its representative in the Jewish Church.
[6] The same applies to Joshua's stretching out his javelin, described as follows,
Jehovah said, Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand towards Ai, for I will give it into your hand. When Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand, they entered the city and took it. And Joshua did not draw back the hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. Joshua 8:18-19, 26.
This also makes clear the nature of the representatives which comprised the external features of the Jewish Church. Consequently the Word is such that details recorded in its external sense do not give the appearance of being representatives of the Lord and His kingdom, such as the reference in these quotations to Moses or Joshua stretching out his hand, and all other details recorded there. In these it is never evident that such things are being represented as long as the mind is fixed solely on the historical details of the letter. From this it is also evident how far the Jews had receded from a true understanding of the Word and of the religious practices of their Church by focusing the whole of their worship purely on things of an external nature, even to the extent of attributing power to Moses' rod and to Joshua's javelin, when in fact these had no more power in them than a piece of wood. Yet because they did symbolize the Lord's omnipotence, which was at the time understood in heaven, signs and miracles were accomplished when by command they stretched out their hand or rod. Something similar happened when Moses on the hilltop held up his hands. When he did so Joshua was winning, but when he dropped them he was losing. So they held his hands up for him. Exodus 17:9-13.
[7] It was similar with the laying on of hands when men were being consecrated, as the people did to the Levites, Numbers 8:9-10, 12, and as Moses did to Joshua when the latter was to succeed him, Numbers 27:18, 23 - the purpose being to confer power. And this is why in our own times the ceremonies of ordination and of blessing are accompanied by the laying on of hands. To what extent the hand meant and represented power becomes clear from the following references in the Word to Uzzah and Jeroboam,
Of Uzzah it says that he reached out (his hand) to the Ark of God and took hold of it, and as a consequence died. 2 Samuel 6:6-7.
'The Ark' represented the Lord, and so everything holy and heavenly. 'Uzzah reached out to the Ark' represented man's own power, which is his proprium. And because the proprium is unholy the word 'hand' is left out but nevertheless understood. It is left out to prevent angels perceiving anything so profane as his touching with his hand that which was holy. And because he 'reached out' he died.
[8] In reference to Jeroboam,
It happened, when he heard the saying of the man of God which he cried out against the altar, that Jeroboam reached out his hand from above the altar saying, Lay hold of him. And his hand which he reached out against him dried up, and he could not draw it back to himself. He said to the man of God, Entreat now the face 6 of Jehovah your God, that my hand may be restored to me. And the man of God entreated the face 6 of Jehovah and his hand was restored to him, and became as it was before. 1 Kings 13:4-6.
Here similarly 'reaching out his hand' means man's own power, or proprium, which is unholy. He was willing to violate what was holy by stretching out his hand against the man of God, as a consequence of which his hand was dried up. Yet because he was an idolater and therefore not able to profane, as stated already, his hand was restored. The fact that 'the hand' means and represents power becomes clear from representatives in the world of spirits. In that world a bare arm sometimes comes into sight possessing so much strength that it can break bones to bits and crush their inner marrow to nothing at all. It consequently strikes so much terror as to cause heart-failure. It really does possess such strength.
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. literally, with the cataracts or the floodgates
2. literally, short in the hand
3. or has stretched out
4. literally, the great hand
5. Exodus 14:15, 16 were possibly intended in this reference, as well as verses 21, 27.
6. literally, the faces
