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Hesekiel 42

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1 Und er führete mich hinaus zum äußern Vorhof gegen Mitternacht unter die Kammern, so gegen dem Gebäude, das am Tempel hing, und gegen dem Tempel zu Mitternacht lagen,

2 welcher Platz hundert Ellen lang war von dem Tor an gegen Mitternacht und fünfzig Ellen breit.

3 Zwanzig Ellen waren gegen dem innern Vorhof und gegen dem Pflaster im äußern Vorhof und dreißig Ellen von einer Ecke zur andern.

4 Und inwendig vor den Kammern war ein Platz zehn Ellen breit vor den Türen der Kammern, das lag alles gegen Mitternacht.

5 Und über diesen Kammern waren andere, engere Kammern; denn der Raum auf den untern und mittlern Kammern war nicht groß.

6 Denn es war drei Gemächer hoch, und hatten doch keine Pfeiler, wie die Vorhöfe Pfeiler hatten, sondern sie waren schlecht aufeinandergesetzt.

7 Und der äußere Vorhof war umfangen mit einer Mauer, daran die Kammern stunden; die war fünfzig Ellen lang.

8 Und die Kammern stunden nacheinander, auch fünfzig Ellen lang, am äußern Vorhofe; aber der Raum vor dem Tempel war hundert Ellen lang.

9 Und unten vor den Kammern war ein Platz gegen Morgen, da man aus dem äußern Vorhof ging.

10 Und an der Mauer von Morgen an waren auch Kammern.

11 Und war auch ein Platz davor, wie vor jenen Kammern, gegen Mitternacht; und war alles gleich mit der Länge, Breite und allem, was daran war, wie droben an jenen.

12 Und gegen Mittag waren auch eben solche Kammern mit ihren Türen; und vor dem Platz war die Tür gegen Mittag, dazu man kommt von der Mauer, die gegen Morgen liegt.

13 Und er sprach zu mir: Die Kammern gegen Mitternacht und die Kammern gegen Mittag gegen dem Tempel, die gehören zum Heiligtum, darin die Priester essen, wenn sie dem HERRN opfern das allerheiligste Opfer. Und sollen die allerheiligsten Opfer, nämlich Speisopfer, Sündopfer und Schuldopfer, daselbst hineinlegen; denn es ist eine heilige Stätte.

14 Und wenn die Priester hineingehen, sollen sie nicht wieder aus dem Heiligtum gehen in den äußern Vorhof, sondern sollen zuvor ihre Kleider, darin sie gedienet haben, in denselbigen Kammern weglegen, denn sie sind heilig; und sollen ihre andern Kleider anlegen und alsdann heraus unter das Volk gehen.

15 Und da er das Haus inwendig gar gemessen hatte, führete er mich heraus zum Tor gegen Morgen und maß von demselbigen allenthalben herum.

16 Gegen Morgen maß er fünfhundert Ruten lang

17 und gegen Mitternacht maß er auch fünfhundert Ruten lang,

18 desgleichen gegen Mittag auch fünfhundert Ruten.

19 Und da er kam gegen Abend, maß er auch fünfhundert Ruten lang.

20 Also hatte die Mauer, die er gemessen, ins Gevierte auf jeder Seite herum fünfhundert Ruten, damit das Heilige von dem Unheiligen unterschieden wäre.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 486

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486. And the angel stood by, saying, "Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there." This symbolizes the Lord's presence and His command to see and learn the state of the church in the New Heaven.

The Lord is meant by the angel, here as in nos. 5, 415, and elsewhere, since an angel does nothing of himself but is impelled by the Lord. That is why the angel said, "I will give power to my two witnesses" (verse 3), when they were the Lord's witnesses. The angel's standing by symbolizes the Lord's presence, and his speaking symbolizes the Lord's command. To rise and measure means, symbolically, to see and learn. We will see below that to measure means, symbolically, to learn and investigate the character of a state.

The temple, altar, and those who worship there symbolize the state of the church in the New Heaven - the temple symbolizing the church in respect to its doctrinal truth (no. 191), the altar symbolizing the church in respect to the goodness of its love (no. 392), and those who worship there symbolizing the church in respect to its formal worship as a result of those two elements. Those who worship symbolize here the reverence that is a part of formal worship, since the spiritual sense is a sense abstracted from persons (nos. 78, 79, 96), as is apparent here also from the fact that John is told to measure the worshipers. These three elements are what form the church: doctrinal truth, goodness of love, and formal worship as a result of these.

[2] That the church meant is the church in the New Heaven is apparent from the last verse of this chapter, where we are told that "the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple" (verse 19).

This chapter begins with the measuring of the temple in order that the state of the church in heaven might be seen and learned before its conjunction with the church in the world. The church in the world is meant by the court outside the temple, which John was not to measure, because it had been given to the gentiles (verse 2). The same church is then described by the great city called Sodom and Egypt (verses 7, 8). But after that great city fell (verse 13), it follows that the church became the Lord's (verses 15ff.).

It should be known that the church exists in the heavens just as on earth, and that the two are united like the inner and outer selves in people. Consequently the Lord provides the church in heaven first, and from it, or by means of it, then the church on earth. That is why the New Jerusalem is said to come down from God out of the New Heaven (Revelation 21:1-2).

The New Heaven means a new heaven formed from Christians, as described several times in the following chapters.

[3] To measure means, symbolically, to learn and investigate the character of a thing because the measure of something symbolizes its character or state. All the measurements of the New Jerusalem (chapter 21) have this symbolic meaning, as does the statement there that the angel who had the gold reed measured the city and its gates, and that he measured the wall to be one hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man which is that of an angel (verses 15, 17). Moreover, because the New Jerusalem symbolizes the New Church, is it apparent that to measure it and its component parts means, symbolically, to learn its character.

Measuring has the same symbolic meaning in Ezekiel, where we read that an angel measured the house of God: the temple, the altar, the court, and the chambers (Ezekiel 40:3-17; 41:1-5, 13-14, 22; 42:1-20, and 43:1-27). Also that he measured the waters (47:3-5, 9). Therefore the prophet is told:

...show the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the pattern... and... its exits and its entrances, and all its patterns..., so that they may keep its whole design... (Ezekiel 43:10-11)

Measuring has the same symbolic meaning in the following places:

I raised my eyes..., and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. So I said, "Where are you going?" And he said to me, "To measure Jerusalem...." (Zechariah 2:1-2)

He stood and measured the earth. (Habakkuk 3:6)

(The Lord Jehovih) has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and gauged heaven with a span... and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. (Isaiah 40:12)

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? ...Who determined its measurements? ...Or who stretched the line upon it? (Job 38:4-5)

  
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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.