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Ιερεμία 51

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1 Ουτω λεγει Κυριος· Ιδου, εγω εγειρω ανεμον φθοροποιον επι την Βαβυλωνα και επι τους κατοικους αυτης τους υψωσαντας την καρδιαν αυτων κατ' εμου.

2 Και θελω εξαποστειλει επι την Βαβυλωνα λικμητας και θελουσιν εκλικμησει αυτην και εκκενωσει την γην αυτης· διοτι εν τη ημερα της συμφορας κυκλοθεν θελουσιν εισθαι εναντιον αυτης.

3 Τοξοτης επι τοξοτην ας εντεινη το τοξον αυτου και επι τον πεποιθοτα επι τον θωρακα αυτου· και μη φειδεσθε τους νεους αυτης· εξολοθρευσατε απαν το στρατευμα αυτης.

4 Και οι τραυματιαι θελουσι πεσει εν τη γη των Χαλδαιων και οι κατακεκεντημενοι εν ταις οδοις αυτης.

5 Διοτι ο Ισραηλ δεν εγκατελειφθη ουδε ο Ιουδας παρα του Θεου αυτου, παρα του Κυριου των δυναμεων, αν και η γη αυτων ενεπλησθη ανομιας εναντιον του Αγιου του Ισραηλ.

6 Φυγετε εκ μεσου της Βαβυλωνος και διασωσατε εκαστος την ψυχην αυτου· μη απολεσθητε εν τη ανομια αυτης· διοτι ειναι καιρος εκδικησεως του Κυριου· ανταποδομα αυτος ανταποδιδει εις αυτην.

7 Η Βαβυλων εσταθη ποτηριον χρυσουν εν τη χειρι του Κυριου, μεθυον πασαν την γην· απο του οινου αυτης επιον τα εθνη· δια τουτο τα εθνη παρεφρονησαν.

8 Επεσεν εξαιφνης η Βαβυλων και συνετριβη· ολολυζετε δι' αυτην· λαβετε βαλσαμον δια τον πονον αυτης, ισως ιατρευθη.

9 Μετεχειρισθημεν ιατρικα δια την Βαβυλωνα αλλα δεν ιατρευθη· εγκαταλειψατε αυτην, και ας απελθωμεν εκαστος εις την γην αυτου· διοτι η κρισις αυτης εφθασεν εις τον ουρανον και υψωθη εως του στερεωματος.

10 Ο Κυριος εφανερωσε την δικαιοσυνην ημων· ελθετε και ας διηγηθωμεν εν Σιων το εργον Κυριου του Θεου ημων.

11 Στιλβωσατε τα βελη· πυκνωσατε τας ασπιδας· ο Κυριος ηγειρε το πνευμα των βασιλεων των Μηδων· διοτι ο σκοπος αυτου ειναι εναντιον της Βαβυλωνος, δια να εξολοθρευση αυτην· επειδη η εκδικησις του Κυριου ειναι εκδικησις του ναου αυτου.

12 Υψωσατε σημαιαν επι τα τειχη της Βαβυλωνος, ενδυναμωσατε την φρουραν, στησατε φυλακας, ετοιμασατε ενεδρας· διοτι ο Κυριος και εβουλευθη και θελει εκτελεσει εκεινο, το οποιον ελαλησεν εναντιον των κατοικων της Βαβυλωνος.

13 Ω η κατοικουσα επι υδατων πολλων, η πληρης θησαυρων, ηλθε το τελος σου, το περας της πλεονεξιας σου.

14 Ο Κυριος των δυναμεων ωμοσεν εις εαυτον, λεγων, Εξαπαντος θελω σε γεμισει απο ανθρωπων ως απο ακριδων, και θελουσιν εκπεμψει αλαλαγμον εναντιον σου.

15 Αυτος εποιησε την γην εν τη δυναμει αυτου, εστερεωσε την οικουμενην εν τη σοφια αυτου και εξετεινε τους ουρανους εν τη συνεσει αυτου.

16 Οταν εκπεμπη την φωνην αυτου, συνισταται πληθος υδατων εν ουρανοις, και αναγει νεφελας απο των ακρων της γης· καμνει αστραπας δια βροχην και εξαγει ανεμον εκ των θησαυρων αυτου.

17 Πας ανθρωπος εμωρανθη υπο της γνωσεως αυτου· πας χωνευτης κατησχυνθη απο των γλυπτων· διοτι ψευδος ειναι το χωνευτον αυτου και πνοη εν αυτω δεν υπαρχει.

18 Ματαιοτης ταυτα, εργον πλανης· εν καιρω επισκεψεως αυτων θελουσιν απολεσθη.

19 Η μερις του Ιακωβ δεν ειναι ως αυτα, διοτι αυτος ειναι ο πλασας τα παντα· και ο Ισραηλ ειναι η ραβδος της κληρονομιας αυτου· Κυριος των δυναμεων το ονομα αυτου.

20 Συ ησο πελεκυς μου, οπλα πολεμου, και δια σου συνετριψα εθνη και δια σου εξωλοθρευσα βασιλεια·

21 και δια σου συνετριψα ιππον και αναβατην αυτου, και δια σου συνετριψα αμαξαν και αναβατην αυτης·

22 και δια σου συνετριψα ανδρα και γυναικα, και δια σου συνετριψα γεροντα και νεον, και δια σου συνετριψα νεανισκον και παρθενον·

23 και δια σου συνετριψα ποιμενα και ποιμνιον αυτου, και δια σου συνετριψα γεωργον και ζευγος αυτου· και δια σου συνετριψα στρατηγους και αρχοντας.

24 Και θελω ανταποδωσει επι την Βαβυλωνα και επι παντας τους κατοικους της Χαλδαιας πασαν την κακιαν αυτων, την οποιαν επραξαν εν Σιων ενωπιον σας, λεγει Κυριος.

25 Ιδου, εγω ειμαι εναντιον σου, ορος φθοροποιον, λεγει Κυριος, το οποιον φθειρεις πασαν την γην· και θελω εκτεινει την χειρα μου επι σε και θελω σε κατακυλισει απο των βραχων και σε καταστησει ορος πυρικαυστον.

26 Και δεν θελουσι λαβει απο σου λιθον δια γωνιαν ουδε λιθον δια θεμελια, αλλα θελεις εισθαι ερημωσις αιωνια, λεγει Κυριος.

27 Υψωσατε σημαιαν επι την γην, σαλπισατε σαλπιγγα εν τοις εθνεσιν, ετοιμασατε εθνη κατ' αυτης, παραγγειλατε κατ' αυτης, εις τα βασιλεια του Αραρατ, του Μιννι και του Ασχεναζ· καταστησατε επ' αυτην αρχηγους· αναβιβασατε ιππους ως ακριδας ορθοτριχας.

28 Ετοιμασατε κατ' αυτης εθνη, τους βασιλεις των Μηδων, τους στρατηγους αυτης και παντας τους αρχοντας αυτης και πασαν την γην της επικρατειας αυτης.

29 Και η γη θελει σεισθη και στεναξει· διοτι η βουλη του Κυριου θελει εκτελεσθη κατα της Βαβυλωνος, δια να καταστηση την γην της Βαβυλωνος ερημον, ανευ κατοικου.

30 Οι ισχυροι της Βαβυλωνος εξελιπον απο του να πολεμωσιν, εμειναν εν τοις οχυρωμασιν· η δυναμις αυτων εξελιπεν· εγειναν ως γυναικες· εκαυσαν τας κατοικιας αυτης· οι μοχλοι αυτης συνετριβησαν.

31 Ταχυδρομος θελει δραμει εις απαντησιν ταχυδρομου και μηνυτης εις απαντησιν μηνυτου, δια να αναγγειλωσι προς τον βασιλεα της Βαβυλωνος οτι η πολις αυτου ηλωθη απο των ακρων αυτης,

32 και οτι αι διαβασεις επιασθησαν, και κατεκαυσαν εν πυρι τους καλαμωνας, και οι ανδρες του πολεμου κατετρομαξαν.

33 Διοτι ουτω λεγει ο Κυριος των δυναμεων, ο Θεος του Ισραηλ. Η θυγατηρ της Βαβυλωνος ειναι ως αλωνιον, καιρος ειναι να καταπατηθη· ετι ολιγον και θελει ελθει ο καιρος του θερισμου αυτης.

34 Ναβουχοδονοσορ ο βασιλευς της Βαβυλωνος με κατεφαγε, με συνετριψε, με κατεστησεν αγγειον αχρηστον, με κατεπιεν ως δρακων, ενεπλησε την κοιλιαν αυτου απο των τρυφερων μου, με εξωσεν.

35 Η εις εμε και εις την σαρκα μου αδικια ας ελθη επι την Βαβυλωνα, θελει ειπει η κατοικουσα την Σιων· και το αιμα μου επι τους κατοικους της Χαλδαιας, θελει ειπει η Ιερουσαλημ.

36 Δια τουτο ουτω λεγει Κυριος· Ιδου, εγω θελω διαδικασει την δικην σου και θελω εκδικησει την εκδικησιν σου, και θελω καταστησει την θαλασσαν αυτης ξηραν και θελω ξηρανει την πηγην αυτης.

37 Και η Βαβυλων θελει εισθαι εις σωρους, κατοικητηριον θωων, θαμβος και συριγμος, ανευ κατοικου.

38 Θελουσι βρυχασθαι ομου ως λεοντες, θελουσιν ωρυεσθαι ως σκυμνοι λεοντων.

39 Θελω καμει αυτους να θερμανθωσιν εν τοις συμποσιοις αυτων, και θελω μεθυσει αυτους, δια να ευθυμησωσι και να υπνωσωσιν υπνον αιωνιον και να μη εξυπνησωσι, λεγει Κυριος.

40 Θελω καταβιβασει αυτους ως αρνια εις σφαγην, ως κριους μετα τραγων.

41 Πως ηλωθη η Σησαχ και εθηρευθη το καυχημα πασης της γης· πως εγεινεν Βαβυλων θαμβος εν τοις εθνεσιν.

42 Η θαλασσα ανεβη επι την Βαβυλωνα· κατεκαλυφθη υπο του πληθους των κυματων αυτης.

43 Αι πολεις αυτης κατεσταθησαν θαμβος, γη ανυδρος και αβατος γη, εν η δεν κατοικει ουδεις ανθρωπος ουδε υιος ανθρωπου διερχεται δι' αυτης.

44 Και θελω τιμωρησει τον Βηλ εν Βαβυλωνι και εκβαλει εκ του στοματος αυτου οσα κατεπιε· και τα εθνη δεν θελουσι συναχθη πλεον προς αυτον, και αυτο το τειχος της Βαβυλωνος θελει πεσει.

45 Λαε μου, εξελθετε εκ μεσου αυτης και σωσατε εκαστος την ψυχην αυτου απο της οργης του θυμου του Κυριου·

46 μηποτε η καρδια σας χαυνωθη και φοβηθητε υπο της αγγελιας ητις θελει ακουσθη εν τη γη· θελει δε ελθει αγγελια το εν ετος, και μετα τουτο η αγγελια το αλλο ετος, και καταδυναστεια εν τη γη, εξουσιαστης εναντιον εξουσιαστου.

47 Δια τουτο, ιδου, ερχονται ημεραι και θελω καμει εκδικησιν επι τα γλυπτα της Βαβυλωνος· και πασα η γη αυτης θελει καταισχυνθη και παντες οι τετραυματισμενοι αυτης θελουσι πεσει εν τω μεσω αυτης.

48 Τοτε οι ουρανοι και η γη και παντα τα εν αυτοις θελουσιν αλαλαξει επι Βαβυλωνα· διοτι οι εξολοθρευται θελουσιν ελθει επ' αυτην απο βορρα, λεγει Κυριος.

49 Καθως η Βαβυλων εκαμε τους τετραυματισμενους του Ισραηλ να πεσωσιν, ουτω και εν Βαβυλωνι θελουσι πεσει οι τετραυματισμενοι πασης της γης.

50 Οι εκφυγοντες την μαχαιραν, υπαγετε, μη στεκεσθε· ενθυμηθητε τον Κυριον μακροθεν, και Ιερουσαλημ ας αναβη επι την καρδιαν σας.

51 Κατησχυνθημεν, διοτι ηκουσαμεν ονειδισμον· αισχυνη κατεκαλυψε το προσωπον ημων· διοτι εισηλθον ξενοι εις το αγιαστηριον του οικου του Κυριου.

52 Δια τουτο, ιδου, ερχονται ημεραι, λεγει Κυριος, και θελω καμει εκδικησιν επι τα γλυπτα αυτης· και καθ' ολην την γην αυτης οι τετραυματισμενοι θελουσιν οιμωζει.

53 Και αν η Βαβυλων αναβη εως του ουρανου και αν οχυρωση το υψος της δυναμεως αυτης, θελουσιν ελθει παρ' εμου εξολοθρευται επ' αυτην, λεγει Κυριος.

54 Φωνη κραυγης ερχεται απο Βαβυλωνος και συντριμμος μεγας εκ γης Χαλδαιων,

55 διοτι ο Κυριος εξωλοθρευσε την Βαβυλωνα και ηφανισεν εξ αυτης την μεγαλην φωνην· τα δε κυματα εκεινων ηχουσιν· ο θορυβος της φωνης αυτων εξακουεται ως υδατων πολλων·

56 διοτι ο εξολοθρευτης ηλθεν επ' αυτην, επι την Βαβυλωνα, και οι δυνατοι αυτης συνεληφθησαν, τα τοξα αυτων συνετριβησαν· επειδη Κυριος ο Θεος των ανταποδοσεων θελει εξαπαντος καμει ανταποδοσιν.

57 Και θελω μεθυσει τους ηγεμονας αυτης και τους σοφους αυτης, τους στρατηγους αυτης και τους αρχοντας αυτης και τους δυνατους αυτης· και θελουσι κοιμηθη υπνον αιωνιον και δεν θελουσιν εξυπνησει, λεγει ο Βασιλευς, του οποιου το ονομα ειναι ο Κυριος των δυναμεων.

58 Ουτω λεγει ο Κυριος των δυναμεων· τα πλατεα τειχη της Βαβυλωνος θελουσιν ολοτελως κατασκαφη, και αι πυλαι αυτης αι υψηλαι θελουσι κατακαη εν πυρι, και οσα οι λαοι εκοπιασαν θελουσιν εισθαι εις ματην, και οσα τα εθνη εμοχθησαν θελουσιν εισθαι δια το πυρ.

59 Ο λογος, τον οποιον Ιερεμιας ο προφητης προσεταξεν εις τον Σεραιαν τον υιον του Νηριου υιου του Μαασιου, οτε επορευετο μετα του Σεδεκιου βασιλεως του Ιουδα εις Βαβυλωνα, κατα το τεταρτον ετος της βασιλειας αυτου· ητο δε ο Σεραιας κοιτωναρχης.

60 Εγραψε δε ο Ιερεμιας εν ενι βιβλιω παντα τα κακα, τα οποια εμελλον να ελθωσιν επι την Βαβυλωνα, παντας τους λογους τουτους τους γεγραμμενους κατα της Βαβυλωνος.

61 Και ειπεν ο Ιερεμιας προς τον Σεραιαν, Οταν ελθης εις την Βαβυλωνα και ιδης και αναγνωσης παντας τους λογους τουτους,

62 τοτε θελεις ειπει, Κυριε, συ ελαλησας κατα του τοπου τουτου, δια να εξολοθρευσης αυτον, ωστε να μη υπαρχη ο κατοικων εν αυτω, απο ανθρωπου εως κτηνους, αλλα να ηναι ερημωσις αιωνια.

63 Και αφου τελειωσης αναγινωσκων το βιβλιον τουτο, θελεις δεσει επ' αυτο λιθον και ριψει αυτο εις το μεσον του Ευφρατου·

64 και θελεις ειπει, Ουτω θελει βυθισθη η Βαβυλων, και δεν θελει σηκωθη εκ των κακων, τα οποια εγω θελω φερει επ' αυτην· και οι Βαβυλωνιοι θελουσιν εξασθενησει. Μεχρι τουτου ειναι οι λογοι του Ιερεμιου.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 485

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485. CHAPTER 11

1. Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood by, saying, "Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.

2. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.

3. And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."

4. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.

5. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire will proceed from their mouth and devour their enemies. And if anyone wants to do them injury, he must be killed in this manner.

6. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.

7. Then, when they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

8. And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

9. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their bodies for three and a half days, and not allow their bodies to be put into tombs.

10. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and be glad, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

11. But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.

12. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.

13. In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth part of the city fell. And in the earthquake seven thousand people by name were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

15. Then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"

16. And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God,

17. saying: "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who are and who were and who are to come, because You have taken Your great power and entered Your kingdom.

18. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time to judge the dead, and to reward Your servants the prophets and saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and to destroy those who are destroying the earth."

19. Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter

The subject continues to be the state of the church among the Protestant Reformed and the character of those inwardly caught up in faith alone in opposition to the two essential elements of the New Church, namely, that the Lord alone is God of heaven and earth, whose humanity is Divine, and that people ought to live in accordance with the Ten Commandments. These two essential elements were proclaimed before them (verses 3-6). But they were utterly rejected (verses 7-10). The Lord revived them (verses 11, 12). Those people perished who rejected them (verse 13). From the New Heaven the state of the New Church was shown (verses 15-19).

The Contents of the Individual Verses:

Verse ContentsSpiritual Meaning
1. Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod.John was given the ability and power to learn and see the state of the church in heaven and in the world.
And the angel stood by, saying, "Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.The Lord's presence and His command to see and learn the state of the church in the New Heaven.
2. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it,The state of the church on earth, as it is still, must be set aside and not learned.
for it has been given to the gentiles.Because, owing to evil practices, the state of that church has been lost and forsaken.
And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.It has dispelled every truth of the Word to the point that none remains.
3. And I will give power to my two witnesses,Those people who confess and acknowledge from the heart that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, whose humanity is Divine, and who are conjoined with Him by a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments.
and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days,These two - an acknowledgment of the Lord and a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments, which are the two essential elements of the New Church - must be taught until the end and a new beginning.
clothed in sackcloth."The grief experienced meanwhile over the truth's not being accepted.
4. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.The love and intelligence, or charity and faith, that people have in them from the Lord.
5. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire will proceed from their mouth and devour their enemies.Anyone who wishes to destroy these two essential elements perishes from a hellish love.
And if anyone wants to do them injury, he must be killed in that way.Anyone who condemns the two essential elements is likewise condemned.
6. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy;People who turn away from these two essential elements cannot receive any truth from heaven.
and they have power over waters to turn them to blood,People who turn away from these two essential elements falsify the Word's truths.
and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.People who wish to destroy these two essential elements propel themselves into evils and falsities of every kind, as often as, and in the measure that, they do so.
7. Then, when they finish their testimony,After the Lord has taught these two essential elements of the New Church,
the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.those people who are caught up in the interior tenets of the doctrine regarding faith alone will reject these two elements.
8. And their bodies will lie in the street of the great cityThese two elements have been utterly rejected.
which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt,The two hellish loves, namely, a love of ruling springing from a love of self, and a love of holding sway from a conceit in one's own intelligence, loves which are present in the church where there is not one God and where the Lord is not worshiped, and where people do not live in accordance with the Ten Commandments.
where also our Lord was crucified.A failure to acknowledge the Lord's Divine humanity, and thus a state in which He is rejected.
9. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their bodies for three and a half days,All those who were or who would be caught up in doctrinal falsities and evil practices at the end of the church still existing, when they have heard and later hear about these two essential elements at the beginning of the New Church,
and not allow their bodies to be put into tombs.have condemned them and will continue to condemn them.
10. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and be glad,The delight of the heart and soul's affection among those people in the church caught up in faith alone.
and send gifts to one another,Their consociation by love and friendship.
because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.These two essential elements of the New Church, opposed as they are to the two essential elements accepted in the Protestant Reformed Church, are objects of contempt, distress, and repugnance.
11. But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet,As the New Church commences and grows, these two essential elements are made living by the Lord in people who accept them.
and great fear fell on those who saw them.A disturbance of the mind and alarm at Divine truths.
12. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here."The two essential elements of the New Church raised by the Lord into heaven, where they originate and where they remain, and where they are protected.
And they ascended to heaven in a cloud,Their elevation into heaven and conjunction with the Lord there through the Divine truth of the Word in its literal sense.
and their enemies saw them.People caught up in a faith divorced from charity heard of these, but remained in their falsities.
13. In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth part of the city fell.A considerable change of state occurring then in those people, and their being plucked away from heaven and sinking into hell.
And in the earthquake seven thousand people by name were killed,All those people who professed faith alone and for that reason made works of charity of no account, perished.
and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.People who saw their destruction acknowledged the Lord and were set apart.
14. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.A lamentation over the corrupted state of the church, and lastly a final lamentation, as depicted after this.
15. Then the seventh angel sounded,An examination and exposure of the state of the church after its end, at the time of the Lord's advent and the advent of His kingdom.
and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"Celebrations on the part of angels, that heaven and the church had become the Lord's, as they had been from the beginning, and that they had now become those of His Divine humanity, thus that the Lord would reign over heaven and earth as regards both aspects of Him to eternity.
16. And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God,An acknowledgment on the part of all the angels in heaven that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, and their highest adoration of Him.
17. saying: "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who are and who were and who are to come,A confession and glorification on the part of the angels in heaven, that the Lord is He who exists, lives, and has power of Himself, and who governs all things, because He alone is eternal and infinite.
because You have taken Your great power and entered Your kingdom.The New Heaven and New Church, where people will acknowledge Him alone as God.
18. The nations were angry,People who were caught up in faith alone and thus in evil practices were enraged, and harassed those who opposed their faith.
and Your wrath has come, and the time to judge the dead,Their destruction, and the last judgment on those people who were without any spiritual life.
and to reward Your servants the prophets and saints,The happiness of eternal life for people who possess doctrinal truths from the Word and live in accordance with them.
and those who fear Your name, small and great,People who love things having to do with the Lord, in a lesser or greater degree.
and to destroy those who are destroying the earth."The casting down into hell of the people who destroyed the church.
19. Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple.The New Heaven, in which the Lord is worshiped in His Divine humanity, and where people live in accordance with the Ten Commandments, which constitute the two essential elements of the New Church that are the means of conjunction.
And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.The reasonings, disturbances, and falsifications of goodness and truth then in the lower regions.

THE EXPOSITION

Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. (11:1) This symbolically means that the Lord gave John the ability and power to learn and see the state of the church in heaven and in the world.

A reed symbolizes weak power, the kind a person has of himself, and a rod symbolizes strong power, the kind a person has from the Lord. Consequently John's being given a reed like a measuring rod symbolizes power from the Lord. That it was the ability and power to learn and see the state of the church in heaven and in the world is apparent from the events that follow in this chapter to the end.

[2] That a reed or length of cane symbolizes weak power such as a person has of himself is apparent from the following:

Look, you are relying on the staff of (a) broken reed, on Egypt, which, when a man leans on it, will go into his hand and pierce it. (Isaiah 36:6)

That... the inhabitants of Egypt may know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. When they took hold of you with the hand, you broke and punctured all their shoulders... (Ezekiel 29:6-7)

Egypt symbolizes the natural person who relies on his own powers, and that is why it is called the staff of a broken reed.

A reed symbolizes weak power, in Isaiah:

A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not extinguish. (Isaiah 42:3)

[3] A rod, on the other hand, symbolizes strong power, which comes from the Lord, here the power to learn the state of the church, because John used the rod to measure the temple and altar, and to measure means, symbolically, to learn, and the temple and altar symbolize the church, as depicted next.

A rod symbolizes power because in olden times people in the church made wooden rods, and wood symbolizes goodness. It also substituted for the right hand and supported it, and the right hand symbolizes power. It is owing to this that a scepter is a shortened rod, and a scepter symbolizes the power of a king. Moreover, "scepter" and "rod" in Hebrew are the same word. 1

[4] That a rod symbolizes power is apparent from the following passages:

Say, "How the strong staff is broken, the beautiful rod!" ...Come down from your glory, and sit in thirst. (Jeremiah 48:17-18)

Jehovah shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. (Psalms 110:2)

You punctured with his shafts the head of the faithless. (Habakkuk 3:14)

...Israel the rod of (Jehovah's) inheritance. (Jeremiah 10:16; 51:19)

Your rod and Your staff will comfort me. (Psalms 23:4)

Jehovah has broken the staff of the wicked... (Isaiah 14:5, cf. Isaiah 9:4, Psalms 125:3)

My people consult a piece of wood, and their staff answers them. (Hosea 4:12)

...Jehovah... takes away from Jerusalem... the whole staff of bread and the whole staff of water. (Isaiah 3:1, cf. Ezekiel 4:16; 5:16; 14:13, Psalms 105:16, Leviticus 26:26)

A staff of bread and of water symbolizes the power of goodness and truth, and Jerusalem symbolizes the church.

The rod of Levi with the name of Aaron on it, which in the Tabernacle blossomed with almonds (Numbers 17:2-10), symbolizes, in the spiritual sense, nothing else than the power of truth and goodness, because Levi and Aaron symbolized the truth and goodness of the church.

[5] That a rod symbolizes power is apparent from the power of Moses' rod: On being stretched out it turned water into blood (Exodus 7:20). It caused frogs to come up on the land of Egypt (Exodus 8:1ff.). It produced lice (Exodus 8:16f.). It summoned thunder and hail (Exodus 9:23ff.). It caused locusts to come (Exodus 10:12ff.). It caused the Red Sea to be parted and the waters to return (Exodus 14:16, 21, 26). It caused water to flow from the rock at Horeb (Exodus 17:5ff., Numbers 20:7-13). In Moses' hand it enabled Joshua to prevail over the Amalekites (Exodus 17:9-12).

And an angel's staff caused fire to come forth from a rock (Judges 6:21).

It is apparent from these instances that a rod or staff symbolizes power, and also elsewhere, as in Isaiah 10:5, 24, 26; 11:4; 14:29; 30:31-32, Ezekiel 19:10-14, Lamentations 3:1, Micah 7:14, Zechariah 10:11, Numbers 21:18.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. I.e., מַטֶּה.

  
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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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