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Exodus 29

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1 And this is the word that thou shalt do to them, to sanctify them, to be·​·priests to Me. Take one bullock, a son of the herd, and two perfect rams;

2 and bread of what is unleavened, and cakes of what is unleavened mixed with oil, and wafers of what is unleavened anointed with oil; of the flour of wheat shalt thou make them.

3 And thou shalt put them on one basket, and offer them in the basket, and the bullock and the two rams.

4 And Aaron and his sons thou shalt cause to come·​·near to the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation, and thou shalt bathe them with waters.

5 And thou shalt take the garments, and shalt clothe Aaron with the tunic, and the mantle of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the girding of the ephod.

6 And thou shalt set the miter on his head, and put the crown of holiness on the miter.

7 And thou shalt take the oil of anointing, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.

8 And thou shalt cause his sons to come·​·near, and clothe them with tunics.

9 And thou shalt gird them with a belt, Aaron and his sons, and shalt bind the caps upon them, and the priesthood shall be to them for a statute of an age; and thou shalt fill the hand of Aaron and the hand of his sons.

10 And thou shalt offer the bullock before the Tabernacle of the congregation; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock.

11 And thou shalt slaughter the bullock before Jehovah, at the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation.

12 And thou shalt take from the blood of the bullock, and shalt put it on the horns of the altar with thy finger; and all the blood thou shalt spill at the foundation of the altar.

13 And thou shalt take all the fat that covers the inwards, and the caul on the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and shalt burn· them ·for·​·incense on the altar.

14 And the flesh of the bullock, and its skin, and its dung, shalt thou burn·​·up with fire outside the camp; this is a sin offering.

15 And thou shalt take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.

16 And thou shalt slaughter the ram, and thou shalt take its blood, and sprinkle it on the altar all around.

17 And thou shalt section the ram into its sections, and shalt bathe its intestines, and its legs, and put them upon its sections, and upon its head.

18 And thou shalt burn·​·incense with all the ram upon the altar; this is a burnt·​·offering to Jehovah, a restful smell, it is a fire·​·offering to Jehovah.

19 And thou shalt take the second ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.

20 And thou shalt slaughter the ram, and shalt take from its blood, and shalt put it upon the lobe of the ear of Aaron, and upon the lobe of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big·​·toe of their right foot, and thou shalt sprinkle the blood on the altar all around.

21 And thou shalt take of the blood that is on the altar, and of the oil of anointing, and shalt spatter it upon Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he shall be·​·holy, and his garments, and his sons, and the garments of his sons with him.

22 And thou shalt take from the ram the fat, and the tail, and the fat covering the inwards, and the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right hind·​·quarter, for it is a ram of infillings;

23 and one loaf of bread, and one cake of bread with oil, and one wafer, from the basket of unleavened things that is before Jehovah

24 and thou shalt set all of it on the palms of Aaron, and upon the palms of his sons; and shalt wave them a wave offering before Jehovah.

25 And thou shalt take them from their hand, and shalt burn· them ·for·​·incense on the altar on the burnt·​·offering, for a restful smell before Jehovah; a fire·​·offering is this to Jehovah.

26 And thou shalt take the chest portion from the ram of infillings, which is for Aaron, and shalt wave it a wave·​·offering before Jehovah; and it shall be for thee for a portion.

27 And thou shalt sanctify the chest portion of the waving, and the hind·​·quarter of the uplifting, which is waved, and which is uplifted, from the ram of infillings, from that which is for Aaron, and from that which is for his sons;

28 and it shall be to Aaron and his sons for a statute of an age from among the sons of Israel; for it is an uplifting; and it shall be an uplifting from among the sons of Israel of their peace sacrifices, their uplifting to Jehovah.

29 And the garments of holiness which are for Aaron shall be for his sons after him, for anointing in them, and for filling their hand in them.

30 The one from among his sons who becomes the priest instead of him shall clothe himself with them seven days; then he shall come into the Tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place.

31 And thou shalt take the ram of infillings, and cook its flesh in a holy place.

32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation.

33 And they shall eat those things with which atonement· was ·made, to·​·fill their hand, to sanctify them; and a stranger shall not eat of them, for they are holy.

34 And if anything from the flesh of infillings and from the bread remain until the morning, then thou shalt burn·​·up the remainder with fire; it shall not be eaten, for it is holy.

35 And thus shalt thou do to Aaron and to his sons, according·​·to all that I have commanded thee; seven days shalt thou fill their hand.

36 And a bullock of a sin offering thou shalt make for the day on the atonements; and thou shalt purge· it ·from·​·sin on the altar when thou makest·​·atonement on it; and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it.

37 Seven days thou shalt make·​·atonement on the altar, and shalt sanctify it, and the altar shall be a holy of holies; all who touch the altar shall be sanctified.

38 And this is what thou shalt make upon the altar: two lambs, sons of a year, for the day, continually.

39 The one lamb thou shalt make in the morning; and the second lamb thou shalt make between the two·​·evenings*;

40 and a tenth of flour mixed with beaten oil, a fourth of the hin, and a poured·​·offering of a fourth of the hin of wine for the one lamb.

41 And the second lamb thou shalt make between the two·​·evenings; as the gift·​·offering of the morning, and as its poured·​·offering, thou shalt do for it, for a restful smell, a fire·​·offering to Jehovah;

42 a continual burnt·​·offering for your generations at the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation before Jehovah; where I will meet·​·together with you, to speak to thee there.

43 And there I will meet·​·together with the sons of Israel, and it shall be sanctified in My glory.

44 And I will sanctify the Tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar; and Aaron and his sons I will sanctify to be·​·priests for Me.

45 And I will abide in the midst of the sons of Israel, and will be to them for God.

46 And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God, who brought· them ·out of the land of Egypt, that I may reside in the midst of them; I am Jehovah their God.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Arcana Coelestia # 925

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925. 'Jehovah smelled an odour of rest' means that worship stemming from these was pleasing to the Lord, that is to say, worship stemming from charity and from faith deriving from charity, meant by 'a burnt offering', as stated in the previous verse. In various places in the Word it is said that 'Jehovah smelled an odour of rest', especially that from burnt offerings, and wherever this occurs that which is pleasing or acceptable is meant. For references to His smelling an odour of rest from burnt offerings, see Exodus 29:18, 25, 41; Leviticus 1:9, 13, 17; 23:12-13, 18; Numbers 28:6, 8, 13; 29:2, 6, 8, 13, 36; also from other sacrifices, Leviticus 2:2, 9; 6:15, 21; 8:21, 28; Numbers 15:3, 7, 13. They are also called 'that which has been made by fire as an odour of rest to Jehovah' which means that it stems from love and charity. In the Word when 'fire' or 'made by fire' is used in reference to the Lord and to worship of Him, it means love. And the same applies to 'bread', which also is why representative worship by means of burnt offerings and sacrifices is called 'bread offered by fire to Jehovah as an odour of rest', Leviticus 3:11, 16.

[2] The reason why 'an odour' means that which is pleasing and acceptable, and so why in the Jewish Church an odour was also representative of that which is pleasing and is ascribed to Jehovah or the Lord, is that good stemming from charity, and the truth of faith deriving from charity, correspond to sweet and pleasant odours. What the correspondence itself is and the character of it becomes clear from the spheres in heaven which surround spirits and angels. The spheres there are spheres of love and faith, and are clearly perceived. These spheres are such that when a good spirit or angel, that is, a community of good spirits or angels, approaches, the nature of the spirit or angel - that is, of the community - as regards love and faith is, as often as the Lord pleases, instantly perceived. It is perceived even when they are a long way off, more so still when they are closer at hand. This is unbelievable but nevertheless perfectly true. Such is the communication in the next life, and such the perception. Consequently, when the Lord pleases there is no necessity to make extensive enquiries to discover the character of a soul or spirit, for it is recognizable the moment he approaches. It is to these spheres that spheres belonging to odours in the world correspond. That they do correspond in this way becomes clear from the fact that when the Lord pleases the spheres of love and faith are readily converted in the world of spirits into spheres of sweet and pleasant odours, which are clearly perceived.

[3] From these considerations it is now clear from where and why 'an odour of rest' means that which is pleasing, why in the Jewish Church an odour became a representative, and why 'an odour of rest' is here ascribed to Jehovah or the Lord. 'An odour of rest' is descriptive of peace, that is, of the pleasantness of peace. Peace in one embrace takes in every single feature of the Lord's kingdom; for the state of the Lord's kingdom is a state of peace. It is within the state of peace that all the happy states occur which flow from love and faith in the Lord. All that has now been stated shows not only what representatives were essentially, but also why the Jewish Church had an altar for burning incense in front of the veil and the Mercy-seat, why offerings of frankincense accompanied sacrifices, and also why so many fragrant substances were used in incense, in frankincense, and in the anointing oil too. It shows therefore what 'an odour of rest', 'incense', and 'fragrances' mean in the Word, namely celestial things of love, and spiritual things of faith deriving from these, in general everything pleasing that derives from love and faith.

[4] As in Ezekiel,

On My holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel, there all the house of Israel, all of it in the land, will serve Me; there I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions, and the first fruits comprising your gifts in all your holy acts. Through the odour of rest I will accept you. Ezekiel 20:40-41.

Here 'an odour of rest' has reference to burnt offerings and gifts, that is, to worship stemming from charity and attendant faith, which worship is meant by burnt offerings and gifts, and is consequently acceptable, which is meant by 'the odour'. In Amos,

I hate, I reject your feasts, and I will not smell your solemn assemblies 1 [as a pleasant odour], for though you offer Me your burnt offerings and gifts, they will not be accepted. Amos 5:21-22.

This clearly means that which is pleasing or acceptable. The passage which describes Isaac's blessing Jacob instead of Esau reads,

Jacob went near and Isaac kissed him. He smelled the odour of his clothes, and he blessed him and said, See, the odour of my son, like the odour of a field that Jehovah has blessed. Genesis 27:26-27.

'The odour of his clothes' means natural good and truth whose pleasantness stems from their harmony with celestial and spiritual good and truth. Their pleasantness is described by 'the odour of the field'.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, cessations i.e. cessations from work

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