Bible

 

Ezekiel 36

Studie

   

1 And thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah:

2 thus says the Lord Jehovih*: Because the enemy has said against you, Aha, even the eternal high·​·places are ours for a possession!

3 Therefore prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovih: Because, even because they have desolated you, and gulped· you ·down from all around, to make you become a possession for the residue of the nations, and you have been brought·​·up by the lip of the tongue, and the evil·​·report of the people;

4 therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovih: Thus says the Lord Jehovih to the mountains, and to the hills, to the channels, and to the ravines, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which were for plunder and for derision to the residue of the nations that are all around:

5 Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovih: Have I not, in the fire of My zeal, spoken against those who·​·are·​·left of the nations, and against all of Edom, who have given My land to them for a possession with the gladness of all their heart, with contempt of the soul, in·​·order·​·to drive· it ·out for plunder?

6 Therefore prophesy concerning the ground of Israel, and say to the mountains, and to the hills, to the channels, and to the ravines, Thus says the Lord Jehovih; Behold, I have spoken in My zeal and in My fury, because you have borne the humiliation of the nations:

7 therefore thus says the Lord Jehovih; I have lifted·​·up My hand: Surely the nations that are around you, they shall bear their humiliation.

8 But ye mountains of Israel, you shall put forth your boughs, and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they are·​·near to come.

9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown:

10 and I will multiply man upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be dwelt·​·in, and the wastes shall be built:

11 and I will multiply on you, man and beast; and they shall multiply and be·​·fruitful; and I will cause you to dwell according·​·to your ancient times, and will do·​·better to you than in your beginnings: and you shall know that I am Jehovah.

12 And I will cause man to walk upon you, even My people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more continue to bereave them of men.

13 Thus says the Lord Jehovih; Because they say to you, Thou art devouring man, and art bereaving thy nations;

14 therefore thou shalt devour man no more, neither bereave thy nations any·​·more, says the Lord Jehovih.

15 Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the humiliation of the nations any·​·more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any·​·more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to stumble any·​·more, says the Lord Jehovih.

16 And the word of Jehovah was unto me, saying,

17 Son of man, the house of Israel dwelt on their own ground, and they defiled it by their own way and by their actions; their way was before Me as the uncleanness of her that is isolated.

18 And I spilled·​·out My fury on them over the blood that they had spilled on the land, and on their idols wherewith they had defiled it:

19 and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed among the lands; according·​·to their way and according·​·to their actions I judged them.

20 And they came to the nations, whither they came, and they profaned My holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of Jehovah, and have gone·​·out from His land.

21 But I had pity for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, whither they came.

22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Jehovih; I do this not for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for the sake of My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, whither ye came.

23 And I will sanctify My great name, which was·​·profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, says the Lord Jehovih, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

24 And I will take you from the nations, and bring· you ·together out·​·of all lands, and will bring you onto your own ground.

25 And I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be·​·clean; from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will give among you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

27 And I will put My spirit among you, and make you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments, and do them.

28 And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be My people, and I will be your God.

29 And I will save you from all your uncleannesses; and I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and will not put famine upon you.

30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the bounty of the field, so·​·that you shall receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.

31 And you shall remember your own evil ways, and your actions that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves to your own face, for your iniquities and for your abominations.

32 Not for your sakes do I do this, says the Lord Jehovih, be it known unto you; be·​·ashamed and humiliated for your own ways, O house of Israel.

33 Thus says the Lord Jehovih; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will then cause you to dwell·​·in the cities, and the wastes shall be built.

34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it was desolate in the eyes of all that passed·​·by.

35 And they shall say, This· land ·yonder that was desolate has become as the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and broken·​·down cities have become fortified and are dwelt·​·in.

36 And from the nations that are left all around you shall know that I, Jehovah, build the broken·​·down places, and plant that which was desolate; I, Jehovah, have spoken it, and I will do it.

37 Thus says the Lord Jehovih; I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will multiply them with man like a flock.

38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn·​·occasions; so shall the waste cities be full with flocks of man; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.

   


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

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 2973

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

2973. 'Which was in all its borders round about' means exterior cognitions. This is clear from the meaning of 'borders' and of 'round about' as things that are exterior, dealt with in 2936. Thus here '[every] tree which was in the borders round about' means exterior cognitions. Exterior cognitions have to do with the religious observances and matters of doctrine which constitute the external things of the Church, whereas interior cognitions have to do with matters of doctrine which constitute the internal things of the Church. What the external things of the Church are, and what the internal, has been stated several times already.

[2] Furthermore in various places in the Word mention is made of the middle or the midst and of the regions encircling it, as when the land of Canaan is referred to, 'the middle' is used to describe where Zion and Jerusalem are, while the areas encircling describe where the nations are who are round about. 'The land of Canaan' represented the Lord's kingdom, 'Zion' the celestial part of it and 'Jerusalem' the spiritual, and there Jehovah or the Lord had His dwelling-place. The things that were round about, even to the borders, represented celestial and spiritual things spread out and derived in order from there. Where the furthest boundaries lay, there the representatives of celestial and spiritual things ended. Those representatives had their origin in the things that existed in the Lord's kingdom in heaven, where the Lord as the Sun is in the middle, from where all celestial flame and spiritual light radiate. Those nearest to Him dwell in the brightest light, while those who are more remote dwell in less light, and those who are the most remote in the least bright. At this point lie the borders where hell, which is outside heaven, begins.

[3] With celestial flame and spiritual light the position is that the existence of celestial things which are forms of innocence and love, and spiritual things which are forms of charity and faith, is proportional to the heat and light that is received, for those things are the source of all heat and light in heaven. This then is why 'the middle' means that which is inmost, and the encircling regions that which is outermost; and the spacing of the things that radiate in order from the inmost to the outermost is determined by their degree of innocence, love and charity. It is similar with each individual community of heaven. Those members in the middle are the best of its kind, and the love and charity of that kind becomes correspondingly less as these become more remote, that is, as such love and charity exist with members away from the middle.

[4] It is also similar with man. The inmost part of him is where the Lord resides with him, and from there governs the outlying parts. When a person permits the Lord to bring order to the outlying parts so that these correspond to the inmost parts, his state is such that he can be received into heaven, and the inmost, the interior, and the external parts of him act as one. But if the person does not permit the Lord to bring order to those outlying parts so that they correspond, he moves away from heaven, as far away as he is from permitting the Lord to bring that order to them. The fact that man's soul resides in the middle or inmost part of his being and the body in the outlying region or outermost parts is well known, for the body is that which surrounds and clothes his soul or spirit.

[5] With those in whom celestial and spiritual love reigns, good from the Lord flows in by way of the soul into the body, as a consequence of which the body becomes full of light, but with those in whom bodily and worldly love reigns, good from the Lord cannot flow in by way of the soul into the body. Instead their interiors are engulfed in darkness, as a consequence of which the body too becomes full of darkness, according to the Lord's own teaching in Matthew,

The lamp of the body is the eye. If the eye is sound, the whole body is full of light. If the eye is evil, the whole body is full of darkness. If therefore the light is darkness, how great is the darkness! Matthew 6:22-23.

'The eye' means the understanding part, which belongs in the soul, 2701.

[6] But matters are worse still with people whose interiors are 'darkness' while their exteriors seem to be 'full of light'. They are such as outwardly pretend to be angels of light but inwardly they are devils. They are referred to as 'Babel'. These people, when the things that are round about are destroyed, are carried headfirst into hell. This was represented by the city of Jericho whose walls fell down, and the city was given to destruction, after the priests had gone round it seven times with the ark, and had sounded their trumpets, Joshua 6:1-17. The same is meant in Jeremiah,

Set yourselves against Babel round about, all you who bend the bow. Raise a shout over her round about, she has given her hand, her foundations have fallen, her walls have been destroyed. Jeremiah 50:14-15.

From this it is now evident what 'round about' means. Reference is also made several times in the Word to 'the encircling regions', as in Jeremiah 21:14; 46:14; 49:5; Ezekiel 36:3-4, 7; 37:21; Amos 3:11; and elsewhere. By 'the encircling regions' is meant the things that are exterior, concerning which, in the Lord's Divine mercy, more will be said elsewhere.

  
/ 10837  
  

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