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Ezekiel 36

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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.

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Arcana Coelestia # 4545

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4545. 'And be purified, and change your garments' means the holiness that was to be put on. This is clear from the meaning of 'being purified' or being cleansed as being made holy, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'changing one's garments' as putting on, in this case putting on holy truths, for in the internal sense of the Word truths are meant by 'garments'. It is quite evident that 'changing one's garments' was an accepted representative within the Church, but what that custom represented no one can know unless he knows what 'garments' means in the internal sense - namely truths, see 2576. Because in the internal sense the casting aside of falsities and the arrangement by good of truths within the natural is the subject here, it is therefore recorded that Jacob commanded them to change their garments.

[2] 'Changing their garments' was representative of the need to put on holy truths, as may also be seen from other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion, put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for there will no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Isaiah 52:1.

Since 'Zion' means the celestial Church and 'Jerusalem' the spiritual Church, and the celestial Church is that which dwells in good by virtue of its love to the Lord, and the spiritual Church in truth by virtue of its faith and charity, 'strength' is therefore used in reference to Zion, and 'garments' in reference to Jerusalem. And when clothed with these the two are 'clean'.

[3] In Zechariah,

Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and so stood before the angel. And [the angel] answered and said to those standing before him - he said - Remove the filthy garments from upon him. And he said to him, See, I have caused your iniquity to pass away from upon you, by putting on you a change of garments Zechariah 3:3-4.

From this place too it is evident that 'removing garments' and 'putting on a change of garments' represented purification from falsities, for the words 'I have caused your iniquity to pass away from upon you' are used. This also explains why people had changes of garments - which they called simply 'changes', an expression occurring in various places in the Word - because different representations were set forth by means of those changes.

[4] Because the kinds of things mentioned here were represented by changes of garments it is therefore said in Ezekiel, in the description of the new Temple, which in the internal sense means a new Church,

When the priests enter they shall not go out of the holy place to the outer court, but there shall lay aside their garments in which they have ministered, for these are holy, 1 and they shall put on other garments and go near the things which are for the people. Ezekiel 42:14.

And in the same prophet,

When they go out to the outer court, to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments, and they shall not sanctify the people in their own garments. 2 Ezekiel 44:19.

[5] Anyone may see that a new temple and the holy city and land which are referred to by the prophet in this chapter, and in the chapters before and after it, are not used to mean any new temple, new city, or new land. For reference is made to sacrifices and religious ceremonies being introduced anew, when in fact these had to be brought to an end; and mention is also made of how the tribes of Israel, referred to by name, were to divide the land among themselves into inheritances, when in fact they were dispersed and never returned to the land. From this it is evident that the religious ceremonies referred to in those chapters mean the spiritual and celestial things constituting the Church. Much the same is meant by Aaron's change of garments when he was going to minister, to offer a burnt offering; in Moses,

He shall put on his linen robe, and linen breeches. He shall place the ashes at the side of the altar. After he takes off his own garments and puts on other garments he shall carry away the ashes to a clean place outside the camp. Leviticus 6:9-12.

This was what he had to do when offering the burnt offering.

[6] As regards 'being cleansed' meaning being made holy, this may be seen from the cleansings that were commanded, such as the command to wash their flesh and their garments, and the command to be sprinkled with the waters of separation. Everyone who knows anything about the spiritual man may also recognize that nobody is made holy by carrying out commands such as these. For what does iniquity or sin have to do with the garments a person is wearing? Yet it is stated several times that after people had cleansed themselves they would be holy. From this it is also evident that such rituals which the Israelites were commanded to carry out were in no way holy except by virtue of their representation of holy things, and that as a consequence people who served as representers did not on that account become holy persons. It was the holiness they represented, quite apart from them as actual persons, that stirred the affections of the spirits present with them, and through these the affections of the angels in heaven, 4307.

[7] For in order that the human race may be kept in being, human beings must of necessity live in communication with heaven; and that communication is effected through the Church. Otherwise human beings would become like animals, lacking any restraints internally or externally, so that all would plunge unchecked into the destruction of others and would annihilate one another. And because in the time of the Israelites no communication through any Church was possible, the Lord therefore provided in an amazing way for a communication to be effected by means of representatives. It is evident from many places in the Word that being made holy was represented by the ritual observance of washing and cleansing, as when Jehovah came down on Mount Sinai and then said to Moses,

Make them holy today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready on the third day. Exodus 19:10-11.

In Ezekiel,

I will sprinkle clean water over you, and you will be cleansed from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit will I give in the midst of you. Ezekiel 36:25-26.

Here it is plain that 'sprinkling clean water' represented purification of the heart, so that 'being cleansed' means being made holy.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, holiness

2. The Latin means they shall sanctify the people in other garments, but the Hebrew means they shall not sanctify the people in their own garments, which Swedenborg has in another place where he quotes this verse.

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