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Ezekiel 40

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1 In the twentieth and fifth year of our exile, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was smitten, in this same day the hand of Jehovah was on me, and brought me thither.

2 In the visions of God He brought me to the land of Israel, and caused me to rest in a very tall mountain, and upon it was as it were a building of a city on the south.

3 And He brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, and a strand of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.

4 And the man spoke to me: Son of man, see with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thy heart to all that I shall cause thee to see; for in·​·order·​·that I might cause thee to see, thou art brought hither; tell all that thou seest to the house of Israel.

5 And behold, a wall on the outside of the house around and around, and in the hand of the man a measuring reed of six cubits, by the cubit and hand·​·breadth; and he measured the breadth of the building, one reed, and the height, one reed.

6 And he came to the gate which faced the way of the east, and went·​·up its stairs, and measured the doorway of the gate, one reed in breadth; and one doorway was one reed in breadth.

7 And the little·​·chamber was one reed in length, and one reed in breadth; and between the little·​·chambers were five cubits; and the doorway of the gate from beside the porch of the gate inside was one reed.

8 And he measured the porch of the gate inside, one reed.

9 Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and its columns, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was inside.

10 And the little·​·chambers of the gate on the way of the east were three from here, and three from here; one measure for the three, and one measure for the columns from here and from here.*

11 And he measured the breadth of the entrance of the gate, ten cubits, and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits.

12 And the border before the little·​·chambers was one cubit, and the border was one cubit from here; and the little·​·chambers were six cubits from here, and six cubits from here.

13 And he measured the gate from the roof of one little·​·chamber to the roof of another; the breadth was five and twenty cubits, entrance in·​·front·​·of entrance.

14 And he made columns of sixty cubits, even to the column of the court of the gate around and around.

15 And from the face of the gate of the entrance unto the face of the porch of the inner gate were fifty cubits.

16 And there were shutting windows to the little·​·chambers, and to their columns interior to the gate around and around, and thus for the arches; and windows were around and around for the interior; and to each column were palm·​·trees.

17 And he brought me to the outer court, and, behold, there were rooms, and a pavement made for the court around and around; thirty rooms were toward the pavement.

18 And the pavement at the shoulder of the gates alongside the length of the gates was the lower pavement.

19 Then he measured the breadth from the face of the lower gate unto the face of the inner court outside, a hundred cubits east and north.

20 And the gate of the outer court that faced the way of the north, he measured its length, and its breadth.

21 And its little·​·chambers were three from here and three from here; and its columns and its arches were according·​·to the measure of the first gate; its length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty in cubits.

22 And its windows, and its arches, and its palm·​·trees, were according·​·to the measure of the gate that faced the way of the east; and by seven stairs they went·​·up into it; and its arches were before them.

23 And the gate of the inner court was in·​·front·​·of the gate toward the north, and toward the east; and he measured from gate to gate a hundred cubits.

24 And he caused me to go the way of the south, and behold there was a gate on the way of the south; and he measured its columns and its arches according·​·to these measures.

25 And there were windows for it and for its arches around and around, like those windows; fifty cubits was the length, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.

26 And there were seven stairs going·​·up to it, and its arches were before them; and it had palm·​·trees, one from here, and one from here, to its columns.

27 And there was a gate for the inner court on the way of the south; and he measured from gate to gate on the way of the south a hundred cubits.

28 And he brought me to the inner court by the south gate; and he measured the south gate according·​·to these measures,

29 and its little·​·chambers, and its columns and its arches, according·​·to these measures; and there were windows for it and for its arches around and around; fifty cubits was the length, and the breadth twenty and five cubits.

30 And the arches were around and around, the length five and twenty cubits, and the breadth five cubits.

31 And its arches were toward the outer court; and palm·​·trees were at its columns; and its going·​·up had eight stairs.

32 And he brought me into the inner court, the way of the east; and he measured the gate according·​·to these measures.

33 And its little·​·chambers, and its columns, and its arches, were according·​·to these measures; and there were windows for it and for its arches around and around: the length was fifty cubits, the breadth five and twenty cubits.

34 And its arches were to the outer court; and palm·​·trees were toward its columns, from here and from here; and its going·​·up had eight stairs.

35 And he brought me to the north gate, and measured it according·​·to these measures;

36 its little·​·chambers, its columns, and its arches, and the windows for it around and around; the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.

37 And its columns were to the outer court; and palm·​·trees were toward its columns, from here and from here; and its going·​·up had eight stairs.

38 And the room and its entrances were by the columns of the gates, where they purged the burnt·​·offering.

39 And in the porch of the gate were two tables from here, and two tables from here, to slaughter on them the burnt·​·offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering.

40 And to the wing from outside going·​·up to the entrance of the north gate, were two tables; and on the other wing, which was to the porch of the gate, were two tables.

41 four tables were from here, and four tables from here, by the wing of the gate; eight tables, on which they slaughtered their sacrifices.

42 And the four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt·​·offering, the length one cubit and a half, and the breadth one cubit and a half, and one cubit tall; and they placed on it the instruments with which they slaughtered the burnt·​·offering and the sacrifice.

43 And what·​·was·​·set·​·on was of one hand·​·breadth prepared inside around and around; and at the tables was the flesh of the offering.

44 And outside the inner gate were the rooms of the singers in the inner court, which was at the wing of the north gate; and their face was the way of the south; one at the wing of the east gate facing the way of the north.

45 And he spoke unto me, This room, which is facing is the way of the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house.

46 And the room whose face is the way of the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar; these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, who draw·​·near to Jehovah to minister to Him.

47 And he measured the court, the length a hundred cubits, and the breadth a hundred cubits, foursquare, and the altar that was before the house.

48 And he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each column of the porch, five cubits from here, and five cubits from here; and the breadth of the gate was three cubits from here, and three cubits from here.

49 The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; and he brought me by the stairs by which they went·​·up to it; and there were pillars by the columns, one from here, and one from here.

   


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

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Apocalypse Revealed # 775

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775. "Every vessel of precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble." This symbolically means that these Roman Catholics no longer have these because they do not have any knowledge of the goods and truths in ecclesiastical affairs to which such things correspond.

This statement is similar to the ones explained in nos. 772, 773, and 774 above. The difference is that the valuables here are various forms of knowledge, which are the lowest ones in a person's natural mind. And because they differ in character owing to the essence that lies within them, they are called vessels of precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble. For vessels symbolize forms of knowledge, here forms of knowledge in ecclesiastical affairs. Because various forms of knowledge are the containing vessels of goodness and truth, they are like vessels containing oil or wine.

Forms of knowledge are also found in great variety, and their recipient vessel is the memory. They are of great variety because they contain the interior elements of a person. They are also introduced into the memory either by intellectual deliberation or by hearing or reading them, according to the varying perception then of the rational mind. All of these things are present in forms of knowledge, as is apparent when they are reproduced, which is the case when a person speaks or thinks.

[2] But we will briefly say what vessels of precious wood, bronze, iron and marble symbolize. A vessel of precious wood symbolizes something known as the result of rational goodness and truth. A vessel of bronze symbolizes something known as the result of natural goodness. A vessel of iron symbolizes something known as the result of natural truth. And a vessel of marble symbolizes something known as the result of an appearance of goodness and truth.

That wood symbolizes goodness may be seen just above in no. 774. That precious wood here symbolizes both rational goodness and rational truth is due to the fact that wood symbolizes goodness, and preciousness is predicated of truth. For one variety of goodness is symbolized by the wood of the olive tree, another by the wood of the cedar, of the fig tree, of the fir tree, of the poplar and of the oak.

A vessel of bronze and iron symbolizes something known as the result of natural goodness and truth, because all metals, such as gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead, in the Word symbolize goods and truths. They symbolize because they correspond, and because they correspond they are also found in heaven. For everything in heaven is a correspondent form.

[3] However, this is not the place to confirm from the Word what each kind of metal symbolizes owing to its correspondence. We will cite only some passages to confirm that bronze symbolizes natural goodness, and iron, therefore, natural truth, as can be seen from the following: That the feet of the Son of Man looked like bronze, as though fired in a furnace (Revelation 1:15). That Daniel saw a man whose feet were like the gleam of burnished bronze (Daniel 10:5-6).

That the feet of cherubim were seen sparking as with the gleam of burnished bronze (Ezekiel 1:7). (Feet symbolize something natural, as may be seen in nos. 49, 468, 470, 510.) That an angel appears whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze (Ezekiel 40:3). And that the statue Nebuchadnezzar saw was as to its head golden, as to its breast and arms silver, as to its belly and sides bronze, and as to its legs iron (Daniel 2:32-33). The statue represented the successive states of the church which the ancients called the golden age, silver age, bronze age, and iron age.

Since bronze symbolizes something natural, and the Israelite people were purely natural, therefore the Lord's natural humanity was represented by the bronze serpent, which people bitten by serpents had only to look at to be cured (Numbers 21:6, 8-9).

That bronze symbolizes natural goodness may also be seen in Isaiah 60:17, Jeremiah 15:20-21, Ezekiel 27:13, Deuteronomy 8:7, 9, 33:24-25

  
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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.