Bible

 

Habakkuk 3

Studie

   

1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shiggaion*.

2 O Jehovah, I have heard Thy fame; I have feared Thy work, Jehovah; in the midst of the years make· it ·to·​·live; in the midst of the years make it known; with trembling Thou shalt remember compassion.

3 God came from Teman, and the Holy·​·One from Mount Paran. Selah. His majesty covered the heavens, and the earth was·​·full of His praise.

4 And His brightness was as the light; He had horns from His hand; and there was His strength hidden·​·away*.

5 Before Him went the pestilence, and embers went·​·out at His feet.

6 He stood, and measured the earth; He saw, and dispersed* the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered; the eternal hills did bow· themselves ·down; the walkings of eternity are His.

7 I saw the tents of Cushan in sorrow, and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

8 Was· Jehovah ·incensed against the rivers? Was Thine anger against the rivers? Was Thy wrath against the sea? For Thou didst ride on Thy horses and Thy chariots of salvation.

9 With nakedness Thy bow was made·​·naked: the promises of the rods of Thy saying. Selah. Thou didst split the earth with rivers.

10 The mountains saw Thee, they travailed; the downpour of the water crossed·​·over; the abyss gave forth its voice; it bore·​·up its hands on·​·high.

11 The sun and moon stood in their cohabitation; at the light of Thine arrows they go, at the brightness of the lightning of Thy spear.*

12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, Thou didst thresh the nations in anger.

13 Thou wentest·​·forth for the salvation of Thy people, for the saving of Thine anointed; Thou strikest the head from the house of the wicked, making·​·naked the foundation, even·​·to the neck. Selah.

14 Thou didst puncture with his own rods the head of his infidels; they were as a whirlwind to scatter me; their triumph was like eating·​·up the afflicted in hiding.

15 Thou didst tread through the sea with Thy horses, through the clay of many waters.

16 I heard, and my belly trembled; my lips tingled at the voice; rottenness came into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of adversity, which comes·​·up against the people who will troop·​·against Him.

17 For the fig·​·tree shall not flourish, and there shall be no produce in the vines; the work of the olive·​·tree shall be denied, and the fields shall make no food; the flock shall be severed from the pen, and there shall be no herd in the stalls;

18 but I will triumph in Jehovah; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

19 Jehovih* the Lord is my strength, and He will set my feet as deer’s feet, and He will make me to tread on my high·​·places. To the victor; on my neginoth*.

   


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

Komentář

 

Afraid

  
{{en|Walking on Water}}

Fear of the unknown and fear of change are both common ideas and together cover a broad spectrum of the fears we tend to have in natural life. In a sense, they also lie behind the spiritual meaning when people are described as being "afraid" in the Bible. In Swedenborg's works, people are described as being afraid when a more higher spiritual state comes into communication with a lower, more external state and demonstrates the need for the lower state to be reformed and elevated. That's the case with the shepherds in the Christmas story, reacting first with fear when angels came to tell them of a whole new spiritual era. It's true of Moses at the burning bush, Jacob after the vision of the ladder, even the disciples seeing Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee – all cases in which a higher state was reaching out to them and asking them to embrace a new phase of spiritual life. This also holds in a more negative sense, when states of evil and false thinking come into contact with spiritual things and feel threatened by the revelation of their own wretchedness. The Bible also speaks frequently of people fearing God, a related but different idea which is covered elsewhere.

In Genesis 3:10; 18:15, Exodus 3:6, being afraid signifies apprehension lest one offend or be hurt. (Arcana Coelestia 223-224, Arcana Coelestia 2215, Arcana Coelestia 6849)