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Numbers 18

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1 And Jehovah said to Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

2 And thy brothers also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, come·​·near with thee, that they may be joined to thee, and minister to thee; but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the Tabernacle of the testimony.

3 And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the Tabernacle; only they shall not come·​·near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar, and they shall not die, both they, and you.

4 And they shall be joined to thee, and keep the charge of the Tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the Tabernacle; and a stranger shall not come·​·near to you.

5 And you shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar, that there be no rage any·​·more upon the sons of Israel.

6 And I, behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the sons of Israel; to you they are given as a gift for Jehovah, to serve the service of the Tabernacle of the congregation.

7 And thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priesthood for every thing of the altar, and for that inside the veil; and you shall serve; I have given you the priesthood as a gift of service; and the stranger who draws·​·near shall be put·​·to·​·death.

8 And Jehovah spoke to Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of My upliftings of all the holy things of the sons of Israel; to thee I have given them for the anointing, and to thy sons, for a statute of an age.

9 This shall be for thee from the holy of holies from the fire: every offering of theirs, every gift·​·offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every guilt offering of theirs, which they shall return unto Me, it shall be a holy of holies for thee and for thy sons.

10 In the holy of holies shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it; it shall be holy to thee.

11 And this is thine: the uplifting of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have given them to thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute of an age; everyone who is clean in thy house shall eat of it.

12 All the fat of the olive·​·oil, and all the fat of the must* and grain, their firstfruits which they shall give to Jehovah, to thee I have given them.

13 A firstfruit of all that is in the land, which they shall bring to Jehovah, shall be thine; everyone who is clean in thy house shall eat of it.

14 Every devoted·​·thing in Israel shall be thine.

15 All that opens·​·up the womb of all flesh, which they offer to Jehovah, among man and among beast, shall be for thee; only redeeming shalt thou redeem the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of the unclean beast shalt thou redeem.

16 And those who are to be redeemed from a son of a month shalt thou redeem, with thy value, the silver of five shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary; this is twenty gerahs.

17 Only the firstborn of an ox, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy; thou shalt sprinkle their blood on the altar, and shalt burn· their fat ·for·​·incense for a fire·​·offering, for a restful smell to Jehovah.

18 And their flesh shall be for thee as the chest portion of the waving, and as the right hind·​·quarter is for thee.

19 All the upliftings of the holy things, which the sons of Israel lift·​·up to Jehovah, have I given to thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, for an eternal statute; it is a covenant of salt of eternity before Jehovah to thee and to thy seed with thee.

20 And Jehovah said to Aaron, Thou shalt not inherit in their land, and thou shalt not have a part in their midst. I am thy part and thine inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel.

21 And, behold, I have given the sons of Levi all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in·​·exchange·​·for their service which they serve, even the service of the Tabernacle of the congregation.

22 Neither must the sons of Israel any·​·more come·​·near unto the Tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die.

23 But the Levites shall serve the service of the Tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be an eternal statute for your generations, that in the midst of the sons of Israel they shall not inherit an inheritance.

24 But the tithes of the sons of Israel, which they lift·​·up as an uplifting to Jehovah, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, In the midst of the sons of Israel they shall not inherit an inheritance.

25 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

26 Then speak to the Levites, and say to them, When you take from the sons of Israel the tithes, which I have given to you from them for your inheritance, then you shall lift·​·up an uplifting from it for Jehovah, even a tithe* of the tithe.

27 And this your uplifting shall be reckoned to you, as though it were the grain of the threshing·​·floor, and as the fullness of the winepress.

28 So also shall you lift·​·up an uplifting to Jehovah from all your tithes, which you take from the sons of Israel; and you shall give from it Jehovah’s uplifting to Aaron the priest.

29 From all your gifts you shall lift·​·up every uplifting of Jehovah, of all its fat, the holy·​·part of it from it.

30 And thou shalt say to them, When you have lifted·​·up its fat from it, then it shall be reckoned to the Levites as the increase of the threshing·​·floor, and as the increase of the winepress.

31 And you shall eat it in every place, you and your houses; for it is your wage in·​·exchange·​·for your service in the Tabernacle of the congregation.

32 And you shall not bear sin on·​·account·​·of it, when you have lifted·​·up from it the fat of it; and you shall not profane the holy things of the sons of Israel, and you shall not die.

   


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

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Apocalypse Explained # 1159

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1159. And all fat and splendid things are departed from thee, signifies that all things good and true and satisfying and grand, which they were persuaded they would secure through that religious persuasion, are turned into opposites. This is evident from the signification of "fat things," as being what is good and thus satisfying (of which presently); also from the signification of "splendid things," as being what is true and thus grand. This is the signification of "splendid things," because splendor is from light, and the light of heaven is the Divine truth or the Divine wisdom, from which all things in the heavens shine with a splendor such as does not exist in the world; it may be compared with the splendor of a diamond turned to the sun, although the splendor seen in heaven exceeds this beyond measure, as the light of heaven exceeds the light of the world, with a difference so great that while it may be illustrated by comparisons it cannot be described. From that light all things magnificent in the heavens exist, which consist principally of forms corresponding to wisdom, which are such as can in no way be pictured in the world, and consequently cannot be described, for in them art itself is in its art, and knowledge in its wisdom, consequently they are of ineffable beauty. From all this it is clear why "splendid things" signify what is true and thus grand.

[2] "Fat things" signify what is good and thus satisfying, because the fat is the best part of flesh and because it resembles oil, which signifies the good of love. That "fatness" signifies good and things pertaining to good, thus satisfactions and joys, can be seen from the following passages in the Word. In Isaiah:

In hearkening hearken unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, that your soul may be delighted in fatness (Isaiah 55:2).

"To eat that which is good" signifies to appropriate good to oneself; therefore "to be delighted in fatness" signifies to be in a state of satisfaction and blessedness. In Jeremiah:

I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness, and My people shall be satisfied with good (Jeremiah 31:14).

Here, too, "fatness" signifies satisfaction and blessedness from the good of love. In David:

With fat and fatness my soul shall be satisfied, and my mouth will praise Thee with lips of songs (Psalms 63:5).

"To have the soul satisfied with fat and fatness" signifies to be filled with the good of love and consequent joy; "to praise with lips of songs" signifies to worship by truths that gladden the mind. In the same:

They shall be filled with the fatness of Thy house, and Thou shalt make them drink of the river of Thy pleasures (Psalms 36:8).

The "fatness" with which the house shall be filled signifies the good of love and consequent satisfaction, "house" being the things of the mind; "the river of pleasures" that he will make them to drink of signifies intelligence and consequent happiness.

[3] In Isaiah:

In this mountain shall Jehovah of Hosts make to all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of lees, of fat things of marrows, and of lees well refined (Isaiah 25:6).

This is said of the state of those who will acknowledge and worship the Lord. That "mountain" signifies a new church from these, "a feast of fat things, of fat things of marrows," signifies both natural and spiritual good with joy of heart, and "lees, and lees well refined" signify truths from that good with happiness from them. In the same:

Jehovah shall give the rain of thy seed with which thou shalt sow the land, and bread of the produce of the land, and it shall be fat and plenteous (Isaiah 30:23).

"Rain of seed" signifies the multiplication of truth, and "bread of produce" signifies fructification of good; "fat and plenteous" signifies good and truth with all satisfaction and happiness. In David:

They shall still have increase in old age, they shall be fat and green, to proclaim that Jehovah is upright (Psalms 92:14-15).

"To be fat and green" signifies to be in the goods and truths of doctrine. In the same:

Jehovah shall remember all thy offerings and shall make fat thy burnt-offering (Psalms 20:3).

"Offerings and burnt-offering" signify worship, and to "make fat" signifies worship from the good of love. "Fatness" has the same signification in Ezekiel 34:3; Genesis 27:39 elsewhere. As "fat and fatness" signified the good of love, and all worship which is truly worship must be from the good of love, therefore:

It was appointed that all the fat and fatness in the sacrifices should be burnt on the altar (Exodus 29:13, 22; Leviticus 1:8; 3:3-16; 4:8-35; 7:3-4, 30-31; 17:6; Numbers 18:17-18).

For "sacrifices and burnt-offerings" signified worship.

[4] As the Jewish and Israelitish nation was only in external worship, and not also in internal worship, and in consequence was in no good of love and in no good of charity and faith:

It was forbidden them to eat the fat and blood, and it was declared that they would be cut off if they should eat them (Leviticus 3:17; 7:23, 25).

But to those who are in internal worship and from that in external worship, such as those must be who will be of the Lord's New Church, it is said:

That they shall eat fat till they be full, and drink blood till they be drunken (Ezekiel 39:19);

"fat" here signifying all the good of heaven and of the church, and "blood" all their truth. In the contrary sense those who are "fat" signify those who are nauseated at good, or who at least despise and reject it (Deuteronomy 32:15; Jeremiah 5:28; 50:11; Psalms 17:10; 20:4; 68:31; 119:70 elsewhere).

(Continuation)

[5] But such is not the lot of those who are permanently evil. All who are permanently evil are in hell according to the loves of their life; and there they think and speak from thought, although they speak falsities, and they will and from will do, although they do evils. Moreover, to one another they appear like men, although in the light of heaven they have monstrous forms. From this it can be seen why it is according to a law of order relating to reformation, which is called a law of Divine providence, that man is not let into the truths of faith and the goods of love except so far as he can be withheld from evils and held in goods even to the end of life, and that it is better for a man to be permanently evil than that he be good and afterwards evil, for thus he becomes profane. It is for this reason that the Lord, who provides all things and foresees all things, hides the operations of His providence, even to the extent that man scarcely knows whether there be any providence whatever, and man is permitted to attribute what he does to prudence, and what happens to him to fortune, and even to ascribe many things to nature, rather than that he should, through conspicuous and clear indications of the Divine providence and presence, plunge unseasonably into sanctities in which he will not continue. The Lord also permits like things by other laws of His providence, namely, by these, that man should have freedom, and that he should do whatever he does according to reason, thus wholly as if of himself, for it is better for a man to ascribe the workings of the Divine providence to prudence and fortune than to acknowledge them and still live as a devil. From this it is clear that the laws of permission, which are many, proceed from the laws of providence.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.