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Numbers 9

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1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month in the second year after they were come·​·out of the land of Egypt, saying,

2 Let the sons of Israel then make the Passover at its appointed·​·time.

3 In the fourteenth day in this month, between the two·​·evenings*, you shall make it in its appointed·​·time; according·​·to all its statutes, and according·​·to all its judgments, you shall make it.

4 And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, that they should make the Passover.

5 And they did the Passover on the fourteenth day on the first of the month between the two·​·evenings in the wilderness of Sinai; according·​·to all that Jehovah commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did.

6 And there were certain men, who became unclean by the soul of man*, and they were· not ·able to make the Passover on that day; and they came·​·near before Moses and before Aaron on that day:

7 and those men said to him, We are unclean because of the soul of man; why are we diminished, that we may not offer an offering of Jehovah in its appointed·​·time in the midst of the sons of Israel?

8 And Moses said to them, Stand, and I will hear what Jehovah will command as·​·to you.

9 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

10 Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, If a man, any man of you or of your generations, when he be unclean as·​·to the soul, or be on the way far·​·off, yet he shall make the Passover to Jehovah.

11 In the second month, in the fourteenth day, between the two·​·evenings they shall make it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

12 They shall leave none of it to the morning, nor break a bone of it; according·​·to all the statutes of the Passover they shall make it.

13 But the man, he who is clean, and is not on the way*, and forbears to do the Passover, then that soul shall be cut·​·off from his people, for he offered not the offering of Jehovah in its appointed·​·time; that man shall bear his sin.

14 And when a sojourner shall sojourn with you, then he will make the Passover to Jehovah; according·​·to the statute of the Passover, and according·​·to its judgment, so shall he do; there shall be one statute for you, and for the sojourner, and for the native of the land.

15 And on the day that the Habitation was raised·​·up the cloud covered the Habitation of the Tabernacle of the testimony; and in the evening there was upon the Habitation as·​·it·​·were the appearance of fire, until the morning.

16 So it was continually; the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

17 And when* the cloud was made to go·​·up from on the Tabernacle, then after·​·that the sons of Israel journeyed; and in the place where the cloud inhabited, there the sons of Israel encamped.

18 By the mouth of Jehovah the sons of Israel journeyed, and by the mouth of Jehovah they encamped; all the days that the cloud abided upon the Habitation* they encamped.

19 And when the cloud was·​·long upon the Habitation many days, then the sons of Israel kept the charge of Jehovah, and journeyed not.

20 And it·​·was that the cloud was a number of days on the Habitation; by the mouth of Jehovah they encamped, and by the mouth of Jehovah they journeyed.

21 And it·​·was, that the cloud was there from evening until morning, and the cloud was made to go·​·up in the morning, and they journeyed; either by·​·day or by night, and the cloud was made to go·​·up, and they journeyed.

22 Or whether two·​·days, or a month, or many days, when the cloud was·​·long on the Habitation, abiding thereon, the sons of Israel encamped, and journeyed not; but when it was made to go·​·up, they journeyed.

23 By the mouth of Jehovah they encamped, and by the mouth of Jehovah they journeyed; they kept the charge of Jehovah, by the mouth of Jehovah by the hand of Moses.

   


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

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Arcana Coelestia # 9965

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9965. 'That they may not bear iniquity and die' means the elimination of the whole of worship. This is clear from the meaning of 'bearing the iniquity', when the subject is the priestly office of Aaron and his sons, as a removal or shifting away of falsities and evils with those who are governed by good derived from the Lord, dealt with above in 9937. But when it speaks of them 'bearing iniquity and dying' the elimination of the whole of worship is meant, see 9928; for the representative worship died because nothing of it appeared any longer in heaven. The situation in all this may become clear from what has been stated and shown above in 9959-9961. They also died when they did not act in accordance with the statutes, 1 as is evident from Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu, who were devoured by fire from heaven when they did not take the fire of the altar to burn incense but foreign 2 fire, Leviticus 10:1-2ff. 'The fire of the altar' represented God's love, thus love from the Lord, whereas 'foreign fire' represented love from hell. The elimination of worship was meant by their burning incense with this fire and their consequent death. For the meaning of 'fire' as love, see 5215, 6832, 7324, 7575, 7852.

[2] Many places in the Word state that they would bear iniquity when they did not do things in accordance with the statutes, and by this was meant damnation because sins had not been removed. Not that they themselves were condemned on account of disobeying the statutes. Rather by doing so they eliminated representative worship and in so doing represented the damnation of those who remain in their sins. For none are condemned because they fail in their performance of outward religious observances, only because of evils in the heart, thus because of failing in such observances as a result of evil in the heart. This is what 'bearing iniquity' means in the following places: In Moses,

If a soul sins and acts against any of Jehovah's commandments regarding what ought not to be done, 3 though he does not know it, yet he will be guilty and will bear his iniquity. Leviticus 5:17-18.

Here the retention of evils and consequent damnation should not be understood literally by 'bearing iniquity', although that is the spiritual meaning; for it says 'though he does not know it', implying that what the person has done does not spring from evil in the heart.

[3] In the same author,

If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten at all on the third day, the one offering it will not be accepted. It is an abomination, and the soul that eats it will bear his iniquity, and will be cut off from his people. Leviticus 7:18; 19:7-8.

Here also 'bearing iniquity' means remaining in his sins and being as a result in a state of damnation. It does so not because the person ate some of his sacrifice on the third day, but because 'eating it on the third day' represented something abominable, namely an action leading to damnation. Thus 'bearing iniquity and being cut off from his people' represented the damnation of those who performed the abomination meant by that deed. Nevertheless there was no condemnation on account of his having eaten it, for interior evils that were represented are what condemn, not exterior actions in which those evils are not present.

[4] In the same author,

Every soul who eats a carcass 4 or that which has been torn, and does not wash his clothes and bathe his flesh shall bear his iniquity. Leviticus 17:15-16.

Since 'eating a carcass or that which has been torn' represented making evil or falsity one's own, the expression 'bearing iniquity' also has a representative meaning. In the same author,

If a man who is clean fails to keep the Passover, this soul shall be cut off from his people, because he did not bring the offering of Jehovah at its appointed time; he shall bear his sin. Numbers 9:13.

'The Passover' represented deliverance by the Lord from damnation, 7093 (end), 7867, 7995, 9286-9292; and 'the Passover supper' represented being joined to the Lord through the good of love, 7836, 7997, 8001. And since these things were represented it was decreed that anyone who did not keep the Passover should be cut off from his people and that he should bear his sin. The failure to keep it was not really so great a crime; rather it represented those who at heart refuse to accept the Lord and consequently deliverance from sins, and so who have no wish to be joined to Him through love. Thus it represented their damnation.

[5] In the same author,

The children of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting, or else they will bear iniquity and die. 5 Levites shall perform the work of the tent of meeting, and these shall bear the iniquity. Numbers 18:22-23.

The reason why the people would bear iniquity and die if they were to go near the tent of meeting to do the work there was that they would thereby eliminate the representative worship assigned to the function of the priests. The function of the priests or the priestly office represented the Lord's entire work of salvation, 9809; and this is why it says that the Levites, who also were priests, should bear the people's iniquity, by which expiation or atonement was meant, that is, removal from evils and falsities with those who are governed by good derived from the Lord alone, 9937. 'Bearing iniquity' means real damnation when this expression is used in reference to those who perform evil deeds because their heart is evil, such as those mentioned in Leviticus 20:17, 19-20; 24:15-16; Ezekiel 18:20; 23:49; and elsewhere.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. i.e. the laws of worship; see 8972.

2. i.e. unauthorized or profane

3. literally, and does one of [all] Jehovah's commandments [about] things which ought not to be done

4. i.e. an animal that had not been slaughtered but had died naturally

5. literally, to bear iniquity, dying

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