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Daniel 8

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1 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.

2 And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.

3 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.

4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.

5 And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

6 And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had there seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.

7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.

8 Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.

9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.

10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.

11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.

13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

15 And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.

16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.

17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.

18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.

19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.

20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.

21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.

23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.

27 And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 7844

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7844. 'between the evenings' means a last and first state. This is clear from the meaning of 'evening' as a state of falsity and also a state of ignorance of truth; for the shade of evening is falsity and also ignorance of truth. All the times of day, like all the seasons of the year, mean in the spiritual sense alternating states involving truth and good, 5672, 5962, 6110. The end of them and the beginning of them is the evening; consequently when it says 'between the evenings' it implies all those states. At this point therefore 'between the evenings' means the state of deliverance of those governed by truth springing from good, and the state of damnation of those governed by falsity arising from evil, states which are meant by the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt when the firstborn there were killed. The fact that all this is called 'the evening' is clear from the following in Moses,

You shall sacrifice 1 the Passover in the evening when the sun goes down, at the fixed time of your departure from Egypt. Deuteronomy 16:4, 6.

[2] From this it is evident that the end of the state of molestations and the beginning of the state of the deliverance of those represented by the children of Israel is meant by 'between the evenings'. From that beginning the state moves on for them towards morning, which is a raising to heaven. It is evident too that the end of the state of molestations and the beginning of the state of the damnation of those represented by the Egyptians is meant by 'between the evenings'. But these people's state moves on towards night, which is a casting into hell. The casting of the latter into hell is represented by being drowned in the Sea Suph, while the raising of the former to heaven is represented by being led into the land of Canaan.

[3] In the Word the expression 'the evening' is used in various places, and by it is meant a last phase of a Church and also a first phase of it - a last one with those among whom the Church is coming to an end, and a first with those among whom it is just beginning. This explains why 'the evening' primarily means the Lord's Coming, for that was the time of the end of the former Church and of the beginning of the new. The first state of the new Church is also called 'the evening' since a member of the Church starts with light that is dim and advances to that which is clear, and this for him is the morning.

[4] The fact that the Lord's Coming into the world is meant by 'the evening' and 'the morning' is clear in Daniel,

I heard a holy one speaking, For how long is this vision, the continual [burnt offering], and the transgression, and the treading down of the sanctuary and the host? And he said to me, Up to the evening [when it is becoming] morning two thousand three hundred times, for then the sanctuary will be made correct. Daniel 8:13-14.

Here it is self-evident that 'the evening' is used to mean the last phase when the Church had been completely laid waste and the Lord came into the world, and 'morning' to mean light and the rise of a new Church from Him.

[5] A similar prophecy appears in Zechariah,

There will be one day, which will be known to Jehovah, not day nor night, because around evening time there will be light. Zechariah 14:7.

In Zephaniah,

Let there at length be a territory for the remnant of the house of Judah; they will pasture on them. In the houses of Ashkelon they will find rest in the evening, when Jehovah their God will visit them, and return their captives. 2 Zephaniah 1:7.

'The evening' stands for the first state of an arising Church. Since 'the evening' meant the last state of an old Church and the first of a new, Aaron and his sons were commanded to cause a lamp to burn 3 from evening until morning before Jehovah, Exodus 27:20-21.

[6] The fact that 'the evening' is the last state of the Church, when dense falsity reigns because there is no faith, and dense evil because there is no charity, is evident in Jeremiah,

Woe to us, 4 for the day goes away, for the shadows of evening are set at an angle! Jeremiah 6:4.

In Ezekiel,

I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died at evening. Ezekiel 24:18.

'Wife' stands for the Church. In David,

At dawn it will flourish and shoot up, 5 at evening one will cut it down, it will wither. Psalms 90:6.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. The Latin means they shall sacrifice but the Hebrew means you shall sacrifice, which Swedenborg has in another place where he quotes this verse.

2. literally, bring again their captivity

3. literally, to go up

4. The Latin means you but the Hebrew means us, which Swedenborg has in one other place where he quotes this verse.

5. literally, Pass on

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