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Joel 2

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1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.

4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.

5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:

8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.

9 They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.

10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, Gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.

19 Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:

20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.

21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.

22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.

23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.

25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

   

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Bride

  

'A bride' signifies the church in respect to Divine truth from the Lord.

(Odkazy: Apocalypse Revealed 797; Revelation 18:23)

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Apocalypse Revealed # 797

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797. "And the sound of a bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore." This symbolically means that those caught up in the Roman Catholic religion because of its doctrine and a life in accordance with it have no conjunction of goodness and truth, which is what forms the church.

The sound here symbolizes joy, because it is the sound of a bridegroom and bride. In the highest sense a bridegroom means the Lord in respect to Divine good, and a bride means the church in respect to Divine truth from the Lord. For a church is a church by virtue of its reception of the Lord's Divine goodness in the Divine truths that it has from Him.

It is apparent from the Word that the Lord is called a bridegroom and also a husband, and that the church is called a bride and also a wife. That this produces the heavenly marriage that is a marriage of goodness and truth will be seen in a short work, On Marriage. 1

Now because this heavenly marriage is produced in people in the church by their receiving Divine goodness from the Lord in Divine truths drawn from the Word, it is apparent that there is no conjunction of goodness and truth in people caught up in the Roman Catholic religion because of its doctrine and so a life in conformity with it, since they have no conjunction with the Lord, but instead a conjunction with men, living and dead. This conjunction in people caught up in a love of exercising dominion from a love of self over the Divine sanctities belonging to the Lord, and over the Lord Himself, is as though a conjunction with the Devil, who, as we said in the preceding number, is that love. And to turn to the Devil in order to come by him to God is detestable.

[2] That the Lord is called a bridegroom and the church a bride is apparent from the following passages:

He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. (John 3:29)

This John the Baptist said in reference to the Lord.

Jesus said..., "As long as the bridegroom is with them, the wedding guests cannot fast. The day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast. (Matthew 9:15, cf. Mark 2:19-20)

I... saw the holy city, New Jerusalem..., prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2)

(An angel said,) "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." (Revelation 21:9-10)

...(the time for) the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready... Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. (Revelation 19:7, 9)

The bridegroom whom the ten virgins went out to meet, also means the Lord (Matthew 25:1-13).

[3] From these passages it is apparent what the sound and joy of a bridegroom and bride symbolize in following places:

As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. (Isaiah 62:5)

My soul shall rejoice over my God..., as a bridegroom puts on the turban, and as a bride adorns herself with her vessels. (Isaiah 61:10)

Again there shall be heard in this place... the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the sound of the bridegroom and the sound of the bride, the sound of those saying, "Confess Jehovah Zebaoth...." (Jeremiah 33:10-11)

Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her room. (Joel 2:16)

I will cause to cease... from the streets of Jerusalem the sound of mirth and the sound of gladness, the sound of the bridegroom and the sound of the bride. (Jeremiah 7:34, cf. 16:9)

I will take from them the sound of mirth and the sound of gladness, the sound of the bridegroom and the sound of the bride, the sound of mills and the light of the lamp. And this whole land shall be a desolation (because of) the king of Babylon... (Jeremiah 25:10-11)

[4] From this one can now see the successive meanings in these two verses, that those caught up in the Roman Catholic religion will not have any affection for spiritual truth and goodness (no. 792); that they are without any understanding of spiritual truth, and so are without any thought of spiritual truth (no. 793), for thought springs from affection and accords with it; that neither do they inquire into, investigate, or confirm spiritual truth (no. 794); that they are also without any enlightenment from the Lord and so without any perception of spiritual truth (no. 796); and finally that they have no conjunction of goodness and truth, which is what forms the church (no. 797).

Thus the literal pronouncements also follow in sequence.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. A reference to a work by that title never published by the writer. Extant in manuscript are a brief outline, a relatively short preliminary draft, and two indices for a longer draft on the subject of marriage that has not been found. The content of the existing material makes clear that these manuscripts, including the missing longer draft, were written in preparation for Delights of Wisdom Relating to Married Love (or Conjugial Love), Followed By Pleasures of Insanity Relating to Licentious Love, which the writer published in 1768, two years after publishing the present work on the Apocalypse.

  
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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.