In chapter 4 of the Book of Amos, verses 1-3 are talking about people who pervert the truths of the church. They will fall into falsities in outermost things.

In the Bible, fish represent "lower" things than mammals, so we can interpret the fishhooks in verse 2 as meaning being caught and held fast in natural or lower things.

Verses 4-6 are about acts of worship such as tithes and sacrifices. These look similar to genuine worship, but are only external sorts of things. We can tell because ‘teeth’ (in verse 6) represent ultimates or outermost things (see Secrets of Heaven 6380). It follows that “cleanness of teeth” would mean outermost things that look good but only imitate genuine worship. The Lord exhorts, “Yet you have not returned to me.”

Verses 7-8. Some things true will remain, when where there are too many false ideas, the truths don't get through. This can be seen where the Lord says, “I made it rain on one city; I withheld rain from another city... where it did not rain the part withered.” Again the Lord exhorts, “Yet you have not returned to me.”

Verse 9. Afterward all things of the church are falsified, shown by blight attacking the gardens, vineyards, fig tree and olive trees. The last three represent spiritual, natural and celestial things, or all the things of spiritual life. “Yet you have not returned to me,” says the Lord.

Verses 10-11. The Lord explains the devastating things he allowed to happen: plague in Egypt, death of young men by swords, stench in the camps, Sodom and Gomorrah. This is because they are profaned by sensual knowledges. Profanation means the mixing of good and evil together. (See Secrets of Heaven 1001[2]).

This extends to all things of the church, with the church being the Lord’s kingdom on earth (Secrets of Heaven 768[3]).

With profanation “as soon as any idea of what is holy arises, the idea of what is profane joins immediately to it,” (Secrets of Heaven 301).

Now there is hardly anything left. “Yet you have not returned to Me,” says the Lord again.

Verses 12-13: Because people adamantly remain in their profane ways, they are warned, “Prepare to meet your God!”. This is the God powerful and mighty, “who forms mountains, and creates the wind,” and even more close to home, “Who declares to man what his thought is.” As intimately a knowing as that is, the Lord’s love for all humanity is contained in His exhortations for them to turn themselves to Him.

See, for example, Luke 6:44-45, and True Christian Religion 373.

9277. ‘Ita facies vineae tuae, oliveto tuo’: quod significet quod ita sit cum bono spirituali et cum bono caelesti, constat ex significatione ‘vineae’ quod sit Ecclesia spiritualis, de qua n. 1069, 9139, ita bonum caeleste, quod est bonum amoris in Dominum, nam hoc ¹ bonum facit Ecclesiam caelestem; quid Ecclesia spiritualis et ejus bonum, et quid Ecclesia caelestis et ejus bonum, tum quae differentia, videatur n. 2046, 2227, 2669, 2708 fin. , 2715, 2718, 2935, 2937, 2954, 3166, 3235, 3236, 3240, 3246, 3374, 3833, 3887, 3969, 4138, 4286, 4493, 4585, 4938, 5113, 5150, 5922, ² 6289, 6296, 6366, 6427, 6435, 6500, 6647, 6648, 7091, 7233, ³ 7474, 7977, 7992, 8042, 8152, 8234, 8521.

[2] Quod ‘olivetum’ significet Ecclesiam caelestem ac ita bonum caeleste, constat ex locis in Verbo ubi ‘olea’ nominatur, ut apud Moschen, Vineas plantabis et coles, sed vinum non bibes, neque congregabis, quia comedet illud vermis; oleae erunt tibi in omni termino tuo, sed oleo non unges te, quia excutietur olea tua, Deut. 28:39, 40;

agitur ibi de maledictione si dii alii colerentur et in statuta ac judicia non custodirentur; ‘oleae in omni termino’ sunt bona amoris caelestis quae a Domino per Verbum in tota Ecclesia, ‘oleo non ungi’ pro ⁴ non usque in illo bono esse, ⁵ ‘excutietur olea’ pro quod periturum id bonum: similiter apud Micham, Tu calcabis olivam sed non unges te oleo, et mustum sed non bibes vinum, 6:15:

[3] apud Amos, Percussi vos uredine et rubigine, plurimos hortos vestros, et vineas vestras, et ficus vestras, et oleas vestras comedit ⁶ eruca; nec tamen reversi estis ad Me, 9:9;

‘vineae’ pro bonis fidei, ‘oleae’ pro bonis amoris; punitio pro non receptione illorum bonorum ⁷ significatur per quod ‘oleas comedet eruca’: apud Habakuk, Ficus non florebit nec proventus in vitibus, mentietur opus olivae ⁸ et ager non faciet cibum, 3:17;

‘ficus’ pro bono naturali, ‘vitis’ pro bono spirituali, ‘oliva’ ⁹ pro bono caelesti, et ‘ager’ pro Ecclesia: apud Sachariam, Duae oleae juxta candelabrum, una a dextra ¹⁰ lecythi, et una juxta sinistram ejus; hi duo filii olei puri stantes juxta Dominum totius terrae, 9:3, 11, 14; ‘duae oleae juxta candelabrum’ pro bono caelesti et spirituali, quae sunt ad dextram et ad sinistram Domini; ‘candelabrum’ significat Dominum quoad Divinum Verum:

[4] in libro Judicum, Jotham dixit ad cives Schechemi qui regem fecerunt Abimelechum, Iverunt arbores ad ungendum super se regem, et dixerunt oleae, Regna super nos; sed dixit eis olea, Num cessare faciam pinguedinem meam quam in me honorant Deus et homines, et ibo ad movendum me super arbores? Et dixerunt arbores ad ficum, Ito tu, regnato super nos; sed dixit ad illas ficus, Num cessare faciam dulcedinem meam et proventum meum bonum, et ibo ad movendum me super arbores? Tum dixerunt arbores ad vitem, Ito tu, regnato super nos; sed dixit illis vitis, Num cessare faciam mustum meum, laetificans Deum et homines, et ibo ad movendum me super arbores? Et dixerunt omnes arbores ad rhamnum, Ito tu, regnato super nos; et dixit rhamnos ad arbores, Si in veritate vos ¹¹ ungentes me in regem super vos, venite et confidite in umbra mea; si vero non, exeat ignis e rhamno et comedat cedros Libani, 9:7-16;

quid haec in specie ¹² involvunt, non sciri potest nisi sciatur quid significat ‘olea’, ‘ficus’, ‘vitis’, et ‘rhamnos’; ‘olea’ significat bonum internum Ecclesiae caelestis, ‘ficus’ bonum externum ejus Ecclesiae, n. 4231, 5113, ‘vitis’ bonum Ecclesiae spiritualis, ‘rhamnos’ autem ¹³ bonum spurium; involvunt itaque illa, quod populus, qui hic sunt ‘arbores’, non vellet ut bonum caeleste, nec bonum spirituale, regnaret super illos, sed bonum spurium, et quod populus hoc eligeret prae illis bonis; ‘ignis ex illo’ est malum concupiscentiae, ‘cedri Libani quas consumeret’ sunt vera boni.

[5] Quia ‘olea’ significabat bonum amoris a Domino, et in Dominum, ideo cherubi in medio domus seu templi facti sunt ex ligno olei, similiter fores ad adytum, 1 Reg. 6:23-33;

‘cherubi’ enim, ut et ‘fores adyti’, significabant custodiam et providentiam Domini ne aditus sit ad Ipsum nisi per bonum amoris caelestis, ideo ex ‘ligno olei’ erant. Ex his constare potest unde sit quod tabernaculum et altare uncta fuerint oleo, tum quoque sacerdotes, et postea reges; et unde, quod oleum olivae fuerit ad lucernas; ‘oleum’ enim significabat bonum amoris a Domino, videatur n. 886, 3728, 4582, 4638, et ‘unctio’ significabat ut sic repraesentarent Dominum.

Poznámky pod čarou: