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Hoschea 12

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1 Ephraim pascit ventum, et sequitur æstum ; tota die mendacium et vastitatem multiplicat : et fœdus cum Assyriis init, et oleum in Ægyptum ferebat.

2 Judicium ergo Domini cum Juda, et visitatio super Jacob : juxta vias ejus, et juxta adinventiones ejus reddet ei.

3 In utero supplantavit fratrem suum, et in fortitudine sua directus est cum angelo.

4 Et invaluit ad angelum, et confortatus est ; flevit, et rogavit eum. In Bethel invenit eum, et ibi locutus est nobiscum.

5 Et Dominus Deus exercituum, Dominus memoriale ejus.

6 Et tu ad Deum tuum converteris ; misericordiam et judicium custodi, et spera in Deo tuo semper.

7 Chanaan, in manu ejus statera dolosa, calumniam dilexit.

8 Et dixit Ephraim : Verumtamen dives effectus sum ; inveni idolum mihi : omnes labores mei non invenient mihi iniquitatem quam peccavi.

9 Et ego Dominus Deus tuus ex terra Ægypti : adhuc sedere te faciam in tabernaculis, sicut in diebus festivitatis.

10 Et locutus sum super prophetas, et ego visionem multiplicavi, et in manu prophetarum assimilatus sum.

11 Si Galaad idolum, ergo frustra erant in Galgal bobus immolantes ; nam et altaria eorum quasi acervi super sulcos agri.

12 Fugit Jacob in regionem Syriæ, et servivit Israël in uxorem, et in uxorem servavit.

13 In propheta autem eduxit Dominus Israël de Ægypto, et in propheta servatus est.

14 Ad iracundiam me provocavit Ephraim in amaritudinibus suis : et sanguis ejus super eum veniet, et opprobrium ejus restituet ei Dominus suus.

   

Komentář

 

Field

  
The Sower, by Vincent van Gogh

A "field" in the Bible usually represents the Lord's church, and more specifically the desire for good within the church. It's where good things start, take root, and grow. When you have a desire to be a good person and to do good things, the natural first questions are "What does that mean?", "What should I do?", "What can I do?". You look for ideas, concepts, direction. Once you figure out something you want to do or a change you want to make in yourself, you seek specific knowledge. If you want to volunteer at a food pantry, say, you'd need to know whom to call, when they need help, where to go, what to bring. Armed with that knowhow, you're ready to get to work. That process could be compared to food production. You start with a field -- which is that desire to be good. Then you plant seeds -- those ideas and concepts. Those seeds sprout into plants -- the specific facts and knowledge needed for the task (easily seen in the food pantry example, but also true with deeper tasks like "being more tolerant of my co-workers" or "taking more time for prayer," or "consciously being a more loving spouse"). Finally, those plants produce food -- the actual good thing that you go and do. The Writings also say that in a number of cases a "field" represents the doctrine, or teachings, of the church. This sounds markedly different. The desire for good is emotional, a drive, a wanting; doctrine is a set of ideas. But for a church to be true, its doctrine must be centered on a desire for good, and must lead people toward doing what is good. So sound doctrine is actually closely bound up with the desire for good.