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1 Samuels 5

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1 Filistrene tok Guds ark og førte den fra Eben-Eser til Asdod.

2 Der tok filistrene Guds ark og førte den inn i Dagons hus og stilte den op ved siden av Dagon.

3 Tidlig den følgende dag fikk asdodittene se at Dagon var falt ned med ansiktet mot jorden foran Herrens ark; og de tok Dagon og satte ham igjen på hans plass.

4 Men tidlig om morgenen den næste dag fikk de se at Dagon var falt ned med ansiktet mot jorden foran Herrens ark, og at Dagons hode og begge hans hender lå avhugget på dørtreskelen; bare kroppen var tilbake av Dagon.

5 Derfor er det at Dagons prester og alle som går inn i Dagons hus, like til denne dag ikke treder på Dagons dørtreskel i Asdod.

6 Og Herrens hånd lå tungt på asdodittene, og han ødela dem og slo dem med bylder, både i Asdod selv og i de omliggende bygder.

7 Da Asdods menn så at det gikk således, sa de: Israels Guds ark skal ikke bli hos oss; for hans hånd ligger hårdt på oss og på Dagon vår gud.

8 Og de sendte bud og samlet alle filistrenes høvdinger hos sig og sa: Hvad skal vi gjøre med Israels Guds ark? De svarte: La Israels Guds ark bli flyttet til Gat! Så flyttet de Israels Guds ark dit.

9 Men efterat de hadde flyttet den dit, kom Herrens hånd over byen og voldte stor forferdelse, og han slo byens folk, både små og store, så det brøt bylder ut på dem.

10 Da sendte de Guds ark til Ekron. Men da Guds ark kom til Ekron, da skrek ekronittene: De har flyttet Israels Guds ark hit til mig for å drepe mig og mitt folk.

11 Og de sendte bud og samlet alle filistrenes høvdinger og sa: Send Israels Guds ark bort, og la den komme tilbake til sin plass, så den ikke skal drepe mig og mitt folk! For det var kommet en dødsens forferdelse over hele byen; Herrens hånd lå meget tungt på den.

12 De menn som ikke døde, blev slått med bylder, og skriket fra byen steg op til himmelen.

   

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Exploring the Meaning of 1 Samuel 5

Napsal(a) Garry Walsh

The Philistines had the captured Ark of the Covenant. They took it deep into their own territory to a temple in the city of Ashdod. The temple was dedicated to their god Dagon who was half man and half fish.

Early the next morning, the people of Ashdod found that the statue of Dagon had fallen on its face before the Ark. They set it back up. The next morning they found it fallen again, this time with the hands and head broken off. So, the Philistines were afraid, and moved the Ark to another city and then another. Each time the people in and around the cities were struck down by “tumors.” A more accurate translation is that they suffered severe hemorrhoids. These were so serious that many people died.

Swedenborg writes that these hemorrhoids represent earthly loves, “which are unclean when they are separated from spiritual loves.” 1 Samuel 6 describes how these cities were also suddenly infested with rodents, and this represents the “destruction of the church by distortions of the truth.” (See Divine Providence 326 [11, 12])

Both afflictions represent a separation of faith and charity, two important parts of spiritual life. Swedenborg talks about how the Philistines represent people with whom faith has been separated from charity. (See Arcana Coelestia 1197 and Doctrine of Faith 49.) Note here, as elsewhere, that we should not directly connect any group of people to the positive or negative things that they represent spiritually. This means that we should not assume that the Philistines were any more guilty of separating faith from charity than any other group of people. We should instead think about how in this particular story, they represent the challenge we all face to not separate faith and charity. We need to live our faith for it to be real.

The statue of Dagon, representing faith without charity, fell on its face and was destroyed in front of the Ark of the Covenant, which held the Ten Commandments. This is an illustration of the power of the Lord’s Divine Word when we live by it. Our faith can’t only be a belief in the Lord’s Word, or just an intellectual acknowledgement of His Commandments. It is a function of a life led based on these commandments. Belief without a good life, faith without charity, is destructive - on an individual level and on a collective level. We see this symbolically represented in the destruction of the statue of Dagon.

The way the statue was destroyed is symbolic of faith separate from charity, too. For example, hands generally symbolize power, and the ability to put things into action, whether they be good or bad. (See Arcana Coelestia 878.) The hands were cut off of the statue of Dagon just as faith without action, or charity has no power.

This further drives home the message that faith and charity must go together, if we are to keep our covenant with the Lord.

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Doctrine of Faith # 49

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49. People Whose Faith Is Divorced from Charity Are Represented in the Word by the Philistines

Names of nations and peoples in the Word, and of persons and places, all symbolize matters having to do with the church. The church itself is symbolized by Israel and Judah, because the church was instituted among them, and the nations and peoples surrounding them symbolized various religions — harmless nations symbolizing compatible religions, and harmful nations incompatible religions.

There are two harmful forms of religion into which every church degenerates in the course of time: one that adulterates its goods, and one that falsifies its truths.

The form of religion that adulterates the church’s goods takes its origin from a love of ruling, and the other, the religion that falsifies the church’s truths, takes its origin from a conceit in its own intelligence.

The religion that takes its origin from a love of ruling is meant in the Word by Babylon. And the religion that takes its origin from a conceit in its own intelligence is meant in the Word by Philistia.

People know who the adherents of Babylon are today, but they do not know who the adherents of Philistia are. The adherents of Philistia are those who have faith and not charity.

  
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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.