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Esekiel 12

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1 Og Herrens ord kom til mig, og det lød så:

2 Menneskesønn! Du bor midt iblandt den gjenstridige ætt, som har øine å se med, men ikke ser, og ører å høre med, men ikke hører; for en gjenstridig ætt er de.

3 Og du menneskesønn, rust dig ut til å gå i landflyktighet og dra ut om dagen midt for deres øine! Dra fra det sted hvor du bor, til et annet sted midt for deres øine! Kanskje de da vil komme til å se; for en gjenstridig ætt er de.

4 De ting du kan få med dig, skal du bære ut om dagen midt for deres øine, som om du skulde gå i landflyktighet. og selv skal du ta ut om aftenen midt for deres øine, likesom de som går i landflyktighet.

5 Bryt dig et hull i veggen midt for deres øine og bær dine ting ut gjennem den!

6 Midt for deres øine skal du ta det på skulderen; i mørket skal du bære det ut; ditt ansikt skal du tildekke, så du ikke ser landet; for jeg har satt dig til et varselstegn for Israels hus.

7 Og jeg gjorde således som det var sagt mig: Mine ting bar jeg ut om dagen. som om jeg skulde gå i landflyktighet, og om aftenen brøt jeg mig med hånden et hull i veggen; i mørket bar jeg mine ting ut; på skulderen tok jeg dem midt for deres øine.

8 Og Herrens ord kom til mig morgenen efter, og det lød så:

9 Menneskesønn! Har ikke Israels hus, den gjenstridige ætt, sagt til dig: Hvad gjør du?

10 Si til dem: Så sier Herren, Israels Gud: Denne flytning gjelder fyrsten* i Jerusalem og alt Israels hus som er der inne. / {* Sedekias.}

11 Si: Jeg er et varselstegn for eder; likesom jeg har gjort, så skal det gjøres med dem; i landflyktighet, i fangenskap skal de gå.

12 Og fyrsten som er iblandt dem, skal ta sine ting på skulderen i mørket og dra ut; de skal bryte et hull i muren og føre ham ut gjennem den; sitt ansikt skal han tildekke, forat han ikke skal se landet med sine øine.

13 Og jeg vil utspenne mitt garn over ham, og han skal fanges i mitt nett, og jeg vil føre ham til Babel i kaldeernes land; men det skal han ikke se*, og der skal han . / {* 2KG 25, 7.}

14 Alle som er omkring ham, hans hjelpere, og alle hans krigsskarer vil jeg sprede for alle vinder, og jeg vil forfølge dem med draget sverd.

15 Og de skal kjenne at jeg er Herren, når jeg spreder dem blandt folkene og strør dem ut i landene.

16 Bare nogen få av dem vil jeg la bli igjen efter sverdet og hungeren og pesten, forat de skal fortelle om alle deres vederstyggeligheter iblandt de folk som de kommer til, og de skal kjenne at jeg er Herren.

17 Og Herrens ord kom til mig, og det lød så:

18 Menneskesønn! Ditt brød skal du ete skjelvende, og ditt vann skal du drikke bevende og med frykt.

19 Og du skal si til landets folk: Så sier Herren, Israels Gud, om Jerusalems innbyggere i Israels land: Sitt brød skal de ete med frykt, og sitt vann skal de drikke med forferdelse, fordi deres land skal bli øde og miste sin fylde for de voldsgjerningers skyld som alle dets innbyggere har gjort.

20 Og de byer som det nu bor folk i, skal legges øde, og landet bli en ørken, og I skal kjenne at jeg er Herren.

21 Og Herrens ord kom til mig, og det lød så:

22 Menneskesønn! Hvad er dette for et ord I fører i munnen i Israels land, når I sier: Tiden blir lang, og hvert syn blir til intet?

23 Derfor skal du si til dem: Så sier Herren, Israels Gud: Jeg vil gjøre ende på dette ord som de fører i munnen, så de ikke mere skal bruke det i Israel; men si til dem: Nu er tiden nær da ordene i hvert syn skal bli opfylt!

24 For det skal ikke mere være noget tomt syn eller nogen dårende spådom i Israels hus;

25 for jeg, Herren, taler det ord jeg taler, og det skal skje, det skal ikke lenger utsettes; for i eders dager, du gjenstridige ætt, taler jeg et ord og setter det i verk, sier Herren, Israels Gud.

26 Og Herrens ord kom til mig, og det lød så:

27 Menneskesønn! Se, Israels hus sier: Det syn han skuer, opfylles først efter mange dager, og det er om fjerne tider han spår.

28 Derfor skal du si til dem: Så sier Herren, Israels Gud: Intet av alt jeg har sagt, skal utsettes lenger; det ord jeg taler, det skal skje, sier Herren, Israels Gud.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 4503

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4503. 'The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city' means that all his descendants destroyed that doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'the sons of Jacob' as descendants from Jacob, dealt with above; from the meaning of 'plundering' as destroying; and from the meaning of 'the city' as the doctrine of the Church, dealt with above in 4500. Simeon and Levi's going away after they had killed every male in the city as well as Hamor and Shechem, and then Jacob's sons' coming upon the slain and plundering the city, involves an arcanum, the meaning of which is not evident except from the internal sense.

[2] That arcanum is this: After the truth and good of the Church which are represented by 'Simeon and Levi' were wiped out and falsity and evil took their place, further falsities and evils were added, which are meant in the contrary sense by the rest of Jacob's sons. Each son of Jacob represented some general aspect of faith and charity, as has been shown in 2129, 3858, 3913, 3926, 3939, 4060.

Which aspect is represented by each, see the following:

Reuben, 3861, 3866, 3870;

Judah, 3881;

Dan, 3921-3923;

Naphtali, 3927, 3928;

Gad, 3934, 3935;

Asher, 3938, 3939;

Issachar, 3956, 3957;

Zebulun, 3960, 3961.

These general aspects of faith and charity which those sons represented become falsities and evils of that kind once the truth and good of the Church have been wiped out and those further falsities and evils have been added to them; for falsities and evils are constantly on the increase within the Church once it has been perverted and wiped out. It is these added falsities and evils that are meant by the reference to Jacob's sons coming upon the slain and plundering the city after Simeon and Levi had killed every male in the city as well as Hamor and Shechem, and had taken Dinah and gone away.

[3] That 'the slain' in the Word means truths and goods which have been wiped out may be seen from the following places: In Isaiah,

You are cast out from your sepulchre like an abominable branch, a garment of the killed - slain with the sword - who go down to the stones of the pit like a dead body trodden underfoot. Isaiah 14:19.

This refers to Babel. 'Those slain with the sword' stands for those who have profaned the truths of the Church. In the same prophet,

So that their slain are cast out and the stench of their dead bodies rises up. Isaiah 34:3.

This refers to the falsities and evils which infest the Church, 'the slain' standing for these.

[4] In Ezekiel,

The violent of the nations will draw the sword against the beauty of your wisdom, and they will profane your loveliness. They will bring you down into the pit and you will die the deaths of those slain in the midst of the seas. Ezekiel 28:7-8.

This refers to the prince of Tyre who means the leading cognitions of truth and good. 'Dying the deaths of those slain in the midst of the seas' stands for those who use facts to hatch falsities and in consequence defile the truths of the Church.

[5] In the same prophet,

They also will go down with them into hell, to those slain with the sword. You will be made to go down with the trees of Eden into the nether world, in the midst of the uncircumcised you will lie with those slain with the sword. Ezekiel 31:17-18.

In the same prophet,

Go down and lie with the uncircumcised; they will fall in the midst of those slain with the sword; the chief of the powerful ones will speak to him in the midst of hell. Ezekiel 32:19-21.

This refers to Pharaoh and Egypt. 'Those slain with the sword' stands for those who by their use of knowledge become insane; by their use of it they destroy all belief in the truth known to the Church.

[6] In David,

I have been reckoned with them going down to the pit; I have become as a man with no strength, neglected among the dead, like the slain lying in the sepulchre whom you remember no more and who have been cut off by your hand.

'The slain' in hell - those in the pit and 'in the sepulchre' - stands for those who have destroyed the truths and goods residing with them by means of falsities and evils. Anyone can recognize that these are not in hell merely because they have been slain with the sword.

[7] In Isaiah,

A city of tumults, an exultant city, [your slain] have not been slain with the sword, and they have not been killed in war. All who have been found in you have been bound together in chains. They have fled from far away. Isaiah 22:2-3.

This refers to the illusions resulting from the evidence of the senses which do not enable the truths of the Church to be seen. It refers therefore to people subject to negative doubt, and these are called 'slain but not with the sword'.

[8] In Ezekiel,

I am bringing a sword upon you and destroying your high places; and your altars will be destroyed, and your statues will be broken; and I will cause your slain to lie before your idols. When the slain have fallen in the midst of you, you will know that I am Jehovah. Then you will acknowledge, when the slain are in the midst of their idols, around their altar. Ezekiel 6:3-4, 7, 13.

'The slain' stands for those who are governed by falsities of doctrine.

[9] In the same prophet,

Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. They went forth and smote in the city. Ezekiel 9:7.

This is a prophetic vision. 'Defiling the house and filling the courts with the slain' stands for profaning goods and truths. In the same prophet,

You have multiplied your slain in this city, and have filled its streets with the slain. Therefore said the Lord Jehovih, Your slain whom you have placed in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and that is the pot; and he will lead you out from the midst of it. Ezekiel 11:6-7.

[10] Because 'the slain' meant those who have annihilated the truths of the Church by means of falsities and evils, therefore also in the representative Church those who touched one who had been slain were unclean. Such persons are referred to in Moses as follows,

Everyone who has touched on the surface of the field one slain with the sword, or one dead, or a human bone, or a sepulchre will be unclean for seven days. Numbers 19:16, 18.

Inquiry was therefore made and atonement effected by means of a heifer. In the same author,

If one is found slain, lying in the field, and it is not known who smote him, then the elders of the city and the judges shall come out and they shall measure [the distance] to the cities which are around the one slain. It shall be, that in the city nearest to the one slain the elders of that city shall take a heifer by means of which no work has been done, which has not pulled in the yoke, and they shall bring it down to the river or valley, and there they shall break the heifer's neck. And they shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck has been broken and shall say, Our hands have not shed blood, and our eyes have not seen it. Expiate Your people Israel, O Jehovah, and do not set innocent blood in the midst of Your people; and the blood shall be expiated for them. Deuteronomy 21:1-8.

[11] These laws were laid down because one who has been slain means the perversion, destruction, and profanation of the truth of the Church by means of falsity and evil, as is evident from each detail in the internal sense. The expression 'one slain, lying in the field' is used because 'the field' means the Church, see 2971, 3310, 3766. 'A heifer by means of which no work has been done' means the innocence of the external man which is present within ignorance. Without a clear knowledge of these things meant in the internal sense everyone will be surprised that a procedure such as this for making expiation should ever have been ordained.

  
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Ezekiel 6:13

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13 Then shall ye know that I am the LORD, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols.