Apocalypse Revealed # 209
209. 'Wretched and poor.' This symbolically means that they have no truths or goods.
Wretched and poor people mean, in the spiritual sense of the Word, people who lack concepts of truth and good, for they are spiritually wretched and poor. They are also meant by the people in the following passages:
I am wretched and poor, O Lord; be mindful of me. (Psalms 40:18) [NCBSP: Psalms 40:17], cf. Psalms 70:5)
Incline Your ear, O Jehovah, and answer me, for I am wretched and poor. (Psalms 86:1)
The impious bare the sword and bend their bow, to cast down the wretched and poor... (Psalms 37:14)
(The impious man) persecuted the wretched and poor man, even to slay the downcast in heart. (Psalms 109:16)
(God) will judge the wretched of the people; He will save the children of the poor... He will deliver the poor man when he cries, and the wretched man... (Psalms 72:4, 12-13)
Jehovah... delivers the wretched man from one who is too strong for him, and the poor man... from those who plunder him. (Psalms 35:10)
(The impious man) devises wicked plans to destroy the wretched with lying words, even when the poor man speaks justly. (Isaiah 37:7)
The wretched shall have their joy in Jehovah, and the poor of mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 29:19)
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)
See also elsewhere, as Isaiah 10:2; Jeremiah 22:16; Ezekiel 16:49; 18:12; 22:29; Amos 8:4; Psalms 9:18; 69:32-33; 74:21; 109:22; 140:12; Deuteronomy 15:11; 24:14; Luke 14:13, 21, 23.
The wretched and poor mean chiefly people who lack concepts of truth and goodness and yet desire them, since the rich mean people who possess concepts of truth and goodness (no. 206).
Job 40
1
Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
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Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
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Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
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Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
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Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
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Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
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Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
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Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
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Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?
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Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.
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Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.
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Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.
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Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret.
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Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.
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Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
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Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
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He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.
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His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.
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He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.
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Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.
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He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.
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The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.
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Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.
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He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.
