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Esekiel 38

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

2 Menneskesønn! Vend ditt åsyn mot Gog i Magogs land, fyrsten over os, Mesek og Tubal, og spå imot ham!

3 Og du skal si: Så sier Herren, Israels Gud: Se, jeg kommer over dig, Gog, fyrste over os, Mesek og Tubal!

4 Og jeg vil vende dig om og legge kroker i dine kjever og føre dig ut med hele din hær, hester og ryttere, alle sammen prektig klædd, en stor skare med store og små skjold, alle sammen med sverd i hånd.

5 Persere, etiopere og puteere er med dem, alle sammen med skjold og hjelm;

6 Gomer og alle dets skarer, Togarma-folket i det ytterste Norden og alle dets skarer, mange folkeslag er med dig.

7 ust dig og gjør alt ferdig, du og alle dine skarer, som har samlet sig hos dig, og du skal være deres fører.

8 Når lang tid er gått, kommer turen til dig; ved årenes ende skal du komme til et land som er utfridd fra sverdet, og hvis folk er samlet fra mange folkeslag, op på Israels fjell som stadig hadde ligget øde; men nu er det ført ut fra folkene, og de bor der trygt alle sammen.

9 Dit skal du dra op; som en storm skal du komme, som en sky skal du være til å skjule landet, du og alle dine skarer og mange folkeslag med dig.

10 sier Herren, Israels Gud: På den dag skal tanker stige op i ditt hjerte, og du skal tenke ut et ondt råd

11 og si: Jeg vil dra op imot et land med åpne byer, jeg vil komme over fredelige folk, som bor trygt, som alle sammen bor uten murer og hverken har bom eller porter -

12 for å rane og røve og ta hærfang, for å vende din hånd mot ruiner som er bygget op igjen, og mot et folk som er sanket sammen fra folkene, som har samlet sig fe og gods, som bor på jordens navle* / {* d.e. på jordens høie midte; ESK 5, 5.}

13 Sjeba og Dedan og kjøbmennene fra Tarsis og alle deres unge løver* skal si til dig: Kommer du for å rane og røve? Har du samlet dine skarer for å vinne hærfang, for å føre bort sølv og gull, for å ta fe og gods, for å gjøre et stort bytte? / {* d.e. rovgjerrige handelsfyrster.}

14 Derfor skal du spå, menneskesønn, og si til Gog: Så sier Herren, Israels Gud: Se, på den tid da mitt folk Israel bor trygt, får du nok vite det.

15 Da skal du komme fra ditt land, fra det ytterste Norden, du og mange folkeslag med dig, alle sammen ridende på hester, en stor skare og en tallrik hær,

16 og du skal dra op imot mitt folk Israel som en sky og skjule landet; i de siste dager skal det skje, da lar jeg dig komme over mitt land, forat folkene skal lære mig å kjenne, når jeg for deres øine åpenbarer min hellighet på dig, Gog!

17 sier Herren, Israels Gud: Er det dig jeg har talt om i fordums dager ved mine tjenere, Israels profeter, de som spådde i de dager, år efter år, at jeg vilde la dig komme over dem?

18 Men på den samme dag, den dag Gog kommer over Israels land, sier Herren, Israels Gud, da skal min harme stige op i mitt åsyn.

19 Og i min nidkjærhet, i min brennende vrede sier jeg: Sannelig, på den samme dag skal det komme et stort jordskjelv over Israels land.

20 Og havets fisker og himmelens fugler og markens dyr og alt det kryp som rører sig på jorden, og alle de mennesker som bor på jorden, skal skjelve for mitt åsyn, og fjellene skal ramle og bergveggene styrte ned, og hver en mur skal falle til jorden.

21 Og jeg vil kalle på sverdet imot ham på alle mine fjell, sier Herren, Israels Gud; den enes sverd skal vendes mot den andre.

22 Og jeg vil gå i rette med ham med pest og med blod, og et skyllregn og haglstener, ild og svovel vil jeg la regne ned over ham og hans skarer og over de mange folkeslag som er med ham.

23 Og jeg vil åpenbare min storhet og min hellighet og gi mig til kjenne for mange folks øine, og de skal kjenne at jeg er Herren.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 7553

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7553. 'Behold, about this time tomorrow I am causing it to rain an extremely heavy hail' means falsities destroying all things of the Church among them. This is clear from the meaning of 'rain in the form of hail' as falsities arising from evil that destroy forms of the truth and good of faith, thus things of the Church. Those falsities are meant by 'rain in the form of hail' because then the raindrops are like stones and can destroy both men and beasts, as well as crops in the field, and also because they are pieces of ice. In general 'rain' means a blessing, or in the contrary sense a curse, 1445. When it means a blessing a flowing in and receiving of the truth of faith and the good of charity is meant; for that is a blessing. But when 'rain' means a curse falsity opposed to the truth of faith and evil opposed to the good of charity is meant, for these are a curse. 'Rain in the form of hail' however in general means a curse which is brought on by falsity arising from evil, in particular of falsity arising from evil that is opposed to the Church's truths and forms of good.

[2] These kinds of falsity are meant by 'rain in the form of hail' in the following places: In Ezekiel,

I will dispute with Gog with pestilence and blood; and deluging rain and hailstones, fire and brimstone will I cause to rain on him and on his hordes, and on the many peoples that are with him. Ezekiel 38:22.

'Gog' stands for external worship separated from internal, thus for those who, when charity has been annihilated, make Divine worship consist entirely in external observances. 'Hailstones' stands for falsities that arise from evil.

[3] In the same prophet,

Let My hand be against the prophets who see vanity and divine a lie. Say to those who daub [the wall] with what is not suitable that it will fall. There will come deluging rain from which you, O hailstones, will fall; and stormy wind will tear it apart. Ezekiel 13:9, 11.

'Prophets who are seers of vanity and diviners of a lie' stands for those who are teachers of evils and falsities. 'Those who daub [the wall] with what is unsuitable' stands for the fact that they fabricate falsities and make them look like the truth. These people are called 'hailstones' because of their falsities. But in the original language a different word, meaning intense hail, is used here and in the preceding quotation.

[4] In Isaiah,

Then Jehovah will cause His glorious voice 1 to be heard, and His arm will see repose, in the indignation of [His] anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, [in] scattering and deluging, and hailstones. Isaiah 30:30-31.

'Hailstones' stands for the laying waste of truth by means of falsities. In the same prophet,

Behold, powerful and strong is the Lord, like a deluge of hail, a killing tempest, like a deluge of mighty overflowing waters, He will cast them down to the earth with His hand. The hail will overturn the refuge of a lie, and the waters will deluge the hiding-place. 2 Isaiah 28:2, 17.

'A deluge' stands for being plunged into falsities, and so for undergoing vastation of truth, 705, 739, 790, 5725, 6853, 'a deluge of hail' for the destruction of truth by means of falsities. In David,

He struck their vine with hail, and their sycamore-fig trees with heavy hail. And He gave up 3 their beasts to the hail, and their flocks to coals of fire. He let loose on them His fierce anger. Psalms 78:47-49.

[5] In the same author,

He made their rain into hail, a flaming fire in their land; and He struck their vines and their fig trees, and broke to pieces the trees of their borders. Psalms 105:32-33.

'Hail' and 'rain' stand for the laying waste of truth and good by means of falsities arising from evil. 'Vine' stands for the truth and goodness of the internal Church, 'sycamore-fig' and 'fig' for the truths and forms of good of the external Church. In the same author,

He who gives snow like wool, He sprinkles the hear-frost like dust; He who discharges His hail like balls - who can stand before His cold? Psalms 147:16-17.

'Hail' stands for falsities arising from evils. In the same author,

He made darkness His hiding-place, and His surroundings His tent - darkness of waters, clouds of the heavens. From the brightness before Him, clouds passed with hail and coals of fire. Jehovah thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice, hail, and coals of fire, so that He sent His arrows and scattered them. Psalms 18:11-14.

'Hail' stands for falsities arising from evils which lay waste truths and forms of good.

[6] In John,

The first angel sounded and there came hail, and fire mixed with blood; and it fell onto the earth so that a third part of the trees were burned, and all green grass was burned up. Revelation 8:7.

'Hail' stands for falsities arising from evil; 'fire mixed with blood' stands for evil desires together with falsified truths; 'the trees which were burned' stands for cognitions of truth that were destroyed by evil desires; and 'the green grass that was burned up' stands for known facts about truth that were destroyed in a similar way. For the meaning of 'fire' as evil desires, see 1297, 1861, 2446, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7314; of 'blood' as falsified truth, 4775, 6878, 7317, 7326; and of 'trees' as cognitions, 2722 (end), 2972.

[7] In Joshua,

It happened, when they fled before Israel on the descent of Beth Horon, that Jehovah cast down on them large [hail]stones from heaven, as far as Azekah, so that they died. Those who died from the hailstones were more than those whom the children of Israel killed with the sword. Joshua 10:11.

This refers to the five kings who camped against Gibeon. These kings and their peoples represented those who, being steeped in falsities arising from evils, therefore died from the hailstones. Balls of hail are called stones because 'stones' too mean falsities.

From all this one may see what is meant by 'hail' and by 'rain in the form of hail', namely falsities arising from evils. And since these falsities are meant, the laying waste of truth and good is also meant, for falsities arising from evils are what lay them waste.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, the glory of His voice

2. The Latin means they will deluge the hiding-place of waters, but the Hebrew means the waters will deluge the hiding-place, which Swedenborg has in his rough draft.

3. literally, shut up

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.