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3 Mosebok 23

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1 Og Herren talte til Moses og sa:

2 Tal til Israels barn og si til dem: Dette er Herrens høitider - mine høitider - som I skal utrope som hellige sammenkomster:

3 I seks dager skal I arbeide; men på den syvende dag er det høihellig sabbat, en hellig sammenkomst; da skal I ikke gjøre noget arbeid; det er sabbat for Herren i alle eders hjem.

4 Dette er Herrens høitider, de hellige sammenkomster, som I skal utrope til deres fastsatte tider:

5 I den første måned, på den fjortende dag i måneden, mellem de to aftenstunder, er det påske for Herren.

6 Og på den femtende dag i samme måned er det de usyrede brøds høitid for Herren; i syv dager skal I ete usyret brød.

7 På den første dag skal I holde en hellig sammenkomst, I skal ikke gjøre nogen arbeidsgjerning.

8 I syv dager skal I ofre ildoffer for Herren; på den syvende dag skal det være en hellig sammenkomst, I skal ikke gjøre nogen arbeidsgjerning.

9 Og Herren talte til Moses og sa:

10 Tal til Israels barn og si til dem: Når I kommer inn i det land som jeg vil gi eder, og I høster dets grøde, da skal I komme til presten med det første kornbånd av eders høst.

11 Og han skal svinge kornbåndet for Herrens åsyn, forat Herren kan ha velbehag i eder; dagen efter sabbaten skal presten svinge det.

12 Og samme dag som I svinger kornbåndet, skal I ofre et årsgammelt lam uten lyte til brennoffer for Herren

13 og matofferet som hører til: to tiendedeler av en efa fint mel, blandet med olje, til ildoffer for Herren, til en velbehagelig duft, og drikkofferet som hører til: fjerdedelen av en hin vin.

14 Og I skal ikke ete brød eller ristet eller friskt korn før den dag - før I har båret frem offeret for eders Gud; det skal være en evig lov for eder, fra slekt til slekt, i alle eders hjem.

15 Fra dagen efter sabbaten, fra den dag I bærer frem svinge-kornbåndet, skal I telle fulle syv uker;

16 femti dager skal I telle til dagen efter den syvende sabbat, og da skal I bære frem for Herren et offer av den nye grøde:

17 Fra eders hjemsteder skal I komme med to svingebrød, som er laget av to tiendedeler av en efa fint mel og bakt med surdeig; de er en førstegrøde for Herren.

18 Og sammen med brødet skal I føre frem syv årsgamle lam uten lyte og en oksekalv og to værer - de skal være til brennoffer for Herren - og matofferet og drikkofferne som hører til; det er et ildoffer til velbehagelig duft for Herren.

19 Og I skal ofre en gjetebukk til syndoffer og to årsgamle lam til takkoffer.

20 Og presten skal svinge dem sammen med førstegrødens brød og to lam for Herrens åsyn; de skal være Herren helliget og tilhøre presten.

21 Og samme dag skal I la utrope at det skal holdes en hellig sammenkomst; I skal ikke gjøre nogen arbeidsgjerning; det skal være en evig lov for eder, fra slekt til slekt, hvor I så bor.

22 Og når I høster grøden i eders land, skal du ikke under din innhøsting skjære kornet helt ut til ytterste kant av din aker, og de aks som blir liggende efter innhøstingen, skal du ikke sanke op; du skal la dem være igjen til den fattige og den fremmede; jeg er Herren eders Gud.

23 Og Herren talte til Moses og sa:

24 Tal til Israels barn og si: I den syvende måned, på den første dag i måneden, skal I holde hviledag med basunklang til ihukommelse og en hellig sammenkomst.

25 Da skal I ikke gjøre nogen arbeidsgjerning, og I skal ofre ildoffer til Herren.

26 Og Herren talte til Moses og sa:

27 Men på den tiende dag i den samme syvende måned er det soningsdag; da skal I holde en hellig sammenkomst, og I skal faste og ofre ildoffer til Herren.

28 Den dag skal I ikke gjøre noget arbeid; for det er en sonings-dag; da skal det gjøres soning for eder for Herrens, eders Guds åsyn.

29 For enhver som ikke faster den dag, skal utryddes av sitt folk.

30 Og enhver som gjør noget arbeid den dag, han skal utryddes av sitt folk.

31 Intet arbeid må I gjøre den dag; det skal være en evig lov for eder, fra slekt til slekt, hvor I så bor.

32 En høihellig sabbat skal den være for eder, og I skal faste; på den niende dag i måneden om aftenen, fra den aften til den næste, skal I holde eders sabbatshvile.

33 Og Herren talte til Moses og sa:

34 Tal til Israels barn og si: På den femtende dag i denne samme syvende måned skal løvsalenes fest holdes for Herren, og den skal vare syv dager.

35 På den første dag skal det være en hellig sammenkomst; I skal ikke gjøre nogen arbeidsgjerning.

36 I syv dager skal I ofre ildoffer til Herren; på den åttende dag skal I holde en hellig sammenkomst og ofre ildoffer til Herren; det er en festsammenkomst; I skal ikke gjøre nogen arbeidsgjerning.

37 Dette er Herrens høitider; dem skal I utrope som hellige sammenkomster, og på dem skal I ofre Herren ildoffer, brennoffer og matoffer, slaktoffer og drikkoffer, hver dag det som hører dagen til,

38 foruten Herrens sabbater og foruten eders gaver og foruten alle eders lovede offer og foruten alle eders frivillige offer som I gir Herren.

39 Men på den femtende dag i den syvende måned, når I innsamler landets grøde, skal I holde Herrens fest, og den skal vare i syv dager; den første dag skal være hviledag, og den åttende dag skal være hviledag.

40 Og den første dag skal I ta frukter av fagre trær, palmegrener og kvister av løvrike trær og siljer som vokser ved bekkene; og I skal være glade for Herrens, eders Guds åsyn i syv dager.

41 Denne høitid skal I holde som en fest for Herren syv dager om året; det skal være en evig lov for eder, fra slekt til slekt; i den syvende måned skal I holde den.

42 I skal bo i løvhytter i syv dager, alle innfødte i Israel skal bo i løvhytter,

43 forat eders efterkommere skal vite at jeg lot Israels barn bo i løvhytter da jeg førte dem ut av Egyptens land; jeg er Herren eders Gud.

44 Og Moses kunngjorde Herrens høitider for Israels barn.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 2177

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2177. That 'meal of fine flour' means the spiritual and celestial ingredients [of the rational] which were present at that time with the Lord, and 'cakes' the same when both had been joined together, is quite clear from the sacrifices of the representative Church and from the minchah presented at the same time, which consisted of fine flour mixed with oil and made into cakes. Representative worship consisted primarily in burnt offerings and sacrifices. What these represented has been stated above where 'bread' was the subject, in 2165, namely the celestial things of the Lord's kingdom in heaven and of the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church, and also the things of the Lord's kingdom or Church as it exists with every individual, and in general everything that is in essence love and charity, since these are celestial entities. In those times all the sacrifices were called 'bread'. Along with those sacrifices a minchah was included - which, as has been stated, consisted of fine flour mixed with oil to which also incense was added - and also a wine-offering.

[2] What these latter represented becomes clear too, namely things similar to those represented by sacrifices but of a lower order, thus the things which belong to the spiritual Church, and also those which belong to the external Church. It may become clear to anyone that such things would never have been prescribed unless they had represented Divine things, and also that each one represented some specific thing. For unless they had represented Divine things they would have been no different from similar things found among gentiles, among whom also there were sacrifices, minchahs, libations, and incense, as well as perpetual fires and many other things which had come down to them from the Ancient Church, especially from the Hebrew Church. But because they were separated from the internal, that is, the Divine things represented by them, those external forms of worship were nothing but idolatrous, as they also came to be among the Jews, who likewise sank into all kinds of idolatry. From this it may become clear to anyone that heavenly arcana were present within every form of ritual, especially so within the sacrifices and every detail of them.

[3] As regards the minchah, the nature of it and how it was to be made into cakes is described in a whole chapter in Moses - in Leviticus 2; also Numbers 15, and elsewhere. The law regarding the minchah is described in Leviticus in the following words,

Fire shall be kept burning unceasingly on the altar; it shall not be put out. And this is the law of the minchah: Aaron's sons shall bring it before Jehovah to the front of the altar, and he shall take up from it a fistful of fine flour of the minchah and of the oil of it and all the frankincense which is on the minchah, and he shall burn it on the altar; it is an odour of rest for a memorial to Jehovah. And the rest of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. Unleavened bread shall be eaten in a holy place. In the court of the tent of meeting shall they eat it. It shall not be cooked leavened; I have given it as their portion from My fire-offerings; it is most holy. Leviticus 6:13-17.

[4] The fire which was to be kept burning unceasingly on the altar represented the Lord's love, that is, His mercy, which is constant and eternal. 'Fire' in the Word means love, see 934, and therefore 'the fire-offerings made for an odour of rest' means the good pleasure which the Lord takes in those things that belong to love and charity. That 'odour' means good pleasure, that is, that which is pleasing, see 925, 1519. Their 'taking a fistful' represented their being required to love with all their soul or strength, for 'the hand' or 'the palm' of the hand means power, as shown in 878, from which 'the fist' also means the same. 'The fine flour together with the oil and the frankincense' represented all things of charity - 'fine flour' the spiritual ingredient of it, 'oil' the celestial, and 'frankincense' that which was in this manner pleasing. That 'fine flour' represents the spiritual ingredient is evident from what has just been stated and from what is stated below. That 'oil' represents the celestial ingredient, or the good or charity, see 886, and that 'frankincense' on account of its odour represents that which is pleasing and acceptable, 925.

[5] Its being 'unleavened bread' or not fermented means that it was to be genuine, thus something offered from genuineness of heart and having no uncleanness. The eating of the rest by Aaron and his sons represented man's reciprocation and his making it his own, and thus represented conjunction by means of love and charity; and it is for this reason that they were commanded to eat it 'in a holy place'. Hence it is called something most holy. These were the things which were represented by the minchah. It was also the way in which the representatives themselves were perceived in heaven; and when the member of the Church understood them in the same way his ideas were like the perception which the angels possess, so that he was in the Lord's kingdom in heaven even though he was on earth.

[6] For more about the minchah - what it was to consist of in any particular kind of sacrifice; the way in which it was to be baked into cakes; what kind was to be offered by those who were being cleansed, and also what kinds on other occasions (all of which would take too long to introduce and explain here) - see what is said about it in Exodus 29:39-41; Leviticus 5:11-13; 6:16-17, 19-21; 10:12-13; 23:10-13, 6, 17; Numbers 5:15 and following verses; 6:15-17, 19-20; 7: in various places; 28:5, 8, 9, 12-13, 20-21, 28-29; 29:3-4, 9-10, 14-15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 37

[7] 'Fine flour made into cakes' had in general the same representation as bread, namely the celestial ingredient of love, while 'meals represented its spiritual ingredient, as becomes clear in the places indicated above. The loaves which were called 'the bread of the Presence' or 'the shewbread' consisted of fine flour, which was made into cakes and placed on the table to provide an unceasing representation of the Lord's love, that is, of His mercy, towards the whole human race, and man's reciprocation. These loaves are spoken of in Moses as follows,

You shall take fine pour and bake it into twelve cakes; two-tenths [of an ephah] shall there be in one cake And you shall place them in two rows, six in a row, on the clean table before Jehovah. And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, and it shall be bread serving as a memorial, a fire-offering to Jehovah. Every sabbath day [Aaron] shall set it out in order before Jehovah continually; it is from the children of Israel as an eternal covenant. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, for it is to him the most holy of fire-offerings to Jehovah, by an eternal statute. Leviticus 24:5-9.

Every item and smallest detail mentioned here represented the holiness of love and charity, 'fine flour' having the same representation as meal of fine flour, namely that which is celestial and that which is spiritual that goes with it, and 'cake' the two when joined together.

[8] From this it is clear what the holiness of the Word is to those who possess heavenly ideas, and indeed what holiness was present within this particular representative observance, on account of which it is called 'most holy'. It is also clear how devoid of holiness the Word is to those who imagine that it does not have anything heavenly within it and who keep solely to externals. Exemplifying the latter are those who in the present verse under consideration perceive 'the meal' to be merely meal, 'the fine flour' merely fine flour, and 'the cake' merely a cake, and who imagine that these things have been stated without each one that is mentioned embodying something of the Divine within it. Their attitude is similar to that of those who imagine that the bread and wine of the Holy Supper are no more than a certain religious observance that does not have anything holy within it. Yet in fact it possesses such holiness that the minds of men are linked by means of it to the minds of those in heaven, when from an internal affection they think that the bread and wine mean the Lord's love and man's reciprocation, and by virtue of that interior thought and affection they abide in holiness.

[9] Much the same was implied by the requirement that when the children of Israel entered the land they were to present as a heave-offering to Jehovah a cake made from the first of their dough, Numbers 15:20. The fact that such things are meant is also evident in the Prophets, from' among whom for the moment let this one place in Ezekiel be introduced here,

You were adorned with gold and silver, and your raiment was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became exceedingly beautiful, and attained to a kingdom. Ezekiel 16:13.

This refers to Jerusalem, by which is meant the Church, which Church in its earliest days bore an appearance such as this, that is to say, the Ancient Church, which is described by means of raiment and many other adornments. Its affections for truth and good are also described by 'the fine flour, honey, and oil'. It may become clear to anyone that all these details mean in the internal sense something altogether different from what they do in the sense of the letter. And the same applies to Abraham's saying to Sarah, 'Take quickly three measures of meal of fine flour, knead it, and make cakes'. That 'three' means things that are holy has been shown already in 720, 901.

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