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Ezequiel 7:17

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17 Todas as mãos se enfraquecerão, e todos os joelhos se tornarão fracos como água.

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Vision

  

Vision is the innermost revelation, which is of perception. Visions are according to the state of humankind. The visions of people whose interiors are closed, are totally different from what is shown to people whose interiors are open. For example, when the Lord appeared to the whole congregation on Mount Sinai, His appearance was a vision varying according to the states of the witnesses, appearing differently to the people than for Aaron, and differently from Aaron as to Moses. So also, the vision was totally different as exhibited to Moses and to the prophets. There are several kinds of visions, and they are more perfect, in proportion to how interior a person is. For the Lord it was the most perfect, because He had a perception of everything in the world of spirits, and in the heavens, and had immediate communication with Jehovah. This communication is described in the internal sense by 'the vision' in which Jehovah appeared to Abram in Genesis 15:1.

'Vision' in Zechariah 13:4 signifies falsities.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 1786)


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Arcana Coelestia # 3995

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3995. 'And the spotted and speckled among the she-goats' means that after this all the good of truth that has falsity and evil mingled within it will be 'Jacob's'. This is clear from the meaning of 'spotted' as falsity, and from the meaning of 'speckled' as evil, dealt with just above in 3993, and from the meaning of 'she-goats' as the good of truth, or the charity of faith, dealt with in 3519. The fact that all of this will be 'Jacob's' is also meant by the statement which follows, 'And that will be my wages'.

[2] What is meant by the good of truth, or the charity of faith, will be discussed briefly. While a person is being regenerated it seems as though the truth of faith takes precedence and as though the good of charity is secondary; but once he has been regenerated it is quite plain that the good of charity takes precedence, and that the truth of faith is secondary. For what is seen before regeneration is the appearance but what is seen after it is the reality of the situation, see 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3616, 3701. For while a person is being regenerated he does what is good from the truth he has learned, it being from truth that he learns what good is. Yet it is the good present inwardly that performs what is good because good is flowing in from the Lord by an internal route, that is, by way of the soul, while truth flows in by an external route, that is, by way of the senses, which is that of the body. Truth which enters by the external route is adopted by the good present inwardly and is joined to it, an activity which continues until that person has been regenerated. Then a reversal takes place and truth is done from good. This shows what is meant by the good of truth and by the truth of good. It also explains why so many at the present day speak of the good deeds of charity as the fruits of faith, for these are what those deeds are seen to be when regeneration first begins. These people base such a conclusion on the appearance and know nothing else, for those who are being regenerated are few and none can have a knowledge of this matter except one who has been regenerated, that is, who has an affection for good, which is charity. It is from an affection for good, or charity, that it can be seen clearly, and also perceived, by him. People however who are not regenerate do not even know what the affection for good is, that is, what charity is, but reason about it as something foreign or extraneous to themselves. As a consequence they call charity the fruit of faith, when in fact faith is a product of charity. However, it does not matter very much whether simple people know which is prior and which is posterior, provided they are leading charitable lives, for charity is the life of faith.

[3] By the expression 'member of the flock' here is meant not only lambs but also sheep, kids, she-goats, rams, and he-goats, though only lambs and she-goats are actually mentioned. These alone are mentioned because 'lambs' means innocence, and 'she-goats' the charity of faith, these being the subject at this point in the internal sense. This too is why in the original language 'spotted' is expressed by a word which also means lambs, as in Isaiah 40:10-11, while 'speckled' is expressed by a word which also means a sheep breeder, as in 2 Kings 3:4; Amos 1:1.

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