374. That 'the voice of blood' ¹ means violence done to charity is clear from many places in the Word where 'voice' stands for everything that accuses, and 'blood' for all sin, especially hatred. For anyone who hates his brother murders him in his own heart, as the Lord teaches,

You have heard that it was said to the men of old, You shall not kill, and whoever kills will be liable to judgement. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without cause will be liable to judgement. Whoever indeed says to his brother, Raca! will be liable to the Sanhedrin. And whoever says You fool! will be liable to the Gehenna of fire. Matthew 5:21-22.

These sayings denote degrees of hatred. Hatred is contrary to charity; and though a person does not actually commit murder, the intention to do so is still there, and by whatever possible method. It is external restraints alone which prevent murder actually being committed. And this is why all hatred is called blood, as in Jeremiah,

How well you direct Your way in the quest for love! Yes, in your skirts the blood of needy innocent souls is found. Jeremiah 2:33-34.

[2] And since hatred is meant by blood, so is every kind of wickedness, for hatred is the source of all wickedness, as in Hosea,

Perjuring, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they commit robbery, and blood' has followed on blood. ¹ Therefore the land will mourn and every inhabitant will anguish. Hosea 4:2-3.

And in Ezekiel,

Will you judge the city of blood' and declare to her all her abominations? A City that sheds blood' in the midst of her. By your blood which you have shed you have become guilty. Ezekiel 22:2-4, 6, 9.

This is referring to the lack of compassion. In the same prophet,

The land is full of the judgement of blood, ¹ and the city is full of violence. Ezekiel 7:23.

And in Jeremiah,

For the sins of the prophets of Jerusalem, the iniquities of her priests who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous, they wander blind in the streets; they are defiled with blood. Lamentations 4:13-14.

In Isaiah,

When the Lord will have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and wiped away from its midst the blood ¹ of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Isaiah 4:4.

In the same prophet,

Your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Isaiah 59:3.

In Ezekiel,

I passed by you and saw you weltering in your blood, ¹ and I said to you, Live in your blood ¹ I indeed said to you, Live in your blood. ¹ Ezekiel 16:6, 22.

This refers to the abominations of Jerusalem, which are called 'blood' ¹ . Lack of compassion, and hatred, in the last times a real so described as blood in Revelation 16:3-4. The plural 'bloods' is used because all forms of iniquity and abomination well up out of hatred, just as all forms of good and holiness do out of love. Anyone therefore who hates his neighbour would murder him if he could, and he does do so in whatever way he can. That is to say, he does him violence, which is strictly the meaning here of 'voice of blood'. ¹

Poznámky pod čarou:

1316. 'See, they are one people, and they all have one lip' means that all had the truth of faith and held to the same doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'people' as the truth of faith, and from the meaning of 'lip' as doctrine. That 'people' means the truth of faith, that is, those who possess the truth of faith, has been shown already in 1259, and that 'lip' means the doctrine of faith has been shown above at verse 1. The people are called 'one' and their 'lip' one when all have as their end in view the common good of society, the common good of the Church, and the Lord's kingdom. For in that case the end includes within itself the Lord, from whom all people are one. The Lord cannot possibly be present with someone whose end in view is his own good. That which is man's own excludes the Lord; for in so doing it diverts and directs towards itself the common good of society, that of the Church, and indeed the Lord's kingdom, even to making these exist so to speak for its own sake. Thus it takes away from the Lord that which is His and substitutes itself. And when this is the prevailing attitude with a person the same is the case in each one of his thoughts, and indeed in the smallest details of his thoughts. This is the nature of a person's prevailing attitude.

[2] This is not so apparent during a person's lifetime as it is in the next life. His prevailing attitude reveals itself as a certain sphere which is felt by everyone around him, and it is the fact that it emanates from every single thing within him that makes that sphere such as it is. The sphere of someone who in every respect regards himself takes to itself - or as is said in the next life, absorbs - everything which gratifies it, thus takes to itself all the delight of the spirits surrounding him. It also destroys all the freedom they have It is inevitable therefore that such a person should be banished from their company. When however 'the people are one and the lip one', that is, when they have in view the common good of all, one person never takes to himself the joy of another or destroys the freedom of another, but as far as he can he furthers and increases it. This is why heavenly communities are as one, a oneness that is achieved solely by means of mutual love from the Lord. And the same applies to the Church.