Bible

 

Postanak 49

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1 Posle sazva Jakov sinove svoje i reče: Skupite se da vam javim šta će vam biti do posletka.

2 Skupite se i poslušajte, sinovi Jakovljevi, poslušajte Izrailja oca svog.

3 Ruvime, ti si prvenac moj, krepost moja i početak sile moje; prvi gospodstvom i prvi snagom.

4 Navro si kao voda; nećeš biti prvi; jer si stao na postelju oca svog i oskvrnio je legav na nju.

5 Simeun i Levije, braća, mačevi su im oružje nepravdi.

6 U tajne njihove da ne ulazi duša moja, sa zborom njihovim da se ne sastavlja slava moja; jer u gnevu svom pobiše ljude, i za svoje veselje pokidaše volove.

7 Proklet da je gnev njihov, što beše nagao, i ljutina njihova, što beše žestoka; razdeliću ih po Jakovu, i rasuću ih po Izrailju.

8 Juda, tebe će hvaliti braća tvoja, a ruka će ti biti za vratom neprijateljima tvojim, i klanjaće ti se sinovi oca tvog.

9 Laviću Juda! S plena si se vratio, sine moj; spusti se i leže kao lav i kao ljuti lav; ko će ga probuditi?

10 Palica vladalačka neće se odvojiti od Jude niti od nogu njegovih onaj koji postavlja zakon, dokle ne dođe Onaj kome pripada, i Njemu će se pokoravati narodi.

11 Veže za čokot magare svoje, i za plemenitu lozu mlade od magarice svoje; u vinu pere haljinu svoju i ogrtač svoj u soku od grožđa.

12 Oči mu se crvene od vina i zubi bele od mleka.

13 Zavulon će živeti pokraj mora i gde pristaju lađe, a međa će mu biti do Sidona.

14 Isahar je magarac jak u kostima, koji leži u toru,

15 I vide da je počivanje dobro i da je zemlja mila, sagnuće ramena svoja da nosi, i plaćaće danak.

16 Dan će suditi svom narodu, kao jedno između plemena Izrailjevih.

17 Dan će biti zmija na putu i guja na stazi, koja ujeda konja za kičicu, te pada konj na uznako.

18 Gospode, Tebe čekam da me izbaviš.

19 A Gad, njega će vojska savladati; ali će najposle on nadvladati.

20 U Asira će biti obilata hrana, i on će davati slasti carske.

21 Neftalim je košuta puštena, i govoriće lepe reči.

22 Josif je rodna grana, rodna grana kraj izvora, kojoj se ogranci raširiše svrh zida.

23 Ako ga i ucveliše ljuto i streljaše na nj, i biše mu neprijatelji strelci,

24 Opet osta jak luk njegov i ojačaše mišice ruku njegovih od ruku jakog Boga Jakovljevog, odakle posta pastir, kamen Izrailju,

25 Od silnog Boga oca tvog, koji će ti pomagati, i od Svemogućeg, koji će te blagosloviti blagoslovima ozgo s neba, blagoslovima ozdo iz bezdana, blagoslovima od dojaka i od materice.

26 Blagoslovi oca tvog nadvisiše blagoslove mojih starih svrh brda večnih, neka budu nad glavom Josifovom i nad temenom odvojenog između braće.

27 Venijamin je vuk grabljivi, jutrom jede lov, a večerom deli plen.

28 Ovo su dvanaest plemena Izrailjevih, i ovo im otac izgovori kad ih blagoslovi, svako blagoslovom njegovim blagoslovi ih.

29 Potom im zapovedi i reče im: Kad se priberem k rodu svom, pogrebite me kod otaca mojih u pećini koja je na njivi Efrona Hetejina,

30 U pećini koja je na njivi makpelskoj prema Mamriji u zemlji hananskoj, koju kupi Avram s njivom u Efrona Hetejina da ima svoj grob.

31 Onde pogrebe Avrama i Saru ženu njegovu, onde pogreboše Isaka i Reveku ženu njegovu, i onde pogreboh Liju.

32 A kupljena je njiva i pećina na njoj u sinova Hetovih.

33 A kad izgovori Jakov zapovesti sinovima svojim, diže noge svoje na postelju, i umre, i pribran bi k rodu svom.

   

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Wine

  

Wine played a key role in the ancient world, where safe, reliable water sources were scarce. It could be stored for long periods of time; if lightly fermented it was rich in sugar content; it was high in mineral content; it tasted good and generally had intoxicating qualities. Thus it was a valuable commodity and treated with reverence.

Wine is, of course, made from grapes. Grapes – sweet, juicy, nutritious and full of energy-rich fructose – represent the Lord's own exquisite desire to be good to us. That's powerful stuff! But grapes have a short shelf life; you might eat a bunch for a burst of energy, but you can't exactly carry them around with you for long-term sustenance. And so it is with desires for good: They tend to come to us in energizing bursts, but fade away fairly quickly. We need something more stable and lasting.

At some point in the distant past people figured out that if you squeeze the juice from the grapes and let it ferment, the result is a liquid that offers that stability: wine. The spiritual meaning works the same way; if we examine our desires for good, try to understand and think about how to apply them, what we will get are concepts about what good really is, how to recognize it and how to make it happen. And just like the wine, these ideas offer stability and portability. For instance, finding a wallet full of cash on the sidewalk might severely test our desire to be honest, but the idea that "you shall not steal" is pretty hard to shake.

Wine, then, on the deepest level represents divine truth flowing from divine goodness – the true principles that arise from the fact that the Lord loves us and desires everything good for us.

Wine comes in many varieties, though, and is used in many ways. Depending on context it can represent truth that arises from a desire for good on much more mundane levels. You want your children to be healthy so you make them brush their teeth even though they complain and it's a pain in the neck; the truth that brushing their teeth is good for them is wine on a very day-to-day level.

In some cases wine can also actually represent good things that arise from true ideas, something of a reverse from its inmost meaning. This happens when we are in transitional stages, setting higher ideas and principles above our less-worthy desires in an effort to reshape our actions. In that case our principles are the things being squeezed, with good habits the result.

There is also, of course, a darker side to wine. There is a good deal of debate about just how much alcohol wine had in Biblical times, and some of it may indeed have been more like concentrated grape juice. But there are also many references to wine and drunkeness, so some of it, at least, was fairly potent.

On a spiritual level, getting drunk on wine represents relying too much on our ideas, taking logic to such an extreme that we forget the good things we were trying to achieve in the first place.

(Odkazy: Apocalypse Explained 376 [1-40], 1152; Apocalypse Revealed 316, 635; Arcana Coelestia 1071 [1-5], 1727, 3580 [1-4], 5117 [7], 6377, 10137 [1-10]; The Apocalypse Explained 329 [2-4]; The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 219)