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Levítico 4

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1 Y habló el SEÑOR a Moisés, diciendo:

2 Habla a los hijos de Israel, diciendo: Cuando alguna persona pecare por yerro en alguno de los mandamientos del SEÑOR sobre cosas que no se han de hacer, e hiciere alguna de ellas;

3 si el sacerdote ungido pecare, según el pecado del pueblo, ofrecerá por su pecado que habrá cometido, un novillo sin tacha para expiación.

4 Y traerá el novillo a la puerta del tabernáculo del testimonio delante del SEÑOR, y pondrá su mano sobre la cabeza del novillo, y lo degollará delante del SEÑOR.

5 Y el sacerdote ungido tomará de la sangre del novillo, y la traerá al tabernáculo del testimonio;

6 y mojará el sacerdote su dedo en la sangre, y rociará de aquella sangre siete veces delante del SEÑOR, hacia el velo del santuario.

7 Y pondrá el sacerdote de la sangre sobre los cuernos del altar del incienso aromático, que está en el tabernáculo del testimonio delante del SEÑOR; y echará toda la sangre del novillo al cimiento del altar del holocausto, que está a la puerta del tabernáculo del testimonio.

8 Y tomará del novillo para la expiación todo su sebo, el sebo que cubre los intestinos, y todo el sebo que está sobre las entrañas,

9 y los dos riñones, y el sebo que está sobre ellos, y el que está sobre los ijares, y con los riñones quitará el redaño de sobre el hígado,

10 de la manera que se quita del buey del sacrificio de la paz; y hará el sacerdote perfume de ello sobre el altar del holocausto.

11 Y el cuero del novillo, y toda su carne, con su cabeza, y sus piernas, y sus intestinos, y su estiércol;

12 finalmente, todo el novillo sacará fuera del campo, a un lugar limpio, donde se echan las cenizas, y lo quemará al fuego sobre la leña; en el lugar donde se echan las cenizas será quemado.

13 Y si toda la congregación de Israel hubiere errado, y el negocio estuviere oculto a la congregación, y hubieren hecho algo contra alguno de los mandamientos del SEÑOR en cosas que no se han de hacer, y hubieren pecado;

14 luego que fuere entendido el pecado sobre el que pecaron, la congregación ofrecerá un novillo por expiación, y lo traerán delante del tabernáculo del testimonio.

15 Y los ancianos de la congregación pondrán sus manos sobre la cabeza del novillo delante del SEÑOR; y degollarán aquel novillo delante del SEÑOR.

16 Y el sacerdote ungido meterá de la sangre del novillo en el tabernáculo del testimonio.

17 Y mojará el sacerdote su dedo en la misma sangre, y rociará siete veces delante del SEÑOR hacia el velo.

18 Y de aquella sangre pondrá sobre los cuernos del altar que está delante del SEÑOR en el tabernáculo del testimonio, y derramará toda la sangre al cimiento del altar del holocausto, que está a la puerta del tabernáculo del testimonio.

19 Y le quitará todo el sebo, y hará de él perfume sobre el altar.

20 Y hará de aquel novillo como hizo con el novillo de la expiación; lo mismo hará de él; y así los expiará el sacerdote, y obtendrán perdón.

21 Y sacará el novillo fuera del campamento, y lo quemará como quemó el primer novillo; y esto será expiación de la congregación.

22 Y cuando pecare el príncipe, e hiciere por yerro algo contra alguno de todos los mandamientos del SEÑOR su Dios, sobre cosas que no se han de hacer, y pecare;

23 luego que le fuere notificado su pecado en el qué pecó, entonces presentará por su ofrenda un macho cabrío sin defecto.

24 Y pondrá su mano sobre la cabeza del macho cabrío, y lo degollará en el lugar donde se degüella el holocausto delante del SEÑOR; y esto será expiación.

25 Y tomará el sacerdote con su dedo de la sangre de la expiación, y pondrá sobre los cuernos del altar del holocausto, y derramará la sangre al cimiento del altar del holocausto;

26 y quemará todo su sebo sobre el altar, como el sebo del sacrificio de la paz; así lo expiará el sacerdote de su pecado, y tendrá perdón.

27 Y si alguna persona del pueblo de la tierra pecare por yerro, haciendo algo contra alguno de los mandamientos del SEÑOR en cosas que no se han de hacer, y pecare;

28 luego que le fuere conocido su pecado que cometió, traerá por su ofrenda una hembra de las cabras, una cabra sin defecto, por su pecado que habrá cometido.

29 Y pondrá su mano sobre la cabeza de la expiación, y degollará la expiación en el lugar del holocausto.

30 Luego tomará el sacerdote en su dedo de su sangre, y pondrá sobre los cuernos del altar del holocausto, y derramará toda su sangre al cimiento del altar.

31 Y le quitará todo su sebo, de la manera que fue quitado el sebo del sacrificio de la paz; y hará perfume el sacerdote sobre el altar en olor muy aceptable al SEÑOR; y así lo reconciliará el sacerdote en expiación por él, y tendrá perdón.

32 Y si trajere oveja para su ofrenda por el pecado, hembra sin defecto traerá.

33 Y pondrá su mano sobre la cabeza de la expiación, y la degollará por expiación en el lugar donde se degüella el holocausto.

34 Después tomará el sacerdote con su dedo de la sangre de la expiación, y pondrá sobre los cuernos del altar del holocausto; y derramará toda la sangre al cimiento del altar.

35 Y le quitará todo su sebo, como fue quitado el sebo del sacrificio de la paz, y hará el sacerdote perfume de ello sobre el altar en ofrenda encendida al SEÑOR; y así lo reconciliará el sacerdote de su pecado que habrá cometido, y tendrá perdón.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 10208

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10208. 'And Aaron shall make expiation on its horns' means purification from evils by means of the truths of faith which spring from the good of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'making expiation' as purifying from evils, dealt with in 9506; from the representation of 'Aaron' as the Lord in respect of Divine Good, and in respect of the work of salvation, dealt with in 9806, 9946, 10017; and from the meaning of 'horns' as powers, dealt with in 10182, and also outer levels, 10186. The reason why purification by means of the truths of faith which spring from the good of love is meant is that expiation was made by means of blood, and 'blood' means the truth of faith emanating from the good of love, 4735, 7317, 7326, 7846, 7850, 7877, 9127, 9393, 10026, 10033, 10047; and all purification from evils is accomplished by means of the truths of faith that spring from the good of love, 2799, 5954(end), 7044, 7918, 9088. The fact that expiations were made by the blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and the altar of incense is clear in Leviticus 4:3, 7, 18, 25, 30, 34; 16:18.

[2] The altars were expiated in this way because holy things were polluted by the sins of the people. The people represented the Church; therefore those places which were the Church's, called its sanctuaries, such as the altar and the tent, together with their contents, were defiled whenever those people were guilty of sin; for those sanctuaries were places belonging to the Church. This is also made clear in Moses,

You shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, in order that they may not die in their uncleanness when they pollute My dwelling-place which is in their midst. Leviticus 15:31.

And in another place,

Aaron shall expiate the holy place from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. Thus shall he expiate the holy sanctuary, and the tent of meeting, and the altar. Leviticus 16:16, 33.

[3] The implications of all this are that those things which are called the holy things of the Church are not holy unless they are received with holy respect; for unless they are received with that respect what is Divine does not flow into them. Anything holy that exists with people is holy only by virtue of what is Divine flowing into it; sacred shrines for example, the altars there, and the bread and wine for the Holy Supper are made holy solely by the presence of the Lord. Therefore if the Lord is unable to be present there on account of the people's sins, those things have no holiness because they lack what is Divine. Furthermore the holy things of the Church are rendered unholy by sins because sins take what is Divine away from them.

[4] This then is the reason why sanctuaries are said to have been polluted by the uncleanness of the people and why those places therefore had to be expiated annually. The reason why the expiations were made with blood on the horns of the altars and not on the altars themselves was that the horns were the extremities of them, and nothing of a person has been purified unless the extremities or what is outermost has been purified. For inner things flow into those that are outermost, but the state of the outermost conditions the inflow. Consequently if what is outermost has been perverted the things within become perverted; for when those inner things flow into outermost ones, the recipient forms into which they descend are conditioned by the state in which the outermost things exist. The situation is like that when the eye is in bad condition; the power of sight which comes from within sees things only as that eye-condition will allow. Or it is like that when the arms are in bad shape; the powers which come from within exert themselves only as that condition will allow. Consequently if the natural man has been perverted the spiritual lacks the opportunity to function properly within the natural man, and this is why the spiritual or internal man is closed.

[5] But see what has been shown already on these matters, namely the following;

If a person is to be purified the natural or external man must be purified, see the places referred to in 9325(end).

This is because the path that all influx takes is from the internal to the external, and not vice versa, 5119, 6322.

For it is on the natural level within a person that influx from the spiritual world reaches its destination, 5651.

The outward aspects of a person have been formed to serve the inward, 5947, 9216, 9828.

Thus the external man must be altogether subject to the internal, 5786, 6275, 6284, 6299.

This is because the internal man is in heaven and the external man is in the world, 3167, 10156.

And the external man by himself or left to himself alone acts contrary to the internal, 3913, 3928.

In addition to all this, see 9701-9709 stating what the internal man is and what the external man is.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 6914

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6914. 'And I will give this people favour in the eyes of the Egyptians means fear, on account of the plagues, which those steeped in falsities had of those belonging to the spiritual Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'giving favour' as fear on account of the plagues, dealt with below; from the representation of the children of Israel, to whom 'people' refers here, as those belonging to the spiritual Church, dealt with in 6637; and from the representation of 'the Egyptians' as those who are steeped in falsities, often dealt with already. The fact that 'giving favour in the eyes of the Egyptians' means fear on account of the plagues that is present in those steeped in falsities is clear when one understands the matters described in the internal sense; for the subject is those who are steeped in falsities, meant by 'the Egyptians' - with the truths and forms of good which are to be taken away from them and passed on to those who belong to the spiritual Church. And since the subject is those who are steeped in falsities, 'favour' does not mean favour, for people who are steeped in falsities and evils do not feel in any way at all disposed to show favour towards anyone. If they treat anyone well or do not treat him badly they do so through fear of 'plagues'; these are the reason for their show of favour. This favour is the kind meant here in the internal sense. The internal sense displays things as they really are, not as they are made to stand in the letter, and makes every detail relevant to the subject. The truth of this is also evident from what follows regarding the Egyptians, where it is evident that they did not let the children of Israel go out of any disposition to show them favour, only out of fear on account of further plagues, Exodus 11:1; 12:33.

[2] These two verses, when they say that the women of Israel were to ask the Egyptian women for silver, gold, and clothes, refer to 'the plundering' of the Egyptians. And because what is meant by this cannot at all be known except from a revelation describing things that take place in the next life - for the internal sense contains the kinds of things that take place among angels and spirits - the matter must therefore be discussed. Before the Lord's Coming the lower parts of heaven had been occupied by evil genii and spirits; but afterwards they were driven out from there and that region was given to those who belonged to the spiritual Church, see above in 6858. As long as the evil genii and spirits were there they were under constant watch by angels belonging to a higher heaven and were thereby restrained from committing evil deeds openly. At the present day too some who are more devious than others because they mislead people by their pretence of innocence and charity are under watch by celestial ones, and so long as they are under it they are held back from their unspeakable tricks. They are directly overhead; but the celestial angels under whose watch they are kept are even higher. This has allowed me to know what the situation was like of the evil genii and spirits who occupied the lower region of heaven before the Lord's Coming; during that time they were held back by angels belonging to a higher heaven from committing evil deeds openly.

[3] But as for the way in which they were held back from committing evil deeds openly, this too I have been allowed to know. They were kept in check by external restraints, which were fear of the loss of position and reputation, and fear that they would be deprived of places they hold in that region of heaven and would be thrust down into hell; and at that time good yet simple spirits were attached to them. It was like what happens with people in the world. Even though inwardly they may be devils those external restraints force them to keep up a pretence of honourableness and righteousness and to do good. And to ensure that they go on behaving in these ways spirits who are governed by simple good are attached to them. The situation was similar with the evil who were in the lower region of heaven before the Lord's Coming. At that time too they could be driven by selfish kinds of love to speak what was true and do what was good. They were not unlike wicked priests, indeed even very wicked ones, who inwardly are devils, but who can proclaim the teachings of their Church with such passion and seeming zeal that they move the hearts of their hearers to godliness. Yet all the while they are ruled by self-love and love of the world, for the thought of their own position and gain reigns in every part of them and is what fires them to proclaim those teachings in such a way. There are evil spirits present with them, ruled by the same kind of love and consequently thinking in the same kind of way, who lead them; but good yet simple spirits are attached to them. From all this one may recognize what the state of heaven was like before the Lord's Coming.

[4] But after the Lord's Coming the states of heaven and hell were completely altered; for then the evil genii and spirits who occupied the lower region of heaven were cast down and were replaced by those raised up there who belonged to the spiritual Church. At that time the evil who were cast down had the external restraints taken away from them, which, as stated above, were fear of the loss of position and gain and deprivation of places they hold in that region. They were thus left to their inner selves, which were entirely devilish and hellish, and so were banished to the hells. The removal of external restraints is effected in the next life by withdrawing the good spirits who have been attached to them; and when they have been withdrawn the evil can no more maintain any pretence of goodness, righteousness, or honourableness, but can only behave in accord with what they had been like inwardly in the world, that is, in accord with what they had really thought and desired, which they had concealed from others there, their only wish being to do what is evil. The good yet simple spirits who were withdrawn from those evil spirits were assigned or attached to those who belonged to the spiritual Church, to whom that region of heaven was given as a possession. This is why they were enriched with the truths and forms of good which the evil genii and spirits had had previously. Enrichment with truths and forms of good is effected in the next life by means of the attachment of spirits with whom truth and goodness are present; for communication is effected through them.

[5] These things are what are meant by the statement that the children of Israel would not go out of Egypt empty-handed, and that a woman should ask of her female neighbour, and of the female guest in her house, vessels of silver, vessels of gold, and clothes, and in so doing would plunder the Egyptians. Anyone can see that unless the kinds of things described above had been represented the Divine would never have commanded them to use that kind of guile against the Egyptians; for all behaviour like that is very far removed from the Divine. But since those people were completely representative they were allowed by the Divine, because such a thing would be done to the evil in the next life, to act in that kind of way. It should be recognized that very many things which were commanded by Jehovah or the Lord do not in the internal sense mean things that were commanded by Him but those that were permitted.

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