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2 Mosebok 23

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1 Du skall icke utsprida falskt rykte; åt den som har en orätt sak skall du icke giva ditt bistånd genom att bliva ett orättfärdigt vittne.

2 Du skall icke följa med hopen i vad ont är, eller vittna så i någon sak, att du böjer dig efter hopen och vränger rätten.

3 Du skall icke vara partisk för den ringe i någon hans sak.

4 Om du träffar på din fiendes oxe eller åsna som har kommit vilse, så skall du föra djuret tillbaka till honom.

5 Om du ser din oväns åsna ligga dignad under sin börda, så skall du ingalunda lämna mannen ohulpen, utan hjälpa honom att lösa av bördan.

6 Du skall icke i någon sak vränga rätten för den fattige som du har hos dig.

7 Du skall hålla dig fjärran ifrån orätt sak; du skall icke dräpa den som är oskyldig och har rätt, ty jag skall icke giva rätt åt någon som är skyldig.

8 Du skall icke taga mutor, ty mutor förblinda de seende och förvrida de rättfärdigas sak.

9 En främling skall du icke förtrycka; I veten ju huru främlingen känner det, eftersom I själva haven varit främlingar i Egyptens land.

10 I sex år skall du beså din jord och inbärga dess gröda;

11 men under det sjunde året skall du låta den vila och ligga orörd, för att de fattiga bland ditt folk må äta därav; vad de lämna kvar, det må ätas av markens djur. Så skall du ock göra med din vingård och med din olivplantering.

12 Sex dagar skall du göra ditt arbete, men på sjunde dagen skall du hålla vilodag, för att din oxe och din åsna må hava ro, och din tjänstekvinnas son och främlingen må njuta vila.

13 I alla de stycken om vilka jag har talat till eder skolen I taga eder till vara. Och andra gudars namn skolen I icke nämna; de skola icke höras i din mun.

14 Tre gånger om året skall du hålla högtid åt mig.

15 Det osyrade brödets högtid skall du hålla: i sju dagar skall du äta osyrat bröd, såsom jag har bjudit dig, på den bestämda tiden i månaden Abib, eftersom du då drog ut ur Egypten; men med tomma händer skall ingen träda fram inför mitt ansikte.

16 Du skall ock hålla skördehögtiden, när du skördar förstlingen av ditt arbete, av det du har sått på marken. Bärgningshögtiden skall du ock hålla, vid årets utgång, när du inbärgar frukten av ditt arbete från marken.

17 Tre gånger om året skall allt ditt mankön träda fram inför HERRENS, din Herres, ansikte.

18 Du skall icke offra blodet av mitt slaktoffer jämte något som är syrat. Och det feta av mitt högtidsoffer skall icke lämnas kvar över natten till morgonen.

19 Det första av din marks förstlingsfrukter skall du föra till HERRENS, din Guds, hus. Du skall icke koka en killing i dess moders mjölk.

20 Se, jag skall sända en ängel framför dig, som skall bevara dig på vägen och föra dig till den plats som jag har utsett.

21 Tag dig till vara inför honom och hör hans röst, var icke gensträvig mot honom, han skall icke hava fördrag med edra överträdelser, ty mitt namn är i honom.

22 Men om du hör hans röst och gör allt vad jag säger, så skall jag bliva en fiende till dina fiender och en ovän till dina ovänner.

23 Ty min ängel skall gå framför dig och skall föra dig till amoréernas, hetiternas, perisséernas, kananéernas, hivéernas och jebuséernas land, och jag skall utrota dem.

24 Du må icke tillbedja deras gudar eller tjäna dem eller göra såsom man där gör, utan du skall slå dem ned i grund och bryta sönder deras stoder.

25 Men HERREN, eder Gud, skolen I tjäna, så skall han för dig välsigna både mat och dryck; sjukdom skall jag då ock avvända från dig.

26 I ditt land skall då icke finnas någon kvinna som föder i otid eller är ofruktsam. Dina dagars mått skall jag göra fullt.

27 Förskräckelse för mig skall jag sända framför dig och vålla förvirring bland alla de folk som du kommer till, och jag skall driva alla dina fiender på flykten för dig.

28 Jag skall sända getingar framför dig, och de skola förjaga hivéerna, kananéerna och hetiterna undan för dig.

29 Dock skall jag icke på ett och samma år förjaga dem för dig, på det att icke landet så må bliva en ödemark och vilddjuren föröka sig till din skada;

30 utan småningom skall jag förjaga dem för dig, till dess du har förökat dig, så att du kan taga landet till din arvedel.

31 Och jag skall låta ditt lands gränser gå från Röda havet till filistéernas hav, och från öknen till floden; ty jag skall giva landets inbyggare i eder hand, och du skall förjaga dem, så att de fly för dig.

32 Du må icke sluta förbund med dem eller deras gudar.

33 De skola icke få bo kvar i ditt land, på det att de icke må förleda dig till synd mot mig; ty du kunde ju komma att tjäna deras gudar, och detta skulle bliva dig till en snara.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 865

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865. These were redeemed from among men, being the first-fruits unto God and unto the Lamb. That this signifies those in the New Church who are received by the Lord, is evident from the signification of those who are redeemed by the Lord, as denoting those who receive instruction from the Word, especially respecting the Lord, and who live according to it; respecting which see above (n. 860). These are also called the redeemed of the Lord; and these are the redeemed who are regenerated by the Lord; and these are they who follow the Lord, that is, are led by Him, of whom we have just treated above. And the same appears from the signification of the first-fruits of God and the Lamb, as denoting those who have given themselves to the Lord, and are adopted by Him. That these are those who belong to the New Church, is evident from this consideration, that they are called the first-fruits to God and to the Lamb. For those who are received therein, acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human, and live according to His precepts. No others, are received in the New Church, called the New Jerusalem, because those who do not believe it, and so live, are not in agreement with the life of heaven, neither with the light there, nor with the heat; for the light there is Divine truth, from which come all intelligence and wisdom; and the heat there is Divine good, from which come all love and charity. All man's affection and thought therefrom is not only within him, and constitutes his life, but is also external to him, and constitutes the sphere of his life. This is why heaven is divided into societies according to the varieties of affections and thoughts therefrom. Unless therefore the affections and the thoughts therefrom are spiritual, and are formed solely from the acknowledgment of the Lord, and from a life according to His precepts, they cannot be admitted into any society of heaven, for they are repugnant thereto. This is the reason that those who do not acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human, and do not live according to His precepts in the Word, cannot be in association with the angels of heaven. That this is the case, has been made plain to me from much experience. There were some who had thought of the Lord only as of another man, and had lived in the faith of the present day, which is a faith of the thought merely, without any good of life. But because they believed that nothing more was necessary to life eternal than to be admitted into heaven, therefore, according to their wish, they were admitted into some society; but as soon as the light of heaven struck their eyes with its lustre, their sight and also their understanding began to be entirely obscured and became stupefied. And when the heat of heaven came upon them, they began to be tormented in a direful manner, and as to the head and limbs to writhe like serpents. Therefore they cast themselves downwards, swearing that to enter heaven was hell to them, unless they were in the light and heat of heaven; and that they did not know that every one has heaven from love and thence faith, or from a life according to the Lord's precepts in the Word, and from faith in the Lord, and not in any way from faith without the life of faith, which is charity.

[2] It shall now be stated in a few words what first-fruits in the Word signify. They signify the same as the first-begotten; but the latter term is used of animals, and first-fruits of vegetables. Thus the first-begotten are what are born first, and first-fruits are from the first things produced; and both signify the spiritual good first formed, which is essentially truth from good from the Lord. The origin of this is as follows. There are two minds in man, natural and spiritual. From the natural mind alone nothing but evil is produced, and the falsity therefrom; but as soon as the spiritual mind is opened, then good is produced, and the truth therefrom; this which is first produced is meant by the first-begotten and by the first-fruits. Now because nothing born and produced from the spiritual mind is from man but from the Lord, therefore those things were sanctified to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, because they were His, and consequently holy. And because that which is born or produced first, signifies all the things that follow in a series - as a leader the people, and a shepherd the flock - therefore by the first-begotten and the first-fruits being given to the Lord was signified that all other things were also His.

[3] But in order that this may be more clearly understood, it must be known, that the merely natural mind is formed according to the idea or image of the world, but the spiritual mind according to the idea or image of heaven; and that the spiritual mind is opened to no one, except by the acknowledgment of the Divine of the Lord, and by a life according to His precepts; and that previous to this, no good and truth are produced. But as soon as the spiritual mind is opened, then they are produced therefrom from the Lord. Therefore the first that is produced is called holy, and signifies that all things afterwards produced are also holy. From these things, it is evident that the opening of the womb or matrix signifies the opening of the spiritual mind. That this is the signification is seen also from correspondence; for the womb corresponds to the good of celestial love; concerning which correspondence see above (n. 710), and in the Arcana Coelestia 4918, 5050-5062).

[4] Since the things now mentioned were signified by the first-fruits; and since the things of harvest, as wheat, barley, and the rest, signified the goods and truths of heaven and the church; also wool, and the clean and useful beasts, therefore, of the latter the first-begotten were given to the Lord, and of the former the first-fruits. And because the high priest represented the Lord as to His priesthood, which is the good of love, therefore they were given to that priest. And consequently everything produced from corn, wine, and oil was sanctified.

But concerning those first-fruits, see the statutes for the sons of Israel in the law of Moses; as, for example, the first of the fruits of all the corn, oil, wine, and the fruit of the tree; also of the fleece, and the first-begotten of the flock and the herd; and that they were given as holy to Jehovah, and by Jehovah to Aaron, and after him to the high priest.

(Exodus 22:29; Numbers 13:20; 15:17-22; 18:8-20; Deuteronomy 18:4; 26:1, to the end).

And concerning the feast of the first-fruits of harvest, and of the first-fruits of bread

(Exodus 23:14, 15, 16, 19, 26; Leviticus 23:9-15, 20-25 Numbers 28:26, to the end; and elsewhere).

From these things it is now evident, that by first-fruits to God and to the Lamb are meant those who will belong to the New Church, called the New Jerusalem, who acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human, and live a life of love, that is, a life according to the Lord's precepts in the Word. For in the case of these and no others is the spiritual mind opened; no others, therefore, are led of the Lord, or follow Him whithersoever He goeth.

That by God and the Lamb in the Apocalypse, is meant the Lord as to the Divine itself, and at the same time as to the Divine Human, may be seen above (n. 297, 314, 343, 460, 482).

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.