Bible

 

Deuteronomy 33

Studie

   

1 And this is the with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death.

2 And he said, the LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir to them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.

3 Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.

4 Moses commanded us a law; even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.

5 And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were assembled.

6 Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.

7 And this is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him to his people: let his hands be sufficient for him, and be thou a help to him from his enemies.

8 And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;

9 Who said to his father and to his mother, I have not seen him, neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor know his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.

10 They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law; they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thy altar.

11 Bless, LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again.

12 And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

13 And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,

14 And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,

15 And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,

16 And for the precious things of the earth and fullness of it, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush; let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.

17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

18 And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; and Issachar, in thy tents.

19 They shall call the people to the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand.

20 And of Gad he said: Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head.

21 And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated: and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the LORD, and his judgments with Israel.

22 And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.

23 And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favor, and full with the blessing of the LORD: possess thou the west and the south.

24 And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.

25 Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.

26 There is none like to the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellence on the sky.

27 The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, Destroy them.

28 Israel then shall dwell in safety alone; the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine, also his heavens shall drop down dew.

29 Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like to thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellence! and thy enemies shall be found liars to thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Apocalypse Explained # 445

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 1232  
  

445. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. That this signifies faith, and salvation, is plain from the representation and thence the signification of Issachar and his tribe, because they denote that which constitutes heaven and salvation in man. For Issachar in the original tongue signifies reward, and heaven and salvation in man are the result of love and faith, therefore both are signified by the tribe of Issachar, for in the Word "reward," is often named as that "they shall receive a reward," and by this is understood eternal life, salvation, and, by most readers, heavenly joy, these things in the proximate sense being also signified by reward. But although it is right for a man to think concerning eternal life, salvation, and heavenly joy, if he live according to the precepts of the Lord; still it is not right for him to keep his mind intently fixed on reward, for then he looks to reward as an end, and falls easily into the idea that he merits heaven and salvation by his life; this thought causes him to regard himself in everything, and cuts him off from heaven; for as far as man considers himself in what he does, so far has he no regard for heaven. For this reason reward, in the Word, signifies that in which heaven and salvation are, and thus generally love and faith, and consequently intelligence and wisdom; salvation and heaven and therefore heavenly joy are in these in the measure that a man does not think of reward. From these things it is evident what Issachar and the tribe of Issachar signify.

[2] Faith is here signified, because the tribe of Simeon signifies obedience, and the tribe of Levi good works, and those who are in good works from obedience are also in faith; but those who are in the goods of life from a spiritual affection for truth and good are in charity, and those who are in the goods of life from a celestial affection, are in love to the Lord. There is a similar distinction amongst angels in the heavens. In the inmost or third heaven are those who are in the goods of life from a celestial affection, in the middle or second heaven are those who are in the goods of life from a spiritual affection, and in the ultimate or first heaven are those who are in good works from obedience. The latter are also said to be in faith, for according to their apprehension they believe what they hear from the sense of the letter of the Word, and from preachers, but they do not see and perceive whether they are truths, therefore their thought about things which must be believed is called faith. For that which is believed without an intellectual insight and perception of its character, is properly called faith, in which case the false is believed equally with the true; but when what is believed is seen and perceived, it is not then called faith, but apperception (apperceptio) and perception; for the understanding enlightened from the Lord sees, the will is affected, and action follows from both.

[3] Issachar and his tribe here signify faith, because the three tribes now treated of, out of each of which twelve thousand were sealed, mean all those who are in the ultimate or first heaven; and those who are in this heaven are said to be in good works from obedience, and in faith. Many also of them call faith alone the essential of salvation, but still they do not separate it from good works, for they say that faith is given them by the Lord because they are in good works, and that if they were not in good works faith would not be granted. But those who separate faith from good works, saying that it is the only means of salvation, and that they can be saved by means of it, however they may live, and confirm this by their life, are not in the ultimate heaven, but in hell.

[4] Those who look to reward on account of the good works which they perform, and thus place merit in works, are meant by Issachar, in the prophecy of Israel concerning his sons:

"Issachar is a bony ass couching down between burdens; And he shall see rest that it is good; and the land that it is pleasant; and shall bow his shoulder to bear, [and become a servant unto tribute]" (Genesis 49:14, 15).

Issachar there signifies reward or recompense for works; a bony ass signifies the lowest servitude; couching down between burdens signifies life amongst works; and he shall see rest that it is good, signifies good works without recompense full of felicity; and the land that it is pleasant, signifies that those who are in the kingdom of the Lord are in such felicity; and shall bow his shoulder to bear, signifies nevertheless labour in every work; and become a servant unto tribute, signifies for the sake of reward. These things may be seen more fully explained in the Arcana Coelestia 6387-6394).

[5] But those who do not place merit in the good works which they perform, by looking to reward, but place heaven and the happiness of eternal life in thinking and willing well, and therefore in acting well, and are in that spiritual affection for truth and good, which those possess who are in the heavenly marriage, the marriage of good and truth - they are meant by these words in Moses:

"And of Zebulun, he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going forth; and, Issachar, in thy tents. They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall sacrifice sacrifices of justice; for they shall suck the abundance of the sea, and the hidden treasures of the sand" (Deuteronomy 33:18, 19).

These things are said of those who are in the marriage of good and truth, that is, have truths in their understanding and thought, and goods in their will and affection. Zebulun signifies that marriage, and Issachar, the affection for truth and good. To rejoice in going forth, signifies that they delight in all genuine truths and goods; for going forth signifies all things, because it signifies the ultimate, the effect, and the conclusion. To rejoice in tents, signifies, in all worship. To call the people unto the mountain, signifies, because they are in heaven, where the good of love prevails. To offer sacrifices of justice, signifies worship from truths which are from good. To suck the abundance of the sea, signifies to draw truths of doctrine from the Word, and thence intelligence; and to suck the hidden treasures of the sand, signifies the spiritual things which lie concealed in the sense of the letter of the Word.

[6] Because the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, signified the heaven where the good of love is, the tribe of Judah, that good itself, the tribe of Issachar, its affection, and Zebulun, its conjunction with truths, therefore these three tribes encamped to the east of the tent of the assembly (Num. 2:3,

10. ). For in heaven those dwell to the east who are in the good of love, and thence in the affection for good and truth, and in their marriage or conjunction, that is to say, in truths as to doctrine, and in goods as to life.

  
/ 1232  
  

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