Ezekiel 7
1
Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2
Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD to the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land.
3
Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send my anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thy abominations.
4
And my eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
5
Thus saith the Lord GOD; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come.
6
An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come.
7
The morning is come upon thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains.
8
Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish my anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thy abominations.
9
And my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thy abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the LORD that smiteth.
10
Behold the day, behold, it is come; the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.
11
Violence hath risen into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs: neither shall there be wailing for them.
12
The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.
13
For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is concerning the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.
14
They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof:
15
The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.
16
But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.
17
All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.
18
They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.
19
They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels because it is the stumbling-block of their iniquity.
20
As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them.
21
And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it.
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My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.
23
Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.
24
Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease, and their holy places shall be defiled.
25
Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.
26
Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders.
27
The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do to them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Arcana Coelestia # 2235
2235. That 'righteousness' means in regard to good, and 'judgement' to truth, becomes clear from the meaning of 'righteousness' and from the meaning of 'judgement'. Righteousness and judgement are mentioned together many times in the Word, but what they mean in the internal sense has not yet been known. In the proximate sense 'righteousness' has reference to that which is righteous, and 'judgement' to that which is upright. That which is righteous occurs when something is judged from good, and according to conscience, but that which is upright when it is judged from law, and so from the righteous demands of the law, thus also according to conscience since the law gives conscience its standards. In the internal sense however, 'righteousness' is that which stems from good, and 'judgement' that which stems from truth. Good is everything that belongs to love and charity, truth everything that belongs to faith derived from love and charity. Truth derives its essence from good, and is called truth derived from good, just as faith is derived from love, and so also judgement from righteousness.
[2] That such is the meaning of 'righteousness and judgement' is clear from the following places in the Word: In Jeremiah,
Thus said Jehovah, Do judgement and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor. Woe to him who builds his house in unrighteousness, and his upper rooms not in judgement! Did not your father eat and drink, and do judgement and righteousness? Then it was well with him. Jeremiah 22:3, 13, 15.
'Judgement' stands for the things connected with truth, 'righteousness' for those connected with good. In Ezekiel,
If the wicked man turns away from his sin and does judgement and righteousness, all his sins which he has committed will not be remembered; he has done judgement and righteousness; he will surely live. When the wicked turns away from his wickedness and does judgement and righteousness he will live because of these. Ezekiel 33:14, 16, 19.
Here similarly 'judgement' stands for the truth of faith, and 'righteousness' for the good of charity.
[3] In Amos,
Let judgement flow like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. Amos 5:24.
Here the meaning is similar. In Isaiah,
Thus said Jehovah, Keep judgement and do righteousness, for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to reveal itself. Isaiah 56:1.
In the same prophet,
To peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it in judgement and righteousness, from now and even for evermore. Isaiah 9:7.
Here 'judgement and righteousness' stands for the existence with them of the truths of faith, and of the goods of charity. In the same prophet,
Jehovah is exalted, for He dwells on high. He has filled Zion with judgement and righteousness. Isaiah 33:5.
'Judgement' stands for faith, 'righteousness' for love, 'Zion' for the Church. 'Judgement' is mentioned first because love comes through faith; but when 'righteousness' is mentioned first it is for the reason that faith is derived from love, as in Hosea,
I will betroth you to Me for ever, and I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and judgement, and in mercy and in compassion, 1 and I will betroth you to Me in faith, and you will know Jehovah. Hosea 2:19-20.
Here 'righteousness' is mentioned first, as also is 'mercy', which are the attributes of love, while 'judgement' is mentioned second, as also is 'compassion', which are the attributes of faith that is derived from love. And both are called 'faith' or faithfulness.
[4] In David,
O Jehovah, Your mercy is in the heavens; Your truth reaches up to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, Your judgements like the great deep. Psalms 36:5-6.
Here both 'mercy' and 'righteousness' are in a similar way the attributes of love, while 'truth' and 'judgements' are those of faith. In the same author,
Let truth spring out of the ground, and let righteousness look down from heaven. Jehovah will indeed give what is good, and our land will give its increase. Psalms 85:11-12.
Here 'truth', which constitutes faith, stands for judgement, and 'righteousness' for love or mercy. In Zechariah,
I will lead them and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and they will be My people, and I will be their God in truth and in righteousness. Zechariah 8:8.
From this place also it is evident that 'judgement' is truth and 'righteousness' good, since 'truth' is mentioned here in place of judgement. Similarly in David,
He who walks blameless and performs righteousness and speaks the truth. Psalms 15:2.
[5] Because faith is grounded in charity, that is, because truth is grounded in good, truths rooted in good are in various places called 'the judgements of righteousness', so that 'judgements' has virtually the same meaning as commandments, as in Isaiah,
Let them seek Me day by day and desire the knowledge of My ways, as though a nation that does righteousness and does not forsake the judgement of their God. Let them ask of Me the judgements of righteousness, let them desire the approach of God. Isaiah 58:2.
That 'commandments' means virtually the same may be seen in David,
Seven times in the day I have praised You for Your judgements of righteousness. All Your commandments are righteousness. Psalms 119:164, 172.
It is said in particular of the Lord that He performs 'judgement and righteousness' when He creates man anew, as in Jeremiah,
Let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am Jehovah who performs mercy, judgement and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I am well pleased. Jeremiah 9:24.
Here mercy, which is an attribute of love, is described as 'judgement and righteousness'. In the same prophet,
I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he will rule as king, and act intelligently, and execute judgement and righteousness in the land. Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15.
[6] Hence the following in John,
If I go away I will send the Paraclete to you. And when He comes He will convince the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgement: in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me; in regard to righteousness, because I go away to the Father, and you will see Me no more; in regard to judgement, because the prince of this world is judged. John 16:7-11.
'Sin' here stands for all faithlessness. 'He will convince in regard to righteousness' means in regard to everything that is contrary to good, when yet the Lord united the Human to the Divine to save the world, meant by 'I go away to the Father and you will see Me no more'. 'In regard to judgement' means in regard to everything that is contrary to the truth, when yet evils were cast down into their own hells so that they could not do harm any more, meant by 'the prince of this world is judged'. In general 'He will convince in regard to sin, righteousness, and judgement' means in regard to all faithlessness contrary to good and truth, and so means that no charity and faith exist. For in ancient times righteousness and judgement were used, in reference to the Lord, to mean all mercy and grace, but in reference to man all charity and faith.
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. literally, compassions
