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Ezekiel 31

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1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?

3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shady cover, and of a high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.

4 The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round his plants, and sent out her little rivers to all the trees of the field.

5 Therefore his hight was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.

6 All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shade dwelt all great nations.

7 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.

8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir-trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut-trees were not like his branches; not any tree in the garden of God was like to him in his beauty.

9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.

10 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in hight, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his hight;

11 I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.

12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth have gone down from his shade, and have left him.

13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:

14 To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their hight, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their hight, all that drink water: for they are all delivered to death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.

15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained its floods, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.

16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to the grave with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.

17 They also went down into the grave with him to them that are slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shade in the midst of the heathen.

18 To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden to the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 51

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51. Having in His right hand seven stars. (1:16) This symbolizes all concepts of goodness and truth in the Word, which exist therefore in angels in heaven and in people in the church.

When angels are below the heavens, a great number of what look like little stars appear around them, and likewise around spirits who, when they lived in the world, acquired concepts of goodness and truth for themselves from the Word, or truths of life and doctrine. These little stars appear fixed, however, in the case of those who possess genuine truths from the Word, but wandering in the case of those who possess falsified truths.

(Regarding these little stars, and the stars appearing in the sky there, I could relate marvelous things, but that is not the subject of this work.)

It is apparent from this that stars symbolize concepts of goodness and truth from the Word.

The Son of Man's having them in His right hand means, symbolically, that they come from the Lord alone through the Word. Seven symbolically means all, as may be seen in no. 10 above.

[2] That stars symbolize concepts of goodness and truth from the Word may be seen also from the following passages:

(I will) turn the earth into a wasteland... ...the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. (Isaiah 13:9-10)

The earth that will be turned into a wasteland is the church, in which, having been laid waste, concepts of goodness and truth in the Word are not seen.

When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens... All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you, and bring darkness upon your land. (Ezekiel 32:7-8)

Darkness upon the land is the darkness of falsities in the church.

The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness. (Joel 2:10; 3:15)

...after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven... (Matthew 24:29, cf. Mark 13:24)

The stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs... (Revelation 6:13)

...a star (fell) from heaven to the earth. (Revelation 9:1)

Stars falling from heaven do not mean stars, but concepts of goodness and truth perishing.

[3] This is still more apparent from the statement that a dragon swept down a third of the stars from heaven, in Revelation 12:4, and the statement that a he-goat cast down some of the stars and trampled them, in Daniel 8:8-11. That is why the next verse in Daniel goes on to say that it cast truth to the ground (Daniel 8:12).

Stars also symbolize concepts of goodness and truth in the following passages:

(Jehovah) counts... the stars; He gives all of them names. (Psalms 147:4)

Praise (Jehovah), all you stars of light! (Psalms 148:3)

The stars from their courses fought... (Judges 5:20)

From this it is apparent what is meant by the following statement in Daniel:

The intelligent shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, ...those turning many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:3)

The intelligent are people concerned with truths, and those turning many to righteousness are those concerned with goodness.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

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In Genesis 19:37; 21:26; 30:32; 40:7; Matthew 6:30; Luke 12:28, this signifies the perpetuity and eternity of a state. (Arcana Coelestia 2838)

In Psalm 2:7, this signifies in time; for with Jehovah the future is present. (True Christian Religion 101)

The expression 'even to this day' or 'today' sometimes appears in the Word, as in Genesis 19:37-38, 22:14, 26:33, 32:32, 35:20, and 47:26. In a historical sense, these expressions have respect to the time when Moses lived, but in an internal sense, 'this day' and 'today' signify the perpetuity and eternity of a state. 'Day' denotes state, and likewise 'today,' which is the current time. Anything related to time in the world is eternal in heaven, and to represent this, 'today' or 'to this day' is added. Although, in the historical sense, this appears as if the expressions only have a literal meaning, just like it says in other parts of the Word, such as Joshua 4:9, 6:25, 7:20, Judges 1:21, 26, etc. 'Today' means something perpetual and eternal in Psalms 2:7, 119:89-91, Jeremiah 1:5, 10, 18, Deuteronomy 29:9-14, Numbers 28:3, 23, Daniel 8:13, 11:31, 12:11, Exodus 16:4, 19, 20, 23, John 6:31, 32, 49, 50, 58, Matthew 6:11, and Luke 11:3.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 2838 [1-4], Genesis 47:26)