290. It was called 'the mother of all living' from its faith in the Lord, who is Life itself. This too becomes clear from what has been shown already. There cannot possibly be more than one Life from which everyone's life derives, nor can life which really is life possibly exist unless it comes by way of faith in the Lord, who is Life. Neither can faith exist which has life within it unless it comes from Him, and so has Him within it. This is why in the Word the Lord is called the only Living, and the LIVING JEHOVAH, in Jeremiah 5:2; 12:16; 16:14-15; 23:7; Ezekiel 5:11; the One living forever, in Daniel 4:34; Revelation 4:10; 5:14; 10:6; in David, the fountain of life, Psalms 36:9; in Jeremiah, the fount of living waters, 17:13. Heaven which derives its life from Him is called 'the land of the living' in Isaiah 38:11; 53:8; Ezekiel 26:20; 32:23-27, 32; Psalms 27:13; 52:5; 142:5. And those who have faith in the Lord are called 'the living', as in David,

Who has kept our soul among the living. Psalms 66:9.

It is also said that those who have faith appear in the Book of Lives, Psalms 69:28, and in the Book of Life, Revelation 13:8; 17:8; 20:15. This also is why it is said of those who receive faith in Him that they are made alive, Hosea 6:2; Psalms 85:6. Conversely those who have no faith were in consequence called 'the dead', as also in Isaiah,

The dead will not live, the Rephaim will not rise. To that end You have visited them and wiped them out. Isaiah 26:14.

This stands for people who are puffed up with self-love. 'Rising up means entering into life. They are also called 'the slain' ¹ in Ezekiel 32:23-26, 28-31; and hell is called 'death' in Isaiah 25:8; 28:15. The Lord too refers to them as 'the dead' in Matthew 4:16; John 5:24; 8:21, 24, 51-52.

Poznámky pod čarou:

Intellectual things -- ideas, knowledge, facts, even insight and understanding -- are more separate and free-standing than emotional things, and it's easier to imagine numbering them as individual things. Our loves and affections tend to be more amorphous -- they can certainly be powerful, but would be harder to measure. Using words like “much,” “many,” myriad” and “multitude” to describe a collection of things gives the sense that there is an exact number, even if we don't know what it is and don't want to bother trying to count. These words, then, are used in the Bible in reference to intellectual things -- our thoughts, knowledge and concepts. Words that indicate largeness without the idea of number -- “great” is a common one -- generally refer to loves, affections and the desire for good. Here's one way to think about this: Say you want to take some food to a friend who just had a baby. That's a desire for good (assuming you're doing it from genuinely good motives). To actually do it, though, takes dozens of thoughts, ideas, facts and knowledges. What does she like to eat? What do you have to cook? What do you cook well? Can you keep it hot getting to her house? Is it nutritious? Does she have any allergies? So one good desire can bring a multitude of ideas into play.