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Jeremiah 30

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1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2 Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write for thee all the words that I have spoken to thee in a book.

3 For lo, the days come, saith the LORD; that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

4 And these are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.

6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more bring him into subjection:

9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them.

10 Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and quiet, and none shall make him afraid.

11 For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

12 For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.

13 There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.

14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisements of a cruel one, for the multitude of thy iniquity; because thy sins were increased.

15 Why criest thou for thy affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thy iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things to thee.

16 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thy adversaries, every one of them shall go into captivity; and they that plunder thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.

17 For I will restore health to thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

18 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; and the city shall be built upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after its manner.

19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

20 Their children also shall be as in former time, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.

21 And their nobles shall be from themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach time: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach to me? saith the LORD.

22 And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

23 Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.

24 The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he hath done it, and until he hath performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 498

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498. And to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. This symbolically means that people who wish to destroy these two essential elements of the New Church propel themselves into evils and falsities of every kind, as often as, and in the measure that, they do so.

The earth symbolizes the church (no. 285), and a plague symbolizes evil and falsity (no. 456). Thus to strike the earth with every plague means, symbolically, to ruin the church with evils and falsities of every kind.

Still, as in the case of earlier interpretations, this has to be understood, namely, that when people wish to strike these two essential elements of the New Church with plague, that is, when they wish to destroy them, which they are moved by evil to do by means of falsities, they propel themselves into evils and falsities of every kind. Moreover, because the natural sense is turned around when it becomes spiritual, therefore this statement, too, "as often as they desire," is similarly changed into "as often as and in the measure that they do." The reason is that to the extent someone destroys these two essential elements, to the same extent he destroys the truths of the Word, and to the extent he destroys the truths of the Word, to the same extent he propels himself into evils and falsities. For these two essential elements are truths of the Word, as may be clearly seen from two books containing the doctrine of the New Jerusalem, one being The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, and the other titled The Doctrine of Life in Accordance With the Precepts of the Decalogue.

This statement, that the two witnesses have the power to strike the earth with every plague as often as they desire, is similar to many others in the Word which attribute to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, His striking people with a plague, and its being His will to do so, even though it is to be understood that He does not strike anyone, and that it is not His will to do so. For example, in Zechariah:

This shall be the plague with which Jehovah will strike all the people who fight against Jerusalem. (Zechariah 14:12ff.)

And in Jeremiah:

...I have stricken you with the plague of an enemy, with the chastisement of a tyrant, for the multitude of your iniquities... (Jeremiah 30:14)

And so on in many places elsewhere. See also no. 494 above.

  
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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.