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Joel 2

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1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; and nothing shall escape them.

4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.

5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:

8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.

9 They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.

10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

11 And the LORD will utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn to the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth of the evil.

14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat-offering and a drink-offering to the LORD your God?

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, Gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thy heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: why should they say among the people, Where is their God?

18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.

19 And the LORD will answer and say to his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied with it; and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:

20 But I will remove far from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face towards the east sea, and his hinder part towards the utmost sea, and his odious scent shall come up, and his ill savor shall come up, because he hath done great things.

21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.

22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth its fruit, the fig-tree and the vine do yield their strength.

23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you.

26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD shall come.

32 And it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 1189

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1189. And the voice of bridegroom and of bride shall not be heard in thee any more signifies no joy from the conjunction of good and truth. This is evident from the signification of "bridegroom," as being in the highest sense the Lord; also from the signification of "bride," as being in that sense the church; and as the Lord flows into man from the Divine good of the Divine love, and is conjoined to the man of the church in the Divine truth, so "bridegroom and bride" mean the conjunction of the Lord with the church, and also the conjunction of good with truth. Because all spiritual joy is from that conjunction, it follows that "the voice of the bridegroom and bride" signifies the joy therefrom. Moreover, the angels have all their wisdom and intelligence, and thus all their joy and happiness from that conjunction and according to it. As this is the signification of "the voice of bridegroom and bride," heavenly joy is described in other places in the Word by "bridegroom and bride." As in Jeremiah:

I will take away from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of the millstone and the voice of the lamp (Jeremiah 25:10).

In the same:

Behold I cause to cease out of this place the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride (Jeremiah 16:9).

In the same:

I will cause to cease out of the cities of Judah, and out of the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride (Jeremiah 7:34).

In Joel:

Let the bridegroom go forth out of His chamber, and the bride out of her closet (Joel 2:16).

In Jeremiah:

Yet again shall be heard in this place the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, of them that say, Confess ye Jehovah of Hosts (Jeremiah 33:10-11).

In these passages, "the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride" signify joy and gladness from the conjunction of the Lord with the church, and thus from the conjunction of good and truth, for the state of the church is here treated of; and the terms "joy and gladness" are also used, "joy" from good and "gladness" from truth.

[2] So in Isaiah:

I will rejoice in Jehovah, my soul shall exult in my God, as the bridegroom putteth on a miter, and as the bride adorneth herself with her jewels (Isaiah 61:10).

"To put on the miter" means to put on wisdom, and "to adorn herself with jewels" means with the knowledges of truth. In the same:

As the joy of the bridegroom over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee (Isaiah 62:5).

That the Lord is meant in the highest sense by the "bridegroom," and the church by the "bride, "' is evident in the Gospels:

When the disciples of John asked about fasting, Jesus said as long as the bridegroom is with them the sons of the nuptials cannot fast; but the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them; then shall they fast (Matthew 9:15; Mark 2:19, 20; Luke 5:34-35).

Here the Lord calls Himself the "bridegroom" and the men of the church He calls "sons of the nuptials;" "to fast" signifies to mourn on account of the lack of truth and good. In Matthew:

The kingdom of the heavens is likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-2).

Here the "bridegroom" means the Lord, and "virgins" mean the church, and "lamps" signify the truths of faith. In John:

He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, who standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth with joy because of the bridegroom's voice (John 3:29).

John the Baptist said this of the Lord, who is meant by the "bridegroom," and the church is meant by the "bride." That the church is meant by the "bride" is evident from these passages in Revelation:

I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Revelation 21:2).

The "New Jerusalem" means the New Church. Again:

Come, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb; and he showed me the city Jerusalem (Revelation 21:9-10).

And again:

The Spirit and the bride say, Come; and he that heareth, let him say, Come (Revelation 22:17).

"The Spirit and the bride" signify the church as to good and truth.

(Continuation)

[3] As the love of rule and the love of riches prevail universally in the Christian world, and these loves at this day are so deeply rooted that it is not known that they in any wise lead astray, it is important that their quality should be set forth. They lead every man astray who does not shun evils because they are sins; for he who does not thus shun evils does not fear God, and therefore remains natural. And as the love of ruling and the love of riches are the natural man's own loves, he does not see with any interior acknowledgment what the quality of those loves are in him. This he does not see unless he is reformed, and he can be reformed only by combat against evils. It is believed that he can be reformed by faith; but there can be no faith of God in man until he fights against evils. When man has thus been reformed light flows in from the Lord through heaven and gives him the affection of seeing and the ability to see what those loves are, and whether they rule or serve in him, thus whether they are in the first place in him and make as it were the head, or are in the second place and make as it were the feet. If they rule and are in the first place they lead astray and become curses; but if they serve and are in the second place they do not lead astray but become blessings.

[4] I can assert that all in whom the love of rule is in the first place are inwardly devils. This love is known from its delight, for it exceeds every other delight of the life of man. It is continually exhaled from hell, and the exhalation appears like the fire of a great furnace, kindling the hearts of men whom the Lord does not protect from it. The Lord protects all who are reformed. Nevertheless, the former although in hell, are led by the Lord but only by means of external bonds, which are fears on account of the penalties of the law and the loss of reputation, honor, gain, and consequently pleasures. He leads them also by means of worldly rewards. He cannot lead them out of hell because the love of rule does not admit of internal bonds, which are the fear of God and affections of good and truth, by means of which the Lord leads all who will follow Him to heaven and in heaven.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.

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