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Deuteronomy 33

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1 This is the blessing, with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.

2 He said, "Yahweh came from Sinai, And rose from Seir to them. He shone forth from Mount Paran. He came from the ten thousands of holy ones. At his right hand was a fiery law for them.

3 Yes, he loves the people. All his saints are in your hand. They sat down at your feet; [Everyone] shall receive of your words.

4 Moses commanded us a law, An inheritance for the assembly of Jacob.

5 He was king in Jeshurun, When the heads of the people were gathered, All the tribes of Israel together.

6 "Let Reuben live, and not die; Nor let his men be few."

7 This is [the blessing] of Judah: and he said, "Hear, Yahweh, the voice of Judah. Bring him in to his people. With his hands he contended for himself. You shall be a help against his adversaries."

8 Of Levi he said, "Your Thummim and your Urim are with your godly one, whom you proved at Massah, with whom you strove at the waters of Meribah;

9 who said of his father, and of his mother, 'I have not seen him;' Neither did he acknowledge his brothers, Nor did he know his own children: For they have observed your word, and keep your covenant.

10 They shall teach Jacob your ordinances, and Israel your law. They shall put incense before you, and whole burnt offering on your altar.

11 Yahweh, bless his substance. Accept the work of his hands. Strike through the hips of those who rise up against him, of those who hate him, that they not rise again."

12 Of Benjamin he said, "The beloved of Yahweh shall dwell in safety by him. He covers him all the day long. He dwells between his shoulders."

13 Of Joseph he said, "His land is blessed by Yahweh, for the precious things of the heavens, for the dew, for the deep that couches beneath,

14 for the precious things of the fruits of the sun, for the precious things of the growth of the moons,

15 for the chief things of the ancient mountains, for the precious things of the everlasting hills,

16 for the precious things of the earth and its fullness, the good will of him who lived in the bush. Let [the blessing] come on the head of Joseph, On the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

17 The firstborn of his herd, majesty is his. His horns are the horns of the wild ox. With them he shall push the peoples all of them, [even] the ends of the earth: They are the ten thousands of Ephraim. They are the thousands of Manasseh."

18 Of Zebulun he said, "Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out; and Issachar, in your tents.

19 They shall call the peoples to the mountain. There they will offer sacrifices of righteousness, for they shall draw out the abundance of the seas, the hidden treasures of the sand."

20 Of Gad he said, "He who enlarges Gad is blessed. He dwells as a lioness, and tears the arm, yes, the crown of the head.

21 He provided the first part for himself, for there was the lawgiver's portion reserved. He came [with] the heads of the people. He executed the righteousness of Yahweh, His ordinances with Israel."

22 Of Dan he said, "Dan is a lion's cub that leaps out of Bashan."

23 Of Naphtali he said, "Naphtali, satisfied with favor, full of the blessing of Yahweh, Possess the west and the south."

24 Of Asher he said, "Asher is blessed with children. Let him be acceptable to his brothers. Let him dip his foot in oil.

25 Your bars shall be iron and brass. As your days, so your strength will be.

26 "There is none like God, Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens for your help, In his excellency on the skies.

27 The eternal God is [your] dwelling place. Underneath are the everlasting arms. He thrust out the enemy from before you, and said, 'Destroy!'

28 Israel dwells in safety; the fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine. Yes, his heavens drop down dew.

29 You are happy, Israel. Who is like you, a people saved by Yahweh, the shield of your help, the sword of your excellency! Your enemies shall submit themselves to you. You shall tread on their high places."

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 623

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623. Being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. This symbolizes the commencement of a Christian heaven that acknowledges one God, in whom is the Trinity, and acknowledges that the Lord is that one.

Firstfruits mean something that is produced first, and something gathered first, thus a commencement, here the commencement of a new heaven formed of Christians. God and the Lamb mean here, as before, the Lord in respect to the Divine itself from which springs all else, and in respect to His Divine humanity, including the emanating Divinity, thus one God in whom is the Trinity.

We will say something here about firstfruits. In the Israelite Church people were commanded to give to Jehovah as sacred the firstfuits of produce - of every kind of grain, of oil and wine, of the fruits of trees, and of wool - and these were given by Jehovah to Aaron, and after him to the high priest (Exodus 22:29; 23:19, Numbers 13:20; 15:17-21; 18:8-20, Numbers 28:26-31).

The reason for this was that firstfruits symbolized something that is produced first and afterward grows, like a child into an adult, or a cutting into a tree, and thus it symbolized every subsequent development until the thing's completion. For every subsequent development is present in the initial one, like the adult in the child, or the tree in the cutting. And because this first development occurs before the subsequent ones, as is the case also in heaven and in the church, therefore the firstfruits were sacred to the Lord, and the people celebrated a feast of firstfuits.

Firstfruits have a similar symbolic meaning in Jeremiah 24:1-2, Ezekiel 20:40, Micah 7:1, Deuteronomy 33:15, 21.

  
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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.