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Deuteronomy 4

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1 Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, gives you.

2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you.

3 Your eyes have seen what Yahweh did because of Baal Peor; for all the men who followed Baal Peor, Yahweh your God has destroyed them from the midst of you.

4 But you who did cling to Yahweh your God are all alive this day.

5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do so in the midst of the land where you go in to possess it.

6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who shall hear all these statutes, and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."

7 For what great nation is there, that has a god so near to them, as Yahweh our god is whenever we call on him?

8 What great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

9 Only take heed to yourself, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children's children;

10 the day that you stood before Yahweh your God in Horeb, when Yahweh said to me, "Assemble me the people, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children."

11 You came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.

12 Yahweh spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; only [you heard] a voice.

13 He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments; and he wrote them on two tables of stone.

14 Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it.

15 Take therefore good heed to yourselves; for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire.

16 Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,

18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth;

19 and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.

20 But Yahweh has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as at this day.

21 Furthermore Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land, which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance:

22 but I must die in this land, I must not go over the Jordan; but you shall go over, and possess that good land.

23 Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make you an engraved image in the form of anything which Yahweh your God has forbidden you.

24 For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.

25 When you shall father children, and children's children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make an engraved image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God, to provoke him to anger;

26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go over the Jordan to possess it; you shall not prolong your days on it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

27 Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you shall be left few in number among the nations, where Yahweh shall lead you away.

28 There you shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

29 But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God, and you shall find him, when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

30 When you are in oppression, and all these things are come on you, in the latter days you shall return to Yahweh your God, and listen to his voice:

31 for Yahweh your God is a merciful God; he will not fail you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.

32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been [any such thing] as this great thing is, or has been heard like it?

33 Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?

34 Or has God tried to go and take him a nation from the midst of [another] nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

35 It was shown to you so that you might know that Yahweh is God. There is no one else besides him.

36 Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you: and on earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.

37 Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt;

38 to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as at this day.

39 Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that Yahweh he is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is none else.

40 You shall keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh your God gives you, forever.

41 Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise;

42 that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unawares, and didn't hate him in time past; and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:

43 [namely], Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

44 This is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:

45 these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spoke to the children of Israel, when they came forth out of Egypt,

46 beyond the Jordan, in the valley over against Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel struck, when they came forth out of Egypt.

47 They took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise;

48 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even to Mount Sion (the same is Hermon),

49 and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 282

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282. Because this cherub was like an eagle, and the eagle appeared as flying, it shall now be explained what is signified by flying in the Word. By flying are signified circumspection and presence, because a bird when it flies looks about from on high, and thus by its sight is present everywhere round about; but when flying is said, in the Word, of Jehovah, it signifies omnipresence, because omnipresence is infinite circumspection and infinite presence. This, then, is why this cherub appeared like a flying eagle; for by cherubim in general is signified the providence of the Lord that the higher heavens may not be approached except from the good of love and of charity; and by this cherub is signified the Divine intelligence, as was shown just above.

[2] That by flying, when, in the Word, it is said of the Lord, is signified omnipresence, and, when said of men, circumspection and presence is evident from the following passages. In David:

God "rode upon a cherub, he did fly, and was carried upon the wings of the wind" (Psalm 18:10; 2 Sam. 22:11).

He rode upon a cherub signifies the Divine presence; he did fly signifies omnipresence in the spiritual world; and was carried upon the wings of the wind, signifies omnipresence in the natural world. These words of the Psalmist can be understood only from the spiritual sense.

[3] In Isaiah:

"As birds flying, so will Jehovah Zebaoth protect Jerusalem" (31:5).

Jehovah is said to protect Jerusalem as birds flying, for by protecting is signified the Divine providence as to defence; by Jerusalem is signified the church, and by birds flying, with which comparison is made, is signified circumspection and presence, and in this case, as being said of the Lord omnipresence.

[4] In the Apocalypse:

"I saw, and heard one angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth" (8:13).

And again:

"I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to publish unto them that dwell on the earth" (14:6).

By the former angel is here signified the damnation of all who are in evils, and by the other angel is signified the salvation of all who are in good; by flying, is signified circumspection on every side where they are.

[5] In Isaiah:

"All the flocks of Arabia shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee. Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as doves to the windows?" (60:7, 8).

The subject here treated of is the advent of the Lord and the enlightenment of the nations which shall then take place; and by the flocks of Arabia which shall be gathered together are signified the knowledges of truth and good. By the rams of Nebaioth which shall minister are signified truths, which form the life by virtue of spiritual affection; by flying as a cloud, and as doves to the windows, are signified seeking and investigation of truth from the sense of the letter of the Word, hence also by flying is signified circumspection; for a cloud signifies the sense of the letter of the Word; doves signify the spiritual affection of truth, and windows truth in light. That such a sense is contained in those words is evident from the signification of the flocks of Arabia, of the rams of Nebaioth, of a cloud, of doves, and of windows.

[6] In David:

"Fear and trembling are come upon me, whence I said, Who will give me wings like a dove? I will fly away where I may dwell. Lo, I will wander far off, and pass the night in the wilderness" (Psalms 55:5, 6, 7).

The subject here treated of is temptation and straitness at the time; fear and trembling signify that straitness; the seeking for truth at the time and casting about as to whither to turn oneself, is signified by, who will give me wings like a dove? I will fly away where I may dwell. The wings of a dove denote the spiritual affection of truth; to fly away where I may dwell denotes to rescue the life thereby from damnation; that there is as yet no hope of deliverance, is signified by, Lo, I will wander far off, and pass the night in the wilderness.

[7] In Hosea:

"Ephraim, as a bird shall their glory fly away; yea, if they have brought up sons, I will make them likewise bereaved of man" (9:11, 12).

By Ephraim is signified the enlightened understanding of those who belong to the church; by glory is signified Divine truth; by flying away as a bird is signified its deprivation. Comparison is here made with a bird, because a bird signifies the Rational and Intellectual, just as Ephraim does. By its being said, "If they have brought up sons, I will make them likewise bereaved of man" is signified that if they have even produced truths still they are not at all wise thereby; for sons denote truths, and to make them bereaved of man, is to deprive of wisdom.

[8] In Moses:

"Ye shall not make to you the form of any animal upon the earth, nor the form of any winged bird which flieth towards heaven" (Deuteronomy 4:15-17).

By these words, in the internal sense, is signified that man is not to procure to himself wisdom and intelligence from himself, or from proprium. For by the animals which walk upon the earth are signified the affections of good, from which is wisdom, and by birds are signified the affections of truth, from which is intelligence. By their being commanded not to make to themselves the form of any of these, is signified, that those things which they signify are not to be procured from man or from his proprium. It is said, "Any winged fowl that flieth towards heaven," because by winged fowl is signified the spiritual understanding of truth, and by flying towards heaven is signified the circumspection pertaining to intelligence in Divine things.

[9] From these considerations it is evident what is signified by this cherub appearing like a flying eagle, as also what is signified in Isaiah,

by the seraphim; each one had six wings; "with twain," of which "he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly" (6:2).

By the wings with which each of the seraphim covered his face is signified the spiritual affection of truth; by the wings with which he covered his feet, the natural affection of truth therefrom; and the wings with which he did fly denote circumspection and presence, in this case omnipresence, because the seraphim signify the same as the cherubim, namely, the Divine providence as to guardianship.

[10] The reason why by flying, when said of man, is signified circumspection, and at the same time presence, is that the sight is present with the object which it sees; that it appears afar off, or distant, is owing to intermediate objects, which appear at the same time, and can be measured as to space. This may be fully confirmed from those things which exist in the spiritual world; there, spaces themselves are appearances arising from the diversity of affection and of thoughts therefrom; therefore, when any persons or things appear afar off, and an angel or spirit desires from intense affection to be with them, or to view those things which are there, he is immediately present. The same is the case with thought, which is a man's internal or spiritual sight; this perceives those things which he before saw in himself, without space, thus altogether as present. This is why to fly is said of the understanding and of its intelligence, and why thereby are signified circumspection and presence.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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Deuteronomy 5

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1 Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, Hear, Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears this day, that you may learn them, and observe to do them.

2 Yahweh our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

3 Yahweh didn't make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.

4 Yahweh spoke with you face to face on the mountain out of the midst of the fire,

5 (I stood between Yahweh and you at that time, to show you the word of Yahweh: for you were afraid because of the fire, and didn't go up onto the mountain;) saying,

6 "I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

7 "You shall have no other gods before me.

8 "You shall not make an engraved image for yourself, [nor] any likeness [of anything] that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

9 you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them; for I, Yahweh, your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me;

10 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

11 "You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain: for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

12 "Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you.

13 You shall labor six days, and do all your work;

14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God, in which you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

15 You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm: therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

16 "Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you; that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you, in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.

17 "You shall not murder.

18 "Neither shall you commit adultery.

19 "Neither shall you steal.

20 "Neither shall you give false testimony against your neighbor.

21 "Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife; neither shall you desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's."

22 These words Yahweh spoke to all your assembly on the mountain out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. He wrote them on two tables of stone, and gave them to me.

23 It happened, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;

24 and you said, "Behold, Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God does speak with man, and he lives.

25 Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of Yahweh our God any more, then we shall die.

26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?

27 Go near, and hear all that Yahweh our God shall say: and tell us all that Yahweh our God shall tell you; and we will hear it, and do it."

28 Yahweh heard the voice of your words, when you spoke to me; and Yahweh said to me, "I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken to you: they have well said all that they have spoken.

29 Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!

30 "Go tell them, Return to your tents.

31 But as for you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it."

32 You shall observe to do therefore as Yahweh your God has commanded you: you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

33 You shall walk in all the way which Yahweh your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.