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Ezekiel 1

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1 Now it happened in the thirtieth year, in the fourth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

2 In the fifth [day] of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,

3 the word of Yahweh came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of Yahweh was there on him.

4 I looked, and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with flashing lightning, and a brightness around it, and out of its midst as it were glowing metal, out of the midst of the fire.

5 Out of its midst came the likeness of four living creatures. This was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.

6 Everyone had four faces, and each one of them had four wings.

7 Their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot; and they sparkled like burnished brass.

8 They had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and the four of them had their faces and their wings [thus]:

9 their wings were joined one to another; they didn't turn when they went; each one went straight forward.

10 As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man; and the four of them had the face of a lion on the right side; and the four of them had the face of an ox on the left side; the four of them also had the face of an eagle.

11 Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above. Two wings of each one touched another, and Two covered their bodies.

12 Each one went straight forward: where the spirit was to go, they went; they didn't turn when they went.

13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches: [the fire] went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

14 The living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

15 Now as I saw the living creatures, behold, one wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, for each of the four faces of it.

16 The appearance of the wheels and their work was like a beryl: and the four of them had one likeness; and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel.

17 When they went, they went in their four directions: they didn't turn when they went.

18 As for their rims, they were high and dreadful; and the four of them had their rims full of eyes all around.

19 When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.

20 Wherever the spirit was to go, they went; there was the spirit to go: and the wheels were lifted up beside them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

21 When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up beside them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

22 Over the head of the living creature there was the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome crystal to look on, stretched forth Over their heads above.

23 Under the expanse were their wings straight, the one toward the other: each one had two which covered on this side, and every one had two which covered on that side, their bodies.

24 When they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a noise of tumult like the noise of an army: when they stood, they let down their wings.

25 There was a voice above the expanse that was over their heads: when they stood, they let down their wings.

26 Above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and on the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man on it above.

27 I saw as it were glowing metal, as the appearance of fire within it all around, from the appearance of his waist and upward; and from the appearance of his waist and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.

28 As the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.

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Ezekiel 41:18

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18 It was made with cherubim and palm trees; and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces;

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Arcana Coelestia # 7601

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7601. 'And the flax' means the truth of the exterior natural. This is clear from the meaning of' the flax' as truth, but the truth of the exterior natural, dealt with below. The natural is exterior and interior, see 4570, 5118, 5497, 5649, and therefore the truth and good there are interior and exterior, 3293, 3294. The truth and good of the exterior natural are meant by 'the flax and the barley', and the good and truth of the interior natural by 'the wheat and the spelt'.

[2] This verse and the next deal with the truths and forms of good that were destroyed and laid waste, and the forms of good and truths that were not destroyed or laid waste. Thus they deal with the truths and forms of good that were stored away and placed in safe keeping for [future] use, and those which were not stored away and placed in safe keeping. For when those who are evil undergo vastation, that is, when they are being separated from truths and forms of good and are left with their own evils and falsities, those truths and forms of good that are present in the exterior natural - where they have become linked to falsities and evils - are what are laid waste. These truths and forms of good look downwards and cannot for that reason be safely stored away, as will be seen below in 7604, 7607. But the truths and forms of good of the interior natural are not laid waste but are taken to an even more interior position, where they are held in safe keeping for [future] use. Communication between the interior natural and the exterior is then closed to such an extent that no good or truth at all can pass from there into the exterior natural, apart from just a general kind of communication of them which enables those people to engage in reasoning and put together arguments to lend support to falsities and evils. Those forms of good and truths that are placed in safe keeping are meant in the Word by 'the remnant', dealt with in 468, 530, 560, 561, 576, 661, 798, 1738, 1906, 2284, 5135, 5342, 5344, 5897-5899, 6156, 7556. These then are the things which the two present verses deal with and which are meant by 'the flax and the barley were struck; for the barley was a ripening ear, and the flax a stem', and by 'the wheat and the spelt were not struck because they were hidden'.

[3] The meaning of 'flax' or 'linen' as truth has its origin in representatives in heaven. In heaven those who are guided by the truth of the natural are seen clothed in white, like the whiteness of linen. The actual truth of the natural is also represented there as fabric made from the finer kind of flaxen threads. These threads have the appearance of silken ones, and clothing made from them has a similar appearance - brilliant, wonderfully translucent, and soft - if the truth represented in that way is rooted in good. But on the other hand those threads which look flaxen do not have a translucent, brilliant, or soft appearance, but a hard and brittle appearance, though they are still white, if the truth that is represented in that way is not rooted in good.

[4] From all this one may now recognize what is meant when it says that the angels whom people saw appeared in garments of flax or linen, such as those referred to in John,

Out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in linen, white and splendid, and girded around their breasts with golden girdles. Revelation 15:6.

In Daniel,

I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a man clothed in linen whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz. Daniel 10:5.

In Ezekiel,

Behold, six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, each with a weapon of dispersion in his hand. But one man in the midst of them was clothed in linen and had a writer's inkhorn at his side. 1 Ezekiel 9:2.

More is said about this angel [clothed in linen] in verses 3 and 4 of the same chapter and in Chapter 10:2-7. The same prophet also says, in reference to the angel who measured the new temple, that he had a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand, Ezekiel 40:ff. Also, the angels who were seen in the Lord's tomb appeared clothed in white, splendid and flashing like lightning, Matthew 28:3; Mark 16:5; Luke 14:4; John 20:11-12.

[5] Since 'linen' or 'flax' meant the truth of the exterior natural, and the exterior natural is what clothes things more internal, that truth is what was represented by the linen garments with which angels were seen to be clothed. It is also meant by the linen garments worn by Aaron whenever he ministered in the Holy Place, spoken of in Moses as follows, When Aaron comes into the Holy Place, he shall put on the holy linen tunic, and gird himself with a linen sash, and place the linen turban on himself. These are holy garments. Leviticus 16:3-4.

Similarly in Ezekiel,

The priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, when they enter the gates of the inner court they shall put on the linen garments, and no wool shall come upon them. When they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within, the linen turbans shall be on their heads, the linen under garments shall be over their loins. Ezekiel 44:17-18.

This is referring to the new temple and the New Jerusalem, which mean the Lord's kingdom. For the same reason also the priests wore linen ephods, 1 Samuel 22:18; when the boy Samuel ministered before the Lord he wore a linen ephod, 1 Samuel 1:18; and David too wore a linen ephod when the ark was brought into his city, 2 Samuel 6:14.

[6] From all this one can also see why the Lord girded Himself with a linen towel when He washed the disciples' feet, and wiped their feet with the linen towel with which He was girded, John 13:4-5. Washing of the feet was a sign of purification from sins, which is accomplished by the truths of faith, since these teach a person how he ought to live.

[7] 'Linen' means truth in the following places too: In Jeremiah,

Jehovah said to the prophet, Go, buy yourself a linen girdle, and place it over your loins; but you are not to pass it through water. Take the girdle, and arise, go away to the Euphrates, and hide it in the cleft of a rock. At the end of many days, when he took the girdle from where he had hidden it, behold, the girdle was spoiled; it was profitable for nothing. Jeremiah 13:1-7.

'The linen girdle over the loins' represented truth arising from good, as it is in the beginning when the Church is established by the Lord, and as it becomes subsequently, when around the end it is has become spoiled and profitable for nothing. In Isaiah,

Those that make linen out of silk threads, and the weavers of curtains, will blush. Isaiah 19:9.

This refers to Egypt. 'Making linen out of silk threads' stands for counterfeiting truths.

[8] In Moses,

You shall not plough with an ox and an ass together. You shall not put on a mingled garment made of wool and linen together. Deuteronomy 22:10-11.

'Ox' means the good of the natural, 'ass' its truth; and much the same is meant by 'wool and linen'. Their being forbidden to plough with an ox and ass together or to put on a mingled garment made of wool and linen together meant that they were forbidden to be in two states at the same time, that is to say, in a state of good from which they looked to truth and at the same time in a state of truth from which they looked to good. These prohibitions embody much the same as those declared by the Lord in Matthew,

Let him who is on the roof of the house not go down to take anything out of his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to get his clothing. Matthew 24:17-18.

Regarding these prohibitions see 3652 (end). For those who look from good to truth are in the inner part of heaven, whereas those who look from truth to good are in the outer part. The latter look from the world towards heaven, the former from heaven towards the world. Consequently they are in a kind of inverse ratio to each other, and therefore if they were put together the one would destroy the other.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, on his loins

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.