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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 41:20

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20 from the ground to above the door were cherubim and palm trees made: thus was the wall of the temple.

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The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Teachings # 248

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248. The Jewish church and Jews. 1 The statutes, judgments, and laws that were commanded in the Jewish church were somewhat like those of the ancient church: 4449, 4834. How the symbolic rites of the Jewish church differed from the symbolic rites of the ancient church: 4288, 10149. A symbolic church was established for the people of that nation, but there was no real church among them: 4899, 4912, 6304. So they had something that symbolized a church but not an actual church: 4281, 4288, 4311, 4500, 6304, 7048, 9320, 10396, 10526, 10531, 10698. Because of the stubborn insistence of their ancestors and Moses, the Israelite and Jewish people were accepted as a church, not because they actually were a chosen people but rather so that they would symbolize a church: 4290, 4293, 7051, 7439, 10430, 10535, 10632. Their worship was solely external, without any inner worship: 1200, 3147, 3479, 8871. They knew absolutely nothing about inner worship and did not want to know: 301, 302, 303, 3479, 4429, 4433, 4680, 4844, 4847, 10396, 10401, 10407, 10694, 10701, 10707. What they thought of the inner aspects of worship, the church, and the Word: 4865. Their inner natures were foul, full of their love for themselves and the world and of avarice: 3480, 9962, 10454-10457, 10462-10466, 10575. Therefore the inner teachings of the church were not disclosed to them, because otherwise they would have defiled them: 2520, 3398, 3480, 4289. The Word was completely closed to them: 3769. They saw the Word from the outside and not from the inside (10549, 10550, 10551), so their inner self was closed when they were engaged in worship (8788, 8806, 9320, 9377, 9380, 9962, 10396, 10401, 10407, 10492, 10498, 10500, 10575, 10629, 10692). All the same, this people was more capable than any other of being outwardly holy despite the fact that their inner self was closed: 4293, 4311, 4903, 9373, 9377, 9380. Their state at such times: 4311. That is also why they have been preserved to this day: 3479. Their holy outward behavior was miraculously raised up and exhibited to heaven by the Lord, and as a result deeper levels of worship, the church, and the Word were perceived there: 3480, 4307, 4311, 6304, 8588, 10499, 10500, 10602. So that this could happen, they were driven by external pressures to a strict observance of their rituals in outward form: 3147, 4281, 8006. Because they could be outwardly holy without inner holiness, they were able to represent what is truly holy in the church and heaven: 3479, 3881, 4208, 6304, 8588, 9377, 10430, 10500, 10570. Nevertheless, they were not interested in what is truly holy: 3479. It does not matter what a person who symbolizes something is like, because symbolism focuses on the issue and not on the person: 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806.

[2] Those people were worse than other peoples; a description of what they were like, including material from the Word of both Testaments: 4314, 4316, 4317, 4444, 4503, 4750, 4751, 4815, 4820, 4832, 5057, 5998, 7248, 8819, 9320, 10454-10457, 10462-10466. The tribe of Judah strayed more than the other tribes: 4815. How they took pleasure in cruelly treating other peoples: 5057, 7248, 9320. That people was idolatrous at heart and worshiped other gods more than other peoples did: 3732, 4208, 4281, 4825, 5998, 6877, 7401, 8301, 8871, 8882. Even their worship, seen in the context of that people, was idolatrous, since it was superficial, with no inner substance: 4281, 4825, 8871, 8882. They worshiped Jehovah in name only (6877, 10559, 10560, 10561, 10566), and only because of the miracles he did (4299). It is incorrect to think that the Jews are going to be converted at the end of the church 2 and brought back into the land of Canaan: 4847, 7051, 8301. A copious selection of passages from the Word on this subject-passages that are, however, to be understood in their inner meaning and therefore not taken literally: 7051. The Word was changed in its outer meaning because of that people, but not in its inner meaning: 10453, 10461, 10603, 10604. The way Jehovah appeared to them on Mount Sinai was shaped by their own nature, so he appeared in devouring fire, thick cloud, and smoke like that of a furnace: 1861, 6832, 8814, 8819, 9434. The way the Lord appears to each of us depends on what we ourselves are really like-as a life-giving and creative fire if we are devoted to doing good, but as a devouring fire if we are bent on doing evil: 934, 1861, 6832, 8814, 8819, 9434, 10551. One lineage of that people was of Canaanite ancestry and two others were the result of fornication with a daughter-in-law: 1167, 4818, 4820, 4874, 4899, 4913. Those stories represent the nature of their relationship with the inner truth of the church, namely, that it was like that of union with a Canaanite or fornication with a daughter-in-law: 4868, 4874, 4899, 4913. Their state in the other life: 939, 940, 5057.

[3] Because despite all this that people symbolized the church, and because the Word was composed among and about them, their names-for example, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Ephraim, Joseph, and the rest-have divine and heavenly meanings. In its inner meaning, "Judah" means the Lord in respect to his heavenly love and his heavenly kingdom: 3654, 3881, 5583, 5603, 5782, 6363. An explanation of Israel's prophecy concerning Judah in Genesis 49:8-12, which is about the Lord: 6362-6381. Both the tribe of Judah and Judea mean the heavenly church: 3654, 6364. The twelve tribes represented and meant all the aspects of love and faith taken together (3858, 3926, 4060, 6335), and therefore heaven and the church as well (6337, 6637, 7836, 7891). Their meanings depend on the order in which they are named: 3862, 3926, 3939, 4603 and following, 6337, 6640. The twelve tribes were divided into two kingdoms so that the Judeans could represent the heavenly kingdom and the Israelites could represent the spiritual kingdom: 3654, 8770. The seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob means the goodness and truth that belong to the church: 3373, 10445.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. On problematic material in Swedenborg's works, including his attitude toward Jews, see the discussion in the translator's preface, pages 19-21. [Editors]

2. From early Christian times it has been believed that all Jews will convert to Christianity before the Last Judgment. Augustine refers to this belief as "a very frequent topic in the conversation of the faithful and a very familiar thought in their hearts" ( City of God 20:29 [= Augustine 1952, 557]). The notion is based at least in part on Romans 11:26-27, in which Paul says, "All Israel will be saved," and goes on to quote Isaiah 59:20-21 (from the Septuagint version) and Jeremiah 31:33 (with reference also perhaps to Isaiah 27:9) to the effect that a Deliverer out of Zion will turn away the ungodliness of the descendants of Jacob and thus fulfill God's covenant with them. Malachi 4:5-6 is sometimes also cited in support. This prophecy has been discussed and even promoted by many major Christian theologians over the centuries, and it remains a topic of discussion in Christian circles. [SS]

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