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Jeremiah 25

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1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (the same was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),

2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:

3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years, the word of Yahweh has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; but you have not listened.

4 Yahweh has sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them (but you have not listened, nor inclined your ear to hear)

5 saying, Return now everyone from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Yahweh has given to you and to your fathers, from of old and even forevermore;

6 and don't go after other gods to serve them or worship them, and don't provoke me to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no harm.

7 Yet you have not listened to me, says Yahweh; that you may provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own hurt.

8 Therefore thus says Yahweh of Armies: Because you have not heard my words,

9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, says Yahweh, and [I will send] to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations around; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.

10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.

11 This whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

12 It shall happen, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, says Yahweh, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate forever.

13 I will bring on that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.

14 For many nations and great kings shall make bondservants of them, even of them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.

15 For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, to me: take this cup of the wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it.

16 They shall drink, and reel back and forth, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.

17 Then took I the cup at Yahweh's hand, and made all the nations to drink, to whom Yahweh had sent me:

18 [to wit], Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and its kings, and its princes, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;

19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;

20 and all the mixed people, and all the kings of the land of the Uz, and all the kings of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;

21 Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon;

22 and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the isle which is beyond the sea;

23 Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all who have the corners [of their hair] cut off;

24 and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed people who dwell in the wilderness;

25 and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes;

26 and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are on the surface of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

27 You shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Drink, and be drunk, vomit, fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.

28 It shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink, then you shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh of Armies: You shall surely drink.

29 For, behold, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name; and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth, says Yahweh of Armies.

30 Therefore prophesy you against them all these words, and tell them, Yahweh will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he will mightily roar against his fold; he will give a shout, as those who tread [the grapes], against all the inhabitants of the earth.

31 A noise shall come even to the end of the earth; for Yahweh has a controversy with the nations; he will enter into judgment with all flesh: as for the wicked, he will give them to the sword, says Yahweh.

32 Thus says Yahweh of Armies, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great storm shall be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth.

33 The slain of Yahweh shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.

34 Wail, you shepherds, and cry; and wallow [in ashes], you principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are fully come, and you shall fall like a goodly vessel.

35 The shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.

36 A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the wailing of the principal of the flock! for Yahweh lays waste their pasture.

37 The peaceable folds are brought to silence because of the fierce anger of Yahweh.

38 He has left his covert, as the lion; for their land is become an astonishment because of the fierceness of the oppressing [sword], and because of his fierce anger.

   

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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.