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Jeremiah 46

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1 The word of Yahweh which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

2 Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.

3 Prepare the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle!

4 Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.

5 Why have I seen it? they are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and have fled apace, and don't look back: terror is on every side, says Yahweh.

6 Don't let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; in the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen.

7 Who is this who rises up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?

8 Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers: and he says, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities and its inhabitants.

9 Go up, you horses; and rage, you chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.

10 For that day is [a day] of the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain do you use many medicines; there is no healing for you.

12 The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, they are fallen both of them together.

13 The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt.

14 Declare in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes: say, Stand forth, and prepare; for the sword has devoured around you.

15 Why are your strong ones swept away? they didn't stand, because Yahweh did drive them.

16 He made many to stumble, yes, they fell one on another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from the oppressing sword.

17 They cried there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has let the appointed time pass by.

18 As I live, says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies, surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.

19 You daughter who dwells in Egypt, furnish yourself to go into captivity; for Memphis shall become a desolation, and shall be burnt up, without inhabitant.

20 Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; [but] destruction out of the north is come, it is come.

21 Also her hired men in the midst of her are like calves of the stall; for they also are turned back, they are fled away together, they didn't stand: for the day of their calamity is come on them, the time of their visitation.

22 The sound of it shall go like the serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.

23 They shall cut down her forest, says Yahweh, though it can't be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable.

24 The daughter of Egypt shall be disappointed; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.

25 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods, and her kings; even Pharaoh, and those who trust in him:

26 and I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants; and afterwards it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, says Yahweh.

27 But don't you be afraid, Jacob my servant, neither be dismayed, Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.

28 Don't you be afraid, O Jacob my servant, says Yahweh; for I am with you: for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you; but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.

   

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True Christian Religion # 116

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116. There are many passages in the Word which prove that, when the Lord was in the world, He fought against the hells, overcame and conquered them and thus made them obedient to Him; I will quote only these few.

In Isaiah:

Who is this coming from Edom, with stained clothes from Bozrah? A fine figure he is in his clothing, striding out in the excess of his strength. It is I who speak in righteousness, I who am mighty to save. Why are your clothes ruddy, like the clothing of one who treads the wine-vat? I have trodden the wine-vat alone, and of the people there was not a man with me. Therefore I trod them down in my anger, and I trampled them in my wrath. Hence their victory is sprinkled over my clothing. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come. My arm was my salvation, I brought their victory down to the ground. He said, Behold, they are my people, my sons. Therefore he became a saviour for them. For his love and tenderness he redeemed them, Isaiah 63:1-9.

This is a description of the Lord's battle against the hells. The clothing which is ruddy and in which He is a fine figure, means the Word, to which the Jewish people offered violence. The actual battle with the hells and His victory over them is described by His treading them down in His anger and trampling them in His wrath. His fighting alone and by His own power is described by the words 'of the people there was not a man with me, my arm was my salvation, I brought their victory down to the ground.' His saving and redeeming is described thus: 'Therefore he became a saviour for them, for his love and tenderness he redeemed them.' This was the reason for His coming, as is meant by 'the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come.'

[2] In another passage of Isaiah:

He saw that there was no one, and was amazed that there was none to intercede. Therefore his arm was his salvation and righteousness raised him up. So he put on righteousness as a breast-plate, and the helmet of salvation on his head, and he put on the clothing of vengeance, and covered himself with jealous anger like a cloak. Then the Redeemer came to Zion,Isaiah 59:16-17, 20.

In Jeremiah:

They were broken, their brave men were bruised. They fled away and did not look back. That is the day of the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth, a day of revenge, that He may take vengeance on his enemies; let the sword devour and be sated, Jeremiah 46:5, 10.

Both of these passages describe the Lord's battle against the hells and His victory over them.

In the Psalms of David:

Gird your sword on your thigh, o mighty one. Sharp are your arrows, the peoples will fall before you, the enemies of the king will lose heart. Your throne is for ever, eternal; you loved righteousness, therefore has God anointed You, Psalms 45:3-7.

There are many other passages besides.

[3] Since the Lord conquered the hells alone with no help from any angel, He is therefore called 'Hero and Man of War' (Isaiah 42:13; 9:6), 'the King of glory, Jehovah the strong, the hero of war' (Psalms 24:8, 10), the strong one of Jacob (Psalms 132:2) and in many places 'Jehovah Zebaoth', that is, 'Jehovah of hosts.' His coming is called 'the day of Jehovah, terrible, cruel, the day of indignation, of anger, of wrath, of vengeance, of ruin, of war, of the trumpet, of sounding off, of uproar, etc.'

In the Gospels we read:

Now is the judgment of the world; the prince of this world shall be cast out, John 12:31.

The prince of this world has been judged, John 16:11.

Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world, John 16:33.

I saw Satan falling from heaven like a thunderbolt, Luke 10:18.

The world, the prince of the world, Satan and the devil all mean hell.

[4] Apart from these passages, the whole of Revelation from beginning to end describes the present state of the Christian church, and prophesies the Lord's second coming, His conquest of the hells, the creation of a new heaven of angels and then the establishment of a new church on earth. All these things were there foretold, but they have not been revealed before the present time. The reason is that Revelation, like all the prophetical parts of the Word, was written purely in correspondences, and if these had not been revealed by the Lord, hardly anyone could have correctly understood a single verse. Now for the sake of the new church all its contents have been revealed in my book "The Apocalypse Revealed" (published at Amsterdam, 1766).

Those will see this who believe the Lord's words in Matthew, chapter 24, about the state of the church today and about His coming. But this is only a flickering faith so far with those who have, so deeply that it cannot be extirpated, imprinted on their hearts the faith of the present-day church about a Trinity of Divine Persons from eternity, and about Christ's passion as being the real act of redemption. But these people are (as was said above in the experience related in 113) like leather skins filled with iron filings and powdered sulphur; if water is poured in, heat is first produced, then flame which makes the skins burst. It is the same with those who hear something about living water, which is the genuine truth of the Word, and this enters through their eyes or ears; they become hot and inflamed with anger, and they reject it as something which would burst their heads.

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