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Leviticus 17

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1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them: 'This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded,

3 Whatever man there is of the house of Israel, who kills a bull, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp,

4 and hasn't brought it to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to offer it as an offering to Yahweh before the tabernacle of Yahweh: blood shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people.

5 This is to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to Yahweh, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of peace offerings to Yahweh.

6 The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of Yahweh at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and burn the fat for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.

7 They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat idols, after which they play the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.'

8 "You shall say to them, 'Any man there is of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice,

9 and doesn't bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to sacrifice it to Yahweh; that man shall be cut off from his people.

10 "'Any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who eats any kind of blood, I will set my face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life.

12 Therefore I have said to the children of Israel, "No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who lives as a foreigner among you eat blood."

13 "'Whatever man there is of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who takes in hunting any animal or bird that may be eaten; he shall pour out its blood, and cover it with dust.

14 For as to the life of all flesh, its blood is with its life: therefore I said to the children of Israel, "You shall not eat the blood of any kind of flesh; for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off."

15 "'Every person that eats what dies of itself, or that which is torn by animals, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening: then he shall be clean.

16 But if he doesn't wash them, or bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.'"

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 781

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781. "And merchandise of horses, and wagons, and the bodies and souls of people." This symbolically means that all of these things depend on an understanding of the Word and on doctrine drawn from it, and on the goods and truths in the Word's literal sense, which these Roman Catholics do not possess, because they have falsified and adulterated the Word by using the things in it contrary to their real meaning in order to gain dominion over heaven and the world.

The valuables here follow the preposition "of," because they involve all of the things that go before. That horses symbolize an understanding of the Word may be seen in no. 298. Chariots symbolize doctrine from the Word (no. 437); consequently so do wagons. The bodies and souls of people symbolize goods and truths in the literal sense of the Word, because they have the same symbolism as the body and blood in the Holy Supper. The body in that supper symbolizes the Lord's Divine goodness, and the blood the Lord's Divine truth; and because of this symbolism they also symbolize the Divine good and truth in the Word, because the Lord embodies the Word.

Instead of blood, however, the text here says souls. That is because the soul likewise symbolizes truth (see no. 681 above), and because blood in the Word is called the life or soul (Genesis 9:4-5). "Human lives" in Ezekiel 27:13 has a similar symbolic meaning. So does the "seed of men" in Daniel 2:43.

[2] Horses and wagons have a similar symbolic meaning in Isaiah:

Then they shall bring all your brethren... on horses and in chariots and in wagons, and on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem... (Isaiah 66:20)

This is said of the Lord's New Church, which Jerusalem is, regarding people in it who have an understanding of the Word and doctrine derived from it, which are the horses, chariots, and wagons.

Now because these people of the Roman Catholic religion falsify and adulterate the Word by using it to gain dominion over heaven and the world, the symbolic meaning here is that they do not possess any goods and truths from the Word, and so do not have any in their doctrine either.

Regarding this Jeremiah says the following:

...the king of Babylon has devoured me, has thrown me into confusion; He has made me an empty vessel; He has swallowed me up like a whale; He has filled his stomach with my delicacies... (Jeremiah 51:34-35)

A sword is against the horses (of Babylon), against her chariots, and... against her treasures, so that they are plundered. A drought is upon her waters, so that they are dried up. For the land is one of carved images, and they boast of their dreadful deeds. (Jeremiah 50:37-38)

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.