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Deuteronomy 33

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1 And this [is] the blessing [with] which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel before his death,

2 and he saith: -- `Jehovah from Sinai hath come, And hath risen from Seir for them; He hath shone from mount Paran, And hath come [with] myriads of holy ones; At His right hand [are] springs for them.

3 Also He [is] loving the peoples; All His holy ones [are] in thy hand, And they -- they sat down at thy foot, [Each] He lifteth up at thy words.

4 A law hath Moses commanded us, A possession of the assembly of Jacob.

5 And he is in Jeshurun king, In the heads of the people gathering together, The tribes of Israel!

6 Let Reuben live, and not die, And let his men be a number.

7 And this [is] for Judah; and he saith: -- Hear, O Jehovah, the voice of Judah, And unto his people do Thou bring him in; His hand hath striven for him, And an help from his adversaries art Thou.

8 And of Levi he said: -- Thy Thummim and thy Urim [are] for thy pious one, Whom Thou hast tried in Massah, Thou dost strive with Him at the waters of Meribah;

9 Who is saying of his father and his mother, I have not seen him; And his brethren he hath not discerned, And his sons he hath not known; For they have observed Thy saying, And Thy covenant they keep.

10 They teach Thy judgments to Jacob, And Thy law to Israel; They put perfume in Thy nose, And whole burnt-offering on Thine altar.

11 Bless, O Jehovah, his strength, And the work of his hands Thou acceptest, Smite the loins of his withstanders, And of those hating him -- that they rise not!

12 Of Benjamin he said: -- The beloved of Jehovah doth tabernacle confidently by him, Covering him over all the day; Yea, between his shoulders He doth tabernacle.

13 And of Joseph he said: -- Blessed of Jehovah [is] his land, By precious things of the heavens, By dew, and by the deep crouching beneath,

14 And by precious things -- fruits of the sun, And by precious things -- cast forth by the moons,

15 And by chief things -- of the ancient mountains, And by precious things -- of the age-during heights,

16 And by precious things -- of earth and its fulness, And the good pleasure Of Him who is dwelling in the bush, -- Let it come for the head of Joseph, And for the crown of him Who is separate from his brethren.

17 His honour [is] a firstling of his ox, And his horns [are] horns of a reem; By them peoples he doth push together To the ends of earth; And they [are] the myriads of Ephraim, And they [are] the thousands of Manasseh.

18 And of Zebulun he said: -- Rejoice, O Zebulun, in thy going out, And, O Issachar, in thy tents;

19 Peoples [to] the mountain they call, There they sacrifice righteous sacrifices; For the abundance of the seas they suck, And hidden things hidden in the sand.

20 And of Gad he said: -- Blessed of the Enlarger [is] Gad, As a lioness he doth tabernacle, And hath torn the arm -- also the crown!

21 And he provideth the first part for himself, For there the portion of the lawgiver is covered, And he cometh [with] the heads of the people; The righteousness of Jehovah he hath done, And His judgments with Israel.

22 And of Dan he said: -- Dan [is] a lion's whelp; he doth leap from Bashan.

23 And of Naphtali he said: -- O Naphtali, satisfied with pleasure, And full of the blessing of Jehovah, West and south possess thou.

24 And of Asher he said: -- Blessed with sons [is] Asher, Let him be accepted by his brethren, And dipping in oil his foot.

25 Iron and brass [are] thy shoes, And as thy days -- thy strength.

26 There is none like the God of Jeshurun, Riding the heavens in thy help, And in His excellency the skies.

27 A habitation [is] the eternal God, And beneath [are] arms age-during. And He casteth out from thy presence the enemy, and saith, `Destroy!'

28 And Israel doth tabernacle [in] confidence alone; The eye of Jacob [is] unto a land of corn and wine; Also His heavens drop down dew.

29 O thy happiness, O Israel! who is like thee? A people saved by Jehovah, The shield of thy help, And He who [is] the sword of thine excellency: And thine enemies are subdued for thee, And thou on their high places dost tread.'

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 354

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354. Of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed. This symbolizes a perception of useful endeavor, and of what is useful, in those people who will be in the New Heaven and in the Lord's New Church.

In the highest sense Naphtali symbolizes the intrinsic power of the Lord's Divine humanity; in the spiritual sense, temptation or trial, and victory; and in the natural sense, resistance on the part of the natural self. For his name was derived from a word meaning wrestling. Here, however, Naphtali symbolizes a perception of useful endeavor, and of what is useful, because in the series he comes after Asher, who symbolizes a love of useful services. Moreover those people who have overcome in temptations or trials have an interior perception of useful ends; for temptations or trials open the interior constituents of the mind.

The perception that those people have is described in Jeremiah 31:33-34. 1 They sense in themselves what is good, and see in themselves what is true.

That the tribe of Naphtali symbolizes angels and people in respect to that perception can be confirmed from the following verses in the Word:

...Naphtali... on the heights of the field. (Judges 5:18)

The heights of the field are the interior qualities of the Church as regards perception.

O Naphtali, abounding in favor, and full of the blessing of Jehovah, possess the west and the south. (Deuteronomy 33:23)

To possess the west is to possess the goodness of a love that serves, and the south is the light of wisdom which constitutes the aforesaid perception.

Naphtali is a deer let loose, who provides elegant discourses. (Genesis 49:21)

Thus is described the state after temptation or trial as to its free expression from perception.

It is recorded also that a certain man of the tribe of Naphtali, "being filled with wisdom, understanding and knowledge," did all work in bronze for Solomon's temple (1 Kings 7:14).

The narrative portions of the Word as regards names and tribes are just as symbolic as the prophetic portions.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Jehovah: I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know Jehovah,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Jehovah. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

  
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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.