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Exodus 19

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1 In the third month of the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in this day they have come into the wilderness of Sinai,

2 and they journey from Rephidim, and enter the wilderness of Sinai, and encamp in the wilderness; and Israel encampeth there before the mount.

3 And Moses hath gone up unto God, and Jehovah calleth unto him out of the mount, saying, `Thus dost thou say to the house of Jacob, and declare to the sons of Israel,

4 Ye -- ye have seen that which I have done to the Egyptians, and I bear you on eagles' wings, and bring you in unto Myself.

5 `And now, if ye really hearken to My voice, then ye have kept My covenant, and been to Me a peculiar treasure more than all the peoples, for all the earth [is] Mine;

6 and ye -- ye are to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation: these [are] the words which thou dost speak unto the sons of Israel.'

7 And Moses cometh, and calleth for the elders of the people, and setteth before them all these words which Jehovah hath commanded him;

8 and all the people answer together and say, `All that Jehovah hath spoken we do;' and Moses returneth the words of the people unto Jehovah.

9 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Lo, I am coming unto thee in the thickness of the cloud, so that the people hear in My speaking with thee, and also believe in thee to the age;' and Moses declareth the words of the people unto Jehovah.

10 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Go unto the people; and thou hast sanctified them to-day and to-morrow, and they have washed their garments,

11 and have been prepared for the third day; for on the third day doth Jehovah come down before the eyes of all the people, on mount Sinai.

12 `And thou hast made a border [for] the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, going up into the mount, or coming against its extremity; whoever is coming against the mount is certainly put to death;

13 a hand cometh not against him, for he is certainly stoned or shot through, whether beast or man it liveth not; in the drawing out of the jubilee cornet they go up into the mount.'

14 And Moses cometh down from the mount unto the people, and sanctifieth the people, and they wash their garments;

15 and he saith unto the people, `Be ye prepared for the third day, come not nigh unto a woman.'

16 And it cometh to pass, on the third day, while it is morning, that there are voices, and lightnings, and a heavy cloud, on the mount, and the sound of a trumpet very strong; and all the people who [are] in the camp do tremble.

17 And Moses bringeth out the people to meet God from the camp, and they station themselves at the lower part of the mount,

18 and mount Sinai [is] wholly a smoke from the presence of Jehovah, who hath come down on it in fire, and its smoke goeth up as smoke of the furnace, and the whole mount trembleth exceedingly;

19 and the sound of the trumpet is going on, and very strong; Moses speaketh, and God doth answer him with a voice.

20 And Jehovah cometh down on mount Sinai, unto the top of the mount, and Jehovah calleth for Moses unto the top of the mount, and Moses goeth up.

21 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Go down, protest to the people, lest they break through unto Jehovah to see, and many of them have fallen;

22 and also the priests who are coming nigh unto Jehovah do sanctify themselves, lest Jehovah break forth on them.'

23 And Moses saith unto Jehovah, `The people [is] unable to come up unto mount Sinai, for Thou -- Thou hast protested to us, saying, Make a border [for] the mount, then thou hast sanctified it.'

24 And Jehovah saith unto him, `Go, descend, then thou hast come up, thou, and Aaron with thee; and the priests and the people do not break through, to come up unto Jehovah, lest He break forth upon them.'

25 And Moses goeth down unto the people, and saith unto them: --

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 273

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273. Verse 5. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunders and voices, signifies illustration, understanding, and the perception of the Divine truth in the heavens from the Lord. This is evident from the signification of "lightnings, thunders, and voices," as predicated of Divine truth; "lightnings" referring to its illustration, "thunders" to its understanding, and "voices" to the perception of it; that these things are thereby signified will be made clear by passages in the Word where they are mentioned. But let something first be said in respect to the origin of these significations. All things that appear before the eyes of men in the visible heaven, as the sun, the moon, the stars, the air, the ether, light, heat, clouds, mists, showers, and many more, are correspondences; they are correspondences for the reason that all things in the natural world correspond to those in the spiritual world. These are also correspondences in heaven where the angels are, because like things are seen by them but there they are not natural but spiritual (as can be seen from what is shown respecting them in the work on Heaven and Hell, On the Sun and Moon in Heaven, n. 116-125; On Light and Heat in Heaven, n. 126-140; and in general, On the Correspondence of Heaven with all Things of the Earth, n. 103-115; and on Appearances in Heaven, n. 170-176), Therefore "lightnings" and "thunders" also are correspondences; and because they are correspondences, they have the like significance as the things have to which they correspond. Their significance in general is Divine truth received and uttered by the highest angels; which, when it descends to the lower angels sometimes appears as lightning, and is heard as thunder with voices. From this it is that "lightning" signifies Divine truth in respect to illustration; "thunder" Divine truth in respect to understanding; and "voices" Divine truth in respect to perception. It is said in respect to the understanding and in respect to the perception, since what enters into the mind through the hearing is both seen and perceived; seen in the understanding, and perceived through communication with the will. (What perception is, strictly, such as the angels in heaven have, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 140.)

[2] From this then it is that "lightnings" and "thunders" in the Word signify Divine truth in respect to illustration and in respect to the understanding, as can be seen from the following passages. In David:

Thou hast with Thine arm redeemed Thy people. The clouds poured out waters; the skies gave forth a voice; Thine arrows also went forth; the voice of Thy thunder into the world; the lightning lightened the world (Psalms 77:15, 17-18).

Here the establishment of the church is treated of; "the clouds poured out waters" signifies truths from the sense of the letter of the Word; "the skies gave forth a voice" (that is, the higher clouds), signifies truths from the spiritual sense of the Word; "the arrows that went forth" (meaning thunderbolts, from which there is an appearance as of arrows from a bow and which are present when there are thunders and lightnings) signify Divine truths; "the voice of thunder into the world" signifies Divine truth in respect to perception and understanding in the church; and "the lightnings lightened the world" signifies Divine truth in respect to illustration thence; "the world" signifies the church.

[3] In the same:

A fire shall go before Jehovah, and burn up His enemies round about; His lightnings shall lighten the world (Psalms 97:3-4).

From these words also it is clear that "lightnings" signify Divine truth in respect to illustration, for it is said "His lightnings shall lighten the world."

[4] In Jeremiah:

The Maker of the earth by His power, He prepareth the world by His wisdom, and by His intelligence stretcheth out the heavens; at the voice that He giveth forth there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and He maketh the vapors to go up from the end of the earth, He maketh lightnings for the rain (Jeremiah 10:12-13; 51:16; Psalms 135:7-8).

Here again the establishment of the church is treated of. That "the voice of thunder" signifies Divine truth in respect to perception and understanding, and "lightnings" Divine truth in respect to illustration, can be seen from its being said, "The Maker of the earth prepareth the world by His wisdom, and by His intelligence stretcheth out the heavens;" and then, "at the voice that He giveth forth there is a multitude of waters in the heavens," and "He maketh lightnings for the rain;" "earth" and "world" signifying the church; "waters in the heavens" spiritual truths; "rain" these truths when they descend and become natural; "lightnings" their illustration.

[5] In the second book of Samuel:

Jehovah thundered from heaven, and the Most High gave forth His voice and sent forth His arrows and scattered them, lightning, and discomforted them (2 Samuel 22:14-15).

Thunders are here described by "thundering from heaven" and by "giving forth a voice," flying thunderbolts by "arrows," and all these signify Divine truths, and "lightning" their light; and as these vivify and illustrate the good, so they terrify and blind the evil, which is meant by "He sent forth arrows and scattered them, lightning, and discomfited them;" for the evil cannot bear Divine truths, nor any light at all from heaven, therefore they flee away at their presence.

[6] Likewise in David:

Jehovah thundered in the heavens, and the Most High gave forth His voice; and He sent forth His arrows and scattered them, and many lightnings and discomfited them (Psalms 18:13-14).

Lighten forth lightning and scatter them; send forth Thine arrows and discomfit them (Psalms 144:6).

That "thunders" and "lightnings" signify Divine truth in respect to the understanding and illustration is still further evident from the following passages.

In David:

In distress thou didst call and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place with thunder (Psalms 81:7).

In Revelation:

I heard one of the four animals saying, as with a voice of thunder, Come and see (Revelation 6:1).

Again:

And the angel took the censer and filled it from the fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth; and there followed thunders and voices and lightnings (Revelation 8:5).

Again:

The angel cried with a great voice, as a lion, and when he cried the seven thunders uttered their voices (Revelation 10:3-4

Again:

The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in the temple the ark of the covenant; and there followed lightnings and voices and thunders (Revelation 11:19).

Again:

I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of great thunder (Revelation 14:2).

And again:

I heard the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, as the voice of vehement thunders, saying, Alleluia; for the Lord our God, the Almighty, hath received the kingdom (Revelation 19:6).

Moreover, since "thunders" and "lightnings" signify Divine truths, when Jehovah came down upon Mount Sinai to promulgate these truths:

There were voices and lightnings, and also the voice of a trumpet (Exodus 19:16).

That "the voice of a trumpet" signifies Divine truth in respect to revelation, see above (n. 55, 262);

A voice out of heaven to the Lord was heard as thunder (John 12:28-29).

That James and John were called Boanerges, sons of thunder (Mark 3:14, 17).

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