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Ezekiel 13

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1 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

2 `Son of man, prophesy concerning the prophets of Israel who are prophesying, and thou hast said to those prophesying from their own heart: Hear ye a word of Jehovah:

3 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Wo unto the prophets who are foolish, Who are going after their own spirit, And they have seen nothing.

4 As foxes in the wastes, Thy prophets, O Israel, have been.

5 Ye have not gone up into breaches, Nor do ye make a fence for the house of Israel, To stand in battle in a day of Jehovah.

6 They have seen vanity, and lying divination, Who are saying: An affirmation of Jehovah, And Jehovah hath not sent them, And they have hoped to establish a word.

7 A vain vision have ye not seen, And a lying divination spoken, When ye say: An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have not spoken?

8 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen a lie, Therefore, lo, I [am] against you, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

9 And My hand hath been on the prophets, Who are seeing vanity, and who are divining a lie, In the assembly of My people they are not, And in the writing of the house of Israel they are not written, And unto the ground of Israel they come not, And ye have known that I [am] the Lord Jehovah.

10 Because, even because, they did cause My people to err, Saying, Peace! and there is no Peace, And that one is building a wall, And lo, they are daubing it with chalk.

11 Say to those daubing with chalk -- It falleth, There hath been an overflowing shower, And ye, O hailstones, do fall, And a tempestuous wind doth rend,

12 And lo, fallen hath the wall! Doth not one say unto you, Where [is] the daubing that ye daubed?

13 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: I have rent with a tempestuous wind in My fury, And an overflowing shower is in Mine anger, And hailstones in My fury -- to consume.

14 And I have broken down the wall that ye daubed with chalk, And have caused it to come unto the earth, And revealed hath been its foundation, And it hath fallen, And ye have been consumed in its midst, And ye have known that I [am] Jehovah.

15 And I have completed My wrath on the wall, And on those daubing it with chalk, And I say to you: The wall is not, And those daubing it are not;

16 The prophets of Israel who are prophesying concerning Jerusalem, And who are seeing for her a vision of peace, And there is no peace, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

17 And thou, son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, who are prophesying out of their own heart, and prophesy concerning them,

18 And thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Wo to those sowing pillows for all joints of the arm, And to those making the kerchiefs For the head of every stature -- to hunt souls, The souls do ye hunt of My people? And the souls ye have do ye keep alive?

19 Yea, ye pierce Me concerning My people, For handfuls of barley, And for pieces of bread, to put to death Souls that should not die, And to keep alive Souls that should not live, By your lying to My people -- hearkening to lies.

20 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I [am] against your pillows, With which ye are hunting there the souls of the flourishing, And I have rent them from off your arms, And have sent away the souls that ye are hunting, The souls of the flourishing.

21 And I have torn your kerchiefs, And delivered My people out of your hand, And they are no more in your hand for a prey, And ye have known that I [am] Jehovah.

22 Because of paining the heart of the righteous with falsehood, And I have not pained it, And strengthening the hands of the wicked, So as not to turn back from his evil way, To keep him alive,

23 Therefore, vanity ye do not see, And divination ye do not divine again, And I have delivered My people out of your hand, And ye have known that I [am] Jehovah!'

   

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True Christianity # 130

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130. The prophets represented their church's condition relative to its teachings from the Word and its life according to them, as the following stories from the Word make clear:

Isaiah the prophet was commanded to take the sackcloth off below his waist and the sandals off his feet and go naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a wonder (Isaiah 20:2-3).

Ezekiel the prophet was commanded to represent the state of the church by making travel bags, moving to another place before the eyes of the children of Israel, taking out his bags from time to time, going out in the evening through a hole in the wall, and covering his face so he could not see the ground. In this way he would be a wonder to the house of Israel. He was told to say, "Behold, I am your wonder. As I have done, so it will be for you" (Ezekiel 12:3-7, 11).

Hosea the prophet was commanded to represent the church's condition by marrying a promiscuous partner, which he did. She bore him three sons, one of whom he called Jezreel, the second No Mercy, and the third Not My People. At another point he was commanded to go love a woman who already had a lover and who was committing adultery, and buy her for himself (Hosea 1:2-9; 3:1-2).

One prophet was commanded to put ashes over his eyes and let himself be beaten and whipped (1 Kings 20:35, 38).

Ezekiel the prophet was commanded to represent the condition of the church by taking a brick and sculpting Jerusalem on it, laying siege to it, building a rampart and a mound against it, putting an iron frying pan between himself and the "city," and sleeping on his left side and then on his right side. He also had to take wheat, barley, lentils, millet, and spelt and make bread out of them. He also had to make a cake of barley with human excrement; but because he begged not to have to do that, he was allowed to make it with cow dung instead. He was told,

Lie on your left side and put the injustice done by the house of Israel on it. For the number of days during which you sleep on that side you will carry their injustice. For I will give you the years of their injustice according to the number of days, 390 days for you to carry the injustice done by the house of Israel. But when you have finished them, you will lie again on your right side to carry the injustice done by the house of Judah. (Ezekiel 4:1-15)

[2] By these actions the prophet Ezekiel carried the injustices done by the house of Israel and the house of Judah; but he did not take away those injustices or atone for them, he only represented them and made them visible. This is clear from the following verses in the same chapter:

"Like this," says Jehovah, "will the children of Israel eat their unclean bread. Behold I am breaking the staff of bread so that they lack bread and water. A man and his brother will become desolate and will waste away because of their injustice. " (Ezekiel 4:13, 16-17)

The same thing is meant by the statement about the Lord that says, "He bore our diseases, he carried our pains. Jehovah put on him the injustices committed by us all. Through his knowledge he justified many as he himself carried their injustices" (Isaiah 53:4, 6, 11). This whole chapter in Isaiah is about the Lord's suffering.

[3] The following details of the Lord's suffering make it clear that he was the ultimate prophet, embodying the Jewish church's treatment of the Word: He was betrayed by Judas. The chief priests and the elders arrested him and condemned him. They hit him repeatedly. They beat his head with a cane. They put a crown of thorns on him. They tore up his clothes and cast lots for his undergarment. They crucified him. They gave him vinegar to drink. They pierced his side. He was buried, and on the third day he rose.

His betrayal by Judas meant his betrayal by the Jewish nation, among whom the Word existed at that time. Judas represented that nation. The chief priests and the elders who arrested and condemned him meant that whole church. Their punching him repeatedly, spitting in his face, whipping him, and beating his head with a cane meant that they had done the same to the divine truths in the Word. Their putting a crown of thorns on him meant that they had falsified and contaminated those divine truths. Their tearing up his clothes and casting lots for his undergarment meant that they had split apart all the truths of the Word but they had not split apart its spiritual meaning, which was symbolized by the Lord's undergarment. Their crucifying him meant that they had desecrated and destroyed the entire Word. Their offering him vinegar to drink meant that everything they offered him had been completely falsified; therefore he did not drink it. Their piercing his side meant that they had completely annihilated everything true and everything good in the Word. His being buried meant his casting off what was left from his mother. His rising on the third day meant the glorification, the union of his human nature with the divine nature of the Father.

From all this it is clear that "carrying injustices" does not mean taking them away; it means representing the desecration of the Word's truth.

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