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Ezekiel 38

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

2 `Son of man, set thy face unto Gog, of the land of Magog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy concerning him,

3 and thou hast said: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I [am] against thee, O Gog, Prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal,

4 And I have turned thee back, And I have put hooks in thy jaws, And have brought thee out, and all thy force, Horses and horsemen, Clothed in perfection all of them, A numerous assembly, [with] buckler and shield, Handling swords -- all of them.

5 Persia, Cush, and Phut, with them, All of them [with] shield and helmet.

6 Gomer and all its bands, The house of Togarmah of the sides of the north, And all its bands, many peoples with thee,

7 Be prepared, yea, prepare for thee, Thou and all thine assemblies who are assembled unto thee, And thou hast been to them for a guard.

8 After many days thou art appointed, In the latter end of the years thou comest in unto a land brought back from sword, [A people] gathered out of many peoples, Upon mountains of Israel, That have been for a perpetual waste, And it from the peoples hath been brought out, And dwelt safely have all of them.

9 And thou hast gone up -- as wasting thou comest in, As a cloud to cover the land art thou, Thou and all thy bands, and many peoples with thee.

10 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: And it hath come to pass in that day, Come up do things on thy heart, And thou hast thought an evil thought,

11 And thou hast said: I go up against a land of unwalled villages, I go in to those at rest, dwelling confidently, All of them are dwelling without walls, And bar and doors they have not.

12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey, To turn back thy hand on inhabited wastes, And on a people gathered out of nations, Making cattle and substance, Dwelling on a high part of the land.

13 Sheba, and Dedan, and merchants of Tarshish, And all its young lions say to thee: To take a spoil art thou come in? To take a prey assembled thine assembly? To bear away silver and gold? To take away cattle and substance? To take a great spoil?

14 Therefore, prophesy, son of man, and thou hast said to Gog: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: In that day, in the dwelling of My people Israel safely, Dost thou not know?

15 And thou hast come in out of thy place, From the sides of the north, Thou and many peoples with thee, Riding on horses -- all of them, A great assembly, and a numerous force.

16 And thou hast come up against My people Israel, As a cloud to cover the land, In the latter end of the days it is, And I have brought thee in against My land, In order that the nations may know Me, In My being sanctified in thee before their eyes, O Gog.

17 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Art thou he of whom I spake in former days, By the hand of My servants, prophets of Israel, Who are prophesying in those days -- years, To bring thee in against them?

18 And it hath come to pass, in that day, In the day of the coming in of Gog against the land of Israel, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Come up doth My fury in My face,

19 And in My zeal, in the fire of My wrath, I have spoken: Is there not in that day a great rushing on the land of Israel?

20 And rushed from My presence have fishes of the sea, And the fowl of the heavens, And the beast of the field, And every creeping thing that is creeping on the ground, And all men who [are] on the face of the ground, And thrown down have been the mountains, And fallen have the ascents, And every wall to the earth falleth.

21 And I have called against him, to all My mountains a sword, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, The sword of each is against his brother.

22 And I have been judged with him, With pestilence and with blood, And an overflowing rain and hailstones, Fire and brimstone I rain on him, and on his bands, And on many peoples who [are] with him.

23 And I have magnified Myself, and sanctified Myself, And I have been known before the eyes of many nations, And they have known that I [am] Jehovah!

   

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"A Peasant Family at Lunch" by Albert Neuhuys

When we eat, our bodies break down the food and get from it both energy and materials for building and repairing the body. The process is similar on a symbolic level in the Bible. Food represents the desire for good and the insight that comes from that desire for good – goodness and understanding that come from the Lord. But to put them to use we have to take them in and make them our own – which is spiritual eating.

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Arcana Coelestia # 10061

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10061. 'And put it on the tip of Aaron's right ear and on the tip of the right ear of his sons' means all the ability to perceive Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good in the heavens. This is clear from the meaning of 'the blood' which was put on the tip of the ear as Divine Truth which is present in the heavens and in the Church and emanates from the Lord's Divine Good, dealt with immediately above in 10060; from the meaning of 'the ear' as the power of perception, dealt with in 9397, at this point the ability to perceive Divine Truth in the heavens and in the Church since all the power of perception there is used to perceive that Truth (in particular that power of perception in the celestial heaven is meant here, for those there perceive truth springing from good, see the places referred to in 9277); from the meaning of 'the tip' of the ear, which is the outermost part of it, as the whole or all, for even as what is first or highest means the whole or all, so does what is last or outermost, see above in 10044; and from the meaning of 'the right ear' as the ability to perceive truth emanating from good. The reason why 'the right ear' has this meaning is that parts on the right side of a human being correspond to the good from which truths spring, while those on the left side correspond to the truths through which comes good, 9604, 9736. It is likewise so with the brain, the face and sensory organs there, the breast, the loins, and the feet.

[2] Without knowledge of this arcanum no one can possibly know why it was commanded that the blood should be put on the tip of the right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot of Aaron and his sons, or why it was commanded that the right flank of this second ram together with the fat should be burned on the altar (spoken of below, in verses 22, 25 of the present chapter). Nor likewise can anyone know why it was commanded that the blood of the sacrifice should be put on the tip of the right ear of the one to be cleansed from leprosy, and on the thumb of his right hand and the big toe of his right foot, and that the priest should pour oil from a log 1 over his own left palm and dip his right finger in the oil that was on his left palm and sprinkle it with his right finger seven times before Jehovah, Leviticus 14:14-18, 25-28. Nor can people know the meaning where it says that the Lord told the disciples when they were fishing to cast their net on the right side of the boat, and that when they did so their catch was so great that they were not strong enough, because of the very great number of fish, to draw the net in, John 21:6. This represented the reality that when good is the side on which people act or teach they net countless items of truth; but not the reverse. Those also who possess truths and are governed by good are meant by the sheep on the right, but those who possess truths and are not governed by good are meant by the goats on the left, Matthew 25:32.

[3] 'The right hand' is also used to mean those who dwell in the light of truth emanating from good, in David,

The heavens are Yours, and the earth is Yours. The world and the fullness of it You have founded; the north and the right hand 2 You have created. Psalms 89:11-12.

'The heavens', 'the earth', and 'the world' mean the Church, 9325. 'The fullness' means all truth and goodness which constitute the Church, 'the north' being those there who dwell in a state of obscurity so far as truth is concerned, 3708, and 'the right hand' those who dwell in the light of truth emanating from good, so that much the same is meant by 'the right hand' as by 'midday' or 'the south', 9642. From this it becomes clear what 'sitting at God's right hand' means when used in reference to the Lord in Psalms 110:1, 5; Matthew 26:63-64; Mark 12:36; 14:61-62; Luke 20:42-43, namely Divine Power exercised through the Lord's Divine Truth emanating from His Divine Good, 3387, 4592, 4933, 7518, 8281, 9133.

[4] Since most things in the Word also have a contrary meaning, so too do 'the right' and 'the left'. In the contrary sense 'the right' means evil from which falsity arises, and 'the left' falsity through which comes evil, as in Zechariah,

Woe to the worthless shepherd deserting the flock! The sword will fall upon his arm and upon his right eye. His arm will become wholly withered, and his right eye will be utterly darkened. Zechariah 11:17.

'Arm' here stands for the power of truth when used to justify evil; and because this power is 'worthless' it says that it 'will become wholly withered'. 'Right eye' is the knowledge of good when used to substantiate falsity; and because this knowledge is 'worthless' it says that it 'will be utterly darkened'. 'Shepherd' is one who teaches truths and leads by means of them towards good, 343, 3795, 6044, so that 'the worthless shepherd' is one who teaches and leads towards evil. 'Arm' means the power that truth springing from good possesses, 4931-4937, 7205, but 'the arm of a worthless shepherd' is the lack of power. 'Eye' is the understanding and perception of truth, 4403-4421, 4523-4534, 9051, but 'the right eye of a worthless shepherd' is a knowledge of good devoid of any understanding or perception of it because it is made to serve falsity. 'Utter (or thick) darkness' is falsity arising from evil, 7711.

[5] In Matthew,

Jesus said, If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you; it will be better for you that one of your members perish, than that your whole body be cast into gehenna. Matthew 5:29-30.

'Right eye' means an understanding of and belief in falsity arising from evil, and 'right hand' falsity itself arising from evil. Anyone may recognize that 'eye' is not used here to mean the eye nor 'right hand' to mean the right hand, and that the eye causing a person to stumble should not be plucked out, nor should the right hand causing him to stumble be cut off, for that would contribute nothing to the person's well-being. In John,

The beast placed on them all a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads. Revelation 13:16.

'Right hand' here is falsity arising from evil, and 'forehead' is the love of evil from which falsity arises. 'Forehead' means heavenly love and therefore in the contrary sense hellish love, see 9936.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. i.e. a container which takes its name from a Hebrew measure for liquids

2. i.e. the south

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