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Ezekiel 39

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1 And thou, son of man, prophesy concerning Gog, and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I [am] against thee, O Gog, Prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal,

2 And have turned thee back, and enticed thee, And caused thee to come up from the sides of the north, And brought thee in against mountains of Israel,

3 And have smitten thy bow out of thy left hand, Yea, thine arrows out of thy right I cause to fall.

4 On mountains of Israel thou fallest, Thou, and all thy bands, and the peoples who [are] with thee, To ravenous fowl -- a bird of every wing, And [to] a beast of the field, I have given thee for food.

5 On the face of the field thou fallest, for I have spoken, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

6 And I have sent a fire against Magog, And against the confident inhabitants of the isles, And they have known that I [am] Jehovah.

7 And My holy name I make known in the midst of My people Israel, And I pollute not My holy name any more, And known have the nations that I, Jehovah, the holy One, [am] in Israel.

8 Lo, it hath come, and it hath been done, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, It [is] the day of which I spake.

9 And gone out have the inhabitants of cities of Israel, And they have burned and kindled [a fire], With armour, and shield, and buckler, With bow, and with arrows, And with hand-staves, and with javelins, And they have caused a fire to burn with them seven years,

10 And they do not take wood out of the field, Nor do they hew out of the forests, For with armour they cause the fire to burn, And they have spoiled their spoilers, And they have plundered their plunderers, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

11 And it hath come to pass, in that day, I give to Gog a place there -- a grave in Israel, the valley of those passing by, east of the sea, and it is stopping those passing by, and they have buried there Gog, and all his multitude, and have cried, O valley of the multitude of Gog!

12 And the house of Israel have buried them -- in order to cleanse the land -- seven months.

13 Yea, all the people of the land have buried them, and it hath been to them for a name -- the day of My being honoured -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

14 And men for continual employment they separate, passing on through the land, burying with those passing by those who are left on the face of the earth, to cleanse it: at the end of seven months they search.

15 And those passing by have passed through the land, and seen a bone of man, and one hath constructed near it a sign till those burying have buried it in the valley of the multitude of Gog.

16 And also the name of the city [is] The multitude; and they have cleansed the land.

17 And thou, son of man, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Say to the bird -- every wing, and to every beast of the field: Be assembled and come in, Be gathered from round about, For My sacrifice that I am sacrificing for you, A great sacrifice on mountains of Israel, And ye have eaten flesh, and drunk blood.

18 Flesh of the mighty ye do eat, And blood of princes of the earth ye drink, Of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats, Of calves, fatlings of Bashan -- all of them.

19 And ye have eaten fat to satiety, And ye have drunk blood -- to drunkenness, Of My sacrifice that I sacrificed for you.

20 And ye have been satisfied at My table with horse and rider, Mighty man, and every man of war, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

21 And I have given My honour among nations, And seen have all the nations My Judgment that I have done, And My hand that I have laid on them.

22 And known have the house of Israel that I [am] Jehovah their God, From that day and henceforth.

23 And known have the nations that for their iniquity, Removed have the house of Israel, Because they have trespassed against Me, And I do hide My face from them, And give them into the hand of their adversaries, And they fall by sword -- all of them.

24 According to their uncleanness, And according to their transgressions, I have done with them, And I do hide My face from them.

25 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Now do I bring back the captivity of Jacob, And I have pitied all the house of Israel, And have been zealous for My holy name.

26 And they have forgotten their shame, And all their trespass that they trespassed against Me, In their dwelling on their land confidently and none troubling.

27 In My bringing them back from the peoples, I have assembled them from the lands of their enemies, And I have been sanctified in them before the eyes of the many nations,

28 And they have known that I [am] Jehovah their God, In My removing them unto the nations, And I have gathered them unto their land, And I leave none of them any more there.

29 And I hide not any more My face from them, In that I have poured out My spirit on the house of Israel, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'

   

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The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine # 222

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222. To the above shall be added some particulars from the Arcana Coelestia (n. 9127): "He who knows nothing of the internal or spiritual sense of the Word, knows no other than that 'flesh and blood,' when they are mentioned in the Word, mean flesh and blood. But in the internal or spiritual sense, it does not treat of the life of the body, but of the life of man's soul, that is, of his spiritual life, which he is to live to eternity. This life is described in the literal sense of the Word, by things which belong to the life of the body, that is, by 'flesh and blood'; and as the spiritual life of man subsists by the good of love and the truth of faith, therefore in the internal sense of the Word the good of love is meant by 'flesh,' and the truth of faith by 'blood.' These are understood by 'flesh and blood,' and by 'bread and wine,' in heaven; for 'bread' means altogether the same there as 'flesh,' and 'wine' as 'blood.' They who are not spiritual men, do not apprehend this; let such abide therefore in their own faith, only believing that in the Holy Supper, and in the Word, there is holiness, because they are from the Lord, although they may not know where that holiness resides. On the other hand, let those who are endowed with interior perception, consider whether 'flesh' means flesh, and 'blood,' blood, in the following passages. In the Apocalypse:

I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a great voice, saying unto all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, come and gather yourselves together to the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of Kings, and the flesh of commanders of thousands, and the flesh of the mighty, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all, free and bond, small and great (19:17, 18).

Who can understand these words, unless he knows what 'flesh,' 'kings,' 'commanders of thousands,' 'the mighty,' 'horses,' 'them that sit on them,' and 'freemen' and 'bondmen,' signify in the internal sense? And in Ezekiel:

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Say to every bird of heaven, and to every beast of the field, Gather yourselves together and come; gather yourselves together from every side to My sacrifice that I sacrifice for you, a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood; ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth; and ye shall eat fat to satiety, and drink blood even to drunkenness, of My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you: thus shall ye be satisfied at My table, with horse and chariot, with the mighty, and with every man of war; thus will I give My glory among the nations (39:17-21).

This passage treats of the calling together of all to the kingdom of the Lord, and in particular of the establishment of the church with the Gentiles; and 'eating flesh and drinking blood,' signify to appropriate to themselves Divine good and Divine truth, thus the holiness which proceeds from the Lord's Divine Human. Who cannot see, that 'flesh' does not here mean flesh; nor 'blood,' blood; as when it said, that 'they should eat the flesh of the mighty,' and 'drink the blood of the princes of the earth'; and that 'they should drink blood even to drunkenness'; also that 'they should be satisfied with horses, with chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war'? What 'the birds of heaven' and 'the beasts of the field' signify in the spiritual sense, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell (n. 110and the notes). Let us now consider what the Lord said concerning His flesh and His blood, in John:

The bread which I will give, is My flesh. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day; for My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him. This is the bread which came down from heaven (John 6:50-58).

'The flesh' of the Lord is the Divine good, and His 'blood,' the Divine truth, each from Him, is evident, because these nourish the spiritual life of man; hence it is said, 'My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed,' and as man is conjoined to the Lord by the Divine good and truth, it is also said, 'Whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life'; and, 'He dwelleth in Me and I in him'; and in the former part of the chapter:

Labor not for the food which perisheth, but for that food which endureth to eternal life (John 6:27).

'To abide in the Lord' is to be in love to Him, the Lord Himself teaches in John (15:2-12)".

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