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Ezekiel 43

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1 And he causeth me to go to the gate, the gate that is looking eastward.

2 And lo, the honour of the God of Israel hath come from the way of the east, and His voice [is] as the noise of many waters, and the earth hath shone from His honour.

3 And according to the appearance [is] the appearance that I saw, as the appearance that I saw in my coming in to destroy the city, and the appearances [are] as the appearance that I saw at the river Chebar, and I fall on my face.

4 And the honour of Jehovah hath come in unto the house, the way of the gate whose face [is] eastward.

5 And take me up doth the Spirit, and bringeth me in unto the inner court, and lo, the honour of Jehovah hath filled the house.

6 And I hear one speaking unto me from the house, and a man hath been standing near me,

7 and He saith unto me: `Son of man, the place of My throne, And the place of the soles of My feet, Where I dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel to the age, Defile no more do the house of Israel My holy name, They, and their kings, by their whoredom, And by the carcases of their kings -- their high places.

8 In their putting their threshold with My threshold, And their door-post near My door-post, And the wall between Me and them, And they have defiled My holy name, By their abominations that they have done, And I consume them in Mine anger.

9 Now do they put far off their whoredom, And the carcases of their kings -- from Me, And I have dwelt in their midst to the age.

10 Thou, son of man, Shew the house of Israel the house, And they are ashamed of their iniquities, And they have measured the measurement.

11 And since they have been ashamed of all that they have done, The form of the house, and its measurement, And its outlets, and its inlets, and all its forms, And all its statutes, even all its forms, And all its laws cause them to know, And write [it] before their eyes, And they observe all its forms, And all its statutes, and have done them.

12 This [is] a law of the house: on the top of the mountain, all its border all round about [is] most holy; lo, this [is] a law of the house.

13 `And these [are] measures of the altar by cubits: The cubit [is] a cubit and a handbreadth, and the centre [is] a cubit, and a cubit the breadth; and its border on its edge round about [is] one span, and this [is] the upper part of the altar.

14 And from the centre of the ground unto the lower border [is] two cubits, and the breadth one cubit, and from the lesser border unto the greater border four cubits, and the breadth a cubit.

15 `And the altar [is] four cubits, and from the altar and upward [are] four horns.

16 And the altar [is] twelve long by twelve broad, square in its four squares.

17 And the border [is] fourteen long by fourteen broad, at its four squares, and the border round about it [is] half a cubit, and the centre to it [is] a cubit round about, and its steps are looking eastward.'

18 And He saith unto me, `Son of man, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: These [are] statutes of the altar in the day of its being made to cause burnt-offering to go up on it, and to sprinkle on it blood.

19 And thou hast given unto the priests, the Levites, who [are] of the seed of Zadok -- who are near unto Me, an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, to serve Me -- a calf from the herd, for a sin-offering.

20 And thou hast taken of its blood, and hast put it on its four horns, and on the four corners of its border, and on the border round about, and hast cleansed it, and purified it.

21 And thou hast taken the bullock of the sin-offering, and hast burnt it in the appointed place of the house at the outside of the sanctuary.

22 And on the second day thou dost bring near a kid of the goats, a perfect one, for a sin-offering, and they have cleansed the altar, as they cleansed [it] for the bullock.

23 In thy finishing cleansing, thou dost bring near a calf, a son of the herd, a perfect one, and a ram out of the flock, a perfect one.

24 And thou hast brought them near before Jehovah, and the priests have cast upon them salt, and have caused them to go up, a burnt-offering to Jehovah.

25 Seven days thou dost prepare a goat for a sin-offering daily, and a bullock, a son of the herd, and a ram out of the flock, perfect ones, do they prepare.

26 Seven days they purify the altar, and have cleansed it, and filled their hand.

27 And the days are completed, and it hath come to pass on the eighth day, and henceforth, the priests prepare on the altar your burnt-offerings and your peace-offerings, and I have accepted you -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 219

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219. Verse 12. He that overcometh I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, signifies that those who are steadfast will be in Divine truth in heaven. This is evident from the signification of "overcoming," as being to be steadfast in the genuine affection of truth (See above n. 128); here in faith from charity, since that faith is treated of in what is written the angel of this church see 203; also from the signification of "pillar" as being Divine truth sustaining; also from the signification of "the temple of God" as being in the highest sense, the Lord's Divine Human, and in the relative sense, the Lord's spiritual kingdom, thus the heaven that constitutes that kingdom (of which presently). "A pillar in the temple" means Divine truth sustaining, because "temple" signifies heaven, and heaven is heaven from the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord; for by heaven all angels are meant, because heaven is made up of angels, and from them is called heaven: and angels are angels in the measure in which they receive the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord; and for this reason angels in the Word also signify Divine truths (See above, n. 130, 200).

Now as heaven is Divine truth, and "temple" signifies heaven, it follows that all things of the temple signify such things as pertain to Divine truth, and that the "pillars" therein signify Divine truths sustaining. Divine truths sustaining are in general lower truths, because these sustain the higher; for there are lower and higher Divine truths, as there are lower and higher heavens. (There are degrees of these, on which see in the work on Heaven and Hell 38, 208, 209, 211.) The heavens that belong to a lower degree sustain those that belong to a higher degree; here, therefore, by the Lord's making him that overcometh "a pillar in the temple" is meant that such will be in a lower heaven. They who are in the faith of charity are also in the lower heaven, which is called the spiritual heaven; while those who are in love to the Lord are in the higher heaven, which is called the celestial heaven, and this is sustained by the lower or spiritual heaven. (But a clearer idea can be had of these things from what is shown in three chapters in the work on Heaven and Hell, namely, in the chapter where it is shown that The Divine of the Lord in Heaven is Love to Him and Charity towards the Neighbor, n. 13-19; in another where it is shown that Heaven is distinguished into Two Kingdoms, Celestial and Spiritual, n 20-28; and in a third where it is shown that There are Three Heavens, n. 29-40.)

[2] "Pillars" are here and there mentioned in the Word, and they signify lower truths, because they sustain the higher. That lower truths are signified by "pillars" in the Word can be seen from the following. In Jeremiah:

Behold I have given thee this day for a fenced city, and for a pillar of iron, and for walls of brass against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes and against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land, that they may fight against thee and not prevail (Jeremiah 1:18-19).

These things were said to the prophet, because all prophets signify the doctrines of Divine truth, and because the church in which Divine truths are falsified is here treated of it is therefore said, "Behold I have given thee this day for a fenced city, for a pillar of iron, and for walls of brass against the whole land;" "a fenced city" signifies the doctrine of truth; "a pillar of iron" truth sustaining it; "walls of brass" good defending, and "land" the church. It is said, also, "against the kings of Judah, against the princes, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land;" and "the kings of Judah," and "princes," signify truths falsified; "priests," goods adulterated, and "the people of the land," falsities in general; of these it is said, that they will fight against truths themselves, but shall not prevail.

[3] In the same:

Set thee up signs, place for thee high pillars, set thine heart to the highway, the way thou mayest go; return, O virgin of Israel, return to thy cities (Jeremiah 31:21).

The restoration of the church is here treated of. "The virgin of Israel" signifies the church; "to set up signs, and to place high pillars," signifies instruction in such things as are the fundamentals of the church, which are called "high pillars" because they sustain: "to set the heart to the highway, the way thou mayest go," signifies the affection of truth leading to life.

[4] In David:

I will judge in uprightness; the earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved; I will make firm the pillars of it (Psalms 75:2-3).

"The earth dissolving" signifies those of the church who are not in truths but yet long for them; "to make firm the pillars" of it signifies to sustain the church by those truths upon which it is founded. Again, in Job:

Who causeth the earth to shake out of its place, so that the pillars thereof tremble (Job 9:6).

"The earth" here signifies the church, and "pillars" the truths that sustain it. That:

The pillars of the court of the tabernacle (mentioned in Exodus 27:10-12, 14-17);

also signify the ultimate truths sustaining the higher ones, see Arcana Coelestia, in the explanation of that chapter and those verses. Like truths are signified by:

The pillars of the house of the forest of Lebanon built by Solomon (mentioned in 1 Kings 7:2, 6).

[5] Similar also is the signification of:

The two pillars that Solomon set up in the porch of the temple, and that are described in the first book of Kings. He fashioned two pillars of brass, eighteen cubits was the height of each pillar; and a line of twelve cubits compassed the second pillar. And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars; seven chains for the one chapiter, and seven chains for the other chapiter. And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple; and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar and called the name thereof Boaz (1 Kings 7:15-21).

Since "the temple" signified heaven (as will be shown presently), therefore all things of the temple signified such things as are of heaven, thus of Divine truth there; for, as said above, heaven is heaven from the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord; therefore "the porch of the temple" signified the things pertaining to the ultimate heaven, and as this sustains the two higher heavens, those two pillars were placed in the porch.

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

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Apocalypse Explained # 33

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33. To Him be the glory and the might unto the ages of the ages, signifies that these things, namely, Divine good and Divine truth, are from the Lord alone to eternity. This is evident from the signification of "glory," as meaning Divine truth in heaven (See Arcana Coelestia 4809, 5922, 8267, 8427, 9429); and from the signification of "might," as meaning Divine good through Divine truth, since Divine good has all might and all power through Divine truth (See n. 3091, 3563, 6344, 6423, 8304, 9643, 10019, 10182; and in the work on Heaven and Hell, where the power of the angels of heaven from the Lord is treated of, n 228-233). That "unto the ages of the ages" means to eternity is clear without explanation. "Glory" is Divine truth in heaven because Divine truth is the light there; and the things that have existence from the light of heaven are called "glory," because they have existence from the Lord and represent the Divine truth that is from Him, and declare His glory; especially the things that are within the angel, which are of intelligence and wisdom. (That the light of heaven is Divine truth, and that all things that are in heaven, whether without or within the angel, have existence from the light there, see in the work on Heaven and Hell, n (Heaven and Hell 126-140). 126-140, 172, 173, 176.) It is believed in the world that "Glory be to God" means that God for His own sake desires glory from man, and that He is moved by it, and imparts blessings in return for it. But this is a mistake. God desires glory from man for man's sake; for thus man ascribes all things to the Divine and nothing to himself, and when he does this, the Divine can flow in with Divine truth, and give him intelligence and wisdom. Thus and no otherwise is the Lord glorified in man; for the Lord loves everyone, and, from love, desires that His glory, that is, Divine truth, may be in men. This, moreover, the Lord teaches in John:

If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask whatever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, and that ye be made My disciples (John 15:7-8).

(That the salvation of the human race is the glory of the Lord, see n. Arcana Coelestia 4347, 4593, 5957, 7550, 8263, 10646)

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