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Numbers 4

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1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, and unto Aaron, saying,

2 `Take up the sum of the sons of Kohath from the midst of the sons of Levi, by their families, by the house of their fathers;

3 from a son of thirty years and upward, even till a son of fifty years, every one going in to the host, to do work in the tent of meeting.

4 `This [is] the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting, the holy of holies:

5 that Aaron and his sons have come in, in the journeying of the camp, and have taken down the vail of the hanging, and have covered with it the ark of the testimony;

6 and have put on it a covering of badger skin, and have spread a garment completely of blue above, and have placed its staves.

7 `And on the table of the presence they spread a garment of blue, and have put on it the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and the cups of the libation, and the bread of continuity is on it,

8 and they have spread over them a garment of scarlet, and have covered it with a covering of badger skin, and have placed its staves,

9 and have taken a garment of blue, and have covered the candlestick of the lamp, and its lights, and its snuffers, and its snuff-dishes, and all its oil vessels wherewith they minister to it;

10 and they have put it and all its vessels unto a covering of badger skin, and have put [it] on the bar.

11 `And on the golden altar they spread a garment of blue, and have covered it with a covering of badger skin, and have placed its staves;

12 and have taken all the vessels of ministry wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and have put [them] unto a garment of blue, and have covered them with a covering of badger skin, and have put [them] on the bar,

13 and have removed the ashes of the altar, and have spread over it a garment of purple;

14 and have put on it all its vessels wherewith they minister about it, the censers, the hooks, and the shovels, and the bowls, all the vessels of the altar, and have spread on it a covering of badger skin, and have placed its staves:

15 `And Aaron hath finished -- his sons also -- covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, in the journeying of the camp, and afterwards do the sons of Kohath come in to bear [it], and they do not come unto the holy thing, that they have died; these [things are] the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting.

16 `And the oversight of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, [is] the oil of the lamp, and the spice-perfume, and the present of continuity, and the anointing oil, the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that [is] in it, in the sanctuary, and in its vessels.'

17 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

18 `Ye do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathite from the midst of the Levites;

19 but this do to them, and they have lived, and do not die in their drawing nigh the holy of holies: -- Aaron and his sons go in, and have set them, each man to his service, and unto his burden,

20 and they go not in to see when the holy thing is swallowed, that they have died.'

21 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

22 `Take up the sum of the sons of Gershon also by the house of their fathers, by their families;

23 from a son of thirty years and upward, till a son of fifty years thou dost number them, every one who is going in to serve the host, to do the service in the tent of meeting.

24 `This [is] the service of the families of the Gershonite, to serve -- and for burden,

25 and they have borne the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting, its covering, and the covering of the badger [skin] which [is] on it above, and the vail at the opening of the tent of meeting,

26 and the hangings of the court, and the vail at the opening of the gate of the court which [is] by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the vessels of their service, and all that is made for them -- and they have served.

27 `By the command of Aaron and his sons is all the service of the sons of the Gershonite in all their burden, and in all their service; and ye have laid a charge on them concerning the charge of all their burden.

28 This [is] the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonite in the tent of meeting; and their charge [is] under the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

29 `The sons of Merari, by their families, by the house of their fathers, thou dost number them;

30 from a son of thirty years and upward even unto a son of fifty years thou dost number them, every one who is going in to the host, to do the service of the tent of meeting.

31 `And this [is] the charge of their burden, of all their service in the tent of meeting; the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets,

32 and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, of all their vessels, and of all their service; and by name ye do number the vessels of the charge of their burden.

33 `This [is] the service of the families of the sons of Merari, for all their service, in the tent of meeting, by the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.'

34 And Moses numbereth -- Aaron also, and the princes of the company -- the sons of the Kohathite, by their families, and by the house of their fathers,

35 from a son of thirty years and upward even unto a son of fifty years, every one who is going in to the host, for service in the tent of meeting,

36 and their numbered ones, by their families, are two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

37 These [are] those numbered of the families of the Kohathite, every one who is serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, by the command of Jehovah, by the hand of Moses.

38 And those numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families, and by the house of their fathers,

39 from a son of thirty years and upward even unto a son of fifty years, every one who is going in to the host, for service in the tent of meeting,

40 even their numbered ones, by their families, by the house of their fathers, are two thousand and six hundred and thirty.

41 These [are] those numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, every one who is serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the command of Jehovah.

42 And those numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by the house of their fathers,

43 from a son of thirty years and upward even unto a son of fifty years, every one who is going in to the host, for service in the tent of meeting,

44 even their numbered ones, by their families, are three thousand and two hundred.

45 These [are] those numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, by the command of Jehovah, by the hand of Moses.

46 All those numbered, whom Moses numbered -- Aaron also, and the princes of Israel -- of the Levites, by their families, and by the house of their fathers,

47 from a son of thirty years and upward even unto a son of fifty years, every one who is going in to do the work of the service, even the service of burden in the tent of meeting,

48 even their numbered ones are eight thousand and five hundred and eighty;

49 by the command of Jehovah hath [one] numbered them, by the hand of Moses, each man by his service, and by his burden, with his numbered ones, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 725

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725. 17:4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet. This symbolizes the celestial Divine good and truth contained in the Word among Roman Catholics.

Purple symbolizes celestial Divine good, and scarlet symbolizes celestial Divine truth, as will be seen presently. To be arrayed in them means, symbolically, to have these about them, thus among them. They have these among them from the Word, because the scarlet beast on which the woman was sitting symbolizes the Word (no. 723).

People know that Roman Catholics have the Divine good and truth in the Word about them, thus among them, as a kind of garment, for they venerate the Word outwardly and not inwardly. They acknowledge it, because it tells about the Lord and about His authority over heaven and the church, which they have transferred to themselves. It also tells about the keys given to Peter, whose successors they say they are. So, because they found their majesty, grandeur and power on these two points, of necessity they acknowledge the holiness of the Word. But still the Word is for them only a kind of garment of purple and scarlet, and of gold, precious stones and pearls, upon a harlot holding a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and the filthiness of her licentiousness.

[2] Since the verse mentions purple and scarlet, and then gold, precious stones and pearls, and since purple and scarlet symbolize celestial Divine good and truth, while gold and precious stones symbolize spiritual Divine good and truth, both emanating from the Word, therefore we must say something about celestial Divinity and spiritual Divinity:

The Lord's whole heaven has been divided into two kingdoms - the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. The celestial kingdom consists of angels who are impelled by love from the Lord, and the spiritual kingdom of angels who are impelled by wisdom from the Lord. Each kingdom has in it goodness and truth. The goodness and truth among angels in the celestial kingdom are symbolized by purple and scarlet, while the goodness and truth among angels in the spiritual kingdom are symbolized by gold and precious stones. Angels have both the one and the other goodness and truth from the Lord by means of the Word. Consequently the Word has in it two interior levels of meaning, one celestial and the other spiritual.

This now is the reason that the woman sitting on the scarlet beast appeared arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls.

[3] Like the symbolism of the woman here is the symbolism of the "rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day," at whose gate Lazarus lay prostrate, "desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table" (Luke 16:19-21). The rich man clothed in purple and fine linen refers to the Jews, who had the Word, and Lazarus refers to the gentiles who did not have it.

Similar symbolic meanings are found in the following places:

Those who ate delicacies are devastated in the streets; those who were brought up on scarlet embrace dunghills. (Lamentations 4:5)

When you are plundered, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold..., in vain you will make yourself fair. (Jeremiah 4:30)

O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with luxury, (and) who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. (2 Samuel 1:24)

Fine embroidered linen... was what you spread...; blue and purple... was your covering. (Ezekiel 27:7)

The last is said of Tyre, which symbolizes concepts of truth and goodness from the Word.

[4] Since purple and scarlet symbolize celestial goodness and truth, therefore Aaron's vestments and the veil and curtains of the Tabernacle were woven of blue, purple, scarlet and fine linen (Exodus 25:4; 26:31, 36; 27:16; 28:6, 15). Regarding the curtains (Exodus 26:1). The veil before the Ark (Exodus 26:31). The hem of the robe of the ephod (Exodus 28:33). The scarlet cloth over the showbread (Numbers 4:8).

It is apparent from this what is symbolized by the purple and scarlet with which the woman sitting on the scarlet beast appeared arrayed.

So likewise in the following passage, where we read:

Alas..., the great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet..., adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! For in one hour such great riches were laid waste. (Revelation 18:16-17)

Moreover, purple and scarlet, gold, precious stones and pearls were among the merchandise of Babylon (Revelation 18:12).

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.