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Obadiah 1

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1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.

2 Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised.

3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?

4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.

5 If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?

6 How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!

7 All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.

8 Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?

9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.

10 For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.

11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.

12 But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.

13 Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;

14 Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.

15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.

16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.

17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.

19 And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.

21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD's.

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Apocalypse Explained #919

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919. Verse 19. And the angel cast his sickle into the earth and gathered the vineyard of the earth, signifies that this was done. This is evident from what has been just said in the preceding article. That a "vineyard" signifies the spiritual church is evident from the passages in the Word where "vineyard" is mentioned (as in Isaiah 1:8, 3:14; 5:1-10; 16:10; 36:17; 37:30; 65:21; Jeremiah 12:10; 32:15; 35:7, 9; 39:10; Ezekiel 28:26; Hosea 2:15; Amos 4:9; 5:11, 17; 9:14; Micah 1:6; Zephaniah 1:13; 1 Samuel 8:14, 15; Psalms 107:37; Matthew 20:1-8; 21:28, 38-41; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 13:6, 7; 20:9-16).

And concerning a "vine" see John 15:1-12; as well as in the historical parts of the Word.

From these passages it is clearly evident that a "vineyard" means the church (See also above, n. 376, 403, 638, 918, where many passages in which "vineyard" occurs are explained). From the signification of "vineyard" it can be seen that "to gather the vintage" signifies to collect for uses those things that will be serviceable to the understanding, and which will give intelligence and wisdom; and in the contrary sense it signifies to lay waste the church as to spiritual good, and thus as to the affection of truth and the understanding of truth. In this contrary sense "vintage" and "to gather the vintage" are used in the sense that there are no longer any clusters or grapes remaining; and this signifies in the spiritual sense that all spiritual good, and thus all truth that is truth in itself, is destroyed; and this is especially effected in the church by falsifications of the Word, likewise when evil of life corrupts all good, and falsity of doctrine perverts all truth; this is described also by "spoilers" and by "thieves."

[2] That "gathering the vintage" signifies, for this reason, laying waste, can be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:

A cry over the wine in the streets; every joy shall be mixed; the gladness of the earth shall be banished. The remnant in the city is a waste, and the gate shall be beaten down even to devastation. For so shall it be in the midst of the land as the beating of an olive-tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is finished (Isaiah 24:11-13).

This describes the mourning over the devastation of the church as to celestial good and as to spiritual good, which in its essence is truth from celestial good. This devastation is compared to "the beating of an olive-tree," and to "the gleanings when the vintage is finished." (But this may be seen explained above, n. 313, 638).

[3] In the same:

Ye confident daughters, perceive My word in your ears; year 1 upon year shall ye be troubled, ye confident ones, for the vintage is finished, the ingathering shall not come (Isaiah 32:9, 10).

"Confident daughters" signify those in the church who love falsities more than truths. That with such, truths are gradually diminished in every state, is signified by "year 1 upon year shall ye be troubled." The devastation of all truth until there is nothing left is signified by "the vintage is finished, and the ingathering shall not come."

[4] In Jeremiah:

Upon thy fruits of autumn and upon thy vintage hath the spoiler fallen, therefore gladness and joy are gathered out of Carmel (Jeremiah 48:32, 33).

"Fruits of autumn" signify the goods of the church; "the vintage" signifies its truths; for "bread," which is here meant by the "fruits of autumn," signifies the good of the church, and "wine," which is from the vintage, signifies its truth. "The spoiler" who fell upon them signifies evil and falsity therefrom. That the delight of spiritual and celestial love, which is the very joy of the heart, will perish, is signified by "gladness and joy shall be gathered out of Carmel."

[5] In Micah:

Woe is me, I am become as the gatherings of the summer, as the gleanings of the vintage; there is no cluster to eat; my soul desireth the first ripe fruit (Micah 7:1).

"As the gleanings of the vintage, there is no cluster to eat," signifies such devastation of the church that there is no longer any good or truth. (The rest may be seen explained in the preceding article.) In Jeremiah:

If the grape-gatherers came to thee they would leave no gleanings; if thieves in the night they would destroy sufficiency (Jeremiah 49:9).

In Obadiah:

If thieves came to thee, if destroyers by night, how wouldst thou be cut off? Would they not steal till they had enough? If the grape-gatherers came to thee would they leave any clusters? (Obadiah 1:5).

"Grape-gatherers" signify falsities, and "thieves" evils, which lay waste the truths and goods of the church; but "destroyers" signify both falsities and evils; that "they would leave no clusters" signifies that there are no goods because there are no truths. But "to gather the vintage" signifies to gather for uses such things especially as will be serviceable to the understanding, see in Jeremiah 6:9; Leviticus 19:10, 26:5; Deuteronomy 20:6, 7, 24:21.

Fußnoten:

1. The Hebrew has "days upon a year," Schmidius has "year upon year."

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