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Numbers 8

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1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses saying,

2 Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.

3 And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

4 And this was the work of the candlestick: [it was] of beaten gold; from its base to its flowers was it beaten work; according to the form which Jehovah had shewn Moses, so had he made the candlestick.

5 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

6 Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them.

7 And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: sprinkle upon them water of purification from sin; and they shall pass the razor over all their flesh, and shall wash their garments, and make themselves clean.

8 And they shall take a young bullock and its oblation of fine flour mingled with oil; and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin-offering.

9 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tent of meeting; and thou shalt gather together the whole assembly of the children of Israel.

10 And thou shalt bring the Levites before Jehovah; and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites.

11 And Aaron shall offer the Levites as a wave-offering before Jehovah from the children of Israel, and they shall perform the service of Jehovah.

12 And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks, and thou shalt offer the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, to Jehovah, to make atonement for the Levites.

13 And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them as a wave-offering to Jehovah.

14 And thou shalt separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, that the Levites may be mine.

15 And afterwards shall the Levites come in to do the service of the tent of meeting. And thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them as a wave-offering.

16 For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of every one that breaketh open the womb, instead of every firstborn among the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me.

17 For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both of man and beast; on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I hallowed them to myself.

18 And I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel.

19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons, from among the children of Israel, to perform the service of the children of Israel in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel; that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel draw near to the sanctuary.

20 And Moses and Aaron, and all the assembly of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according to all that Jehovah had commanded Moses concerning the Levites: so did the children of Israel to them.

21 And the Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their garments; and Aaron offered them as a wave-offering before Jehovah; and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.

22 And afterwards the Levites came in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron, and before his sons; as Jehovah had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they to them.

23 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

24 This is that which concerneth the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward shall he come to labour in the work of the service of the tent of meeting.

25 And from fifty years old he shall retire from the labour of the service, and shall serve no more;

26 but he shall minister with his brethren in the tent of meeting, and keep the charge, but he shall not serve [in] the service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites with regard to their charges.

   

De obras de Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #7039

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7039. 'Behold, I kill your son, your firstborn' means the annihilation of faith devoid of charity, and the consequent devastation of truth among them. This is clear from the meaning of 'killing' as annihilation; and from the meaning of 'firstborn son', that is to say, of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, as faith devoid of charity, dealt with in 3325. For 'Pharaoh' and 'the Egyptians' have represented the facts known to the Church, 4749, 4964, 4966, 6004, thus known facts which form part of faith since these facts are ones that the Church possesses. But because they turned that factual knowledge into magic, 6692, and their deeds were as a consequence evil and devoid of any charity, the mere knowledge of matters of faith, thus faith without charity, is meant by 'their firstborn sons'. That the mere knowledge of them is meant by 'the firstborn of Egypt' is evident from the meaning of 'the firstborn of Israel' as the faith that is wedded to charity, dealt with above in 7075.

[2] The expression 'faith devoid of charity' is used, but faith in this case is used to mean the mere knowledge of matters of faith, because faith cannot exist where there is no charity. With those who are not governed by charity matters of faith are merely items stored in the memory; and in the memory they take the same form as any other factual knowledge. Nor does any real knowledge of the truth that composes faith reside there, because it has been debased by false ideas and also serves as the means to bolster up falsities. Since this is what faith devoid of charity is like, it is annihilated among the wicked in the next life, with whom truth suffers complete devastation. This is allowed to happen to prevent them from using truths as the means to attain evil objectives, and so to prevent hell from dominating in any way among them over such things as belong to heaven, and to guard against their being left hanging as a consequence between heaven and hell. Such annihilation and such devastation of truth is what is meant by the firstborn in Egypt being killed. The destruction after that of the Egyptians in the Sea Suph represented a subsequent state of damnation or spiritual death of such people; for once they have been deprived of matters of faith or truth, which were like wings lifting them up, they immediately drop like weights into hell.

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