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Daniel 8

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1 Im dritten Jahr des Königreichs des Königs Belsazer erschien mir, Daniel, ein Gesicht nach dem, so mir zuerst erschienen war.

2 Ich war aber in solchem Gesicht zu Schloß Susan im Lande Elam, am Wasser Ulai.

3 Und ich hob meine Augen auf und sah, und siehe, ein Widder stand vor dem Wasser, der hatte zwei hohe Hörner, doch eins höher denn das andere, und das höchste wuchs am letzten.

4 Ich sah, daß der Widder mit den Hörnern stieß gegen Abend, gegen Mitternacht und gegen Mittag; und kein Tier konnte vor ihm bestehen noch von seiner Hand errettet werden, sondern er tat, was er wollte, und ward groß.

5 Und indem ich darauf merkte, siehe, da kommt ein Ziegenbock vom Abend her über die ganze Erde, daß er die Erde nicht berührte; und der Bock hatte ein ansehnliches Horn zwischen seinen Augen.

6 Und er kam bis zu dem Widder der zwei Hörner hatte, den ich stehen sah vor dem Wasser, und er lief in seinem Zorn gewaltig auf ihn zu.

7 Und ich sah ihm zu, daß er hart an den Widder kam, und er ergrimmte über ihn und stieß den Widder und zerbrach ihm seine zwei Hörner. Und der Widder hatte keine Kraft, daß er vor ihm hätte können bestehen; sondern er warf ihn zu Boden und zertrat ihn und niemand konnte den Widder von seiner Hand erretten.

8 Und der Ziegenbock ward sehr groß. Und da er am stärksten geworden war, zerbrach das große Horn, und wuchsen ihm an seiner Statt vier ansehnliche gegen die vier Winde des Himmels.

9 Und aus einem wuchs ein kleines Horn; das ward sehr groß gegen Mittag, gegen Morgen und gegen das werte Land.

10 Und es wuchs bis an des Himmels Heer und warf etliche davon und von den Sternen zur Erde und zertrat sie.

11 Ja es wuchs bis an den Fürsten des Heeres und nahm von ihm weg das tägliche Opfer und verwüstete die Wohnung seines Heiligtums.

12 Es ward ihm aber solche Macht gegeben wider das tägliche Opfer um der Sünde willen, daß es die Wahrheit zu Boden schlüge und, was es tat, ihm gelingen mußte.

13 Ich hörte aber einen Heiligen reden; und ein Heiliger sprach zu dem, der da redete: Wie lange soll doch währen solch Gesicht vom täglichen Opfer und von der Sünde, um welcher willen diese Verwüstung geschieht, daß beide, das Heiligtum und das Heer zertreten werden?

14 Und er antwortete mir: Bis zweitausend dreihundert Abende und Morgen um sind; dann wird das Heiligtum wieder geweiht werden.

15 Und da ich, Daniel, solch Gesicht sah und hätte es gern verstanden, siehe, da stand's vor mir wie ein Mann.

16 Und ich hörte mitten vom Ulai her einen mit Menschenstimme rufen und sprechen: Gabriel, lege diesem das Gesicht aus, daß er's verstehe!

17 Und er trat nahe zu mir. Ich erschrak aber, da er kam, und fiel auf mein Angesicht. Er aber sprach zu mir: Merke auf, du Menschenkind! denn dies Gesicht gehört in die Zeit des Endes.

18 Und da er mit mir redete, sank ich in eine Ohnmacht zur Erde auf mein Angesicht. Er aber rührte mich an und richtete mich auf, daß ich stand.

19 Und er sprach: Siehe, ich will dir zeigen, wie es gehen wird zur Zeit des letzten Zorns; denn das Ende hat seine bestimmte Zeit.

20 Der Widder mit den zwei Hörnern, den du gesehen hast, sind die Könige in Medien und Persien.

21 Der Ziegenbock aber ist der König in Griechenland. Das Horn zwischen seinen Augen ist der erste König.

22 Daß aber vier an seiner Statt standen, da es zerbrochen war, bedeutet, daß vier Königreiche aus dem Volk entstehen werden, aber nicht so mächtig, wie er war.

23 In der letzten Zeit ihres Königreiches, wenn die Übertreter überhandnehmen, wird aufkommen ein frecher und tückischer König.

24 Der wird mächtig sein, doch nicht durch seine Kraft; er wird greulich verwüsten, und es wird ihm gelingen, daß er's ausrichte. Er wird die Starken samt dem heiligen Volk verstören.

25 Und durch seine Klugheit wird ihm der Betrug geraten, und er wird sich in seinem Herzen erheben, und mitten im Frieden wird er viele verderben und wird sich auflehnen wider den Fürsten allen Fürsten; aber er wird ohne Hand zerbrochen werden.

26 Dies Gesicht vom Abend und Morgen das dir gesagt ist, das ist wahr; aber du sollst das Gesicht heimlich halten, denn es ist noch eine lange Zeit dahin.

27 Und ich, Daniel, ward schwach und lag etliche Tage krank. Darnach stand ich auf und richtete aus des Königs Geschäft. Und verwunderte mich des Gesichts; und war niemand da, der mir's auslegte.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #7988

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7988. 'That all the hosts of Jehovah went out of the land of Egypt' means that those with whom truth and good were present but who had been held back until then were released. This is clear from the meaning of 'going out of the land of Egypt' as being released and delivered from molestations, 'going out' self-evidently meaning being released, while 'the land of Egypt' means molestations, see 7278; and from the meaning of 'the hosts of Jehovah' as the truths and forms of good that the spiritual Church possesses, and so those with whom truth and good are present, dealt with in 3448, 7236. The fact that truths and forms of good are meant by 'the hosts of Jehovah' is clear in Daniel,

There came out one small-sized horn of the he-goat, and it grew exceedingly towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the glorious [land]. And it grew even towards the hosts of heaven, and cast down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them. It drew itself up even towards the prince of the host. And the host was set over the continual [burnt offering] on account of the transgression, because it cast down truth to the earth. At that point I heard a holy one speaking, How long is both the sanctuary and the host being trodden down? He said to me, Up to the evening and morning, two thousand three hundred times; then the sanctuary will be made correct. Daniel 8:9-14.

Here it is plainly evident that 'the hosts' means truths and forms of good, for it says that [the hem] cast down to the earth some of the host and of the stars, and after this that it cast down truth to the earth, and that the host was to be trodden down up to the evening and morning, which is the Lord's Coming.

[2] Since truths and forms of good make up 'the hosts of Jehovah', angels are therefore called His 'hosts' in the first Book of Kings,

Micah the prophet said, I saw Jehovah sitting on His throne, and the entire host of heaven standing beside Him. 1 Kings 22:19.

And in David,

Bless Jehovah, His angels, powerful with strength; bless Jehovah, all His hosts, His ministers. Psalms 103:20-21.

Angels are called 'hosts' by virtue of the truths and forms of good present with them. Not only angels used to be referred to as the hosts of Jehovah but also the lights in the sky - the sun, moon, and stars. And they were referred to as such because 'the sun' was a sign of the good of love, 'the moon' a sign of the good of faith, and 'the stars' a sign of cognitions of goodness and truth. Reference to those lights as 'hosts' is evident in the Book of Genesis,

The heavens and the earth were finished, and all their hosts. Genesis 1:1.

Here 'hosts' is used to mean all the lights in the sky; but in the internal sense, in which the subject at that point is the new creation of a person, 'hosts' is used to mean truths and forms of good.

[3] Likewise in David,

Praise Jehovah, all His angels, praise Him, all His hosts; praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all stars of light. Psalms 148:1, 3.

'Sun' means the good of love, and 'moon' the good of faith, see 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495, 4060, 4696, 5377, 7083; and 'stars' means cognitions of good and truth, 1808, 2120, 2495, 2849, 4697.

[4] One reason why 'sun, moon, and stars' means forms of good and truths is that in heaven the Lord is a Sun to those who are celestial and a Moon to those who are spiritual, 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643, 4300, 4721 (end), 5097, 7078, 7083, 7171, 7173; and another reason is that angelic dwelling-places shine like stars, in keeping with the following in Daniel,

Then those who have intelligence will shine like the brightness of the expanse, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and into eternity. Daniel 12:9.

[5] Since angels, by virtue of truths and forms of good, are spoken of as 'the hosts of Jehovah', and also the sun, moon, and stars are called such, and since all truth and good come from the Lord, the Word refers to the Lord as Jehovah Zebaoth, that is, Jehovah of Hosts, 3448. And another reason why it refers to Him in this way is that He fights on a person's behalf against the hells.

From all this one may now see what 'the hosts of Jehovah' is used to mean in the internal sense. The children of Jacob who went out of Egypt were not such, though they represented them. This is evident from their life in Egypt, where they were unacquainted with Jehovah, even with His name before it was made known to Moses from the bramble bush, Exodus 3:13-16; and also they were calf-worshippers no less than the Egyptians were, as may be deduced from Exodus 32. And their life in the wilderness too shows that their character was such that they could not be led into the land of Canaan. Thus they were anything but the hosts of Jehovah.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #5377

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5377. CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE GRAND MAN - continued. IN THIS SECTION, TOO, THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE INTERNAL ORGANS WITH IT

The subject at the end of the previous chapter was the correspondence of certain internal organs of the body with the Grand Man, that is to say, the correspondence of the liver, pancreas, stomach, and certain other organs with it. In this present section the same subject moves on to the correspondence of the peritoneum, kidneys, ureters, bladder, and also the intestines with it. Whatever exists in the human being, both in the external man and in the internal man, has a correspondence with the Grand Man. Without that correspondence with the Grand Man - that is, with heaven, or what amounts to the same, with the spiritual world - nothing can ever come into being and remain in being. This is because it does not have a connection with anything prior to itself or consequently with Him who is the First, that is, with the Lord. Nothing that lacks such a connection, thus that is independent, can remain in being for even a single instant. For everything that remains in being does so entirely by virtue of its connection with and dependence on what brings it into being; for remaining in being consists in a constant coming into being.

[2] From this it follows that not only all the individual parts of the human being correspond to the Grand Man but also every single thing in the universe. The sun has a correspondence, and so does the moon; for in heaven the Lord is the Sun, and the Moon too. The fire and heat of the sun, as well as its light, have a correspondence, for it is the Lord's love towards the whole human race that its fire and heat correspond to, and His Divine truth that its light corresponds to. The stars too have a correspondence, the communities of heaven and their dwelling-places being what the stars correspond to. Not that the heavenly communities dwell in the stars, but that they have been set in order in the same kind of way as the stars. Everything under the sun has a correspondence - every single thing beneath it in the animal kingdom and every single thing beneath it in the vegetable kingdom. And unless the spiritual world were flowing into them all, every one, they would instantly break down and fall to pieces.

[3] Considerable experience too has made me aware of all this, for I have been shown what very many things in the animal kingdom, and still more in the vegetable kingdom, correspond to in the spiritual world, as well as the fact that without the inflow of the spiritual world into them they cannot by any means at all remain in being. For once what is prior has been taken away what is posterior of necessity perishes, and likewise once what is prior has been severed from what is posterior. Since correspondence is primarily the correspondence of the human being with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord, the specific nature of each person's correspondence therefore determines what he looks like in the next life in the light of heaven. This explains why angels have an indescribably bright and beautiful appearance, whereas those in hell have an unspeakably dark and ugly one.

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