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Hesekiel 44

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1 Und er führte mich wiederum zu dem äußern Tor des Heiligtums gegen Morgen; es war aber verschlossen.

2 Und der HERR sprach zu mir: Dies Tor soll zugeschlossen bleiben und nicht aufgetan werden, und soll niemand dadurchgehen; denn der HERR, der Gott Israels, ist dadurch eingegangen, darum soll es zugeschlossen bleiben.

3 Doch den Fürsten ausgenommen; denn der Fürst soll daruntersitzen, das Brot zu essen vor dem HERRN. Durch die Halle des Tors soll er hineingehen und durch dieselbe wieder herausgehen.

4 Darnach führte er mich zum Tor gegen Mitternacht vor das Haus. Und ich sah, und siehe, des HERRN Haus war voll der Herrlichkeit des HERRN; und ich fiel auf mein Angesicht.

5 Und der HERR sprach zu mir: Du Menschenkind, merke darauf und siehe und höre fleißig auf alles, was ich dir sagen will von den Sitten und Gesetzen im Haus des HERRN; und merke, wie man hineingehen soll, und auf alle Ausgänge des Heiligtums.

6 Und sage dem ungehorsamen Hause Israel: So spricht der HERR HERR: Ihr macht es zuviel, ihr vom Hause Israel, mit allen euren Greueln,

7 denn ihr führt fremde Leute eines unbeschnittenen Herzens und unbeschnittenen Fleisches in mein Heiligtum, dadurch ihr mein Haus entheiligt, wenn ihr mein Brot, Fettes und Blut opfert, und brecht also meinen Bund mit allen euren Greueln;

8 und haltet die Sitten meines Heiligtums nicht, sondern macht euch selbst neue Sitten in meinem Heiligtum.

9 Darum spricht der HERR HERR also: Es soll kein Fremder eines unbeschnittenen Herzens und unbeschnittenen Fleisches in mein Heiligtum kommen aus allen Fremdlingen, so unter den Kindern Israel sind;

10 sondern die Leviten, die von mir gewichen sind und samt Israel von mir irregegangen nach ihren Götzen, die sollen ihre Sünde tragen,

11 und sollen in meinem Heiligtum dienen als Hüter an den Türen des Hauses und als Diener des Hauses; und sollen nur das Brandopfer und andere Opfer, so das Volk herzubringt, schlachten und vor den Leuten stehen, daß sie ihnen dienen.

12 Darum daß sie ihnen gedient vor ihren Götzen und dem Haus Israel einen Anstoß zur Sünde gegeben haben, darum habe ich meine Hand über sie ausgestreckt, spricht der HERR HERR, daß sie müssen ihre Sünde tragen.

13 Und sie sollen nicht zu mir nahen, Priesteramt zu führen, noch kommen zu allen meinen Heiligtümern, zu den hochheiligen Opfern, sondern sie sollen ihre Schande tragen und ihre Greuel, die sie geübt haben.

14 Darum habe ich sie zu Hütern gemacht an allem Dienst des Hauses und zu allem, was man darin tun soll.

15 Aber die Priester aus den Leviten, die Kinder Zadok, so die Sitten meines Heiligtums gehalten haben, da die Kinder Israel von mir abfielen, die sollen vor mich treten und mir dienen und vor mir stehen, daß sie mir das Fett und Blut opfern, spricht der HERR HERR.

16 Und sie sollen hineingehen in mein Heiligtum und vor meinen Tisch treten, mir zu dienen und meine Sitten zu halten.

17 Und wenn sie durch die Tore des innern Vorhofs gehen wollen, sollen sie leinene Kleider anziehen und nichts Wollenes anhaben, wenn sie in den Toren im innern Vorhofe und im Hause dienen.

18 Und sollen leinenen Schmuck auf ihrem Haupt haben und leinene Beinkleider um ihre Lenden, und sollen sich nicht im Schweiß gürten.

19 Und wenn sie in den äußern Vorhof zum Volk herausgehen, sollen sie die Kleider, darin sie gedient haben, ausziehen und dieselben in die Kammern des Heiligtums legen und andere Kleider anziehen und das Volk nicht heiligen in ihren eigenen Kleidern.

20 Ihr Haupt sollen sie nicht kahl scheren, und sollen auch nicht die Haare frei wachsen lassen, sondern sollen die Haare umher verschneiden.

21 Und soll auch kein Priester Wein trinken, wenn sie in den innern Vorhof gehen sollen.

22 Und sollen keine Witwe noch Verstoßene zur Ehe nehmen, sondern Jungfrauen vom Samen des Hauses Israel oder eines Priesters nachgelassene Witwe.

23 Und sie sollen mein Volk lehren, daß sie wissen Unterschied zu halten zwischen Heiligem und Unheiligem und zwischen Reinem und Unreinem.

24 Und wo eine Sache vor sie kommt, sollen sie stehen und richten und nach meinen Rechten sprechen und sollen meine Gebote und Sitten halten und alle meine Feste halten und meine Sabbate heiligen.

25 Und sollen zu keinem Toten gehen und sich verunreinigen, nur allein zu Vater und Mutter, Sohn oder Tochter, Bruder oder Schwester, die noch keinen Mann gehabt hat; über denen mögen sie sich verunreinigen.

26 Und nach seiner Reinigung soll man zählen sieben Tage.

27 Und wenn er wieder hinein zum Heiligtum geht in den innern Vorhof, daß er im Heiligtum diene, so soll er sein Sündopfer opfern, spricht der HERR HERR.

28 Aber das Erbteil, das sie haben sollen, das will ich selbst sein. Darum sollt ihr ihnen kein eigen Land geben in Israel; denn ich bin ihr Erbteil.

29 Sie sollen ihre Nahrung haben vom Speisopfer, Sündopfer und Schuldopfer, und alles Verbannte in Israel soll ihnen gehören.

30 Und alle ersten Früchte und alle Hebopfer von allem, davon ihr Hebopfer bringt, sollen den Priestern gehören. Ihr sollt auch den Priestern die Erstlinge eures Teiges geben, damit der Segen in deinem Hause bleibe.

31 Was aber ein Aas oder zerrissen ist, es sei von Vögeln oder Tieren, das sollen die Priester nicht essen.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #7225

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7225. 'And I am uncircumcised in the lips' means that to them I am impure. This is clear from the meaning of 'being uncircumcised' as being impure, for circumcision represented purification from filthy kinds of love, that is, from self-love and love of the world, see 2039, 2632, 2799, 4462, 7045, and therefore those who had not been circumcised and were called 'the uncircumcised' represented those who had not been purified from those kinds of love and so were impure, 3412, 3413, 4462, 7045; and from the meaning of 'the lips' as matters of doctrine, dealt with in 1286, 1288, so that 'uncircumcised in the lips' means being impure in those things which are matters of doctrine. For the expression 'uncircumcised' is used in reference to doctrine as well as to life. The ear is therefore spoken of as being uncircumcised in Jeremiah,

On whom shall I speak and testify and they will hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot listen. Behold, the Word of Jehovah has become a reproach; they have no wish for it. Jeremiah 6:10.

And the heart is spoken of as being uncircumcised, in the same prophet, All the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart. Jeremiah 9:26.

In Ezekiel,

You are bringing in the sons of the foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary. Ezekiel 44:7, 9.

In Moses,

At that time their uncircumcised heart will be humbled. Leviticus 26:41.

[2] From these quotations it is evident that 'uncircumcised' means impure; and since all impurity springs from the impure kinds of love, which are love of the world and self-love, 'uncircumcised' means that which hinders the inflow of goodness and truth. Where those kinds of love are present inflowing goodness and truth are annihilated, for they are contrary to one another, as heaven and hell are. Therefore 'an uncircumcised ear' means disobedience, and 'an uncircumcised heart' a rejection of goodness and truth, which takes place especially when those kinds of love have fortified themselves with falsity like a wall around them.

[3] When Moses, being a stammerer, calls himself 'uncircumcised in the lips' it is on account of the internal sense. The expression is used so as to mean that those steeped in falsities, who are represented by 'Pharaoh', are not going to listen to things that might be told them from the law of God. And the reason why is that those steeped in falsities call truths belonging to the law of God falsities, and falsities that are contrary to the truths belonging to the law of God they call truths; for they are of an utterly contrary frame of mind. This being so, they view the truths taught by doctrine as altogether impure; and heavenly kinds of love are likewise seen by them as impure. And when they approach any community in heaven they emit a dreadful stench, which they imagine, when they become aware of it, to be emanating from that heavenly community, when in fact it is coming from themselves. For they are unaware of a stench until they are alongside that which is the opposite of it.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #2039

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2039. 'Every male [among you] is to be circumcised' means purity. This is clear from the representation and consequently the meaning of 'circumcising' in the internal sense. Circumcision or cutting off the foreskin meant nothing else than the removal and rejection of those elements which stand in the way of and defile heavenly love, namely evil desires, especially those of self-love, and falsities resulting from those desires. The reason why this is the meaning is that the genital organs of both sexes represent heavenly love. There are three kinds of love which constitute the heavenly things of the Lord's kingdom - conjugial love, the love of infants, and social or mutual love. Conjugial love is the chief love of all because it has within it the end of serving the greatest use, namely the propagating of the human race, and therefore of the Lord's kingdom for which it is the seminary. Next to conjugial love, and deriving from it, comes the love of infants, and after that social or mutual love. Whatever covers over, obstructs, and defiles those loves is meant by the foreskin, the cutting away of which, or circumcision, therefore became representative. Indeed to the extent evil desires and resulting falsities are removed, a person is purified and heavenly love can show itself. How contrary self-love is to heavenly love, and how filthy, has been stated and shown in 760, 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 2045, 2057. From these considerations it is plain that circumcision in the internal sense means purity.

[2] That circumcision is no more than the sign of a covenant or of conjunction becomes quite clear from the fact that circumcising the foreskin counts for absolutely nothing if unaccompanied by circumcision of the heart; and that purification from those filthy loves is what circumcision of the heart means is quite evident from the following places in the Word: In Moses,

Jehovah God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, so that you will love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. Deuteronomy 30:6.

From these words it is clear that 'circumcising the heart' means being purified from filthy loves in order that Jehovah God or the Lord may be loved with all the heart and all the soul.

[3] In Jeremiah,

Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah, and remove the foreskin of your heart, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Jeremiah 4:3-4.

'Circumcising oneself to Jehovah and removing the foreskin of the heart' is nothing other than removing such things as stand in the way of heavenly love. From this it is also clear that circumcision of the heart is something more interior that is meant by circumcision of the foreskin. In Moses,

You shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and you shall be stiff-necked no longer. [Jehovah] executes judgement for the orphan and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him bread and clothing. Deuteronomy 10:16, 18.

Here also it is plain that 'circumcising the foreskin of the heart' means being purified from the evils that accompany filthy loves and from resulting falsities. The heavenly things of love are described as charitable works, namely 'executing judgement for the orphan and widow', and 'loving the sojourner to give him bread and clothing'.

[4] In Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming in which I will visit every one circumcised in the foreskin - Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners [of their hair] cut and who dwell in the wilderness, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart. Jeremiah 9:25-26.

This too shows that circumcision was a sign meaning purification. Although they are called 'circumcised in the foreskin', these nations - the Jews included along with the rest - are considered to be 'uncircumcised nations', and Israel to be 'uncircumcised in heart'. In Moses,

If at that time their uncircumcised heart is humbled. Leviticus 26:41.

Here the meaning is similar.

[5] That the foreskin and being uncircumcised means that which is unclean is clear in Isaiah,

Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion, put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for there will no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Isaiah 52:1.

'Zion' is used to mean the celestial Church and 'Jerusalem' the spiritual Church into which the uncircumcised, which means the unclean, will not enter.

[6] That circumcision is 'a sign of the covenant' or token of conjunction is quite clear from the fact that the same was represented by the requirement to circumcise the fruits of trees also, spoken of in Moses as follows,

When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food you shall circumcise its foreskin, its fruit. For three years it shall be to you uncircumcised; it shall not be eaten. And in the fourth all its fruit shall be holy. to the praises of Jehovah. Leviticus 19:23-24.

'Fruit' similarly represents and means charity, as becomes clear from many places in the Word. Their 'foreskin' accordingly means the uncleanness that obstructs and pollutes charity.

[7] Here is a marvel: When angels in heaven conceive the idea of purification from natural things that are filthy, something akin to circumcision is represented very speedily in the world of spirits, for in the world of spirits angelic ideas come over as representatives. In the Jewish Church there were some representative religious ceremonies which had those same origins and there were others which did not. The spirits with whom that swift circumcision was represented in the world of spirits were people who wished to be allowed into heaven, but before they were allowed in this representation took place. This explains why Joshua was commanded to circumcise the people after they had crossed the Jordan and were about to enter the land of Canaan. The people's entry into the land of Canaan represented nothing else than the admission into heaven of those who have had faith.

[8] This is why circumcision was commanded a second time, described in Joshua as follows,

Jehovah said to Joshua, Make swords of flint for yourself; circumcise the children of Israel a second time. And Joshua made swords of flint for himself, and circumcised the children of Israel on the hill of foreskins. And Jehovah said to Joshua, This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. And he called the name of that place Gilgal (rolling away). Joshua 5:2-3, 9.

'Swords of flint' means the truths which they were to be provided with to enable them to correct and cut back filthy loves, for without cognitions of truth no purification is possible. That 'stone' or 'flirt' means truths has been shown already, in 643, 1298, and that 'a sword' has reference to truths by which evils may be corrected is clear from the Word.

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