Le texte de la Bible

 

에스겔 42:11

Étudier

       

11 그 두 방 사이에 길이 있고 그 방들의 모양은 북편 방 같고 그 장광도 같으며 그 출입구와 문도 그와 같으며

Des oeuvres de Swedenborg

 

Apocalypse Explained #209

Étudier ce passage

  
/ 1232  
  

209. For thou hast some power, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name, signifies that they have power from the Lord against evils and falsities, in the measure in which they make truths from the Word to be of the life, and acknowledge the Divine of the Lord in His Human. This is evident from the signification of "having power," as being power from the Lord against evils and falsities; and as those who are in faith from charity are treated of, it is said that they "have some power" (of which presently). It is evident also from the signification of "to keep My word," as being to make truths from the Word to be of the life; for to keep truths or commandments means not only to know and perceive them but also to will and do them, that is to keep them; and those who will and do, make the truths that they know and perceive from the Word to be of their life (See also above n. 15). It is evident also from the signification of "not denying My name," as being to acknowledge the Divine of the Lord in His Human (See above, n. 135).

[2] It should be known that there are two principal things of the church, namely, the acknowledgment of the Lord's Divine in His Human, and making the truths from the Word to be of one's life; moreover, no one can be in the one of these unless he is at the same time in the other; for all truths that are made to be of the life are from the Lord, and this is done with those who acknowledge the Divine in His Human. For the Lord flows in with all, as well in the heavens as on the earth, from His Divine Human, and not from the Divine separately. Consequently those who in their thought separate the Divine of the Lord from His Human, and look to the Divine of the Father not as in the Human but as beside it or above it, thus separated from it, receive no influx from the Lord nor thus from heaven, for all who are in the heavens acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human (See concerning this in the work on Heaven and Hell 2-12, 59-72, 78-86. From this it is clear that all truths that are made of the life are from the Lord with those who acknowledge the Divine in His Human, that is the Divine Human. Truths become of the life when man loves them, thus when he wills them and does them, for he who loves, wills and does; in a word, truths are made of the life when man from affection lives according to them. Such truths are from the Lord because the Lord flows into the love with man, and through the love into truths and thus makes them to be of the life.

[3] Something shall now be said about the power that man has from the Lord against evils and falsities. All power that angels have and also that men have is from the Lord; and the measure in which they receive the Lord is the measure of their power. He who believes that any power against evils and falsities comes from what is man's own [proprium] is greatly mistaken; for it is evil spirits, conjoined to the hells, that induce evils and falsities thence with men, and these spirits are numerous, and each one of them is conjoined to many hells, in each of which also there are many spirits, and no one except the Lord can turn these away from man, for the Lord alone has power over the hells, and man has no power at all from himself or from what is his own [proprium]; therefore man has power to the extent that he is conjoined to the Lord by love. There are two loves that reign in the heavens and constitute the heavens, namely, love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor; love to the Lord is called celestial love, and love toward the neighbor is called spiritual love. Those who are in celestial love have much power, but those who are in spiritual love have some power; and because what is written to the angel of this church, treats of those who are in love towards the neighbor, or in charity and in faith therefrom, which love is spiritual love, it is said, "Thou hast some power."

[4] But it is to be noted, that all the power that angels and men have from the Lord is from the good of love; and since the good of love does not act from itself but through truths, therefore all power is from the good of love through truths, and with those who are spiritual, from the good of charity through the truths of faith. For good takes on a quality through truths, good without truths having no quality and where there is no quality there is neither force nor power. From this it is clear, that good has all power through truths, or charity through faith, and neither charity apart from faith nor faith apart from charity has any power. This is meant also by the keys given to Peter, for "Peter" there means, in the spiritual sense, truth from good which is from the Lord, thus faith from charity; and the "keys" given to him the power over evil and falsities. These things were said to Peter when he acknowledged the Divine of the Lord in His Human; which means, that those have power who acknowledge the Divine of the Lord in His Human, and from Him are in the good of charity, and in the truths of faith. That these things were said to Peter when he acknowledged the Lord is shown in Matthew:

Jesus said to the disciples, Who say ye that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering said unto him, Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jonah; for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but My Father who is in the heavens. But I also say unto thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of the hells shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:15-19).

(But of Peter and his keys, see what is said above, n. 9; also what is shown in The small work on The Last Judgment 57, and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 122; and that truth has all power from good, which is from the Lord, in the work on Heaven and Hell 228-233, 539, and Arcana Coelestia 3091, 3387, 3563, 4592, 4933, 6344, 6423, 7518, 7673, 8281, 8304, 9133, 9327, 9410, 10019, 10182).

  
/ 1232  
  

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

Des oeuvres de Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #576

Étudier ce passage

  
/ 10837  
  

576. That the number ten means remnants, just as tenths do, becomes clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

Many houses will be a desolation, large and beautiful ones, without inhabitant, for ten acres of vineyard will yield but one bath, and a homer of seed will yield an ephah. Isaiah 5:9-10.

This refers to the vastation of spiritual and celestial things. 'Ten acres of vineyard will yield but one bath' stands for remnants of spiritual things being so few, while 'a homer of seed will yield an ephah' stands for remnants of celestial things being so few. In the same prophet,

And there will be many forsaken places in the midst of the land; and yet there will be a tenth part in it, and this will return; it will be however an uprooting. Isaiah 6:12-13.

'The midst of the land' stands for the internal man, 'a tenth part' for such a small quantity of remnants. In Ezekiel,

You shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath. The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, the bath containing a tenth of a homer; and the ephah a tenth of a homer, the measure for it shall be after the homer. And the fixed portion of oil, of the bath of oil, shall be a tenth of a bath from a cor, which is ten baths to the homer; for ten baths are a homer. Ezekiel 45:10-11, 14.

The quantities mentioned here relate to holy things, which are Jehovah's. They mean different kinds of holy things. 'Ten' here means remnants of celestial things and so of spiritual things. For what are the specific numerical quantities mentioned in this and in previous chapters of this prophet where the heavenly Jerusalem and the new Temple are the subject, and in other prophets, and also in the various rites of the Jewish Church, if they do not contain sacred arcana?

[2] In Amos,

She has fallen, no more to rise, the virgin of Israel. Thus said the Lord Jehovah, The city that goes forth a thousand will have remnants of a hundred, and that which goes forth a hundred will have remnants of ten to the house of Israel. Amos 5:2-3.

The word 'remnants' is used here, of which only a fraction will remain, for this is only a tenth part, or the remnants of remnants. In the same prophet,

I hate the pride of Jacob and his palaces, and I will shut up the city and all that is in it. And it will be that if ten men will have remained in one house, they will die. Amos 6:8-9.

'Ten' stands for remnants that are not likely to remain. In Moses,

The Ammonite and the Moabite shall not come into the assembly of Jehovah; even the tenth generation belonging to them shall not come into the assembly of Jehovah forever. Deuteronomy 23:3.

'The Ammonite and the Moabite' stands for the profanation of the celestial and the spiritual things of faith, the remnants of which have been dealt with already.

[3] From this it is clear that 'tenths' represents remnants, of which Malachi speaks as follows,

Bring all the tithes 1 to the treasure-house, that there may be plunder in My house, and let them put Me to the test in this matter whether I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing for you. Malachi 3:10.

'That there may be plunder in My house stands for remnants in the internal man, which are likened to 'plunder' because they are implanted, so to speak, by stealth among so many evils and falsities; and by way of such remnants comes every blessing. The fact that the whole of a person's charity comes to him by way of the remnants that are in the internal man was also represented in the Jewish Church by the requirement that once they had paid their tithes, 1 they were then to give to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, Deuteronomy 26:12 and following verses.

[4] Since remnants are the Lord' s alone, tenths are therefore called 'Holiness to Jehovah', and are spoken of in Moses as follows,

All the tithes 1 of the land - of the seed of the land, of the fruit of the tree - are Jehovah's; they are Holiness to Jehovah. All tithes 1 of the herd and of the flock, every tenth one that passes under the (herdsman's) staff shall be Holiness to Jehovah. Leviticus 27:30, 32.

Since the Decalogue consisted of Ten Commandments, or Ten Words, and Jehovah wrote them on tablets, Deuteronomy 10:4, remnants are meant; and the fact that they were written by the hand of Jehovah means that such remnants are the Lord's alone. Their presence in the internal man was represented by the tablets.

Notes de bas de page:

1. or tenths

  
/ 10837  
  

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