Le texte de la Bible

 

Hesekiel 29

Étudier

   

1 I tionde året, på tolfte dagen i tionde månaden, kom HERRENS ord till mig; han sade:

2 Du människobarn, vänd ditt ansikte mot Farao, konungen i Egypten, och profetera mot honom och mot hela Egypten.

3 Tala och säg: Så säger Herren, HERREN: Se, jag skall komma över dig, Farao, du Egyptens konung, du stora drake, som ligger där i dina strömmar och säger: »Min Nilflod är min; själv har jag gjort mig.»

4 Jag skall sätta krokar i dina käftar och låta fiskarna i dina strömmar fastna vid dina fjäll, och så skall jag draga dig upp ur dina strömmar med alla de fiskar i dina strömmar, som hänga fast vid dina fjäll.

5 Och jag skall kasta dig ut i öknen med alla fiskarna ifrån dina strömmar; du skall falla på marken och ej tagas bort därifrån eller upphämtas, ty åt markens djur och himmelens fåglar vill jag giva dig till mat;

6 och alla Egyptens inbyggare skola förnimma att jag är HERREN. Ty de äro en rörstav för Israels barn;

7 ja, när dessa fatta i dig med handen, går du sönder och sårar envar av dem i sidan; och när de stödja sig på dig, brytes du av och lämnar dem alla med vacklande länder.

8 Därför säger Herren, HERREN så: Se, jag vill låta svärd komma över dig, och jag skall utrota ur dig både människor och djur.

9 Och Egyptens land skall bliva förött och ödelagt, och man skall förnimma att jag är HERREN. Detta därför att han sade: »Nilfloden är min; själv har jag gjort den.

10 Ja, därför skall jag komma över dig och dina strömmar, och göra Egyptens land till en ödemark, ett ödelagt land, från Migdol till Sevene, fram till Etiopiens gräns.

11 Ingen människofot skall gå där fram, och ingen fot av något boskapsdjur skall gå där fram; och det skall ligga obebott i fyrtio år.

12 Och jag skall göra Egyptens land till en ödemark bland ödelagda länder, och dess städer skola ligga öde bland förhärjade städer i fyrtio år; och jag skall förskingra egyptierna bland folken och förströ dem i länderna.

13 Ty så säger Herren, HERREN: När fyrtio år äro förlidna, skall jag församla egyptierna från de folk bland vilka de äro förskingrade.

14 Och jag skall åter upprätta Egypten och låta egyptierna komma tillbaka till Patros' land, varifrån de stamma. Där skola de bliva ett oansenligt rike,

15 ja, ett rike oansenligare än andra riken, så att det icke mer skall kunna upphäva sig över folken; jag skall låta dem bliva så få att de icke kunna råda över folken.

16 Och Israels barn skola icke mer sätta sitt hopp till dem som allenast uppväcka minnet av deras missgärning, när de vända sig till dem; och de skola förnimma att jag är Herren, HERREN.

17 I tjugusjunde året, på första dagen i första månaden, kom HERRENS ord till mig; han sade:

18 Du människobarn, Nebukadressar konungen i Babel, har låtit sin här förrätta ett svårt arbete mot Tyrus; alla huvuden hava blivit skalliga och alla skuldror sönderskavda. Men han och hans här hava icke fått någon lön från Tyrus för det arbete som han har förrättat mot det.

19 Därför säger Herren, HERREN så: Se, jag vill giva Egyptens land åt Nebukadressar, konungen i Babel; och han skall föra bort dess rikedomar och taga rov därifrån och göra byte där, och detta skall hans här få till lön.

20 Såsom en vedergällning för hans arbete giver jag honom Egyptens land; ty för min räkning hava de utfört sitt verk, säger Herren, HERREN.

21 På den tiden skall jag låta ett horn växa upp åt Israels hus, och du skall få upplåta din mun mitt ibland dem; och de skola förnimma att jag är HERREN.

   

Des oeuvres de Swedenborg

 

Apocalypse Revealed #704

Étudier ce passage

  
/ 962  
  

704. That perform signs to go away to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. This symbolizes assertions that their falsities are true, and efforts to stir up all those throughout the church who are caught up in the same falsities to attack the truths of the New Church.

To perform signs is to testify and also to assert that something is true, as may be seen in nos. 598, 599 above, here that their falsities are true. Kings of the earth and of the whole world symbolize people who are caught up primarily in falsities springing from evil, here all who are caught up in the same falsities throughout the church. For kings symbolize people impelled by truths that spring from goodness, and in an opposite sense people impelled by falsities springing from evil (no. 483). The earth symbolizes the church (no. 285), and so likewise does the world (no. 551). To go away to gather them to battle means, symbolically, to stir those people to fight or attack; for war symbolizes a spiritual war, which is one of falsity against truth and of truth against falsity (nos. 500, 586). It is to attack the truths of the New Church because it is called the battle of that great day of God Almighty, and that day symbolizes the Lord's advent and a new church then. That this is the symbolic meaning of the great day there will be seen below.

We are told that the spirits of demons would do this, because the spirits of demons symbolize lusts to falsify truths and to reason on the basis of falsities, as just said in no. 703 above.

It is apparent from this that spirits of demons performing signs to go away to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty, symbolize assertions by the people meant by the dragon, the beast and the false prophet, as described in nos. 701, 702 above, that their falsities are true, and efforts to stir up all those throughout the church who are caught up in the same falsities to attack the truths of the New Church.

[2] That the great day of God Almighty symbolizes the Lord's advent and a new church then, is clear from many passages in the Word, as from the following:

Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day. (Isaiah 2:11)

...in that day... Israel... will depend on Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. (Isaiah 10:20)

In that day a Root of Jesse... shall the Gentiles seek, and His resting place shall be glorious. (Isaiah 11:10-11)

In that day... eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 17:7, 9)

They will say in that day: "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, to set us free." (Isaiah 25:9)

...My people shall know My name...(and) in that day, I am He who speaks: "Behold, it is I." (Isaiah 52:6)

Alas! ...great is (the day of Jehovah, and) there is none like it. (Jeremiah 30:7)

Behold, the days are coming... when I will make a new covenant... and the city shall be built for Jehovah... (Jeremiah 31:27, 31, 38)

In those days... I will cause to grow up to David a righteous Branch... (Jeremiah 33:15)

(They will not) stand in battle on the day of Jehovah. (Ezekiel 13:5)

In that day Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the children of your people... In that day... shall be delivered everyone who is found written in the book. (Daniel 12:1)

...in that day... you will call Me "My Husband."... In that day I will make a covenant for them... ...in that day I will hear... (Hosea 2:16, 18, 21).

Behold, I am sending you Elijah... before the coming of the great... day of Jehovah. (Malachi 4:5)

Jehovah... will save them in that day, as the flock of His people. (Zechariah 9:16)

In that day Jehovah will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (Zechariah 12:8)

Behold, the day of Jehovah is coming... It shall be one day which is known to Jehovah... In that day Jehovah shall be one and His name one... In that day there shall be a great tumult... In that day "Holiness to the Lord" shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. (Zechariah 14:1, 4, 6-9, 13, 20-21)

There are many other passages in addition to these in which "the day of Jehovah" means the Lord's advent and a new church from Him then, as in the following: Isaiah 4:2; 19:16, 18, 21, 24; 22:20; 28:5; 29:18; 30:25-26; 31:7; and elsewhere.

Since the end of an age or final period of a former church is the time when the Lord's advent takes place and a new church begins, therefore the day of Jehovah in many places symbolizes the end of a previous church, and we are told that then there will be rumors, tumult, and wars. 1 See the passages collected in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 4, 5.

Notes de bas de page:

1. E.g., Matthew 24:6

  
/ 962  
  

Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

Des oeuvres de Swedenborg

 

The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Teachings #122

Étudier ce passage

  
/ 325  
  

122. The Lord's twelve disciples represented all the various forms of faith and caring that together constitute the church, as did the twelve tribes of Israel: 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397. Peter, James, and John represented faith, caring, and good actions that come from caring, respectively: preface to Genesis 18. Peter represented faith: preface to Genesis 22, §§4738, 6000, 6073, 6344, 10087. John represented good actions that come from caring: preface to Genesis 18. The fact that in the last times of the church there would be no faith in the Lord because there would be no caring is represented by Peter's denying the Lord three times before the rooster crowed for the third time; 1 in a symbolic sense, Peter in that passage means faith: 6000, 6073. Both "the crowing of the rooster" and "twilight" in the Word mean the last times of the church (10134); and "three" or "three times" means what is completed (2788, 4495, 5159, 9198, 10127). Much the same is meant by the Lord's saying to Peter, when Peter saw John following the Lord, "What is that to you, Peter? Follow me, John," 2 because Peter had said of John, "What about him?" (John 21:21, 22): 10087. Since John represented good actions that come from caring, he leaned on the Lord's chest [John 13:23-25; 21:20]: 3934, 10087. Likewise, what the Lord said to John from the cross meant that good actions from a caring heart are what constitute the church: "When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing by her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!' And he said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother!' And from that hour the disciple accepted her into his household" (John 19:26, 27). John means good actions that come from a caring heart, and "the woman" and "mother" mean the church; therefore the whole statement means that wherever good actions are being done from a caring heart is where the true church will be found. "Woman" in the Word means the church: 252, 253, 749, 770, 3160, 6014, 7337, 8994. The same holds true for "mother": 289, 2691, 2717, 3703, 4257, 5581, 8897, 10490. All the names of individuals and places in the Word symbolize qualities in the abstract: 768, 1888, 4310, 4442, 10329.

Notes de bas de page:

1. See Matthew 26:34, 69-75; Mark 14:30, 66-72; Luke 22:34, 54-62; and John 13:38; 18:25-27. The accounts in Matthew, Luke, and John suggest that Peter's three denials will occur before the rooster crows even once, though the language there is sometimes understood to refer generally to "cockcrow," or the series of calls the rooster makes at dawn; the account in Mark specifies two crowings by the rooster. [GFD, SS]

2. See John 21:20-22. The name "John" does not occur in the Greek text of this biblical passage, and there the command to follow seems clearly to be addressed to Peter. It should be noted that quotation standards were not as strict in Swedenborg's day as they are today. The line between direct quotation and paraphrase in Swedenborg's Latin is often unclear, and Swedenborg may have intended "John" to be a gloss on the biblical text rather than a direct quotation of it. In three other places ( Last Judgment 39[7]; Revelation Explained [= Swedenborg 1994-1997a] §§250:7, 785:5) Swedenborg also adds "John" to this verse. However, in several other places ( Secrets of Heaven 6073[3], 10087; Revelation Explained 9[3-5], 820:6-7, 821:8) he quotes the passage without adding "John," indicating that he was aware that "John" does not appear in the original Greek. In two places he states contrariwise that the words "follow me" in either John 21:19 or John 21:22 are addressed to Peter ( Revelation Explained 9[5], 821:8). The interpretation that the words "follow me" were addressed to John, and the general interpretation that John, not Peter, followed Jesus, seems to stem from John 21:20, in which John (called in that verse "the disciple whom Jesus loved") is said to be following Jesus. This is further supported by statements in Revelation Unveiled 17[5] and Revelation Explained 229[3], 443:4 that John rather than Peter followed Jesus. [LSW, GFD]

  
/ 325  
  

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