La Bibbia

 

Amos 4

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1 Hør dette ord, I Basan-kyrSamarias fjell, I som undertrykker de ringe, som knuser de fattige, som sier til eders menn: Kom med vin, så vi får drikke!

2 Herren, Israels Gud, har svoret ved sin hellighet: Se, dager kommer over eder da I skal slepes bort med haker, og den siste levning av eder med fiskekroker,

3 og I skal gå ut gjennem murbruddene, hver rett frem for sig, og I skal bli slengt bort i palasset*, sier Herren. / {* seierherrens palass.}

4 Gå til Betel og synd, til Gilgal og synd til gagns, og bær hver morgen frem eders slaktoffer, hver tredje dag eders tiender,

5 og la røk av syret brød stige op som takkoffer og tillys frivillige offer og kunngjør det! For så vil I jo gjerne ha det, I Israels barn, sier Herren, Israels Gud.

6 Og jeg har da latt eder gå med tom munn i alle eders byer og latt eder mangle brød i alle eders hjem; men I har ikke omvendt eder til mig, sier Herren.

7 Jeg har forholdt eder regnet da det ennu var tre måneder igjen til høsten, og har latt det regne over en by, men ikke over en annen; et stykke land fikk regn, og et annet stykke blev fortørket, fordi det ikke kom regn på det,

8 og to, tre byer ravet avsted til en og samme by for å drikke vann, men fikk ikke nok; men I har ikke omvendt eder til mig, sier Herren.

9 Jeg har slått eder med kornbrand og rust; gresshoppene åt op eders mange haver og vingårder og fikentrær og oljetrær; men I har ikke omvendt eder til mig, sier Herren.

10 Jeg har sendt pest blandt eder likesom dengang i Egypten, jeg har drept eders unge menn med sverdet og latt eders hester bli hærfang, og jeg lot stanken fra eders hær stige op i eders nese; men I har ikke omvendt eder til mig, sier Herren.

11 Jeg har omstyrtet byer iblandt eder, således som Gud omstyrtet Sodoma og Gomorra, og I blev som en brand som er revet ut av ilden; men I har ikke omvendt eder til mig, sier Herren.

12 Derfor vil jeg gjøre med dig, Israel, så som jeg har sagt*. Og fordi jeg vil gjøre således med dig, så gjør dig rede til å møte din Gud, Israel! / {* AMO 2, 13 fg. 3, 11 fg. 4, 2 fg.}

13 For se, han som danner fjellene og skaper vinden og åpenbarer menneskene deres tanker, han som gjør morgenrøden til mørke og farer frem over jordens høider - Herren, hærskarenes Gud, er hans navn.

   

Commento

 

Exploring the Meaning of Amos 4

Da Helen Kennedy

In chapter 4 of the Book of Amos, verses 1-3 are talking about people who pervert the truths of the church. They will fall into falsities in outermost things.

In the Bible, fish represent "lower" things than mammals, so we can interpret the fishhooks in verse 2 as meaning being caught and held fast in natural or lower things.

Verses 4-6 are about acts of worship such as tithes and sacrifices. These look similar to genuine worship, but are only external sorts of things. We can tell because ‘teeth’ (in verse 6) represent ultimates or outermost things (see Secrets of Heaven 6380). It follows that “cleanness of teeth” would mean outermost things that look good but only imitate genuine worship. The Lord exhorts, “Yet you have not returned to me.”

Verses 7-8. Some things true will remain, when where there are too many false ideas, the truths don't get through. This can be seen where the Lord says, “I made it rain on one city; I withheld rain from another city... where it did not rain the part withered.” Again the Lord exhorts, “Yet you have not returned to me.”

Verse 9. Afterward all things of the church are falsified, shown by blight attacking the gardens, vineyards, fig tree and olive trees. The last three represent spiritual, natural and celestial things, or all the things of spiritual life. “Yet you have not returned to me,” says the Lord.

Verses 10-11. The Lord explains the devastating things he allowed to happen: plague in Egypt, death of young men by swords, stench in the camps, Sodom and Gomorrah. This is because they are profaned by sensual knowledges. Profanation means the mixing of good and evil together. (See Secrets of Heaven 1001[2]).

This extends to all things of the church, with the church being the Lord’s kingdom on earth (Secrets of Heaven 768[3]).

With profanation “as soon as any idea of what is holy arises, the idea of what is profane joins immediately to it,” (Secrets of Heaven 301).

Now there is hardly anything left. “Yet you have not returned to Me,” says the Lord again.

Verses 12-13: Because people adamantly remain in their profane ways, they are warned, “Prepare to meet your God!”. This is the God powerful and mighty, “who forms mountains, and creates the wind,” and even more close to home, “Who declares to man what his thought is.” As intimately a knowing as that is, the Lord’s love for all humanity is contained in His exhortations for them to turn themselves to Him.

See, for example, Luke 6:44-45, and True Christian Religion 373.

Dalle opere di Swedenborg

 

True Christian Religion #374

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374. (i) Charity is having good will, and good deeds are doing good from a good will.

Charity and deeds are distinct from each other, just as are the will and the action, and as are the affection on the part of the mind and the functioning of the body. This is the same distinction as between the internal and the external man; these are respectively like cause and effect, since the causes of everything take form in the internal man, and all the effects arise from this source in the external. Therefore charity, being a quality of the internal man, is having a good will; and deeds, which belong to the external man, are doing good from a good will.

[2] Still there is infinite diversity between one person's good will and another's. For everything which anyone does to favour another is believed or appears to flow from good will or benevolence, but still it remains unknown whether the good deeds arise from charity, not to mention whether the charity is genuine or spurious. That infinite diversity between one person's good will and another's arises from his end in view, intention and so objective. These are hidden within his will to do good, and this is the source of the quality of each person's will. The will seeks means and ways of achieving its ends, which are the effects, in the understanding; and there it exposes itself to light, in order to see not only the methods, but also the opportunities when and how it can realise itself in actions, and thus produce its effects, which are deeds. At the same time in the understanding the will puts itself in a position to act. From this it follows that deeds in essence belong to the will, in form to the understanding, and in performance to the body. That is how charity comes down to become good deeds.

[3] This can be illustrated by a comparison with a tree. A person in all his particulars can be likened to a tree. In its seed lies hidden as it were an end in view, an intention and objective - to produce fruit. Here the seed corresponds to the will in a person, which, as has been said, contains these three factors. Next the seed is impelled by what it contains to sprout from the earth, and clothe itself with branches, boughs and leaves, thus acquiring for itself the means to its ends, the fruit. Here the tree corresponds to the understanding in a person, Finally when its time has come and it is ready to realise itself, it blossoms and produces fruit. Here the tree corresponds to the person's good deeds. It is obvious that these are in essence the work of the seed, in form the work of the boughs and leaves, and in performance the work of the wood of the tree.

[4] This can also be illustrated by a comparison with a temple. As Paul says, man is a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21-22). A person's end in view, intention and objective as a temple of God are salvation and everlasting life; here there is a correspondence with the will, to which these three belong. Then he absorbs doctrinal teachings concerning faith and charity from his parents and teachers and from preachers, and when he comes to years of discretion from the Word and religious books, all of which are means to the end. Here the correspondence is with the understanding. Finally the end is realised in the form of uses in accordance with the teachings which serve as means; this happens by bodily actions, which are known as good deeds. So the end produces effects by mediating causes; these effects are in essence the product of the end, in form that of the teachings of the church, and in performance of uses. That is how a person becomes God's temple.

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