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ယေဇကျေလ 37

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1 တဖန်ထာဝရဘုရားလက်တော်သည် ငါ့ အပေါ်မှာရှိ၍ ဝိညာဉ်တော်အားဖြင့် ငါ့ကိုပြင်သို့ ဆောင် သွားလျက်၊ အရိုးတို့နှင့် ပြည့်သောချိုင့်အလယ်၌ ထားပြီး လျှင်၊

2 ထိုအရိုးတို့ပတ်လည်၌ ရှောက်သွားစေတော် မူ၏။ ထိုချိုင့်မျက်နှာပြင်၌ များစွားသောအရိုးတို့သည်ရှိ၍ အလွန်သွေ့ခြောက်ကြ၏။

3 ထာဝရဘုရားကလည်း၊ အချင်းလူသား၊ ဤ အရိုးတို့သည် အသက်ရှင်နိုင်သလောဟု မေးတော်မူလျှင်၊ ငါက၊ အိုအရှင်ထာဝရဘုရား၊ ကိုယ်တော်သိတော်မူသည် ဟု လျှောက်လေ၏။

4 ထာဝရဘုရားကလည်း၊ ဤအရိုးတို့အပေါ်မှာ ပရောဖက်ပြု၍ ဟောပြောရမည်မှာ၊ အိုသွေ့ခြောက် သော အရိုးတို့၊ထာဝရဘုရား၏အမိန့်တော်ကိုနားထောင် ကြလော့။

5 ဤသွေ့ခြောက်သော အရိုးတို့အား အရှင် ထာဝရဘုရား မိန့်တော်မူသည်ကား၊ ငါသည် သင်တို့ အထဲသို့ အသက်ကိုသွင်း၍ သင်တို့သည် အသက်ရှင်ရ ကြမည်။

6 သင်တို့အပေါ်မှာ အကြောတို့ကို ငါတင်၍ အသားကို တက်စေမည်။ အရေနှင့် ဖုံးလွှမ်း၍၊ အသက် ကို သွင်းသဖြင့် သင်တို့သည် အသက်ရှင်၍၊ ငါသည် ထာဝရဘုရားဖြစ်ကြောင်းကို သိရကြလိမ့်မည်ဟု၊

7 မှာထားတော်မူသည်အတိုင်း ငါသည် ပရော ဖက်ပြု၏။ ပရောဖက်ပြုစဉ်တွင် အသံမြည်၏။ လှုပ်ရှား ခြင်းလည်း ရှိ၏။ အရိုးတို့သည် တခုအနီးသို့တခု ချဉ်းကြ ၏။

8 ငါကြည့်ရှုစဉ်တွင် အကြောတို့သည်ပေါ်လာ၍ အသားလည်း တတ်၏။ အရေလည်းဖုံးလွှမ်း၏။ သို့ရာ တွင်၊ အသက်မရှိသေး။

9 ထာဝရဘုရားကလည်း၊ အချင်းလူသားလေ အား ပရောဖက်ပြုလော့။ အရှင်ထာဝရဘုရား၏ အမိန့် တော်ကို လေအားဆင့်ဆိုရမည်မှာ၊ အိုလေ၊ အရပ် လေးမျက်နှာတို့မှ လာ၍၊ ဤအသေကောင်တို့သည် အသက်ရှင်မည်အကြောင်း သူတို့အပေါ်မှာ မှုတ်လော့ဟု၊

10 မှာထားတော်မူသည်အတိုင်း ငါသည် ပရော ဖက်ပြု၍၊ လေသည် သူတို့အထဲသို့ဝင်သဖြင့် သူတို့သည် အသက်ရှင်၍၊ အလွန်များသော ဗိုလ်ခြေဖြစ်လျက် မတ်တတ်နေကြ၏။

11 ထာဝရဘုရားကလည်း၊ အချင်းလူသား၊ ဤအရိုးတို့သည် ဣသရေလအမျိုးအပေါင်းဖြစ်ကြ၏။ ငါတို့အရိုးများသည် သွေ့ခြောက်ကြ၏။ မြော်လင့်စရာ မရှိ။ ငါတို့သည် ဆုံးရှုံးကြပြီဟု သူတို့ဆိုတတ်ကြ၏။

12 သို့ဖြစ်၍၊ ပရောဖက်ပြုလျက် အရှင်ထာဝရ ဘုရား၏ အမိန့်တော်ကို သူတို့အား ဆင့်ဆိုရမည်မှာ၊ အချင်းငါ၏လူတို့၊ သင်တို့သင်္ချိုင်းတွင်းများကို ငါဖွင့်၍ သင်တို့ကို ထုတ်ပြီးလျှင် ဣသရေလပြည်သို့ ပို့ဆောင် မည်။

13 အချင်းငါ၏လူတို့၊ သင်တို့သင်္ချိုင်းတွင်းများကို ငါဖွင့်၍သင်တို့ ကို ထုတ်ပြီးလျှင်၊

14 အသက်ရင်စေခြင်းငှါ ငါသည် ကိုယ်အသက်ကို သွင်းပေး၍၊ သင်တို့ကို နေရင်းပြည်၌ နေရာချသောအခါ၊ ငါသည် ထာဝရဘုရားဖြစ်ကြောင်းကို သင်တို့သိရကြလိမ့် မည်။ ငါထာဝရဘုရားပြောသည်အတိုင်း ပြည့်စုံကြောင်း ကိုလည်း သိရကြလိမ့်မည်ဟု ထာဝရဘုရားမိန့်တော်မူ၏။

15 တဖန်ထာဝရဘုရား၏ နှုတ်ကပတ်တော်သည် ငါ့ဆီသို့ ရောက်လာ၍၊

16 အချင်းလူသားတုတ်တချောင်းကိုယူ၍၊ ယုဒ အမျိုးနှင့် သူ၏အပေါင်းအဘော် ဣသရေလ အမျိုးသားအဘို့ ဟု ရေးမှတ်လော့။ တဖန် တုတ်တချောင်းကိုယူ၍၊ ယောသပ်အမျိုးနှင့်သူ၏ အပေါင်းအဘော် ဣသရေလ အမျိုးသားများအဘို့၊ ဧဖရိမ်တုတ်ပေတည်းဟု ရေးမှတ် လော့။

17 ထိုတုတ်နှစ်ချောင်းကို တချောင်းတည်းဖြစ်စေ ခြင်းငှါ ပူးထား၍၊ ထိုတချောင်းတည်းသော တုတ်ကို လက်စွဲလော့။

18 သင်၏အမျိုးသားချင်းတို့က၊ ထိုသို့ပြုသော်၊ အဘယ်သို့ဆိုလိုသည်ကို ငါတို့အားမပြောသင့်သလောဟု မေးလျှင်၊

19 အရှင်ထာဝရဘုရား၏ အမိန့်တော်ကိုသူတို့ အား ဆင့်ဆိုရမည်မှာ၊ ဧဖရိမ်ကိုင်သော ယောသပ်၏ တုတ်နှင့်၊ သူ၏အပေါင်းအဘော် ဣသရေလအမျိုး အနွယ်တို့ကိုငါယူ၍ ယုဒတုတ်နှင့်အတူ ပူးထားပြီးလျှင်၊ တချောင်းတည်းဖြစ်သော တုတ်ကိုငါလက်စွဲမည်ဟု ဆင့်ဆိုလျက်၊

20 သင်ရေးမှတ်သော ထိုတုတ်ကိုသူတို့မျက်မှောက်၌ လက်စွဲလျက် နေလော့။

21 အရှင်ထာဝရဘုရား၏ အမိန့်တော်ကိုလည်း ဆင့်ဆို ရမည်မှာ၊ ဣသရေလအမျိုးသားတို့ရောက်သော တပါး အမျိုးသားနေရာအရပ်ရပ်တို့မှ သူတို့ကိုငါခေါ်ခဲ့၍ စုဝေး စေပြီးလျှင်၊ သူတို့ကို နေရင်းပြည်သို့ ပို့ဆောင်မည်။

22 ထိုပြည်တွင် ဣသရေလ တောင်တို့အပေါ်၌ လူတမျိုးတည်းဖြစ် စေ၍၊ ရှင်ဘုရင်တပါးတည်းသာလျှင် ထိုသူအပေါင်းတို့ကို စိုးစံရလိမ့်မည်။ နောင်တဖန် သူတို့ သည် လူနှစ်မျိုးမဖြစ်ရ။ နှစ်တိုင်းနှစ်ပြည်ကွဲပြားလျက် မရှိရ။

23 နောက်တဖန် သူတို့ရုပ်တုများ၊ စက်ဆုပ်ရွံရှာ ဘွယ်သော အမှုများ၊ လွန်ကျူးခြင်းအမှုများနှင့် ကိုယ်ကို မညစ်ညူးစေရကြ။ သူတို့ပြစ် မှားလေရာရာ အရပ်တို့မှ ငါကယ်နှုတ်၍ သန့်ရှင်းစေမည်။ သူတို့သည် ငါ၏ လူဖြစ်ကြလိမ့်မည်။ ငါသည်လည်း သူတို့၏ဘုရားသခင် ဖြစ်မည်။

24 ငါ၏ကျွန်ဒါဝိဒ်သည် သူတို့၏ရှင်ဘုရင်ဖြစ်၍၊ ထိုသူအပေါင်းတို့သည် သိုးထိန်းတဦးတည်း ရှိကြလိမ့် မည်။ ငါစီရင်ထုံးဖွဲ့ချက် တရားလမ်းသို့ လိုက်၍ စောင့် ရှောက်ကြလိမ့်မည်။

25 ငါ၏ကျွန်ယာကုပ်အား ငါပေး၍၊ သင်တို့ ဘိုးဘေးများနေဘူးသော ပြည်၌သူတို့နှင့်သားမြေး အစဉ် အဆက်တို့သည် နေကြလိမ့်မည်။ ငါ၏ကျွန်ဒါဝိဒ်သည် လည်း သူတို့ကို အစဉ်အမြဲစိုးစံလိမ့်မည်။

26 ထိုမှတပါး၊ သူတို့နှင့်မိဿဟာယ ပဋိညာဉ်ကို ငါဖွဲ့၍၊ ထိုပဋိညာဉ်သည် နိစ္စထာဝရပဋိညာဉ် ဖြစ်လိမ့် မည်။ သူတို့ကိုနေရာချ၍ များပြားစေမည်။ ငါ၏ သန့်ရှင်းရာဌာနကို သူတို့အလယ်အစဉ်အမြဲထားမည်။

27 ငါ၏ဗိမာန်တော်သည်လည်း သူတို့၌ရှိ၍၊ ငါသည် သူတို့၏ ဘုရားသခင်ဖြစ်မည်။ သူတို့သည်လည်း ငါ၏လူဖြစ်လိမ့်မည်။

28 ထိုသို့ငါ၏ သန့်ရှင်းရာဌာနသည် သူတို့အလယ်အစဉ်အမြဲတည်သောအခါ၊ ငါထာဝရဘုရားသည် ဣသရေလအမျိုးကို သန့်ရှင်းစေသည်ဟု တပါး အမျိုးသားတို့သည် သိရကြလိမ့်မည်ဟု မိန့်တော်မူ၏။

   

스웨덴보그의 저서에서

 

Apocalypse Explained #434

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434. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand.- That this signifies the light of truth from that love, and that all who are therein are in heaven and come into heaven, is plain from the signification of the tribe of Reuben, which denotes those who are in the light of truth, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of twelve thousand, as denoting, all things and all persons, concerning which see above (n. 430); here all who are in the light of truth from the good of love to the Lord, and this love is signified by the tribe of Judah, as shown just above (n. 433:1); and from the signification of the sealed, as denoting, those who are in heaven and come into heaven, concerning also which see above (n. [427:2], 433). It has been previously shown, that the twelve tribes of Israel represented, and thence signify in the Word, all things of the church, that each tribe signifies some universal essential of it, and that Judah signifies love to the Lord, but Reuben light from that love, will be seen in what follows.

[2] Reuben, and therefore the tribe named from him, in the highest sense, signifies the Lord as to foresight or foreknowledge; in the internal sense, spiritual faith and the understanding of truth; and in the external sense, sight. And because Reuben in the internal sense, signifies faith and the understanding, he also signifies the light of truth, for faith exists from the light of truth, from which the understanding is enlightened; for where the light of truth is, there are understanding and faith.

[3] Reuben or his tribe has a signification similar to that of the apostle Peter. For the twelve apostles, like the twelve tribes of Israel, represented all things of the church, and each apostle some universal essential of it. And because Peter has a representation similar to that of Reuben, he was therefore the first of the apostles, as Reuben was the first of the sons of Jacob. That Peter signifies truth in the light, and also faith, may be seen above (n. 9, 411:12-15).

[4] Reuben was the first of the sons of Jacob, and the tribe called after him is therefore named first in many passages of the Word, because he was the first-begotten, and the first-begotten in the Word signifies truth from good, or, what is the same thing, truth in the light, and therefore faith from charity. For truth, and that which pertains to faith, appears to man to be first, for it enters by the hearing into the memory, and is called forth thence into the thought; and what a man thinks, this he sees and perceives by interior sight, and that which is first perceived and seen is first, but only apparently, not actually. Good is actually the first-begotten, or the first thing of the church, because truth exists from good, for good forms itself in truths, and by means of truths renders itself visible, therefore truth is good in form. Truth is consequently said to be from good, and faith from charity, for that which is from anything is that thing in an image, and viewed in itself it is good formed and born; this therefore in the spiritual sense of the Word is the first-begotten. Moreover, with infants, the good of innocence is the first thing imparted by the Lord, and from this a man first becomes man. And because good is of love, and because man does not reflect upon his love, but upon his thought from the memory, and since good possesses no quality until formed into truths, and as apart from quality nothing is perceived, therefore it is not known that good is the first, and the first-begotten. For good is first formed by the Lord in man, and is brought forth by means of truths, in which good is in its own form and effigy.

[5] Moreover it must be known that the truths which a man receives from the Word, and from doctrine and preaching from it, during his infancy and childhood, appear indeed to be truths, yet are not truths with him; they are only like shells without kernels; or like the form of body and face without soul and life. They do not become truths before they are received in the will, for then they are first received by a man, and begin to live in him. For the will is the man himself, and all good is of the will, and all truth is of the understanding thence. From these things the reason is clear why the tribe of Judah, which signifies the good of love to the Lord, is named first, and afterwards the tribe of Reuben, which signifies truth in the light, from that good.

[6] It is to be noted, that all the light in which truth appears is from the light of heaven and this is from the Lord. The light of heaven is from the Divine Good of His Divine Love. The light of heaven is the Divine Good in form. These two in heaven are one, and are received by the angels as one. They must also be received by man as one, in order that he may have communion with angels. But these things are fully explained in the Arcana Coelestia, to this effect, that when man is being regenerated, truth is in the first place and good in the second, not actually but apparently, but that when he is regenerated, good is in the first place and truth in the second, actually and perceptibly (n. 3324, 3325, 3330, 3336, 3494, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 4243, 4245, 4247, 4337, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930, 4977, 5351, 6256, 6269, 6273, 8516, 10110); consequently good is the first and last of regeneration (n. 9337). Because truth appears to be in the first place, and good in the second, when man is being regenerated, or what is the same, when he is becoming a church, therefore it was a matter of controversy among the ancients, whether the truth of faith or the good of charity is the first-begotten of the church (n. 367, 2435). The good of charity is the first-begotten of the church actually, but the truth of faith only apparently (n. 3325, 3494, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930, 8042, 8080). The first-begotten, in the Word, also signifies that primary thing of the church, to which is attributed priority and superiority (n. 3325). The Lord is therefore called the First-begotten, because in Him and from Him is all the good of love, of charity, and of faith (n. 3325).

[7] Because truth is apparently in the first place, therefore Reuben was the first-begotten, and was named from "sight" (visus), as is evident in Moses:

"Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, because Jehovah hath seen my affliction; now therefore my man (vir) 1 will love me" (Genesis 29:32).

Although these are historical facts, they nevertheless contain a spiritual sense. For each and all things in the Word are from the spiritual world, because from the Lord, and when these things were sent down out of heaven into the natural world, they were clothed with a corresponding natural sense, such as is the sense of the letter of the Word. Therefore the nativities of the sons of Jacob signify spiritual nativities, which describe how good and truth are born with man while he is being regenerated by the Lord. Hence by "Leah conceived and bare a son," is signified spiritual conception and birth; she called his name Reuben, signifies its quality; by she said, Jehovah hath seen, is signified in the highest sense, foresight, in the internal sense, faith, in the interior sense, understanding, and in the external sense, sight, in the present case, faith from the Lord; by "my affliction," is signified the state of arriving at good; now therefore my man (vir) will love me, signifies good of truth thence. But these words are explained in the Arcana Coelestia 3860-3866).

In the original tongue, Reuben signifies sight, and sight, in the spiritual sense, signifies faith and the understanding of truth, and, in the highest sense, the Divine foresight. This is evident from what is said in the Arcana Coelestia concerning the signification of seeing and sight, where it is shown that sight in the highest sense, which treats of the Lord, signifies foresight (n. 2807, 2837, 2839, 3686, 3854, 3863, 10428). Sight in the internal sense signifies faith, because spiritual sight is sight from faith, and those things which pertain to faith are seen in the spiritual world (n. 897, 2325, 2807, 3863, 3869, 5400, 10705). To see also signifies to understand and perceive truth (n. 2150, 2325, 2807, 3764, 3863, 3869, 10705). Internal sight is the understanding, and this sees by means of the eyes of the body; the sight of the understanding is from the light of heaven (n. 1524, 3138, 3167, 4408, 5114, 6608, 8707, 9128, 9399, 10569).

[8] That Reuben signifies truth from good, or faith from charity, is evident from the mandrakes which he found in the field, and gave to his mother, concerning which it is thus written in Moses:

"And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray, of thy son's mandrakes. And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my man (vir)? and wilt thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee this night for thy son's mandrakes. And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; because hiring, I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night, and she conceived, and bare Jacob a son" Issachar (Genesis 30:14-18).

He who does not know what mandrakes signify, also what Reuben, Jacob, Leah, and Rachel represented, cannot possibly understand why such things happened, and are recorded in the Word. But that in the sense of the letter the Divine does not appear is evident for the reason that it is in the Word where everything is Divine. The Divine contained in these words is plain from the spiritual sense, in which mandrakes signify the marriage of good and truth. Reuben represents truth from good; Jacob, the church as to truth. Leah and Rachel represent the church as to good, but Leah represents the external church, and Rachel, the internal. By the mandrakes, found by Reuben, is therefore signified the marriage (conjugiale) which exists between truth and good. It is this marriage between truth and good in the internal or spiritual man which makes the internal church, and because that truth which makes the external church is the first in the external or natural man, therefore the mandrakes were found by Reuben, who represented truth from good. They were first given to his mother, Leah, who represented the external church, but they were given by Leah to Rachel, who represented the internal church, in order that Leah might lie with Jacob. These things are more fully explained in the Arcana Coelestia 3940-3952).

[9] Because Reuben represented truth from good, or faith from charity, therefore, also, he exhorted his brethren not to kill Joseph, wishing to deliver him out of their hand; and he grieved exceedingly when Joseph was not found in the pit (Genesis 37:21, 22, 29, 30). This is explained in the Arcana Coelestia 4731-4738, and n. 4761-4766).

[10] Because Reuben or his tribe signified truth from good, or faith from charity, therefore the camp of that tribe in the wilderness was towards the south, and the camp towards the south was called the camp of Reuben (Num. 2:10-16). For the encampments of the tribes of Israel represented the arrangement of the angelic societies in heaven; and the angelic societies dwell in the quarters according to their states as to good and truth (see above, 422:1-4). In the southern quarter dwell those who are in the light of truth from good; and as the tribe of Reuben represented truth from good or truth in light, therefore it encamped on the south.

[11] Because truth from good, which the tribe of Reuben represented, is in the natural man, therefore an inheritance beyond Jordan was given to the tribe of Reuben (Num. 32:1 to end; Deuteronomy 3:12-20; Joshua 13:1 to end, and chap. 18:7). For the land of Canaan represented, and thence signifies the church in the Word. The region beyond Jordan signified the external church, the region on this side Jordan, the internal church, and the river Jordan the limit between them. And truth from good, or faith from charity, makes the church; truth from good in the natural man, the external church; and because the tribe of Reuben represented this attribute of the church, therefore an inheritance beyond Jordan was allotted to this tribe. Why inheritances beyond Jordan were also given to the tribe of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, will be explained in what follows.

[12] The conjunction of each church, that is to say the external and internal, which is like the conjunction of the natural and spiritual man, was represented, and, in the spiritual sense, is described by the altar which the sons of Reuben, of Gad, and of Manasseh built near the Jordan, and about which there was a strife between these tribes and the rest; but it was said that that altar should be for a witness that, although they dwelt beyond Jordan, they should still serve Jehovah in common with the rest; therefore they called the altar "A witness between us that Jehovah is God" (Josh. 22:9 to end). For Jordan signified the medium between the external and internal of the church. The land of Canaan on this side Jordan, signified the internal church, and the land beyond Jordan, the external church which was also represented by the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, whose inheritances were allotted there; and that altar signified the common worship of each church, and thus conjunction.

[13] That Reuben signifies truth in the natural man is evident also from the prophecy of Deborah and Barak in the Book of Judges:

"In the divisions of Reuben they are great, statutes of the heart; Wherefore sittest thou among the baggage to hear the shrill bleatings of the flocks? In the divisions of Reuben, where there are great searchings of heart, Gilead thou dwellest in the passage of Jordan" (5:15-17).

No one can understand these words unless what the prophecy treats of be known, and also the signification of the divisions of Reuben, of baggage, of the bleatings of the flocks, and of Gilead. The subject is the church among the Israelites, in a state of vastation. The divisions of Reuben signify all things, both truths and goods, in the natural man; baggage signifies the cognitions and scientifics there; the bleatings of the flocks signify the perceptions and thoughts thereof; and Gilead signifies the natural man. When these things are known it will be evident that the meaning in the spiritual sense is, that when the church is destroyed, the natural man, with that which is contained therein, is separated from the spiritual man, although it ought on the contrary to be conjoined with it; and when it is conjoined, then truths from good exist there, by means of which a combat against falsities from evil takes place; for the natural man must fight against these from the spiritual man. Statutes of the heart and searchings of heart, signify those truths from good, which are in the natural man from the spiritual. For the heart signifies the good of love, while statutes and searchings of the heart denote all those things that are determined and arranged in the natural man from good in the spiritual. These things are said of Reuben, because his tribe dwelt beyond Jordan in Gilead, and did not join with Deborah and Barak when they fought against Sisera, but only the tribes of Issachar and Zebulun; for Sisera, in the spiritual sense, means falsity from evil destroying the church.

[14] Reuben signifies the light of truth, and therefore the understanding of the Word, in Moses,

"Let Reuben live, and not die; yet shall his men be a number" (Deuteronomy 33:6).

Reuben here means the understanding of the Word, enlightened by light from heaven; and because there are few who receive enlightenment, it is therefore said, "Yet shall his men be a number," number signifying, fewness and a few.

[15] That Reuben signifies truth from good, or faith from charity, is evident from the opposite sense, in which he is also mentioned. In that sense, Reuben signifies truth separated from good, or faith separated from charity. And truth apart from good is not truth, except merely in regard to the expression and sound, for it is a scientific residing in the memory of the natural man, that is to say, only in the entrance to the man, and not within him in his life. The memory of the natural man is merely the entrance to him, nor does truth become truth with him until he wills it and does it, for then it first enters and receives life; previous to this, light from heaven does not flow in and enlighten. The case is similar with faith separated from charity, for truth is of faith, and good is of charity.

[16] That Reuben, in the opposite sense, signifies faith separated from charity, is evident from his adultery with Bilhah his father's concubine; concerning this it is written as follows in Moses:

"And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in the land" Ephrath-Bethlehem, "that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine; and Israel heard of it" (Genesis 35:22).

Ephrath-Bethlehem signifies the spiritual church, which is in truths from good, or in faith from charity. To separate the good of charity from the truths of faith, is signified by the adultery of Reuben. For truth is profaned when it is not united with its own good, which is the good of charity, since it is then united with the love of self and of the world, which is adulteration. All adulteries also, of which many kinds are recounted in Leviticus (18:6-23), correspond to the adulterations of good and truth. That the adultery committed by Reuben corresponds to faith separated from charity, has been made known and testified to me from things heard and seen in the spiritual world, where such a sphere of adultery is perceived to go forth from those who have separated charity from faith in doctrine and in life.

[17] Because this also was signified by Reuben, therefore the primogeniture was taken away from him by his father, and given to Joseph and his sons. That it was taken from Reuben is evident from these words of his father:

"Reuben my first-born, thou art my strength and the beginning of my might, excellent in eminence and excellent in worth. Unstable as water thou shalt not excel, because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, then thou profanedst [it]; he went up to my couch" (Genesis 49:4).

Here, by Reuben my first-born, is signified faith, which is apparently in the first place, or truth born from good. Thou art my strength, and the beginning of my might, signifies that good has power (potentia) by means of it and truth its primary power. By excellent in eminence and excellent in worth, is signified that glory and authority (potestas) are therefrom. By unstable as water, is signified that it is not so with faith separated from charity, and by thou shalt not excel, is signified that such faith has neither glory nor authority. Because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, signifies because the truth of faith separated from the good of charity forms a filthy union; then thou profanedst [it], signifies conjunction with the love of self and of the world, and consequently with evil, which is profane. He went up to my couch, signifies the contamination of spiritual good in the Natural. But these things are fully explained in the Arcana Coelestia 6341-6350).

[18] That the primogeniture was therefore given to the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, is meant by these words of his father Israel to Joseph:

"Now thy two sons, born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came to thee into Egypt, are mine, Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon shall be mine" (Genesis 48:5).

And in the [First] Book of Chronicles:

Reuben "is the first-born, but because he polluted his father's bed, his primogeniture was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel" (5:1, 2).

For Ephraim in the Word has a signification similar to that of Reuben, namely, the understanding of truth, and truth in light. It is said Ephraim and Manasseh shall be the sons of Israel, even as Reuben and Simeon, because Reuben signifies the understanding of truth, and Simeon, the will of truth; and Ephraim and Manasseh signify similar things. From these things it is now evident, what universal essential of the church is signified in the Word by Reuben.

각주:

1. "Therefore my man (vir) will love me." The following words in the Arcana Coelestia sufficiently explain the distinction to be observed between maritus and vir:- "Cum nominatur maritus in Verbo tunc maritus significet bonum, et uxor verum, sed cum non nominatur maritus sed dicitur vir, tunc ille significat verum et uxor bonum" (1468). "When mention is made of husband (maritus) in the Word, then husband signifies good, and wife (uxor) truth; but when instead of husband (maritus) the term man (vir) is used, then the latter signifies truth, and wife good."

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

스웨덴보그의 저서에서

 

Arcana Coelestia #6832

해당 구절 연구하기

  
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6832. 'In a flame of fire from the middle of a bramble bush' means God's love present in true factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'a flame of fire' as God's love, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'a bramble bush' as true factual knowledge. The reason why 'a bramble bush' means true factual knowledge is that all shrubs of every kind mean factual knowledge, whereas actual plantations of trees, being larger, mean cognitions and perceptions. Because it produces flower and berries 'a bramble bush' means true factual knowledge. True factual knowledge that the Church possesses consists in nothing else than the Word as it exists in the sense of the letter and also every one of the Church's representative forms and meaningful signs that existed among the descendants of Jacob. These in the external form they take are called true factual knowledge; but in their internal form they are spiritual truths. But truths in their internal or spiritual form could not be made visible to those descended from Jacob, for the reason that they were interested solely in things of an external nature and had no wish whatever to know about anything internal. Therefore the Lord appeared in a bramble bush (when the Lord appears to people He does so in a way suited to the kind of people they are, for a person cannot receive the Divine in any way other than that which is a way suited to the kind of person he is); and therefore also, when the Lord appeared on Mount Sinai He appeared to the people' as a fire burning even to the heart of heaven, and as darkness, cloud, and pitch darkness', Deuteronomy 4:11; 5:22-25; also Exodus 19:18. He would have appeared in an altogether different way if the people below the mountain who beheld Him had not been the kind of people they were. And because those people were interested solely in things of an external nature, when Moses went in to the Lord on Mount Sinai, it is said that he went into the cloud, Exodus 20:21; 24:2, 18; 34:2-5, 'the cloud' being the external aspect of the Word, see Preface to Genesis 18, and 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343 (end), and also consequently representatives in the Church which are seen in outward form.

[2] The truth that the Lord appears to each individual person in a way suited to the kind of person he is may be recognized from the consideration that the Lord appears to those in the inmost or third heaven as the Sun from which light beyond description radiates, the reason being that those there are governed by the good of love to the Lord. He appears to those in the middle or second heaven as the Moon, the reason being that there they are governed by love to the Lord in a more remote and obscure way; for they are governed by love towards the neighbour. But the Lord does not appear to those in the lowest or first heaven either as the Sun or the Moon, only as Light, a light far more brilliant than light in the world. And since the Lord appears to each in a way suited to the kind of person he is, He cannot appear to those in hell as anything other than dark cloud and pitch darkness. For as soon as the light of heaven which comes from the Lord shines into any hell, darkness and thick darkness are produced there. From all this one may now recognize that the Lord appears to each individual person in a way suited to the kind of person he is, for this is suited to the way he receives the Lord. And since the descendants of Jacob were interested solely in things of an external nature, the Lord appeared to Moses in a bramble bush, and also in a cloud when Moses went in to the Lord on Mount Sinai.

[3] The reason why 'a flame' is God's love is that love in its earliest origin is nothing other than fire or flame from the Lord as the Sun. The fire or flame of this sun is what supplies each individual person with the being (esse) of his life; it is that life-giving fire which fills a person's interiors with warmth, as one may recognize from what happens with love. To the extent that love increases in a person he warms up; but to the extent that it diminishes he cools off. This explain s why, when the Lord appeared in a vision, He appeared as fire and flame, as in Ezekiel,

The appearance of the four living creatures (who were cherubs) was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of lamps. It was moving between the living creatures as a bright fire, and out of the fire went forth lightning. Above the firmament that was over their heads, in appearance like a sapphire stone, there was the likeness of a throne, and over the likeness of a throne there was a likeness as the appearance of a man upon it, above. And I saw the shape of burning coals, as the shape of fire, within it round about, from the appearance of His loins and upwards. But from the appearance of His loins and downwards I saw as it were the appearance of fire, whose brightness was round about it. Ezekiel 1:13, 26-28.

[4] Nobody can deny that all the several details of this vision are signs that represent aspects of the Divine; but unless one knows what is meant by 'the cherubs', 'the burning coals of fire, like the appearance of lamps', 'a throne', 'the appearance of a man upon it', 'his loins from which fire emanated upwards and downwards, and the brightness radiating from the fire', one can have no knowledge of the real holiness hidden within all those several details. 'The cherubs' are the Lord's Providence, see 308; 'the throne' is heaven, or - to be exact - Divine Truth that emanates from the Lord to form heaven, 5313; 'the appearance of a man upon the throne above' is plainly the Lord's Divine Human; and 'loins' are conjugial love and all heavenly love that derives from it, 3021, 4277, 4280, 4575, 5050, 5062. This love was represented by 'the shape of burning coal, as the shape of fire, whose brightness was round about it'.

[5] In Daniel,

I saw, until thrones had been placed, and the Ancient of Days was seated. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was a flame of fire; His wheels were burning fire. A river of five issued and came forth from before Him. Daniel 7:9-10.

The Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Love was seen in this vision too as a flame of fire. In John,

He who sat on the white horse, His eyes were like aflame of fire. Revelation 19:11-12.

'He who sat on the white horse' is the Lord in respect of the Word, as is explicitly stated in verses 13, 16, of that chapter. Thus 'the flame of fire' is Divine Truth contained in the Word, which radiates from the Lord's Divine Goodness. In the same book,

In the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe. His head and hair were white, like white wool, like snow; but His eyes were like a flame of fire. Revelation 1:13-14.

Here also 'eyes like a flame of fire' is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Goodness.

[6] The meaning of 'a flame of fire' as Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is also evident in David,

The voice of Jehovah falls like a flame of fire. Psalms 29:7.

'The voice of Jehovah' stands for Divine Truth. In order that Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good might be represented, the people were commanded to make a lampstand of pure gold with seven lamps and to place it in the tent of meeting by the table where the loaves of the presence were, and to keep the lamps burning unceasingly before Jehovah, Exodus 25:31-end; 37:17-24; 40:24-25; Leviticus 24:4; Numbers 8:2; Zechariah 4:2. The lampstand with its seven lamps served to represent Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good.

[7] In order also that Divine Good itself might be represented they were commanded to have perpetual fire on the altar,

Fire shall burn on the altar and not be put out; the priest shall kindle pieces of wood on it at every dawn. Fire shall burn unceasingly on the altar and not be put out. Leviticus 6:12-13.

The fact that the ancients were very well acquainted with the use of fire to represent Divine Love may be recognized from the spread of that representative from the Ancient Church even to nations far away whose worship was idolatrous and who, as is well known, established an everlasting sacred fire and placed in charge of it virgins, who were called the vestal virgins.

[8] In the contrary sense 'fire' and 'flame' mean filthy kinds of love, such as those of vengeance, cruelty, hatred, and adultery, and in general the cravings that spring from self-love and love of the world. This too is clear from very many places in the Word, of which let just the following be quoted: In Isaiah,

Behold, they have become as stubble, the fire has burned them; they do not save themselves from the power of the flame. 1 There will be no coal to be warmed by [nor] fire to sit in front of. Isaiah 47:14.

In Ezekiel,

Behold, I will kindle in you a five, which will devour in you every green tree and every dry tree. The blazing flame 2 will not be put out, and all faces from south to north will be scorched by it. Ezekiel 20:47.

Here 'fire' and 'flame' mean desires for what is evil and false which annihilate everything good and true in the Church, and thereby lay it waste.

[9] In Luke,

The rich man said to Abraham, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. Luke 16:24.

People who do not know that a person's vital heat has a different origin from that which is the source of elemental fire cannot possibly do anything else but think that by hell fire is meant fire like that found in the world. In the Word however this latter kind of fire is not meant but the fire of love, thus the fire of a person's life, emanating from the Lord as a Sun. And when this fire comes among those engrossed in pursuits contrary to it, it is turned into the fire of evil desires which, as stated above, belong to vengeance, hatred, and cruelty, and which well up from self-love and love of the world. This is the fire that torments those who are in hell, for when the restraint placed on their evil desires is relaxed, one sets upon another and they torment one another in dreadful and indescribable ways. For each has the wish for supremacy and wants to take from the other the things he has by hidden or open devices. When one or two have such desires hatreds consequently develop within the group, and these lead to the savage deeds that are performed, especially by the use of devices involving magic and the use of figments of the imagination, devices which are countless and totally unknown in the world.

[10] People who do not believe in the existence of spiritual things, especially those who worship nature, cannot at all be led to believe that the warmth present in living persons, which constitutes the actual life within them, has a different origin from that which is the source of worldly heat. For they are not even aware, let alone able to acknowledge, that there is a heavenly fire radiating from the Lord as a Sun, and that this Fire is pure love. Consequently they are unaware of countless instances in the Word in which no other kind of fire is meant; nor are they aware of countless manifestations of it in the human being, who is an organ made to receive that fire.

각주:

1. literally, save their soul from the hand of the flame

2. literally, heavy flame of flame

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