Bibliorum

 

Leviticus 17

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1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2 Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, saying,

3 Whatever man there may be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp,

4 And bringeth it not to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering to the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD; blood shall be imputed to that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people:

5 To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them to the LORD, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to the priest, and offer them for peace-offerings to the LORD.

6 And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savor to the LORD.

7 And they shall no more offer their sacrifices to idols, with which they have committed idolatry: This shall be a statute for ever to them throughout their generations.

8 And thou shalt say to them, Whatever man there may be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt-offering or sacrifice,

9 And bringeth it not to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it to the LORD; even that man shall be cut off from among his people.

10 And whatever man there may be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

12 Therefore I said to the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.

13 And whatever man there may be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, who hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out its blood, and cover it with dust.

14 For it is the life of all flesh, the blood of it is for the life of it; therefore I said to the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is its blood: whoever eateth it shall be cut off.

15 And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, (whether it is one of your own country, or a stranger) he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening; then shall he be clean.

16 But if he doth not wash them, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity.

   

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

True Christian Religion #671

Studere hoc loco

  
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671. The following passages establish plainly that acts of washing prefigured and adumbrated what was mentioned above, that is, they represented spiritual washing, which is purification from evils and falsities.

When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and has washed away the blood in a spirit of judgment and a spirit of purging, Isaiah 4:4.

If you wash yourself with soda and use soap repeatedly on yourself, still your iniquity will retain its stains, Jeremiah 2:22; Job 9:30-31.

Wash me from my iniquity and I shall be whiter than snow, Psalms 51:2, 7.

Wash your heart free from wickedness, Jerusalem, so that you may be saved, Jeremiah 4:14.

Wash yourselves, cleanse yourselves, put away the wickedness of your deeds from before my eyes, cease to do evil, Isaiah 1:16.

[2] The washing of a person's spirit is meant by the washing of his body; and the internals of the church were represented by such external rituals as were practised by the Israelite church. This is obvious from the Lord's words in this passage:

The Pharisees and Scribes, seeing that His disciples ate bread with unwashed hands, found fault. For the Pharisees and all Jews do not eat unless they have washed their hands up to the fist; there are many other things they have accepted as a practice to be kept up, such as the washing of cups and pots, and of bronze vessels, and beds. The Lord said to them and to the crowd, Listen to me all of you and understand. There is nothing outside a person which can make him unclean if it enters into him; but it is what comes out that makes him unclean, Mark 7:1-4, 14-15; Matthew 15:2, 11, 17-20.

Also elsewhere:

Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, because you clean the outside of the cup and dish, but the inside is full of robbery and violence. You blind Pharisee, clean first the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside too may be clean, Matthew 23:25-26.

It is plain from these passages that the washing called baptism stands for spiritual washing, which is being purified from evils and falsities.

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