36
Så sier Herren, Israels Gud: Fordi du har ødslet med ditt kobber* og avdekket din blusel, når du drev hor med dine elskere, og for alle dine vederstyggelige avguders skyld og for dine barns blods skyld, som du gav dem**, / {* kanskje din uedle, urene kjærlighet; sml. ESK 22, 18; 24, 11. JE
6, 28.} / {** ESK 16, 20.}
1
Jeg sier sannhet i Kristus, jeg lyver ikke, min samvittighet vidner med mig i den Hellige Ånd,
2
at jeg har en stor sorg og en uavlatelig gremmelse i mitt hjerte.
3
For jeg vilde ønske at jeg selv var forbannet bort fra Kristus for mine brødre, mine frender efter kjødet,
4
de som er israelitter, de som barnekåret og herligheten og paktene og lovgivningen og gudstjenesten og løftene tilhører,
5
de som fedrene tilhører, og som Kristus er kommet fra efter kjødet, han som er Gud over alle ting, velsignet i evighet. Amen.
6
Dog ikke som om Guds ord har slått feil. For ikke alle som er av Israels ætt, er derfor Israel;
7
heller ikke er alle, fordi de er Abrahams ætt, derfor hans barn; men: I Isak skal det nevnes dig en ætt,
8
det er: ikke kjødets barn er Guds barn, men løftets barn regnes til ætten;
9
for et løftes ord er dette: Ved denne tid vil jeg komme, og da skal Sara ha en sønn.
10
Og ikke bare dette; men så var det også med
ebekka, hun som var fruktsommelig ved én, Isak, vår far.
11
For da de ennu var ufødte og ennu ikke hadde gjort hverken godt eller ondt - forat Guds råd efter hans utvelgelse skulde stå ved makt, ikke ved gjerninger, men ved ham som kaller -
12
da blev det sagt til henne: Den eldste skal tjene den yngste;
13
som skrevet er: Jakob elsket jeg, men Esau hatet jeg.
14
Hvad skal vi da si? er der vel urettferdighet hos Gud? Langt derifra!
15
for til Moses sier han: Jeg vil miskunne mig over den som jeg miskunner mig over, og ynkes over den som Jeg ynkes over.
16
Så står det da ikke til den som vil, heller ikke til den som løper, men til Gud, som gjør miskunnhet.
17
For Skriften sier til Farao: Just til dette opreiste jeg dig at jeg kunde vise min makt på dig, og at mitt navn kunde bli kunngjort over all jorden.
18
Altså: hvem han vil, den miskunner han sig over; og hvem han vil, den forherder han.
19
Du vil da si til mig: Hvad har han da ennu å klage over? for hvem står vel hans vilje imot?
20
Men hvem er da du, menneske, som tar til gjenmæle mot Gud? Vil da verket si til virkeren: Hvorfor gjorde du mig slik?
21
Eller har ikke pottemakeren makt over leret, så han av samme deig kan arbeide det ene kar til ære, det andre til vanære?
22
Men om nu Gud, skjønt han vilde vise sin vrede og kunngjøre sin makt, dog i stort langmod tålte vredens kar, som var dannet til undergang,
23
så han også kunde kunngjøre sin herlighets rikdom over miskunnhetens kar, som han forut hadde beredt til herlighet?
24
Og til å bli slike kalte han også oss, ikke bare av jøder, men også av hedninger,
25
som han også sier hos Hoseas: Det som ikke er mitt folk, vil jeg kalle mitt folk, og henne som ikke er elsket, vil jeg kalle min elskede,
26
og det skal skje: På det sted hvor det blev sagt til dem: I er ikke mitt folk, der skal de kalles den levende Guds barn.
27
Og Esaias roper ut over Israel: Om tallet på Israels barn er som havets sand, så skal bare levningen bli frelst;
28
for sitt ord skal Herren utføre og hastig fullbyrde på jorden.
29
Og som Esaias forut har sagt: Hadde ikke den Herre Sebaot levnet oss en sæd, så var vi blitt som Sodoma og gjort like med Gomorra.
30
Hvad skal vi da si? At hedninger som ikke søkte rettferdighet, de vant rettferdighet, men det var rettferdigheten av tro;
31
Israel derimot, som søkte rettferdighetens lov, de vant ikke frem til denne lov.
32
Hvorfor det? Fordi de ikke søkte den ved tro, men ved gjerninger; for de støtte an mot snublestenen,
33
som skrevet er: Se, jeg legger i Sion en snublesten og en anstøtsklippe; den som tror på ham, skal ikke bli til skamme.
7456. 'Will they not stone us?' means that they would thereby demolish the truths of faith that related to worship. This is clear from the meaning of 'stoning' as demolishing and wiping out falsities, but in the contrary sense, when done by the evil, as demolishing and wiping out the truths of faith. If the vile, foul, and hellish things referred to above in 7454 were to enter in among people whose worship is holy its holiness would be destroyed. The reason for this is that when a person's worship is holy he is withheld from such things, and people who are governed by good in faith and life are raised above the level of the senses on which such things reside. But when such objects do enter in the foul things present on the sensory level are stirred up - that is, the things which a person is withheld from when his worship is holy, as has been stated, and which people governed by good are raised above - and the holiness of the worship is destroyed. Experience too demonstrates this plainly, for if, when a person offers worship to God, some foul object appears and is not removed, worship ceases and is destroyed. This is what is meant when it is said that if those steeped in falsities arising from evils were nearby they would demolish the truths of faith that relate to worship.
[2] As for the meaning of 'stoning', it should be recognized that the Jews and Israelites, among whom a representative of the Church had been established, had two kinds of capital punishment, one being stoning, the other hanging on wood. Stoning was used if anyone sought to destroy the truths relating to worship which were commanded, while hanging was used if anyone sought to destroy goodness of life. The reason why those who sought to destroy truths relating to worship were stoned was that a stone was a sign of truth and in the contrary sense of falsity, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426. And the reason why those who sought to destroy goodness of life were hanged on wood was that wood was a sign of good and in the contrary sense of the evil belonging to evil desires, 643, 2784, 2812, 3720.
[3] The fact that punishment by stoning would be used if anyone should destroy truths relating to worship is evident from the following places: In Ezekiel,
Finally they will cause an assembly to come up upon you, and they will stone you with stones and cut you up with their swords. Ezekiel 16:40.
This refers to the perverse Jerusalem and the destruction of the truth of faith by means of falsities. This is why it says that 'they will stone with stones' and also 'cut up with swords', for 'a sword' means truth engaged in conflict with falsity and destroying it, and in the contrary sense falsity engaged in conflict with truth and destroying it, 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102.
[4] A similar statement occurs elsewhere in the same prophet,
Cause an assembly to come up against them, in order that the assembly may stone them with stones and tear them apart with their swords. Ezekiel 23:46-47.
This refers to Jerusalem and Samaria, by which the Church is meant. Jerusalem means the celestial-spiritual Church, Samaria the spiritual Church, and this chapter describes how forms of the good and truth of faith were destroyed in them.
[5] In Moses,
If an ox strikes a man or woman with its horn so that the person dies, the ox shall surely be stoned. Exodus 21:28.
'Striking a man or woman with the horn' means falsity engaged in conflict with truth and goodness and destroying them. For 'the horn' is falsity engaged in conflict, and also the power of falsity, 2832, while 'man and woman' in the Word means truth and goodness; and this makes plain what the internal sense of that command is and why it was that the ox had to be stoned.
[6] In the same author,
Anyone blaspheming the name of Jehovah shall surely be killed; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. Leviticus 24:16.
'Blaspheming the name of Jehovah' means using malevolent falsities to do violence to truths and forms of good that relate to worship. 'The name of Jehovah' means everything in one embrace that is used to worship Jehovah, see 2724, 3006, thus every aspect of faith and charity, 6674. This also explains why the Israelite woman s son who blasphemed the name of Jehovah was led outside the camp and stoned, Leviticus 24:11, 14, 23. Furthermore it had been commanded that those who served other gods should be stoned, Deuteronomy 17:3, 5, and also those who enticed anyone to serve other gods, Deuteronomy 13:6-10. 'Serving other gods' means profane worship by means of which true worship is destroyed.
[7] If no evidence of virginity were found with a young woman when she married she was to be stoned because she had played the fool in Israel by committing whoredom in her father's house, Deuteronomy 22:20-21. The reason for this was that 'whoredom' meant the falsification of truth, thus the destruction of it, 2466, 4865. If a man lay in the city with a young woman, a virgin, who was betrothed to a man, both were to be stoned, Deuteronomy 22:23-24, and for the same reason, namely whoredom; for spiritual whoredom is the falsification of truth. In Luke 20:5-6, [one reads about the chief priests, scribes, and elders] coming to the conclusion among themselves that if they said John's baptism was from heaven [the Lord] would say, 'Why did you not believe him?' But if they said 'From men', all the people would stone them. Here also 'stoning' is spoken of because of opposition to the truth.
The reason why the Jews sought to stone Jesus because He said, Before Abraham was, I am, John 8:58-59, was that that nation believed this to be false. In a similar way they sought to stone Jesus because He said He and His Father were one, John 10:30-33; for they thought, as these verses also state, that this was blasphemy.
From all this one may now see what stoning was and why it was commanded, and also that punishment by stoning, administered since ancient times as its use in Egypt proves, was derived from the representatives of the Ancient Church.
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