Библијата

 

1 Samuel 12

Студија

   

1 And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you.

2 And now, behold, the king walketh before you; and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my youth unto this day.

3 Here I am: witness against me before Jehovah, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I taken a ransom to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.

4 And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand.

5 And he said unto them, Jehovah is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they said, He is witness.

6 And Samuel said unto the people, It is Jehovah that appointed Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.

7 Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before Jehovah concerning all the righteous acts of Jehovah, which he did to you and to your fathers.

8 When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto Jehovah, then Jehovah sent Moses and Aaron, who brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place.

9 But they forgat Jehovah their God; and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them.

10 And they cried unto Jehovah, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken Jehovah, and have served the Baalim and the Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.

11 And Jehovah sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and ye dwelt in safety.

12 And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay, but a king shall reign over us; when Jehovah your God was your king.

13 Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have asked for: and, behold, Jehovah hath set a king over you.

14 If ye will fear Jehovah, and serve him, and hearken unto his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of Jehovah, and both ye and also the king that reigneth over you be followers of Jehovah your God, [well]:

15 but if ye will not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah, but rebel against the commandment of Jehovah, then will the hand of Jehovah be against you, as it was against your fathers.

16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which Jehovah will do before your eyes.

17 Is it not wheat harvest to-day? I will call unto Jehovah, that he may send thunder and rain; and ye shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of Jehovah, in asking you a king.

18 So Samuel called unto Jehovah; and Jehovah sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared Jehovah and Samuel.

19 And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto Jehovah thy God, that we die not; for we have added unto all our sins [this] evil, to ask us a king.

20 And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not; ye have indeed done all this evil; yet turn not aside from following Jehovah, but serve Jehovah with all your heart:

21 and turn ye not aside; for [then would ye go] after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver, for they are vain.

22 For Jehovah will not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it hath pleased Jehovah to make you a people unto himself.

23 Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Jehovah in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and the right way.

24 Only fear Jehovah, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things he hath done for you.

25 But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.

   

Коментар

 

Thunder

  

In Exodus 9:23, 29, this signifies truths divine which enlighten and perfect people in heaven, but terrify people in hell. (Arcana Coelestia 7573)

In Psalm 29:3, this signifies the Word in its power. (Doctrine Regarding Sacred Scripture 18[4])

When the Lord speaks through the heaven, it descends into the lower spheres and is heard as thunder. As He speaks through the whole of heaven at once, the sound is called 'seven thunders' in Revelation 10. 'Seven' signifies all, everything, and wholeness. This is why 'thunder' signifies instruction and perception of truth, and in this instance, the revealing and manifestation of truth. A voice from heaven is heard as thunder when it comes from the Lord, which can be seen in John 12:28-30, Job 37:4-5, 2 Samuel 22:14, Revelation 14:2, and Psalms 81:8. 'Great thunder,' as in Revelation 14:2, signifies the divine good of divine love.

(Референци: Apocalypse Explained 10, 14 [2]; Apocalypse Revealed 472)


Од делата на Сведенборг

 

Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture #17

Проучи го овој пасус

  
/ 118  
  

17. When the Lord was in the world, He spoke in terms of things that correspond, thus speaking spiritually while speaking naturally, and this can be seen from His parables, in which every single word has in it some spiritual meaning. Consider, for example, the parable of the ten virgins. The Lord said:

...the kingdom of heaven is like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were prudent, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil..., while the prudent took oil in...their lamps. But while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was made: “Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!” Then all those virgins awakened and trimmed their lamps. But the foolish said to the prudent, “Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.” However, the prudent answered, saying, “No, lest there not be enough perhaps for us and you; go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.” But when they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. And finally the other virgins came also, saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us!” But he answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.” (Matthew 25:1-12)

[2] The presence in these words of a spiritual meaning, and so of a Divine holiness, is seen only by someone who knows of the existence of the spiritual sense, and the nature of it.

In the spiritual sense, the kingdom of God means heaven and the church. The bridegroom means the Lord. The wedding means the marriage of the Lord with heaven and the church through the goodness of love and faith. The virgins symbolize people who are members of the church. Ten symbolizes all. Five, some. Lamps, truths of faith. Oil, the goodness of love. Slumbering and awaking symbolize a person’s life in the world, which is natural, and his life after death, which is spiritual. To buy is to procure for oneself. To go to those who sell and buy oil means, symbolically, to procure for oneself the goodness of love from other people after death. And because it can then no longer be procured, therefore even though the foolish virgins came with their lamps and the oil they bought to the door where the wedding was taking place, they were nevertheless told by the bridegroom, “I do not know you.” The reason is that, after his life in the world, a person remains such as he had lived in the world.

[3] It is apparent from this that the Lord spoke solely in terms of correspondences, and this because He spoke from the Divinity that He had in Him and that He possessed.

That the bridegroom symbolizes the Lord, and the kingdom of God the church; that the wedding symbolizes the marriage of the Lord with the church through the goodness of love and faith; that the virgins symbolize people who are members of the church, ten symbolizing all, and five some; that slumbering symbolizes a natural state; that buying symbolizes the procuring of something for oneself; that a door symbolizes entrance to heaven; and that not knowing, when said by the Lord, is to be without love for Him — all this can be seen from many passsages in the prophetic Word where these same depictions have similar symbolic meanings.

Because virgins symbolize people who are members of the church, therefore the prophetic Word so often makes mention of virgins and the daughter of Zion, of Jerusalem, and of Israel. And because oil symbolizes the goodness of love, therefore all the holy accouterments of the Israelite Church were anointed with oil.

[4] The same is the case in the rest of the parables, and in all the words spoken by the Lord and recorded in the Gospels. That is why the Lord says that His words are spirit and life (John 6:63).

The same is the case with the Lord’s miracles, which were Divine miracles, because they symbolized the various states of the people among whom the Lord was going to establish the church. For example, when the blind were given sight, it symbolically meant that people ignorant of truth would gain understanding. When the deaf were given hearing, it symbolically meant that people who had heard nothing before about the Lord and the Word would hearken and obey. When the dead were raised, it symbolically meant that people who would otherwise have perished would be made alive. And so on.

This is what the Lord meant by His reply to John’s disciples, when John wished to know whether the Lord was the one who was to come:

...tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead rise again and the poor hear the Gospel. (Matthew 11:3-5)

Moreover, all the miracles mentioned in the Word contain within them such matters as have to do with the Lord, heaven and the church. This is what makes them Divine miracles and distinguishes them from miracles that are not Divine.

Let these few example serve to illustrate what the spiritual sense is, and its presence in each and every constituent of the Word.

  
/ 118  
  

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