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Joshua 23

Студија

   

1 And it came to pass a long time after that Jehovah had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, and Joshua had become old, advanced in age,

2 that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am become old, advanced in age;

3 and ye have seen all that Jehovah your God hath done to all these nations because of you. For Jehovah your God is he that hath fought for you.

4 Behold, I have divided unto you by lot for an inheritance, according to your tribes, these nations that remain, from the Jordan, as well as all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the great sea toward the sun-setting.

5 And Jehovah your God, he will expel them from before you, and dispossess them from out of your sight; and ye shall take possession of their land, as Jehovah your God hath said unto you.

6 And be ye very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;

7 that ye enter not among these nations, these that remain among you; and ye shall make no mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear [by them], neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them;

8 but ye shall cleave unto Jehovah your God, as ye have done unto this day.

9 For Jehovah hath dispossessed from before you great and strong nations; and as to you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day.

10 One man of you chaseth a thousand; for Jehovah your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath said unto you.

11 Take great heed therefore unto your souls, that ye love Jehovah your God.

12 For if ye in any wise go back, and cleave unto the residue of these nations, these that remain among you, and make marriages with them, and come in unto them and they unto you:

13 know for a certainty that Jehovah your God will no more dispossess these nations from before you, and they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which Jehovah your God hath given you.

14 And behold, I am going this day the way of all the earth; and ye know in all your heart, and in all your soul, that not one thing hath failed of all the good words that Jehovah your God hath spoken concerning you: all are come to pass unto you -- not one thing hath failed thereof.

15 But it shall come to pass, that as every good word hath been fulfilled to you, that Jehovah your God spoke to you, so will Jehovah bring upon you every evil word, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which Jehovah your God hath given you;

16 when ye transgress the covenant of Jehovah your God which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow yourselves unto them, so that the anger of Jehovah shall be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.

   

Коментар

 

Wrestling

  
Jacob wrestles with an angel, from a fresco by Eugène Delacroix in Église Saint-Sulpice (Paris), 1861.

In Genesis 30:8, this signifies temptation in which there is victory. (Arcana Coelestia 3927)

Wrestling signifies temptation; for truth is assaulted by evil spirits, and defended by angels. (Arcana Coelestia 4274)

(Референци: Arcana Coelestia 4248)

Од делата на Сведенборг

 

Arcana Coelestia #4274

Проучи го овој пасус

  
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4274. 'And a man wrestled with him' means temptation that concerns truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'wrestling' as temptation. Temptation itself is nothing other than a wrestling or conflict, for truth is attacked by the evil spirits and defended by the angels who are present with a person. And his awareness of that conflict taking place within himself is temptation, 741, 757, 761, 1661, 3927, 4249, 4256. But no temptation can arise unless the good of truth, that is, the love or affection for truth, exists in him. For anyone who does not love the truth he knows, or is not affected by it, does not trouble about it at all, whereas anyone who does love it is worried lest it should suffer harm. Nothing else constitutes the life in a person's understanding than that which he believes to be the truth, and nothing else the life of his will than that which, he has become convinced, is good. This being so, when that which he believes to be the truth is attacked the life of his understanding is attacked; and when that which, he has become convinced, is good is attacked the life of his will is attacked. And therefore when a person is being tempted his life is under attack.

[2] The reason why the conflict at first concerns truth or is about truth is that truth is what a person loves first. That which anyone loves is the object of evil spirits' attack, but once he starts to love good more than truth, which takes place when order is being turned around, the temptation of him concerns good. But few know what temptation is, because few at the present day undergo any temptation; for none are able to be tempted except those who are governed by the good of faith, that is, by charity towards the neighbour. If those who are not governed by such charity experienced temptation they would instantly give way; and in those who give way evil becomes more firmly established and falsity more firmly believed, because in their case the evil spirits with whom they are thereby associated are victorious. This is the reason why at the present day few are allowed to enter into any spiritual temptation, but only into some natural forms of distress in order that they may be held back by means of them from self-love and love of the world into which they would otherwise plunge without any restraint.

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