The Bible

 

Ezekiel 16

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1 Again the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations;

3 and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto Jerusalem: Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of the Canaanite; the Amorite was thy father, and thy mother was a Hittite.

4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to cleanse thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

5 No eye pitied thee, to do any of these things unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, for that thy person was abhorred, in the day that thou wast born.

6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee weltering in thy blood, I said unto thee, [Though thou art] in thy blood, live; yea, I said unto thee, [Though thou art] in thy blood, live.

7 I caused thee to multiply as that which groweth in the field, and thou didst increase and wax great, and thou attainedst to excellent ornament; thy breasts were fashioned, and thy hair was grown; yet thou wast naked and bare.

8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord Jehovah, and thou becamest mine.

9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with sealskin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and covered thee with silk.

11 And I decked thee with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.

12 And I put a ring upon thy nose, and ear-rings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head.

13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil; and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper unto royal estate.

14 And thy renown went forth among the nations for thy beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord Jehovah.

15 But thou didst trust in thy beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy whoredoms on every one that passed by; his it was.

16 And thou didst take of thy garments, and madest for thee high places decked with divers colors, and playedst the harlot upon them: [the like things] shall not come, neither shall it be [so].

17 Thou didst also take thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest for thee images of men, and didst play the harlot with them;

18 and thou tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them, and didst set mine oil and mine incense before them.

19 My bread also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou didst even set it before them for a sweet savor; and [thus] it was, saith the Lord Jehovah.

20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Were thy whoredoms a small matter,

21 that thou hast slain my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through [the fire] unto them?

22 And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast weltering in thy blood.

23 And it is come to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord Jehovah,)

24 that thou hast built unto thee a vaulted place, and hast made thee a lofty place in every street.

25 Thou hast built thy lofty place at the head of every way, and hast made thy beauty an abomination, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredom.

26 Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians, thy neighbors, great of flesh; and hast multiplied thy whoredom, to provoke me to anger.

27 Behold therefore, I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary [food], and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, that are ashamed of thy lewd way.

28 Thou hast played the harlot also with the Assyrians, because thou wast insatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet thou wast not satisfied.

29 Thou hast moreover multiplied thy whoredom unto the land of traffic, unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.

30 How weak is thy heart, saith the Lord Jehovah, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an impudent harlot;

31 in that thou buildest thy vaulted place at the head of every way, and makest thy lofty place in every street, and hast not been as a harlot, in that thou scornest hire.

32 A wife that committeth adultery! that taketh strangers instead of her husband!

33 They give gifts to all harlots; but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and bribest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredoms.

34 And thou art different from [other] women in thy whoredoms, in that none followeth thee to play the harlot; and whereas thou givest hire, and no hire is given unto thee, therefore thou art different.

35 Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah:

36 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness uncovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers; and because of all the idols of thy abominations, and for the blood of thy children, that thou didst give unto them;

37 therefore behold, I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them against thee on every side, and will uncover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.

38 And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring upon thee the blood of wrath and jealousy.

39 I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thy vaulted place, and break down thy lofty places; and they shall strip thee of thy clothes, and take thy fair jewels; and they shall leave thee naked and bare.

40 They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.

41 And they shall burn thy houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women; and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou shalt also give no hire any more.

42 So will I cause my wrath toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.

43 Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast raged against me in all these things; therefore, behold, I also will bring thy way upon thy head, saith the Lord Jehovah: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness with all thine abominations.

44 Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use [this] proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.

45 Thou art the daughter of thy mother, that loatheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

46 And thine elder sister is Samaria, that dwelleth at thy left hand, she and her daughters; and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

47 Yet hast thou not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as [if that were] a very little [thing], thou wast more corrupt than they in all thy ways.

48 As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.

49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw [good].

51 Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters by all thine abominations which thou hast done.

52 Thou also, bear thou thine own shame, in that thou hast given judgment for thy sisters; through thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous that thou: yea, be thou also confounded, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

53 And I will turn again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them;

54 that thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be ashamed because of all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.

55 And thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; and thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

56 For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,

57 before thy wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, that do despite unto thee round about.

58 Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith Jehovah.

59 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also deal with thee as thou hast done, who hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

60 Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.

61 Then shalt thou remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder [sisters] and thy younger; and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.

62 And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah;

63 that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, because of thy shame, when I have forgiven thee all that thou hast done, saith the Lord Jehovah.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #1153

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1153. And fine flour and wheat.- That these signify worship from truths and goods that are from a spiritual origin, profaned, is evident from the signification of fine flour, which denotes truth from a spiritual origin, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of wheat, which denotes good from a spiritual origin (concerning which see above, n. 374, 375). The reason why these things also signify worship is, that the meat offering, which, together with the sacrifices, was offered up upon the altar, was composed of them, similarly the wine and oil; for the meat offerings were prepared with oil, and the drink offerings with wine. On account of the gathering in of these things, festivals also were instituted in which they rejoiced on account of their produce. Fine flour signifies truth from spiritual good, because it is prepared from wheat, which signifies spiritual good, as truth is derived from good.

[2] Since this truth of the church was signified by fine flour, therefore the quantity to be used in the cakes that were called the meat offerings and were offered with the sacrifices upon the altar, was prescribed (concerning which see Exodus 29:5-7, 13; Numbers 18, 28, 29). Similarly the quantity of fine flour in the cakes of proposition, or shew-bread, was prescribed (Leviticus 23:17; chap. 24:5), for it was commanded, that "the meat offering which was to be offered upon the altar should be prepared from fine flour, and oil and frankincense poured thereon" (Leviticus 2:1). On account of this signification of fine flour, when Abraham spoke with the three angels, he said to Sarah his wife, "Hasten and knead three measures of fine flour, and make cakes" (Genesis 18:6).

[3] Fine flour also signifies the truth of good from a spiritual origin in Ezekiel:

"Fine flour, honey, and oil hast thou eaten, whence thou art become exceeding beautiful, and hast prospered unto a kingdom. My bread which I gave thee, fine flour, honey, and oil, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast set before" idols "for an odour of rest" (16:13, 19).

This treats of Jerusalem, by which the church as to doctrine is signified; and in that chapter its quality at its beginning is described, and what it became afterwards. Fine flour and oil signify truth and good from a spiritual origin, while honey signifies good from a natural origin. By becoming exceedingly beautiful is signified to become intelligent and wise; by prospering unto a kingdom is signified even to become a church, a kingdom signifying a church. By setting those things before idols for an odour of rest, is signified the idolatrous worship into which the true worship of the church was afterwards converted.

[4] By the meal of barley, however, truth from a natural origin is signified, for barley signifies natural good just as wheat signifies spiritual good.

Thus in Isaiah,

"Take thee a mill-stone and grind flour, make thyself bare" (47:2).

This refers to Babel. By taking a millstone and grinding flour is signified to falsify the truths of the Word, and by making herself bare or naked is signified to adulterate the goods of the Word.

In Hosea,

"They sow the wind, and they reap the whirlwind; he hath no standing corn, the blade shall yield no meal, and if it do yield, strangers shall devour it" (8:7).

Here also meal (farina) signifies truth from a natural origin.

[5] Continuation concerning the Athanasian Creed.- The fifth law of the Divine Providence is, That man should not know from feeling and perception in himself how good and truth from the Lord enter by influx, and how evil and falsity enter by influx from hell; nor see how the Divine Providence operates in favour of good against evil; for in such case man would not act as of himself from freedom according to reason. It is sufficient for him to know and acknowledge these things from the Word, and from the doctrine of the church. This is meant by the Lord's words in John:

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, or whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (3:8);

and also by these words in Mark:

"The kingdom of God is as if a man should cast seed upon the earth, and should sleep and rise night and day; but the seed springeth up and groweth he knoweth not how; for the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ear, at length the full corn in the ear; and when the fruit is brought forth, he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come" (4:26-29).

The reason why man does not perceive the operation of the Divine Providence in himself is, that such perception would take away his freedom, and consequently the power of thinking as if from himself, and with it also all the enjoyment of life, so that a man would be like, an automaton, in which there is no power of reciprocation as means by which conjunction is effected; and he would also be a slave, and not a free man.

[6] The reason why Divine Providence moves so secretly, that scarcely any vestige of it appears, although it operates in the most minute things of man's thought and will that regard his eternal state, is, that the Lord continually desires to impress His love on him, and His wisdom by means of it, and thus to create him into His image. The Lord, therefore, acts upon man's love, and from it upon his understanding, and not from his understanding upon his love. Love together with its affections, which are manifold and innumerable, is not perceived by man except by a most general feeling, and consequently in so small a degree as scarcely to amount to anything; and yet man is to be led from one affection of his loves into another, according to the connection in which they are from order, so that he may be reformed and saved, which is incomprehensible, not only to men, but also to the angels.

[7] If man knew any thing of these secret operations (arcana) he could not be withdrawn from leading himself, even though it were continually from heaven into hell, notwithstanding that he is constantly led by the Lord from hell towards heaven; for from himself he constantly acts in opposition to order, but the Lord constantly acts according to it. For, in consequence of the nature derived from his parents, man is in the love of himself, and in the love of the world, and consequently from a feeling of delight he perceives the whole of these loves as good; and still those loves as ends must be removed. This is effected by the Lord by an infinity of ways which appear like labyrinths, even before the angels of the third heaven.

[8] From these considerations it is evident, that it would be of no advantage to a man to know any thing of this from feeling and perception, but that on the contrary it would be hurtful to him, and would destroy him for ever. It is sufficient for him to be acquainted with truths, and by means of them with the nature of good and evil, and to acknowledge the Lord and His Divine government in every thing; then so far as he knows truths, and by means of them sees what good and evil are, and does truths as if from himself, so far the Lord, by love, introduces him into wisdom and the love of wisdom, conjoining wisdom with love, and making them one because they are one in Himself. The ways by which the Lord leads man may be compared with the vessels through which his blood flows and circulates; and also with the fibres and their foldings within and without the viscera of the body, especially in the brain, through which the animal spirit (spiritus animalis) flows and imparts life.

[9] Man is not aware how all these things enter by influx and flow through him; and yet he lives, provided he knows and does what is conducive to his well being. But the ways by which the Lord leads him are much more complicated and intricate, both those by which He leads man through the societies of hell, and away from them, and those by which He leads man through the societies of heaven, and interiorly into them. This, therefore, is what is meant by the words: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth" (John 3), also, by the seed springing up and growing, a man knowing not how (Mark 4:27). Of what importance is it for a man to know how the seed grows, provided he knows how to plough the earth, to harrow it, to sow the seed, and when he reaps the harvest, to bless God?

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