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Hosea 13

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1 When Ephraim spake, there was trembling; he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.

2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.

3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the dew that passeth early away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.

4 Yet I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt; and thou shalt know no God but me, and besides me there is no saviour.

5 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.

6 According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted: therefore have they forgotten me.

7 Therefore am I unto them as a lion; as a leopard will I watch by the way;

8 I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart; and there will I devour them like a lioness; the wild beast shall tear them.

9 It is thy destruction, O Israel, that [thou art] against me, against thy help.

10 Where now is thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges, of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?

11 I have given thee a king in mine anger, and have taken him away in my wrath.

12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is laid up in store.

13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for it is time he should not tarry in the place of the breaking forth of children.

14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from death: O death, where are thy plagues? O Sheol, where is thy destruction? repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

15 Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the breath of Jehovah coming up from the wilderness; and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall make spoil of the treasure of all goodly vessels.

16 Samaria shall bear her guilt; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #83

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83. The idea that a Son born from eternity came down and took upon Himself human form collapses as totally erroneous and is exploded on considering the passages from the Word in which Jehovah Himself says that He is the Saviour and Redeemer, as the following:

Am I not Jehovah, and there is no God beside Me? There is no righteous God and Saviour beside Me, Isaiah 45:21-22.

I am Jehovah, and there is no Saviour beside Me, Isaiah 43:11.

I am Jehovah your God, and you are not to acknowledge any God beside Me, and there is no Saviour beside Me, Hosea 13:4.

That all flesh may know that I am Jehovah your Saviour and your Redeemer, Isaiah 49:26; 60:16.

As for our Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth is His name, Isaiah 47:4.

Their Redeemer, the mighty Jehovah Zebaoth is His name, Jeremiah 50:34.

Jehovah, my rock and my Redeemer, Psalms 19:14.

Thus spoke Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah your God, Isaiah 48:17; 43:14; 49:7.

Thus spoke Jehovah, your Redeemer; I am Jehovah who makes all things, and I alone by Myself, Isaiah 44:24.

Thus spoke Jehovah, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth; I am the First and the Last, and there is no God beside me, Isaiah 44:6.

You are Jehovah our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name, Isaiah 63:16.

I will take pity with eternal mercy, thus spoke your Redeemer Jehovah, Isaiah 54:8. You had redeemed me, Jehovah of truth, Psalms 31:5.

Let Israel hope in Jehovah, for there is mercy with Jehovah, with Him is very much redemption. He shall redeem Israel from all his sins, Psalms 130:7-8.

Jehovah Zebaoth 1 is His name, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He shall be called the God of all the earth, Isaiah 54:5.

From these and very many more passages anyone who has eyes, and a mind opened by using his eyes, can see that God, who is one, came down and was made man in order to effect redemption. Can anyone fail to see this as clear as in morning light, so long as he pays attention to those very sayings of God which have been quoted? Those, however, who are plunged in the shades of night as the result of convincing themselves that a second God was born from eternity, and that it was He who came down and redeemed us, close their eyes to those Divine sayings, and ponder with their eyes shut how to pervert them and make them square with their false ideas.

Footnotes:

1. Corrected in the author's copy from 'Jehovah God' in keeping with the Hebrew; cf. 93.

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