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Hosea 4

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1 Give ear to the word of the Lord, O children of Israel; for the Lord has a cause against the people of this land, because there is no good faith in it, and no mercy and no knowledge of God in the land.

2 There is cursing and broken faith, violent death and attacks on property, men are untrue in married life, houses are broken into, and there is blood touching blood.

3 Because of this the land will be dry, and everyone living in it will be wasted away, with the beasts of the field and the birds of heaven; even the fishes of the sea will be taken away.

4 Let no man go to law or make protests, for your people are like those who go to law with a priest.

5 You will not be able to keep on your feet by day, and by night the prophet will be falling down with you, and I will give your mother to destruction.

6 Destruction has overtaken my people because they have no knowledge; because you have given up knowledge, I will give you up, so that you will be no priest to me, because you have not kept in mind the law of your God, I will not keep your children in my memory.

7 Even while they were increasing in number they were sinning against me; I will let their glory be changed into shame.

8 The sin of my people is like food to them; and their desire is for their wrongdoing.

9 And the priest will be like the people; I will give them punishment for their evil ways, and the reward of their acts.

10 They will have food, but they will not be full; they will be false to me, but they will not be increased, because they no longer give thought to the Lord.

11 Loose ways and new wine take away wisdom.

12 My people get knowledge from their tree, and their rod gives them news; for a false spirit is the cause of their wandering, and they have been false to their God.

13 They make offerings on the tops of mountains, burning perfumes in high places, under trees of every sort, because their shade is good: and so your daughters are given up to loose ways and your brides are false to their husbands.

14 I will not give punishment to your daughters or your brides for their evil behaviour; for they make themselves separate with loose women, and make offerings with those who are used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods: the people who have no wisdom will be sent away.

15 Do not you, O Israel, come into error; do not you, O Judah, come to Gilgal, or go up to Beth-aven, or take an oath, By the living Lord.

16 For Israel is uncontrolled, like a cow which may not be controlled; now will the Lord give them food like a lamb in a wide place.

17 Ephraim is joined to false gods; let him be.

18 Their drink has become bitter; they are completely false; her rulers take pleasure in shame.

19 They are folded in the skirts of the wind; they will be shamed because of their offerings.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #290

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290. And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying. (5:13) This symbolizes a confession and glorification of the Lord by angels of the lowest heavens.

That it is a confession and glorification of the Lord by angels of the lowest heavens is apparent from the series, because the preceding confessions and glorifications of the Lord were made by angels of the higher and lower heavens (nos. 275ff., 286ff.). For there are three heavens, and in each countless societies, every one of which is called a heaven.

It is apparent that angels are meant by every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and in the sea, for we are told, "I heard (them) saying," and they said "Blessing and honor and glory and strength be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!"

[2] Their being called created things accords with the style of the Word, in which all created things, both those of the animal kingdom and those of the plant kingdom, symbolize various constituents in a person - in general constituents having to do with his will or affection, and constituents having to do with his intellect or thought. They have symbolic meanings because they are correspondent forms. And because the Word was written solely in terms of things that correspond, similar things are therefore said in it about angels in heaven and people of the church. To confirm this we will cite just a few passages, as the following:

(Jesus) said (to the disciples,) "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)

But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or... the vegetation of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will recount to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of Jehovah has done this... (Job 12:7-9)

Let heaven and earth praise (Jehovah), the seas and everything that moves in them. For God will save Zion... (Psalms 69:34-35)

Praise Jehovah from the earth, you whales and all the depths. (Psalms 148:7)

I will utterly consume everything from the face of the earth...; I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea. (Zephaniah 1:2-3, Revelation 8:7-9)

The heavens will be glad, the earth will rejoice, the sea will pitch and roll, and all its fullness; the field will exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing before Jehovah. For He is coming, coming to judge the earth. (Psalms 96:11-13)

And so on in many other places.

[3] The text says, "every created thing," and the meaning is every reformed thing, or all reformed people. For to create means, symbolically, to reform and regenerate (no. 254).

To be shown the meaning of "in heaven," "on the earth," and "under the earth," see no. 260 above. And for the meaning of the sea, no. 238. It is apparent from this what is symbolically meant by "such as are in the sea, and all that are in them." Such things as are in the Word are meant by the fish of the sea, and these are sensual affections, which are the lowest affections of the natural self. For in the spiritual world people's affections look at a distance like fish, and as being in a sea, because the atmosphere in which they exist appears as though made of water, and thus as a sea, in the eyes of the inhabitants who dwell in the heavens and on the earth there, as may be seen in no. 238 above, and as regards fish, in no. 405.

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

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