The Bible

 

Ezekijel 45

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1 Kad budete zemlju ždrijebom dijelili u baštinu, prinesite kao prinos pridržan Jahvi jedan sveti dio zemlje, dugačak dvadeset i pet tisuća lakata, širok deset tisuća; to neka bude sveto područje uzduž i poprijeko.

2 Od toga neka bude za Svetište četvorina od pet stotina lakata i čistina od deset lakata uokolo.

3 Od toga područja izmjeri u dužinu dvadeset i pet tisuća lakata, a u širinu deset tisuća: tu neka bude Svetište - Svetinja nad svetinjama.

4 Taj sveti dio zemlje pripada svećenicima koji služe u Svetištu i koji pristupaju k Jahvi da mu služe: tu neka im bude mjesto za kuće; i to neka je sveto mjesto koje pripada Svetištu.

5 Dvadeset i pet tisuća u dužinu i deset tisuća u širinu neka bude levitima koji služe Domu: neka ondje sagrade gradove u kojima će stanovati.

6 Za posjed gradu dodijelite pet tisuća lakata u širinu i dvadeset i pet tisuća lakata u dužinu usporedo sa svetim područjem: to će pripadati svemu domu Izraelovu.

7 Knezu pripada dio s obje strane svetoga područja i gradskoga posjeda - duž svetoga područja i duž gradskoga posjeda - od zapadne strane prema zapadu i od istočne strane prema istoku, a dužina neka bude jednaka svakom tom dijelu, od zapadne do istočne granice.

8 To neka bude njegova zemlja, posjed u Izraelu, da knezovi više ne tlače narod moj i da zemlju dadu domu Izraelovu po plemenima.'

9 Ovako govori Jahve Gospod: 'Dosta je, knezovi Izraelovi! Okanite se nasilja i pljačke i vršite zakon i pravdu; izbavite narod moj od svojih tražbina - riječ je Jahve Gospoda.

10 Mjerite pravom mjerom: pravom efom i pravim batom.

11 Efa i bat neka jednako hvataju: bat neka iznosi desetinu homera i efa desetinu homera - neka im mjera bude prema homeru.

12 Šekel neka bude dvadeset gera; mina neka vam bude dvadeset šekela, dvadeset i pet šekela i petnaest šekela.

13 Ovo je prinos koji ćete prinositi: šestinu efe od svakoga homera pšenice i šestinu efe od svakoga homera ječma.

14 A za ulje ova je uredba: desetina bata od svakoga kora - deset bata jedan je kor.

15 Od svakoga stada od dvije stotine ovaca sa sočnih izraelskih pašnjaka po jednu ovcu za žrtvu prinosnicu, paljenicu i pričesnicu - vama za pomirenje - riječ je Jahve Gospoda.

16 Sav narod zemlje duguje ovaj prinos knezu Izraelovu.

17 A knez je dužan davati žrtve paljenice, prinosnice i ljevanice za svetkovine i za mlađake, za subote i blagdane doma Izraelova: on neka se postara za okajnicu, za pomirnicu, prinosnicu, paljenicu i pričesnicu za pomirenje doma Izraelova.'

18 Ovako govori Jahve Gospod: 'Prvoga mjeseca, prvoga dana u mjesecu, uzmi june bez mane i okaj njime Svetište.

19 Svećenik neka uzme krvi te žrtve okajnice i neka njome pomaže dovratnike Doma i sva četiri ugla pojasa žrtveničkoga i dovratnike vrata unutrašnjega predvorja.

20 Tako neka učini i sedmoga dana istoga mjeseca za svakoga koji je sagriješio iz slabosti i neznanja. Tako ćete dovršiti pomirenje Doma.

21 Prvoga mjeseca, četrnaestoga dana u mjesecu, svetkujte Pashu, sedmodnevni blagdan, kad se blaguju beskvasni hljebovi.

22 Toga dana neka knez za se i za sav puk zemlje prinese june za okajnicu.

23 Sedam dana blagdana neka prinosi za paljenicu Jahvi Sedam junčića i Sedam ovnova bez mane - svaki dan tih Sedam dana - i svaki dan jarca kao okajnicu.

24 A kao prinosnicu neka prinese efu po svakom juncu i efu po ovnu i hin ulja na svaku efu.

25 Sedmoga mjeseca, petnaestoga dana u mjesecu, neka o blagdanu isto toliko prinosi sedam dana: isto toliko okajnica, paljenica, prinosnica i ulja.'

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #945

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945. 22:8 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. This means that John supposed that the angel sent to him by the Lord to keep him in a state of the spirit was the God who revealed these things, when in fact that was not the case, as the angel only showed him what the Lord presented.

Clearly John supposed that the angel sent to him was the Lord Himself, for we are told that he fell down to worship before the angel's feet. But that it was not as he supposed is apparent from the next verse, in which the angel tells him that he is his fellow servant: "Worship God." That the angel was sent to John by the Lord is apparent from verse 16, which says, "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches."

But behind this lies the following secret: The Lord sent the angel to John in order to keep him in a state of the spirit and to show him in that state the visions he saw. For whatever John saw, he saw not with the eyes of his body, but with the eyes of his spirit, as can be seen from the passages in which he says that he was in the spirit and seeing a vision (Revelation 1:10; 9:17; 17:3; 21:10), thus everywhere that he says "he saw." And a person can enter that state and be kept in it only by angels who are closely attached to the person, who induce their own spiritual state on the interiors of his mind. For this raises the person into the light of heaven, and in that light he sees sights in heaven and not in the world.

[2] Ezekiel, Zechariah, Daniel, and other prophets were at times in the same state, but not when they spoke the Word. When they spoke the Word they were not in the spirit, but conscious in the body, and the words they wrote they heard from Jehovah Himself, that is, from the Lord.

These two states experienced by the prophets must be properly distinguished. The prophets themselves also properly distinguished them, for they everywhere say when they wrote the Word from Jehovah that Jehovah spoke with them and to them, and most often, "Thus says Jehovah," or "the word of Jehovah." However, when they were in the other state, they say that they were in the spirit or seeing in a vision, as can be seen from the following: (Ezekiel said,) "The spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision... of God into Chaldea, to those in captivity. So the vision that I saw went up upon me." (Ezekiel 11:1, 24)

Ezekiel says that the spirit lifted him up and that he heard behind him an earthquake, among other things (Ezekiel 3:12, 14). Also that the spirit lifted him up between earth and heaven, and brought him in visions of God to Jerusalem, where he saw abominations (Ezekiel 8:3ff.). Therefore he was also seeing in a vision of God or in the spirit when he saw four living creatures, which were cherubim (Ezekiel 1 and 10). And when he saw a new temple and a new land, and an angel measuring them (Ezekiel 40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48). He says that he was then seeing in the visions of God (Ezekiel 40:2), and that the spirit lifted him up (Ezekiel 43:5).

[3] It was the same with Zechariah, who had an angel with him at the time when he saw a man riding among the myrtle trees (Zechariah 1:8ff.). When he saw the four horns, and then the man with a measuring line in his hand (Zechariah 1:18; 2:1ff.). When he saw Joshua, the high priest (Zechariah 3:1ff.). When he saw the lampstand and two olive trees (Zechariah 4:1ff.). When he saw the flying scroll and the ephah (Zechariah 5:1, 6). And when he saw the four chariots and their horses coming from between two mountains (Zechariah 6:1ff.).

Daniel was in the same state when he saw four beasts coming up from the sea (Daniel 7:1ff.), and when he saw the combat of the ram and the male goat (Daniel 8:1ff.). That he saw these sights in visions is said in Daniel 7:1-2, 7, 13; 8:2; 10:1, 7-8. Moreover, that he saw the angel Gabriel and spoke with him in a vision (Daniel 9:21).

It was the same with John when he saw the sights he described, as when he saw the Son of Man in the midst of the seven lampstands; when he saw the tabernacle, 1 the temple, 2 the ark, 3 and the altar 4 in heaven; the dragon and its combat with Michael; 5 the beasts; 6 the woman sitting on the scarlet beast; 7 the new heaven and new earth, and the holy Jerusalem with its wall, gates, and foundations; 8 and more.

These sights were revealed by the Lord, but shown by an angel.

Footnotes:

  
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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.