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Ezechiel 3

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1 Tedy řekl mi: Synu člověčí, což před tebou jest, sněz, sněz knihu tuto, a jdi, mluv k domu Izraelskému.

2 I otevřel jsem ústa svá, a dal mi snísti knihu tu,

3 Řka ke mně: Synu člověčí, nakrm břicho své, a střeva svá naplň knihou touto, kteroužť dávám. I snědl jsem, a byla v ústech mých jako med sladká.

4 Za tím řekl mi: Synu člověčí, jdiž k domu Izraelskému, a mluv k nim slovy mými.

5 Nebo nebudeš poslán k lidu hluboké řeči a nesnadného jazyka, ale k domu Izraelskému.

6 Ne k národům mnohým hluboké řeči a nesnadného jazyka, jejichž bys slovům nerozuměl, ješto, kdybych tě k nim poslal, uposlechli by tebe.

7 Ale dům Izraelský nebudou tě chtíti poslouchati, poněvadž nechtí poslouchati mne; nebo všecken dům Izraelský jest tvrdočelný a zatvrdilého srdce.

8 Ale učinil jsem tvář tvou tvrdou proti tváři jejich, a čelo tvé tvrdé proti čelu jejich.

9 Jako kámen přetvrdý, pevnější než skálu učinil jsem čelo tvé; nebojž se jich, aniž se strachuj tváři jejich, proto že dům zpurný jsou.

10 I řekl ke mně: Synu člověčí, všecka slova má, kterážť mluviti budu, přijmi v srdce své, a ušima svýma slyš.

11 A jdi k zajatým, k synům lidu svého, a mluv k nim, a rci jim: Takto praví Panovník Hospodin, již oni slyšte neb nechte.

12 Tehdy odnesl mne Duch, a slyšel jsem za sebou hlas hřmotu velikého: Požehnaná sláva Hospodinova z místa svého.

13 A hlas křídel těch zvířat, kteráž se vespolek dotýkala, a hlas kol naproti nim, a hlas hřmotu velikého.

14 Duch pak odnesl mne, a vzal mne, a odšel jsem truchliv, v hněvě ducha svého, ale ruka Hospodinova nade mnou silnější byla.

15 I přišel jsem k zajatým do Telabib, bydlícím při řece Chebar, a seděl jsem, kdež oni bydlili. seděl jsem, pravím, sedm dní u prostřed nich s užasnutím.

16 I stalo se po dokonání sedmi dnů, že se stalo slovo Hospodinovo ke mně, řkoucí:

17 Synu člověčí, strážným jsem tě postavil nad domem Izraelským, abys slyše slovo z úst mých, napomínal jich ode mne.

18 Když bych já řekl bezbožnému: Smrtí umřeš, a nenapomenul bys ho, ani nemluvil, abys ho odvedl od cesty jeho bezbožné, proto abys ho při životu zachoval: ten bezbožný pro nepravost svou umře, ale krve jeho z ruky tvé vyhledám.

19 Paklibys ty napomenul bezbožného, a neodvrátil by se od bezbožnosti své, a od cesty své bezbožné, onť pro nepravost svou umře, ale ty duši svou vysvobodíš.

20 Odvrátil-li by se pak spravedlivý od spravedlnosti své, a činil by nepravost, a já bych položil urážku před něj, a tak by umřel, ty pak bys ho nenapomenul: pro hříchť svůj umře, aniž na pamět přijde která spravedlnost jeho, kterouž činil, ale krve jeho z ruky tvé vyhledám.

21 Pakli bys ty napomenul spravedlivého, aby nehřešil spravedlivý, a on by nehřešil, jistě že bude živ; nebo napomenut byl. Ty také duši svou vysvobodíš.

22 I byla tam nade mnou ruka Hospodinova, kterýžto řekl mi: Vstaň, jdi do tohoto údolí, a tam mluviti budu s tebou.

23 A tak vstav, šel jsem do toho údolí, a aj, sláva Hospodinova stála tam, jako sláva, kterouž jsem viděl u řeky Chebar. I padl jsem na tvář svou.

24 Tehdy vstoupil do mne Duch, a postaviv mne na nohy, mluvil ke mně, a řekl mi: Jdiž, zavři se v domě svém.

25 Nebo na tě, synu člověčí, aj, dadí na tě provazy, a sváží tě jimi, a nebudeš moci vyjíti mezi ně.

26 A já učiním, aby jazyk tvůj přilnul k dásním tvým, a abys oněměl, a nebyl jim mužem domlouvajícím, protože dům zpurný jsou.

27 Ale když mluviti budu s tebou, otevru ústa tvá, a díš jim: Takto praví Panovník Hospodin: Kdo slyšeti chce, nechť slyší, a kdo nechce, nechť nechá, že dům zpurný jsou.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #36

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36. I became in the spirit on the Lord's day. (1:10) This symbolizes a spiritual state then owing to Divine influx.

"I became in the spirit" means, symbolically, a spiritual state, the state in which John was while he was experiencing the visions, and which we will take up in the following exposition. "On the Lord's day" symbolizes influx from the Lord then, for that day brings the Lord's presence, as it is a holy day.

Concerning the prophets we read that they were in the spirit or in vision, and that the Word came to them from Jehovah.

When they were in the spirit or in vision, they were not in the body, but in their spirit, a state in which they saw phenomena such as are found in heaven. But when the Word came to them, they were then in the body and heard Jehovah speaking.

These two states of the prophets must be properly distinguished. In the state of vision the eyes of their spirit were open and the eyes of their body closed; and they heard then what angels said, and what Jehovah said through angels, and also saw representations produced for them in heaven. Moreover, they sometimes seemed to themselves to be taken then from place to place, their body remaining where it was.

[2] This was the state in which John was when he wrote the book of Revelation, and the state sometimes experienced by Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Daniel. They also said that they were then in vision or in the spirit. For Ezekiel says,

The Spirit lifted me up... and brought me back into Chaldea, to those in captivity, in a vision (of God), in the spirit of God. (Thus) went up from me the vision that I had seen. (Ezekiel 11:1, 24)

He also says that the Spirit lifted him up, and he heard behind him an earthquake, and more (Ezekiel 3:12, 24). So, too, that the Spirit lifted him up between earth and heaven, that it brought him in visions of God to Jerusalem, and that he saw abominations (Ezekiel 8:3f.). He was likewise in a vision of God or in the spirit when he saw the four living creatures, which were cherubim (Ezekiel 1; 10), as also when he saw a new earth and a new temple, and an angel measuring them (Ezekiel 40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48). That he was then in the visions of God, he himself says (Ezekiel 40:2), and that the spirit lifted him up (Ezekiel 43:5).

[3] The same was the case with Zechariah, who had an angel with him at the time, when he saw a man riding a horse among the myrtle trees (Zechariah 1:8ff.); when he saw the four horns, and then a 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); when he saw the four chariots coming from between two mountains, and the horses (Zechariah 6:1ff.).

Daniel was in a like state when he saw the four beasts coming up from the sea (Daniel 7:1ff.), and when he saw the combat between the ram and the male goat (Daniel 8:1ff.). He himself says that he saw these things in visions (Daniel 7:1-2, 7, 13; 8:2; 10:1, 7-8), and that the angel Gabriel appeared to him in a vision (Daniel 9:21).

[4] The same was the case with John, as when he saw the Son of Man in the midst of the seven lampstands (Revelation 1), and finally, the new heaven and the new earth, and then the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven (Revelation 21, 22. John himself says that he saw these things in the spirit and in vision (1:10; 4:2; 9:17; 21:10). This, too, is meant by the statement, "I saw," everywhere it occurs in this book.

[5] It is clearly apparent from this that to be in the spirit is to be in a state of vision, which is brought about by an opening of the sight of a person's spirit; and when this is opened, phenomena found in the spiritual world are as clearly visible as those in the natural world are to the sight of the body.

The reality of this is something I can attest to from many years' experience.

The disciples were in this state when they saw the Lord after His resurrection, which is why are told that their eyes were opened (Luke 24:30-31).

Abraham was in a like state when he saw the three angels and spoke with them. 1

So, too, Hagar, Gideon, Joshua and others, when they saw angels of Jehovah. Likewise when Elisha's lad saw the mountain full of fiery chariots and horses all around Elisha, for Elisha prayed and said,

"Jehovah, open, I pray, his eyes that he may see." And Jehovah opened the eyes of the lad, and he saw. (2 Kings 6:17)

As regards the Word, however, it was not revealed in a state of the spirit or of vision, but the Lord dictated it to the prophets in an audible voice. Consequently we are nowhere told that the prophets spoke it from the Holy Spirit, but from Jehovah. See The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, no. 53.

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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.