The Bible

 

Ezekiel 10

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1 And I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

2 And he spoke unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Come in between the wheels, under the cherub, and fill the hollow of thy hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight.

3 And the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.

4 And the glory of Jehovah mounted up from the cherub, [and came] over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Jehovah's glory.

5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty ùGod when he speaketh.

6 And it came to pass when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubim, then he went in, and stood beside the wheel.

7 And the cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire that was between the cherubim, and took and put it into the hands of him [that was] clothed with linen; who took [it], and went out.

8 And there appeared in the cherubim the form of a man's hand under their wings.

9 And I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was as the look of a chrysolite stone.

10 And as for their appearance, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel were in the midst of a wheel.

11 When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it: they turned not as they went.

12 And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes round about, in them four [and] their wheels.

13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, Galgal.

14 And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

15 And the cherubim mounted up. This was the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar.

16 And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them.

17 When they stood, these stood; and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them: for the spirit of the living creature was in them.

18 And the glory of Jehovah departed from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim.

19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight, when they went out; and the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of Jehovah's house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

20 This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim.

21 Each one had four faces, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.

22 And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I had seen by the river Chebar -- their appearance and themselves: they went every one straight before them.

   

Commentary

 

Coming

  

Coming (Genesis 41:14) denotes communication through spiritual influx.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 5249)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #5249

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5249. 'And came to Pharaoh' means a communication with the new natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming' in this instance as a communication through influx; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the new natural, dealt with in 5079, 5080, 5244. What the words in this verse hold within them is evident from the explanations of them that have been given; for those words describe how Joseph was set free from the pit and came to Pharaoh. In the internal sense 'Joseph' represents the Lord so far as the celestial of the spiritual is concerned, while 'Pharaoh' represents the natural or external man. 'The pit' in which Joseph was confined represents a state of temptation endured by the Lord which involved the celestial of the spiritual, while his being called from the pit by Pharaoh means a state of release from temptations, and also a state of influx and communication after that with the new natural. From all this it is evident that the internal sense contains a description at this point of how the Lord made His Natural new and at length Divine.

[2] These are the matters that celestial angels contemplate when such historical details are read by man. To contemplate such matters is also their greatest delight, for they live in the Lord's Divine sphere and so they are as it were in the Lord. They know the deepest joy when they are thinking about the Lord and about the salvation of the human race, which took place because the Lord made the Human within Himself Divine. Also, to enable angels to go on experiencing that most heavenly joy and at the same time wisdom, a full description of that Divine process has therefore been given in the internal sense of the Word. This sense includes at the same time the process by which man is regenerated, for man's regeneration is an image of the Lord's glorification, 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490, 4402. Many will perhaps be wondering what angels talk about to one another and consequently what people after death who become angels talk about. Let those who so wonder know that angels talk about the kinds of matters that are contained in the internal sense of the Word, that is to say, about the Lord's glorification, His kingdom, the Church, the regeneration of man by means of the good of love and the truth of faith. But when they do so they use profound ideas which for the most part are beyond description.

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