The Bible

 

Ezekiel 34

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1 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy; and say unto them, unto the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the shepherds of Israel that feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?

3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool; ye kill them that are fattened: [but] ye feed not the flock.

4 The weak have ye not strengthened, nor have ye healed the sick, and ye have not bound up [what was] broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought for that which was lost; but with harshness and with rigour have ye ruled over them.

5 And they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered.

6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill, and my sheep have been scattered upon all the face of the earth, and there was none that searched, or that sought for them.

7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah:

8 [As] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, verily because my sheep have been a prey, and my sheep have been meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, and my shepherds searched not for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock,

9 -- therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah.

10 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock: that the shepherds may feed themselves no more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.

11 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold I, [even] I, will both search for my sheep, and tend them.

12 As a shepherd tendeth his flock in the day that he is among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places whither they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

13 And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the water-courses, and in all the habitable places of the country.

14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold, and in a fat pasture they shall feed upon the mountains of Israel.

15 I will myself feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord Jehovah.

16 I will seek the lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up the broken, and will strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong: I will feed them with judgment.

17 And as for you, my flock, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between the rams and the he-goats.

18 Is it too small a thing unto you to have eaten up the good pastures, but ye must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures; and to have drunk of the settled waters, but ye must foul the rest with your feet?

19 And my sheep have to eat that which ye have trodden with your feet, and to drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.

20 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto them: Behold, [it is] I, and I will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

21 Because ye thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the weak ones with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad,

22 -- I will save my flock, that they may no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David: he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

24 And I Jehovah will be their God, and my servant David a prince in their midst: I Jehovah have spoken [it].

25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell in safety in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

26 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season: there shall be showers of blessing.

27 And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase; and they shall be in safety in their land, and shall know that I [am] Jehovah, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them out of the hand of those that kept them in servitude.

28 And they shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the beast of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell in safety, and none shall make them afraid.

29 And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the ignominy of the nations any more.

30 And they shall know that I Jehovah their God [am] with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord Jehovah.

31 And ye, my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men: I [am] your God, saith the Lord Jehovah.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #3

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3. Which God gave Him to show His servants. This symbolically means, for people who have faith arising from charity, or truths of wisdom arising from the goodness of love.

To show means, symbolically, to make evident, and servants here symbolize people who have faith arising from charity. The following things are made evident to them because they understand and accept.

Servants mean, in the spiritual sense, people who are governed by truths; and because truths spring from goodness, servants mean people who are governed by truths arising from goodness, thus also people governed by wisdom arising from love, because wisdom has to do with truth, and love with goodness. They also are people who have faith arising from charity, because faith, too, has to do with truth, and charity with goodness. And because the spiritual sense in reality is abstracted from person, therefore servants in that sense symbolize truths.

Now because truths, by teaching goodness, serve it, therefore in general, and properly speaking, by a servant in the Word is meant something serving, or someone or something that serves. In this sense not only were prophets called servants of God, but so, too, was the Lord in respect to His humanity.

That prophets were called servants of God is evident from the following passages:

Jehovah has sent to you all His servants the prophets... (Jeremiah 25:4)

...He has revealed His secret to His servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)

...He has set before us by the hand of His servants the prophets. (Daniel 9:10)

Moses, too, is called a servant of Jehovah (Malachi 4:4). That is because a prophet, in the spiritual sense, means doctrinal truth, as discussed below.

[2] Moreover, because the Lord was the very embodiment of Divine truth, which also is the Word, and for that reason was called the prophet, and because He served in the world and serves all people to eternity by teaching, therefore He, too, is here and there called the servant of Jehovah, as in the following passages:

Of the labor of His soul He shall see; He shall be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many... (Isaiah 53:11)

Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. (Isaiah 52:13)

Behold! My Servant on whom I rest, My Elect. My soul has good pleasure! I have put My Spirit upon Him... (Isaiah 42:1, 19)

These things are said of the Lord. David is spoken of similarly, where by him is meant the Lord, as in the following:

I, Jehovah, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them... (Ezekiel 34:24)

David My servant shall be king over them, so that they all have one shepherd... (Ezekiel 37:24)

I will protect this city to save it, for My sake and for My servant David's sake. (Isaiah 37:35)

So, too, Psalms 78:70-72; 89:3-4, 20. (That by David in these places is meant the Lord, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 43, 44.)

The Lord Himself speaks similarly of Himself:

...whoever desires to become great among you must be your attendant, and whoever desires to be first among you must be your servant, even as the Son of Man did not come to be ministered to, but to minister... (Matthew 20:25-28. Cf. Mark 10:42-45, Luke 22:27. So, too, Luke 12:37)

The Lord says this, because by a servant and attendant are meant one who serves and ministers by teaching, and abstractly from person, Divine truth, which He embodied.

[3] Since a servant therefore means someone who teaches Divine truth, it is apparent that servants in this place in the book of Revelation mean people who possess truths arising from goodness, or faith arising from charity, because they are able to teach from the Lord, that is to say, because the Lord is able to teach and minister through them.

It is in this sense that they are called servants in Matthew:

(At the end of the age,) who... is the faithful and prudent servant, whom his lord set over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his lord, when he comes, will find so doing. (Matthew 24:45-46)

And in Luke:

Blessed are those servants whom the lord, when he comes, will find watching. Truly I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will (himself) come and attend to them. (Luke 12:37)

In heaven, all people in the Lord's spiritual kingdom are called His servants, while those in His celestial kingdom are called His ministers. That is because people in His spiritual kingdom are governed by wisdom derived from Divine truth, and those in the celestial kingdom by love derived from Divine good. And good ministers, while truth serves.

In an opposite sense, however, by servants are meant people who serve the devil. These are in a real state of servitude, whereas people who serve the Lord are in a state of freedom - as the Lord also teaches in John 8:31-36. 1

Footnotes:

1. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:31-36)

  
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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.