The Bible

 

Ezekiel 36

Study

   

1 And thou, son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah.

2 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha! and, The ancient high places are become ours in possession;

3 therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because, yea, because they have made [you] desolate, and have swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the remnant of the nations, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and in the defaming of the people:

4 therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovah. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to the mountains and to the hills, to the water-courses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which are become a prey and a derision to the remnant of the nations that are round about,

5 -- therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the remnant of the nations, and against the whole of Edom, which have appointed my land unto themselves for a possession with the joy of all [their] heart, with despite of soul, to plunder it by pillage.

6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the water-courses and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the ignominy of the nations;

7 therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I have lifted up my hand, [saying,] Verily the nations that are about you, they shall bear their shame.

8 And ye mountains of Israel shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel: for they are at hand to come.

9 For behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown.

10 And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, the whole of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded.

11 And I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and bring forth fruit; and I will cause you to be inhabited as [in] your former times, yea, I will make it better than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah.

12 And I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of children.

13 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because they say unto you, Thou devourest men, and hast bereaved thy nation,

14 therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nation any more, saith the Lord Jehovah;

15 neither will I cause thee to hear the ignominy of the nations any more, and thou shalt not bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nation to fall any more, saith the Lord Jehovah.

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

17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a woman in her separation.

18 And I poured out my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols.

19 And I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.

20 And when they came to the nations whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when it was said of them, These are the people of Jehovah, and they are gone forth out of his land.

21 But I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations whither they went.

22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my holy name, which ye have profaned among the nations whither ye went.

23 And I will hallow my great name, which was profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I [am] Jehovah, saith the Lord Jehovah, when I shall be hallowed in you before their eyes.

24 And I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.

25 And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your uncleannesses and from all your idols will I cleanse you.

26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and keep mine ordinances, and ye shall do them.

28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

29 And I will save you from all your uncleannesses; and I will call for the corn and will multiply it, and lay no famine upon you.

30 And I will multiply the fruit of the trees and the increase of the field, so that ye may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.

31 And ye shall remember your evil ways, and your doings which were not good, and shall loathe yourselves for your iniquities and for your abominations.

32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord Jehovah, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

33 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In the day that I shall cleanse you from all your iniquities I will also cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded.

34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all that passed by.

35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities [are] fortified [and] inhabited.

36 And the nations that shall be left round about you shall know that I Jehovah build the ruined places [and] plant that which was desolate: I Jehovah have spoken, and I will do [it].

37 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it unto them; I will increase them with men like a flock.

38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her set feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I [am] Jehovah.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #705

Study this Passage

  
/ 853  
  

705. The four items, flesh, blood, bread and wine, mean spiritual and celestial things corresponding to them, as can be established from the passages in the Word where they are mentioned. Flesh in the Word has a spiritual and celestial meaning, as can be established from the following passages:

Come and gather for the feast of the great God 1 , to eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of strong men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all free men and slaves, both small and great, Revelation 19:17-18.

And in Ezekiel:

Gather from round about to my sacrifice, the great sacrifice that I am making for you upon the mountains of Israel; that you may eat the flesh and drink the blood. You will eat the flesh of strong men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth. You will eat fat from my sacrifice until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk. And you will be sated at my table with horse and chariot, with the strong man and every man of war. Thus shall I set my glory among the nations, Ezekiel 39:17-21.

Anyone can see that in those passages flesh does not mean flesh, neither does blood mean blood, but the spiritual and celestial things corresponding to them. What otherwise would be the meaning - unless they were meaningless and extraordinary expressions - of eating the flesh of kings, captains, strong men, horses and them that sat on them, of being sated at the table with horse, chariot, a strong man and every man of war? Or of drinking the blood of the princes of the earth, and drinking blood until one is drunk? It is perfectly clear that these things are said about the Lord's Holy Supper, for the feast 2 of the great God, and also the great sacrifice, are mentioned.

[2] Since all spiritual and celestial things have reference exclusively to good and truth, it follows that flesh means the good of charity and blood the truth of faith; and in the highest sense the Lord in respect of the Divine good of love and in respect of the Divine truth of wisdom. Flesh also means spiritual good in these words of Ezekiel:

I shall give them one heart, and I shall put a new spirit in your midst, and I shall take away the heart of stone, and give them a heart of flesh, Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26.

Heart in the Word stands for love, so a heart of flesh stands for the love of good. Moreover, it is more fully established that flesh and blood mean spiritual good and spiritual truth from the meaning of bread and wine in the next section, since the Lord says that His flesh is bread and His blood is wine, which was drunk from a cup.

Footnotes:

1. This follows the reading of some manuscripts of the Greek; but cf. 196, 1, where 'great' is applied to the feast.

2. Or: supper.

  
/ 853  
  

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