The Bible

 

Ezekiel 47

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1 And he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the front of the house was eastward. And the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, south of the altar.

2 And he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me round outside unto the outer gate towards [the gate] that looketh eastward; and behold, waters ran out on the right side.

3 When the man went forth eastward, a line was in his hand; and he measured a thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters: the waters were to the ankles.

4 And he measured a thousand [cubits], and caused me to pass through the waters: the waters were to the knees. And he measured a thousand and caused me to pass through: the waters were to the loins.

5 And he measured a thousand: it was a river that I could not pass through, for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.

6 And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen [this]? And he led me, and brought me back to the bank of the river.

7 When I returned, behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.

8 And he said unto me, These waters issue out toward the east district, and go down into the plain, and go into the sea; when they are brought forth into the sea, the waters [thereof] shall be healed.

9 And it shall come to pass that every living thing which moveth, whithersoever the double river shall come, shall live. And there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters shall come thither, and [the waters of the sea] shall be healed; and everything shall live whither the river cometh.

10 And it shall come to pass, that fishers shall stand upon it; from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim shall be [a place] to spread forth nets: their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.

11 But its marshes and its pools shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt.

12 And by the river, upon its bank, on the one side and on the other, shall grow all trees for food, whose leaf shall not fade, nor their fruit fail: it shall bring forth new fruit every month, for its waters issue out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for food, and the leaf thereof for medicine.

13 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: This shall be the border whereby ye shall allot the land as inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph [shall have two] portions.

14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another, [the land] concerning which I lifted up my hand to give it unto your fathers; and this land shall fall to you for inheritance.

15 And this shall be the border of the land: toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Zedad,

16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazer-hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran.

17 And the border from the sea shall be Hazar-enan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath: this is the north side.

18 -- And on the east side ye shall measure between Hauran and Damascus, and Gilead and the land of Israel [by] the Jordan, from the border unto the east sea: this is the east side.

19 -- And the south side southward, from Tamar to the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, by the torrent, unto the great sea: this is the south side southward.

20 -- And the west side shall be the great sea from the border, as far as over against the entering into Hamath: this is the west side.

21 And ye shall divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.

22 And it shall come to pass that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, who shall beget children among you; and they shall be unto you as the home-born among the children of Israel: with you shall they draw by lot inheritance among the tribes of Israel.

23 And it shall come to pass that in the tribe in which the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give [him] his inheritance, saith the Lord Jehovah.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #936

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936. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. This symbolizes the resulting rational truths by which people caught up in evils and the accompanying falsities are brought to think sanely and to live decently.

The leaves of the tree symbolize rational truths, as will be seen below. Nations symbolize people governed by goods and the accompanying truths, and in an opposite sense people caught up in evils and the accompanying falsities (no. 483). Here they symbolize people caught up in evils and the accompanying falsities, because we are told that the leaves were for healing them, and people caught up in evils and the accompanying falsities cannot be healed by the Word, because they do not read it. However, if they have the judgment, they can be healed by rational truths.

The same symbolic meanings found in this verse are found in the following verses in Ezekiel:

Behold, there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple (which turned into a river), along (whose) bank... were very many trees (good for food) on one side and the other..., (whose) leaves do not fall, and whose fruit is not consumed. They bear fruit again every month..., (on which account) their fruit is good for food, and their leaves for healing. (Ezekiel 47:1, 7, 12)

The subject there is also a new church.

Leaves symbolize rational truths because a tree symbolizes a person (nos. 89, 400), and every part of the tree - its branches, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds - then symbolizes accordant elements in the person. The branches symbolizes a person's sensory and natural truths, the leaves his rational truths, the flowers the first spiritual truths in his rational mind, the fruits the goods of love and charity, and seeds the final elements in the person and also the first.

[2] That leaves symbolize rational truths is clearly apparent from things seen in the spiritual world. For trees are also seen there, with leaves and fruits. Gardens and parks are found there that consist of trees. In the case of people possessing goods of love and at the same time truths of wisdom, fruit trees are seen with an abundance of beautiful leaves. But in the case of people who possess the truths of some wisdom, and who speak in accordance with reason, but lack goods of love, the trees appear full of leaves, but without any fruits. And in the case of people without any goods or truths of wisdom, the only trees seen are bare of any leaves, like trees in winter in the world. An irrational person is just such a tree.

[3] Rational truths are truths which most readily welcome spiritual truths, for a person's rational mind is the first receptacle of spiritual truths. Indeed, seated in a person's rational mind is his perception of truth in a form that the person does not himself see by deliberation, as he does the ideas that reside beneath his rational mind in a lower level of thought that is connected with his outer sight.

Leaves also symbolize rational truths in Genesis 3:7; 8:11; Isaiah 34:4; Jeremiah 8:13; 17:8; Ezekiel 47:12; Daniel 4:12, 14; Psalm 1:3; Leviticus 26:36; Matthew 21:19, 24:32; Mark 13:28. However, their symbolic meanings vary according to the kinds of trees. The leaves of the olive tree and grape vine symbolize rational truths seen as a result of celestial and spiritual light; the leaves of the fig tree symbolize rational truths seen as a result of a natural sight, and the leaves of the fir tree, poplar, oak, and pine symbolize rational truths seen a a result of a sensual sight. The leaves of the latter strike terror in the spiritual world when blown to and fro by a strong wind. These are the leaves meant in Leviticus 26:36 and Job 13:25. However, not so the leaves of the former.

  
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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.