The Bible

 

Joel 2

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1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of Jehovah cometh, for it is at hand;

2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and gross darkness, as the dawn spread upon the mountains; -- a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, to the years of generations and generations.

3 A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth; the land is as a garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness: yea, and nothing escapeth them.

4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so they run.

5 Like the noise of chariots, on the tops of the mountains, they leap; like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

6 Before them the peoples are in anguish: all faces turn pale.

7 They run like mighty men; they climb the wall like men of war; and they march every one on his ways, and break not their ranks.

8 Neither doth one press upon another; they march every one in his path; and fall amid weapons, but are not wounded.

9 They spread themselves over the city; they run upon the wall; they climb up into the houses; they enter in by the windows like a thief.

10 The earth quaketh before them; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.

11 And Jehovah uttereth his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for strong is he that executeth his word: for the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible; and who can bear it?

12 Yet even now, saith Jehovah, turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning;

13 and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto Jehovah your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving-kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

14 Who knoweth? He might return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, an oblation and a drink-offering for Jehovah your God?

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, hallow a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly;

16 gather the people, hallow the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride from her closet.

17 Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare, O Jehovah, thy people, and give not thine inheritance to reproach, that they should be a byword of the nations. Wherefore should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?

18 Then Jehovah will be jealous for his land, and will have pity on his people.

19 And Jehovah will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I send you corn, and new wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.

20 And I will remove far off from you him [that cometh] from the north, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, his face toward the eastern sea, and his rear toward the hinder sea; and his stench shall come up, and his ill odour shall come up, for he hath exalted himself to do great things.

21 -- Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for Jehovah doeth great things.

22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring; for the tree beareth its fruit; the fig-tree and the vine yield full increase.

23 And ye, children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in Jehovah your God; for he giveth you the early rain in due measure, and he causeth to come down for you the rain, the early rain, and the latter rain at the beginning [of the season].

24 And the floors shall be full of corn, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you.

26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of Jehovah your God, who hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I, Jehovah, [am] your God, and there is none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

28 And it shall come to pass afterwards [that] I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.

29 Yea, even upon the bondmen and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.

30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

31 The sun shall be changed to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come.

32 And it shall be that whosoever shall call upon the name of Jehovah shall be saved: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as Jehovah hath said, and for the residue whom Jehovah shall call.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #7571

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7571. 'And on every plant of the field in the land of Egypt' means every truth of the Church in the natural mind. This is clear from the meaning of 'plant' as truth, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'the field' as the Church, dealt with above in 7557; and from the meaning of 'the land of Egypt' as the natural mind, also dealt with above, in 7569. The reason why 'plant' means truth is that 'the land' means the Church, as also does 'the field'; and all that they produce means either the truth of faith or the good of charity, since these are products of the Church. 'Plant of the field' is used to mean everything in general that is grown in the field, as is evident from the Lord's parable in Matthew,

The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a person sowing good seed in his field. When the plant sprouted and bore fruit, then the tares appeared. Matthew 13:24, 26.

Here it is evident that 'the plant', a term used for what the field produces, means the Church's truth, and 'the tares' falsity. The parable is, it is true, a comparison; but all comparisons in the Word are based on things that have a spiritual meaning, 3579. In David,

He causes the grass to grow for the beast, and the plant for man's service, that he may bring forth bread from the earth. Psalms 104:14.

'The plant', a term used here also for what the field produces, in the internal sense means truth.

[2] In the same author,

He will make me lie down in pastures of the plant; 1 He will lead me to still waters; He will restore my soul. Psalms 23:2-3.

'Pastures of the plant' stands for spiritual nourishment, nourishment of the soul. That is why it says 'He will restore my soul'. In Isaiah,

The waters of Nimrim will be desolations, for the reason that the grass has withered away, the plant has been consumed, there is nothing green. [Isaiah 15:6.

In the same prophet,

The inhabitants became plants of the field and edible grass, hay on the rooftops, and scorched earth before standing corn.] Isaiah 37:17.

In the same prophet,

I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up every plant on them; and I will make streams into islands. And I will lead the blind in a way they do not know. Isaiah 42:15-16.

In Jeremiah,

How long will the land mourn and the plant of every field wither, on account of the wickedness of those who dwell in it? The beasts and the birds will be devoured. Jeremiah 12:4.

In the same prophet,

The hind in the field calved but left because there was no plant; and the wild asses stood on the hills, they gulped the wind like sea-monsters, for the reason that there was no plant. Jeremiah 14:5-6.

In Joel,

Fear not, you beasts of My fields, for the dwelling-places of the wilderness have become abounding in plants; for the tree will bear its fruit, the fig tree and the vine will give their full yield. Joel 1:12.

In Amos,

When the locust had finished eating the plant of the land, I said, O Lord Jehovih, Pardon, I beg You. How will Jacob stand? for he is small. Amos 7:2.

[3] In Zechariah,

Ask rain from Jehovah in the time of the latter rain. 2 Jehovah will make rain-clouds, and will give them rain in showers, to everyone plants in his field. 3 Zechariah 10:1.

In John,

The fifth angel sounded and it was declared that they should not harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree. Revelation 9:4.

Anyone may see that in these places 'grass' is not meant, nor 'plant', but instead the kinds of things that belong to the Church; 'the plant of the land' and 'plant of the field' are, it is plain, used to mean the truth of faith. Without such a spiritual sense no one would ever know what is meant in John by their declaring, when the fifth angel sounded, that they should not harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing. Nor would anyone know what is meant in Jeremiah when it says that 'the hind in the field calved and left because there was no plant; and the wild asses gulped the wind like sea-monsters, for the reason that there was no plant'. And in very many other places no one would know what is meant. This shows how little understanding there is of the Word, and how earthly a person's conception of very many things in it must be unless he knows what their spiritual meaning is, or at least knows that in every detail the Word is holy.

Footnotes:

1. i.e. green pastures

2. i.e. the spring rain

3. literally, to [each] man the plant in the field

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