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Ezekiel 11

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1 And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the east gate of the house of the Lord, which looketh towards the rising of the sun: and behold in the entry of the gate five and twenty men: and I saw in the midst of them Jezonias the son of Azur, and Pheltias the son of Banaias, princes of the people.

2 And he said to me: Son of man, these are the men that study iniquity, and frame a wicked counsel in this city,

3 Saying: Were not houses lately built? This city is the caldron, and we the flesh.

4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, thou son of man.

5 And the spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said to me: Speak: Thus saith the Lord: Thus have you spoken, O house of Israel, for I know the thoughts of your heart.

6 You have killed a great many in this city, and you have filled the streets thereof with the slain.

7 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Your slain, whom you have laid in the midst thereof, they are the flesh, and this is the caldron: and I will bring you forth out of the midst thereof.

8 You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, saith the Lord God.

9 And I will cast you out of the midst thereof, and I will deliver you into the hand of the enemies, and I will execute judgments upon you.

10 You shall fall by the sword: I will judge you in the borders of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

11 This shall not be as a caldron to you, and you shall not be as flesh in the midst thereof: I will judge you in the borders of Israel.

12 And you shall know that I am the Lord: because you have not walked in my commandments, and have not done my judgments, but you have done according to the judgments of the nations that; are round about you.

13 And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pheltias the son of Banaias died: and I fell down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice: and said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God: wilt thou make an end of all the remnant of Israel?

14 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

15 Son of man, thy brethren, thy brethren, thy kinsmen, and all the house of Israel, all they to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said: Get ye far from the Lord, the land is given in possession to us.

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because I have removed them far off among the Gentiles, and because I have scattered them among the countries: I will be to them a little sanctuary in the countries whither they are come.

17 Therefore speak to them: Thus saith the Lord God: I will gather you from among the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries wherein you are scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

18 And they shall go in thither, and shall take away all the scandals, and all the abominations thereof from thence.

19 And I will give them one heart, and will put a new spirit in their bowels: and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh:

20 That they may walk in my commandments, and keep my judgments, and do them: and that they may be my people, and I may be their God.

21 But as for them whose heart walketh after their scandals and abominations, I will lay their way upon their head, saith the Lord God.

22 And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and the wheels with them: and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.

23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood over the mount that is on the east side of the city.

24 And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into Chaldea, to them of the captivity, in vision, by the spirit of God: and the vision which I had seen was taken up from me.

25 And I spoke to them of the captivity all the words of the Lord, which he had shewn me.

   

The Bible

 

Ezekiel 37:27

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27 And my tabernacle shall be with them: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

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Apocalypse Explained #476

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476. And have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb, signifies the implantation of Divine truth from the Lord. This is evident from the signification of "making robes white," as meaning to put off falsities and to put on truths, for "white" and "to be made white," are predicated of truths, and these are signified by "robes." (That "white" and "to be made white," are predicated of truths, see above, n. 196; and that "robes" signify truths in general see above, n. 395.) It is said "made their robes white," because the garments of those who are in falsities appear in the spiritual world dusky and also spotted, and the garments of those who are in temptations appear filthy; but as soon as they emerge from temptations, as they have then been imbued with Divine truths, white and shining garments without spots appear upon them, as was mentioned just above. This is why "they have made their robes white" signifies that they have put off falsities and put on truths. The above is evident also from the signification of "the blood of the Lamb" as being Divine truth proceeding from the Lord (of which above, n. 329 e New Jerusalem 293, 294, and in the extracts there from the Arcana Coelestia.) This can be seen from this also, that the garments of angels appear glistening from what is white and bright, not from faith in and thought about the blood of the Lord on the cross, but from Divine truth with them from the Lord; for, as was said above, their garments are all in accord with the truths with them; nor is any angel permitted to think of the Lord's passion, but only of His glorification, and of the reception by Him of the Divine.); and because in temptations falsities are shaken off, and truths are implanted, so in general, "they have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb" signifies the implantation of Divine truth from the Lord. In the sense of the letter of the Word, "the blood of the Lamb" means the passion of the cross, but in the internal or spiritual sense it means Divine truth proceeding from the Lord; for it is by this that man is purified from falsities and evils, that is, his garments are made white. The passion of the cross was the Lord's last temptation, by which He fully subjugated the hells, and glorified His Human; and when this was accomplished and completed, the Lord sent the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, by which is meant Divine truth proceeding from His glorified Human, as the Lord teaches in John (John 7:39) and elsewhere. It is by means of Divine truth, when it is received, that man is reformed and regenerated by the Lord and saved, and not by the shedding of blood on the cross. (On this more may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 293-294.)

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.