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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.

   

Commentary

 

Rise

  

It is common in the Bible for people to "rise up," and it would be easy to pass over the phrase as simply describing a physical action. But in fact it represents an elevation in spiritual state, moving to a more internal frame of mind closer to the Lord. Often it has to do with understanding a new or important idea; we "rise up" to a state of greater perception and enlightenment. Obviously context is crucial to the exact meaning of the phrase in a given passage -- it matters greatly who it is that is rising up, and why.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Doctrine of the Lord #39

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39. The Lord is called the God of Israel and the God of Jacob. This is apparent from the following:

Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which Jehovah has made with you....” ...and they saw the God of Israel, under whose feet was as it were a work of sapphire stone, and it was like the essence of heaven.... (Exodus 24:8-10)

...the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking..., the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. (Matthew 15:31)

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He visited and brought deliverance to His people (Israel), when He raised up a horn of our salvation in the house of David.... (Luke 1:68-69)

I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, Jehovah, who have called you by your name, am the God of Israel. (Isaiah 45:3)

...O house of Jacob..., who swear by the name of Jehovah and...of the God of Israel.... For they are called from the holy city, and rely on the God of Israel, Jehovah of Hosts His name. (Isaiah 48:1-2)

...(Jacob) will see his children..., in his midst they will hallow My name, and hallow the Holy One of Jacob, and fear the God of Israel. (Isaiah 29:23)

...at the end of days...many people shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob, who will teach us about His ways, that we may walk in His paths.” (Isaiah 2:2-3, Micah 4:1-2)

...that all flesh may know that I am Jehovah, your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. (Isaiah 49:26)

...I, Jehovah, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. (Isaiah 60:16)

Give birth, O earth, in the presence of the Lord, in the presence of the God of Jacob.... (Psalms 114:7)

(David) swore to Jehovah, he vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob: “I will not go into the shelter of my house...until I find a place for Jehovah, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.” ...we heard of it in Ephrathah (Bethlehem). (Psalms 132:2-3, 5-6)

Blessed be...the God of Israel.... The whole earth will be filled with His glory. (Psalms 72:18-19)

And so on elsewhere where the Lord is called the God of Israel, its Redeemer and Savior, as for example in Luke 1:47, Isaiah 45:15, 54:5, and Psalms 78:35.

In many other places, too, where He is called simply the God of Israel, as in Isaiah 17:6, 21:10, 17, 24:15, 29:23; Jeremiah 7:3, 9:15, 11:3, 13:12, 16:9, 19:3, 15, 23:2, 24:5, 25:15, 27, 29:4, 8, 21, 25, 30:2, 31:23, 32:14-15, 36, 33:4, 34:2, 13, 35:13, 17-19, 37:7, 38:17, 39:16, 42:9, 15, 18, 43:10, 44:2, 7, 11, 25, 48:1, 50:18, 51:33; Ezekiel 8:4, 9:3, 10:19-20, 11:22, 43:2, 44:2; Zephaniah 2:9; Psalms 41:13, 59:5, 68:8.

  
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Published by the General Church of the New Jerusalem, 1100 Cathedral Road, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009, U.S.A. A translation of Doctrina Novae Hierosolymae de Domino, by Emanuel Swedenborg, 1688-1772. Translated from the Original Latin by N. Bruce Rogers. ISBN 9780945003687, Library of Congress Control Number: 2013954074.