The Bible

 

Ezekiel 47

Study

   

1 And he brought me again to the gate of the house, and behold waters issued out from under the threshold of the house toward the east: for the forefront, of the house looked toward the east: but the waters came down to the right side of the temple to the south part of the altar.

2 And he led me out by the way of the north gate, and he caused me to turn to the way without the outward gate to the way that looked toward the east: and behold there ran out waters on the right side.

3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went out towards the east, he measured a thousand cubits: and he brought me through the water up to the ankles.

4 And again he measured a thousand, and he brought me through the water up to the knees.

5 And he measured a thousand. and he brought me through the water up to the loins. And he measured a thousand, and it was a torrent, which I could not pass over: for the waters were risen so as to make a deep torrent, which could not be passed over.

6 And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man. And he brought me out, and he caused me to turn to the bank of the torrent.

7 And when I had turned myself, behold on the bank of the torrent were very many trees on both sides.

8 And he said to me: These waters that issue forth toward the hillocks of sand to the east, and go down to the plains of the desert, shall go into the sea, and shall go out, and the waters shall be healed.

9 And every living creature that creepeth whithersoever the torrent shall come, shall live: and there shall be fishes in abundance after these waters shall come thither, and they shall be healed, and all things shall live to which the torrent shall come.

10 And the fishers shall stand over these waters, from Engaddi even to Engallim there shall be drying of nets: there shall be many sorts of the fishes thereof, as the fishes of the great sea, a very great multitude :

11 But on the shore thereof, and in the fenny places they shall not be healed, because they shall be turned into saltpits.

12 And by the torrent on the banks thereof on both sides shall grow all trees that bear fruit: their leaf shall not fall off, and their fruit shall not fail: every month shall they bring forth firstfruits, because the waters thereof shall issue out of the sanctuary: and the fruits thereof shall be for food, and the leaves thereof for medicine.

13 Thus saith the Lord God: This is the border, by which you shall possess the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: for Joseph hath a double portion.

14 And you shall possess it, every man in like manner as his brother: concerning which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for a possession.

15 And this is the border of the land: toward the north side, from the great sea by the way of Hethalon, as men go to Sedada,

16 Emath, Berotha, Sabarim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Emath, the house of Tichon, which is by the border of Auran.

17 And the border from the sea even to the court of Enan, shall be the border of Damascus, and from the north to the north: the border of Emath, this is the north side.

18 And the east side is from the midst of Auran, and from the midst of Damascus, and from the midst of Galaad, and from the midst of the land of Israel, Jordan making the bound to the east sea, and thus you shall measure the east side.

19 And the south side southward is from Thamar even to the waters of contradiction of Cades: and the torrent even to the great sea: and this is the south side southward.

20 And the side toward the sea, is the great sea from the borders straight on, till thou come to Emath: this is the side of the sea.

21 And you shall divide this land unto you by the tribes of Israel:

22 And you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you, and to the strangers that shall come over to you, that shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as men of the same country born among the children of Israel: they shall divide the possession with you in the midst of the tribes of Israel.

23 And in what tribe soever the stranger shall be, there shall you give him possession, saith the Lord God.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #885

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

885. That 'a leaf' means truth is clear from various places in the Word, where man is compared to or actually called a tree. 'Fruit' in those contexts means the good that stems from charity, and 'leaf' the truth deriving from this, for these are indeed like fruit and leaves, as in Ezekiel,

Beside the river there is rising up upon its bank, on this side and on that, every tree for food, whose leaf does not fall, nor its fruit fail, but is reborn monthly, for its waters flow out from the Sanctuary, and its fruit will be for food, and its leaf for medicine. Ezekiel 47:11; Revelation 22:1.

Here 'tree' stands for the member of the Church who has the Lord's kingdom within him, 'fruit' stands for the good that stems from love and charity, 'leaf' for truths deriving from that good which serve to instruct the human race and to regenerate it. And because truths do this the leaf is said to be 'for medicine'. In the same prophet,

Will He not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit so that it withers? And all the plucked off (leaves) from its off-shoot will wither. Ezekiel 17:9.

The subject here is the vine, which is the Church, when it has been vastated, whose good, which is 'the fruit', and its truth, which is that 'plucked off from its off-shoot', thus wither away.

[2] In Jeremiah,

Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah. He will be like a tree planted beside the waters. His leaf will be green, and in the year of scarcity he will not be anxious. Nor will he cease to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8.

'Green leaf' stands for the truth of faith, and so for faith itself which derives from charity. The same applies in David, Psalms 1:3. In the same prophet,

There will be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and its leaf has fallen. Jeremiah 8:13.

'Grapes on the vine' stands for spiritual good, 'figs on the fig tree' for natural good, 'leaf' for truth, which has accordingly fallen. Likewise in Isaiah 34:4. Similar things were meant by 'the fig tree' that Jesus saw, which was made to wither away when He found nothing but leaves on it, Matthew 21:20; Mark 11:13-14. The Jewish Church in particular was what 'the fig tree' was used to mean on that occasion. With this Church no natural good existed any longer, only that preserved with them which was meant by 'a leaf', namely doctrine, or truth, concerning faith. A Church that has been vastated is one that knows truth but has no wish to understand it. They are like people who say they know the truth, or matters of faith, but who possess no good at all that stems from charity. They are merely 'fig leaves', and they wither away.

  
/ 10837  
  

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