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Ezekiel 8

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1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the ancients of Juda sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.

2 And I saw, and behold a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins, and downward, fire: and from his loins, and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the appearance of amber.

3 And the likeness of a hand was put forth and took me by a lock of my head: and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the vision of God into Jerusalem, near the inner gate, that looked toward the north, where was set the idol of jealousy to provoke to jealousy.

4 And behold the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision which I had seen in the plain.

5 And he said to me: Son of man, lift up thy eyes towards the way of the north. And I lifted up my eyes towards the way of the north: and behold on the north side of the gate of the altar the idol of jealousy in the very entry.

6 And he said to me: Son of man, dost thou see, thinkest thou, what these are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should depart far off from my sanctuary? and turn thee yet again and thou shalt see greater abominations.

7 And he brought me in to the door of the court: and I saw, and behold a hole in the wall.

8 And he said to me: Son of man, dig in the wall. And when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.

9 And he said to me: Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they commit here.

10 And I went in and saw, and behold every form of creeping things, and of living creatures, the abomination, and all the idols of the house of Israel, were painted on the wall all round about.

11 And seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and Jezonias the son of Saaphan stood in the midst of them, that stood before the pictures: and every one had a censer in his hand: and a cloud of smoke went up from the incense.

12 And he add to me: Surely thou seest. O son of man, what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every one in private in his chamber: for they say: The Lord seeth us not, The Lord hath forsaken the earth.

13 And he said to me: If thou turn thee again, thou shalt see greater abominations which these commit.

14 And he brought me in by the door of the gate of the Lord's house, which looked to the north: and behold women sat there mourning for Adonis.

15 And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man: but turn thee again: and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.

16 And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord: and behold at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men having their backs towards the temple of the Lord, and their faces to the east: and they adored towards the rising of the sun.

17 And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man: is this a light thing to the house of Juda, that they should commit these abominations which they have committed here: because they have filled the land with iniquity, and have turned to provoke me to anger? and behold they put a branch to their nose.

18 Therefore I also will deal with them in my wrath: my eye shall not spare them, neither will I shew mercy: and when they shall cry to my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #8427

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8427. 'And in the morning you will see the glory of Jehovah' means that at the beginning of a new state the arrival of the Lord is going to take place. This is clear from the meaning of 'the morning' as the beginning of a new state, dealt with immediately above in 8426; and from the meaning of 'the glory of Jehovah' as the presence and the arrival of the Lord. The reason why 'the glory' means the presence and the arrival of the Lord is that in the highest sense 'glory' is the Divine Truth which emanates from the Lord; and Divine Truth appears before angels' eyes as the light and splendour from the Sun, which is the Lord. For the meaning of 'the glory' as Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, see 5922, 8267; for its meaning intelligence and wisdom that belong to Divine Truth, 4809; and its consequently meaning the internal sense of the Word, since that sense is Divine Truth in glory, 5922.

[2] It says that in the morning they are going to see the glory of Jehovah because sunrise and its accompanying light (which in heaven brings light to angels' eyes, to both their outward and their inward sight) consequently the presence and arrival of the Lord (who is the Sun of heaven) corresponds to morning time on earth and is meant here by 'the morning'. The light from the sun then, which is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, and for that reason is the Lord, is 'the glory'. From this it is evident that 'the glory' means the presence and arrival of the Lord. The fact that these are meant by 'the glory' is also evident from a number of places in the Word, such as in Moses,

The cloud covered the mountain, and the glory of Jehovah dwelt over Mount Sinai. And the cloud covered it six days. The sight of the glory of Jehovah was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain, before the eyes of the children of Israel. Exodus 24:15-18.

Plainly, the presence of Jehovah, that is, of the Lord, appearing as a cloud and as fire on the mountain, is here called 'the glory of Jehovah'.

In the same author,

The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle. Nor could Moses enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud dwelt over it, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle. Exodus 40:34-35.

Here also the Lord's presence, appearing as a cloud, is called 'the glory'.

[3] In the same author,

Moses and Aaron entered the tent of meeting; and they came out and blessed the people. At that time the glory of Jehovah appeared to the whole people. Leviticus 9:23-24.

In the same author,

The glory of Jehovah appeared in the tent of meeting before all the children of Israel. Numbers 14:10-12.

Likewise in Numbers 16:19, 42. In the first Book of Kings,

The cloud filled the house of Jehovah, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah. 1 Kings 8:10-11.

In John,

The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, so that no one was able to enter the temple. Revelation 15:8.

In the same book,

He showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. The city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shed light in it; the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. Revelation 21:10-11, 23.

Here 'the glory of God' plainly stands for light from the Lord, which is Divine Truth emanating from Him, and so is the presence of the Lord since the Lord is present in Truth coming from Him.

[4] The fact that 'the glory of Jehovah' means His presence is clear yet again in Moses,

Moses said to Jehovah, Show me, I beg You, Your glory He said to him, I will cause all My goodness to pass by before you. And when My glory passes by, it will happen, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover My hand over you until I have passed by. But when I take My hand away you will see My back parts, and My face will not be seen. Exodus 33:18-end.

Here also 'Jehovah's glory' plainly stands for His presence. In Matthew,

The disciples said to Jesus, Tell us, what will be the sign of Your coming? Jesus said, Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear, and they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory. Matthew 24:3, 30.

The subject here is the final period of the former Church and the first of the new. 'The Son of Man' is God's truth emanating from the Lord; 'the clouds of heaven' are the Word in the sense of the letter, and 'power and glory' are the internal sense, thus Divine Truth which will be visible then. 'The Lord's coming' stands for the acceptance of God's truth by those belonging to the new Church and the rejection of it by those belonging to the old Church, see 4060 (end).

[5] The fact that the Lord in respect of Divine Truth is meant by 'the glory' is clear in Isaiah,

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of Jehovah. The glory of Jehovah will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together. Isaiah 40:3, 5.

This refers to the Lord, who is 'the glory'. In John,

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory. glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

In the same gospel,

These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. John 12:41.

Here 'glory' stands for the Lord. Similarly in Moses,

I am the Living One, and the whole earth will be filled with the glory of Jehovah. Numbers 14:21.

Here 'the glory of Jehovah' stands for the Coming or arrival of the Lord, and for enlightenment by Divine Truth emanating from Him.

[6] 'Glory' stands for the Lord's Divinity in Isaiah,

I am Jehovah, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another. Isaiah 42:8.

In Mark,

... when the Son of Man comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. Mark 8:38.

In Luke,

Ought [not] Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? Luke 24:26.

Since 'the glory of Jehovah' means the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, 'the glory' also means the Divine Wisdom and Intelligence that belong to Divine Truth emanating from the Lord. Wisdom and intelligence from God are meant by the glory in Ezekiel 1:28; 8:4; 9:3; 10:4, 18-19; 11:22-23; and there it is represented by 'a rainbow' such as one sees in a cloud.

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