The Bible

 

Leviticus 2

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1 When any one shall offer an oblation of sacrifice to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense,

2 And shall bring it to the sons of Aaron the priests: and one of them shall take a handful of the flour and oil, and all the frankincense, and shall put it a memorial upon the altar for a most sweet savour to the Lord.

3 And the remnant of the sacrifice shall be Aaron's, and his sons', holy of holies of the offerings of the Lord.

4 But when thou offerest a sacrifice baked in the oven of flour, to wit, loaves without leaven, tempered with oil, and unleavened wafers, anointed with oil:

5 If thy oblation be from the fryingpan, of flour tempered with oil, and without leaven,

6 Thou shalt divide it into little pieces, and shalt pour oil upon it.

7 And if the sacrifice be from the gridiron, in like manner the flour shall be tempered with oil:

8 And when thou offerest it to the Lord, thou shalt deliver it to the hands of the priest.

9 And when he hath offered it, he shall take a memorial out of the sacrifice, and burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour to the Lord.

10 And whatsoever is left, shall be Aaron's, and his sons', holy of holies of the offerings of the Lord.

11 Every oblation that is offered to the Lord shall be made without leaven, neither shall any leaven or honey be burnt in the sacrifice to the Lord.

12 You shall offer only the firstfruits of them and gifts: but they shall not be put upon the altar, for a savour of sweetness,

13 Whatsoever sacrifice thou offerest, thou shalt season it with salt, neither shalt thou take away the salt of the covenant of thy God from thy sacrifice. In all thy oblations thou shalt offer salt.

14 But if thou offer a gift of the firstfruits of thy corn to the Lord, of the ears yet green, thou shalt dry it at the fire, and break it small like meal, and so shalt thou offer thy firstfruits to the Lord,

15 Pouring oil upon it and putting on frankincense, because it is the oblation of the Lord.

16 Whereof the priest shall burn for a memorial of the gift, part of the corn broken small and of the oil, and all the frankincense.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8680

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8680. 'And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God' means worship springing from the good of love and the truths of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'a burnt offering and sacrifices' as representatives of celestial and spiritual realities that belong to internal worship, 'burnt offerings' being representative of celestial realities, that is, aspects of the good of love, and 'sacrifices' being representative of spiritual ones, that is, aspects of the truth of faith, dealt with in 922, 923, 1823, 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3218, 3519, 6905. The representation of 'burnt offerings' as aspects of the good of love, and of 'sacrifices' as aspects of the truth of faith, is clear from their institution - from the requirement that in burnt offerings everything was to be burnt, both the flesh and the blood, but that in sacrifices the flesh was to be eaten, as may be seen in chapters 1-5 of Leviticus; Numbers 28; and in Deuteronomy, where the following words occur,

You are to present, your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of Jehovah your God; the blood of the sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of Jehovah your God, and the flesh you shall eat. Deuteronomy 12:27.

The reason why those two realities were represented by the burnt offerings and sacrifices is that burnt offerings and sacrifices represented all worship of God in general, 923, 6905; and worship of God in general is founded on love and faith. Without these it is not worship, only ritual such as is performed by the external man who has no internal and so no life within him.

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

The Bible

 

Leviticus 23

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1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'The set feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my set feasts.

3 "'Six days shall work be done: but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no kind of work. It is a Sabbath to Yahweh in all your dwellings.

4 "'These are the set feasts of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season.

5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is Yahweh's Passover.

6 On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to Yahweh. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.

7 In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.

8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work.'"

9 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

10 "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its the harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest:

11 and he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh, to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.

12 On the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb without blemish a year old for a burnt offering to Yahweh.

13 The meal offering with it shall be two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire to Yahweh for a pleasant aroma; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin.

14 You shall eat neither bread, nor roasted grain, nor fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

15 "'You shall count from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be completed:

16 even to the next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall number fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to Yahweh.

17 You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to Yahweh.

18 You shall present with the bread seven lambs without blemish a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to Yahweh, with their meal offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to Yahweh.

19 You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings.

20 The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before Yahweh, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to Yahweh for the priest.

21 You shall make proclamation on the same day: there shall be a holy convocation to you; you shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

22 "'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap into the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest: you shall leave them for the poor, and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.'"

23 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

24 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest to you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

25 You shall do no regular work; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh.'"

26 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

27 "However on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

28 You shall do no kind of work in that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before Yahweh your God.

29 For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day; shall be cut off from his people.

30 Whoever it is who does any kind of work in that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.

31 You shall do no kind of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

32 It shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your Sabbath."

33 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

34 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say, 'On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of tents for seven days to Yahweh.

35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work.

36 Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. It is a solemn assembly; you shall do no regular work.

37 "'These are the appointed feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh, a burnt offering, and a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its own day;

38 besides the Sabbaths of Yahweh, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to Yahweh.

39 "'So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of Yahweh seven days: on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest.

40 You shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God seven days.

41 You shall keep it a feast to Yahweh seven days in the year: it is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall keep it in the seventh month.

42 You shall dwell in booths seven days. All who are native-born in Israel shall dwell in booths,

43 that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.'"

44 Moses declared to the children of Israel the appointed feasts of Yahweh.