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Ezechiël 12

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1 Verder geschiedde des HEEREN woord tot mij, zeggende:

2 Mensenkind! gij woont in het midden van een wederspannig huis, dewelke ogen hebben om te zien, en niet zien, oren hebben om te horen, en niet horen, want zij zijn een wederspannig huis.

3 Daarom gij, mensenkind, maak u gereedschap van vertrekking; en vertrek bij dag voor hun ogen; en gij zult vertrekken van uw plaats tot een andere plaats voor hun ogen; misschien zullen zij het merken, hoewel zij een wederspannig huis zijn.

4 Gij zult dan uw gereedschap bij dag voor hun ogen uitbrengen, als het gereedschap dergenen, die vertrekken; daarna zult gij in den avond uitgaan voor hun ogen, gelijk zij uitgaan, die vertrekken.

5 Doorgraaf u den wand voor hun ogen, en breng daardoor uw gereedschap uit.

6 Voor hun ogen zult gij het op de schouders dragen, in donker zult gij het uitbrengen; uw aangezicht zult gij bedekken, dat gij het land niet ziet; want Ik heb u den huize Israels tot een wonderteken gegeven.

7 En ik deed alzo, gelijk als mij bevolen was; ik bracht mijn gereedschap uit bij dag, als het gereedschap dergenen, die vertrekken; daarna in den avond doorgroef ik mij den wand met de hand; ik bracht het uit in donker, en ik droeg het op den schouder voor hun ogen.

8 En des morgens geschiedde het woord des HEEREN tot mij, zeggende:

9 Mensenkind, heeft niet het huis Israels, het wederspannig huis, tot u gezegd: Wat doet gij?

10 Zeg tot hen: Alzo zegt de Heere Heere: Deze last is tegen den vorst te Jeruzalem, en het ganse huis Israels, dat in het midden van hen is.

11 Zeg: Ik ben ulieder wonderteken; gelijk als ik gedaan heb, alzo zal hun gedaan worden; zij zullen door wegvoering in de gevangenis heengaan.

12 En de vorst, die in het midden van hen is, zal het gereedschap op den schouder dragen in donker, en hij zal uitgaan; zij zullen door den wand graven, om hem daardoor uit te brengen; hij zal zijn aangezicht bedekken, opdat hij met het oog de aarde niet zie.

13 Ik zal ook Mijn net over hem uitspreiden, dat hij in Mijn jachtgaren gegrepen worde; en Ik zal hem brengen in Babylonie, het land der Chaldeen; ook zal hij dat niet zien, hoewel hij daar sterven zal.

14 En allen, die rondom hem zijn tot zijn hulp, en al zijn benden zal Ik in alle winden verstrooien; en Ik zal het zwaard achter hen uittrekken.

15 Alzo zullen zij weten, dat Ik de HEERE ben, wanneer Ik hen onder de heidenen verspreiden en hen in de landen verstrooien zal.

16 Doch Ik zal van hen weinige lieden doen overblijven van het zwaard, van den honger en van de pestilentie; opdat zij al hun gruwelen vertellen onder de heidenen, waarhenen zij komen zullen, en zij zullen weten, dat Ik de HEERE ben.

17 Daarna geschiedde het woord des HEEREN tot mij, zeggende:

18 Mensenkind, gij zult uw brood eten met beven, en uw water zult gij met beroerte en met kommer drinken.

19 En gij zult tot het volk des lands zeggen: Alzo zegt de Heere Heere, van de inwoners van Jeruzalem, in het land Israels: Zij zullen hun brood met kommer eten, en hun water zullen zij met verbaasdheid drinken, omdat hun land woest zal worden van zijn volheid, vanwege het geweld van al degenen, die daarin wonen;

20 En de bewoonde steden zullen woest worden, en het land zal een wildernis zijn; en gij zult weten, dat Ik de HEERE ben.

21 Wederom geschiedde het woord des HEEREN tot mij, zeggende:

22 Mensenkind, wat is dit voor een spreekwoord, dat gijlieden hebt in het land Israels, zeggende: de dagen zullen verlengd worden, en al het gezicht zal vergaan?

23 Daarom zeg tot hen: Alzo zegt de Heere Heere: Ik zal dit spreekwoord doen ophouden, dat zij het niet meer ten spreekwoord gebruiken zullen in Israel. Maar spreek tot hen: De dagen zijn nabij gekomen, en het woord van ieder gezicht.

24 Want geen ijdel gezicht zal er meer wezen, noch vleiende waarzegging, in het midden van het huis Israels.

25 Want Ik ben de HEERE, Ik zal spreken; het woord, de tijd zal niet meer uitgesteld worden; want in uw dagen, o wederspannig huis, zal Ik een woord spreken, en hetzelve doen, spreekt de HEERE HEERE.

26 Verder geschiedde het woord des HEEREN tot mij, zeggende:

27 Mensenkind, zie, die van het huis Israels zeggen: Het gezicht dat hij ziet, is voor vele dagen, en hij profeteert van tijden, die verre zijn.

28 Daarom zeg tot hen: Alzo zegt de Heere Heere: Geen Mijner woorden zullen meer uitgesteld worden; het woord, hetwelk Ik gesproken heb, dat zal gedaan worden, spreekt de Heere Heere.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #71

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71.And his voice as the voice of many waters. That this signifies Divine truth in ultimates, is evident from the signification of a voice, when it is from the Lord, as denoting Divine truth (concerning which see Arcana Coelestia 219, 220, 3563, 6971, 8813, 8914, and above, n. 55), and from the signification of the waters, as denoting the truths of faith, and also the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth (concerning which see n. 2702, 3058, 5668, 8568, 10238); and because the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth are in ultimates, therefore by His voice as the voice of many waters, because it relates to the Lord, is signified Divine truth in ultimates. (That knowledges (cognitiones) and scientifics (scientifica) belong to the external or natural man, because they are in the light of the world, thus, in ultimates, may be seen,Arcana Coelestia 5212, and in general from what is said in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 51.) As it is not yet known that waters in the Word signify the truths of faith and the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth, and, perhaps, because it appears far-fetched, I wish here briefly to show that such things are meant by waters in the Word. This is also necessary because without a knowledge of the signification of waters, it cannot be known what is signified by baptism, nor what by the washings observed in the Israelitish Church, of which mention is so frequently made. Waters signify the truths of faith, because bread signifies the good of love; the reason why waters and bread have such a signification is that the things that pertain to spiritual nourishment are expressed, in the sense of the letter, by those things that have reference to natural nourishment. For bread and water, by which are meant all food and drink in general, nourish the body, and the truths of faith and the good of love nourish the soul. This is also from correspondence; for when bread and water are read in the Word, the angels, being spiritual, understand those things which nourish them; these are the goods of love and the truths of faith.

[2] But some passages shall be here adduced, whence it may be known that waters signify the truths of faith, likewise the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth.

Thus in Isaiah:

"The earth shall be full of the knowledge (scientia) of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea" (11:9).

Again:

"With joy shall ye draw water out of the fountains of salvation" (12:3).

Again:

"He that walketh in justice, and speaketh uprightnesses, bread shall be given him, and sure waters" (33:15, 16).

Again:

"The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none; their tongue faileth for thirst. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of waters, and the dry land springs of waters. That they may see, and know, and hearken, and understand" (41:17, 18, 20).

Again:

"I will pour out waters upon him that is thirsty; and, floods upon the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring" (44:3).

Again:

"Thy light shall arise in obscurity, and thy darkness as the noon-day; that thou mayest be as a watered garden, and as the going forth of waters, whose waters shall not lie" (58:10).

In Jeremiah:

"My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, to hew out for themselves pits that hold no water" (2:13).

Again:

"Their nobles sent their little ones for water; they came to the pits, and found no waters; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded" (14:3).

Again:

"They have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters" (17:13).

Again:

"They shall come with weeping, and with weeping will I lead them; I will lead them to fountains of waters, in a way of rectitude" (31:9).

And in Ezekiel:

"I will break the staff of bread, and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment. That they may want bread and water, and be desolated, a man and his brother, and consume away for their iniquities" (4:16, 17; 12:18, 19; Isaiah 51:14).

And in Amos:

"Behold, the days come, in which I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for waters, but for hearing the Word of Jehovah. They shall wander from sea to sea, they shall run to and fro, to seek the Word of Jehovah, and shall not find it; in that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst" (8:11-13).

And in Zechariah;

"In that day living waters shall go out from Jerusalem" (14:8).

And in David:

"Jehovah is my shepherd, I shall not want. He will lead me to the waters of rest" (Psalm 23:1, 2).

In Isaiah:

"They shall not thirst; he will make waters to flow for them out of the rock, and he will cleave the rock, that the waters may flow out" (48:21).

In David:

"O God, early will I seek thee; my soul thirsteth, weary without waters" (Psalm 63:1).

Again:

Jehovah "sendeth his Word, he maketh the wind to blow, that the waters may flow" (Psalm 147:18).

Again:

"Praise Jehovah, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters which are above the heavens" (148:4).

In John:

Jesus came to the fountain of Jacob; "A woman of Samaria came to draw water, to whom Jesus said, Give me to drink; - if thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest ask of him, and he would give thee living water. The woman said unto him, Whence hast thou that living water? Jesus said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a fountain of water, springing up into everlasting life" (4:7-15).

Again:

Jesus said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (7:37, 38).

And in the Apocalypse:

"Unto him that is athirst shall be given of the fountain of the water of life freely" (21:6).

And in another place:

The angel showed him "a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb" (22:1).

And again:

"The spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (22:17).

[3] These passages are adduced, that it may be known that by waters in the Word are signified the truths of faith, and hence what is signified by the water of baptism, concerning which the Lord thus teaches in John:

"Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (3:5);

where water denotes the truths of faith, and the spirit a life according to them (as may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 202-209, and the following numbers). Because it has not hitherto been known that waters signify the truths of faith, and that all things that were instituted amongst the sons of Israel were representative of spiritual things, it has therefore been believed, that by the washings commanded them their sins were wiped away, although they were in no sense wiped away; those washings only represented purification from evils and falsities, by means of the truths of faith and a life according to them (as may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 3147, 5954, 10237, 10240). From these considerations it is now clear, that by His voice as the voice of many waters, is meant Divine truth; as also in Ezekiel:

"Behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east, and his voice was as the voice of many waters; and the earth was enlightened by his glory" (43:2).

And in David:

"The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters, Jehovah is upon many waters" (Psalms 29:3).

And in the following words in the Apocalypse:

"I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters" (14:2).

[4] I know that some will wonder why waters are mentioned in the Word, and not the truths of faith, although the purpose of the Word is to teach man about his spiritual life; and if the truths of faith had been mentioned instead of waters, men would have known that the waters of baptism and of washings contribute nothing to his purification from evils and falsities. But it must be noted, that the Word, to be Divine, and at the same time to be for heaven and the church, must be altogether natural in the letter; for unless this were the case, it could not be the medium of effecting the conjunction of heaven with the church; for it would be like a house without a foundation, and like a soul without a body; for the ultimates include all the interiors, and are their foundation (as may be seen above, n. 41). Man also is in ultimates, and heaven has its foundation upon the church in him. This is why the style in which the Word is written is of such a character; therefore, when man thinks spiritually from the natural things which are in the sense of the letter of the Word, he is conjoined with heaven which could not otherwise be the case.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.