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Amos 6

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1 Voi suruttomia Zionissa, ja niitä, jotka Samarian vuoreen luottavat, jotka kutsutaan ylimmäisiksi pakanain seassa, ja Israelin huoneessa hallitsevat!

2 Menkäät Kalneen ja katsokaat, ja menkäät sieltä suureen Hamatin kaupunkiin, ja sieltä käykäät alas Philistealaisten Gatiin: ovatko ne paremmat kuin nämät valtakunnat, ovatko heidän rajansa laviammat, kuin teidän rajanne:

3 Te jotka luulette itsenne kaukana olevan pahoista päivistä, ja vedätte puoleenne väkivaltaisen istuimen,

4 Ja makaatte elephantin luisessa vuoteessa, ja koreilette ylönpalttisuudessa teidän makaussiallanne, ja syötte parhaimmat laumasta ja syötetyt vasikat karjan seasta,

5 Ja soitatte psaltarilla, ja ajattelette teillenne lauluja niinkuin David,

6 Ja juotte viinaa maljoista, ja voitelette teitänne parhaalla voiteella; ja ei kenkään sure Josephin vahinkoa.

7 Sentähden pitää heidän nyt käymän niiden edellä, jotka viedään pois vangittuna, ja öykkärien vieraspito on lakkaava.

8 Sillä Herra, Herra on vannonut itse kauttansa, sanoo Herra Jumala Zebaot: minua kauhistaa Jakobin ylpeys, ja minä vihaan hänen koreita huoneitansa, ja tahdon sen kaupungin hyljätä ja kaikki mitä hänessä on.

9 Ja pitää tapahtuman, että vaikka kymmenen miestä yhteen huoneeseen jäisi, niin pitää heidän kuitenkin kuoleman,

10 Että hänen setänsä ja enonsa veis hänen luunsa ulos huoneesta, ja sanois sille, joka sen huoneen vieressä on: vieläkö sinun tykönäs ketään on? ja se vastaa: jo ovat kaikki pois. Ja niiden pitää sanoman: ole vaiti, sillä ei he tahtoneet, että Herran nimeä olis muistutettu.

11 Sillä katso, Herra on käskenyt lyödä suuria huoneita rikki, ja vähiä huoneita hajoomaan.

12 Taitavatko hevoset kalliolla samota? taidetaanko sitä härjillä kyntää? sillä te muuttelette oikeuden sapeksi ja vanhurskauden hedelmän koiruohoksi,

13 Ja iloitsette tyhjästä asiasta, ja sanotte: emmekö me kyllä väkevät ole meidän sarvillamme?

14 Sentähden katso, minä tahdon teidän päällenne, te Israelin huone, kansan herättää, sanoo Herra Jumala Zebaot; joka teitä pitää siitä paikasta ahdistaman, kuin Hamatiin mennään, hamaan korven ojaan asti.

   


SWORD version by Tero Favorin (tero at favorin dot com)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #474

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474. Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever. (10:6; 10:6) This symbolizes an attestation and testification of the Lord on His own authority.

The angel standing on the sea and on the land means the Lord (no. 470). Lifting up the hand to heaven symbolizes an attestation, here that there should be no more time (verse 6). Swearing symbolizes a testification, here that in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel the mystery of God would be concluded (verse 7). He who lives forever and ever means the Lord, as in Revelation 1:18; 4:9-10, and 5:14 above, and in Daniel 4:34. That the Lord swears on His own authority will be seen shortly.

It is apparent from this that the statement, "Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever," symbolizes an attestation and testification of the Lord on His own authority.

[2] That Jehovah swears or testifies on His own authority is clear from the following passages:

I have sworn by Myself; a word has gone out of My mouth (which) shall not return... (Isaiah 45:23)

I swear by Myself... that this house shall become a desolation. (Jeremiah 22:5)

Jehovah... has sworn by His soul. (Jeremiah 51:14, Amos 6:8)

...Jehovah has sworn by His holiness. (Amos 4:2)

Jehovah has sworn by His right hand and by the arm of His strength. (Isaiah 62:8)

Behold, I have sworn by My great name... (Jeremiah 44:26)

That Jehovah, which is to say, the Lord, swore by Himself or on His own authority means, symbolically, that Divine truth attests; for the Lord is Divine truth itself, and this attests of itself and on its own authority.

In addition to these passages, that Jehovah swore may be seen in Isaiah 14:24; 54:9, Psalms 89:3, 35; 95:11; 110:4; 132:11.

We are told that Jehovah swore because the church established with the children of Israel was a representational church, and the conjunction of the Lord with the church was represented by a covenant, like one made between two parties who swear to their compact. Therefore, because an oath was a part of any covenant, we are told that Jehovah swore. Still, this does not mean that He swore, but that Divine truth attests to something.

[3] That an oath was a part of any covenant is apparent from the following:

I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, so that you became Mine... (Ezekiel 16:8)

...to remember His covenant, the oath which He swore... (Luke 1:72-73; cf. Psalms 105:9, Jeremiah 11:5; 32:22, Deuteronomy 1:34; 10:11; 11:9, 21; 26:3, 15; 31:20; 34:4)

Because the covenant was representative of the conjunction of the Lord with the church, and reciprocally of the church with the Lord, and because an oath was a part of any covenant and was to be sworn on the ground of the truth in it, being sworn thus also in appeal to that truth, therefore the children of Israel were permitted to swear by Jehovah, and so in appeal to Divine truth (Exodus 20:7, Leviticus 19:12, Deuteronomy 6:13; 10:20, Isaiah 48:1; 65:16, Jeremiah 4:2, Zechariah 5:4).

After the representative constituents of the church were abrogated, however, the Lord also abrogated oaths to covenants (Matthew 5:33-37; 23:16-22).

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.