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Hesekiel 12

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1 Und des HERRN Wort geschah zu mir und sprach:

2 Du Menschenkind, du wohnest unter einem ungehorsamen Hause, welches hat wohl Augen, daß sie sehen könnten, und wollen nicht sehen, Ohren, daß sie hören könnten, und wollen nicht hören, sondern es ist ein ungehorsam Haus.

3 Darum, du Menschenkind, nimm dein Wandergerät und zeuch am lichten Tage davon vor ihren Augen. Von deinem Ort sollst du ziehen an einen andern Ort vor ihren Augen, ob sie vielleicht merken wollten, daß sie ein ungehorsam Haus sind.

4 Und sollst dein Gerät heraustun, wie Wandergerät, bei lichtem Tage vor ihren Augen; und du sollst ausziehen des Abends vor ihren Augen, gleichwie man auszieht, wenn man wandern will.

5 Und du sollst durch die Wand brechen vor ihren Augen und daselbst durch ausziehen.

6 Und du sollst es auf deine Schulter nehmen vor ihren Augen und wenn es dunkel worden ist, heraustragen; dein Angesicht sollst du verhüllen, daß du das Land nicht sehest. Denn ich habe dich dem Hause Israel zum Wunderzeichen gesetzt.

7 Und ich tat, wie mir befohlen war, und trug mein Gerät heraus, wie Wandergerät, bei lichtem Tage; und am Abend brach ich mit der Hand durch die Wand; und da es dunkel worden war, nahm ich's auf die Schulter und trug's heraus vor ihren Augen.

8 Und frühmorgens geschah des HERRN Wort zu mir und sprach:

9 Menschenkind, hat das Haus Israel, das ungehorsame Haus, nicht zu dir gesagt: Was machst du?

10 So sprich zu ihnen: So spricht der HERR HERR: Diese Last betrifft den Fürsten zu Jerusalem und das ganze Haus Israel, das drinnen ist.

11 Sprich: Ich bin euer Wunderzeichen; wie ich getan habe, also soll euch geschehen, daß ihr wandern müsset und gefangen geführet werden.

12 Ihr Fürst wird auf der Schulter tragen im Dunkel und muß ausziehen durch die Wand, so sie brechen werden, daß sie dadurch ausziehen; sein Angesicht wird verhüllet werden, daß er mit keinem Auge das Land sehe.

13 Ich will auch mein Netz über ihn werfen, daß er in meiner Jagd gefangen werde, und will ihn gen Babel bringen, in der Chaldäer Land, das er doch nicht sehen wird, und soll daselbst sterben.

14 Und alle, die um ihn her sind, seine Gehilfen und all seinen Anhang will ich unter alle Winde zerstreuen und das Schwert hinter ihnen her ausziehen.

15 Also sollen sie erfahren, daß ich der HERR sei, wenn ich sie unter die Heiden verstoße und in die Länder zerstreue.

16 Aber ich will ihrer etliche wenige überbleiben lassen vor dem Schwert, Hunger und Pestilenz; die sollen jener Greuel erzählen unter den Heiden, dahin sie kommen werden, und sollen erfahren, daß ich der HERR sei.

17 Und des HERRN Wort geschah zu mir und sprach:

18 Du Menschenkind, du sollst dein Brot essen mit Beben und dein Wasser trinken mit Zittern und Sorgen.

19 Und sprich zum Volk im Lande: So spricht der HERR HERR von den Einwohnern zu Jerusalem im Lande Israel: Sie müssen ihr Brot essen in Sorgen und ihr Wasser trinken im Elend; denn das Land soll wüst werden von allem, das drinnen ist, um des Frevels willen aller Einwohner.

20 Und die Städte, so wohl bewohnet sind, sollen verwüstet und das Land öde werden. Also sollt ihr erfahren, daß ich der HERR sei.

21 Und des HERRN Wort geschah zu mir und sprach:

22 Du Menschenkind, was habt ihr für ein Sprichwort im Lande Israel und sprechet: Weil sich's so lange verzeucht, so wird nun fort nichts aus der Weissagung?

23 Darum sprich zu ihnen: So spricht der HERR HERR: Ich will das Sprichwort aufheben, daß man es nicht mehr führen soll in Israel. Und rede zu ihnen: Die Zeit ist nahe und alles, was geweissaget ist.

24 Denn ihr sollt nun fort inne werden, daß kein Gesicht fehlen und keine Weissagung lügen wird wider das Haus Israel.

25 Denn ich bin der HERR; was ich rede, das soll geschehen und nicht länger verzogen werden, sondern bei eurer Zeit, ihr ungehorsames Haus, will ich tun, was ich rede, spricht der HERR HERR.

26 Und des HERRN Wort geschah zu mir und sprach:

27 Du Menschenkind, siehe, das Haus Israel spricht: Das Gesicht, das dieser siehet, da ist noch lange hin, und weissaget auf die Zeit, so noch ferne ist.

28 Darum sprich zu ihnen: So spricht der HERR HERR: Was ich rede, soll nicht länger verzogen werden, sondern soll geschehen, spricht der HERR HERR.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #63

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63. (Verse 13) And in the midst of the seven lampstands one like unto the Son of man. That this signifies the Lord, from whom is the all of heaven and of the church, is evident from the signification of "in the midst," as denoting in the inmost (see Arcana Coelestia 1074, 2940, 2973); and, because all things proceed from the inmost as light from the centre into the circumferences, therefore, "in the midst," signifies from whom. This is evident also from the signification of the seven lampstands, as denoting the New Heaven and the New Church (concerning which see above, n. 62); and from the signification of the Son of man, as denoting the Lord as to the Divine Human, and also as to Divine truth, because this proceeds from His Divine Human. From these considerations it is evident that the Lord appeared in the midst of seven lampstands, because from Him proceeds the all of heaven and of the church; for the good of love and the good of faith constitute heaven and the church, and that these are from the Divine is known in the Christian world, and because they are from the Divine, they are from the Lord, because the Lord is the God of heaven, and because the Divine of the Lord makes heaven (see the work, Heaven and Hell 2-6, and n. 7-12; and that this is His Divine Human, n. 78-86).

[2] That by the Son of man is meant the Lord as to the Divine Human, and also as to Divine truth, because Divine truth proceeds from His Divine Human, is evident from those passages in the Word where mention is made of the Son of man. Thus in John:

The multitude said unto Jesus, "How sayest thou that the Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man? Jesus answered them, Yet a little while the light is with you; walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you. While ye have the light believe in the light, that ye may be sons of light" (12:34-36).

From these words it is clear that by the Son of man is signified the same as by light; for when they inquired, "Who is this Son of man?" the Lord answered that He was the light in which they should believe. (That light is the Divine truth proceeding from the Divine Human of the Lord, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 126-140; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 49; thus also that the Son of man is the Divine truth.) It is said in Luke:

[3] "Blessed are ye when men shall hate you for the Son of man's sake" (6:22).

For the Son of man's sake is for the sake of the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord. Divine truth is the all of faith and love to the Lord; and because they who are evil deny those things, and they who deny also hate them, and the good acknowledge them, therefore it is said, that these latter are blessed. Again, in the same:

[4] "The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, but ye shall not see it. Then they shall say to you, Behold here, or behold there; go not away, nor follow them" (17:22, 23).

To desire one of the days of the Son of man, is to desire something of genuine Divine truth. The end of the church is there meant, when there will be no longer any faith, because no charity, at which time all Divine truth will perish; and because Divine truth is signified by the Son of man, therefore it is said, "Then shall they say, Behold here, or behold there; follow them not." And in the same:

[5] "When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" (18:8);

that is, when Divine truth shall be revealed out of heaven, it will not be believed. The Son of man, in this place also, is the Lord as to Divine truth; the coming of the Lord is the revelation of Divine truth at the end of the church. (See Arcana Coelestia 3900, 4060.)

[6] And in Matthew:

"As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and glory" (24:27, 30).

(That by the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven, is there signified the revelation of Divine truth at the end of the church, may be seen above, n. 36.)

[7] And in the same:

"I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" (26:64).

And in Luke:

"Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God" (22:69).

The Son of man is the Lord as to the Divine Human, and as to Divine truth proceeding from It; to sit on the right hand of power, means that He has omnipotence; its being said that they should see this now, means, that Divine truth was in its omnipotence when the Lord in the world had conquered the hells, and reduced to order all things there and in the heavens, and that thus those would be saved who should receive Him in faith and love. (See Arcana Coelestia 9715. That to sit on the right hand denotes omnipotence, may be seen Arcana Coelestia 3387, 4592, 4933, 7518, 8281, 9133; that all the power of good is by truth, n. 6344, 6423, 8304, 9327, 9410, 9639, 9643. That Divine power itself is by Divine truth proceeding from the Divine Human of the Lord, see n. 6948; that the clouds in which the Son of man will come are the Word in the letter, which is Divine truth in the ultimate of order, see the preface to the eighteenth chapter of Genesis, Arcana Coelestia 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752, 8443, 8781; and that glory is the Divine truth itself, such as it is in the internal sense of the Word, see n. 4809, 5922, 8267, 9429.)

[8] From these considerations it is now evident what is signified by these words in the Apocalypse:

"I saw, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown" (14:14).

And in Daniel:

"I saw in the visions of the night, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of the heavens" (7:13).

Because all judgment is executed from truth, therefore it is said, that it is given to the Lord "to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man" (John 5:27); and that "the Son of man shall render to every one according to his deeds" (Matthew 16:27); and that "when the Son of man shall come, he shall sit upon the throne of his glory, and shall judge" (Matthew 25:31).

[9] And again in Matthew, it is said:

"He who soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the evil" (13:37, 38).

The good seed is Divine truth, therefore it is said that the Son of man soweth it; the sons of the kingdom are Divine truths in heaven and the church; for son denotes truth (see Arcana Coelestia 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623), and, in an opposite sense, falsity, which also is the son of evil.

[10] In the same:

"The Son of man hath not where to lay his head" (8:20);

by which is signified, that Divine truth had not a place anywhere, or with any man, at that time. Again it is said, that the Son of man would suffer and be put to death (Matthew 17:12, 22; 26:2, 24, 45; Mark 8:31; 9:12, 31); by which is signified, that thus they would treat Divine truth, consequently the Lord, who was Divine truth itself, as He also teaches in Luke:

"The Son of man must first suffer, and be rejected of this generation" (17:25).

[11] In Jeremiah:

"No man [vir] shall dwell there; neither shall a son of man [hominis] abide there" (49:18, 33).

In the same:

In the cities "no man shall dwell, nor shall a son of man pass through them" (51:43).

He who is not acquainted with the spiritual sense of the Word, believes that by cities here are meant cities, and that by man, and by a son of man, are meant a man and a son; also, that the cities were thus to be desolated, so that no one should be in them; but it is the state of the church as to the doctrine of truth which is described by those words; for cities denote the doctrinals of the church (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 402, 2449, 3216, 4492, 4493); and man is the essential truth thereof, conjoined with good (see n. 3134, 7716, 9007); thus the Son of man is truth. Because the Son of man signified Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, therefore the prophets also, through whom it was revealed, were called "sons of man," as Daniel (8:17); and Ezekiel (2:1, 3, 6, 8; 3:1, 3, 4, 10, 17, 25; 4:1, 16; 8:5, 6, 8, 12, 15; 12:2, 3, 9, 18, 22, 27). As most things in the Word have also an opposite sense, so also has the signification of a son of man, which in that sense denotes falsity opposed to truth. Thus in Isaiah:

"What art thou, that thou fearest man? he dies; and a son of man? he is as grass" (51:12).

And in David:

"Place not your trust in princes, in a son of man, with whom there is no salvation" (Psalm 146:3).

Princes denote primary truths (see Arcana Coelestia 2089, 5044); thus, in an opposite sense, primary falsities; and son of man denotes falsity itself.

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

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