The Bible

 

Yechezchial 12

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1 ויהי דבר יהוה אלי לאמר׃

2 בן אדם בתוך בית המרי אתה ישב אשר עינים להם לראות ולא ראו אזנים להם לשמע ולא שמעו כי בית מרי הם׃

3 ואתה בן אדם עשה לך כלי גולה וגלה יומם לעיניהם וגלית ממקומך אל מקום אחר לעיניהם אולי יראו כי בית מרי המה׃

4 והוצאת כליך ככלי גולה יומם לעיניהם ואתה תצא בערב לעיניהם כמוצאי גולה׃

5 לעיניהם חתר לך בקיר והוצאת בו׃

6 לעיניהם על כתף תשא בעלטה תוציא פניך תכסה ולא תראה את הארץ כי מופת נתתיך לבית ישראל׃

7 ואעש כן כאשר צויתי כלי הוצאתי ככלי גולה יומם ובערב חתרתי לי בקיר ביד בעלטה הוצאתי על כתף נשאתי לעיניהם׃

8 ויהי דבר יהוה אלי בבקר לאמר׃

9 בן אדם הלא אמרו אליך בית ישראל בית המרי מה אתה עשה׃

10 אמר אליהם כה אמר אדני יהוה הנשיא המשא הזה בירושלם וכל בית ישראל אשר המה בתוכם׃

11 אמר אני מופתכם כאשר עשיתי כן יעשה להם בגולה בשבי ילכו׃

12 והנשיא אשר בתוכם אל כתף ישא בעלטה ויצא בקיר יחתרו להוציא בו פניו יכסה יען אשר לא יראה לעין הוא את הארץ׃

13 ופרשתי את רשתי עליו ונתפש במצודתי והבאתי אתו בבלה ארץ כשדים ואותה לא יראה ושם ימות׃

14 וכל אשר סביבתיו עזרה וכל אגפיו אזרה לכל רוח וחרב אריק אחריהם׃

15 וידעו כי אני יהוה בהפיצי אותם בגוים וזריתי אותם בארצות׃

16 והותרתי מהם אנשי מספר מחרב מרעב ומדבר למען יספרו את כל תועבותיהם בגוים אשר באו שם וידעו כי אני יהוה׃

17 ויהי דבר יהוה אלי לאמר׃

18 בן אדם לחמך ברעש תאכל ומימיך ברגזה ובדאגה תשתה׃

19 ואמרת אל עם הארץ כה אמר אדני יהוה ליושבי ירושלם אל אדמת ישראל לחמם בדאגה יאכלו ומימיהם בשממון ישתו למען תשם ארצה ממלאה מחמס כל הישבים בה׃

20 והערים הנושבות תחרבנה והארץ שממה תהיה וידעתם כי אני יהוה׃

21 ויהי דבר יהוה אלי לאמר׃

22 בן אדם מה המשל הזה לכם על אדמת ישראל לאמר יארכו הימים ואבד כל חזון׃

23 לכן אמר אליהם כה אמר אדני יהוה השבתי את המשל הזה ולא ימשלו אתו עוד בישראל כי אם דבר אליהם קרבו הימים ודבר כל חזון׃

24 כי לא יהיה עוד כל חזון שוא ומקסם חלק בתוך בית ישראל׃

25 כי אני יהוה אדבר את אשר אדבר דבר ויעשה לא תמשך עוד כי בימיכם בית המרי אדבר דבר ועשיתיו נאם אדני יהוה׃

26 ויהי דבר יהוה אלי לאמר׃

27 בן אדם הנה בית ישראל אמרים החזון אשר הוא חזה לימים רבים ולעתים רחוקות הוא נבא׃

28 לכן אמר אליהם כה אמר אדני יהוה לא תמשך עוד כל דברי אשר אדבר דבר ויעשה נאם אדני יהוה׃

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #50

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50. And His voice as the sound of many waters. This symbolizes natural Divine truth.

A voice, when coming from the Lord, symbolizes Divine truth, as may be seen in no. 37 above. Waters symbolize truths, and specifically natural truths, which are concepts from the Word, as follows from many passages in the Word, of which we cite only the following:

...the earth is full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9)

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. (Isaiah 12:3)

He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly...: bread will be given him, (and) his water will be constant. (Isaiah 33:15-16)

The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongue fails for thirst... I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will turn the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into springs of water..., that they may see, know, consider and understand... (Isaiah 41:17-18, 20)

I will pour out water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit... (Isaiah 44:3)

...your light shall rise in the darkness..., that you may be like a watered garden, and like an issue of water, whose waters do not deceive. (Isaiah 58:10-11)

...My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns... that hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13)

Their great ones have sent their young ones for water. They went to the cisterns and found no water. Their vessels came back empty. (Jeremiah 14:3)

...they have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters. (Jeremiah 17:13)

They shall come with weeping, and with prayers I will lead them. I will lead them to a fountain of waters, in the way of rectitude... (Jeremiah 31:9)

...I will break the staff of bread... and they shall drink water by measure and with astonishment..., so that... they waste away because of their iniquities. (Ezekiel 4:16-17; cf. 12:18-19, Isaiah 51:14)

Behold, the days will come... when I will send hunger on the land, not a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Jehovah. They shall wander from sea to sea, and... shall run to and fro, to hear the word of Jehovah, but shall not find it. In that day the... young women and the young men shall faint for thirst. (Amos 8:11-13)

In that day... living waters shall flow from Jerusalem... (Zechariah 14:8)

Jehovah is my shepherd..., He leads me to still waters. (Psalms 23:1-2)

They did not thirst...; He caused waters to flow from the rock for them, and He split the rock, so that waters gushed out. (Isaiah 48:21)

O God..., in the morning will I seek You; My soul thirsts...; ...(I am) weary, without water. (Psalms 63:1)

(Jehovah) sends out His word...; He causes (the) wind to blow, so that the waters flow. (Psalms 147:18)

Praise (Jehovah), you heavens of heavens, and you waters from above the heavens! (Psalms 148:4)

(Jesus sitting by Jacob's well said to the woman,) "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will not thirst to eternity. And the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:7-15)

(Jesus said,) "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:37-38)

To him who thirsts I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely. (Revelation 21:6)

He showed (him) a... river of the water of life..., proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Revelation 22:1)

And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)

Waters in these passages mean truths, and it is apparent from this that the sound of many waters means the Lord's Divine truth in the Word, as also in the following places:

Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east, and His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth was illumined by His glory. (Ezekiel 43:2)

I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters... (Revelation 14:2)

The voice of Jehovah is on the waters...; Jehovah is on many waters. (Psalms 29:3)

When it is known that waters in the Word mean truths in the natural self, it can be seen what washings in the Israelite Church symbolized, and also what baptism symbolizes, and moreover what is symbolically meant by these words of the Lord in John,

Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)

"Of water" means, symbolically, "by truths," and "of the Spirit" means, symbolically, "by a life in accordance with them."

In an opposite sense, waters symbolize falsities, as we will see in subsequent explanations.

  
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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.

The Bible

 

Revelation 1

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1 This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John,

2 who testified to God's word, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, about everything that he saw.

3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it, for the time is at hand.

4 John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne;

5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood;

6 and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen.

8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

9 I John, your brother and partner with you in oppression, Kingdom, and perseverance in Christ Jesus, was on the isle that is called Patmos because of God's Word and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet

11 saying, "What you see, write in a book and send to the seven assemblies: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."

12 I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands.

13 And among the lampstands was one like a son of man, clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest.

14 His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire.

15 His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters.

16 He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, "Don't be afraid. I am the first and the last,

18 and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.

19 Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will happen hereafter;

20 the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven assemblies. The seven lampstands are seven assemblies.