The Bible

 

Ezékiel 12:23

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23 Ezokért mondd nékik: Ezt mondja az Úr Isten: Megszüntetem e közmondást és nem mondogatják azt többé Izráelben, sõt inkább mondd nékik: elközelgettek a napok, és minden látás teljesül.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

The Lord #5

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5. In these passages, day and time mean the Lord’s Coming. A day or time of darkness, gloom, thick darkness, no light, devastation, the iniquity of the end, or destruction means the Lord’s Coming, when he is no longer recognized and therefore when there is nothing left of the church.

A day that is cruel or terrifying, a day of blazing anger, wrath, panic, visitation, sacrifice, retribution, distress, war, or shouting means a coming of the Lord for judgment.

A day when Jehovah alone will be exalted, when he will be one and his name one, when the branch of Jehovah will be beautiful and glorious, when the righteous will flourish, when he will bring [a young cow and two sheep] to life, when he will search for his flock, when he will make a new covenant, when the mountains will drip with new wine, when living waters will go forth from Jerusalem, and when people will look back to the God of Israel (and many similar expressions) mean the Coming of the Lord to set up a new church that will recognize him as Redeemer and Savior.

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

Commentary

 

Much

  
You do so much for me, thank you

Intellectual things -- ideas, knowledge, facts, even insight and understanding -- are more separate and free-standing than emotional things, and it's easier to imagine numbering them as individual things. Our loves and affections tend to be more amorphous -- they can certainly be powerful, but would be harder to measure. Using words like “much,” “many,” myriad” and “multitude” to describe a collection of things gives the sense that there is an exact number, even if we don't know what it is and don't want to bother trying to count. These words, then, are used in the Bible in reference to intellectual things -- our thoughts, knowledge and concepts. Words that indicate largeness without the idea of number -- “great” is a common one -- generally refer to loves, affections and the desire for good. Here's one way to think about this: Say you want to take some food to a friend who just had a baby. That's a desire for good (assuming you're doing it from genuinely good motives). To actually do it, though, takes dozens of thoughts, ideas, facts and knowledges. What does she like to eat? What do you have to cook? What do you cook well? Can you keep it hot getting to her house? Is it nutritious? Does she have any allergies? So one good desire can bring a multitude of ideas into play.