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Ezekiel 10

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1 καὶ εἶδον καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐπάνω τοῦ στερεώματος τοῦ ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς τῶν χερουβιν ὡς λίθος σαπφείρου ὁμοίωμα θρόνου ἐπ' αὐτῶν

2 καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν ἐνδεδυκότα τὴν στολήν εἴσελθε εἰς τὸ μέσον τῶν τροχῶν τῶν ὑποκάτω τῶν χερουβιν καὶ πλῆσον τὰς δράκας σου ἀνθράκων πυρὸς ἐκ μέσου τῶν χερουβιν καὶ διασκόρπισον ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν καὶ εἰσῆλθεν ἐνώπιόν μου

3 καὶ τὰ χερουβιν εἱστήκει ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ οἴκου ἐν τῷ εἰσπορεύεσθαι τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ ἡ νεφέλη ἔπλησεν τὴν αὐλὴν τὴν ἐσωτέραν

4 καὶ ἀπῆρεν ἡ δόξα κυρίου ἀπὸ τῶν χερουβιν εἰς τὸ αἴθριον τοῦ οἴκου καὶ ἔπλησεν τὸν οἶκον ἡ νεφέλη καὶ ἡ αὐλὴ ἐπλήσθη τοῦ φέγγους τῆς δόξης κυρίου

5 καὶ φωνὴ τῶν πτερύγων τῶν χερουβιν ἠκούετο ἕως τῆς αὐλῆς τῆς ἐξωτέρας ὡς φωνὴ θεοῦ σαδδαι λαλοῦντος

6 καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ ἐντέλλεσθαι αὐτὸν τῷ ἀνδρὶ τῷ ἐνδεδυκότι τὴν στολὴν τὴν ἁγίαν λέγων λαβὲ πῦρ ἐκ μέσου τῶν τροχῶν ἐκ μέσου τῶν χερουβιν καὶ εἰσῆλθεν καὶ ἔστη ἐχόμενος τῶν τροχῶν

7 καὶ ἐξέτεινεν τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ εἰς μέσον τοῦ πυρὸς τοῦ ὄντος ἐν μέσῳ τῶν χερουβιν καὶ ἔλαβεν καὶ ἔδωκεν εἰς τὰς χεῖρας τοῦ ἐνδεδυκότος τὴν στολὴν τὴν ἁγίαν καὶ ἔλαβεν καὶ ἐξῆλθεν

8 καὶ εἶδον τὰ χερουβιν ὁμοίωμα χειρῶν ἀνθρώπων ὑποκάτωθεν τῶν πτερύγων αὐτῶν

9 καὶ εἶδον καὶ ἰδοὺ τροχοὶ τέσσαρες εἱστήκεισαν ἐχόμενοι τῶν χερουβιν τροχὸς εἷς ἐχόμενος χερουβ ἑνός καὶ ἡ ὄψις τῶν τροχῶν ὡς ὄψις λίθου ἄνθρακος

10 καὶ ἡ ὄψις αὐτῶν ὁμοίωμα ἓν τοῖς τέσσαρσιν ὃν τρόπον ὅταν ᾖ τροχὸς ἐν μέσῳ τροχοῦ

11 ἐν τῷ πορεύεσθαι αὐτὰ εἰς τὰ τέσσαρα μέρη αὐτῶν ἐπορεύοντο οὐκ ἐπέστρεφον ἐν τῷ πορεύεσθαι αὐτά ὅτι εἰς ὃν ἂν τόπον ἐπέβλεψεν ἡ ἀρχὴ ἡ μία ἐπορεύοντο καὶ οὐκ ἐπέστρεφον ἐν τῷ πορεύεσθαι αὐτά

12 καὶ οἱ νῶτοι αὐτῶν καὶ αἱ χεῖρες αὐτῶν καὶ αἱ πτέρυγες αὐτῶν καὶ οἱ τροχοὶ πλήρεις ὀφθαλμῶν κυκλόθεν τοῖς τέσσαρσιν τροχοῖς αὐτῶν

13 τοῖς δὲ τροχοῖς τούτοις ἐπεκλήθη γελγελ ἀκούοντός μου

15 καὶ ἦραν τὰ χερουβιν τοῦτο τὸ ζῷον ὃ εἶδον ἐπὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ χοβαρ

16 καὶ ἐν τῷ πορεύεσθαι τὰ χερουβιν ἐπορεύοντο οἱ τροχοί καὶ οὗτοι ἐχόμενοι αὐτῶν καὶ ἐν τῷ ἐξαίρειν τὰ χερουβιν τὰς πτέρυγας αὐτῶν τοῦ μετεωρίζεσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς οὐκ ἐπέστρεφον οἱ τροχοὶ αὐτῶν

17 ἐν τῷ ἑστάναι αὐτὰ εἱστήκεισαν καὶ ἐν τῷ μετεωρίζεσθαι αὐτὰ ἐμετεωρίζοντο μετ' αὐτῶν διότι πνεῦμα ζωῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς ἦν

18 καὶ ἐξῆλθεν δόξα κυρίου ἀπὸ τοῦ οἴκου καὶ ἐπέβη ἐπὶ τὰ χερουβιν

19 καὶ ἀνέλαβον τὰ χερουβιν τὰς πτέρυγας αὐτῶν καὶ ἐμετεωρίσθησαν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἐνώπιον ἐμοῦ ἐν τῷ ἐξελθεῖν αὐτὰ καὶ οἱ τροχοὶ ἐχόμενοι αὐτῶν καὶ ἔστησαν ἐπὶ τὰ πρόθυρα τῆς πύλης οἴκου κυρίου τῆς ἀπέναντι καὶ δόξα θεοῦ ισραηλ ἦν ἐπ' αὐτῶν ὑπεράνω

20 τοῦτο τὸ ζῷόν ἐστιν ὃ εἶδον ὑποκάτω θεοῦ ισραηλ ἐπὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ χοβαρ καὶ ἔγνων ὅτι χερουβιν ἐστίν

21 τέσσαρα πρόσωπα τῷ ἑνί καὶ ὀκτὼ πτέρυγες τῷ ἑνί καὶ ὁμοίωμα χειρῶν ἀνθρώπου ὑποκάτωθεν τῶν πτερύγων αὐτῶν

22 καὶ ὁμοίωσις τῶν προσώπων αὐτῶν ταῦτα τὰ πρόσωπά ἐστιν ἃ εἶδον ὑποκάτω τῆς δόξης θεοῦ ισραηλ ἐπὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ χοβαρ καὶ αὐτὰ ἕκαστον κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν ἐπορεύοντο

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #487

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487. "But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it." (11:2) This symbolically means that the state of the church on earth, as it is still, must be set aside and not learned.

The court outside the temple symbolizes the church on earth, because that church is outside heaven, heaven being the temple (no. 486). To leave out means, symbolically, to remove, here to remove from heaven, because its state is of such a character. And not to measure means, symbolically, not to learn or investigate its character (no. 486). The reason follows: "for has been given to the gentiles, and they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months."

That the court outside the temple here symbolizes the church on earth as it is still, is apparent from the following particulars in this chapter, where it is described by the great city called Sodom and Egypt, in which the Lord's two witnesses lay dead, and which afterward fell in a great earthquake, and seven thousand people by name were killed in it - and many other particulars besides.

[2] Elsewhere in the Word the court symbolizes the outward aspect of the church. For there were two courts 1 to be crossed when entering the Temple itself in Jerusalem, and as the Temple symbolized the church in respect to its inner aspect, therefore the courts symbolized the church in respect to its outward one. Consequently strangers who came from the surrounding nations were admitted into the courts, but not into the Temple itself.

Moreover, because the court symbolized the outward aspect of the church, it symbolized therefore also the church on earth, and heaven as well in its outmost manifestations, inasmuch as the church on earth is an entryway into heaven, and so is heaven in its outmost manifestations.

[3] A court has this symbolic meaning in the following places:

Blessed is he whom You choose... He shall dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, with the holiness of Your temple. (Psalms 65:4)

Praise the name of Jehovah..., O you... who stand in (His) house, in the courts of the house of our God. (Psalms 135:1-2)

How lovely are Your habitations, O Jehovah...! My soul... indeed faints for the courts of Jehovah. (Psalms 84:1-2)

Enter into His gates with confession, His courts with praise. (Psalms 100:4)

The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree... Those who are planted in the house of Jehovah shall sprout in the courts of our God. (Psalms 92:12-13)

...a day in Your courts is better than thousands. I have chosen to stand at the door in the house of my God... (Psalms 84:10)

And so on elsewhere, as in Psalms 96:8; 116:18-19, Isaiah 1:12; 62:9, Zechariah 3:7, Ezekiel 10:3-5.

Regarding the courts of the Temple in Jerusalem, see 1 Kings 6:36; 7:12.

Regarding the courts of the new Temple, Ezekiel 40:17-44; 42:1-14; 43:4-7.

And regarding the court outside the Tabernacle, Exodus 27:9-18.

Footnotes:

1. I.e., the inner court or court of priests, and the outer court or great court. See 1 Kings 6:36; 7:12

  
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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.

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