The Bible

 

Ezekiel 11

Study

   

1 καὶ ἀνέλαβέν με πνεῦμα καὶ ἤγαγέν με ἐπὶ τὴν πύλην τοῦ οἴκου κυρίου τὴν κατέναντι τὴν βλέπουσαν κατὰ ἀνατολάς καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐπὶ τῶν προθύρων τῆς πύλης ὡς εἴκοσι καὶ πέντε ἄνδρες καὶ εἶδον ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν τὸν ιεζονιαν τὸν τοῦ εζερ καὶ φαλτιαν τὸν τοῦ βαναιου τοὺς ἀφηγουμένους τοῦ λαοῦ

2 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρός με υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου οὗτοι οἱ ἄνδρες οἱ λογιζόμενοι μάταια καὶ βουλευόμενοι βουλὴν πονηρὰν ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ

3 οἱ λέγοντες οὐχὶ προσφάτως ᾠκοδόμηνται αἱ οἰκίαι αὕτη ἐστὶν ὁ λέβης ἡμεῖς δὲ τὰ κρέα

4 διὰ τοῦτο προφήτευσον ἐπ' αὐτούς προφήτευσον υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου

5 καὶ ἔπεσεν ἐπ' ἐμὲ πνεῦμα κυρίου καὶ εἶπεν πρός με λέγε τάδε λέγει κύριος οὕτως εἴπατε οἶκος ισραηλ καὶ τὰ διαβούλια τοῦ πνεύματος ὑμῶν ἐγὼ ἐπίσταμαι

6 ἐπληθύνατε νεκροὺς ὑμῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ καὶ ἐνεπλήσατε τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτῆς τραυματιῶν

7 διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει κύριος τοὺς νεκροὺς ὑμῶν οὓς ἐπατάξατε ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς οὗτοί εἰσιν τὰ κρέα αὐτὴ δὲ ὁ λέβης ἐστίν καὶ ὑμᾶς ἐξάξω ἐκ μέσου αὐτῆς

8 ῥομφαίαν φοβεῖσθε καὶ ῥομφαίαν ἐπάξω ἐφ' ὑμᾶς λέγει κύριος

9 καὶ ἐξάξω ὑμᾶς ἐκ μέσου αὐτῆς καὶ παραδώσω ὑμᾶς εἰς χεῖρας ἀλλοτρίων καὶ ποιήσω ἐν ὑμῖν κρίματα

10 ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ πεσεῖσθε ἐπὶ τῶν ὁρίων τοῦ ισραηλ κρινῶ ὑμᾶς καὶ ἐπιγνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγὼ κύριος

11 αὐτὴ ὑμῖν οὐκ ἔσται εἰς λέβητα καὶ ὑμεῖς οὐ μὴ γένησθε ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς εἰς κρέα ἐπὶ τῶν ὁρίων τοῦ ισραηλ κρινῶ ὑμᾶς

12 καὶ ἐπιγνώσεσθε διότι ἐγὼ κύριος

13 καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ προφητεύειν με καὶ φαλτιας ὁ τοῦ βαναιου ἀπέθανεν καὶ πίπτω ἐπὶ πρόσωπόν μου καὶ ἀνεβόησα φωνῇ μεγάλῃ καὶ εἶπα οἴμμοι οἴμμοι κύριε εἰς συντέλειαν σὺ ποιεῖς τοὺς καταλοίπους τοῦ ισραηλ

14 καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος κυρίου πρός με λέγων

15 υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου οἱ ἀδελφοί σου καὶ οἱ ἄνδρες τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας σου καὶ πᾶς ὁ οἶκος τοῦ ισραηλ συντετέλεσται οἷς εἶπαν αὐτοῖς οἱ κατοικοῦντες ιερουσαλημ μακρὰν ἀπέχετε ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῖν δέδοται ἡ γῆ εἰς κληρονομίαν

16 διὰ τοῦτο εἰπόν τάδε λέγει κύριος ὅτι ἀπώσομαι αὐτοὺς εἰς τὰ ἔθνη καὶ διασκορπιῶ αὐτοὺς εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς εἰς ἁγίασμα μικρὸν ἐν ταῖς χώραις οὗ ἂν εἰσέλθωσιν ἐκεῖ

17 διὰ τοῦτο εἰπόν τάδε λέγει κύριος καὶ εἰσδέξομαι αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ συνάξω αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν χωρῶν οὗ διέσπειρα αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐταῖς καὶ δώσω αὐτοῖς τὴν γῆν τοῦ ισραηλ

18 καὶ εἰσελεύσονται ἐκεῖ καὶ ἐξαροῦσιν πάντα τὰ βδελύγματα αὐτῆς καὶ πάσας τὰς ἀνομίας αὐτῆς ἐξ αὐτῆς

19 καὶ δώσω αὐτοῖς καρδίαν ἑτέραν καὶ πνεῦμα καινὸν δώσω ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐκσπάσω τὴν καρδίαν τὴν λιθίνην ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτῶν καὶ δώσω αὐτοῖς καρδίαν σαρκίνην

20 ὅπως ἐν τοῖς προστάγμασίν μου πορεύωνται καὶ τὰ δικαιώματά μου φυλάσσωνται καὶ ποιῶσιν αὐτά καὶ ἔσονταί μοι εἰς λαόν καὶ ἐγὼ ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς εἰς θεόν

21 καὶ εἰς τὴν καρδίαν τῶν βδελυγμάτων αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν ἀνομιῶν αὐτῶν ὡς ἡ καρδία αὐτῶν ἐπορεύετο τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτῶν εἰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν δέδωκα λέγει κύριος

22 καὶ ἐξῆραν τὰ χερουβιν τὰς πτέρυγας αὐτῶν καὶ οἱ τροχοὶ ἐχόμενοι αὐτῶν καὶ ἡ δόξα θεοῦ ισραηλ ἐπ' αὐτὰ ὑπεράνω αὐτῶν

23 καὶ ἀνέβη ἡ δόξα κυρίου ἐκ μέσης τῆς πόλεως καὶ ἔστη ἐπὶ τοῦ ὄρους ὃ ἦν ἀπέναντι τῆς πόλεως

24 καὶ ἀνέλαβέν με πνεῦμα καὶ ἤγαγέν με εἰς γῆν χαλδαίων εἰς τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν ἐν ὁράσει ἐν πνεύματι θεοῦ καὶ ἀνέβην ἀπὸ τῆς ὁράσεως ἧς εἶδον

25 καὶ ἐλάλησα πρὸς τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν πάντας τοὺς λόγους τοῦ κυρίου οὓς ἔδειξέν μοι

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9479

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

9479. 'And they are to make Me a sanctuary' means a representative of the Lord, and so of heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'a sanctuary' as the Lord and as heaven, but at this point a representative of the Lord and heaven, since it was a tabernacle made of pieces of wood and covered all over with curtains, and this could not have been a sanctuary but for its representation. For 'a sanctuary' means holiness itself; and nothing is holy except what is Divine, thus the Lord alone, 9229. The reason why heaven is a sanctuary is that heaven is heaven by virtue of what is Divine there. For the angels there, so far as they draw on what is Divine and the Lord's, constitute heaven; but so far as they draw on what is their own they do not constitute heaven. From this it is evident how the saying that the Lord is the All in all of heaven should be understood. For the Lord dwells with angels, and so in heaven, in what is His own, thus in what is Divine, see 9338 (end).

[2] The fact that 'a sanctuary' in the highest sense means the Lord, because He alone is holy and that alone is holy which emanates from Him, and also the fact that 'a sanctuary' means heaven, and the Church as well, and that sanctuaries are those realities of which the Lord is the source in heaven and the Church, is clear from places in the Word where the words 'sanctuary' and 'sanctuaries' are used, as in Ezekiel,

The Lord Jehovih has said, I will scatter them into the lands, and I will be a little sanctuary for them in the lands to which they will come. Ezekiel 11:16.

Here 'a sanctuary' stands for the Lord Himself, for 'the Lord Jehovih' and 'Jehovah' in the Word mean the Lord, 9373. In Isaiah,

Look out from the heavens, and see from the dwelling-place of your holiness and of Your glory. Isaiah 63:15.

In Jeremiah,

Like a throne of glory, a height from eternity, [is] the place of the sanctuary. Jeremiah 17:12.

In these places 'the dwelling-place of holiness' and 'the sanctuary' stand for heaven.

[3] In Isaiah,

But a little while, and they have possessed the people of Your holiness; our adversaries have trodden down Your sanctuary. Isaiah 63:18.

In Jeremiah,

The nations have come into His sanctuary. Lamentations 1:10.

In the same book,

The Lord has abandoned His altar, He has abominated His sanctuary. Lamentations 2:7.

In Ezekiel,

The Lord Jehovih has said, Behold, I am about to profane My sanctuary, the pride 1 of your strength, the desire of your eyes. Ezekiel 24:21.

In Moses,

I will make your cities a waste, and desolate your sanctuaries. Leviticus 26:31.

In these places 'the sanctuary' stands for the Church, and 'sanctuaries' for things belonging to the Church. From all this it is clear how the tabernacle comes to be called the sanctuary, namely from the fact that heaven and the Church were represented by the tabernacle, and the Divine realities of which the Lord is the source in heaven and in the Church were represented by the holy things there.

Footnotes:

1. literally, magnificence

  
/ 10837  
  

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