The Bible

 

Ezekiel 22

Study

   

1 καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος κυρίου πρός με λέγων

2 καὶ σύ υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου εἰ κρινεῖς τὴν πόλιν τῶν αἱμάτων καὶ παράδειξον αὐτῇ πάσας τὰς ἀνομίας αὐτῆς

3 καὶ ἐρεῖς τάδε λέγει κύριος κύριος ὦ πόλις ἐκχέουσα αἵματα ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς τοῦ ἐλθεῖν καιρὸν αὐτῆς καὶ ποιοῦσα ἐνθυμήματα καθ' αὑτῆς τοῦ μιαίνειν αὐτήν

4 ἐν τοῖς αἵμασιν αὐτῶν οἷς ἐξέχεας παραπέπτωκας καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐνθυμήμασίν σου οἷς ἐποίεις ἐμιαίνου καὶ ἤγγισας τὰς ἡμέρας σου καὶ ἤγαγες καιρὸν ἐτῶν σου διὰ τοῦτο δέδωκά σε εἰς ὄνειδος τοῖς ἔθνεσιν καὶ εἰς ἐμπαιγμὸν πάσαις ταῖς χώραις

5 ταῖς ἐγγιζούσαις πρὸς σὲ καὶ ταῖς μακρὰν ἀπεχούσαις ἀπὸ σοῦ καὶ ἐμπαίξονται ἐν σοί ἀκάθαρτος ἡ ὀνομαστὴ καὶ πολλὴ ἐν ταῖς ἀνομίαις

6 ἰδοὺ οἱ ἀφηγούμενοι οἴκου ισραηλ ἕκαστος πρὸς τοὺς συγγενεῖς αὐτοῦ συνανεφύροντο ἐν σοί ὅπως ἐκχέωσιν αἷμα

7 πατέρα καὶ μητέρα ἐκακολόγουν ἐν σοὶ καὶ πρὸς τὸν προσήλυτον ἀνεστρέφοντο ἐν ἀδικίαις ἐν σοί ὀρφανὸν καὶ χήραν κατεδυνάστευον ἐν σοί

8 καὶ τὰ ἅγιά μου ἐξουδένουν καὶ τὰ σάββατά μου ἐβεβήλουν ἐν σοί

9 ἄνδρες λῃσταὶ ἐν σοί ὅπως ἐκχέωσιν ἐν σοὶ αἷμα καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ὀρέων ἤσθοσαν ἐν σοί ἀνόσια ἐποίουν ἐν μέσῳ σου

10 αἰσχύνην πατρὸς ἀπεκάλυψαν ἐν σοὶ καὶ ἐν ἀκαθαρσίαις ἀποκαθημένην ἐταπείνουν ἐν σοί

11 ἕκαστος τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἠνομοῦσαν καὶ ἕκαστος τὴν νύμφην αὐτοῦ ἐμίαινεν ἐν ἀσεβείᾳ καὶ ἕκαστος τὴν ἀδελφὴν αὐτοῦ θυγατέρα τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ ἐταπείνουν ἐν σοί

12 δῶρα ἐλαμβάνοσαν ἐν σοί ὅπως ἐκχέωσιν αἷμα τόκον καὶ πλεονασμὸν ἐλαμβάνοσαν ἐν σοί καὶ συνετελέσω συντέλειαν κακίας σου τὴν ἐν καταδυναστείᾳ ἐμοῦ δὲ ἐπελάθου λέγει κύριος

13 ἐὰν δὲ πατάξω χεῖρά μου πρὸς χεῖρά μου ἐφ' οἷς συντετέλεσαι οἷς ἐποίησας καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς αἵμασίν σου τοῖς γεγενημένοις ἐν μέσῳ σου

14 εἰ ὑποστήσεται ἡ καρδία σου εἰ κρατήσουσιν αἱ χεῖρές σου ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αἷς ἐγὼ ποιῶ ἐν σοί ἐγὼ κύριος λελάληκα καὶ ποιήσω

15 καὶ διασκορπιῶ σε ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν καὶ διασπερῶ σε ἐν ταῖς χώραις καὶ ἐκλείψει ἡ ἀκαθαρσία σου ἐκ σοῦ

16 καὶ κατακληρονομήσω ἐν σοὶ κατ' ὀφθαλμοὺς τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ γνώσεσθε διότι ἐγὼ κύριος

17 καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος κυρίου πρός με λέγων

18 υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου ἰδοὺ γεγόνασί μοι ὁ οἶκος ισραηλ ἀναμεμειγμένοι πάντες χαλκῷ καὶ σιδήρῳ καὶ κασσιτέρῳ καὶ μολίβῳ ἐν μέσῳ ἀργυρίου ἀναμεμειγμένος ἐστίν

19 διὰ τοῦτο εἰπόν τάδε λέγει κύριος ἀνθ' ὧν ἐγένεσθε πάντες εἰς σύγκρασιν μίαν διὰ τοῦτο ἐγὼ εἰσδέχομαι ὑμᾶς εἰς μέσον ιερουσαλημ

20 καθὼς εἰσδέχεται ἄργυρος καὶ χαλκὸς καὶ σίδηρος καὶ κασσίτερος καὶ μόλιβος εἰς μέσον καμίνου τοῦ ἐκφυσῆσαι εἰς αὐτὸ πῦρ τοῦ χωνευθῆναι οὕτως εἰσδέξομαι ὑμᾶς ἐν ὀργῇ μου καὶ συνάξω καὶ χωνεύσω ὑμᾶς

21 καὶ ἐκφυσήσω ἐφ' ὑμᾶς ἐν πυρὶ ὀργῆς μου καὶ χωνευθήσεσθε ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς

22 ὃν τρόπον χωνεύεται ἀργύριον ἐν μέσῳ καμίνου οὕτως χωνευθήσεσθε ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς καὶ ἐπιγνώσεσθε διότι ἐγὼ κύριος ἐξέχεα τὸν θυμόν μου ἐφ' ὑμᾶς

23 καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος κυρίου πρός με λέγων

24 υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου εἰπὸν αὐτῇ σὺ εἶ γῆ ἡ οὐ βρεχομένη οὐδὲ ὑετὸς ἐγένετο ἐπὶ σὲ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς

25 ἧς οἱ ἀφηγούμενοι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς ὡς λέοντες ὠρυόμενοι ἁρπάζοντες ἁρπάγματα ψυχὰς κατεσθίοντες ἐν δυναστείᾳ τιμὰς λαμβάνοντες ἐν ἀδικίᾳ καὶ αἱ χῆραί σου ἐπληθύνθησαν ἐν μέσῳ σου

26 καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς αὐτῆς ἠθέτησαν νόμον μου καὶ ἐβεβήλουν τὰ ἅγιά μου ἀνὰ μέσον ἁγίου καὶ βεβήλου οὐ διέστελλον καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον ἀκαθάρτου καὶ τοῦ καθαροῦ οὐ διέστελλον καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν σαββάτων μου παρεκάλυπτον τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ ἐβεβηλούμην ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν

27 οἱ ἄρχοντες αὐτῆς ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς ὡς λύκοι ἁρπάζοντες ἁρπάγματα τοῦ ἐκχέαι αἷμα ὅπως πλεονεξίᾳ πλεονεκτῶσιν

28 καὶ οἱ προφῆται αὐτῆς ἀλείφοντες αὐτοὺς πεσοῦνται ὁρῶντες μάταια μαντευόμενοι ψευδῆ λέγοντες τάδε λέγει κύριος καὶ κύριος οὐ λελάληκεν

29 λαὸν τῆς γῆς ἐκπιεζοῦντες ἀδικίᾳ καὶ διαρπάζοντες ἁρπάγματα πτωχὸν καὶ πένητα καταδυναστεύοντες καὶ πρὸς τὸν προσήλυτον οὐκ ἀναστρεφόμενοι μετὰ κρίματος

30 καὶ ἐζήτουν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἄνδρα ἀναστρεφόμενον ὀρθῶς καὶ ἑστῶτα πρὸ προσώπου μου ὁλοσχερῶς ἐν καιρῷ τῆς γῆς τοῦ μὴ εἰς τέλος ἐξαλεῖψαι αὐτήν καὶ οὐχ εὗρον

31 καὶ ἐξέχεα ἐπ' αὐτὴν θυμόν μου ἐν πυρὶ ὀργῆς μου τοῦ συντελέσαι τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτῶν εἰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν δέδωκα λέγει κύριος κύριος

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #496

Study this Passage

  
/ 962  
  

496. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy. (11:6) This symbolically means that people who turn away from these two essential elements of the New Church cannot receive any truth from heaven.

Heaven here means the angelic heaven. Thus the rain symbolizes truth for the church from there. Consequently to close heaven so that no rain falls means, symbolically, that people cannot receive any truth for the church from heaven. Truth for the church from heaven is doctrinal truth from the Word.

We are told that the two witnesses have the power to shut heaven, but as in no. 494 above, the meaning here is not that they have that power, but that people who turn away from the two essential elements of the New Church close heaven to themselves, because they continue to be caught up in their falsities.

That rain symbolizes Divine truth from heaven is clear from the following passages:

My doctrine shall drop as the rain, My word shall fall as the dew... (Deuteronomy 32:2)

(If) you... serve other gods..., (Jehovah will) shut up heaven so that there be no rain... (Deuteronomy 11:16-17, see also 11:11, 11:14)

I will lay waste (My vineyard).... I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it. (Isaiah 5:6)

The showers have been withheld, and there has been no late rain. Yet you continue to have a harlot's forehead... (Jeremiah 3:3)

For as the rain comes down... from heaven..., so shall My word (go) forth from My mouth. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Rejoice then, you children of Zion, and be glad in Jehovah... For He has given you seasonable rain in righteousness. (Joel 2:23)

You have caused to drop, O God, a kindly rain... (Psalms 68:9)

He shall come down like rain upon the grass of the meadow... In His days the righteous shall flourish... (Psalms 72:6-7)

He will come to us as rain, as the late... rain waters the earth. (Hosea 6:3)

...my word shall rain down on them, and they will wait for me as for the rain, and they will open their mouth for the late rain. (Job 29:22-23)

Son of man, say...: "You are a land that is not cleansed, which will have no rain in the day of wrath. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst... (Ezekiel 22:24-25)

And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 30:23; Jeremiah 5:24; 10:12-13; 14:3-4; 51:16.

A flooding rain stands for the destruction of truth in Ezekiel 13:11, 13-14; 38:22. For temptation or trial in Matthew 7:24-27.

  
/ 962  
  

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 11

Study

   

1 A reed like a rod was given to me. Someone said, "Rise, and measure God's temple, and the altar, and those who worship in it.

2 Leave out the court which is outside of the temple, and don't measure it, for it has been given to the nations. They will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months.

3 I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."

4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, standing before the Lord of the earth.

5 If anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. If anyone desires to harm them, he must be killed in this way.

6 These have the power to shut up the sky, that it may not rain during the days of their prophecy. They have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.

7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them.

8 Their dead bodies will be in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

9 From among the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations people will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.

10 Those who dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and they will be glad. They will give gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

11 After the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them.

12 I heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here!" They went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them.

13 In that day there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe comes quickly.

15 The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!"

16 The twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God's throne, fell on their faces and worshiped God,

17 saying: "We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who was; because you have taken your great power, and reigned.

18 The nations were angry, and your wrath came, as did the time for the dead to be judged, and to give your bondservants the prophets, their reward, as well as to the saints, and those who fear your name, to the small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth."

19 God's temple that is in heaven was opened, and the ark of the Lord's covenant was seen in his temple. Lightnings, sounds, thunders, an earthquake, and great hail followed.