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Esekiel 12

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1 Og Herrens ord kom til mig, og det lød så:

2 Menneskesønn! Du bor midt iblandt den gjenstridige ætt, som har øine å se med, men ikke ser, og ører å høre med, men ikke hører; for en gjenstridig ætt er de.

3 Og du menneskesønn, rust dig ut til å gå i landflyktighet og dra ut om dagen midt for deres øine! Dra fra det sted hvor du bor, til et annet sted midt for deres øine! Kanskje de da vil komme til å se; for en gjenstridig ætt er de.

4 De ting du kan få med dig, skal du bære ut om dagen midt for deres øine, som om du skulde gå i landflyktighet. og selv skal du ta ut om aftenen midt for deres øine, likesom de som går i landflyktighet.

5 Bryt dig et hull i veggen midt for deres øine og bær dine ting ut gjennem den!

6 Midt for deres øine skal du ta det på skulderen; i mørket skal du bære det ut; ditt ansikt skal du tildekke, så du ikke ser landet; for jeg har satt dig til et varselstegn for Israels hus.

7 Og jeg gjorde således som det var sagt mig: Mine ting bar jeg ut om dagen. som om jeg skulde gå i landflyktighet, og om aftenen brøt jeg mig med hånden et hull i veggen; i mørket bar jeg mine ting ut; på skulderen tok jeg dem midt for deres øine.

8 Og Herrens ord kom til mig morgenen efter, og det lød så:

9 Menneskesønn! Har ikke Israels hus, den gjenstridige ætt, sagt til dig: Hvad gjør du?

10 Si til dem: Så sier Herren, Israels Gud: Denne flytning gjelder fyrsten* i Jerusalem og alt Israels hus som er der inne. / {* Sedekias.}

11 Si: Jeg er et varselstegn for eder; likesom jeg har gjort, så skal det gjøres med dem; i landflyktighet, i fangenskap skal de gå.

12 Og fyrsten som er iblandt dem, skal ta sine ting på skulderen i mørket og dra ut; de skal bryte et hull i muren og føre ham ut gjennem den; sitt ansikt skal han tildekke, forat han ikke skal se landet med sine øine.

13 Og jeg vil utspenne mitt garn over ham, og han skal fanges i mitt nett, og jeg vil føre ham til Babel i kaldeernes land; men det skal han ikke se*, og der skal han . / {* 2KG 25, 7.}

14 Alle som er omkring ham, hans hjelpere, og alle hans krigsskarer vil jeg sprede for alle vinder, og jeg vil forfølge dem med draget sverd.

15 Og de skal kjenne at jeg er Herren, når jeg spreder dem blandt folkene og strør dem ut i landene.

16 Bare nogen få av dem vil jeg la bli igjen efter sverdet og hungeren og pesten, forat de skal fortelle om alle deres vederstyggeligheter iblandt de folk som de kommer til, og de skal kjenne at jeg er Herren.

17 Og Herrens ord kom til mig, og det lød så:

18 Menneskesønn! Ditt brød skal du ete skjelvende, og ditt vann skal du drikke bevende og med frykt.

19 Og du skal si til landets folk: Så sier Herren, Israels Gud, om Jerusalems innbyggere i Israels land: Sitt brød skal de ete med frykt, og sitt vann skal de drikke med forferdelse, fordi deres land skal bli øde og miste sin fylde for de voldsgjerningers skyld som alle dets innbyggere har gjort.

20 Og de byer som det nu bor folk i, skal legges øde, og landet bli en ørken, og I skal kjenne at jeg er Herren.

21 Og Herrens ord kom til mig, og det lød så:

22 Menneskesønn! Hvad er dette for et ord I fører i munnen i Israels land, når I sier: Tiden blir lang, og hvert syn blir til intet?

23 Derfor skal du si til dem: Så sier Herren, Israels Gud: Jeg vil gjøre ende på dette ord som de fører i munnen, så de ikke mere skal bruke det i Israel; men si til dem: Nu er tiden nær da ordene i hvert syn skal bli opfylt!

24 For det skal ikke mere være noget tomt syn eller nogen dårende spådom i Israels hus;

25 for jeg, Herren, taler det ord jeg taler, og det skal skje, det skal ikke lenger utsettes; for i eders dager, du gjenstridige ætt, taler jeg et ord og setter det i verk, sier Herren, Israels Gud.

26 Og Herrens ord kom til mig, og det lød så:

27 Menneskesønn! Se, Israels hus sier: Det syn han skuer, opfylles først efter mange dager, og det er om fjerne tider han spår.

28 Derfor skal du si til dem: Så sier Herren, Israels Gud: Intet av alt jeg har sagt, skal utsettes lenger; det ord jeg taler, det skal skje, sier Herren, Israels Gud.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1664

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1664. That the wars in this chapter mean in the internal sense nothing other than spiritual conflicts, which are temptations, has been stated already in the preliminary section. 1 Nor do the wars in the rest of the Word, especially in the Prophets, have any other meaning. Wars waged by men can have no place whatever in the internal parts of the Word, for such things as wars are not the spiritual and celestial things which alone constitute the Word. That 'wars' in the Word means conflicts with the devil, or what amounts to the same, with hell, becomes clear from the following places besides many others: In John,

They are spirits of demons, performing signs, to go out to the kings of the land and of the whole earth, to assemble them for the war of that great day of God Almighty. Revelation 16:14.

Here anyone may see that no other kind of war on the great day of God Almighty is meant.

[2] In the same book,

The beast that comes up from the Abyss will make war. Revelation 11:7.

Here 'the Abyss' is hell. In the same book,

The dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her seed, who kept the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus Christ. Revelation 12:17.

It 2 was allowed to make war on the saints. Revelation 13:7.

All these wars are conflicts such as constitute temptations. Nor are the wars of the kings of the south and of the north, and the other wars of Daniel 8, 11, and also those involving Michael, Daniel 10:13, 21; 12:1; Revelation 12:7, anything different.

[3] That wars have no other meaning is clear from the rest of the Prophets as well, as in Ezekiel,

You have not gone up into the breaches and made a hedge for the house of Israel, to stand in war on the day of Jehovah. Ezekiel 13:5.

This refers to the prophets. In Isaiah,

They will beat their swords into hoes, and their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war any more. Isaiah 2:4.

Clearly no other wars [than spiritual wars] are meant here, and therefore instruments of war, such as swords, spears, shields, and many others, mean nothing else in the Word than things that belong to such wars.

[4] In the same prophet,

To the thirsty bring water; O inhabitants of the land of Tema, meet with his bread the fugitive, 3 for they will flee 4 before the swords, before the drawn sword, and before the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. Isaiah 21:14-15.

In Jeremiah,

Shepherds and their flocks will come against the daughter of Zion, they will pitch their tents against her round about; they will graze, each off his own space. Declare a sacred war against her; arise and let us go up at noon. Jeremiah 6:3-5.

Here, since it is waged against 'the daughter of Zion', that is, the Church, no other kind of war is meant.

[5] In the same prophet,

How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of My joy? Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, and all the men of war will be cut down on that day. Jeremiah 49:25-26.

'The city of praise and of joy' stands for the things that belong to the Church, 'the men of war' for those who fight.

[6] In Hosea,

I will make for them a covenant on that day, with the wild animals of the field, and with the birds of the air, 5 and with the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish 6 the bow, and the sword, and war from the land, and I will make them lie down in safety. Hosea 2:18.

Here similarly 'war' stands for conflicts, and the various instruments of war stand for the things belonging to spiritual conflict which are 'broken' when a person comes into the calmness of peace as evil desires and falsities come to an end.

[7] In David,

Behold the works of Jehovah who makes solitary places in the earth, making wars cease even to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and snaps the spear, He burns the chariots with fire. Psalms 46:8-9.

Here too the meaning is similar. In the same author,

In Salem is the dwelling-place of God, and His habitation in Zion. There He broke the bow's fiery arrows, the shield and the sword, and war. Psalms 76:2-3.

Because the priests represented the Lord who alone fights on man's behalf, their duties are called military service, Numbers 4:23, 35, 39, 43, 47.

[8] It is a constant truth that Jehovah alone, that is, the Lord, fights and overcomes the devil present with a person when he is involved in the conflicts brought by temptations, even though to that person this does not appear to be so. For evil spirits have no power at all to exert the slightest influence on man unless they are permitted to do so, and angels cannot act to avert anything at all unless enabled to do so by the Lord. Thus it is the Lord alone who endures every conflict and overcomes, something that was also represented at various times by the wars that the children of Israel waged against the nations. That He alone does so is also stated in Moses,

Jehovah your God is going 7 before you, He Himself will fight for you. Deuteronomy 1:30.

In the same book,

Jehovah your God is going 7 with you to fight for you with your enemies, to save you. Deuteronomy 20:4.

[9] So too in Joshua, such as 23:3, 5. For all the wars that were being waged at that time against the idolatrous inhabitants of the land of Canaan represented the Lord's conflicts with hell, and consequently the conflicts of His Church, and of members of the Church. This also accords with the following statements in Isaiah,

As the lion roars, and the young lion, over its prey (when a multitude of shepherds run towards him he is not dismayed by their voice nor daunted by the tumult they make) so Jehovah Zebaoth will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill. Isaiah 31:4.

[10] For the same reasons also Jehovah, or the Lord, is called 'a Man of War', as in Moses,

Jehovah is a Man of War, Jehovah is His name. Exodus 15:3.

In Isaiah,

Jehovah will go forth as a Mighty Man, as a Man of Wars. He will stir up zeal; He will cry out, yes, He will shout aloud, He will prevail over His enemies. Isaiah 42:13.

This also is why many things that war entails are attributed to the Lord, such as 'crying out', and 'shouting aloud' here.

[11] Spirits and angels also appear as men of war, when a representation is being made, as in Joshua,

Joshua lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, a man was standing before him, with his sword drawn in his hand. He said to Joshua, I am the Prince of the army of Jehovah; and Joshua fell on his face 8 to the earth. Joshua 5:13-14.

These things were seen taking the form they did because they were representative, and this also is why descendants of Jacob called their wars the Wars of ]Jehovah.

It was similar in the Ancient Churches among whom there were books which also were called The Wars of Jehovah, as is clear in Moses.

It is said in the Book of the Wars of Jehovah. Numbers 21:14-15.

These were written about in a way not unlike the wars described in this chapter; but wars involving the Church were meant. Such a manner of writing was common in those times, for they were interior men and their thoughts were of more exalted things.

Footnotes:

1. i.e. in 1659

2. i.e. the beast

3. literally, the wanderer

4. literally, they will wander

5. literally,. bird of the heavens (or the skies)

6. literally, break

7. literally, walking

8. literally, faces

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