The Bible

 

Esekiel 28

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

2 Menneskesønn! Si til Tyrus' fyrste: Så sier Herren, Israels Gud: Fordi ditt hjerte ophøier sig, og du sier: Jeg er en Gud, jeg sitter på et gudesete midt ute i havet, enda du er et menneske og ikke nogen Gud, men allikevel i ditt hjerte tykkes dig å være en Gud -

3 ja, du er visere enn Daniel, intet lønnlig er skjult for dig;

4 ved din visdom og forstand har du vunnet dig rikdom og samlet gull og sølv i dine skattkammer;

5 ved din store klokskap i handel har du øket din rikdom, og ditt hjerte ophøiet sig for din rikdoms skyld -

6 derfor sier Herren, Israels Gud, så: Fordi du i ditt hjerte tykkes dig å være en Gud,

7 se, derfor lar jeg fremmede komme over dig, de grusomste blandt folkene, og de skal dra sine sverd mot din strålende visdom og vanhellige din glans.

8 I graven skal de støte dig ned, og du skal som de ihjelslåtte dør, midt ute i havet.

9 Vil du vel da si til din banemann: Jeg er en gud, enda du er et menneske og ikke nogen gud, du som er i din drapsmanns vold?

10 Som de uomskårne dør, skal du ved fremmedes hånd; for jeg har talt, sier Herren, Israels Gud.

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

12 Menneskesønn! Stem i en klagesang over Tyrus' konge og si til ham: Så sier Herren, Israels Gud: Du som var seglet på den velordnede bygning, full av visdom og fullkommen i skjønnhet!

13 I Eden, Guds have, bodde du; kostbare stener dekket dig, karneol, topas og diamant, krysolitt, onyks og jaspis, safir, karfunkel og smaragd, og gull; dine trommer og fløiter var i fullt arbeid hos dig; den dag du blev skapt, stod de rede.

14 Du var en salvet kjerub med dekkende vinger, og jeg satte dig på det hellige gudefjell; der gikk du omkring blandt skinnende stener*. / {* funklende edelstener. 2MO 25, 20.}

15 Ustraffelig var du i din ferd fra den dag du blev skapt, til det blev funnet urettferdighet hos dig.

16 Ved din store handel fyltes ditt indre med urett, og du syndet; så vanhelliget jeg dig og drev dig bort fra gudefjellet, og jeg gjorde dig til intet, du salvede kjerub, så du ikke mere fikk være blandt de skinnende stener.

17 Ditt hjerte ophøiet sig for din skjønnhets skyld, du ødela din visdom på grunn av din glans; jeg kastet dig til jorden, jeg la dig ned for kongers åsyn, forat de skulde se på dig med lyst.

18 Ved dine mange misgjerninger, ved din urettferdige handel vanhelliget du dine helligdommer. Derfor lar jeg ild gå ut fra dig, og den skal fortære dig; jeg gjør dig til aske på jorden for alle deres øine som ser dig.

19 Alle som kjente dig blandt folkene, er forferdet over dig; en redsel er du blitt, og du er blitt borte - for evig tid.

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

21 Menneskesønn! Vend ditt åsyn mot Sidon og spå mot det

22 og si: Så sier Herren, Israels Gud: Se, jeg kommer over dig, Sidon, og jeg vil forherlige mig i dig. Og de skal kjenne at jeg er Herren, når jeg holder dom over det og åpenbarer min hellighet på det.

23 Og jeg vil sende pest og blod over det på dets gater, og drepte menn skal falle der for et sverd som kommer over det fra alle kanter, og de skal kjenne at jeg er Herren.

24 Og ikke skal det for Israels hus mere være nogen stikkende torn eller brennende tistel blandt alle dem som bor rundt omkring dem, og som forakter dem, og de skal kjenne at jeg er Herren, Israels Gud.

25 sier Herren, Israels Gud: Når jeg samler Israels hus fra de folk som de er spredt iblandt, da vil jeg åpenbare min hellighet på dem for folkenes øine, og de skal bo i sitt land, det som jeg gav min tjener Jakob,

26 og de skal bo trygt der og bygge hus og plante vingårder - de skal bo trygt, mens jeg holder dom over alle dem som bor rundt omkring dem, og som forakter dem, og de skal kjenne at jeg, Herren, er deres Gud.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Heaven and Hell #365

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365. We may gather from this that rich people arrive in heaven just as much as poor people do, one as easily as the other. The reason people believe that it is easy for the poor and hard for the rich is that the Word is misunderstood when it talks about the rich and the poor. In the spiritual meaning of the Word, "the rich" means people who are amply supplied with understandings of what is true and good, that is, people in the church where the Word is. "The poor" means people who lack these understandings but who long for them, or people outside the church, where the Word is not found.

[2] The rich person dressed in purple and fine linen who was cast into hell means the Jewish nation. Because they had the Word and were therefore amply supplied with understandings of what is good and true, they are called "rich." The garments of purple actually mean understandings of what is good, and the fine linen means understandings of what is true. 1 The poor person who was lying in the gateway and who longed to feast on the crumbs that were falling from the rich person's table, who was carried up into heaven by angels, means the non-Jews who did not have understandings of what is good and true but who still longed for them (Luke 16:19, 31).

The rich who were invited to the great feast but who excused themselves also mean the Jewish nation, and the poor who were brought in to replace them mean the non-Jews who were outside the church (Luke 12:16-24, 14:16-24).

[3] We need also to explain who are meant by the rich of whom the Lord said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:24). "The rich person" here means the rich in both senses, natural and spiritual. Rich people in the natural sense are people who have abundant wealth and set their hearts on it, while in a spiritual sense they are people who are amply supplied with insights and knowledge (for these are spiritual wealth) and who want to use them to get themselves into heavenly and ecclesiastical circles by their own intellect. Since this is contrary to the divine design, it says that it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle. On this level of meaning, a camel means our cognitive and informational level in general, and the eye of a needle means spiritual truth. 2

Nowadays people do not know that this is the meaning of the camel and the eye of a needle because there has not yet been any access to the knowledge that teaches what is meant spiritually by the things that the Word says literally. There is spiritual meaning in the details of the Word, and natural meaning as well; because the Word was written in pure correspondences of natural realities with spiritual ones in order to effect a union of heaven and the world, or of angels with us, once the direct union had ceased. We can see from this exactly who are meant by the rich in the Word.

[4] We may gather from a number of passages that on the spiritual level "the rich" in the Word refers to people who enjoy insights into what is good and true and that wealth means those insights themselves, which are spiritual riches: see Isaiah 10:12-14; 30:6-7; 45:3, Jeremiah 17:3; 47:7 [Jeremiah 48:7?], Jeremiah 50:36-37; 51:13, Daniel 5:2-4, Ezekiel 26:7, 12; 27:1-36; Zechariah 9:3-4; Psalms 45:12; Hosea 12:9; Revelation 3:17-18, Luke 14:33, and elsewhere. On the poor in the spiritual sense as people who do not have insights into what is good and true but who long for them, see Matthew 11:5; Luke 6:20-21; 14:21; Isaiah 14:30; 29:19; 41:17-18; Zephaniah 3:12, 18 [13]. An explanation of the spiritual meaning of all these passages may be found in 10227 of Secrets of Heaven.

Footnotes:

1. [Swedenborg's footnote] Garments mean things that are true, and therefore insights: 1033 [1073?], 2576, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10536. Purple means heavenly good: 9467. Linen means truth of a heavenly origin: 5319, 9469, 9744.

2. [Swedenborg's footnote] A camel in the Word means our cognitive and informational level in general: 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145. What embroidery, embroidering, and therefore needles Arcana Coelestia 9688. To start from outward facts in order to gain access to truths of faith is contrary to the divine design: 10236. People who do this become insane in matters of heaven and the church: 128-130, 232-233, 6047; and in the other life, when they think about spiritual things, they become virtually drunk: 1072. More about their nature: 196. Examples to illustrate the fact that spiritual things cannot be grasped if they are approached on this basis: 233, 2094, 2196, 2203, 2209. It is all right to go from spiritual truth into the knowledge appropriate to our natural level, but not the other way around, because there is an inflow of the spiritual into the natural but not an inflow of the natural into the spiritual: 3219, 5119, 5259, 5427-5428, 5478, 6322, 9110-9111 [10199?]. We need first to acknowledge the truths of the Word and the church, and then it is all right to take our secular learning into account; but not the other way around: 6047.

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

The Bible

 

Luke 16:31

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31 "He said to him, 'If they don't listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.'"