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Joel 3

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1 Og derefter skal det skje at jeg vil utgyde min Ånd over alt kjød, og eders sønner og eders døtre skal tale profetiske ord; eders oldinger skal ha drømmer, eders unge menn skal se syner;

2 ja, endog over trælene og over trælkvinnene vil jeg i de dager utgyde min Ånd.

3 Og jeg vil gjøre underfulle tegn på himmelen og på jorden: blod og ild og røkstøtter.

4 Solen skal omskiftes til mørke, og månen til blod, før Herrens dag kommer, den store og forferdelige.

5 Og det skal skje: Hver den som påkaller Herrens navn, skal bli frelst; for på Sions berg og i Jerusalem skal det være en flokk av undkomne, således som Herren har sagt, og blandt de undslopne skal de være som Herren kaller.

6 For se, i de dager og på den tid, når jeg gjør ende på Judas og Jerusalems fangenskap,

7 da vil jeg samle alle hedningefolk og føre dem ned i Josafats* dal, og jeg vil der gå i rette med dem for mitt folks og min arvs, Israels skyld, fordi de spredte dem blandt hedningene og delte mitt land; / {* Josafat betyr: Gud dømmer; JOE 3, 17. 19.}

8 om mitt folk kastet de lodd, de gav en gutt for en skjøge, de solgte en pike for vin, og den drakk de op.

9 Og I, Tyrus og Sidon og alle Filisterlands bygder! Hvad vil mig? Er det noget I vil gjengjelde mig, eller vil I gjøre mig noget? Snart, i en hast, skal jeg la eders gjerning falle tilbake på eders eget hode,

10 I som tok mitt sølv og gull og førte mine dyreste skatter bort til eders templer,

11 og Judas barn og Jerusalems barn solgte I til Javans barn for å få dem langt bort fra sitt land.

12 Se, jeg kaller dem fra det sted som I har solgt dem til, og lar eders gjerning falle tilbake på eders eget hode.

13 Og jeg vil selge eders sønner og døtre til Judas barn, og de skal selge dem til sabeerne, et folk som bor langt borte; for Herren har talt.

14 op dette ut blandt hedningefolkene, rust eder til en hellig krig, kall på heltene, la alle krigsmenn stige frem og dra ut!

15 Smi eders hakker om til sverd og eders vingårdskniver til spyd! Den veke si: Jeg er en helt!

16 Skynd eder og kom, alle I hedningefolk fra alle kanter, og samle eder sammen! Dit la du, Herre, dine helter* stige ned! / {* SLM 103, 20.}

17 Hedningefolkene skal våkne op og dra til Josafats dal; for der vil jeg sitte og dømme alle hedningefolk fra alle kanter.

18 Send sigden ut, for høsten er moden! Kom og tred vinpersen, for den er full, persekarene flyter over, deres ondskap er stor!

19 Skare på skare samler sig i avgjørelsens dal. For nær er Herrens dag i avgjørelsens dal.

20 Sol og måne sortner, og stjernene holder op å lyse.

21 Og Herren skal brøle* fra Sion og la sin røst høre fra Jerusalem, og himmel og jord skal skjelve; men Herren er en tilflukt for sitt folk og et vern for Israels barn. / {* som en løve; sml. HSE 11, 10. AMO 1, 2 fg. 3, 8.}

22 Og I skal kjenne at jeg er Herren eders Gud, som bor på Sion, mitt hellige berg; og Jerusalem skal være et hellig sted, og fremmede skal ikke mere trenge inn der.

23 Og det skal skje på den dag at fjellene skal dryppe av most, og haugene flyte over av melk, og alle bekker i Juda strømme med vann; og det skal utgå en kilde fra Herrens hus og vanne Sittims dal.

24 Egypten skal bli til en ødemark og Edom til en øde ørken for deres vold mot Judas barn, fordi de har utøst uskyldig blod i sitt land.

25 Men Juda skal bli til evig tid, og Jerusalem fra slekt til slekt.

26 Og jeg vil hevne deres blod, det som jeg ikke før har hevnet. Og Herren bor på Sion.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4697

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4697. 'And the eleven stars' means cognitions of good and truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'stars' as cognitions of good and truth. The reason 'stars' in the Word means those cognitions is that they are tiny sources of light shining in the night, which send out flickers of light at that time into our sky, even as cognitions transmit glimmers of goodness and truth. This meaning of 'stars' as those cognitions may be seen from many places in the Word, as in Jeremiah,

[Thus] said Jehovah who gives the sun for light by day and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. Jeremiah 31:35.

This refers to a new Church. 'Giving the sun for light by day' means good flowing from love and charity, and 'the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for light by night' means truth and cognitions.

[2] Similarly in David,

Jehovah who made the great lights, the sun to have dominion by day, the moon and stars to have dominion by night. Psalms 136:7-9.

Anyone unacquainted with the internal sense of the Word will presume that here 'the sun' is used to mean the sun of this world, and 'the moon and stars' to mean the moon and the stars, but no spiritual and heavenly meaning comes out of that presumption. Yet the Word in every individual part is heavenly. From this it is also evident that it is the goods of love and charity, and the truths of faith, together with cognitions of these, that are meant.

[3] This is similar to what occurs in Chapter 1 of Genesis, where the new creation of the heavenly man is the subject,

God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens, to make a distinction between the day and the night; and they will be for signs, and for set times, and for days and for years. And they will be for lights in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth; and it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to have dominion over the day, and the lesser light to have dominion over the night, and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth, and to have dominion over the day and the night, and to make a distinction between the light and the darkness. Genesis 1:14-18.

See [in Volume One, paragraphs] 30-38.

[4] In Matthew,

Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matthew 24:29.

Here 'the sun' and 'the moon' mean love and charity, or good and truth, while 'stars' means cognitions - see 4060; and because the last day or last state of the Church is the subject here, 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light' means that at that time the good of love and charity will perish, and 'the stars will fall from heaven' means that the cognitions of good and truth will perish too. That these things are meant is evident from the prophetical parts of the Word where similar descriptions occur regarding the day or state of the Church.

[5] As in Isaiah,

Behold, the day of Jehovah will come, cruel, to make the earth a waste, and He will destroy sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not shine with their light. The sun will be obscured in its rising, and the moon will not give its light. Isaiah 13:9-10.

In Joel,

The day of Jehovah is near. The sun and the moon have been darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining. Joel 3:14-15.

In Ezekiel,

When I have blotted you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars, I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. All the bright lights in heaven I will make dark over you, and I will put darkness over your land. Ezekiel 32:7-8.

And in John,

The fourth angel sounded, and a third part of the sun was struck, and a third part of the moon, and a third part of the stars, so that a third part of them was darkened and the day did not shine for a third part of it; and the night likewise. Revelation 8:12.

[6] This meaning of 'stars' as cognitions of good and truth is in addition evident from the following places: In Daniel,

Out of one horn of the he-goat of the she-goats there grew one small-sized horn and it grew exceedingly towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the glorious [land]; and it grew even towards the hosts of heaven, and it cast down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them. Daniel 8:9-10.

And in John,

The great dragon drew with his tail a third part of the stars of heaven and cast them down to the earth. Revelation 12:4.

Clearly the actual stars are not meant here, the subject in Daniel and John being the state of the Church in the last times.

[7] Similarly in David,

Jehovah counts the number of stars; He gives names to them all. Psalms 147:4.

In the same author,

Praise Jehovah, sun and moon; praise Him, all stars of light. Psalms 148:3.

In John,

A great sign was seen in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Revelation 12:1.

[8] Since cognitions of good and truth are meant by 'stars', the teachings of the Church are meant too, since these are cognitions. Teaching to do with faith separated from charity in the last times is described as 'a star' in the following verses in John,

The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and It fell onto a third part of the rivers, and onto the fountains of waters. The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third part of the waters became wormwood, and many people died in the waters, because they were made bitter. Revelation 8:10-11.

'The waters' which were made bitter by that star are truths, and 'the rivers' and 'the fountains of waters' are intelligence imparted by those truths, and wisdom from the Word. For 'waters' meaning truths, see 2702, 3058, 3424; for 'rivers' intelligence, 3051; and for 'fountains' wisdom from the Word, 2702, 3424.

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