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Ezequiel 44

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1 Então me fez voltar para o caminho da porta exterior do santuário, a qual olha para o oriente; e ela estava fechada.

2 E disse-me o Senhor: Esta porta ficará fechada, não se abrirá, nem entrará por ela homem algum; porque o Senhor Deus de Israel entrou por ela; por isso ficará fechada.

3 Somente o príncipe se assentará ali, para comer pão diante do Senhor; pelo caminho do vestíbulo da porta entrará, e por esse mesmo caminho saira,

4 Então me levou pelo caminho da porta do norte, diante do templo; e olhei, e eis que a glória do Senhor encheu o templo do Senhor; pelo que caí com o rosto em terra.

5 Então me disse o Senhor: Filho do homem, nota bem, vê com os teus olhos, e ouve com os teus ouvidos, tudo quanto eu te disser a respeito de todas as ordenanças do templo do Senhor, e de todas as suas leis; e considera no teu coração a entrada do templo, com todas as saídas do santuário.

6 E dirás aos rebeldes, à casa de Israel: Assim diz o Senhor Deus: Bastem-vos todas as vossas abominações, ó casa de Israel!

7 Porquanto introduzistes estrangeiros, incircuncisos de coração e incircuncisos de carne, para estarem no meu santuário, para o profanarem, quando ofereceis o meu pão, a gordura, e o sangue; e vós quebrastes o meu pacto, além de todas as vossas abominações.

8 E não guardastes a ordenança a respeito das minhas coisas sagradas; antes constituístes, ao vosso prazer, guardas da minha ordenança no tocante ao meu santuário.

9 Assim diz o Senhor Deus: Nenhum estrangeiro, incircunciso de coração e carne, de todos os estrangeiros que se acharem no meio dos filhos de Israel, entrará no meu santuário.

10 Mas os levitas que se apartaram para longe de mim, desviando-se de mim após os seus ídolos, quando Israel andava errado, levarão sobre si a sua punição.

11 Contudo serão ministros no meu santuário, tendo ao seu cargo a guarda das portas do templo, e ministrando no templo. Eles imolarão o holocausto, e o sacrifício para o povo, e estarão perante ele, para o servir.

12 Porque lhes ministraram diante dos seus ídolos, e serviram à casa de Israel de tropeço de iniqüidade; por isso eu levantei a minha mão contra eles, diz o Senhor Deus, e eles levarão sobre si a sua punição.

13 E não se chegarão a mim, para me servirem no sacerdócio, nem se chegarão a nenhuma de todas as minhas coisas sagradas, às coisas que são santíssimas; mas levarão sobre si a sua vergonha e as suas abominações que cometeram.

14 Contudo, eu os constituirei guardas da ordenança no tocante ao templo, em todo o serviço dele, e em tudo o que nele se fizer.

15 Mas os sacerdotes levíticos, os filhos de Zadoque, que guardaram a ordenança a respeito do meu santuário, quando os filhos de Israel se extraviaram de mim, eles se chegarão a mim, para me servirem; e estarão diante de mim, para me oferecerem a gordura e o sangue, diz o Senhor Deus;

16 eles entrarão no meu santuário, e se chegarão à minha mesa, para me servirem, e guardarão a minha ordenança.

17 Quando entrarem pelas portas do átrio interior, estarão vestidos de vestes de linho; e não se porá lã sobre eles, quando servirem nas portas do átrio interior, e dentro da casa.

18 Coifas de linho terão sobre as suas cabeças, e calções de linho sobre os seus lombos; não se cingirão de coisa alguma que produza suor.

19 E quando saírem ao átrio exterior, a ter com o povo, despirão as suas vestes em que houverem ministrado, pô-las-ão nas santas câmaras, e se vestirão de outras vestes, para que com as suas vestes não transmitam a santidade ao povo.

20 Não raparão a cabeça, nem deixarão crescer o cabelo; tão somente tosquiarão as cabeças.

21 Nenhum sacerdote beberá vinho quando entrar no átrio interior.

22 Não se casarão nem com viúva, nem com repudiada; mas tomarão virgens da linhagem da casa de Israel, ou viúva que for viúva de sacerdote.

23 E a meu povo ensinarão a distinguir entre o santo e o profano, e o farão discernir entre o impuro e o puro.

24 No caso de uma controvérsia, assistirão a ela para a julgarem; pelos meus juízos a julgarão. E observarão as minhas leis e os meus estatutos em todas as minhas festas fixas, e santificarão os meus sábados.

25 Eles não se contaminarão, aproximando-se de um morto; todavia por pai ou mãe, por filho ou filha, por irmão, ou por irmã que não tiver marido, se poderão contaminar.

26 Depois de ser ele purificado, contar-se-lhe-ão sete dias.

27 E, no dia em que ele entrar no lugar santo, no átrio interior, para ministrar no lugar santo, oferecerá a sua oferta pelo pecado, diz o Senhor Deus.

28 Eles terão uma herança; eu serei a sua herança. Não lhes dareis, portanto, possessão em Israel; eu sou a sua possessão.

29 Eles comerão a oferta de cereais a oferta pelo pecado, e a oferta pela culpa; e toda coisa consagrada em Israel será deles.

30 Igualmente as primícias de todos os primeiros frutos de tudo, e toda oblação de tudo, de todas as vossas oblações, serão para os sacerdotes; também as primeiras das vossas massas dareis ao sacerdote, para fazer repousar uma bênção sobre a vossa casa.

31 Os sacerdotes não comerão de coisa alguma que tenha morrido de si mesma ou que tenha sido despedaçada, seja de aves, seja de animais.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #220

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220. But it shall also be explained what is signified in the Word by temple. Temple, in the highest sense, signifies the Divine Human of the Lord, and in the relative sense, heaven; and because it signifies heaven, it also signifies the church, for the church is the Lord's heaven upon earth. And whereas temple thus signifies heaven and the church, it also signifies the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord: the reason is, that this makes heaven and the church; for those who receive Divine truth in soul and heart, that is, in faith and love, constitute heaven and the church. Such being the signification of temple, it is therefore said, the temple of my God; and by my God, when said by the Lord, is meant heaven, and the Divine truth therein, which also is the Lord in heaven. The Lord is above the heavens, and appears to its inhabitants as a Sun, and from the Lord as a Sun proceed heat and light; heat which in its essence is Divine good, and light which in its essence is Divine truth; those two constitute heaven in general and in particular. Divine truth is that which is meant by my God; this is why in the Word of the Old Testament the Lord is called Jehovah and God, - Jehovah where the subject treated of is the Divine good, and God where it is the Divine truth. This also is the reason why angels are called gods, and that God in the Hebrew tongue is in the plural Elohim. From these considerations it is evident what is here meant by the temple of my God.

(That the Lord is called Jehovah where the Divine good is treated of, but God where the Divine truth is treated of, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 709, 732, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921, 4283, 4402, 7010, 9167. That He is called Jehovah from Being (esse), and thus from essence, but God from Manifestation (existere), and thus from existence, n. 300, 3910, 6905; that the Divine as Being (esse) also is Divine good, and that the Divine as Manifestation (existere) is Divine truth, n. 3061, 6280, 6880, 6905, 10579; and in general that good is the being, (esse), and truth the manifestation (existere) thence, n. 5002. That angels are called gods from their reception of Divine truth from the n. 4295, 4402, 7268, 7873, 8301, 8192. That the Divine of the Lord in the heavens is Divine truth united with Divine good, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 13, 133, 139, 140. That the light in the heavens is in its essence Divine truth, and the heat there Divine good, both from the Lord, may be seen in the same work, n. 126-140, 275.)

[2] That temple in the Word signifies the Divine Human of the Lord, and in the relative sense, heaven and the church, consequently also Divine truth, is evident from the following passages. In John:

To the Jews who asked, "What sign showest thou unto us, that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body" (John 2:18-21).

That temple signifies the Lord's Divine Human is here plainly declared; for by destroying the temple and raising it up in three days is meant His death, burial and resurrection.

[3] In Malachi:

"Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord shall suddenly come to his temple, and the angel of the covenant whom ye seek" (3:1).

Here also by temple is meant the Lord's Divine Human; for the subject treated of is the Lord's advent, therefore coming to His temple signifies assuming the Human.

[4] Again, in the Apocalypse:

"I saw no temple" in the new Jerusalem, "for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it" (21:22).

The subject here treated of is the new heaven and the new earth, when they will be in internals, and not in externals; hence it is said that there was seen no temple, but the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. The Lord God Almighty is the very Divine of the Lord, and the Lamb is His Divine Human; whence also it is evident, that His Divine Human in the heavens is meant by temple.

[5] Again, in Isaiah:

"I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his skirts filling the temple" (6:1).

By the throne, high and lifted up, upon which the Lord was seen to sit, is signified the Lord as to Divine truth in the higher heavens; but by His skirts is signified His Divine truth in the church. (That skirts when said of the Lord, signify His Divine truth in ultimates, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 9917. That the veil of the temple being rent into two parts from the top to the bottom, after the Lord suffered (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45), signified the union of the Lord's Divine Human with the Divine itself, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 9670.)

[6] That by temple is signified the Lord's Divine Human, and at the same time heaven and the church, is evident in the following passages. In David:

"I will bow myself down toward thy holy temple, and I will confess thy name" (Psalms 138:2).

In Jonah:

"I said I am cast out from before thine eyes, but yet will I add to look back to the temple of thy holiness, and my prayer came to thee to the temple of thy holiness" (2:4, 7).

In Habakkuk:

"Jehovah in the temple of his holiness" (2:20).

In Matthew:

"Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind; for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?" (23:16, 17).

In John:

Jesus said unto them that sold in the temple, "Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandize. Whence his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up" (2:16, 17).

[7] Besides the above, there are many passages in the Word where temple is mentioned, which I wish to adduce, in order that it may be known that heaven and the church are thereby meant, as also the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, lest the mind should adhere to the idea, that the temple alone is meant instead of something more holy; for the holiness of the temple of Jerusalem arose from the fact that it represented and signified what is holy.

That the temple signified heaven is clear from these passages. In David:

"I called upon Jehovah, and cried unto my God; he heard my voice out of his temple" (Psalms 18:6).

Again:

"A day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather stand at the door in the house of my God, than dwell in the tents of wickedness" (Psalms 84:10).

Again:

"The just shall flourish like the palm-tree; he shall grow like the cedar in Lebanon. They who are planted in the house of Jehovah shall flourish in the courts of our God" (Psalms 92:12, 13).

Again:

"One thing have I desired of Jehovah, that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Jehovah, and to visit his temple in the morning" (Psalms 27:4).

Again:

"I shall be at rest in the house of Jehovah for length of days" (Psalms 23:6).

[8] In John:

Jesus said: "In my Father's house are many mansions" (14:2).

That heaven and the church are meant in these passages by the house of Jehovah and of the Father is clear. The church is also meant in the following passages. In Isaiah:

"Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned with fire" (64:11).

In Jeremiah:

"I have forsaken my house, I have left mine heritage" (12:7).

In Haggai:

"I will stir up all nations, that the choice of all nations may come; and I will fill this house with glory. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former" (Haggai 2:7-9).

In Isaiah:

"He shall say to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid" (44:28).

The subject here treated of is the coming of the Lord, and the New Church to be then established. In Zechariah:

"The house of Jehovah was founded, that the temple may be built" (8:9).

Similarly in Daniel:

"Belshazzar commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, that they might drink therein; and they drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone and then writing appeared on the wall" (5:2-4).

By the golden and silver vessels which were brought from the temple of Jerusalem are signified the goods and truths of the church; by their drinking wine out of them, and praising the gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and stone, is signified the profanation of them, on which account the writing appeared on the wall, and the king was changed from a man into a beast.

[9] In Matthew:

"His disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be dissolved" (24:1, 2; Mark 13:1, 2; Luke 21:5, 6, 7).

That there should not be left of the temple one stone upon another which should not be dissolved, signifies the total destruction and vastation of the church; for stone signifies the truth of the church; and it therefore follows that the successive vastation of the church is treated of in those chapters in the Evangelists. In the Apocalypse:

"The angel stood, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar, and them that worship therein" (11:1).

By the temple here also is signified the church, and by measuring it, is signified to explore its quality. The signification of the new temple and its measurements, mentioned in Ezekiel, is similar (Ezekiel 40-47).

[10] That by temple is signified the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, is evident from the following passages in Ezekiel:

"The glory of Jehovah went up from above the cherub over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the glory of Jehovah" (10:4).

By the house is here meant heaven and the church, and by the cloud and glory Divine truth. (That cloud denotes Divine truth may be seen above, n. 36; and that glory signifies the same, n. 33.)

[11] In Micah:

"Many nations shall go, and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of" our "God, that he may teach us of his ways, and that we may go in his paths; for from Zion shall go forth doctrine, and the word from Jerusalem" (4:2).

The mountain of Jehovah and the house of God signify the church, and similarly Zion and Jerusalem; to be taught of His ways, and to go in His paths, is to be instructed in Divine truths; therefore it is also said,

"From Zion shall go forth doctrine, and the word from Jerusalem."

[12] In Isaiah:

"The voice of the tumult from the city, the voice of Jehovah from the temple" (66:6).

By the city is meant the doctrine of truth, by temple, the church, and by the voice of Jehovah from the temple, Divine truth. In the Apocalypse:

"There came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying" (16:17).

Here voice also denotes Divine truth. Again:

"The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in the temple the ark of his covenant: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings" (11:19).

By lightnings, voices, and thunderings in the Word are signified Divine truths from heaven (see Arcana Coelestia 7573, 8914). And again:

"The temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. And the seven angels went out of the temple having the seven plagues. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power" (15:5, 6, 8).

The seven angels are said to go out of the temple in heaven, because by angels are signified Divine truths, as may be seen above (n. 130, 200). What is signified by smoke from the glory of God will be seen in the explanation of those words in the following pages. Moreover, it must be known that by the temple which was built by Solomon, as also by the house of the forest of Lebanon, and by each particular thing pertaining to them, as recorded in the first book of Kings (6 and 7), are signified spiritual and celestial things pertaining to the church and to heaven.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

The Bible

 

1 Kings 7

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1 Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.

2 For he built the house of the forest of Lebanon; its length was one hundred cubits, and its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars.

3 It was covered with cedar above over the forty-five beams, that were on the pillars; fifteen in a row.

4 There were beams in three rows, and window was over against window in three ranks.

5 All the doors and posts were made square with beams: and window was over against window in three ranks.

6 He made the porch of pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits; and a porch before them; and pillars and a threshold before them.

7 He made the porch of the throne where he was to judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from floor to floor.

8 His house where he was to dwell, the other court within the porch, was of the like work. He made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter (whom Solomon had taken as wife), like this porch.

9 All these were of costly stones, even of cut stone, according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside, even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside to the great court.

10 The foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.

11 Above were costly stones, even cut stone, according to measure, and cedar wood.

12 The great court around had three courses of cut stone, and a course of cedar beams; like as the inner court of the house of Yahweh, and the porch of the house.

13 King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.

14 He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill, to work all works in brass. He came to king Solomon, and performed all his work.

15 For he fashioned the two pillars of brass, eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits encircled either of them about.

16 He made two capitals of molten brass, to set on the tops of the pillars: the height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits.

17 There were nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital.

18 So he made the pillars; and there were two rows around on the one network, to cover the capitals that were on the top of the pillars: and so did he for the other capital.

19 The capitals that were on the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work, four cubits.

20 There were capitals above also on the two pillars, close by the belly which was beside the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows around on the other capital.

21 He set up the pillars at the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called its name Jachin; and he set up the left pillar, and called its name Boaz.

22 On the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished.

23 He made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it.

24 Under its brim around there were buds which encircled it, for ten cubits, encircling the sea: the buds were in two rows, cast when it was cast.

25 It stood on twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; and the sea was set on them above, and all their hinder parts were inward.

26 It was a handbreadth thick: and its brim was worked like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it held two thousand baths.

27 He made the ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height.

28 The work of the bases was like this: they had panels; and there were panels between the ledges;

29 and on the panels that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the ledges there was a pedestal above; and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work.

30 Every base had four bronze wheels, and axles of brass; and the four feet of it had supports: beneath the basin were the supports molten, with wreaths at the side of each.

31 The mouth of it within the capital and above was a cubit: and its mouth was round after the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and also on its mouth were engravings, and their panels were foursquare, not round.

32 The four wheels were underneath the panels; and the axles of the wheels were in the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit.

33 The work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axles, and their rims, and their spokes, and their naves, were all molten.

34 There were four supports at the four corners of each base: its supports were of the base itself.

35 In the top of the base was there a round compass half a cubit high; and on the top of the base its stays and its panels were of the same.

36 On the plates of its stays, and on its panels, he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths all around.

37 In this way, he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one form.

38 He made ten basins of brass: one basin contained forty baths; and every basin was four cubits; and on every one of the ten bases one basin.

39 He set the bases, five on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south.

40 Hiram made the basins, and the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he worked for king Solomon in the house of Yahweh:

41 the two pillars, and the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars;

42 and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars;

43 and the ten bases, and the ten basins on the bases;

44 and the one sea, and the twelve oxen under the sea;

45 and the pots, and the shovels, and the basins: even all these vessels, which Hiram made for king Solomon, in the house of Yahweh, were of burnished brass.

46 In the plain of the Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.

47 Solomon left all the vessels [unweighed], because they were exceeding many: the weight of the brass could not be found out.

48 Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of Yahweh: the golden altar, and the table whereupon the show bread was, of gold;

49 and the lampstands, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, of pure gold; and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold;

50 and the cups, and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold; and the hinges, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, [to wit], of the temple, of gold.

51 Thus all the work that king Solomon worked in the house of Yahweh was finished. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated, [even] the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the house of Yahweh.

   

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