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Jezekilj 25

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1 Opet mi dođe reč Gospodnja govoreći:

2 Sine čovečji, okreni lice svoje prema sinovima Amonovim i prorokuj na njih.

3 I reci sinovima Amonovim: Čujte reč Gospoda Gospoda: Ovako veli Gospod Gospod: Što si govorio: Aha! Za svetinju moju, što se oskvrni, i za zemlju Izrailjevu, što opuste, i za dom Judin, što otide u ropstvo;

4 Zato, evo, ja ću te dati u nasledstvo istočnim narodima, i pogradiće u tebi dvorove sebi, i načiniće sebi kolibe u tebi; oni će jesti plodove tvoje i piti mleko tvoje.

5 I od Rave ću načiniti obor kamilama i od zemlje sinova Amonovih tor ovčiji, i poznaćete da sam ja Gospod.

6 Jer ovako veli Gospod Gospod: Što si pljeskao rukama i lupao nogom i veselio se iz srca što si opustošio svu zemlju Izrailjevu,

7 Zato, evo, ja ću dignuti ruku svoju na te, i daću te narodima da te plene, i istrebiću te između naroda i zatrću te između zemalja, i iskoreniću te, i poznaćeš da sam ja Gospod.

8 Ovako veli Gospod Gospod: Što govori Moav i Sir: Eto, dom je Judin kao svi narodi;

9 Zato, evo, ja ću otvoriti stranu Moavovu od gradova, od gradova na međi, krasnu zemlju vet-jesimotsku, valmeonsku i Kirijat-ajimsku,

10 Narodima istočnim iza zemlje sinova Amonovih, i daću im je u nasledstvo da nema spomena sinovima Amonovim među Narodima.

11 I na Moavcima ću izvršiti svoje sudove, i poznaće da sam ja Gospod.

12 Ovako veli Gospod Gospod: Što se Edom osveti domu Judinom i teško skrivi osvetivši im se,

13 Zato ovako veli Gospod Gospod: Dignuću ruku svoju na edomsku i istrebiću iz nje i ljude i stoku, i obratiću je u pustoš, od Temana do Dedana pašće od mača.

14 I osvetiću se Edomcima rukom naroda svog Izrailja, i učiniće s Edomcima po gnevu mom i po jarosti mojoj, i poznaće moju osvetu, govori Gospod Gospod.

15 Ovako veli Gospod Gospod: Što Filisteji radiše iz osvete, i osvetiše se radujući se iz srca i potirući iz stare mržnje,

16 Zato ovako veli Gospod Gospod: Evo ja ću dignuti ruku svoju na Filisteje, i istrebiću Hereteje, i potrću ostatak od primorja.

17 I učiniću na njima veliku osvetu karanjem gnevnim, i poznaće da sam ja Gospod kad izvršim osvetu svoju na njima.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1197

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1197. 'From whom Pelishtim came forth' means the nation which came from these, and which means a knowledge of the cognitions of faith and charity. This is clear from the Word where they are mentioned many times. In the Ancient Church all were called Philistines who spoke much about faith and who asserted that salvation lay in faith, and yet possessed nothing of the life of faith. Consequently they more than any others were called uncircumcised, that is, devoid of charity. (For references to them as the uncircumcised, see 1 Samuel 14:6; 17:26, 36; 31:4; 2 Samuel 1:20; and elsewhere.) Being such as they were they inevitably made cognitions of faith matters of memory, for cognitions of spiritual and celestial things, and the arcana of faith themselves, become purely matters of memory when a person who is acquainted with them is devoid of charity. Things of the memory are so to speak dead if the person is not such that he lives according to them from conscience. When he does live according to them from conscience things of the memory are in that case matters of life as well, and only then do they remain with him for his use and salvation following life in the body. Knowledge and cognitions are of no value to anyone in the next life, even though he may have known all the arcana that have ever been revealed, if they have made no impact on his life.

[2] Throughout the prophetical parts of the Word 'the Philistines' means people such as these, as they do in the historical sections of the Word, as when Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines and made a covenant with Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, Genesis 20:1-end; 21:22-end; 26:1-33. Because the Philistines here meant cognitions of faith, and because Abraham represented the celestial things of faith, he sojourned there and made a covenant with them. So likewise did Isaac, who represented the spiritual things of faith. But Jacob did not do so because he represented the external features of the Church.

[3] That 'the Philistines' means, in general, knowledge of the cognitions of faith, and in particular people who make faith and salvation reside in cognitions alone which they make matters of memory, becomes clear also in Isaiah,

Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, that the rod which smites you has been broken, for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying prester. Isaiah 14:29

Here 'the serpent's root' stands for facts, 'an adder' for evil arising out of falsities based on facts. 'The fruits of a flying prester' is their works which, because they are the product of evil desires, are called 'a flying prester'

[4] In Joel,

What are you to Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the borders of Philistia? Are you rendering Me a recompense? Swiftly and speedily I will return your recompense upon your own head, inasmuch as you have taken My silver and My gold, and My good and desirable treasures you have carried into your temples, and have sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem to the sons of the Javanites, 1 that you might remove them far away from their border. Joel 3:4-6.

What 'the Philistines' and the whole of Philistia, or 'all its borders', are used to mean here is plain. 'Silver' and 'gold' here are the spiritual and celestial things of faith, 'good and desirable treasures' cognitions of them. 'They carried them into their temples' means that they were in possession of them and proclaimed them. 'They sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem' however means that they possessed no love and no faith. In the Word 'Judah' is the celestial element of faith, and 'Jerusalem' the spiritual element deriving from it, which were 'removed far away from their borders'. Further examples exist in the Prophets, such as Jeremiah 25:20; Jeremiah 47:1-end; Ezekiel 16:27, 57; 25:15-16; Amos 1:8; 19; Zephaniah 2:5; Psalms 87:4; and the people of Caphtor are mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:23; Jeremiah 47:4; Amos 9:7.

Footnotes:

1. i.e. the Greeks

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