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Jezekilj 34

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1 Opet mi dođe reč Gospodnja govoreći:

2 Sine čovečji, prorokuj protiv pastira Izrailjevih, prorokuj i reci tim pastirima: Ovako veli Gospod Gospod: Teško pastirima Izrailjevim koji pasu sami sebe! Ne treba li stado da pasu pastiri?

3 Pretilinu jedete i vunom se odevate, koljete tovno, stada ne pasete.

4 Slabih ne krepite, i bolesne ne lečite, ranjene ne zavijate, odagnane ne dovodite natrag, izgubljene ne tražite, nego silom i žestinom gospodarite nad njima.

5 I raspršaše se nemajući pastira, i raspršavši se postaše hrana svim zverima poljskim.

6 Ovce moje lutaju po svim gorama i po svim visokim humovima; i po svoj zemlji raspršane su Ovce moje, i nema nikoga da pita za njih, nikoga da ih traži.

7 Zato, pastiri, čujte reč Gospodnju;

8 Tako ja bio živ, govori Gospod Gospod, što stado moje posta grabež, i ovce moje postaše hrana svim zverima poljskim nemajući pastira, i pastiri moji ne traže stada mog, nego pastiri pasu sami sebe, a stada mog ne pasu;

9 Zato, pastiri, čujte reč Gospodnju;

10 Ovako veli Gospod Gospod: Evo me na te pastire, i iskaću stado svoje iz njihovih ruku, i neću im dati više da pasu stado, i neće više pastiri pasti sami sebe, nego ću oteti ovce svoje iz usta njihovih i neće im biti hrana.

11 Jer ovako veli Gospod Gospod: Evo me, ja ću tražiti ovce svoje i gledati ih.

12 Kao što pastir traži stado svoje kad je kod ovaca svojih raspršenih, tako ću tražiti ovce svoje i oteću ih iz svih mesta kuda se raspršaše kad beše oblačno i mračno.

13 I izvešću ih iz naroda, i pokupiću ih iz zemalja, i dovešću ih u zemlju njihovu, i pašću ih na gorama Izrailjevim pokraj potoka i po svim mestima naseljenim u zemlji.

14 Na dobroj paši pašću ih, i tor će im biti na visokim gorama izrailjevim; onde će ležati u dobrom toru i po obilatoj će paši pasti na gorama Izrailjevim.

15 Ja ću pasti stado svoje, i ja ću ih odmarati, govori Gospod Gospod.

16 Tražiću izgubljenu, i dovešću natrag odagnanu, i ranjenu ću zaviti i bolesnu okrepiti; a tovnu ću i jaku potrti, pašću ih pravo.

17 A vama, stado moje, ovako govori Gospod Gospod: Evo ja ću suditi između ovce i ovce, između ovnova i jaraca.

18 Malo li vam je što pasete na dobroj paši, nego ostatak paše svoje gazite nogama svojim? I što pijete bistru vodu, nego ostatak mutite nogama svojim?

19 A moje ovce pasu što vi nogama svojim izgazite, i piju što vi zamutite nogama svojim.

20 Zato ovako im veli Gospod Gospod: Evo me, ja ću suditi između ovce debele i ovce mršave.

21 Što bocima i ramenima otiskujete i rozima svojim bodete sve bolesne tako da ih razagnaste napolje,

22 Zato ću izbaviti stado svoje da ne bude više grabež, i sudiću između ovce i ovce.

23 I podignuću im jednog pastira koji će ih pasti, slugu svog Davida; on će ih pasti i biće im pastir.

24 A ja Gospod biću im Bog, i sluga moj David knez među njima. Ja Gospod rekoh.

25 I učiniću s njima zavet mirni, istrebiću zle zveri iz zemlje, i oni će živeti u pustinji bez straha i spavaće u šumama.

26 I blagosloviću njih i šta je oko gore moje, i puštaću dažd na vreme; daždi će blagoslovni biti.

27 I drveta će poljska rađati svoj rod, i zemlja će rađati svoj rod; i oni će biti u svojoj zemlji bez straha, i poznaće da sam ja Gospod kad polomim palice jarma njihovog, i izbavim ih iz ruku onih koji ih zarobiše.

28 I neće više biti plen narodima, i zveri zemaljske neće ih jesti, nego će živeti bez straha i niko ih neće plašiti.

29 I podignuću im biljku za slavu, i neće više umirati od gladi u zemlji, niti će podnositi sramotu od naroda.

30 I poznaće da sam ja Gospod Bog njihov s njima, i oni, dom Izrailjev, da su moj narod, govori Gospod Gospod.

31 A vi ste stado moje, ovce paše moje, vi ljudi, a ja sam Bog vaš, govori Gospod Gospod.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4169

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4169. 'Your sheep and your she-goats have not miscarried' means its state as regards good and the good of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'sheep' as good, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'she-goat' as the good of truth, dealt with in 3995, 4006. The word good when used by itself means the good of the will, whereas the expression the good of truth means the good of the understanding. The good of the will consists in doing good from good, whereas the good of the understanding consists in doing it from truth. To people who do good from truth those two activities seem to be one and the same, when in fact they are considerably different from each other. For doing good from good consists in doing it from the perception of good, and that perception does not exist with any except those who are celestial. But doing good from truth is doing it from knowledge and consequently from the understanding. It amounts to doing it without any perception that it is good, and so solely as something that a person has been taught to do by others, or else by the exercise of his own intellect has decided that it is good. Such truth may well be faulty, but if it has good as its end in view, then a person's action arising out of that truth becomes tantamount to good.

[2] 'Sheep' means goods. This may be seen from many places in the Word, from which places let merely the following be quoted: In Isaiah,

He was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. He is led like a lamb 1 to the slaughter, and like a sheep before its shearers, he did not open his mouth. Isaiah 53:7.

This refers to the Lord, where He is compared to 'a sheep' not by virtue of truth but of good. In Matthew,

Jesus said to the twelve whom He sent out, Do not go into the way of the gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Matthew 10:5-6.

'The gentiles' to whom they were forbidden to go stands for those among whom evils exist - 'gentiles' meaning evils, see 1259, 1260, 1849; 'the cities of the Samaritans' stands for those among whom falsities are present; and 'sheep' stands for those among whom forms of good may be found.

[3] In John,

Jesus after the Resurrection said to Peter, Feed My lambs. A second time He said, Feed My sheep; the third time He said, Feed My sheep. John 21:15-17.

'Lambs' stands for those who have innocence within them. The first reference to 'sheep' stands for people whose practice of good stems from good, the second for those whose practice of it stems from truth. In Matthew,

When the Son of Man comes in His glory He will place the sheep at His right hand but the goats at His left. And He will say to those at His right hand, Come, O blessed of My Father, possess as an inheritance the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me. Insofar as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers you did it to Me. Matthew 25:31-40.

Here it is quite plain that 'sheep' stands for goods, that is, for those in whom good is present. Every kind of good flowing from charity, which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be described elsewhere, is included here in the internal sense. 'Goats' means in particular those who have faith but no charity.

[4] Similarly in Ezekiel,

As for you, O My flock, said the Lord Jehovih, Behold, I am judging between one member of the flock and another, between rams of the sheep, and he-goats. Ezekiel 34:17.

'He-goats' means in particular those whose faith is not linked to any charity. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'he-goats' in the good sense as those who possess the truth of faith and from this some charity, but in the contrary sense those whose faith is not linked to any charity. Such people reason about salvation from basic assumptions that faith is what saves. The same point is apparent from what the Lord says about the goats in the passage in Matthew quoted above. But people who do not possess any truth of faith, or at the same time any good of charity, are carried away into hell without undergoing any such judgement, that is to say, without any examination to prove that they are governed by falsity.

Footnotes:

1. The Latin means cattle, but the Hebrew means lamb, which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse.

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