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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 #7051

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7051. People who know nothing at all about the internal sense of the Word cannot help thinking that the Israelite and Jewish nation was chosen in preference to every other nation and was therefore of superior quality to all the rest, as those who belonged to that nation also thought. And what is so astonishing, this is not only what that nation itself thinks but also what Christians think, no matter how well they know that this nation is eaten up by filthy kinds of love, by foul avarice, hatred, and pride, and in addition to this belittles and also loathes things of an internal nature that belong to charity and faith and are the Lord's. The reason why Christians also think that this nation was chosen in preference to others is that they think a person is chosen and saved as a result of mercy, irrespective of the life he leads, so that those who are criminal can be received into heaven just as well as the godly and upright. They give no consideration to the idea that choice or election is all-embracing, that is to say, that it includes all who lead a good life. Nor do they consider that the Lord's mercy is shown to every person who refrains from evil and wishes to lead a good life, and so who allows himself to be led by the Lord and to be regenerated, a process which is being effected throughout the course of his life.

[2] This goes to explain too why the majority of people in the Christian world also believe that that nation will again be chosen, and that when this happens they will be led back into the land of Canaan. And this belief is also in keeping with the sense of the letter, for example in the following places:

Isaiah 10:20-23; 11:11-12; Isaiah 29:14-end; 43:5, 6; 49:6-26; 56:8; 60:4; 61:3-10; 62;

Jeremiah 3:14-19; 15:4, 14; 16:13, 15; 23:7-8; 24:9-10; 31:31, 33; 25:29; 29:14, 18; 30:3, 8-11; 31:8-10, 17; 33:16, 20, 26;

Ezekiel 5:10, 12, 15; 16:60; 20:41; 22:15-16; 34:12-13; 37:21-22; 38:12; 39:23, 27-28;

Daniel 7:27; 12:7;

Hosea 3:4-5; Joel 2:32; 3; Amos 9:8-9 and following verses; Micah 5:7-8.

It is on the basis of these as well as other places that even Christians think that nation will again be chosen and led into the land of Canaan. They think this even though they know that nation is waiting for the Messiah who will then lead the nation in, and are at the same time aware that its waiting for Him is in vain, and that the Messiah's or Christ's kingdom is not of this world, which means that the land of Canaan into which the Messiah will lead them is heaven.

[3] Such people give no thought to the idea that the Word has a spiritual sense within it and that in that sense Israel is not meant by Israel, Jacob by Jacob, or Judah by Judah, but that the things which they represent are meant by them. Nor do they give any thought to what the historical sections record regarding that nation - what it was like in the wilderness and what it was like after that in the land of Canaan, namely that it was at heart idolatrous - or to what the Prophets say about it and about its spiritual whoredom and its abominations. What that nation is like is described in the following words contained in the Song in Moses,

I will conceal My face from them; I will see what their future will be, for they are a perverse generation, sons in whom there is no faithfulness. I would have said, I will expel them to the remotest corners, I will make the memory of them cease from mankind, except that enemies might say, Our hand is high, and not Jehovah has done all this. For they are a nation from whom counsel has perished, nor is there intelligence in them. From the vine of Sodom comes their vine, and from the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of poison, they have clusters of bitterness. The poison of snakes (draco) is their wine, and the cruel poison of asps. Is this not hidden away with Me, sealed up in My treasuries? Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; in time their foot will slip, for near is the day of their destruction, and the things to come upon them hasten on. Deuteronomy 32:20, 26-28, 32-35.

Jehovah gave Moses the words of this song, see Deuteronomy 31:19, 21. The Lord too spoke about what that nation was like, in John,

You are from your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth. John 8:44.

And many other places besides these show what that nation was like.

[4] The reason why, although they know these things, Christians believe that that nation will at length be converted to the Lord and at that time led into the land where they lived before is, as has been stated, that they have no knowledge of the internal sense of the Word. Another reason is their supposition that it makes no difference what kind of life a person leads, and that even evil which has become deeply rooted through repeated actions in no way prevents a person - through faith, even if it has existed for only one part of an hour - from being made spiritual, being regenerated, and so being accepted by the Lord. They also suppose that admission into heaven is solely a matter of mercy, and that this is shown towards one particular nation, thus not towards all in the whole world who receive the Lord's mercy. Those who think in that way do not know that it is altogether contrary to the Divine that some should be chosen and born to salvation and heaven, and others should not be chosen but born to damnation and hell. To think about the Divine in that kind of way would be shocking, for making such choices would show a complete lack of mercy, when in fact the Divine is Mercy itself. From all this it may now be recognized that the Israelite and Jewish nation was not and never will be the chosen nation; also that not a trace of the Church existed or could exist with that nation, only a representative of the Church; and that it was preserved right up to the present day because of the Old Testament Word, regarding which see 3479.

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