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Jezekilj 38

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1 Opet mi dođe reč Gospodnja govoreći:

2 Sine čovečji, okreni lice svoje prema Gogu u zemlji Magogu, knezu i glavi u Mesehu i Tuvalu, i prorokuj na nj;

3 I reci: Ovako veli Gospod Gospod: evo me na tebe, Gože, kneže i glavo Mesehu i Tuvalu;

4 I vratiću te natrag, i metnuću ti žvale u čeljusti, i izvešću tebe i svu vojsku tvoju, konje i konjike, sve dobro odevene, zbor veliki sa štitovima i štitićima, sve koji mačem mašu,

5 S njima Persijance, Etiopljane i Puteje, sve sa štitovima i pod šlemovima,

6 Gomera i sve čete njegove, dom Togarmin sa severnog kraja i sve čete njegove, mnoge narode s tobom.

7 Pripravi sve i spremi se ti i sve ljudstvo tvoje, što se sabralo kod tebe, i budi im stražar.

8 Posle mnogo vremena bićeš pohođen, i poslednjih godina doći ćeš u zemlju izbavljenu od mača i sabranu iz mnogih naroda, u gore Izrailjeve, koje behu jednako puste, a oni će izvedeni iz naroda svi živeti bez straha.

9 I podignućeš se, i doći ćeš kao bura, bićeš kao oblak da pokriješ zemlju ti i sve čete tvoje i mnogi narodi s tobom.

10 Ovako veli Gospod Gospod: i tada će ti doći u srce stvari, i smišljaćeš zle misli.

11 I reći ćeš: Idem na zemlju gde su sela, i udariću na mirni narod koji živi bez straha, koji svi žive u mestima bez zidova i nemaju ni prevornica ni vrata,

12 Da napleniš plena i nagrabiš grabeža, da posegneš rukom svojom na pustinje naseljene i na narod sabrani iz naroda, koji se bavi stokom i imanjem, i živi usred zemlje.

13 Sava i Dedan i trgovci tarsiski i svi lavići njegovi kazaće ti: Jesi li došao da pleniš plen? Jesi li skupio ljudstvo svoje da grabiš grabež? Da odneseš srebro i zlato, da uzmeš stoku i trg, da napleniš mnogo plena?

14 Zato prorokuj, sine čovečji, i reci Gogu: Ovako veli Gospod Gospod: U ono vreme, kad će moj narod Izrailj živeti bez straha, nećeš li znati?

15 I doći ćeš iz svog mesta, sa severnog kraja, ti i mnogi narodi s tobom, svi jašući na konjima, mnoštvo veliko i vojska velika.

16 I podignućeš se na moj narod Izrailja kao oblak da pokriješ zemlju, u poslednje vreme dovešću te na zemlju svoju da me poznadu narodi kad se posvetim u tebi pred njima, Gože!

17 Ovako veli Gospod Gospod: Nisi li ti onaj o kome govorih u staro vreme preko sluga svojih, proroka Izrailjevih, koji prorokovaše u ono vreme godinama da ću te dovesti na njih.

18 A kad dođe Gog na zemlju Izrailjevu, govori Gospod Gospod, onda će se podignuti jarost moja u gnevu mom.

19 I u revnosti svojoj, u ognju gneva svog govoriću: doista, tada će biti drhat veliki u zemlji Izrailjevoj.

20 I ribe morske i ptice nebeske i zveri poljske i sve što gamiže po zemlji, i svi ljudi po zemlji zadrhtaće od mene, i gore će se razvaliti i vrleti popadati, i svi će zidovi popadati na zemlju.

21 I dozvaću na nj mač po svim gorama svojim, govori Gospod Gospod: mač će se svakog obratiti na brata njegovog.

22 I sudiću mu pomorom i krvlju; i pustiću na nj i na čete njegove i na mnoge narode, koji budu s njim, silan dažd, kamenje od grada, oganj i sumpor.

23 I proslaviću se i posvetiću se i biću poznat pred mnogim narodima, i poznaće da sam ja Gospod.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #862

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862. We have said that the nations' surrounding the camp of the saints and the beloved city means, symbolically, that these people attempted to destroy everything connected with the New Church, both its truths and goods and its fundamental doctrine regarding the Lord and life, as stated in the preceding number. This is the symbolic meaning because the camp of the saints symbolizes all the truths and goods of the church which is the New Jerusalem.

That a camp in the spiritual sense symbolizes everything connected with the church with respect to its truths and goods can be seen from the following passages:

The sun and moon grew dark, and the stars diminished their brightness. Jehovah uttered His voice before His army, for His camp is very great; for numberless are those who obey His Word. (Joel 2:10-11)

I will encamp for My house some of the army... (Zechariah 9:8)

...God has scattered the bones of them who encamp against you..., because God has rejected them. (Psalms 53:5)

The angel of Jehovah encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them. (Psalms 34:7)

(An angel of God met Jacob, and said to Jacob,) "This is God's camp." Therefore he called the name of that place Mahanaim (Two Camps). (Genesis 32:1-2)

And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 29:3, Ezekiel 1:24, Psalms 27:3.

That an army or host in the Word symbolizes the church's truths and goods, and also its falsities and evils, may be seen in nos. 447, 826, 833; and so, too, does a camp.

[2] Since the children of Israel and their twelve tribes symbolize the church in respect to all its truths and goods (nos. 349, 350), they were therefore called the armies or hosts of Jehovah (Exodus 7:4; 12:41, 51), and the places where they stopped and assembled were called camps, as in Leviticus 4:12; 8:17; 13:46; 14:8; 16:26, 28; 24:14, 23; Numbers 1; 2; 3; 4:5 ff., 5:2-4; 9:17-23; 10:1-10, 11-28; 11:31-32; 12:14-15; 21:10-15; 33:1-49; Deuteronomy 23:9-14; Amos 4:10.

It is apparent from this now that the nations' surrounding the camp of the saints and the beloved city means, symbolically, that these people tried to destroy all the truths and goods of the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, and also its doctrine regarding the Lord and life.

The same symbolism is found in these verses in Luke:

When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near... (At length) Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:20, 24)

This is said in reference to the end of the age, which is the final period of the church. Jerusalem here also symbolizes the church.

That Gog and Magog, that is, people who engage in external worship divorced from any internal worship, will then invade the church and try to destroy it, is something we are told also in Ezekiel 38:8-9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 39:2, and that the New Church will then be established by the Lord, Ezekiel 39:17-29.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.