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Ezequiel 34

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1 Y FUÉ á mí palabra de Jehová, diciendo:

2 Hijo del hombre, profetiza contra los pastores de Israel; profetiza, y diles á los pastores: Así ha dicho el Señor Jehová: ­Ay de los pastores de Israel, que se apacientan á sí mismos! ¿No apacientan los pastores los rebaños?

3 Coméis la leche, y os vestís de la lana: la gruesa degolláis, no apacentáis las ovejas.

4 No corroborasteis las flacas, ni curasteis la enferma: no ligasteis la perniquebrada, ni tornasteis la amontada, ni buscasteis la perdida; sino que os habéis enseñoreado de ellas con dureza y con violencia;

5 Y están derramadas por falta de pastor; y fueron para ser comidas de toda bestia del campo, y fueron esparcidas.

6 Y anduvieron perdidas mis ovejas por todos los montes, y en todo collado alto: y en toda la haz de la tierra fueron derramadas mis ovejas, y no hubo quien buscase, ni quien requiriese.

7 Por tanto, pastores, oid palabra de Jehová:

8 Vivo yo, ha dicho el Señor Jehová, que por cuanto mi rebaño fué para ser robado, y mis ovejas fueron para ser comidas de toda bestia del campo, sin pastor; ni mis pastores buscaron mis ovejas, sino que los pastores se apacentaron á sí mismos, y no apacent

9 Por tanto, oh pastores, oid palabra de Jehová:

10 Así ha dicho el Señor Jehová: He aquí, yo á los pastores; y requeriré mis ovejas de su mano, y haréles dejar de apacentar las ovejas: ni los pastores se apacentarán más á sí mismos; pues yo libraré mis ovejas de sus bocas, y no les serán más por comida.

11 Porque así ha dicho el Señor Jehová: He aquí, yo, yo requeriré mis ovejas, y las reconoceré.

12 Como reconoce su rebaño el pastor el día que está en medio de sus ovejas esparcidas, así reconoceré mis ovejas, y las libraré de todos los lugares en que fueron esparcidas el día del nublado y de la oscuridad.

13 Y yo las sacaré de los pueblos, y las juntaré de las tierras: y las meteré en su tierra, y las apacentaré en los montes de Israel por las riberas, y en todas las habitaciones del país.

14 En buenos pastos las apacentaré, y en los altos montes de Israel será su majada: allí dormirán en buena majada, y en pastos gruesos serán apacentadas sobre los montes de Israel.

15 Yo apacentaré mis ovejas, y yo les haré tener majada, dice el Señor Jehová.

16 Yo buscaré la perdida, y tornaré la amontada, y ligaré la perniquebrada, y corroboraré la enferma: mas á la gruesa y á la fuerte destruiré. Yo las apacentaré en juicio.

17 Mas vosotras, ovejas mías, así ha dicho el Señor Jehová: He aquí yo juzgo entre oveja y oveja, entre carneros y machos cabríos.

18 ¿Os es poco que comáis los buenos pastos, sino que holléis con vuestros pies lo que de vuestros pastos queda; y que bebiendo las aguas sentadas, holléis además con vuestros pies las que quedan?

19 Y mis ovejas comen lo hollado de vuestros pies, y beben lo que con vuestros pies habéis hollado.

20 Por tanto, así les dice el Señor Jehová: He aquí, yo, yo juzgaré entre la oveja gruesa y la oveja flaca,

21 Por cuanto rempujasteis con el lado y con el hombro, y acorneasteis con vuestros cuernos á todas las flacas, hasta que las esparcisteis fuera.

22 Yo salvaré á mis ovejas, y nunca más serán en rapiña; y juzgaré entre oveja y oveja.

23 Y despertaré sobre ellas un pastor, y él las apacentará; á mi siervo David: él las apacentará, y él les será por pastor.

24 Yo Jehová les seré por Dios, y mi siervo David príncipe en medio de ellos. Yo Jehová he hablado.

25 Y estableceré con ellos pacto de paz, y haré cesar de la tierra las malas bestias; y habitarán en el desierto seguramente, y dormirán en los bosques.

26 Y daré á ellas, y á los alrededores de mi collado, bendición; y haré descender la lluvia en su tiempo, lluvias de bendición serán.

27 Y el árbol del campo dará su fruto, y la tierra dará su fruto, y estarán sobre su tierra seguramente; y sabrán que yo soy Jehová, cuando quebrare las coyundas de su yugo, y los librare de mano de los que se sirven de ellos.

28 Y no serán más presa de las gentes, ni las bestias de la tierra las devorarán; sino que habitarán seguramente, y no habrá quien espante;

29 Y despertaréles una planta por nombre, y no más serán consumidos de hambre en la tierra, ni serán más avergonzados de las gentes.

30 Y sabrán que yo su Dios Jehová soy con ellos, y ellos son mi pueblo, la casa de Israel, dice el Señor Jehová.

31 Y vosotras, ovejas mías, ovejas de mi pasto, hombres sois, y yo vuestro Dios, dice el Señor Jehová.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #4769

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4769. 'And killed a he-goat of the she-goats' means external truths received from delights. This is clear from the meaning of 'a he-goat of the she-goats' in the Word as natural truths, that is, truths belonging to the external man which give rise to the delights of life, and also as external truths received from delights, dealt with below. Truths belonging to the external man which give rise to the delights of life are Divine truths such as are present in the literal sense of the Word, which form the basis of the teachings of the genuine Church. These truths are meant strictly speaking by 'the he-goat', and the delights which spring from them are meant by 'the she-goats'. This being so, 'a he-goat of the she-goats' in the genuine sense means those who know truths of this kind and enjoy the delights that spring from them. But in the contrary sense 'a he-goat of the she-goats' means those who know external truths, that is, appearances of truth drawn from the sense of the letter which go along with their delights of life, such as things delighting the body, which are generally called pleasures, and those delighting the mind, which are generally called honours and gains. People of this kind are meant in the contrary sense by 'a he-goat of the she-goats'. In short, 'a he-goat of the she-goats' in this contrary sense means adherents to faith separated from charity, for these people take no other truths from the Word than those which are in agreement with their delights of life, that is, which accord with self-love and love of the world. And they reduce other truths to the same level by the use of interpretations, and in this way they present falsities as appearances of truth.

[2] This meaning of 'a he-goat of the she-goats' as adherents to faith separated from charity may be seen in Daniel,

Behold, a he-goat of the she-goats came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground; 1 and this goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. Out of one of the four horns there came forth one little hoary, and it grew exceedingly towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the glorious [land]. Indeed, it grew even towards the host of heaven, and cast down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them; and it cast down truth to the earth. Daniel 8:5, 9-10, 12.

This refers to the state of the Church in general, not merely to the state of the Jewish Church but also to the state of the Church that followed it, the Christian one; for the Word of the Lord is all-embracing. When used in reference to the Jewish Church 'a he-goat of the she-goats' means those who considered internal truths to be worthless; but they did accept external truths, insofar as these were in accord with their loves, which were their desire to be the greatest and to be the wealthiest people. Consequently they did not think of their expected Christ or Messiah as anyone other than a king who would exalt them above all nations and peoples throughout the world and would make these subject to them as the meanest slaves. This was the level to which they reduced their love of Him. As for what love towards the neighbour was, they had no knowledge at all, except as being associated with others with whom they shared the exalted position referred to above and as enjoying material gain.

[3] But when used in reference to the Christian Church 'a he-goat of the she-goats' means those who possess external truths received from delights, that is, who adhere to faith separated from charity, for these people too have no interest at all in internal truths. If they do teach these it is solely so that they may thereby earn acclaim, be raised to exalted positions, and acquire material gains. These are the delights their hearts are set on when they utter truths with their lips. What is more, by wrong interpretations of the truths of genuine faith they make these accord with their own loves. From this one may see what the words in Daniel that are quoted above mean in the internal sense. The phrase 'a he-goat of the she-goats' means adherents to faith separated from charity. The he-goat 'came from the west' means coming from evil, for 'the west' means evil, see 3708. It came 'across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground' means coming into the whole Church, for 'earth' or 'land' in the Word means nothing else than the earth where the Church exists, and so means the Church, 566, 662, 1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 2928, 3355, 4435, 4447. 'The horns' it had means powers derived from falsity, 2832, 'a conspicuous horn between the eyes' meaning power derived from reasoning about the truths of faith, as becomes clear from what has been shown regarding the eye in 4403-4421, 4523-4534. 'The one horn which grew towards the south, the east, and the glorious [land]' means the expansion of power derived from faith separated from charity even into states lit by the light of heaven - states of goodness and truth; for 'the south' means a state of light, see 3708, 'the east' a state of goodness, 1250, 3249, 3708, 'the glorious [land]' a state of truth, as is clear from various places in the Word. 'It grew even towards the host of heaven, and cast down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them' means that such a thing happened to cognitions of good and truth, for 'the hosts of heaven, and the stars' means cognitions of good and truth, 4697. From this one may see what is meant by 'it cast down truth to the earth', namely that faith itself was cast down, which in essence is charity; for faith looks to charity because it stems from it. That which in the Ancient Church was called truth is in the new one called faith, 4690.

[4] 'He-goat' is used with a similar meaning in Ezekiel,

Behold, I am judging between one member of the flock and another, between rams and he-goats. Is it a small thing to you? You feed off the good pasture and tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures; you drink the water that has settled down 2 and stir up the rest with your feet. You butt with your horns all the weak [sheep] till you have scattered them abroad. Ezekiel 34:17-18, 21.

Here also 'he-goats' means adherents to faith separated from charity, that is, those who set doctrine above life and at length have no interest at all in life. Yet it is life that makes the human being, not doctrine separated from life; and it is life that remains after death, not doctrine except insofar as this teaches about life. Of these people it is said that they feed off the good pasture and tread down the rest of the pastures with their feet, and that they drink the water that has settled down and stir up the rest with their feet; also that with their horns they butt the weak [sheep] till they have scattered them.

[5] From this one may now see which persons are meant by 'the he-goats', and which by 'the sheep', that the Lord speaks of in Matthew,

Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the he-goats; and He will peace the sheep at His right hand, out the he-goats at the left, etc. Matthew 25:32-33.

The fact that 'the sheep' means those who have charity and therefore have the truths of faith, and that 'the he-goats' means those who do not have any charity even though they have the truths of faith - that is, they are adherents to faith separated from charity - is plain from each detail in this passage, where such people are described.

[6] Which ones are the adherents to faith separated from charity, meant by 'the he-goats', and what kind of people they are, may be seen from the following two places: In Matthew,

Every tree that does not make good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and by Your name cast out demons, and do many mighty works in Your name? But then I will confess to them, I do not know you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity. Matthew 7:19-23.

And in Luke,

Then you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But He replying will say to you, I do not know where you are from. Then you will begin to say, We ate in Your presence and we drank; and You taught in our streets. But He will say, I tell you, I to not know where you come from; depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity. Luke 13:25-27.

These are the ones who adhere to faith separated from charity and are called 'the he-goats'. But what is meant by 'he-goats' in the good sense, such as the ones used in sacrifices and those mentioned in various places in the Prophets, will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated elsewhere.

Footnotes:

1. literally, earth or land

2. literally, the sediment of the waters

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