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Ezequiel 36

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1 Y TU, hijo del hombre, profetiza sobre los montes de Israel, y di: montes de Israel, oid palabra de Jehová:

2 Así ha dicho el Señor Jehová: Por cuanto el enemigo dijo sobre vosotros: ­Ea! también las alturas perpetuas nos han sido por heredad;

3 Profetiza por tanto, y di: Así ha dicho el Señor Jehová: Pues por cuanto asolándoos y tragándoos de todas partes, para que fueseis heredad á las otras gentes, se os ha hecho andar en boca de lenguas, y ser el oprobio de los pueblos,

4 Por tanto, montes de Israel, oid palabra del Señor Jehová: Así ha dicho el Señor Jehová á los montes y á los collados, á los arroyos y á los valles, á las ruinas y asolamientos, y á las ciudades desamparadas, que fueron puestas á saco y en escarnio á las

5 Por eso, así ha dicho el Señor Jehová: He hablado por cierto en el fuego de mi celo contra las demás gentes, y contra toda Idumea, que se disputaron mi tierra por heredad con alegría de todo corazón, con enconamiento de ánimo, para que sus expelidos fuese

6 Por tanto, profetiza sobre la tierra de Israel, y di á los montes y á los collados, y á los arroyos y á los valles: Así ha dicho el Señor Jehová: He aquí, en mi celo y en mi furor he hablado, por cuanto habéis llevado el oprobio de las gentes.

7 Por lo cual así ha dicho el Señor Jehová: Yo he alzado mi mano, que las gentes que os están alrededor han de llevar su afrenta.

8 Mas vosotros, oh montes de Israel, daréis vuestros ramos, y llevaréis vuestro fruto á mi pueblo Israel; porque cerca están para venir.

9 Porque heme aquí á vosotros, y á vosotros me volveré, y seréis labrados y sembrados.

10 Y haré multiplicar sobre vosotros hombres, á toda la casa de Israel, toda ella; y las ciudades han de ser habitadas, y serán edificadas las ruinas.

11 Y multiplicaré sobre vosotros hombres y bestias, y serán multiplicados y crecerán: y os haré morar como solíais antiguamente, y os haré más bien que en vuestros principios; y sabréis que yo soy Jehová.

12 Y haré andar hombres sobre vosotros, á mi pueblo Israel; y te poseerán, y les serás por heredad, y nunca más les matarás los hijos.

13 Así ha dicho el Señor Jehová: Por cuanto dicen de vosotros: Comedora de hombres, y matadora de los hijos de tus gentes has sido:

14 Por tanto, no devorarás más hombres, y nunca más matarás los hijos á tus gentes, dice el Señor Jehová.

15 Y nunca más te haré oir injuria de gentes, ni más llevarás denuestos de pueblos, ni harás más morir los hijos á tus gentes, dice el Señor Jehová.

16 Y fué á mí palabra de Jehová, diciendo:

17 Hijo del hombre, morando en su tierra la casa de Israel, la contaminaron con sus caminos y con sus obras: como inmundicia de menstruosa fué su camino delante de mí.

18 Y derramé mi ira sobre ellos por las sangres que derramaron sobre la tierra; porque con sus ídolos la contaminaron.

19 Y esparcílos por las gentes, y fueron aventados por las tierras: conforme á sus caminos y conforme á sus obras los juzgué.

20 Y entrados á las gentes á donde fueron, profanaron mi santo nombre, diciéndose de ellos: Estos son pueblo de Jehová, y de su tierra de él han salido.

21 Y he tenido lástima en atención á mi santo nombre, el cual profanó la casa de Israel entre las gentes á donde fueron.

22 Por tanto, di á la casa de Israel: Así ha dicho el Señor Jehová: No lo hago por vosotros, oh casa de Israel, sino por causa de mi santo nombre, el cual profanasteis vosotros entre las gentes á donde habéis llegado.

23 Y santificaré mi grande nombre profanado entre las gentes, el cual profanasteis vosotros en medio de ellas; y sabrán las gentes que yo soy Jehová, dice el Señor Jehová, cuando fuere santificado en vosotros delante de sus ojos.

24 Y yo os tomaré de las gentes, y os juntaré de todas las tierras, y os traeré á vuestro país.

25 Y esparciré sobre vosotros agua limpia, y seréis limpiados de todas vuestras inmundicias; y de todos vuestros ídolos os limpiaré.

26 Y os daré corazón nuevo, y pondré espíritu nuevo dentro de vosotros; y quitaré de vuestra carne el corazón de piedra, y os daré corazón de carne.

27 Y pondré dentro de vosotros mi espíritu, y haré que andéis en mis mandamientos, y guardéis mis derechos, y los pongáis por obra.

28 Y habitaréis en la tierra que dí á vuestros padres; y vosotros me seréis por pueblo, y yo seré á vosotros por Dios.

29 Y os guardaré de todas vuestras inmundicias; y llamaré al trigo, y lo multiplicaré, y no os daré hambre.

30 Multiplicaré asimismo el fruto de los árboles, y el fruto de los campos, porque nunca más recibáis oprobio de hambre entre las gentes.

31 Y os acordaréis de vuestros malos caminos, y de vuestras obras que no fueron buenas; y os avergonzaréis de vosotros mismos por vuestras iniquidades, y por vuestras abominaciones.

32 No lo hago por vosotros, dice el Señor Jehová, séaos notorio: avergonzaos y confundíos de vuestras iniquidades, casa de Israel.

33 Así ha dicho el Señor Jehová: El día que os limpiaré de todas vuestras iniquidades, haré también habitar las ciudades, y las asoladas serán edificadas.

34 Y la tierra asolada será labrada, en lugar de haber sido asolada en ojos de todos los que pasaron;

35 Los cuales dijeron: Esta tierra asolada fué como huerto de Edén; y estas ciudades desiertas y asoladas y arruinadas, fortalecidas estuvieron.

36 Y las gentes que fueron dejadas en vuestros alrededores, sabrán que yo edifiqué las derribadas, y planté las asoladas: yo Jehová he hablado, y harélo.

37 Así ha dicho el Señor Jehová: Aun seré solicitado de la casa de Israel, para hacerles esto: multiplicarélos de hombres á modo de rebaños.

38 Como las ovejas santas, como las ovejas de Jerusalem en sus solemnidades, así las ciudades desiertas serán llenas de rebaños de hombres; y sabrán que yo soy Jehová.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #3813

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3813. As regards 'flesh', this means in the highest sense the Proprium of the Lord's Divine Human, which is Divine Good, and in the relative sense means the will side of the human proprium when made alive by the Proprium of the Lord's Divine Human, that is, by His Divine Good. This proprium is the one called the heavenly proprium which, in itself the Lord's alone, is appropriated to those who are governed by good and consequently by truth. Such a proprium exists with angels in heaven, and also with men whose interiors, that is, their spirits, are in the Lord's kingdom. But in the contrary sense 'flesh' means the will side of the human proprium, which in itself is nothing but evil, and not having been made alive by the Lord is called dead; and the individual himself is for that reason called dead.

[2] That 'flesh' in the highest sense means the Proprium of the Lord's Divine Human, and so His Divine Good, is clear from the Lord's words in John,

Jesus said, I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread he will live for ever. The bread which I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews disputed with one another, saying, How can this man give his flesh to eat? Jesus therefore said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day; for My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. This is the bread which came down from heaven. John 6:51-58.

Here it is quite evident that 'flesh' means the Proprium of the Lord's Divine Human, and so the Divine Good - His flesh in the Holy Supper being called 'the body'. His body or flesh in the Holy Supper is the Divine Good, and His blood the Divine Truth, see 1798, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3735. And since bread and wine have the same meaning as flesh and blood - that is to say, 'bread' is the Lord's Divine Good, and 'wine' His Divine Truth - bread and wine were commanded in place of flesh and blood. This is why the Lord says, 'I am the living bread; the bread which I will give is My flesh; he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him; this is the bread which came down from heaven'. 'Eating' means being communicated, being joined to, and being made one's own, see 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513 (end), 3596.

[3] The same was represented in the Jewish Church by the law that the flesh of sacrifices was to be eaten by Aaron and his sons, by those persons who brought the sacrifice, and by others who were clean; and that this flesh was holy, see Exodus 12:7-9; 29:30-34; Leviticus 7:15-21; 8:31; Deuteronomy 12:27; 16:4. That being so, if any unclean person ate some of that flesh he was to be cut off from his people, Leviticus 7:21. The fact that these sacrifices were called 'bread', see 2165, and that that sacrificial flesh was called 'holy flesh', Jeremiah 11:15; Haggai 2:12. And in Ezekiel 40:43 where the new Temple is the subject, it is called 'the flesh of the offering which is on the tables in the Lord's kingdom', by which clearly worship of the Lord in His kingdom is meant.

[4] That 'flesh' in the relative sense means the will side of man's proprium when made alive by the Lord is Divine Good is clear also from the following places: In Ezekiel,

I will give them one heart, and will put a new spirit in your midst; and I will remove the heart of stone out of their flesh and will give them a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26.

'The heart of stone out of their flesh' stands for a will and proprium when not made alive, 'a heart of flesh' for a will and proprium when made alive; for 'the heart' is a representative of good in the will, see 2930, 3313, 3635. In David,

O God, You are my God; in the morning I seek You. My soul thirsts for You, my flesh in a dry land longs for You, and I am weary without water. Psalms 63:1.

In the same author,

My soul longs for the courts of Jehovah; my heart and my flesh shout for joy to the living God. Psalms 84:2.

[5] In Job,

I have come to know my Redeemer; He is alive; and at the last He will rise above the dust; and afterwards these things will be encompassed by my skin, and out of my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself; and my eyes will behold, and no other. Job 19:25-27.

'Being encompassed by skin' stands for the natural, such as a person possesses after death, dealt with in 3539. 'Out of his flesh seeing God' stands for the proprium when made alive, which is why Job says, 'Whom I shall see for myself; and my eyes will behold, and no other'. Since it was well known in the ancient Churches that 'flesh' meant the proprium, and since the Book of Job is a book of the Ancient Church, 3540 (end), he accordingly followed the custom of the day and drew on meaningful signs to speak of these, as of many other matters. Those therefore who conclude from what Job said that their dead body is going to be reassembled from the four winds and is going to rise again do not know the internal sense of the Word. Those who are conversant with that sense know that they will enter the next life in a body, but in a purer one. In that life people have purer bodies, for they behold one another, talk to one another, and are endowed with each of the senses, which though like those in the physical body are now keener. The body which a person carries around on earth is designed for activities on earth and therefore consists of flesh and bones, whereas the body that a spirit carries around in the next life is designed for activities in that life and does not consist of flesh and bones but of such things as correspond to these, see 3726.

[6] That 'flesh' in the contrary sense means the will side of the human proprium which in itself is nothing but evil is clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

Every man will eat the flesh of his own arm. Isaiah 9:20.

In the same prophet,

I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh, and they will be drunk with their blood as with new wine. Isaiah 49:26.

In Jeremiah,

I will feed them with the flesh of their sons and with the flesh of their daughters, and every man will eat the flesh of his companion. Jeremiah 19:9.

In Zechariah,

Those that are left will eat, every one the flesh of another. Zechariah 11:9.

In Moses,

I will chastise you seven times for your sins, and you will eat the flesh of your sons: and the flesh of your daughters will you eat. Leviticus 26:28-29.

The will side of the human proprium, or man's own natural inclinations, is described in this way because it is nothing but evil and consequent falsity, and so hatred against every form of truth or good, that are meant by 'eating the flesh of their own arm', 'the flesh of sons and daughters', and 'the flesh of another'.

[7] In John,

I saw an angel standing in the sun, who called out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying in mid-heaven, Come and gather yourselves to the supper of the great God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and those seated on them, and the flesh of all free men and slaves, both small and great. Revelation 19:17-18; Ezekiel 39:17-20.

Anyone may see that the flesh of kings, captains, mighty men, horses and those seated on them, free men and slaves, is not meant by such expressions. 'Flesh' accordingly has another meaning which has not been known up to now. The fact that evils resulting from falsities, and evils producing falsities, are meant - which evils originate on the will side of the human proprium - is evident from each expression used here.

[8] Since falsity which springs from the understanding side of man's proprium is meant by 'blood' in the internal sense, and evil which springs from the will side of his proprium by 'flesh', the Lord speaks of the person who is to be regenerated as follows,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13.

For this reason 'flesh' is used to mean in general all mankind, see 574, 1050 (end). For whether you speak of man or of man's proprium it amounts to the same.

[9] That 'flesh' in the highest sense means the Lord's Divine Human is evident from the verses quoted above, as well as from the following in John,

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father. John 1:14.

It is by virtue of this flesh that all other flesh is made alive, that is, by virtue of the Lord's Divine Human, every human being is made alive, through making His love his own, which is meant by 'eating the flesh of the Son of Man', John 6:51-58, and by eating the bread in the Holy Supper - for the bread is His body or flesh, Matthew 26:26-27.

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