The Bible

 

Ezequiel 43

Study

   

1 LLEVOME luego á la puerta, á la puerta que mira hacia el oriente;

2 Y he aquí la gloria del Dios de Israel, que venía de hacia el oriente; y su sonido era como el sonido de muchas aguas, y la tierra resplandecía á causa de su gloria.

3 Y la visión que vi era como la visión, como aquella visión que vi cuando vine para destruir la ciudad: y las visiones eran como la visión que vi junto al río de Chebar; y caí sobre mi rostro.

4 Y la gloria de Jehová entró en la casa por la vía de la puerta que daba cara al oriente.

5 Y alzóme el espíritu, y metióme en el atrio de adentro; y he aquí que la gloria de Jehová hinchió la casa.

6 Y oí uno que me hablaba desde la casa: y un varón estaba junto á mí.

7 Y díjome: Hijo del hombre, este es el lugar de mi asiento, y el lugar de las plantas de mis pies, en el cual habitaré entre los hijos de Israel para siempre: y nunca más contaminará la casa de Israel mi santo nombre, ni ellos ni sus reyes, con sus fornica

8 Y poniendo ellos su umbral junto á mi umbral, y su poste junto á mi poste, y no más que pared entre mí y ellos, contaminaron mi santo nombre con sus abominaciones que hicieron: consumílos por tanto en mi furor.

9 Ahora echarán lejos de mí su fornicación, y los cuerpos muertos de sus reyes, y habitaré en medio de ellos para siempre.

10 Tú, hijo del hombre, muestra á la casa de Israel esta casa, y avergüéncense de sus pecados, y midan la traza de ella.

11 Y si se avergonzaren de todo lo que han hecho, hazles entender la figura de la casa, y su traza, y sus salidas y sus entradas, y todas sus formas, y todas sus descripciones, y todas sus configuraciones, y todas sus leyes: y descríbelo delante de sus ojos,

12 Esta es la ley de la casa: Sobre la cumbre del monte, todo su término alrededor será santísimo. He aquí que esta es la ley de la casa.

13 Y estas son las medidas del altar por codos (el codo de á codo y palmo). El seno, de un codo, y de un codo el ancho; y su remate por su borde alrededor, de un palmo. Este será el fondo alto del altar.

14 Y desde el seno de sobre el suelo hasta el lugar de abajo, dos codos, y la anchura de un codo: y desde el lugar menor hasta el lugar mayor, cuatro codos, y la anchura de un codo.

15 Y el altar, de cuatro codos, y encima del altar, cuatro cuernos.

16 Y el altar tenía doce codos de largo, y doce de ancho, cuadrado á sus cuatro lados.

17 Y el área, de catorce codos de longitud y catorce de anchura en sus cuatro lados, y de medio codo el borde alrededor: y el seno de un codo por todos lados; y sus gradas estaban al oriente.

18 Y díjome: Hijo del hombre, así ha dicho el Señor Jehová: Estas son las ordenanzas del altar el día en que será hecho, para ofrecer sobre él holocausto, y para esparcir sobre él sangre.

19 Darás á los sacerdotes Levitas que son del linaje de Sadoc, que se allegan á mí, dice el Señor Jehová, para ministrarme, un becerro de la vacada para expiación.

20 Y tomarás de su sangre, y pondrás en los cuatro cuernos del altar, y en las cuatro esquinas del área, y en el borde alrededor: así lo limpiarás y purificarás.

21 Tomarás luego el becerro de la expiación, y lo quemarás conforme á la ley de la casa, fuera del santuario.

22 Y al segundo día ofrecerás un macho de cabrío sin defecto, para expiación; y purificarán el altar como lo purificaron con el becerro.

23 Cuando acabares de expiar, ofrecerás un becerro de la vacada sin defecto, y un carnero sin tacha de la manada:

24 Y los ofrecerás delante de Jehová, y los sacerdotes echarán sal sobre ellos, y los ofrecerán en holocausto á Jehová.

25 Por siete días sacrificarán un macho cabrío cada día en expiación; asimismo sacrificarán el becerro de la vacada y un carnero sin tacha del rebaño.

26 Por siete días expiarán el altar, y lo limpiarán, y ellos henchirán sus manos.

27 Y acabados estos días, al octavo día, y en adelante, sacrificarán los sacerdotes sobre el altar vuestros holocaustos y vuestros pacíficos; y me seréis aceptos, dice el Señor Jehová.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #220

Study this Passage

  
/ 1232  
  

220. But it shall also be explained what is signified in the Word by temple. Temple, in the highest sense, signifies the Divine Human of the Lord, and in the relative sense, heaven; and because it signifies heaven, it also signifies the church, for the church is the Lord's heaven upon earth. And whereas temple thus signifies heaven and the church, it also signifies the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord: the reason is, that this makes heaven and the church; for those who receive Divine truth in soul and heart, that is, in faith and love, constitute heaven and the church. Such being the signification of temple, it is therefore said, the temple of my God; and by my God, when said by the Lord, is meant heaven, and the Divine truth therein, which also is the Lord in heaven. The Lord is above the heavens, and appears to its inhabitants as a Sun, and from the Lord as a Sun proceed heat and light; heat which in its essence is Divine good, and light which in its essence is Divine truth; those two constitute heaven in general and in particular. Divine truth is that which is meant by my God; this is why in the Word of the Old Testament the Lord is called Jehovah and God, - Jehovah where the subject treated of is the Divine good, and God where it is the Divine truth. This also is the reason why angels are called gods, and that God in the Hebrew tongue is in the plural Elohim. From these considerations it is evident what is here meant by the temple of my God.

(That the Lord is called Jehovah where the Divine good is treated of, but God where the Divine truth is treated of, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 709, 732, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921, 4283, 4402, 7010, 9167. That He is called Jehovah from Being (esse), and thus from essence, but God from Manifestation (existere), and thus from existence, n. 300, 3910, 6905; that the Divine as Being (esse) also is Divine good, and that the Divine as Manifestation (existere) is Divine truth, n. 3061, 6280, 6880, 6905, 10579; and in general that good is the being, (esse), and truth the manifestation (existere) thence, n. 5002. That angels are called gods from their reception of Divine truth from the n. 4295, 4402, 7268, 7873, 8301, 8192. That the Divine of the Lord in the heavens is Divine truth united with Divine good, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 13, 133, 139, 140. That the light in the heavens is in its essence Divine truth, and the heat there Divine good, both from the Lord, may be seen in the same work, n. 126-140, 275.)

[2] That temple in the Word signifies the Divine Human of the Lord, and in the relative sense, heaven and the church, consequently also Divine truth, is evident from the following passages. In John:

To the Jews who asked, "What sign showest thou unto us, that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body" (John 2:18-21).

That temple signifies the Lord's Divine Human is here plainly declared; for by destroying the temple and raising it up in three days is meant His death, burial and resurrection.

[3] In Malachi:

"Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord shall suddenly come to his temple, and the angel of the covenant whom ye seek" (3:1).

Here also by temple is meant the Lord's Divine Human; for the subject treated of is the Lord's advent, therefore coming to His temple signifies assuming the Human.

[4] Again, in the Apocalypse:

"I saw no temple" in the new Jerusalem, "for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it" (21:22).

The subject here treated of is the new heaven and the new earth, when they will be in internals, and not in externals; hence it is said that there was seen no temple, but the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. The Lord God Almighty is the very Divine of the Lord, and the Lamb is His Divine Human; whence also it is evident, that His Divine Human in the heavens is meant by temple.

[5] Again, in Isaiah:

"I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his skirts filling the temple" (6:1).

By the throne, high and lifted up, upon which the Lord was seen to sit, is signified the Lord as to Divine truth in the higher heavens; but by His skirts is signified His Divine truth in the church. (That skirts when said of the Lord, signify His Divine truth in ultimates, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 9917. That the veil of the temple being rent into two parts from the top to the bottom, after the Lord suffered (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45), signified the union of the Lord's Divine Human with the Divine itself, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 9670.)

[6] That by temple is signified the Lord's Divine Human, and at the same time heaven and the church, is evident in the following passages. In David:

"I will bow myself down toward thy holy temple, and I will confess thy name" (Psalms 138:2).

In Jonah:

"I said I am cast out from before thine eyes, but yet will I add to look back to the temple of thy holiness, and my prayer came to thee to the temple of thy holiness" (2:4, 7).

In Habakkuk:

"Jehovah in the temple of his holiness" (2:20).

In Matthew:

"Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind; for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?" (23:16, 17).

In John:

Jesus said unto them that sold in the temple, "Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandize. Whence his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up" (2:16, 17).

[7] Besides the above, there are many passages in the Word where temple is mentioned, which I wish to adduce, in order that it may be known that heaven and the church are thereby meant, as also the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, lest the mind should adhere to the idea, that the temple alone is meant instead of something more holy; for the holiness of the temple of Jerusalem arose from the fact that it represented and signified what is holy.

That the temple signified heaven is clear from these passages. In David:

"I called upon Jehovah, and cried unto my God; he heard my voice out of his temple" (Psalms 18:6).

Again:

"A day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather stand at the door in the house of my God, than dwell in the tents of wickedness" (Psalms 84:10).

Again:

"The just shall flourish like the palm-tree; he shall grow like the cedar in Lebanon. They who are planted in the house of Jehovah shall flourish in the courts of our God" (Psalms 92:12, 13).

Again:

"One thing have I desired of Jehovah, that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Jehovah, and to visit his temple in the morning" (Psalms 27:4).

Again:

"I shall be at rest in the house of Jehovah for length of days" (Psalms 23:6).

[8] In John:

Jesus said: "In my Father's house are many mansions" (14:2).

That heaven and the church are meant in these passages by the house of Jehovah and of the Father is clear. The church is also meant in the following passages. In Isaiah:

"Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned with fire" (64:11).

In Jeremiah:

"I have forsaken my house, I have left mine heritage" (12:7).

In Haggai:

"I will stir up all nations, that the choice of all nations may come; and I will fill this house with glory. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former" (Haggai 2:7-9).

In Isaiah:

"He shall say to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid" (44:28).

The subject here treated of is the coming of the Lord, and the New Church to be then established. In Zechariah:

"The house of Jehovah was founded, that the temple may be built" (8:9).

Similarly in Daniel:

"Belshazzar commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, that they might drink therein; and they drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone and then writing appeared on the wall" (5:2-4).

By the golden and silver vessels which were brought from the temple of Jerusalem are signified the goods and truths of the church; by their drinking wine out of them, and praising the gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and stone, is signified the profanation of them, on which account the writing appeared on the wall, and the king was changed from a man into a beast.

[9] In Matthew:

"His disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be dissolved" (24:1, 2; Mark 13:1, 2; Luke 21:5, 6, 7).

That there should not be left of the temple one stone upon another which should not be dissolved, signifies the total destruction and vastation of the church; for stone signifies the truth of the church; and it therefore follows that the successive vastation of the church is treated of in those chapters in the Evangelists. In the Apocalypse:

"The angel stood, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar, and them that worship therein" (11:1).

By the temple here also is signified the church, and by measuring it, is signified to explore its quality. The signification of the new temple and its measurements, mentioned in Ezekiel, is similar (Ezekiel 40-47).

[10] That by temple is signified the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, is evident from the following passages in Ezekiel:

"The glory of Jehovah went up from above the cherub over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the glory of Jehovah" (10:4).

By the house is here meant heaven and the church, and by the cloud and glory Divine truth. (That cloud denotes Divine truth may be seen above, n. 36; and that glory signifies the same, n. 33.)

[11] In Micah:

"Many nations shall go, and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of" our "God, that he may teach us of his ways, and that we may go in his paths; for from Zion shall go forth doctrine, and the word from Jerusalem" (4:2).

The mountain of Jehovah and the house of God signify the church, and similarly Zion and Jerusalem; to be taught of His ways, and to go in His paths, is to be instructed in Divine truths; therefore it is also said,

"From Zion shall go forth doctrine, and the word from Jerusalem."

[12] In Isaiah:

"The voice of the tumult from the city, the voice of Jehovah from the temple" (66:6).

By the city is meant the doctrine of truth, by temple, the church, and by the voice of Jehovah from the temple, Divine truth. In the Apocalypse:

"There came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying" (16:17).

Here voice also denotes Divine truth. Again:

"The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in the temple the ark of his covenant: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings" (11:19).

By lightnings, voices, and thunderings in the Word are signified Divine truths from heaven (see Arcana Coelestia 7573, 8914). And again:

"The temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. And the seven angels went out of the temple having the seven plagues. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power" (15:5, 6, 8).

The seven angels are said to go out of the temple in heaven, because by angels are signified Divine truths, as may be seen above (n. 130, 200). What is signified by smoke from the glory of God will be seen in the explanation of those words in the following pages. Moreover, it must be known that by the temple which was built by Solomon, as also by the house of the forest of Lebanon, and by each particular thing pertaining to them, as recorded in the first book of Kings (6 and 7), are signified spiritual and celestial things pertaining to the church and to heaven.

  
/ 1232  
  

Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.