The Bible

 

Ezekiel 4

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1 Ikaw naman, anak ng tao, kumuha ka ng isang losa, at ilagay mo sa harap mo, at gumuhit ka sa ibabaw ng isang bayan, sa makatuwid baga'y ng Jerusalem.

2 At kubkubin mo, at magtayo ka ng mga katibayan sa tapat noon, at maglagay ka ng bunton sa tapat noon; maglagay ka rin ng mga kampamento sa tapat noon; at magumang ka ng mga pangsaksak sa tapat noon sa palibot.

3 At magdala ka ng kawaling bakal, at ilagay mo na pinakakutang bakal sa pagitan mo at ng bayan: at iharap mo ang iyong mukha sa dako niyaon, at makukubkob, at iyong kukubkubin. Ito ang magiging tanda sa sangbahayan ni Israel.

4 Bukod dito'y humiga ka ng patagilid sa iyong kaliwa at ilagay mo ang kasamaan ng sangbahayan ni Israel doon; ayon sa bilang ng mga araw na iyong ihihiga roon, magdadanas ka ng kanilang kasamaan.

5 Sapagka't aking itinakda ang mga taon ng kanilang kasamaan upang maging sa iyo'y isang bilang ng mga araw, sa makatuwid baga'y tatlong daan at siyam na pung araw: gayon mo dadanasin ang kasamaan ng sangbahayan ni Israel.

6 At muli, pagka iyong natapos ang mga ito, ikaw ay hihiga sa iyong tagilirang kanan, at iyong dadanasin ang kasamaan ng sangbahayan ni Juda; apat na pung araw, bawa't araw ay pinaka isang taon, aking itinakda sa iyo.

7 At iyong ihaharap ang iyong mukha sa pagkubkob ng Jerusalem na may lilis kang manggas; at ikaw ay manghuhula laban doon.

8 At, narito, ipinaglalagay kita ng lubid, at ikaw ay huwag magpapalikoliko mula sa isang dako hanggang sa kabila, hanggang sa matupad mo ang mga kaarawan ng iyong pagkubkob.

9 Magdala ka rin ng trigo, at ng cebada, at ng habas, at ng lentejas, at ng mijo, at ng espelta, at ilagay mo sa isang sisidlan, at gawin mong tinapay; ayon sa bilang ng mga araw na iyong ihihiga sa iyong tagiliran, sa makatuwid baga'y tatlong daan at siyam na pung araw, iyong kakanin yaon.

10 At ang iyong pagkain na iyong kakanin ay magiging ayon sa timbang, dalawang pung siklo isang araw: araw-araw ay iyong kakanin.

11 At ikaw ay iinom ng tubig ayon sa takal, na ikaanim na bahagi ng isang hin: araw-araw ikaw ay iinom.

12 At iyong kakaning parang mga munting tinapay na cebada, at iyong lulutuin sa dumi na galing sa tao sa kanilang paningin.

13 At sinabi ng Panginoon, Ganito kakanin ng mga anak ni Israel ang kanilang maruming tinapay, sa gitna ng mga bansa na aking pagtatabuyan sa kanila.

14 Nang magkagayo'y sinabi ko, Ah Panginoong Dios! narito, ang aking kaluluwa ay hindi nadumhan, sapagka't mula sa aking kabataan hanggang ngayon ay hindi ako kumain ng namamatay sa sarili, o nilapa ng mga hayop; o pumasok man ang kasuklamsuklam na karne sa aking bibig.

15 Nang magkagayo'y sinabi niya sa akin, Tingnan mo, ibinigay ko sa iyo'y dumi ng baka na kahalili ng dumi ng tao, at iyong ihahanda ang iyong tinapay sa ibabaw niyaon.

16 Bukod dito'y sinabi niya sa akin, Anak ng tao, narito, aking babaliin ang tungkod ng tinapay sa Jerusalem: at sila'y magsisikain ng tinapay ayon sa timbang, at may pagkatakot; at magsisiinom sila ng tubig ayon sa takal, at manglulupaypay:

17 Upang sila'y mangailangan ng tinapay at tubig, at manglupaypay na magkakasama, at manganlata sa kanilang kasamaan.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #5828

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5828. 'And I said, He has surely been torn to pieces' means a perception that it was destroyed by evils and falsities. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' as perception, dealt with often; and from the meaning of 'being torn to pieces as being destroyed by evils and internal good represented by 'Joseph' was destroyed, 5805. 'Being torn to pieces' has this meaning because no other kind of tearing to pieces takes place in the spiritual world than that of good by evils and falsities. It is the same with death and anything having to do with death, by which is meant in the spiritual sense not natural death but spiritual death, which is damnation. No other kind of death occurs in the spiritual world. So too with 'a tearing to pieces'. This does not mean in the spiritual sense the kind of tearing to pieces that wild animals engage in, but the tearing to pieces of good by evils and falsities. Also, in the spiritual sense, 'wild animals that tear to pieces' means evil desires and derivative false ideas; and such ideas are also represented in the next life by wild animals.

[2] The good which constantly comes from the Lord to a person is destroyed by nothing other than evils and derivative falsities, and by falsities and consequent evils. For as soon as that constantly inflowing good, coming by way of the internal man, reaches the external or natural man it encounters evil and falsity, which - acting like wild animals - employ various methods to tear apart and annihilate that good. For that reason the inflow of good by way of the internal man is blocked and halted, and the interior mind through which the inflow comes is consequently closed. Only as much of what is spiritual is allowed through as will enable the natural man to reason and speak, though he does so in terms that are solely earthly, bodily, and worldly, either in opposition to what is good and true, or else in keeping with such but in a false or deceitful way.

[3] It is a universal law that an inflow adjusts itself to the outflow, and if the outflow is blocked, so is the inflow. Through the internal man there is an inflow of good and truth from the Lord, and through the external there should be an outflow, an outflow into life, that is, in the exercise of charity. As long as that outflow is taking place the inflow from heaven, that is, from the Lord by way of heaven, is continuous. If however no outflow takes place but something stands in the way in the external or natural man, namely evil and falsity which tear the inflowing good to pieces and annihilate it, it follows from the universal law mentioned above that the inflow adjusts itself to the outflow. All this being so, the inflow of good holds itself back and accordingly closes the internal through which the inflow comes; and that closing of it leads to stupidity in spiritual matters, which is so great that the person who is like this neither knows nor wishes to know anything at all about eternal life. At length he becomes so senseless that he raises falsity as an obstacle to truth, calling falsities truths and truths falsities, and raises evil as an obstacle to good, regarding evils as forms of good and forms of good as evils. In this way he tears good completely to pieces.

[4] The word 'torn' occurs in various places in the Word, the proper meaning of which is falsities that arise from evils, while that which is destroyed by evils is called 'a carcass'. When however the expression 'torn' is used by itself, both ideas are meant since the one includes the meaning carried by the other. It is different when the one is referred to together with the other, because in that case a distinction is being made. Since what had been torn meant in the spiritual sense what had been destroyed by falsities arising from evils, people were forbidden in the representative Church to eat anything torn. They would never have been forbidden to eat it if that spiritual evil had not been meant in heaven. Apart from this, what evil could have lain in eating flesh torn by a wild animal?

[5] Regarding their not eating anything torn the following is stated in Moses,

The fat of a carcass and the fat of that which has been torn may be put to any use, provided that you do not eat it at all. Leviticus 7:24.

In the same author,

He shall not eat a carcass or that which has been torn, to be defiled by it. I am Jehovah. Leviticus 12:8.

In the same author,

You shall be men who are sanctified to Me; therefore you shall not eat flesh torn in the field, you shall throw it to the dogs. Exodus 21:31.

In Ezekiel,

Ah Lord Jehovih! The prophet says, Behold, my soul has not been polluted, and from my youth even till now I have not eaten any carcass or that which has been torn, so that abominable flesh has not come into my mouth. Ezekiel 4:14.

From these quotations it is evident that it was an abomination to eat what had been torn, not because it had been torn but because a tearing to pieces of good by falsities arising from evils was meant, 'a carcass' on the other hand being the death of good caused by evils.

[6] A tearing to pieces of good by falsities and evils is also meant in the internal sense of the following places in David,

The wicked is like a lion, he desires to tear, and like a young lion who sits in hiding-places. Psalms 17:12.

Elsewhere,

They opened their mouth against me - a lion tearing and roaring. Psalms 22:13.

And in yet another place,

Lest like a lion they seize my soul, tearing it to pieces and there is none to deliver. Psalms 7:1.

'A lion' stands for those who lay waste the Church. Above, where Joseph was the subject - at the point where he was sold by his brothers, and his tunic, which had been dipped in blood, was sent to his father - his father too said at that time,

My son's tunic! An evil wild animal has devoured him; Joseph has been torn to pieces. Genesis 37:33.

'His having been torn to pieces' means being scattered by falsities arising from evils, see 4777.

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