The Bible

 

Jeremias 35

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1 Ang salita na dumating kay Jeremias na mula sa Panginoon sa mga kaarawan ni Joacim na anak ni Josias, na hari sa Juda, na nagsasabi,

2 Pumaroon ka sa bahay ng mga Rechabita, at magsalita ka sa kanila, at iyong dalhin sila sa bahay ng Panginoon, sa isa sa mga silid, at bigyan mo sila ng alak na mainom.

3 Nang magkagayo'y kinuha ko si Jazanias na anak ni Jeremias, na anak ni Habassinias, at ang kaniyang mga kapatid, at ang lahat niyang anak, at ang buong sangbahayan ng mga Rechabita;

4 At dinala ko sila sa bahay ng Panginoon, sa silid ng mga anak ni Hanan na anak ni Igdalias, na lalake ng Dios, na nasa siping ng silid ng mga prinsipe, na nasa itaas ng silid ni Maasias na anak ni Sallum, na tagatanod ng pintuan.

5 At aking inilagay sa harap ng mga anak ng sangbahayan ng mga Rechabita ang mga mankok na puno ng alak, at ang mga saro, at aking sinabi sa kanila, Magsisiinom kayo ng alak.

6 Nguni't kanilang sinabi, Kami ay hindi magsisiinom ng alak; sapagka't si Jonadab na anak ni Rechab na aming magulang ay nagutos sa amin, na nagsasabi, Huwag kayong magsisiinom ng alak, maging kayo, o ang inyong mga anak man, magpakailan man:

7 Ni huwag kayong mangagtatayo ng bahay, o mangaghahasik ng binhi, o mangagtatanim sa ubasan, o mangagtatangkilik ng anoman; kundi ang lahat ninyong mga kaarawan ay inyong itatahan sa mga tolda; upang kayo ay mangabuhay na malaon sa lupain na inyong pangingibahang bayan.

8 At aming tinalima ang tinig ni Jonadab na anak ni Rechab na aming magulang sa lahat na kaniyang ibinilin sa amin na huwag magsiinom ng alak sa lahat ng mga araw namin, kami, ang aming mga asawa, ang aming mga anak na lalake o babae man;

9 Ni huwag kaming mangagtayo ng mga bahay na aming matahanan; ni huwag kaming mangagtangkilik ng ubasan, o ng bukid, o ng binhi:

10 Kundi kami ay nagsitahan sa mga tolda, at kami ay nagsitalima, at nagsigawa ng ayon sa lahat na iniutos sa amin ni Jonadab na aming magulang.

11 Nguni't nangyari, nang si Nabucodonosor na hari sa Babilonia ay umahon sa lupain, na aming sinabi, Tayo na, at tayo'y magsiparoon sa Jerusalem dahil sa takot sa hukbo ng mga Caldeo, at dahil sa takot sa hukbo ng mga taga Siria; sa ganito'y nagsisitahan kami sa Jerusalem.

12 Nang magkagayo'y dumating ang salita ng Panginoon kay Jeremias, na nagsasabi,

13 Ganito ang sabi ng Panginoon ng mga hukbo, ng Dios ng Israel, Yumaon ka, at sabihin mo sa mga tao ng Juda at sa mga nananahan sa Jerusalem, Hindi baga kayo magsisitanggap ng turo upang dinggin ang aking mga salita? sabi ng Panginoon.

14 Ang mga salita ni Jonadab na anak ni Rechab, na kaniyang iniutos sa kaniyang mga anak, na huwag magsiinom ng alak, ay nangatupad; at hanggang sa araw na ito ay hindi sila nagsisiinom, sapagka't kanilang tinalima ang tinig ng kanilang magulang. Nguni't aking sinalita, sa inyo, na bumangon akong maaga, at aking sinasalita, at hindi ninyo ako dininig.

15 Akin din namang sinugo sa inyo ang lahat kong lingkod na mga propeta, na bumabangon akong maaga, at akin silang sinusugo, na aking sinasabi, Magsihiwalay kayo ngayon bawa't isa sa kanikaniyang masamang lakad, at pabutihin ninyo ang inyong mga gawain, at huwag kayong magsisunod sa mga ibang dios na mangaglingkod sa kanila, at kayo'y magsisitahan sa lupain na ibinigay ko sa inyo, at sa inyong mga magulang: nguni't hindi ninyo ikiniling ang inyong pakinig, o dininig man ninyo ako.

16 Yamang tinupad ng mga anak ni Jonadab na anak ni Rechab ang utos ng kanilang magulang na iniutos sa kanila, nguni't ang bayang ito ay hindi nakinig sa akin;

17 Kaya't ganito ang sabi ng Panginoon, ng Dios ng mga hukbo, ng Dios ng Israel, Narito, aking dadalhin sa Juda at sa lahat na nananahan sa Jerusalem ang buong kasamaan na aking sinalita laban sa kanila; sapagka't ako'y nagsalita sa kanila, nguni't hindi sila nangakinig; at ako'y tumawag sa kanila, nguni't hindi sila nagsisagot.

18 At sinabi ni Jeremias sa sangbahayan ng mga Rechabita, Ganito ang sabi ng Panginoon ng mga hukbo, ng Dios ng Israel, Sapagka't inyong tinalima ang utos ni Jonadab na inyong magulang, at inyong iningatan ang lahat niyang palatuntunan, at inyong ginawa ang ayon sa lahat na kaniyang iniutos sa inyo;

19 Kaya't ganito ang sabi ng Panginoon ng mga hukbo, ng Dios ng Israel, Si Jonadab na anak ni Rechab ay hindi kukulangin ng lalake na tatayo sa harap ko magpakailan man.

   

Commentary

 

Wine

  

Wine played a key role in the ancient world, where safe, reliable water sources were scarce. It could be stored for long periods of time; if lightly fermented it was rich in sugar content; it was high in mineral content; it tasted good and generally had intoxicating qualities. Thus it was a valuable commodity and treated with reverence.

Wine is, of course, made from grapes. Grapes – sweet, juicy, nutritious and full of energy-rich fructose – represent the Lord's own exquisite desire to be good to us. That's powerful stuff! But grapes have a short shelf life; you might eat a bunch for a burst of energy, but you can't exactly carry them around with you for long-term sustenance. And so it is with desires for good: They tend to come to us in energizing bursts, but fade away fairly quickly. We need something more stable and lasting.

At some point in the distant past people figured out that if you squeeze the juice from the grapes and let it ferment, the result is a liquid that offers that stability: wine. The spiritual meaning works the same way; if we examine our desires for good, try to understand and think about how to apply them, what we will get are concepts about what good really is, how to recognize it and how to make it happen. And just like the wine, these ideas offer stability and portability. For instance, finding a wallet full of cash on the sidewalk might severely test our desire to be honest, but the idea that "you shall not steal" is pretty hard to shake.

Wine, then, on the deepest level represents divine truth flowing from divine goodness – the true principles that arise from the fact that the Lord loves us and desires everything good for us.

Wine comes in many varieties, though, and is used in many ways. Depending on context it can represent truth that arises from a desire for good on much more mundane levels. You want your children to be healthy so you make them brush their teeth even though they complain and it's a pain in the neck; the truth that brushing their teeth is good for them is wine on a very day-to-day level.

In some cases wine can also actually represent good things that arise from true ideas, something of a reverse from its inmost meaning. This happens when we are in transitional stages, setting higher ideas and principles above our less-worthy desires in an effort to reshape our actions. In that case our principles are the things being squeezed, with good habits the result.

There is also, of course, a darker side to wine. There is a good deal of debate about just how much alcohol wine had in Biblical times, and some of it may indeed have been more like concentrated grape juice. But there are also many references to wine and drunkeness, so some of it, at least, was fairly potent.

On a spiritual level, getting drunk on wine represents relying too much on our ideas, taking logic to such an extreme that we forget the good things we were trying to achieve in the first place.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 376 [1-40], 1152; Apocalypse Revealed 316, 635; Arcana Coelestia 1071 [1-5], 1727, 3580 [1-4], 5117 [7], 6377, 10137 [1-10]; The Apocalypse Explained 329 [2-4]; The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 219)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1071

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1071. That 'he drank wine' means that he wished to probe into matters of faith is clear from the meaning of 'wine'. 'A vineyard' or 'a vine', as has been shown, is the spiritual Church, or member of the spiritual Church. The grape, clusters, and bunches are its fruit, and these mean charity and what belongs to charity. Wine however means faith deriving from charity, and all things that belong to faith. Thus 'grape means the celestial aspect of that Church, and 'wine' the spiritual. The celestial, as often stated already, comprises the will, while the spiritual comprises the understanding. That 'he drank of the wine' means that he wished to probe into matters of faith, and to do so indeed by means of reasonings, is clear from the reason given why 'he was drunk', that is, sank into errors. Indeed the member of this Church did not possess any perception at all as the member of the Most Ancient Church had done. Instead he had to acquire knowledge of what good and truth were by learning about them from doctrinal matters concerning faith which had been gathered together and preserved from the perception that had existed in the Most Ancient Church. And these matters of doctrine constituted the Word of the Ancient Church. As with the Word, doctrinal matters concerning faith were in many instances such that, without perception, they could not be believed; for spiritual and celestial things infinitely transcend human comprehension, and this is why reasoning enters in. But the person who refuses to believe those things until he comprehends them is never able to believe, as often shown already. See what appears in 128, 130, 195, 196, 215, 232, 233.

[2] That 'grapes in the Word means charity and what belongs to charity, and that 'wine' means both faith deriving from charity and also matters of faith, becomes clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 1 He looked for it to yield grapes, and it yielded wild grapes. Isaiah 5:1-2, 4.

Here 'grapes' stands for charity and the fruits of charity. In Jeremiah,

I will surely gather them, says Jehovah; there will be no grapes on the vine nor figs on the fig tree. Jer, 8:13.

'Vine' stands for the spiritual Church, 'grapes' for charity. In Hosea,

Like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel, like the first fruit on the fig tree, in the beginning, I saw your fathers. Hosea 9:10.

'Israel' stands for the Ancient Church, 'grape' for the fact that they were endowed with charity. These words are used in the contrary sense when 'Israel' stands for the sons of Jacob. In Micah,

There was no cluster to eat; my soul desired the first fruit. The holy man has perished from the earth, and there is none upright among men. Micah 7:1-2.

'Cluster' stands for charity or that which is holy, 'first fruit' for faith or that which is upright.

[3] In Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it. Isaiah 65:8.

'Cluster' stands for charity, 'new wine' for goods that stem from charity, and truths deriving from these. In Moses,

He washes his clothing in wine, and His garment in the blood of grapes. Genesis 49:11.

This is a prophecy concerning the Lord. 'Wine' stands for that which is spiritual deriving from what is celestial, 'blood of grapes' for the celestial in respect to spiritual Churches. So 'grapes' stands for charity itself, 'wine' for faith itself. In John,

The angel said, Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the earth, for its grapes have ripened. Revelation 14:18.

This refers to the last times when there is no faith, that is, when there is no charity. For no faith exists other than that which inheres in charity, and in essence is charity itself. Consequently when it is said that there is no longer any faith, as in the last times, it means that there is no charity.

[4] As 'grapes' means charity, so 'wine' means faith deriving from charity, for wine is obtained from grapes. In addition to these and previous quotations concerning the vineyard and the vine, the following also make the point clear: In Isaiah,

Gladness and exaltation have been taken away from Carmel, and in the vineyards there is no singing, no joyful noise. No treader treads out wine in the presses; I have made the hedad 2 to cease. Isaiah 16:10.

This stands for the fact that the spiritual Church, meant by 'Carmel', has been vastated, 'none treading wine in the presses' for the fact that no longer are there any people who possess faith. In the same prophet,

The inhabitants of the earth will be scorched and few men left. The new wine will mourn, the vine will languish; they will not drink wine with singing, strong drink will be bitter to those drinking it; there will be an outcry in the streets over wine. Isaiah 24:6-7, 9, 11.

The vastated spiritual Church being the subject, 'wine' stands for truths of faith that are considered valueless. In Jeremiah,

They will say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they faint like one who has been run through in the streets of the city. Lamentations 2:12.

'Where is corn and wine?' means, Where is love and faith? 'Streets of the city' means truths here, as elsewhere in the Word. 'Those who have been run through in them' means that they do not know what the truths of faith are.

[5] In Amos,

I will bring again the captivity of My people Israel, and they will build the ruined cities and inhabit them. And they will plant vineyards and drink their wine. Amos 9:14.

This refers to the spiritual Church, meant by Israel, to which 'planting vineyards and drinking wine' is attributed when it becomes a Church such as derives faith from charity. In Zephaniah,

They will build houses but not inhabit them, and they will plant vineyards but not drink their wine. Zephaniah 1:13; Amos 5:11.

Here 'vineyard' and 'wine' stand for the contrary situation when the spiritual Church has been vastated. In Zechariah,

They will be like a mighty man of Ephraim, and their heart will rejoice as from wine, and their sons will see it and rejoice. Zechariah 10:7.

This refers to the house of Judah, that it would be such by virtue of the goods and truths of faith. In John the command not to do harm to oil and wine, Revelation 6:6, stands for doing no harm to what is celestial and spiritual, that is, to things of love and faith.

[6] In the Jewish Church, since 'wine' meant faith in the Lord, the libation of wine in the sacrifices also represented faith, as in Numbers 15:1-15; 28:11-15, 18-end; Numbers 29:7-end; Leviticus 23:12-13; Exodus 29:40. Hence the following is said in Hosea,

Threshing-floor and winepress will not feed them, and new wine will be deceptive in her. They will not dwell in Jehovah's land, but Ephraim will return to Egypt, and in Assyria they will eat what is unclean: They will not pour libations of wine to Jehovah, they will not be pleasing to Him. Hosea 9:1-4.

This refers to Israel, or the spiritual Church, and to those people in it who pervert and defile holy things and the truths of faith by wishing to probe into them by means of knowledge and reasonings. 'Egypt' is knowledge, 'Assyria' reasoning, and 'Ephraim' one who engages in reasoning.

Footnotes:

1. literally, on a horn of a son of oil

2. A Hebrew word which is a shout of exaltation.

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