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

 

The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Teachings #248

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248. The Jewish church and Jews. 1 The statutes, judgments, and laws that were commanded in the Jewish church were somewhat like those of the ancient church: 4449, 4834. How the symbolic rites of the Jewish church differed from the symbolic rites of the ancient church: 4288, 10149. A symbolic church was established for the people of that nation, but there was no real church among them: 4899, 4912, 6304. So they had something that symbolized a church but not an actual church: 4281, 4288, 4311, 4500, 6304, 7048, 9320, 10396, 10526, 10531, 10698. Because of the stubborn insistence of their ancestors and Moses, the Israelite and Jewish people were accepted as a church, not because they actually were a chosen people but rather so that they would symbolize a church: 4290, 4293, 7051, 7439, 10430, 10535, 10632. Their worship was solely external, without any inner worship: 1200, 3147, 3479, 8871. They knew absolutely nothing about inner worship and did not want to know: 301, 302, 303, 3479, 4429, 4433, 4680, 4844, 4847, 10396, 10401, 10407, 10694, 10701, 10707. What they thought of the inner aspects of worship, the church, and the Word: 4865. Their inner natures were foul, full of their love for themselves and the world and of avarice: 3480, 9962, 10454-10457, 10462-10466, 10575. Therefore the inner teachings of the church were not disclosed to them, because otherwise they would have defiled them: 2520, 3398, 3480, 4289. The Word was completely closed to them: 3769. They saw the Word from the outside and not from the inside (10549, 10550, 10551), so their inner self was closed when they were engaged in worship (8788, 8806, 9320, 9377, 9380, 9962, 10396, 10401, 10407, 10492, 10498, 10500, 10575, 10629, 10692). All the same, this people was more capable than any other of being outwardly holy despite the fact that their inner self was closed: 4293, 4311, 4903, 9373, 9377, 9380. Their state at such times: 4311. That is also why they have been preserved to this day: 3479. Their holy outward behavior was miraculously raised up and exhibited to heaven by the Lord, and as a result deeper levels of worship, the church, and the Word were perceived there: 3480, 4307, 4311, 6304, 8588, 10499, 10500, 10602. So that this could happen, they were driven by external pressures to a strict observance of their rituals in outward form: 3147, 4281, 8006. Because they could be outwardly holy without inner holiness, they were able to represent what is truly holy in the church and heaven: 3479, 3881, 4208, 6304, 8588, 9377, 10430, 10500, 10570. Nevertheless, they were not interested in what is truly holy: 3479. It does not matter what a person who symbolizes something is like, because symbolism focuses on the issue and not on the person: 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806.

[2] Those people were worse than other peoples; a description of what they were like, including material from the Word of both Testaments: 4314, 4316, 4317, 4444, 4503, 4750, 4751, 4815, 4820, 4832, 5057, 5998, 7248, 8819, 9320, 10454-10457, 10462-10466. The tribe of Judah strayed more than the other tribes: 4815. How they took pleasure in cruelly treating other peoples: 5057, 7248, 9320. That people was idolatrous at heart and worshiped other gods more than other peoples did: 3732, 4208, 4281, 4825, 5998, 6877, 7401, 8301, 8871, 8882. Even their worship, seen in the context of that people, was idolatrous, since it was superficial, with no inner substance: 4281, 4825, 8871, 8882. They worshiped Jehovah in name only (6877, 10559, 10560, 10561, 10566), and only because of the miracles he did (4299). It is incorrect to think that the Jews are going to be converted at the end of the church 2 and brought back into the land of Canaan: 4847, 7051, 8301. A copious selection of passages from the Word on this subject-passages that are, however, to be understood in their inner meaning and therefore not taken literally: 7051. The Word was changed in its outer meaning because of that people, but not in its inner meaning: 10453, 10461, 10603, 10604. The way Jehovah appeared to them on Mount Sinai was shaped by their own nature, so he appeared in devouring fire, thick cloud, and smoke like that of a furnace: 1861, 6832, 8814, 8819, 9434. The way the Lord appears to each of us depends on what we ourselves are really like-as a life-giving and creative fire if we are devoted to doing good, but as a devouring fire if we are bent on doing evil: 934, 1861, 6832, 8814, 8819, 9434, 10551. One lineage of that people was of Canaanite ancestry and two others were the result of fornication with a daughter-in-law: 1167, 4818, 4820, 4874, 4899, 4913. Those stories represent the nature of their relationship with the inner truth of the church, namely, that it was like that of union with a Canaanite or fornication with a daughter-in-law: 4868, 4874, 4899, 4913. Their state in the other life: 939, 940, 5057.

[3] Because despite all this that people symbolized the church, and because the Word was composed among and about them, their names-for example, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Ephraim, Joseph, and the rest-have divine and heavenly meanings. In its inner meaning, "Judah" means the Lord in respect to his heavenly love and his heavenly kingdom: 3654, 3881, 5583, 5603, 5782, 6363. An explanation of Israel's prophecy concerning Judah in Genesis 49:8-12, which is about the Lord: 6362-6381. Both the tribe of Judah and Judea mean the heavenly church: 3654, 6364. The twelve tribes represented and meant all the aspects of love and faith taken together (3858, 3926, 4060, 6335), and therefore heaven and the church as well (6337, 6637, 7836, 7891). Their meanings depend on the order in which they are named: 3862, 3926, 3939, 4603 and following, 6337, 6640. The twelve tribes were divided into two kingdoms so that the Judeans could represent the heavenly kingdom and the Israelites could represent the spiritual kingdom: 3654, 8770. The seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob means the goodness and truth that belong to the church: 3373, 10445.

Footnotes:

1. On problematic material in Swedenborg's works, including his attitude toward Jews, see the discussion in the translator's preface, pages 19-21. [Editors]

2. From early Christian times it has been believed that all Jews will convert to Christianity before the Last Judgment. Augustine refers to this belief as "a very frequent topic in the conversation of the faithful and a very familiar thought in their hearts" ( City of God 20:29 [= Augustine 1952, 557]). The notion is based at least in part on Romans 11:26-27, in which Paul says, "All Israel will be saved," and goes on to quote Isaiah 59:20-21 (from the Septuagint version) and Jeremiah 31:33 (with reference also perhaps to Isaiah 27:9) to the effect that a Deliverer out of Zion will turn away the ungodliness of the descendants of Jacob and thus fulfill God's covenant with them. Malachi 4:5-6 is sometimes also cited in support. This prophecy has been discussed and even promoted by many major Christian theologians over the centuries, and it remains a topic of discussion in Christian circles. [SS]

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.