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Daniel 9

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1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans,

2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years about which the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years.

3 I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

4 I prayed to Yahweh my God, and made confession, and said, Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments,

5 we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances;

6 neither have we listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7 Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.

8 Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.

9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness; for we have rebelled against him;

10 neither have we obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

11 Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law, turning aside, that they should not obey your voice: therefore the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us; for we have sinned against him.

12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, by bringing on us a great evil; for under the whole sky, such has not been done as has been done to Jerusalem.

13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come on us: yet have we not entreated the favor of Yahweh our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in your truth.

14 Therefore has Yahweh watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for Yahweh our God is righteous in all his works which he does, and we have not obeyed his voice.

15 Now, Lord our God, who has brought your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have gotten yourself renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16 Lord, according to all your righteousness, let your anger and please let your wrath be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all who are around us.

17 Now therefore, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant, and to his petitions, and cause your face to shine on your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.

18 My God, turn your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies' sake.

19 Lord, hear; Lord, forgive; Lord, listen and do; don't defer, for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.

20 While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God for the holy mountain of my God;

21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering.

22 He instructed me, and talked with me, and said, Daniel, I am now come forth to give you wisdom and understanding.

23 At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went forth, and I have come to tell you; for you are greatly beloved: therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision.

24 Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.

25 Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times.

26 After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One shall be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and its end shall be with a flood, and even to the end shall be war; desolations are determined.

27 He shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and on the wing of abominations [shall come] one who makes desolate; and even to the full end, and that determined, shall [wrath] be poured out on the desolate.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #782

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782. 1 The reason why the new church is meant by the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven (Revelation 21), is that Jerusalem was the capital city in the land of Canaan. It was there that the temple was and the altar where sacrifices were made, and so the Divine worship to which three times a year every male in the whole land was commanded to come. It was also because Jerusalem is where the Lord was, and taught in its temple; and He afterwards there glorified His Human. These are the reasons why Jerusalem means the church. It is perfectly plain that Jerusalem means the church from the prophecies in the Old Testament about the new church to be founded by the Lord, since it is there called Jerusalem.

[2] It is only necessary to quote the passages themselves, for anyone possessed of inward reason to be able to see, that Jerusalem there means the church. Let the following passages suffice:

Behold, I create a new heaven and a new earth; the former ones will not be remembered. Look, I shall make Jerusalem an exultation, and its people happiness, so that I may exult over Jerusalem and rejoice over my people. Then the wolf and the lamb will feed together. They will do no harm in all the mountain of my holiness, Isaiah 65:17-19, 25.

For Zion's sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth like a beam of light, and her salvation burns like a lamp. Then the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. And you will be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah will utter, and you will be a crown of beauty [in the hand of Jehovah] 2 and a diadem of kingship in the hand of your God. Jehovah will be pleased in you, and your land will be married. Behold, your salvation will come, behold, His reward is with Him. And they will call them the people of holiness, the redeemed of Jehovah. And you will be called a city sought after, not abandoned, Isaiah 62:1-4, 11-12.

[3] Awake, awake, Zion, put on your strength. Put on the clothes of your beauty, Jerusalem, city of holiness; for no more will the uncircumcised and the unclean come into you. Shake off the dust, arise and take your seat, Jerusalem. The people will know my name on that day, for I am he that speaks, here I am. Jehovah has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem, Isaiah 52:1-2, 6, 9.

Shout for joy, daughter of Zion, rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem. The king of Israel is in your midst. Fear evil no longer. He will rejoice over you with joy; he will be satisfied in his 3 love, he will exult over you with a shout of joy. I will make you a name and the object of praise to all the peoples of the earth, Zephaniah 3:14-17, 20.

Thus spoke Jehovah your Redeemer, telling Jerusalem, You will be dwelt in, Isaiah 44:24, 26.

Thus spoke Jehovah, I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Therefore Jerusalem will be called the city of truth, and the mountain of Jehovah Zebaoth the mountain of holiness, Zechariah 8:3, 20-23.

Then you will know that I am Jehovah your God, who dwell in Zion, the mountain of holiness; and Jerusalem will be holiness. And it will happen on that day that the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk. And Jerusalem will stay fixed from one generation to another, Joel 3:17-21.

[4] On that day the shoot of Jehovah will be an adornment and a glory; and it will come about that the one who is left in Zion, the one who remains in Jerusalem, will be called holy, everyone enrolled with a view to life in Jerusalem, Isaiah 4:2-3.

At the end of days the mountain of Jehovah's house will be established on the head of mountains; for from Zion will come forth teaching, and the Word of Jehovah from Jerusalem, Micah 4:1-2, 8.

At that time they will call Jerusalem Jehovah's throne, and all nations will be gathered to Jerusalem for Jehovah's name's sake, and they will no longer follow the prompting of their evil hearts, Jeremiah 3:17.

Look to Zion, the city of our appointed feast, let you eyes behold Jerusalem, a tranquil dwelling, a tent which will not be blown away. Its pegs will never be removed, and its ropes will not be pulled up, Isaiah 33:20.

There are further passages such as Isaiah 24:23; 37:32; 66:10-14; Zechariah 12:3, 6-10; 14:8, 11-12, 21; Malachi 3:4; Psalms 122:1-7; 137:4-6.

[5] It is obvious from the details of the description of Jerusalem in the passages quoted that it means there the church to be founded by the Lord, and not the Jerusalem where the Jews lived. For instance, it is said Jehovah will create a new heaven and a new earth, and also at that time Jerusalem; that it will be a crown of beauty and a diadem of kingship; that it is to be called holiness and a city of truth, Jehovah's throne, a tranquil dwelling, a tent which will not be blown away. It is said that the wolf and the lamb will feed together there; that there the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills flow with milk, and it will stay fixed for one generation after another; and much more besides. It is also said of its people that they are holy, everyone enrolled with a view to life, and they are to be called Jehovah's redeemed. Moreover, all those passages deal with the Lord's coming, especially His second coming, when there will be a Jerusalem such as is there described; for it has not previously been married, that is, made the bride and wife of the Lamb, as the New Jerusalem is described in Revelation.

[6] The earlier, that is, the present-day church, is meant by Jerusalem in Daniel, and its beginnings are there described as follows:

Know and perceive, from the time the word went forth to restore and build Jerusalem, until the coming of the Messiah, the prince, will be seven weeks. Afterwards for sixty-two weeks the street and the moat will be restored and built, but at a time of distress, Daniel 9:25.

Its end is there described as follows:

At last upon the bird of abominations desolation, and it will drip upon devastation up to the point of ending and cutting off, Daniel 9:27.

It is this last passage which is meant by the Lord's words in Matthew:

When you see the abomination of desolation, foretold by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place - let him who reads take due note, Matthew 24:15.

It can be established that Jerusalem in the passages quoted above does not mean the Jerusalem inhabited by the Jews, from the passages in the Word which say that it has been utterly lost and is to be destroyed; for instance, Jeremiah 5:1; 6:6-7; 7:17ff; Jeremiah 8:6ff; Jeremiah 9:11-12, 14ff; Jeremiah 13:9-10, 14; 14:16; Lamentations 1:8-9, 17; Ezekiel 4:1 - end; Ezekiel 5:9- end; Ezekiel 12:18-19; 15:6-8; 16:1-63; 23; Matthew 23:37-38; Luke 19:41-44; 21:20-22; 23:28-30; and in many other passages. There are also passages where it is called Sodom: Isaiah 3:9; Jeremiah 23:14; Ezekiel 16:46, 48; and elsewhere.

Footnotes:

1. This section and 783 are repeated from Brief Exposition 100-101.

2. These words are missing from the printed text, but are added in the Author's copy.

3. The Latin has 'in your love', but this is corrected in the Author's copy.

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