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Ezekiel 10

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1 Then I looked, and see, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

2 He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, Go in between the whirling [wheels], even under the cherub, and fill both your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. He went in as I watched.

3 Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.

4 The glory of Yahweh mounted up from the cherub, [and stood] over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Yahweh's glory.

5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

6 It came to pass, when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim, that he went in, and stood beside a wheel.

7 The cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took [of it], and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen, who took it and went out.

8 There appeared in the cherubim the form of a man's hand under their wings.

9 I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like a beryl stone.

10 As for their appearance, the four of them had one likeness, like a wheel within a wheel.

11 When they went, they went in their four directions: they didn't turn as they went, but to the place where the head looked they followed it; they didn't turn as they went.

12 Their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes all around, [even] the wheels that the four of them had.

13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, the whirling [wheels].

14 Every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third face the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

15 The cherubim mounted up: this is the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar.

16 When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels also didn't turn from beside them.

17 When they stood, these stood; and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them: for the spirit of the living creature was in them.

18 The glory of Yahweh went forth from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim.

19 The cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went forth, and the wheels beside them: and they stood at the door of the east gate of Yahweh's house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

20 This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim.

21 Every one had four faces, and Every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.

22 As for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves; they went every one straight forward.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #9873

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9873. All this now makes clear what the twelve precious stones in the breastplate of judgement served to mean, namely all the kinds of good and truth of heaven in their proper order. Heaven is divided into two kingdoms, the celestial and the spiritual. The good of the celestial kingdom was represented by the first two rows, which were on the right side of the breastplate, and the good of the spiritual kingdom by the next two rows, which were on the left side. The internal good of the celestial kingdom is the good of love to the Lord; this is the good that is meant by the celestial love of good. The external good of the celestial kingdom however is the good of mutual love; this is the good that is meant by the celestial love of truth. But the internal good of the spiritual kingdom is the good of charity towards the neighbour; this is the good that is meant by the spiritual love of good. And the external good of the spiritual kingdom is the good of faith; this is the good that is meant by the spiritual love of truth. These kinds of good and truth in this order constitute the heavens, see 9468, 9473, 9680, 9683, 9780.

[2] From this it is now evident what the twelve stones, which were called the Urim and Thummim, represented. But in what way the Divine Truths which were answers were made known by means of them will be stated below in 9905. The fact that the good of love occupied the first place there and the truth of faith the last is clear from the first stone's being a ruby and the last's being a jasper, thus from the first stone's being red in colour, and the last's being white, both of them translucent. For the meaning of 'red' as the good of love, see 3300, 9467; and for that of 'white' as the truth of faith, 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319.

[3] Much the same as is meant by the stones in the breastplate was also meant by the materials used in weaving the ephod. The ephod was woven from violet, purple, twice-dyed scarlet, and fine linen, as is evident from verse 6 of the present chapter, and 'violet' meant the truth of celestial love, 'purple' the good of celestial love, 'twice-dyed scarlet' the good of spiritual love, and 'fine linen' the truth of spiritual love, 9833. The reason why much the same was meant is that 'the ephod' meant heaven on last and outermost levels, in the same way as 'the breastplate' does, 9824. But the kinds of good and truth are listed in a different order there, because 'the ephod' meant the spiritual heaven, whereas 'the breastplate' means all heaven from first to last. And since the dwelling-place along with the tent also represented heaven, 9457, 9481, 9485, 9615, the material from which its curtains and veils were woven were likewise violet, purple, double-dyed scarlet, and fine twined linen, see the previous Chapters, 26:1, 31, 36; 27:16, and 9466-9469.

[4] In addition it should be recognized that in the general sense SAPPHIRE means the external part of the celestial kingdom and SHOHAM the external part of the spiritual kingdom. And because these two stones had this meaning they were the middle stones belonging to the secondary rows, that is to say, the sapphire was the middle stone in the second row, and the shoham the middle stone in the fourth row. The stones belonging to the second row meant the external good of the celestial kingdom, which has been called the celestial love of truth, and the stones belonging to the fourth row meant the external good of the spiritual kingdom, which has been called the spiritual love of truth, see what has been stated about them above in this paragraph 9873.

[5] The fact that 'sapphire' means the external part of the celestial kingdom is evident from places in the Word where it is mentioned, such as in the Book of Exodus,

Seventy of the elders saw the God of Israel, and under His feet there was so to speak a work of sapphire, and it was like the substance of the sky for clearness. Exodus 24:10.

The external part of the celestial kingdom is so described, because the words 'under His feet', meaning what is external, are used, and where 'the God of Israel', who is the Lord, is, there heaven is. In Isaiah,

O afflicted one and storm-tossed, and receiving no comfort! Behold, I am arranging your stones with antimony, and will lay your foundations in sapphires. Isaiah 54:11.

The subject in this chapter is the celestial kingdom. The foundations which will be laid in sapphires, are the external things there; for foundations lie underneath.

[6] In Jeremiah,

Her Nazirites were brighter than snow, they were whiter than milk. Their bones 1 were ruddier than pearls, 2 polished like sapphires. 3 Lamentations 4:7.

Nazirites represented the celestial man, which is why it says 'polished like sapphires', 'polished' referring to what is external. In Ezekiel,

Above the expanse that was above the heads of the cherubs, in appearance like a sapphire stone, there was the likeness of a throne, and above the likeness of a throne there was the appearance of a man (homo) sitting upon it. Ezekiel 1:26; 10:1.

Here also 'sapphire' is used to describe the external part of the celestial kingdom; for what is above the expanse or round about is outside, that which is inmost being the one 'sitting upon a throne'.

[7] Just as sapphire stone means the external part of the celestial kingdom, so shoham stone means the external part of the spiritual kingdom. Therefore also this was the stone which was placed on the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod with the names of the sons of Israel inscribed on them, which are dealt with in verses 9-14 of the present chapter; for the ephod represented the external part of the spiritual kingdom, 9824. Since shoham and sapphire in the general sense meant the external parts of two heavens, they were placed in the middle of the sets of three stones forming the second and fourth rows, as stated above. For the middle includes the whole, as is also true of the robe, which in the general sense has represented the spiritual kingdom, because it comes in the middle, as shown above in 9825. Because those two stones include everything meant by all the other stones in those rows, it says in Job,

Wisdom cannot be compared with the gold of Ophir, with the precious shoham and the sapphire. Job 28:16.

Footnotes:

1. i.e. bodies

2. In other places Swedenborg has rubies or gem stones.

3. literally, sapphires their polishing

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