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Ezekiel 8

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1 It happened in the sixth year, in the sixth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell there on me.

2 Then I saw, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his waist and downward, fire; and from his waist and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as it were glowing metal.

3 He put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and the sky, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner [court] that looks toward the north; where there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.

4 Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain.

5 Then he said to me, Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and see, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

6 He said to me, Son of man, do you see what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But you shall again see yet other great abominations.

7 He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall.

8 Then he said to me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had dug in the wall, behold, a door.

9 He said to me, Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here.

10 So I went in and saw; and see, every form of creeping things, and abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall.

11 There stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel; and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censer in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense went up.

12 Then he said to me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? for they say, Yahweh doesn't see us; Yahweh has forsaken the land.

13 He said also to me, You shall again see yet other great abominations which they do.

14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh's house which was toward the north; and see, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz.

15 Then he said to me, Have you seen [this], son of man? You shall again see yet greater abominations than these.

16 He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh's house; and see, at the door of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of Yahweh, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east.

17 Then he said to me, Have you seen [this], son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and behold, they put the branch to their nose.

18 Therefore will I also deal in wrath; my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

The Lord #27

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27. The Lord is called the Son of Humanity when the subject is redemption, salvation, reformation, and regeneration, as we can tell from the following:

The Son of Humanity came to give his life as a redemption for many. (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45)

The Son of Humanity has come to save and not to destroy. (Matthew 18:11; Luke 9:56)

The Son of Humanity has come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)

The Son of Humanity came so that the world would be saved through him. (John 3:17)

The one who sows good seed is the Son of Humanity. (Matthew 13:37)

Here the subject is redemption and salvation; and since they are effected by the Lord through the Word, he refers to himself as the Son of Humanity.

The Lord said that the Son of Humanity has power to forgive sins (Mark 2:10; Luke 5:24)-that is, power to save. He also said that he was Lord of the Sabbath because he was the Son of Humanity (Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5)-because he himself is the very Word that he is then teaching.

He also says in John,

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Humanity will give you. (John 6:27)

Food means everything true and good in the teaching drawn from the Word and therefore from the Lord. This is also the meaning of the manna and of the bread that comes down from heaven, as well as the meaning of these words in the same chapter:

Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Humanity and drink his blood, you will not have life within you. (John 6:53)

The flesh or bread is good actions done from love as a result of the Word, and the blood or wine is good actions done from faith as a result of the Word, both of which come from the Lord.

[2] “The Son of Humanity” means much the same in various other passages where it is found, such as the following:

Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Humanity has nowhere to lay his head. (Matthew 8:20; Luke 9:58)

This means that the Word had no place among the Jews, as the Lord also says in John 8:37, and that the Word was not abiding in them, because they did not acknowledge him (John 5:38).

The Son of Humanity means the Lord as the Word in Revelation as well:

In the midst of seven lampstands I saw one like the Son of Humanity, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. (Revelation 1:13 and following)

In this passage various images are used to represent the Lord as the Word, so he is also called “the Son of Humanity.” In David:

Let your hand be with the man of your right hand, with the Son of Humanity whom you have strengthened for yourself. Then we will not turn back from you. Bring us to life. (Psalms 80:17-19)

The man of your right hand in this passage is also the Lord as the Word, and so is the Son of Humanity. He is called “the man of your right hand” because the Lord has power from divine truth, which is also the Word; and he gained divine power when he fulfilled the whole Word. That is why he also said that they would see the Son of Humanity sitting at the right hand of the Father with power (Mark 14:62).

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

The Bible

 

Ezekiel 30:2

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2 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Wail, Alas for the day!