The Bible

 

Ezekiel 38

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1 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

2 `Son of man, set thy face unto Gog, of the land of Magog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy concerning him,

3 and thou hast said: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I [am] against thee, O Gog, Prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal,

4 And I have turned thee back, And I have put hooks in thy jaws, And have brought thee out, and all thy force, Horses and horsemen, Clothed in perfection all of them, A numerous assembly, [with] buckler and shield, Handling swords -- all of them.

5 Persia, Cush, and Phut, with them, All of them [with] shield and helmet.

6 Gomer and all its bands, The house of Togarmah of the sides of the north, And all its bands, many peoples with thee,

7 Be prepared, yea, prepare for thee, Thou and all thine assemblies who are assembled unto thee, And thou hast been to them for a guard.

8 After many days thou art appointed, In the latter end of the years thou comest in unto a land brought back from sword, [A people] gathered out of many peoples, Upon mountains of Israel, That have been for a perpetual waste, And it from the peoples hath been brought out, And dwelt safely have all of them.

9 And thou hast gone up -- as wasting thou comest in, As a cloud to cover the land art thou, Thou and all thy bands, and many peoples with thee.

10 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: And it hath come to pass in that day, Come up do things on thy heart, And thou hast thought an evil thought,

11 And thou hast said: I go up against a land of unwalled villages, I go in to those at rest, dwelling confidently, All of them are dwelling without walls, And bar and doors they have not.

12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey, To turn back thy hand on inhabited wastes, And on a people gathered out of nations, Making cattle and substance, Dwelling on a high part of the land.

13 Sheba, and Dedan, and merchants of Tarshish, And all its young lions say to thee: To take a spoil art thou come in? To take a prey assembled thine assembly? To bear away silver and gold? To take away cattle and substance? To take a great spoil?

14 Therefore, prophesy, son of man, and thou hast said to Gog: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: In that day, in the dwelling of My people Israel safely, Dost thou not know?

15 And thou hast come in out of thy place, From the sides of the north, Thou and many peoples with thee, Riding on horses -- all of them, A great assembly, and a numerous force.

16 And thou hast come up against My people Israel, As a cloud to cover the land, In the latter end of the days it is, And I have brought thee in against My land, In order that the nations may know Me, In My being sanctified in thee before their eyes, O Gog.

17 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Art thou he of whom I spake in former days, By the hand of My servants, prophets of Israel, Who are prophesying in those days -- years, To bring thee in against them?

18 And it hath come to pass, in that day, In the day of the coming in of Gog against the land of Israel, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Come up doth My fury in My face,

19 And in My zeal, in the fire of My wrath, I have spoken: Is there not in that day a great rushing on the land of Israel?

20 And rushed from My presence have fishes of the sea, And the fowl of the heavens, And the beast of the field, And every creeping thing that is creeping on the ground, And all men who [are] on the face of the ground, And thrown down have been the mountains, And fallen have the ascents, And every wall to the earth falleth.

21 And I have called against him, to all My mountains a sword, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, The sword of each is against his brother.

22 And I have been judged with him, With pestilence and with blood, And an overflowing rain and hailstones, Fire and brimstone I rain on him, and on his bands, And on many peoples who [are] with him.

23 And I have magnified Myself, and sanctified Myself, And I have been known before the eyes of many nations, And they have known that I [am] Jehovah!

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8972

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8972. Verse 1 And these are the judgements which you shall set before them means those more external truths such as must exist in a civic state where the Church is representative, which flow from the internal truths belonging to order in heaven. The fact that these things are meant by 'the judgements that were to be set before the children of Israel' is clear from the meaning of 'judgements' as truths, dealt with in 2235, 6397, 7206, 8685, 8695. The reason why 'judgements' are truths is that all judgement is effected by means of truths; therefore 'executing judgement' in the Word means executing truth, that is, judging in accordance with truths. But the plural 'judgements' means civil laws, thus those more external truths such as exist in a civic state. The words 'where the Church is representative' are added because these truths contain and embody within themselves the truths that belong to order in heaven, as may be recognized from the internal sense of them.

[2] The laws which the Lord delivered to the children of Israel and commanded them to keep were divided into commandments, judgements, and statutes. The term 'commandments' was given to those which were laws of life, 'judgements' to those which were laws of the civic state, and 'statutes' to those which were laws of worship. As regards judgements specifically, they are the kinds of laws that are contained in the present chapter and also some that follow. They served as laws in a Church in which inner realities, those of heaven and of the Church, were represented by outward things; but they do not serve as laws in a Church in which inner realities are no longer represented by outward things, as in the Christian Church. The reason for this is that inner realities have been revealed to people of this Church, and therefore inner realities are the channel through which contact is made with heaven, not outward things, as had been the situation before the Christian Church. Here is the reason why members of the Christian Church are not bound to adhere to the outward requirements of the laws called judgements and statutes, only to the inward ones. Holiness still remains within them because they hold holy truths within them, as also does every single command in the Word regarding the sacrifices. Although these are no longer prescriptive laws they remain holy constituents of the Word because of the Divine realities which they hold within themselves and which they represented. For when they are read by a Christian the Divine realities which are held within them and which were represented by them are discerned in heaven. They fill the angels with holiness, and at the same time the reader too through influx from the angels, especially if the reader himself is thinking at the same time about the Divine realities within them. From this it is evident that even the Old Testament Word is extremely holy.

[3] The fact that the laws which the Lord delivered to the children of Israel and commanded them to keep were divided into commandments that were laws of life, judgements that were laws of the civic state, and statutes that were laws of worship, is evident in Moses,

Jehovah said to Moses, Go, say to them, Go back into your tents. But you, stand here with Me, that I may tell you all the commandments, and statutes, and judgements which you shall teach them, so that they may do them. Deuteronomy 5:30-31.

In the same author,

Furthermore these are the commandments, statutes, and judgements which Jehovah your God commanded to teach you. Deuteronomy 6:1.

In the same author,

Therefore you shall keep the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them. Deuteronomy 7:11.

In David,

If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgements, if they profane My statutes and do not keep My commandments, I will visit their transgression with the rod. Psalms 89:30-32.

[4] Furthermore all the laws, in that they were those of a representative Church, were generally called judgements and statutes, as in Moses,

Now therefore, O Israel, hear the statutes and the judgements which I will teach you, that you may do them. What great nation [is there] that has righteous statutes and judgements, like all this law which I will set before you today? Deuteronomy 4:1, 8; 5:1.

In Ezekiel.

Jerusalem has changed My judgements into wickedness more than the nations, and My statutes more than the lands that are around her; for they have repudiated My judgements, and have not walked in My statutes. Ezekiel 5:6-7.

In the same prophet,

Let him 1 walk in My statutes and keep My judgements - to do the truth. Ezekiel 18:9.

In addition to these there are many other places, such as Leviticus 18:5; 19:37; 20:22; 25:18; 26:15; Deuteronomy 26:17; Ezekiel 11:12, 20; 20:11, 13, 25; 37:24.

Footnotes:

1. The Latin means them but the Hebrew means him

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