The Bible

 

Ezekiel 43

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1 And he causeth me to go to the gate, the gate that is looking eastward.

2 And lo, the honour of the God of Israel hath come from the way of the east, and His voice [is] as the noise of many waters, and the earth hath shone from His honour.

3 And according to the appearance [is] the appearance that I saw, as the appearance that I saw in my coming in to destroy the city, and the appearances [are] as the appearance that I saw at the river Chebar, and I fall on my face.

4 And the honour of Jehovah hath come in unto the house, the way of the gate whose face [is] eastward.

5 And take me up doth the Spirit, and bringeth me in unto the inner court, and lo, the honour of Jehovah hath filled the house.

6 And I hear one speaking unto me from the house, and a man hath been standing near me,

7 and He saith unto me: `Son of man, the place of My throne, And the place of the soles of My feet, Where I dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel to the age, Defile no more do the house of Israel My holy name, They, and their kings, by their whoredom, And by the carcases of their kings -- their high places.

8 In their putting their threshold with My threshold, And their door-post near My door-post, And the wall between Me and them, And they have defiled My holy name, By their abominations that they have done, And I consume them in Mine anger.

9 Now do they put far off their whoredom, And the carcases of their kings -- from Me, And I have dwelt in their midst to the age.

10 Thou, son of man, Shew the house of Israel the house, And they are ashamed of their iniquities, And they have measured the measurement.

11 And since they have been ashamed of all that they have done, The form of the house, and its measurement, And its outlets, and its inlets, and all its forms, And all its statutes, even all its forms, And all its laws cause them to know, And write [it] before their eyes, And they observe all its forms, And all its statutes, and have done them.

12 This [is] a law of the house: on the top of the mountain, all its border all round about [is] most holy; lo, this [is] a law of the house.

13 `And these [are] measures of the altar by cubits: The cubit [is] a cubit and a handbreadth, and the centre [is] a cubit, and a cubit the breadth; and its border on its edge round about [is] one span, and this [is] the upper part of the altar.

14 And from the centre of the ground unto the lower border [is] two cubits, and the breadth one cubit, and from the lesser border unto the greater border four cubits, and the breadth a cubit.

15 `And the altar [is] four cubits, and from the altar and upward [are] four horns.

16 And the altar [is] twelve long by twelve broad, square in its four squares.

17 And the border [is] fourteen long by fourteen broad, at its four squares, and the border round about it [is] half a cubit, and the centre to it [is] a cubit round about, and its steps are looking eastward.'

18 And He saith unto me, `Son of man, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: These [are] statutes of the altar in the day of its being made to cause burnt-offering to go up on it, and to sprinkle on it blood.

19 And thou hast given unto the priests, the Levites, who [are] of the seed of Zadok -- who are near unto Me, an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, to serve Me -- a calf from the herd, for a sin-offering.

20 And thou hast taken of its blood, and hast put it on its four horns, and on the four corners of its border, and on the border round about, and hast cleansed it, and purified it.

21 And thou hast taken the bullock of the sin-offering, and hast burnt it in the appointed place of the house at the outside of the sanctuary.

22 And on the second day thou dost bring near a kid of the goats, a perfect one, for a sin-offering, and they have cleansed the altar, as they cleansed [it] for the bullock.

23 In thy finishing cleansing, thou dost bring near a calf, a son of the herd, a perfect one, and a ram out of the flock, a perfect one.

24 And thou hast brought them near before Jehovah, and the priests have cast upon them salt, and have caused them to go up, a burnt-offering to Jehovah.

25 Seven days thou dost prepare a goat for a sin-offering daily, and a bullock, a son of the herd, and a ram out of the flock, perfect ones, do they prepare.

26 Seven days they purify the altar, and have cleansed it, and filled their hand.

27 And the days are completed, and it hath come to pass on the eighth day, and henceforth, the priests prepare on the altar your burnt-offerings and your peace-offerings, and I have accepted you -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #487

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487. "But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it." (11:2) This symbolically means that the state of the church on earth, as it is still, must be set aside and not learned.

The court outside the temple symbolizes the church on earth, because that church is outside heaven, heaven being the temple (no. 486). To leave out means, symbolically, to remove, here to remove from heaven, because its state is of such a character. And not to measure means, symbolically, not to learn or investigate its character (no. 486). The reason follows: "for has been given to the gentiles, and they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months."

That the court outside the temple here symbolizes the church on earth as it is still, is apparent from the following particulars in this chapter, where it is described by the great city called Sodom and Egypt, in which the Lord's two witnesses lay dead, and which afterward fell in a great earthquake, and seven thousand people by name were killed in it - and many other particulars besides.

[2] Elsewhere in the Word the court symbolizes the outward aspect of the church. For there were two courts 1 to be crossed when entering the Temple itself in Jerusalem, and as the Temple symbolized the church in respect to its inner aspect, therefore the courts symbolized the church in respect to its outward one. Consequently strangers who came from the surrounding nations were admitted into the courts, but not into the Temple itself.

Moreover, because the court symbolized the outward aspect of the church, it symbolized therefore also the church on earth, and heaven as well in its outmost manifestations, inasmuch as the church on earth is an entryway into heaven, and so is heaven in its outmost manifestations.

[3] A court has this symbolic meaning in the following places:

Blessed is he whom You choose... He shall dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, with the holiness of Your temple. (Psalms 65:4)

Praise the name of Jehovah..., O you... who stand in (His) house, in the courts of the house of our God. (Psalms 135:1-2)

How lovely are Your habitations, O Jehovah...! My soul... indeed faints for the courts of Jehovah. (Psalms 84:1-2)

Enter into His gates with confession, His courts with praise. (Psalms 100:4)

The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree... Those who are planted in the house of Jehovah shall sprout in the courts of our God. (Psalms 92:12-13)

...a day in Your courts is better than thousands. I have chosen to stand at the door in the house of my God... (Psalms 84:10)

And so on elsewhere, as in Psalms 96:8; 116:18-19, Isaiah 1:12; 62:9, Zechariah 3:7, Ezekiel 10:3-5.

Regarding the courts of the Temple in Jerusalem, see 1 Kings 6:36; 7:12.

Regarding the courts of the new Temple, Ezekiel 40:17-44; 42:1-14; 43:4-7.

And regarding the court outside the Tabernacle, Exodus 27:9-18.

Footnotes:

1. I.e., the inner court or court of priests, and the outer court or great court. See 1 Kings 6:36; 7:12

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.