The Bible

 

Jeremiah 31

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1 At that time, an affirmation of Jehovah, I am for God to all families of Israel, And they -- they are to Me for a people.

2 Thus said Jehovah: Found grace in the wilderness Hath a people remaining from the sword Going to cause it to rest -- Israel.

3 From afar Jehovah hath appeared to me, With love age-during I have loved thee, Therefore I have drawn thee [with] kindness.

4 Again do I build thee, And thou hast been built, O virgin of Israel, Again thou puttest on thy tabrets, And hast gone out in the chorus of the playful.

5 Again thou dost plant vineyards In mountains of Samaria, Planters have planted, and made common.

6 For there is a day, Cried have watchmen on mount Ephraim, `Rise, and we go up to Zion, unto Jehovah our God;

7 For thus said Jehovah: Sing, O ye to Jacob, [with] joy, And cry aloud at the head of the nations, Sound ye, praise ye, and say, Save, O Jehovah, thy people, the remnant of Israel.

8 Lo, I am bringing them in from the north country, And have gathered them from the sides of the earth, Among them [are] blind and lame, Conceiving and travailing one -- together, A great assembly -- they turn back hither.

9 With weeping they come in, And with supplications I bring them, I cause them to go unto streams of waters, In a right way -- they stumble not in it, For I have been to Israel for a father, And Ephraim -- My first-born [is] he.

10 Hear a word of Jehovah, O nations, And declare ye among isles afar off, and say: He who is scattering Israel doth gather him, And hath kept him as a shepherd [doth] his flock,

11 For Jehovah hath ransomed Jacob, And redeemed him from a hand stronger than he.

12 And they have come in, And have sung in the high place of Zion, And flowed unto the goodness of Jehovah, For wheat, and for new wine, and for oil, And for the young of the flock and herd, And their soul hath been as a watered garden, And they add not to grieve any more.

13 Then rejoice doth a virgin in a chorus, Both young men and old men -- together, And I have turned their mourning to joy, And have comforted them, And gladdened them above their sorrow,

14 And satisfied the soul of the priests [with] fatness, And My people with My goodness are satisfied, An affirmation of Jehovah.

15 Thus said Jehovah, A voice in Ramah is heard, wailing, weeping most bitter, Rachel is weeping for her sons, She hath refused to be comforted for her sons, because they are not.

16 Thus said Jehovah: Withhold thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears, For there is a reward for thy work, An affirmation of Jehovah, And they have turned back from the land of the enemy.

17 And there is hope for thy latter end, An affirmation of Jehovah, And the sons have turned back [to] their border.

18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself, `Thou hast chastised me, And I am chastised, as a heifer not taught, Turn me back, and I Turn back, For thou [art] Jehovah my God.

19 For after my turning back I repented, And after my being instructed I struck on the thigh, I have been ashamed, I have also blushed, For I have borne the reproach of my youth.

20 A precious son is Ephraim to Me? A child of delights? For since My speaking against him, I do thoroughly remember him still, Therefore have My bowels been moved for him, I do greatly love him, An affirmation of Jehovah.

21 Set up for thee signs, make for thee heaps, Set thy heart to the highway, the way thou wentest, Turn back, O virgin of Israel, Turn back unto these thy cities.

22 Till when dost thou withdraw thyself, O backsliding daughter? For Jehovah hath prepared a new thing in the land, Woman doth compass man.

23 Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Still they say this word in the land of Judah, And in its cities, In My turning back [to] their captivity, Jehovah doth bless thee, habitation of righteousness, Mountain of holiness.

24 And dwelt in Judah have husbandmen, and in all its cities together, And they have journeyed in order.

25 For I have satiated the weary soul, And every grieved soul I have filled.'

26 On this I have awaked, and I behold, and my sleep hath been sweet to me.

27 Lo, days are coming, an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sown the house of Israel, And the house of Judah, With seed of man, and seed of beast.

28 And it hath been, as I watched over them to pluck up, And to break down, and to throw down, And to destroy, and to afflict; So do I watch over them to build, and to plant, An affirmation of Jehovah.

29 In those days they do not say any more: Fathers have eaten unripe fruit, And the sons' teeth are blunted.

30 But -- each for his own iniquity doth die, Every man who is eating the unripe fruit, Blunted are his teeth.

31 Lo, days are coming, an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have made with the house of Israel And with the house of Judah a new covenant,

32 Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers, In the day of My laying hold on their hand, To bring them out of the land of Egypt, In that they made void My covenant, And I ruled over them -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

33 For this [is] the covenant that I make, With the house of Israel, after those days, An affirmation of Jehovah, I have given My law in their inward part, And on their heart I do write it, And I have been to them for God, And they are to me for a people.

34 And they do not teach any more Each his neighbour, and each his brother, Saying, Know ye Jehovah, For they all Know Me, from their least unto their greatest, An affirmation of Jehovah; For I pardon their iniquity, And of their sin I make mention no more.

35 Thus said Jehovah, Who is giving the sun for a light by day, The statutes of moon and stars for a light by night, Quieting the sea when its billows roar, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name:

36 If these statutes depart from before Me, An affirmation of Jehovah, Even the seed of Israel doth cease From being a nation before Me all the days.

37 Thus said Jehovah: If the heavens above be measured, And the foundations of earth below searched, Even I kick against all the seed of Israel, For all that they have done, An affirmation of Jehovah.

38 Lo, days [are coming], an affirmation of Jehovah, And the city hath been built to Jehovah, From the tower of Hananeel to the gate of the corner.

39 And gone out again hath the measuring line Over-against it, unto the height of Gareb, And it hath compassed to Goah.

40 And all the valley of the carcases and of the ashes, And all the fields unto the brook Kidron, Unto the corner of the horse-gate eastward, [Are] holy to Jehovah, it is not plucked up, Nor is it thrown down any more to the age!

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #526

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526. "And to reward Your servants the prophets and saints." This symbolizes the happiness of eternal life for people who possess doctrinal truths from the Word and live in accordance with them.

The reward given symbolizes the happiness of eternal life, as shown below. Prophets symbolize people who possess doctrinal truths from the Word (nos. 8, 133), and saints people who live in accordance with them (no. 173).

The reward given here means the happiness of eternal life arising from the delight and gratification of a love and affection for goodness and truth. For every affection of love has its own accompanying delight and gratification, and an affection of love for goodness and truth is accompanied by a delight and gratification like that of angels in heaven. Moreover, every affection remains in a person after death. That is because the affection is one of love, and love is a person's life. Consequently everyone's life after death is of the same character as his dominant love in the world, and a dominant love for truth and goodness is possessed by people who have loved the Word's truths and lived in accordance with them.

Nothing else but a delight in goodness and a gratification by truth is meant by reward in the following passages:

Behold, the Lord Jehovih is coming in strength...; behold, His reward is with Him... (Isaiah 40:10, cf. 62:11)

Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me... (Revelation 22:12)

My judgment is with Jehovah, and the reward for my work with my God. (Isaiah 49:4)

...I, Jehovah, love justice...; I will give them the reward of their work... (Isaiah 61:8)

...do good, and... hoping for nothing in return, then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High. (Luke 6:35)

And so on elsewhere, as in Jeremiah 31:15-17 (Matthew 2:18); Matthew 5:2-12; 10:41-42.

  
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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.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #8

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8. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it. (1:3) This symbolizes their communion with angels in heaven who live according to the doctrine of the New Jerusalem.

"Blessed is he" here means someone who in respect to his spirit is in heaven, thus someone who, while living in the world, is in communion with angels in heaven, inasmuch as he is in heaven in respect to his spirit.

"The words of this prophecy" mean nothing else than the doctrine of the New Jerusalem, for in an abstract sense a prophet symbolizes the doctrine of the church drawn from the Word, thus here the doctrine of the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem. The same is meant by prophecy. To read, hear and keep those things which are written in it means, symbolically, to wish to know it, to pay attention to the things written in it, and to do the things that are found in it - in sum, to live according to it. It is apparent that people are not blessed if they simply read, hear and keep or preserve in memory the things seen by John (see below, no. 944).

[2] A prophet symbolizes the doctrine of the church drawn from the Word, and the same is meant by a prophecy, because the Word was written by prophets, and in heaven a person is regarded in relation to something pertaining to his occupation or function. So, too, every person, spirit and angel mentioned in the Word. Because it was a prophet's function to write and teach the Word, therefore when a prophet is mentioned, the Word in relation to doctrine is meant, or doctrine drawn from the Word.

It is for this reason that the Lord, being the embodiment of the Word, was called a prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15-20, 1 Matthew 13:57, 2 21:11, 3 Luke 13:33 4 ).

To show that a prophet means the doctrine of the church drawn from the Word, we will cite several passages from which this may be concluded. In Matthew:

(At the end of the age) many false prophets will rise up and lead many astray... ...false christs and false prophets will rise... and lead astray, if possible, ...the elect. (Matthew 24:11, 24)

The end of the age is the final period of the church, which is the one that exists now, when there are not false prophets but doctrinal falsities.

[3] In the same gospel:

Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And whoever receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. (Matthew 10:41)

To receive a prophet in the name of a prophet is to accept doctrinal truth because it is true; to receive a righteous man in the name of a righteous man is to accept goodness because of its goodness; and to receive a reward is to be saved in accordance with that acceptance. Obviously no one receives a reward or is saved because he received a prophet or righteous man in the name of such.

Without a concept of what a prophet and righteous man mean, no one could understand these words, or those that follow:

Whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple..., shall by no means lose his reward. (Matthew 10:42)

A disciple means charity and at the same time faith from the Lord.

[4] In Joel:

...I will pour out My spirit on all flesh, so that your sons and your daughters prophesy... (Joel 2:28)

This is said of the church about to be established by the Lord, in which they did not prophesy but received doctrine, which is "to prophesy."

In Matthew:

(Jesus said,) "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name...?' But then I will confess to them, 'I have not known you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity!'" (Matthew 7:22-23)

Who does not see that they are not going to say they have prophesied, but that they have known the doctrine of the church and taught it?

In Revelation:

...the time has come to judge the dead and give the reward to... the prophets... (Revelation 11:18)

In another place:

Rejoice..., O heaven, ...you holy apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you... (Revelation 18:20)

It is plain that a reward is not to be given solely to prophets when the Last Judgment is about to take place, or that only apostles and prophets are going to rejoice, but that all will be rewarded and rejoice who have accepted doctrinal truths and lived according to them. These, therefore, are meant by apostles and prophets.

[5] In Exodus:

Jehovah said to Moses: ."..I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet." (Exodus 7:1)

"A god" means Divine truth in its reception from the Lord, and in this sense angels, too, are called gods; and a prophet means one who teaches and gives voice to that truth. It is because of this that Aaron is there termed a prophet.

A prophet has the same symbolic meaning elsewhere, as in the following:

...the law shall not perish from the priest..., nor the Word from the prophet. (Jeremiah 18:18)

...from the prophets of Jerusalem hypocrisy has gone out into all the land. (Jeremiah 23:15-16)

...the prophets will become wind, and the Word will not be in them. (Jeremiah 5:13)

The priest and the prophet err through intoxicating drink, they are swallowed up by wine..., they stumble in judgment. (Isaiah 28:7)

The sun is going down on the prophets, and the day is becoming dark upon them. (Micah 3:6)

From the prophet even to the priest, everyone works a falsehood. (Jeremiah 8:10)

[6] In these passages prophets and priests mean, in the spiritual sense, not prophets and priests but the entire church - prophets the church in respect to doctrinal truth, and priests the church in respect to goodness of life, both of which had been lost. These statements are so understood by angels in heaven when people read them in the world according to their literal sense.

To be shown that prophets represented the state of the church in respect to doctrine, and that the Lord represented it in respect to the Word itself, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 15-17.

Footnotes:

1. The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, "Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die." And the LORD said to me: "What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die."

2. So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house."

3. So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."

4. Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.

  
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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.