The Bible

 

Jeremiah 48

Study

   

1 Concerning Moab: `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Wo unto Nebo, for it is spoiled, Put to shame, captured hath been Kiriathaim, Put to shame hath been the high tower, Yea, it hath been broken down.

2 There is no more praise of Moab, In Heshbon they devised against it evil: Come, and we cut it off from [being] a nation, Also, O Madmen, thou art cut off, After thee goeth a sword.

3 A voice of a cry [is] from Horonaim, Spoiling and great destruction.

4 Destroyed hath been Moab, Caused a cry to be heard have her little ones.

5 For the ascent of Luhith with weeping, Go up doth weeping, For in the descent of Horonaim Adversaries a cry of desolation have heard.

6 Flee ye, deliver yourselves, Ye are as a naked thing in a wilderness.

7 For, because of thy trusting in thy works, And in thy treasures, even thou art captured, And gone out hath Chemosh in a removal, His priests and his heads together.

8 And come in doth a spoiler unto every city, And no city doth escape, And perished hath the valley, And destroyed been the plain, as Jehovah said.

9 Give wings to Moab, for she utterly goeth out, And her cities are for a desolation, Without an inhabitant in them.

10 Cursed [is] he who is doing the work of Jehovah slothfully, And cursed [is] he Who is withholding his sword from blood.

11 Secure is Moab from his youth, And at rest [is] he for his preserved things, And he hath not been emptied out from vessel unto vessel, And into captivity he hath not gone, Therefore hath his taste remained in him, And his fragrance hath not been changed.

12 Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sent to him wanderers, And they have caused him to wander, And his vessels they empty out, And his bottles they dash in pieces.

13 And ashamed hath been Moab because of Chemosh, As the house of Israel have been ashamed Because of Beth-El their confidence.

14 How do ye say, We [are] mighty, And men of strength for battle?

15 Spoiled is Moab, and her cities hath one gone up, And the choice of its young men Have gone down to slaughter, An affirmation of the King, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name.

16 Near is the calamity of Moab to come, And his affliction hath hasted exceedingly.

17 Bemoan for him, all ye round about him, And all knowing his name, say ye: How hath it been broken, the staff of strength, The rod of beauty.

18 Come down from honour, sit in thirst, O inhabitant, daughter of Dibon, For a spoiler of Moab hath come up to thee, He hath destroyed thy fenced places.

19 On the way stand, and watch, O inhabitant of Aroer, Ask the fugitive and escaped, Say, What hath happened?

20 Put to shame hath been Moab, For it hath been broken down, Howl and cry, declare ye in Arnon, For spoiled is Moab,

21 And judgment hath come in unto the land of the plain -- unto Holon, And unto Jahazah, and on Mephaath,

22 And on Dibon, and on Nebo, And on Beth-Diblathaim, and on Kirathaim,

23 And on Beth-Gamul, and on Beth-Meon,

24 And on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, And on all cities of the land of Moab, The far off and the near.

25 Cut down hath been the horn of Moab, And his arm hath been broken, An affirmation of Jehovah.

26 Declare ye him drunk, For against Jehovah he made himself great And Moab hath stricken in his vomit, And he hath been for a derision -- even he.

27 And was not Israel the derision to thee? Among thieves was he found? For since thy words concerning him, Thou dost bemoan thyself.

28 Forsake cities, and dwell in a rock, Ye inhabitants of Moab, And be as a dove making a nest in the passages of a pit's mouth.

29 We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, Exceeding proud! His haughtiness, and his arrogance, And his pride, and the height of his heart,

30 I -- I have known, an affirmation of Jehovah, His wrath, and [it is] not right, His devices -- not right they have done.

31 Therefore for Moab I howl, even for Moab -- all of it, I cry for men of Kir-Heres, it doth mourn,

32 With the weeping of Jazer, I weep for thee, O vine of Sibmah, Thy branches have passed over a sea, Unto the sea of Jazer they have come, On thy summer fruits, and on thy harvest, A spoiler hath fallen.

33 And removed hath been joy and gladness From the fruitful field, Even from the land of Moab, And wine from wine-presses I have caused to cease, Shouting doth not proceed, The shouting [is] no shouting!

34 Because of the cry of Heshbon unto Elealeh, Unto Jahaz they have given their voice, From Zoar unto Horonaim, A heifer of the third [year], For even waters of Nimrim become desolations.

35 And I have caused to cease to Moab, An affirmation of Jehovah, Him who is offering in a high place, And him who is making perfume to his god.

36 Therefore my heart for Moab as pipes doth sound, And my heart for men of Kir-Heres As pipes doth sound, Therefore the abundance he made did perish.

37 For every head [is] bald, and every beard diminished, On all hands cuttings, and on the loins -- sackcloth.

38 On all roofs of Moab, and in her broad-places, All of it -- [is] lamentation, For I have broken Moab as a vessel in which there is no pleasure, An affirmation of Jehovah.

39 How hath it been broken down! they have howled, How hath Moab turned the neck ashamed, And Moab hath been for a derision. And for a terror to all round about her.

40 For thus said Jehovah: Lo, as an eagle he doth flee, And hath spread his wings unto Moab.

41 Captured have been the cities, And the strongholds are caught, And the heart of the mighty of Moab Hath been in that day as the heart of a distressed woman.

42 And Moab hath been destroyed from [being] a people, For against Jehovah he exerted himself.

43 Fear, and a snare, and a gin, [are] for thee, O inhabitant of Moab -- an affirmation of Jehovah,

44 Whoso is fleeing because of the fear falleth into the snare, And whoso is coming up from the snare is captured by the gin, For I bring in unto her -- unto Moab -- The year of their inspection, An affirmation of Jehovah.

45 In the shadow of Heshbon stood powerless have fugitives, For fire hath gone forth from Heshbon, And a flame from within Sihon, And it consumeth the corner of Moab, And the crown of the sons of Shaon.

46 Wo to thee, O Moab, Perished hath the people of Chemosh, For thy sons were taken with the captives, And thy daughters with the captivity.

47 And I have turned back [to] the captivity of Moab, In the latter end of the days, An affirmation of Jehovah! Hitherto [is] the judgment of Moab.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #194

Study this Passage

  
/ 962  
  

194. "'And the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem.'" This symbolically means that they will have the doctrine of the New Church engraved on their hearts.

The New Jerusalem symbolizes the New Church, and when it is called a city, it symbolizes the New Church in respect to its doctrine. Therefore to "write on him the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem," means, symbolically, that they will have the doctrine of the New Church engraved on their hearts.

To be shown that Jerusalem symbolizes the church, and that as a city it means the church in respect to its doctrine, see nos. 880, 881, below.

A city symbolizes doctrine because a land, and particularly the land of Canaan, symbolizes a church in its entirety; and the inheritances into which the land of Canaan was divided consequently symbolized various components of the church, and the cities in it doctrines. Because of this, when cities are mentioned in the Word, the angels understand them to mean nothing else. I have also had this attested for me through a good deal of experience.

The case with this is the same as with the symbolic meanings of mountains, hills, valleys, springs, and rivers, all of which symbolize such things as have to do with the church.

[2] That cities symbolize doctrines can be seen to some extent from the following passages:

The land shall be... emptied..., the land shall be turned upside down..., the land shall be profaned... The empty city shall be broken down... What is left in the city shall be waste, and the gate shall be stricken even to its destruction. (Isaiah 3; 4; 5; 10; 11; 12)

The lion has come up from his thicket..., to make your land a wasteland. Your cities will be destroyed... I beheld... Carmel a wilderness, and all its cities desolate... ...the land shall mourn... The whole city shall flee..., forsaken... (Jeremiah 4:7, 26-29)

The land there is the church, and the city is its doctrine. The devastation of the church by doctrinal falsities is described in this way.

The despoiler shall come upon every city, so that no city escapes. The valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed... (Jeremiah 48:8)

Likewise:

Behold, I have made you this day as a fortified city... against the whole land... (Jeremiah 1:18)

This was addressed to the prophet because a prophet symbolizes the doctrine of the church (no. 8).

On that day they will sing... in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks." (Isaiah 26:1-2)

...the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. (Revelation 16:18-19)

(The prophet saw) on a very high mountain... the structure of a city to the south... (And an angel measured the wall, the gates, their chambers, and the vestibule of the gate,) and the name of the city... shall be JEHOVAH IS THERE. (Ezekiel 40:1ff., 48:35)

There is a river whose streams have made glad the city of God? (Psalms 46:4-5)

I will embroil Egypt with Egypt, so that... city (fights) against city, and kingdom against kingdom. (Isaiah 19:2)

Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city... divided against itself will not stand. (Matthew 12:25)

Cities in these passages mean, in the spiritual sense, doctrines, as is the case also in Isaiah 6:11; 14:4, 17, 21; 19:18-19; 25:1-3; 33:8-9; 54:3; 64:10, and elsewhere.

[3] From the symbolic meaning of a city it can be seen what cities mean in this parable of the Lord:

A... nobleman (going) into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom..., delivered to (his servants) minas (with which to) do business... ...when he returned..., he (called the) servants... The first came, saying, ."..your mina has earned ten minas," and he said to him, ."..good servant..., you shall have authority over ten cities." And the second came, saying, ."..your mina has earned five minas." And he said... to him, "You also be over five cities." (Luke 19:12-19)

Cities here likewise symbolize doctrines or doctrinal truths, and to be over them is to be intelligent and wise. Thus to give power over them is to impart intelligence and wisdom. Ten symbolizes much, and five some. It is apparent that to do business and earn a profit means to acquire intelligence for oneself by making use of one's abilities.

[4] That the holy city Jerusalem symbolizes the doctrine of the New Church is clearly apparent from its description in chapter 21 of the book of Revelation, for it is described in respect to its dimensions, its gates, and its wall and foundations, and inasmuch as Jerusalem symbolizes the church, these can symbolize nothing other than matters having to do with its doctrine. Neither is the church a church on any other basis.

Because the city Jerusalem means the church in respect to doctrine, it is therefore called the City of Truth (Zechariah 8:3-4), and in many places a holy city, and this because holiness is predicated of truths derived from the Lord (no. 173).

  
/ 962  
  

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