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Jeremiah 49

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1 Concerning the sons of Ammon: `Thus said Jehovah: Sons -- hath Israel none? heir -- hath he none? Wherefore hath Malcam possessed Gad? And his people in its cities have dwelt?

2 Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sounded unto Rabbah of the sons of Ammon a shout of battle, And it hath been for a heap -- a desolation, And her daughters with fire are burnt, And Israel hath succeeded its heirs, Said hath Jehovah.

3 Howl, Heshbon, for spoiled is Ai, Cry, daughters of Rabbah, gird on sackcloth, Lament, and go to and fro by the hedges, For Malcam into captivity doth go, His priests and his princes together.

4 What -- dost thou boast thyself in valleys? Flowed hath thy valley, O backsliding daughter, Who is trusting in her treasures: Who doth come in unto me?

5 Lo, I am bringing in upon thee a fear, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, From all round about thee, And ye have been driven out each before it, And there is no gatherer of the wandering.

6 And after this I turn back the captivity of the sons of Ammon, An affirmation of Jehovah.'

7 Concerning Edom: `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? Perished hath counsel from the intelligent? Vanished hath their wisdom?

8 Flee, turn, go deep to dwell, ye inhabitants of Dedan, For the calamity of Esau I brought in upon him, The time I inspected him.

9 If gatherers have come in to thee, They do not leave gleanings, If thieves in the night, They have destroyed their sufficiency!

10 For I -- I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, And to be hidden he is not able, Spoiled [is] his seed, and his brethren, And his neighbours, and he is not.

11 Leave thine orphans -- I do keep alive, And thy widows -- on Me trust ye,

12 For thus said Jehovah: They whose judgment is not to drink of the cup, Do certainly drink, And thou [art] he that is entirely acquitted! Thou art not acquitted, for thou certainly drinkest.

13 For, by Myself, I have sworn, An affirmation of Jehovah, That for a desolation, for a reproach, For a waste, and for a reviling -- is Bozrah, And all her cities are for wastes age-during.

14 A report I have heard from Jehovah, And an ambassador among nations is sent, Gather yourselves and come in against her, And rise ye for battle.

15 For, lo, little I have made thee among nations, Despised among men.

16 Thy terribleness hath lifted thee up, The pride of thy heart, O dweller in clefts of the rock, Holding the high place of the height, For thou makest high as an eagle thy nest, From thence I bring thee down, An affirmation of Jehovah.

17 And Edom hath been for a desolation, Every passer by her is astonished, And doth hiss because of all her plagues.

18 As the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, And its neighbours, said Jehovah, No one doth dwell there, Nor sojourn in her doth a son of man.

19 Lo, as a lion he cometh up, Because of the rising of the Jordan, Unto the enduring habitation, But I cause to rest, I cause him to run from off her, And who is chosen? concerning her I lay a charge, For who is like Me? and who conveneth Me? And who [is] this shepherd who standeth before Me?

20 Therefore, hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, That He hath counselled concerning Edom, And His devices that He hath devised Concerning the inhabitants of Teman: Drag them out do not little ones of the flock, Make desolate over them doth he not their habitation?

21 From the noise of their fall hath the earth shaken, The cry -- at the sea of Suph is its voice heard.

22 Lo, as an eagle he cometh up, and flieth, And he spreadeth his wings over Bozrah, And the heart of the mighty of Edom hath been in that day, As the heart of a distressed woman!'

23 Concerning Damascus: Ashamed hath been Hamath and Arpad, For an evil report they have heard, They have been melted, in the sea [is] sorrow, To be quiet it is not able.

24 Feeble hath been Damascus, She turned to flee, and fear strengthened her, Distress and pangs have seized her, as a travailing woman.

25 How is it not left -- the city of praise, The city of my joy!

26 Therefore fall do her young men in her broad places, And all the men of war are cut off in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts.

27 And I have kindled a fire against the wall of Damascus, And it consumed palaces of Ben-Hadad!'

28 Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath smitten: `Thus said Jehovah: Arise ye, go ye up unto Kedar, And spoil the sons of the east.

29 Their tents and their flock they do take, Their curtains, and all their vessels, And their camels, they bear away for themselves, And they called concerning them, Fear [is] round about.

30 Flee, bemoan mightily, go deep to dwell, Ye inhabitants of Hazor -- an affirmation of Jehovah, For given counsel against you hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, Yea, he deviseth against them a device.

31 Rise ye, go up unto a nation at rest, Dwelling confidently, an affirmation of Jehovah, It hath no two-leaved doors nor bar, Alone they do dwell.

32 And their camels have been for a prey, And the multitude of their cattle for a spoil, And I have scattered them to every wind, Who cut off the corner [of the beard], And from all its passages I bring in their calamity, An affirmation of Jehovah.

33 And Hazor hath been for a habitation of dragons, A desolation -- unto the age, No one doth dwell there, nor sojourn in it doth a son of man!'

34 That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:

35 `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Lo, I am breaking the bow of Elam, The beginning of their might.

36 And I have brought in to Elam four winds, From the four ends of the heavens, And have scattered them to all these winds, And there is no nation whither outcasts of Elam come not in.

37 And I have affrighted Elam before their enemies, And before those seeking their life, And I have brought in against them evil, The heat of Mine anger, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sent after them the sword, Till I have consumed them;

38 And I have set My throne in Elam, And I have destroyed thence King and princes -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

39 And it hath come to pass, in the latter end of the days, I turn back [to] the captivity of Elam, An affirmation of Jehovah!'

   

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Arcana Coelestia #6405

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6405. 'A troop will ravage him' means that works performed without judgement will dislodge him from a state of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'a troop' as works, dealt with in 3934, here works performed without judgement, for those who perform works that are motivated by truth but not as yet by good have a darkened understanding, whereas those whose works are motivated by good have an enlightened understanding because that good gives it light (the light of truth from the Lord flows by way of good into the understanding part of the mind, then on into truth, but not directly into truth, much as sunlight flows by means of heat into members of the vegetable kingdom - such as trees, young plants, and flowers - and causes them to grow and blossom; the direct inflow of sunlight does not cause them to do so, for when light flows in without heat, as in wintertime, nothing grows or blossoms); and from the meaning of 'ravaging him' as dislodging him from a state of truth.

[2] But one must state who exactly those people are who are meant here by 'Gad'. They are those who suffer delusions regarding what is true and yet are led by their deluded view of it to perform works, so that these are not works of truth, much less of good. Through those works they are dislodged from a state of truth, for as soon as the person guided by truth but not as yet by good is moved on religious grounds to put some idea into practice, he then defends that idea as though it were the absolute truth. He sticks to it and does not allow it to be altered except insofar as he moves on into good. For by putting the idea into practice he becomes engrossed in it and enamoured with it. In this way works dislodge him from a state of truth. But quite apart from all this, he believes things to be true which are not so; for these people too, like those meant by 'Dan', judge a thing from their senses, thus without judgement. Let some examples shed light on the matter. Take a person who has the idea that one person is his neighbour in exactly the same way as any other and who for that reason does what is good in exactly the same way to the evil as to the good, and by doing good to the evil, he does harm to others. After he has put the idea into practice several times he then defends it, saying that everyone is his neighbour, and that he is not concerned with what a person is like, only with doing good to him. Thus his works are performed without judgement, and he also acts in ways contrary to the real truth, for the real truth is that all are one's neighbour but each is so in a different degree, and that those governed by good are pre-eminently one's neighbour, 2417, 3419, 3820, 5025.

[3] 'Gad' also means those who think that the whole of salvation rests in works alone, like the Pharisee to whom the Lord referred in His parable,

The Pharisee stood and prayed these words to himself, God, I thank You that I am not like all other people - extortioners, unjust ones, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice in a week; I give tithes of all that I possess. Luke 18:11-12.

Thus he thought that absolute truths consisted in external actions. People such as he are also in the Lord's kingdom, though only on the edge of it, which is why the Lord says,

I tell you, the tax collector went down to his house [more] justified than the other. Luke 18:14.

In saying this He implied that the Pharisee too went down justified, since he had performed works because of the command to do them. In short, 'Gad' represents those who declare that to be true which is not in fact so and who are motivated to perform works by what is not in fact the truth. Consequently their works and truths are alike, for works are nothing else than will and understanding expressed in action. What saves those people is their intention to do what is good and the presence of a measure of innocence within their ignorance.

[4] People motivated to perform works of an external nature by what they believe to be true but which is not in fact so are also meant by 'Gad' in Isaiah,

You who forsake Jehovah, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Gad, and who fill a drink-offering for Meni. Isaiah 65:11.

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'Setting a table for Gad' stands for an interest solely in works. And in Jeremiah,

Against the sons of Ammon. Thus said Jehovah, Israel, has he no heir? Why then does his king inherit God, and his people dwell in his cities? Jeremiah 49:1.

'Inheriting Gad' stands for leading a life in which works are motivated by what are not truths. 'The sons of Ammon' are people who falsify truths and lead lives in accordance with those falsified truths, 2468, and these things said about Gad in this prophet apply to them.

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