127. Internal Meaning of Ezekiel, Chapter 4
Representation of the perverted church in the church. (2)
1-2 He should represent the falsities of the church, and the church besieged by them. (2)
3 He should represent the hardness of their heart, from which it is that they have no fear; (2)
4-8 he should also represent the church besieged by falsities of evil and evils of falsity. (2)
9-16 He should represent the falsification and adulteration of the sense of the letter of the Word, (2)
1
Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
2
And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.
3
Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
4
Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.
5
For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6
And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
7
Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
8
And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.
9
Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
10
And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
11
Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
12
And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
13
And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
14
Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
15
Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.
16
Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:
17
That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.
777. 18:13 "And cinnamon, fragrances, ointment and frankincense." This symbolically means that these Roman Catholics no longer have any worship that springs from spiritual goods and truths, because they have nothing inwardly in their worship that corresponds to the aforesaid things.
The preceding verse had as it subject everything having to do with the church's doctrine. Now this verse has as its subject everything having to do with the church's worship.
Things having to do with doctrine are put first, and things having to do with worship follow, since worship has its character from the goods and truths of doctrine. For the church's worship is nothing but an outward act whose internal elements ought to be those of doctrine. Without them the worship is lacking its essence, life and soul.
Now because everything having to do with doctrine has relation to goods that are matters of love and charity and to truths that are matters of wisdom and faith, and these goods and truths are celestial, spiritual, or natural, according to the degrees of their succession, so too are all the ingredients of worship. Moreover, because the preceding verse mentions spiritual things having to do with doctrine first, so this verse mentions spiritual things having to do with worship first, namely cinnamon, fragrances, ointment and frankincense, and secondly then celestial things having to do with worship, namely wine, oil, flour and wheat, and thirdly natural things having to do with worship, namely cattle and sheep. That all these goods and truths having to do with worship must come from the Word is symbolized by their being merchandise of horses and wagons and the bodies and souls of people. This is the sequence of subjects in the spiritual sense of this verse.
All the valuables listed in this verse have the same meaning as the valuables listed in the preceding verse, namely, that these goods and truths are lacking in these Roman Catholics, because they do not have in them the goods and truths that correspond to the things listed. This is apparent from preceding verses, where we are told that the city Babylon will be burned with fire and that no one will buy her merchandise anymore (verses 8-11). It is apparent also from verses that follow, where we are told that all things rich and splendid have gone from her and shall be found no more (verse 14), and that they were destroyed (verses 16, 19).
[2] Now, however, we must say something about the valuables listed here, namely cinnamon, fragrances, ointment and frankincense. These are specified because they are the ingredients used in making incense. Incense symbolizes a worship of the Lord that springs from spiritual goods and truths, as may be seen in nos. 277, 392 above. And incense offerings were pleasing because they consisted of fragrant ingredients that corresponded to those goods and truths, as may be seen in no. 394.
All the fragrant ingredients used in the preparation of incense are meant by cinnamon, fragrances, and ointment, and their base by frankincense. This is apparent from the list in Exodus of the aromatic ingredients of which it was made:
Jehovah said to Moses: "Take sweet spices - stacte, onycha and galbanum - ...and pure frankincense... And you shall make of these a fragrance, an ointment the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. (Exodus 30:34-37)
They used these ingredients to make incense, which, as we said, symbolized a worship springing from spiritual goods and truths. Cinnamon is substituted here for all the fragrant ingredients listed there.
What each of these aromatic ingredients symbolizes in the spiritual sense may be seen in Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), in the treatment of Exodus where they are explained one by one.
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