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Exodus 33

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1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, Go, go·​·up from hence, thou and the people which thou hast made to come·​·up out of the land of Egypt, to the land which I promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, To thy seed will I give it;

2 and I will send before thee an angel; and I will drive·​·out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite;

3 to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go·​·up in the midst of thee; for a stiff necked people art thou; lest I should consume· thee ·all in the way.

4 And the people heard this evil word, and they mourned; and they put not any man his decoration upon him.

5 And Jehovah said to Moses, Say to the sons of Israel, You are a stiff necked people; I will come·​·up into the midst of thee in one moment, and will consume· thee ·all; and now bring·​·down thine decorations from on thee, and I shall know what I will do to thee.

6 And the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their decoration, by Mount Horeb*.

7 And Moses took the tent, and stretched it for himself outside the camp, to be·​·far·​·away from the camp; and he called it the tent of the congregation. And it was, that everyone seeking Jehovah went·​·out to the tent of the congregation that was outside the camp.

8 And it was, as Moses went·​·out to the tent, all the people rose·​·up, and each·​·man stood·​·up at the entrance of his tent, and looked behind Moses, until he came·​·into the tent.

9 And it was, as Moses came·​·into the tent, the pillar of cloud went·​·down, and stood at the entrance of the tent, and spoke with Moses.

10 And all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent; and all the people rose·​·up and bowed· themselves ·down, each·​·man at the entrance of his tent.

11 And Jehovah spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his companion. And he returned to the camp; and his minister Joshua the son of Nun, a lad, departed not from the midst of the tent.

12 And Moses said to Jehovah, See, Thou sayest to me, Make this people come up; and Thou hast· not ·made·​·known to me whom Thou wilt send with me. And Thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast· also ·found grace in My eyes.

13 And now, I pray, if I have found grace in Thine eyes, make·​·known to me, I pray, Thy way, that I may know Thee, because I have found grace in Thine eyes; and see that this nation is Thy people.

14 And He said, My faces shall go, and I will give thee rest.

15 And he said to Him, If Thy faces go not, do not make us go up from hence.

16 And in what shall it then become·​·known that I have·​·found grace in Thine eyes, I and Thy people? is it not in Thy going with us? And we shall be set·​·apart, I and Thy people, above all the people that are on the faces of the ground.

17 And Jehovah said to Moses, I will do this word also that thou hast spoken; because thou hast·​·found grace in My eyes, and I know thee by name.

18 And he said, Make me see, I pray, Thy glory.

19 And He said, I will make all My goodness to pass upon thy faces, and will proclaim in the name of Jehovah before thee; and I will be·​·gracious to whom I am·​·gracious, and I will have·​·compassion with whom I have·​·compassion.

20 And He said, Thou art· not ·able to see My faces; for man shall not see Me and live.

21 And Jehovah said, Behold, a place with Me, and thou shalt stand·​·up on the rock;

22 and it shall be when My glory passes·​·by, that I will set thee in a cleft of the rock, and will shelter with My palm over thee, until I have passed·​·by.

23 And I will remove the palm of My hand, and thou shalt see My back; and My faces shall not be seen.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

Nga veprat e Swedenborg

 

Divine Providence #132

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132. We can see this characteristic of miracles very clearly in the miracles that were witnessed by the Jews and Israelites. Even though they saw so many miracles in the land of Egypt and then at the Reed Sea, and even more in the wilderness, and especially at Mount Sinai when the Law was given--all the same, after that month when Moses stayed on the mountain, they made themselves a golden calf and acknowledged it instead of Jehovah, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt (Exodus 32:4-5, 6). We can see this also from the miracles that were done later in the land of Canaan, when the Israelites still fell away from their required worship so often. The same holds for the miracles that the Lord did in their presence when he was in the world: even so, they crucified him.

[2] The reason these miracles were done is that the Jews and Israelites were totally focused on earthly concerns. They were brought into the land of Canaan simply to portray the church and its deeper values by means of their outward worship; and evil people can portray this just as well as good ones because these outward activities are rituals, all pointing to spiritual and heavenly realities for them. So even though Aaron had made the golden calf and commanded the people to worship it (Exodus 32:2-3, 4-5, 35), he could still portray the Lord and his work of salvation. Further, since they could not be led to portray these things through inner worship, they were led by miracles, actually constrained and compelled.

[3] The reason they could not be led through internal worship is that they consistently failed to acknowledge the Lord, even though the whole Word that was present with them is about him and no one else. People who do not acknowledge the Lord are not open to any inner worship. After the Lord had made himself known, though, and had been accepted and recognized in the church as the eternal God, miracles stopped happening.

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