耶利米書 44
1
有臨到耶利米的話,論及一切住在埃及地的猶大人,就是住在密奪、答比匿、挪弗、巴忒羅境內的猶大人,說:
2
萬軍之耶和華─以色列的神如此說:我所降與耶路撒冷和猶大各城的一切災禍你們都看見了。那些城邑今日荒涼,無人居住;
3
這是因居民所行的惡,去燒香事奉別神,就是他們和你們,並你們列祖所不認識的神,惹我發怒。
4
我從早起來差遣我的僕人眾先知去說,你們切不要行我所厭惡這可憎之事。
6
因此,我的怒氣和忿怒都倒出來,在猶大城邑中和耶路撒冷的街市上,如火著起,以致都荒廢淒涼,正如今日一樣。
7
現在耶和華─萬軍之神、以色列的神如此說:你們為何作這大惡自害己命,使你們的男人、婦女、嬰孩,和吃奶的都從猶大中剪除、不留一人呢?
8
就是因你們手所做的,在所去寄居的埃及地向別神燒香惹我發怒,使你們被剪除,在天下萬國中令人咒詛羞辱。
9
你們列祖的惡行,猶大列王和他們后妃的惡行,你們自己和你們妻子的惡行,就是在猶大地、耶路撒冷街上所行的,你們都忘了麼?
10
到如今還沒有懊悔,沒有懼怕,沒有遵行我在你們和你們列祖面前所設立的法度律例。
11
所以萬軍之耶和華─以色列的神如此說:我必向你們變臉降災,以致剪除猶大眾人。
12
那定意進入埃及地、在那裡寄居的,就是所剩下的猶大人,我必使他們盡都滅絕,必在埃及地仆倒,必因刀劍饑荒滅絕;從最小的到至大的都必遭刀劍饑荒而死,以致令人辱罵、驚駭、咒詛、羞辱。
13
我怎樣用刀劍、饑荒、瘟疫刑罰耶路撒冷,也必照樣刑罰那些住在埃及地的猶大人;
14
甚至那進入埃及地寄居的,就是所剩下的猶大人,都不得逃脫,也不得存留歸回猶大地。他們心中甚想歸回居住之地;除了逃脫的以外,一個都不能歸回。
15
那些住在埃及地巴忒羅知道自己妻子向別神燒香的,與旁邊站立的眾婦女,聚集成群,回答耶利米說:
17
我們定要成就我們口中所出的一切話,向天后燒香、澆奠祭,按著我們與我們列祖、君王、首領在猶大的城邑中和耶路撒冷的街市上素常所行的一樣;因為那時我們吃飽飯、享福樂,並不見災禍。
18
自從我們停止向天后燒香、澆奠祭,我們倒缺乏一切,又因刀劍饑荒滅絕。
19
婦女說:我們向天后燒香、澆奠祭,做天后像的餅供奉他,向他澆奠祭,是外乎我們的丈夫麼?
21
你們與你們列祖、君王、首領,並國內的百姓,在猶大城邑中和耶路撒冷街市上所燒的香,耶和華豈不記念,心中豈不思想麼?
22
耶和華因你們所作的惡、所行可憎的事,不能再容忍,所以你們的地荒涼,令人驚駭咒詛,無人居住,正如今日一樣。
23
你們燒香,得罪耶和華,沒有聽從他的話,沒有遵行他的律法、條例、法度,所以你們遭遇這災禍,正如今日一樣。
24
耶利米又對眾民和眾婦女說:你們在埃及地的一切猶大人當聽耶和華的話。
25
萬軍之耶和華─以色列的神如此說:你們和你們的妻都口中說、手裡做,說:我們定要償還所許的願,向天后燒香、澆奠祭。現在你們只管堅定所許的願而償還罷!
26
所以你們住在埃及地的一切猶大人當聽耶和華的話。耶和華說:我指著我的大名起誓,在埃及全地,我的名不再被猶大一個人的口稱呼說:我指著主─永生的耶和華起誓。
27
我向他們留意降禍不降福;在埃及地的一切猶大人必因刀劍、饑荒所滅,直到滅盡。
28
脫離刀劍、從埃及地歸回猶大地的人數很少;那進入埃及地要在那裡寄居的,就是所剩下的猶大人,必知道是誰的話立得住,是我的話呢?是他們的話呢?
29
耶和華說:我在這地方刑罰你們,必有預兆,使你們知道我降禍與你們的話必要立得住。
30
耶和華如此說:我必將埃及王法老合弗拉交在他仇敵和尋索其命的人手中,像我將猶大王西底家交在他仇敵和尋索其命的巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒手中一樣。
Apocalypse Revealed # 53
53. And His countenance as the sun shining in its power. This symbolizes the Divine love and wisdom which are the Lord and which emanate from Him.
The fact that the face of Jehovah or of the Lord means the Divine itself in its essence, which is Divine love and wisdom, thus Himself, will be seen in explanations below where the face of God is mentioned. "The sun shining in its power" has the same symbolic meaning.
In the sight of angels the Lord is seen as the sun in heaven, and it is His Divine love accompanied by Divine wisdom that so appears. This may be seen in the book Heaven and Hell (London, 1758), nos. 116-125 and in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, 83-172.
[2] It remains here simply to confirm from the Word that when the subject is the Lord, the sun is His Divine love and at the same time His Divine wisdom. This can be seen from the following passages:
...in (that) day... the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days... (Isaiah 30:25-26)
That day is the Lord's advent, when the old church has been destroyed and a new one is about to be established. The light of the moon is faith arising from charity, and the light of the sun is intelligence and wisdom arising from love emanating then from the Lord.
Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon wane; for Jehovah will be your everlasting light... (Isaiah 60:20)
The sun that will not go down is love and wisdom from the Lord.
...the Rock of Israel spoke to me... like the light of the morning when the sun rises... (2 Samuel 23:3-4)
The Rock of Israel is the Lord.
...his throne (shall be) as the sun... (Psalms 89:36-37)
This is said in reference to David, but David there means the Lord.
They shall fear You as long as the sun endures... In His days the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more... Before the sun He will have the name of Son, and all nations shall be blessed in Him... (Psalms 72:5, 7, 17)
These statements, too, are made in reference to the Lord.
[3] Because the Lord appears in heaven to angels as the sun, therefore when He was transfigured,
His face shone like the sun, and His garments became... as the light. (Matthew 17:1-2)
Moreover, in Revelation 10:1 it is said of the mighty angel coming down from heaven that he was "clothed with a cloud," and "his face was like the sun," and of the woman in Revelation 12:1 that she appeared "clothed with the sun." The sun there is love and wisdom emanating from the Lord. The woman there is the church called the New Jerusalem.
[4] Since the sun means the Lord with respect to love and wisdom, it is apparent what the sun symbolizes in the following places:
Behold, the day of Jehovah is coming, cruel... The sun will be darkened at its rising, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. I will visit upon the world its wickedness, and upon the impious their iniquity. (Isaiah 13:9-11)
...Jehovah will visit [punishment] in the high place upon the host of the high place, and on the earth upon the kings of the earth... Then the moon will blush and the sun be ashamed. (Isaiah 24:21, 23)
When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens, and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine... and I will... bring darkness upon your land. (Ezekiel 32:7-8)
...the day of Jehovah is coming..., a day of darkness... The sun and moon (will not cause their light to shine), and the stars have diminished their brightness. (Joel 2:1-2, 10)
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great... day of Jehovah. (Joel 2:31)
...the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon have grown dark... (Joel 3:14-15)
The fourth angel sounded: and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars..., and a third of the day did not shine... (Revelation 8:12)
...the sun became as black as sackcloth of goat's hair, and the moon became as blood... (Revelation 6:12)
...the sun was... darkened because of the smoke of the pit. (Revelation 9:2)
The sun in these places does not mean the world's sun, but the sun of the angelic heaven, which is the Lord's Divine love and wisdom. These are said to be obscured, darkened, covered, or become black when falsities and evils are present in a person.
[5] It is apparent, therefore, that something similar is meant by the Lord's words when speaking of the end of the age, which is the final period of the church:
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven... (Matthew 24:29, cf. Mark 13:24-25)
So, too, in the following places:
The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be dark for them. (Micah 3:6)
...in that day... I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight. (Amos 8:9)
She... who has borne seven... will breath her last; her sun will go down while it is yet day. (Jeremiah 15:9)
The subject here is the Jewish Church, which will breathe its last or perish. The sun's going down means that there will no longer be any love or charity.
[6] It is said in Joshua that the sun stood still in Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Aijalon (Joshua 10:12-13). This seems to be an historical statement, but in fact it is prophetic, for it comes from the book of Jasher, which was a prophetic book; for in verse 13 it says, "Is this not written in the Book of Jasher?" The same book is called a prophetic one by David in 2 Samuel 1:17, 18.
A similar statement is found in Habakkuk:
The mountains... were shaken... The sun and moon stood still in their habitation. (Habakkuk 3:10-11)
[In Isaiah:]
Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon wane. (Isaiah 60:20)
For to cause the sun and moon to stand still would be to destroy the universe.
[7] Since the sun means the Lord with respect to Divine love and wisdom, therefore in their holy worship ancient peoples turned their faces to the rising sun, and their temples also, a practice that continues to this day.
That the sun in these passages does not mean the world's sun is clear from the fact that it was profane and an abomination for people to worship the world's sun and moon (see Numbers 25:1-4, Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:3, 5, Jeremiah 8:1-2; 43:10, 13; 44:17-19, 25). For the world's sun means self-love and a conceit in one's own intelligence, and self-love is diametrically opposed to Divine love, while a conceit in one's own intelligence is opposed to Divine wisdom. To worship the world's sun is also to accept nature as the creator of all things and one's own prudence as the effecter of all things, which entails a denial of God and a denial of Divine providence.