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Izlazak 14

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1 Jahve reče Mojsiju:

2 "Reci Izraelcima da se vrate i utabore pred Pi-Hahirotom, između Migdola i mora, nasuprot Baal-Sefonu. Utaborite se nasuprot ovome mjestu, uz more.

3 Faraon će reći: 'Izraelci lutaju krajem tamo-amo; pustinja ih zatvorila.'

4 Ja ću otvrdnuti faraonu srce, i on će za njima poći u potjeru. Ali ja ću se proslaviti nad faraonom i svom njegovom vojskom. Tako će Egipćani spoznati da sam ja Jahve." Izraelci tako učine.

5 Kad su egipatskom kralju kazali da je narod pobjegao, faraon i njegovi dvorani predomisliše se o narodu. "Što ovo učinismo!" - rekoše. "Pustismo Izraelce i više nam neće služiti."

6 Zato opremi faraon svoja kola i povede svoju vojsku.

7 Uze šest stotina svojih kola sve poizbor i ostala kola po Egiptu. I u svima bijahu štitonoše.

8 Jahve otvrdnu srce faraonu, kralju egipatskom, te on krenu u potjeru za Izraelcima, koji su otišli uzdignute pesnice.

9 Egipćani, dakle, pođu za njima u potjeru. I dok su Izraelci taborovali uz more, blizu Pi-Hahirota nasuprot Baal-Sefonu, stignu ih svi faraonovi konji pod kolima, njegovi konjanici i njegovi ratnici.

10 Kako se faraon približavao, Izraelci pogledaju i opaze da su Egipćani za njima u potjeri, pa ih obuzme velik strah. I poviču Izraelci Jahvi:

11 "Zar nije bilo grobova u Egiptu", reknu Mojsiju, "pa si nas izveo da pomremo u pustinji? Kakvu si nam uslugu učinio što si nas izveo iz Egipta!

12 Zar ti nismo rekli baš ovo u Egiptu: Pusti nas! Služit ćemo Egipćane! Bolje nam je i njih služiti nego u pustinji poginuti."

13 "Ne bojte se!" - reče Mojsije narodu. "Stojte čvrsto pa ćete vidjeti što će vam Jahve učiniti da vas danas spasi: Egipćane koje danas vidite nikad više nećete vidjeti.

14 Jahve će se boriti za vas. Budite mirni!"

15 "Zašto zapomažete prema meni?" - reče Jahve Mojsiju. "Reci Izraelcima da krenu na put.

16 A ti podigni svoj štap, ispruži svoju ruku nad morem i razdijeli ga nadvoje da Izraelci mogu proći posred mora po suhu.

17 Ja ću otvrdnuti srce Egipćana, i oni će poći za njima, a ja ću se onda proslaviti nad faraonom i njegovim ratnicima, njegovim kolima i konjanicima.

18 Neka znaju Egipćani da sam ja Jahve kad se proslavim nad faraonom, njegovim kolima i njegovim konjanicima."

19 Anđeo Božji, koji je išao na čelu izraelskih četa, promijeni mjesto i stupi im za leđa. A i stup od oblaka pomakne se ispred njih i stade im za leđa.

20 Smjesti se između vojske egipatske i vojske izraelske te postade onima oblak taman, a ovima rasvjetljivaše noć, tako te ne mogoše jedni drugima prići cijele noći.

21 Mojsije je držao ruku ispruženu nad morem dok je Jahve svu noć na stranu valjao vode jakim istočnim vjetrom i more posušio. Kad su se vode razdvojile,

22 Izraelci siđoše u more na osušeno dno, a vode stajahu kao bedem njima nadesno i nalijevo.

23 Egipćani: svi faraonovi konji, kola i konjanici, nagnu za njima u more, u potjeru.

24 Za jutarnje straže pogleda Jahve iz stupa od ognja i oblaka na egipatsku vojsku i u njoj stvori zbrku.

25 Zakoči točkove njihovih kola da su se jedva naprijed micali. "Bježimo od Izraelaca!" - poviču Egipćani, "jer Jahve se za njih bori protiv Egipćana!" Tada će Jahve Mojsiju:

26 "Pruži ruku nad more da se vode vrate na Egipćane, na njihova kola i konjanike."

27 Mojsije pruži ruku nad more i u cik zore more se vrati u svoje korito. Kako su Egipćani, bježeći, jurili prema moru, Jahve ih strmoglavi usred voda.

28 Tako vode, slijevajući se natrag, potope kola, konjanike i svu vojsku faraonovu koja bijaše pošla u potjeru za Izraelcima - u more. I ne ostade od njih ni jedan jedini.

29 A Izraelci išli suhim posred mora, vode im stale kao zid zdesna i slijeva.

30 Tako Jahve u onaj dan izbavi Izraela iz šaka egipatskih, i vidje Izrael pomorene Egipćane na morskome žalu.

31 Osvjedoči se Izrael i o silnoj moći koju Jahve pokaza nad Egipćanima. Narod se poboja Jahve i povjerova Jahvi i njegovu sluzi Mojsiju.

   

Kommentar

 

Does God Use Commitment Devices?

Av Todd Beiswenger


Lyssna på ljudet i ett nytt fönster

Ever heard of a commitment device? Basically it is a method of ensuring we succeed in an area where we would otherwise fail. A common one is to buy an expensive gym membership as a way of motivating us to go to the gym. I came across one example of a commitment device that was where a general set up his army with their backs to a body of water, thus preventing them from retreating. He was committing them to an attack. And it worked. The story reminded me of God parting the Red Sea for the Children of Israel... and made me wonder, "Does God use commitment devices?" I think He does. And I'll tell you why.

(Referenser: Arcana Coelestia 6472; Exodus 14:14-31)

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Arcana Coelestia #4031

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4031. 'And before [the eyes of those of] the flock which came together later he did not put [the rods] in' means things that are compulsory. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming together later'. 'Coming together first' means, as shown above in 4029, that which is spontaneous or free; and from this, as well as from the sequence of thought in the internal sense, it is evident that 'coming together later' means that which is compulsory or non-free. It is also evident from the consideration that the expression 'coming on heat' is not used here as it is of those which came together first. For 'coming on heat' means affection, in this case an intense desire. Anything that does not begin from affection is not spontaneous or free, for everything spontaneous or free is in keeping with one's affection or love, 2870. This consideration is also evident from the derivation of the expression in the original language as a lack, for if the intense desire is lacking, all sense of freedom is at an end, in which case that which a pervert does is referred to as non-freedom and at length that which is compulsory.

[2] It may be seen from the paragraphs quoted above in 4029 that every joining together of truth and good, and therefore all reformation and regeneration, is effected in freedom, that is, is the outcome of what is spontaneous. Consequently no joining together of truth and good, thus no regeneration, is possible in the absence of freedom, that is, through compulsion. What freedom is, and the origin of it, see 2870-2893, where Human Freedom is the subject. Anyone who is unaware of the fact that no joining of truth and good, that is, no making of these one's own, and so no regeneration, is possible except in a person's freedom, ends up - if he reasons about the Lord's Providence, about human salvation, and about the eternal damnation of many - with utterly dim misconceptions and then with serious errors. For he imagines that if the Lord is willing, He is able to save anyone, and to do so by all manner of means beyond number - by miracles, by the dead coming back again, by direct revelations, by angels withholding people from evils, and driving them to good by the plain use of force, and by many states into which a person is introduced and becomes repentant, and by many other means.

[3] But he does not know that all of these means involve compulsion and that nobody can be reformed through them. For anything that compels a person does not impart any affection to him; or if it is of such a nature that it does impart an affection, it binds itself to an affection for evil. Indeed it seems to instill, and does in fact instill, some holiness, but even so, when the state is altered he goes back to his previous affections, which are evils and falsities. In that case that holiness links itself to the evils and falsities and is turned into profanity, such as leads him into the worst hell of all. For that person first of all acknowledges and believes, and also has an affection for what is holy; but after that he denies it, indeed he loathes it. For profaners are those who at one point acknowledge with the heart and after that deny, not those who have not acknowledged with the heart, see 301-303, 571, 582, 593, 1001, 1008, 1010, 1059, 1327, 1328, 2051, 2426, 3398, 3399, 3402, 3898. For this reason evident miracles do not take place at the present day, only miracles which are not evident or plain to see and which are of such a nature that they do not enforce any holiness or take away a person's freedom from him. This is why the dead do not come back again and why no one is withheld from evil by direct revelations, or by angels, and led to good by the plain use of force.

[4] It is man's freedom into which the Lord operates, and by means of which He turns him in a different direction. For all freedom involves that which is present in his love or affection, and so in his will, 3158. If he does not receive good and truth in freedom it cannot be made or become his own, since that which is for him compulsory is not his own but belongs to whoever compels it. For he is not acting of himself even though the action is done by him. It does sometimes seem as though a person is drawn under compulsion towards good, as in temptations and spiritual conflicts. But within these experiences he is in greater freedom than when he is outside them, see 1937, 1947, 2881. It also seems as though a person is acting under compulsion when he compels himself to do good; but self-compulsion is one thing, being compelled is another. Self-compulsion with anyone is a product of the freedom within him, but being compelled is a product of non-freedom. This shows what dim misconceptions and then what errors people end up with who reason about the Lord's Providence, about human salvation, and about the eternal damnation of many, yet who are unaware of the fact that it is freedom through which the Lord operates and by no means through compulsion. For compulsion in things of a holy nature if not freely accepted is dangerous.

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