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Joel 2

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1 Stød i horn på Zion, blæs alarm på mit hellige Bjerg! Alle i landet skal bæve, thi HE ENs Dag, den kommer;

2 ja, nær er Mulms og Mørkes Dag, Skyers og Tåges Dag. Et stort, et vældigt Folk er bredt som Gry over Bjerge. Dets Lige har aldrig været, skal aldrig komme herefter til fjerneste Slægters År.

3 Foran det æder Ild, og bag det flammer Lue; foran det er Landet som Eden og bag det en øde Ørk; fra det slipper ingen bort.

4 At se til er de som Heste, som Hingste farer de frem;

5 det lyder som raslende Vogne, når de hopper på Bjergenes Tinder, som knitrende Lue, der æder Strå, som en vældig Hær, der er rustet til Strid.

6 Folkeslag skælver for dem, alle Ansigter blusser.

7 Som Helte haster de frem, som Stridsmænd stormer de Mure; enhver går lige ud, de bøjer ej af fra vejen.

8 De trænger ikke hverandre, hver følger sin egen Sti. Trods Våbenmagt styrter de frem uden at lade sig standse, de kaster sig over Byen,

9 stormer Mulen i Løb; i Husene trænger de ind, gennem Vinduer kommer de som Tyve.

10 Foran dem skælver Jorden, Himlen bæver; Sol og Måne sortner, Stjernerne mister deres Glans.

11 Foran sin Stridsmagt løfter HE EN sin øst, thi såre stor er hans Hær, ja, hans Ords Fuldbyrder er vældig; thi stor er HE ENs Dag og såre frygtelig; hvem holder den ud?

12 Selv nu, så lyder det fra HE EN, vend om til mig af ganske Hjerte, med Faste og Gråd og Klage!

13 Sønderriv Hjerterne, ej eders Klæder, vend om til HE EN eders Gud! Thi nådig og barmhjertig er han, langmodig og rig på Miskundhed, han angrer det onde.

14 Måske slår han om og angrer og levner Velsignelse efter sig, Afgrødeoffer og Drikoffer til HE EN eders Gud.

15 Stød i Horn på Zion, helliger Faste, udråb festlig Samling,

16 kald Folket sammen, helliger et Stævne, lad de gamle samles, kald Børnene sammen, også dem, som dier Bryst; lad Brudgom gå ud af sit Kammer, Brud af sit Telt!

17 Imellem Forhal og Alter skal Præsterne, HE ENs Tjenere, græde og sige: "HE E, spar dog dit Folk! Overgiv ej din Arv til Skændsel, til Hedningers Spot! Hvi skal man sige blandt Folkene: Hvor er deres Gud?"

18 Og HE EN blev nidkær for sit Land og fik Medynk med sit Folk.

19 Og HE EN svarede sit Folk: Se, jeg sender eder korn, Most og Olie, så I kan mættes deraf; og jeg vil ikke længer gøre eder til Skændsel iblandt Hedningerne.

20 Fjenden fra Nord driver jeg langt bort fra eder og støder ham ud i et tørt og øde Land, hans Fortrop ud i Havet i Øst og hans Bagtrop i Havet i Vest, og han skal udsprede Stank og ilde Lugt; thi han udførte store Ting.

21 Frygt ikke, Jord, fryd dig, vær glad! Thi HE EN har udført store Ting.

22 Frygt ikke, I Markens Dyr! Thi Ørkenens Græsmarker grønnes, og Træerne bærer Frugt; Figentræ og Vinstok giver alt, hvad de kan.

23 Og I, Zions Sønner, fryd eder, vær glade i HE EN eders Gud! Thi han giver eder Føde til Frelse, idet han sender eder egn, Tidligregn og Sildigregn, som før.

24 Tærskepladserne skal fyldes med Korn, Persekummerne løbe over med Most og Olie.

25 Og jeg godtgør eder de År, da Græshoppen, Springeren, Æderen og Gnaveren hærgede, min store Hær, som jeg sendte imod eder.

26 I skal spise og mættes og love HE EN eders Guds Navn, fordi han handler underfuldt med eder; og mit Folk skal i Evighed ikke blive til Skamme.

27 Og I skal kende, at jeg er i Israels Midte, og at jeg, og ingen anden er HE EN eders Gud; og mit Folk skal i Evighed ikke blive til Skamme.

28 Og det skal ske derefter, at jeg vil udgyde min ånd over alt kød, eders Sønner og eders Døtre skal profetere, eders gamle skal drømme drømme og eders unge skue Syner;

29 også over Trælle og Trælkvinder vil jeg udgyde min Ånd i de Dage.

30 Og jeg lader ske Tegn på Himmelen og på Jorden, Blod, Ild og øgstøtter.

31 Solen skal vendes til Mørke og Månen til Blod, før HE ENs store og frygtelige Dag kommer.

32 Men enhver, som påkalder HE ENs Navn, skal frelses; thi på Zions Bjerg og i Jerusalem skal der være Frelse, som HE EN har sagt; og til de undslupne skal hver den høre, som HE EN kalder.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

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Arcana Coelestia #8876

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8876. 'Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons' means the consequent propagation of falsity from evil. This is clear from the meaning of 'visiting the iniquity of the fathers' as the propagation of evils, the reason why 'visiting' means propagating being that the subject is the state of those who completely reject the Divine, therefore who are receptive no longer of good but of evil, and constantly so since evil is constantly increasing with such people, which is the propagation of it (for the meaning of 'father' as good and in the contrary sense as evil, see 3703, 5902, 6050, 7833, 7834); and from the meaning of 'the sons' as truths, dealt with in 1147, 2623, 3373, and therefore in the contrary sense as falsities In the proximate sense 'visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons' does not mean that sons pay the penalty for the iniquity of their fathers, for that is contrary to the Divine, Deuteronomy 24:16. Rather the meaning in that sense is that evil increases with the fathers and so is passed on by heredity to their children, and that consequently the evil mounts up over successive generations, 2910, 3701, 4317, 8550, 8551. In the spiritual sense however 'the fathers' does not mean fathers but evils, and 'the sons' does not mean sons but falsities; therefore those words mean the constant propagation of falsity from evil.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #5798

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5798. 'And do not let your anger burn against your servant' means lest he turn away. This is clear from the meaning of 'anger' as a turning away or aversion, dealt with in 5034; for one who is angry turns away. He does not think as the other person does; rather, in the state he is in, his thought is contrary to the other's. This meaning of 'anger' as a turning away is evident from many places in the Word, especially from those where anger or wrath, meaning a turning away, is attributed to Jehovah or the Lord. Not that Jehovah or the Lord ever turns away but that man does so; and when man turns away it appears to him as if the Lord does so since he is not heard. The Word speaks in keeping with the appearance. In addition, since 'anger' is a turning away, it is also a hostility towards what is good and true on the part of those who have turned away. On the part however of those who have not turned away 'anger' is not hostility but repugnance, because it is an aversion to what is evil and false.

[2] As regards 'anger' meaning hostility, this has been shown in 3614. It also means a turning away, and punishment too, when people are hostile towards what is good and true, as is evident from the following places: In Isaiah,

Woe to those decreeing decrees of iniquity. They will fall beneath the bound and beneath the slain; but in all this His anger will not be turned back. Woe to Asshur, the rod of My anger. Against a hypocritical nation I will send him, and against the people of [My] wrath I will command him. He does not think what is right and his heart does not consider what is right. Isaiah 10:1, 4-7.

'Anger' and 'wrath' stand for a turning away and hostility on man's side, a condition in which punishment and not being heard seem to him like anger. And as these exist on man's side, the words 'woe to those decreeing decrees of iniquity', 'he does not think what is right and his heart does not consider what is right' are used.

[3] In the same prophet,

Jehovah together with the vessels of His anger [comes] to destroy the whole land. Behold, the day of Jehovah 1 comes - cruel, with indignation, wrath, and anger - to make the earth a ruin, so that He may destroy its sinners from it. I will make heaven quake, and the earth will quake out of its place, at the wrath of Jehovah

Zebaoth and in the day of His fierce anger. Isaiah 13:5, 9, 13.

'Heaven' and 'the earth' here stand for the Church, which had turned away from truth and goodness. Because it had done this a description of the laying waste and destruction of it owing to the indignation, anger, and wrath of Jehovah appears here, though the truth of the matter is the complete opposite. That is to say, the person ruled by evil is the one who is filled with indignation, anger, and wrath, in addition to which he sets himself against what is good and true. The attribution to Jehovah of punishment which comes as a result of evil is due to the appearance. Various places elsewhere in the Word call the final period of the Church and its destruction 'the day of Jehovah's anger'.

[4] In the same prophet,

Jehovah has broken the rod of the wicked, the stick of those who have dominion. He will strike the peoples in a rage, with an incurable stroke, He who with anger rules the nations. Isaiah 14:5-6.

Much the same applies here. It is like a criminal punished by the law; he attributes the evil of a punishment to the king or judge, not to himself. In the same prophet,

Jacob and Israel, because these were unwilling to walk in Jehovah's ways and did not hear His law, He poured out upon him the wrath of His anger, and the violence of battle. Isaiah 42:24-25.

In Jeremiah,

I Myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, and in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation. Lest My fury go forth like fire, and burn and fail to be quenched because of the wickedness of your works.

Here 'fury', 'anger', and 'great indignation' are nothing other than the evils of a punishment because of a turning away from and a hostility towards what is good and true.

[5] It is in origin a Divine law that all evil carries punishment with it; and surprising though it may be, in, the next life evil and punishment are inseparable. For as soon as a hellish spirit does anything exceptionally bad other spirits, ones who administer punishments, become present and punish him without their having been alerted by anyone else. The fact that the evil of a punishment is caused by turning away is self-evident, for the expression 'because of the wickedness of your works' is used. In David,

He let loose on them the wrath of His anger, indignation, and rage, and distress, and a mission of evil angels. He opened a way for His anger, He did not spare their soul from death. Psalms 78:49-50.

See also Isaiah 30:27, 30; Isaiah 34:2; 47:3, 6; 54:8; 57:17; 63:6; 66:15; Jeremiah 4:8; 7:20; 15:14; 33:5; Ezekiel 5:13, 17; Deuteronomy 9:11-19; 29:20-24; Revelation 14:9-10; 15:7. In these places too 'wrath', 'anger', 'indignation', and 'rage' stand for a turning away, hostility, and consequent punishment.

[6] The reason why punishment due to a turning away and hostility is attributed to Jehovah or the Lord and is called anger, wrath, and rage residing with Him is that the nation descended from Jacob had to be confined solely to the external representatives of the Church. They could not be confined to these except through fear and dread of Jehovah and unless they had believed that in His anger and wrath He would do evil to them. People who are concerned solely with external things and nothing internal cannot be led in any other way to perform external observances, since no sense of obligation is present with them interiorly. This is also the situation with simple persons in the Church. The only idea they can grasp, based on the appearance, is that God is angry when someone does what is evil. Yet anyone may see, if he stops to reflect, that no anger at all, still less any rage, resides with Jehovah or the Lord, since He is mercy itself, is goodness itself, and is infinitely beyond wishing evil on anyone. Neither does a person possessing charity towards the neighbour do evil to anyone; and as this is true of every angel, how much more must it be true of the Lord Himself? But the situation in the next life is as follows: Because of the newcomers there the Lord is constantly reordering heaven and its communities, imparting bliss and happiness to them.

[7] But when that bliss and happiness passes into the communities opposite (for in the next life all the communities of heaven have communities opposite them in hell, which is what provides equilibrium) and those communities feel a change taking place from heaven's presence, they are filled with anger and wrath. They rush into doing evil and at the same time bring on themselves the evils of their punishment. Furthermore, when evil spirits or genii come near the light of heaven they start to experience pain and torment, 4225, 4226. This they attribute to heaven, and consequently to the Lord; but in actual fact they bring the torment on themselves since evil suffers torment whenever it comes near good. From all this it is evident that the Lord is the source of nothing but good and that all evil originates in those people themselves who turn away, stand in opposition, and attack. This arcanum enables one to see what the situation really is.

Fotnoter:

1. The Latin means Jehovah but the Hebrew means the day of Jehovah, which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse.

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