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Deuteronoomia 4

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1 Ja nüüd, Iisrael, kuule määrusi ja seadlusi, mida mina teid õpetan pidama, et te elaksite ja läheksite ning päriksite maa, mille Issand, teie vanemate Jumal, teile annab.

2 Ärge lisage midagi sellele, milleks mina teid kohustan, ja ärge võtke midagi ära, vaid pidage Issanda, oma Jumala käske, mis mina teile annan!

3 Teie silmad on näinud, mida Issand tegi Baal-Peoriga, sest igaühe, kes käis Baal-Peori järel, hävitas Issand, su Jumal, sinu keskelt.

4 Aga teie, kes hoidsite Issanda, oma Jumala poole, olete tänapäeval kõik elus.

5 Vaata, ma olen teile õpetanud määrusi ja seadlusi, nagu Issand, mu Jumal, mind on käskinud, et te teeksite nõnda sellel maal, mida te lähete pärima.

6 Pidage neid ja tehke nende järgi, sest see on teie tarkus ja teie mõistus rahvaste silmis, kes ütlevad kõiki neid seadusi kuuldes: 'See suur rahvas on tõesti tark ja mõistlik rahvas!'

7 Sest kas on teist suurt rahvast, kellele jumalad on nii lähedal nagu Issand, meie Jumal, iga kord kui me teda hüüame?

8 Ja kas on teist suurt rahvast, kellel on nii õiglased määrused ja seadlused, nagu kogu see Seadus, mille ma täna panen teie ette?

9 Ole ainult valvel ja hoia väga oma hinge, et sa ei unustaks neid asju, mida su silmad on näinud, ja et need ei lahkuks su südamest kogu su eluaja, ja kuuluta oma lastele ja lastelastele,

10 mis sündis päeval, mil sa seisid Issanda, oma Jumala ees Hoorebil, kui Issand mulle ütles: 'Kogu mulle rahvas kokku ja ma annan neile kuulda oma sõnu, et nad õpiksid mind kartma, niikaua kui nad elavad maa peal, ja õpetaksid seda oma lastelegi.'

11 Ja te astusite ligi ning seisite mäe all, mägi aga põles tules taeva südameni, ümber tume pilv ja pimedus.

12 Ja Issand rääkis teiega tule keskelt. Te kuulsite sõnade kõla, aga te ei näinud kuju, oli ainult hääl.

13 Ja tema tegi teile teatavaks oma seaduse, mida ta käskis teid täita - need kümme käsku; ja ta kirjutas need kahele kivilauale.

14 Ja mind käskis Issand tol korral õpetada teile määrusi ja seadlusi, et te teeksite nende järgi sellel maal, mida te lähete pärima.

15 Hoidke seepärast väga oma hingi, sest te ei näinud mingit kuju, siis kui Issand rääkis teiega Hoorebil tule keskelt,

16 et te ei tee pahasti ega valmista enestele nikerdatud kuju, mõnda jumalakuju, mehe või naise kujutist,

17 mõne maapealse looma kujutist, mõne taeva all lendava tiivulise linnu kujutist,

18 mõne maad mööda roomaja kujutist, mõne kala kujutist, kes on maa all vees,

19 ja et sa mitte, kui sa tõstad oma silmad taeva poole ja näed päikest ja kuud ja tähti, kogu taevaväge, ei lase ennast eksitada kummardama ja teenima neid, mis Issand, su Jumal, on andnud kõigile rahvaile kogu taeva all.

20 On ju Issand teid võtnud ja välja toonud rauasulatusahjust Egiptusest, et saaksite tema pärisrahvaks, nagu nüüd ongi sündinud.

21 Aga Issand vihastus mu peale teie pärast ja vandus, et mina ei lähe üle Jordani ega jõua sellele heale maale, mille Issand, su Jumal, annab sulle pärisosaks,

22 vaid et mina pean surema siin maal. Mina ei lähe üle Jordani, teie aga lähete ja pärite selle hea maa.

23 Hoidke, et te ei unusta Issanda, oma Jumala seadust, mille ta andis teile, et te ei valmistaks endile nikerdatud kuju, ei mingit kujutist, mida Issand, su Jumal, sind on keelanud teha,

24 sest Issand, su Jumal, on hävitav tuli, püha vihaga Jumal!

25 Kui sulle sünnib lapsi ja lapselapsi ja te ise saate maal vanaks, ja kui te siis toimite kõlvatult ja valmistate mingisuguse asja nikerdatud kuju ja teete, mis on paha Issanda, su Jumala silmis, ja vihastate teda,

26 siis ma kutsun täna teie vastu tunnistajaiks taeva ja maa, et te tõesti varsti hävite sellelt maalt, mida te lähete pärima üle Jordani. Te ei ela seal kaua, vaid teid hävitatakse tõesti!

27 Issand pillutab teid rahvaste sekka ja teid jääb üle pisut inimesi rahvaste seas, kuhu Issand teid viib.

28 Ja seal te teenite jumalaid, kes on inimese kätetöö, puu ja kivi, kes ei näe ega kuule, ei söö ega tunne lõhna.

29 Siis te otsite sealt Issandat, oma Jumalat, ja sa leiad ta, kui sa teda otsid kõigest oma südamest ja kõigest oma hingest.

30 Kui sul on kitsas käes ja kõik need asjad tabavad sind tulevasil päevil, siis pöördud sa Issanda, oma Jumala poole ja kuulad tema häält.

31 Sest Issand, su Jumal, on halastaja Jumal: ta ei jäta sind maha ega hävita sind, ja ta ei unusta lepingut su vanematega, mille ta neile vandega andis.

32 Küsi ometi endistelt aegadelt, mis on olnud enne sind, alates päevast, mil Jumal lõi maa peale inimese, ja küsi taeva äärest ääreni, kas on kunagi sündinud niisugust suurt asja või kas on iganes kuuldud sellesarnast?

33 Kas on ükski rahvas kuulnud Jumala häält rääkivat tule keskelt, nõnda nagu sina oled kuulnud, ja siiski jäänud elama?

34 Või kas on mõni jumal üritanud tulla võtma enesele ühte rahvast teise rahva keskelt katsumiste, tunnustähtede ja imetegudega, sõja ja vägeva käe ja väljasirutatud käsivarre abil, ja suurte hirmutuste abil, nõnda nagu Issand, teie jumal, tegi teiega Egiptuses sinu silma ees?

35 Sina ise oled seda näinud, et sa teaksid, et Issand on Jumal; ei ole ühtegi teist peale tema!

36 Taevast on ta sind lasknud kuulda oma häält, et sind õpetada, ja maa peal on ta sulle näidanud oma suurt tuld, ja sa oled kuulnud tema sõnu tule keskelt.

37 Sellepärast et ta armastas su vanemaid ja valis nende järglased pärast neid, ja et ta ise viis sind oma suure rammuga Egiptusest välja,

38 ajades su eest ära rahvad, suuremad ja vägevamad sinust, et sind viia ja sulle anda pärisosaks nende maa, nagu see tänapäeval on,

39 siis tea täna ja talleta oma südames, et Issand on Jumal ülal taevas ja all maa peal, teist ei ole!

40 Ja sa pead pidama tema seadlusi ja käske, mis ma täna sulle annan, et sinul ja su lastel pärast sind võiks olla hea põli ja et sa võiksid pikendada oma päevi sellel maal, mille Issand, su Jumal, annab sulle igaveseks!'

41 Siis Mooses valis kolm linna teisel pool Jordanit, päikesetõusu pool,

42 et sinna võiks põgeneda tapja, kes oma ligimese on tapnud kogemata ja ilma teda varem vihkamata; põgenedes ühte neist linnadest, ta võib jääda elama:

43 Beser kõrbes, lagedal maal, ruubenlastele, Raamot Gileadis gaadlastele ja Goolan Baasanis manasselastele.

44 See on see Seadus, mille Mooses esitas Iisraeli lastele,

45 need on need tunnistused, määrused ja seadlused, mis Mooses andis Iisraeli lastele, kui nad Egiptusest olid lahkunud,

46 teisel pool Jordanit orus Beet-Peori kohal, emorlaste kuninga Siihoni maal, kes elas Hesbonis, keda Mooses ja Iisraeli lapsed lõid, kui nad Egiptusest lahkusid.

47 Nad vallutasid tema maa ja Baasani kuninga Oogi maa, kahe emorlaste kuninga maa, kes olid teisel pool Jordanit, päikesetõusu pool,

48 alates Aroerist, mis on Arnoni jõe ääres, ja kuni Siioni mäeni, see on Hermonini,

49 ja kogu lausikmaa teisel pool Jordanit, ida pool, ja kuni lausikmaa mereni Pisgaa järsaku all.

   

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Apocalypse Explained #608

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608. Verse 6 (Revelation 10:6). And he sware by Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages, signifies the verity from His own Divine. This is evident from the signification of "to swear," as being a strong assertion and confirmation, and in reference to the Lord the verity (of which presently); also from the signification of "Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages," as being the Divine from eternity, which alone lives, and which is the source of life to all in the universe, both angels and men. (That this is signified by "Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages" may be seen above, n. 289, 291, 349.) That "to swear" signifies asseveration and confirmation, but here verity (since it is the Lord that is meant by the angel that swears), can be seen from this, that "to swear" means to asseverate and confirm that a thing is so, and when done by the Lord means Divine verity; for oaths are made only by those who are not interiorly in truth itself, that is, by those who are not interior but only exterior men; consequently they are never made by angels, still less by the Lord; but He is said in the Word to swear, and the Israelites were allowed to swear by God, because they were only exterior men, and because the asseveration and confirmation of the internal man, when it comes into the external, falls into the form of an oath. In the Israelitish Church all things were external, representing and signifying things internal. The Word in the sense of the letter is similar. From this it can be seen that "the angel sware by Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages" cannot mean that he thus sware, but that he said in himself that this is verity, and that when this came down into the natural sphere it was changed, according to correspondences, into the form of an oath.

[2] Now as "to swear" is only an external corresponding to the confirmation that belongs to the mind of the internal man, and is therefore significative of that, so in the Word of the Old Testament it is said to be lawful to swear by God, yea, that God Himself is said to swear. That this signifies confirmation, asseveration and simply verity, or that it is true, can be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:

Jehovah hath sworn by His right hand and by the arm of His strength (Isaiah 62:8).

In Jeremiah:

Jehovah of Hosts hath sworn by His soul (Jeremiah 51:14; Amos 6:8).

In Amos:

The Lord Jehovih hath sworn by His holiness (Amos 4:2).

In the same:

Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob (Amos 8:7).

In Jeremiah:

Behold, I have sworn by My great name (Jeremiah 44:26).

Jehovah is said "to have sworn by His right hand," "by His soul," "by His holiness," and "by His name," to signify by Divine verity; for "the right hand of Jehovah," "the arm of His strength," "His holiness," "His name," and "His soul," mean the Lord in relation to Divine truth, thus Divine truth proceeding from the Lord; the like is meant by "the excellency of Jacob," for "the mighty One of Jacob" means the Lord in relation to Divine truth.

[3] That "to swear," in reference to Jehovah, signifies confirmation by Himself, that is, from His Divine, is evident in Isaiah:

By Myself have I sworn, the word has gone forth from My mouth, and shall not be recalled (Isaiah 45:23).

In Jeremiah:

By Myself I have sworn that this house shall become a desolation (Jeremiah 22:5).

Because "to swear" in reference to Jehovah signifies Divine verity it is said in David:

Jehovah hath sworn truth unto David, He turneth 1 not from it (Psalms 132:11).

[4] Jehovah God, or the Lord, never swears, for to swear is not becoming to God Himself, or the Divine verity; but when God, or the Divine verity, wills to have anything confirmed before men, then that confirmation in its descent into the natural sphere falls into the form or formula of an oath, such as is used in the world. This shows why it is said in the sense of the letter of the Word, which is the natural sense, that God swears, although He never swears. This, then, is the signification of "to swear" in reference to Jehovah or the Lord in the preceding passages, and also in the following. In Isaiah:

Jehovah of Hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass (Isaiah 14:24).

In David:

I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn unto David My servant. Lord, Thou hast sworn unto David in verity (Psalms 89:3, 35, 49).

In the same:

Jehovah hath sworn and will not repent (Psalms 110:4).

In Ezekiel:

I have sworn unto thee, and have entered into a covenant with thee, that thou mightest become Mine (Ezekiel 16:8).

In David:

Unto whom I have sworn in Mine anger (Psalms 95:11).

In Isaiah:

I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more pass over the earth (Isaiah 54:9).

In Luke:

To remember His holy covenant, the oath which He sware to Abraham our father (Luke 1:72, 73).

In David:

He hath remembered His covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath with Isaac (Psalms 105:8, 9).

In Jeremiah:

That I may establish the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers (Jeremiah 11:5; 32:22).

In Moses:

The land which I have sworn to give unto your fathers (Deuteronomy 1:35; 10:11; 11:9, 21; 26:3, 15; 31:20; 34:4).

[5] From this it can be seen what is meant by "the angel lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages," as it is likewise said in Daniel:

And I heard the man clothed in linen, that he held up his right hand and his left hand unto the heavens, and sware by Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages (Daniel 12:7);

as meaning to bear witness before the angels respecting the state of the church, that what follows is Divine verity.

[6] Because the church that was instituted with the sons of Israel was a representative church, in which all things that were commanded were natural things representing and signifying spiritual things, the sons of Israel, with whom that church existed, were permitted to swear by Jehovah, and by His name, likewise by the holy things of the church; and this represented and thus signified internal confirmation, and also verity, as can be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:

He that blesseth himself in the earth let him bless himself in the God of truth, and he that sweareth in the earth let him swear in the God of truth (Isaiah 65:16).

In Jeremiah:

Swear by the living Jehovah, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness (Jeremiah 4:2).

In Moses:

Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God, Him shalt thou serve, and shalt swear in His name (Deuteronomy 6:13; 10:20).

In Isaiah:

In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that swear to Jehovah of Hosts (Isaiah 19:18).

In Jeremiah:

If in learning they will learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, Jehovah liveth! (Jeremiah 12:16).

In David:

Everyone that sweareth by God shall glory, but the mouth of them that speak a lie shall be stopped (Psalms 63:11).

"To swear by God" here signifies to speak the truth, for it is added, "the mouth of them that speak a lie shall be stopped." (That they swore by God see also Genesis 21:23, 24, 31; Joshua 2:12; 9:20; Judges 21:7; 1 Kings 1:17.)

[7] As the ancients were allowed to swear by Jehovah God, it follows that it was an enormous evil to swear falsely or to swear to a lie, as is evident from these passages. In Malachi:

I will be a witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those that swear to a lie (Malachi 3:5).

In Moses:

Thou shalt not swear to a lie by My name, so that thou profane the name of thy God; also, Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain (Leviticus 19:12; Deuteronomy 5:11; Exodus 20:7; Zechariah 5:4).

In Jeremiah:

Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see whether there be any who say, By the living Jehovah; surely they swear by a lie. Thy sons have destroyed 2 Me, and sworn by one not God (Jeremiah 5:1, 2, 7).

In Hosea:

Israel, ye shall not swear, Jehovah liveth (Hosea 4:15).

In Zephaniah:

I will cut off them that swear by Jehovah, and that swear by their king, and them that are turned back from following Jehovah (Zephaniah 1:4-6).

In Zechariah:

Love not the oath of a lie (Zechariah 8:17).

In Isaiah:

Hear ye, O house of Jacob, who swear by the name of Jehovah, not in truth nor in righteousness (Isaiah 48:1).

In David:

The clean in hands and the pure in heart doth not lift up his soul unto vanity, nor swear with deceit (Psalms 24:4).

[8] From this it can be seen that the ancients, who were in the representatives and the significatives of the church, were permitted to swear by Jehovah God in order to bear witness to the truth, and by that oath it was signified that they thought what is true and willed what is good. Especially was this granted to the sons of Jacob, because they were wholly external and natural men, and not internal and spiritual; and merely external or natural men wish to have the truth confirmed and witnessed to by oaths; but internal or spiritual men do not wish this; indeed, they turn away from oaths and shudder at them, especially those in which God and the holy things of heaven and the church are appealed to, and are content with saying and with having it said that a thing is true, or that it is so.

[9] As swearing does not belong to the internal or spiritual man, and as the Lord, when He came into the world, taught men to be internal or spiritual, and to that end abrogated the externals of the church, and opened its internals, therefore He forbade swearing by God and by the holy things of heaven and the church. This is evident from these words of the Lord in Matthew:

Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not swear [falsely], but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oath; but I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by the heaven, for it is the throne of God; neither by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; neither by Jerusalem, for it is a city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black (Matthew 5:33-37).

Here the holy things by which one must not swear are mentioned, namely, "heaven," "earth," "Jerusalem," and the "head;" and "heaven" means the angelic heaven, wherefore it is called "the throne of God" (that "the throne of God" means that heaven, see above, n. 253, 462, 477); "the earth" means the church (See above, n. 29, 304, 413, 417), which is called therefore "the footstool of God's feet" (that "the footstool of God's feet" also means the church, see above, n. 606; "Jerusalem" means the doctrine of the church, wherefore it is called "the city of the great king" (that "city" means doctrine, see above, n. 223; and the "head" means intelligence therefrom (See above, n. 553, 577), therefore it is said "thou canst not make one hair white or black," which signifies that man of himself can understand nothing.

[10] Again, in the same:

Woe unto you, ye blind guides, for ye say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind; for whether is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And whosoever shall swear by the altar it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it he is a debtor. Ye fools and blind; whether is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? But whosoever sweareth by the altar sweareth by it and by everything thereon. And whosoever sweareth by the temple sweareth by it and by Him that dwelleth therein. And he that sweareth by heaven sweareth by the throne of God and by Him that sitteth thereon (Matthew 23:16-22).

One must not swear "by the temple and by the altar," because to swear by these was to swear by the Lord, by heaven, and by the church; for the "temple" in the highest sense means the Lord in relation to Divine truth, and in a relative sense heaven and the church in respect to truth, likewise all worship from Divine truth (See above, n. 220); and the "altar" signifies the Lord in relation to Divine good, and in a relative sense heaven and the church in respect to that good, likewise all worship from Divine good (See above, n. 391); and because by the Lord all Divine things that proceed from Him are meant, for He is in them and they are His, so he who swears by Him swears by all things that are His; likewise he who swears by heaven and by the church, swears by all the holy things that belong to heaven and the church, for heaven is the complex and containant of these things; so, in like manner, is the church; therefore it is said that the temple is greater than the gold of the temple, because the temple sanctifies the gold, and that the altar is greater than the gift which is upon it, because the altar sanctifies the gift.

Fotnoter:

1. Latin has "turneth," the Hebrew "turn back," which is found in Arcana Coelestia 2842.

2. Latin has "destroyed," the Hebrew "forsaken. "

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

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Isaiah 62:8

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8 Yahweh has sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, "Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies; and foreigners shall not drink your new wine, for which you have labored: