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Danilo 9

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1 Prve godine Darija, sina Asvirovog od plemena midskog, koji se zacari nad carstvom haldejskim,

2 Prve godine njegovog carovanja ja Danilo razumeh iz knjiga broj godina, koje beše rekao Gospod Jeremiji proroku da će se navršiti razvalinama jerusalimskim, sedamdeset godina.

3 I okretoh lice svoje ka Gospodu Bogu tražeći Ga molitvom i molbama s postom i s kostreti i pepelom.

4 I pomolih se Gospodu Bogu svom i ispovedajući se rekoh: O Gospode, Bože veliki i strašni, koji držiš zavet i milost onima koji Te ljube i drže zapovesti Tvoje;

5 Zgrešismo i zlo činismo i bismo bezbožni, i odmetnusmo se i odstupismo od zapovesti Tvojih i od zakona Tvojih.

6 I ne slušasmo sluga Tvojih proroka, koji govorahu u Tvoje ime carevima našim, knezovima našim i očevima našim i svemu narodu zemaljskom.

7 U Tebe je, Gospode, pravda, a u nas sram na licu, kako je danas, u Judejaca i u Jerusalimljana i u svih Izrailjaca, koji su blizu i koji su daleko po svim zemljama kuda si ih razagnao za grehe njihove, kojima Ti grešiše.

8 Gospode, u nas je sram na licu, u careva naših, u knezova naših i u otaca naših, jer Ti zgrešismo.

9 U Gospoda je Boga našeg milost i praštanje, jer se odmetnusmo od Njega,

10 I ne slušasmo glas Gospoda Boga svog da hodimo po zakonima Njegovim, koje nam je dao preko sluga svojih proroka.

11 I sav Izrailj prestupi zakon Tvoj, i odstupi da ne sluša glas Tvoj; zato se izli na nas prokletstvo i zakletva napisana u zakonu Mojsija, sluge Božijeg, jer Mu zgrešismo.

12 I On potvrdi reči svoje koje je govorio za nas i za sudije naše, koje su nam sudile, pustivši na nas zlo veliko, da tako ne bi pod svim nebom kako bi u Jerusalimu.

13 Kako je pisano u zakonu Mojsijevom, sve to zlo dođe na nas, i opet se ne molismo Gospodu Bogu svom da bismo se vratili od bezakonja svog i pazili na istinu Tvoju.

14 I Gospod nasta oko zla i navede ga na nas; jer je pravedan Gospod Bog naš u svim delima svojim koja čini, jer ne slušasmo glas Njegov.

15 Ali sada, Gospode Bože naš, koji si izveo narod svoj iz zemlje misirske rukom krepkom, i stekao si sebi ime, kako je danas, zgrešismo, bezbožni bismo.

16 Gospode, po svoj pravdi Tvojoj neka se odvrati gnev Tvoj i jarost Tvoja od grada Tvog Jerusalima, svete gore Tvoje; jer sa greha naših i s bezakonja otaca naših Jerusalim i Tvoj narod posta rug u svih koji su oko nas.

17 Sada dakle poslušaj, Bože naš, molitvu sluge svog i molbe njegove, i obasjaj licem svojim opustelu svetinju svoju, Gospoda radi.

18 Bože moj, prigni uho svoje, i čuj; otvori oči svoje, i vidi pustoš našu i grad, na koji je prizvano ime Tvoje, jer ne radi svoje pravde nego radi milosti Tvoje padamo pred Tobom moleći se.

19 Gospode usliši, Gospode oprosti, Gospode pazi i učini, ne časi sebe radi Bože moj, jer je Tvoje ime prizvano na ovaj grad i na Tvoj narod.

20 A dok ja još govorah i moljah se i ispovedah greh svoj i greh naroda svog Izrailja, i padah moleći se pred Gospodom Bogom svojim za svetu goru Boga svog,

21 Dok još govorah moleći se, onaj čovek Gavrilo, kog videh pre u utvari, dolete brzo i dotače me se o večernjoj žrtvi.

22 I nauči me i govori sa mnom i reče: Danilo, sada iziđoh da te urazumim.

23 U početku molitve tvoje iziđe reč, i ja dođoh da ti kažem, jer si mio; zato slušaj reč, i razumi utvaru.

24 Sedamdeset je nedelja određeno tvom narodu i tvom gradu svetom da se svrši prestup i da nestane greha i da se očisti bezakonje i da se dovede večna pravda, i da se zapečati utvara i proroštvo, i da se pomaže Sveti nad svetima.

25 Zato znaj i razumi: Otkada iziđe reč da se Jerusalim opet sazida do pomazanika vojvode biće sedam nedelja, i šezdeset i dve nedelje da se opet pograde ulice i zidovi, i to u teško vreme.

26 A posle te šezdeset i dve nedelje pogubljen će biti pomazanik i ništa mu neće ostati; narod će vojvodin doći i razoriti grad i svetinju; i kraj će mu biti s potopom, i određeno će pustošenje biti do svršetka rata.

27 I utvrdiće zavet s mnogima za nedelju dana, a u polovinu nedelje ukinuće žrtvu i prinos; i krilima mrskim, koja pustoše, do svršetka određenog izliće se na pustoš.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed #548

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548. And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and its angels fought. (12:7) This symbolizes the falsities of the previous church fighting against the truths of the New Church.

A war symbolizes a spiritual war, which is one of falsity against truth and of truth against falsity (no. 500); for that is the only war that can take place in heaven, where this war is said to have broken out. Nor can a spiritual war take place in any heaven once it is formed by angels, but it took place in the previous heaven which passed away, as said in Revelation 21:1. Regarding that heaven, see our exposition of that verse. For that heaven passed away in consequence of the Last Judgment on the dragon and his angels, which is also the symbolic meaning of the dragon's being cast out and no place for it being found in heaven any longer, as said in the next verse.

To learn what falsities are meant by the dragon which will fight against the truths of the New Church, see no. 537 above.

Michael does not mean some archangel, and neither does Gabriel or Raphael, but ministries in heaven are meant. The ministry that is Michael there is performed by people who confirm from the Word that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, that God the Father and the Lord are one as soul and body are one, that one must live according to the Ten Commandments, and that a person then possesses charity and faith. Michael is mentioned also in Daniel 10:13, 21; 12:1, and the same ministry is meant by him, as is apparent from chapters 9-11 there, and from the last verses in chapter 12.

Gabriel, on the other hand, means the ministry performed by people who teach from the Word that Jehovah came into the world and that the humanity that he took on there is the Son of God and Divine. The angel who announced this to Mary is accordingly called Gabriel (Luke 1:19, 26-35).

People who are engaged in these ministries are also called Michaels and Gabriels in heaven.

It may be seen in numbers 5, 65, 258, 342, 344, 415, 465 above that an angel in the highest sense means the Lord, and in a relative sense heaven, which is formed of angels, and also an angelic society. But here it means a ministry, because it is named; and in Daniel Michael is called a prince, 1 and a prince in the Word symbolizes a principal truth, and a king, truth itself (no. 20).

Fotnoter:

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

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Apocalypse Revealed #500

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500. The beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. This symbolically means that those people who are caught up in the interior tenets of the doctrine regarding faith alone will oppose these two essential elements of the New Church, attack them, and reject them, in themselves and, as far as they are able, in others.

The beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit means the people who ascended out of the bottomless pit having the appearance of locusts in Revelation 9:1-12. That they were people caught up in the interior tenets of the doctrine regarding faith alone may be seen in the exposition there. To make war means, symbolically, to oppose and attack these two essential elements of the church, as we shall see next. To overcome them and kill them means, symbolically, to reject them and root them out, in themselves and, as far as they are able, in others.

[2] People caught up in the interior tenets of the doctrine regarding faith alone will attack and reject these two essential elements because they have established in themselves two ideas contrary to them, first, that it is not the Lord but God the Father to whom they should turn; and secondly, that a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments is not a spiritual life, but simply a moral and civic life, and they maintain this to keep anyone from believing that he is saved by works rather than by their faith alone.

All those people who in schools and universities have deeply impressed these dogmas on their minds do not afterward turn away from them. There are three reasons for this, hitherto unknown. First, they have introduced themselves as to their spirit into association with people in the spiritual world like themselves, where there are many satanic spirits who find delight only in falsities, and from these spirits they cannot possibly be set free unless they reject those falsities. Nor can they do that unless they turn to God the Savior directly and begin to live a Christian life in accordance with the Ten Commandments.

[3] The second reason is their belief that they are granted instant forgiveness for their sins and thus salvation in the act of faith, and afterward in the state or progression of it through the same act continued, preserved and retained by the Holy Spirit, apart from any exercises of charity. After that, then, once people have imbibed these ideas, they regard their sins as of no account in the sight of God, and so continue in their impure lives.

Moreover, because they know how to cleverly defend such ideas with falsifications of the Word in the presence of uneducated listeners, and with fallacious arguments in the presence of learned ones, we are told here that the beast from the bottomless pit overcame and killed the two witnesses. But this is the case only with people who love to live self-indulgently and are carried away by the delights of their appetites. Whenever these people think about salvation, they harbor at heart their lusts, and with both hands embrace that faith of theirs, because then they can be saved by uttering certain words in a confident tone and do not have to attend to anything having to do with their life for God's sake, but only for the sake of the world.

[4] The third reason is that people who in their youth have imbibed the interior tenets of that faith, called the mysteries of justification, when afterward promoted to a respectable ministry, do not think to themselves about God and heaven, but about themselves and the world, retaining the mysteries of their faith only for the sake of their reputation so as to be respected as wise, and because of their wisdom, accounted worthy to be rewarded with riches.

Such is the case as a result of that faith because it has nothing of religion in it. The reality of this may be seen in the third narrative account above, in no. 484.

[5] That wars in the Word symbolize spiritual wars, which are attacks on truth and are waged by reasonings based on falsities, is clear from the following passages:

...spirits of demons... go out... to gather them for war on the great day of God Almighty. (Revelation 16:14)

...the dragon was angry with the woman, and it went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:17)

It was granted to (the dragon's beast) to make war with the saints... (Revelation 13:7)

Prepare holy war against (the daughter of Zion)..., and let us go up at noon. (Jeremiah 6:4)

You have not gone up into the breaches... to stand in battle on the day of Jehovah. (Ezekiel 13:5)

In Salem is (God's) tabernacle, and His dwelling place in Zion, where He broke the flaming arrows, the bow... and... war. (Psalms 76:2-3)

Jehovah shall go forth like a mighty man; He shall stir up zeal like a man of war. (Isaiah 42:13, cf. Psalms 24:8)

In that day Jehovah... will be... for a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, ...to those who turn back the battle at the gate. (Isaiah 28:5-6)

Deliver me... from the evil man; preserve me from the violent man... All day they gather for war. They sharpen their tongues like serpents. (Psalms 140:1-3)

...many will come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ," and will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled. (Matthew 24:5-7, cf. Mark 13:6-8, Luke 21:8-10)

The wars of the kings of the north and south and other wars in Daniel 10, 11, and 12 symbolize no other than spiritual wars. And so, too, the wars in other places, as in Isaiah 2:3-5, 13:4, 21:14-15, 31:4; Jeremiah 49:25-26; Hosea 2:18; Zechariah 10:5, 14:3; Psalm 18:35 1 , 46:8-9.

[6] As wars in the Word symbolize spiritual wars, therefore the ministry of the Levites was called military service, as is apparent from the following, that the command was given for the Levites to be numbered, to "perform military service, to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting" (Numbers 4:23, 35, 39, 43, 47).

This is the service of the Levites: ...to perform military service in the ministry of the tabernacle of meeting; but at the age of fifty years he must cease the military service, and shall minister no more. (Numbers 8:24-25)

See also no. 447 above, where we established from the Word that armies symbolize the church's goods and truths, and in an opposite sense, its evils and falsities.

Fotnoter:

1. The citation in the first edition is in error. Either this or Psalms 27:3 was perhaps intended.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.