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Ezekiel 20

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1 Now it came about in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that certain of the responsible men of Israel came to get directions from the Lord and were seated before me.

2 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

3 Son of man, say to the responsible men of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: Have you come to get directions from me? By my life, says the Lord, you will get no directions from me.

4 Will you be their judge, O son of man, will you be their judge? make clear to them the disgusting ways of their fathers,

5 And say to them, This is what the Lord has said: In the day when I took Israel for myself, when I made an oath to the seed of the family of Jacob, and I gave them knowledge of myself in the land of Egypt, saying to them with an oath, I am the Lord your God;

6 In that day I gave my oath to take them out of the land of Egypt into a land which I had been searching out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands:

7 And I said to them, Let every man among you put away the disgusting things to which his eyes are turned, and do not make yourselves unclean with the images of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

8 But they would not be controlled by me, and did not give ear to me; they did not put away the disgusting things to which their eyes were turned, or give up the images of Egypt: then I said I would let loose my passion on them to give full effect to my wrath against them in the land of Egypt.

9 And I was acting for the honour of my name, so that it might not be made unclean before the eyes of the nations among whom they were, and before whose eyes I gave them knowledge of myself, by taking them out of the land of Egypt.

10 So I made them go out of the land of Egypt and took them into the waste land.

11 And I gave them my rules and made clear to them my orders, which, if a man keeps them, will be life to him.

12 And further, I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, so that it might be clear that I, who make them holy, am the Lord.

13 But the children of Israel would not be controlled by me in the waste land: they were not guided by my rules, and they were turned away from my orders, which, if a man does them, will be life to him; and they had no respect for my Sabbaths: then I said that I would let loose my passion on them in the waste land, and put an end to them.

14 And I was acting for the honour of my name, so that it might not be made unclean in the eyes of the nations, before whose eyes I had taken them out.

15 And further, I gave my oath to them in the waste land, that I would not take them into the land which I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands;

16 Because they were turned away from my orders, and were not guided by my rules, and had no respect for my Sabbaths: for their hearts went after their images.

17 But still my eye had pity on them and I kept them from destruction and did not put an end to them completely in the waste land.

18 And I said to their children in the waste land, Do not be guided by the rules of your fathers or keep their orders or make yourselves unclean with their images:

19 I am the Lord your God; be guided by my rules and keep my orders and do them:

20 And keep my Sabbaths holy; and they will be a sign between me and you so that it may be clear to you that I am the Lord your God.

21 But the children would not be controlled by me; they were not guided by my rules, and they did not keep and do my orders, which, if a man does them, will be life to him; and they had no respect for my Sabbaths: then I said I would let loose my passion on them to give full effect to my wrath against them in the waste land.

22 And I was acting for the honour of my name, so that it might not be made unclean in the eyes of the nations, before whose eyes I had taken them out.

23 Further, I gave my oath to them in the waste land that I would send them wandering among the nations, driving them out among the countries;

24 Because they had not done my orders, but had been turned away from my rules, and had not given respect to my Sabbaths, and their eyes were turned to the images of their fathers.

25 And further, I gave them rules which were not good and orders in which there was no life for them;

26 I made them unclean in the offerings they gave, causing them to make every first child go through the fire, so that I might put an end to them.

27 For this cause, son of man, say to the children of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: In this your fathers have further put shame on my name by doing wrong against me.

28 For when I had taken them into the land which I made an oath to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every branching tree and made their offerings there, moving me to wrath by their offerings; and there the sweet smell of their offerings went up and their drink offerings were drained out.

29 Then I said to them, What is this high place where you go to no purpose? And it is named Bamah to this day.

30 For this cause say to the children of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: Are you making yourselves unclean as your fathers did? are you being untrue to me by going after their disgusting works?

31 And when you give your offerings, causing your sons to go through the fire, you make yourselves unclean with all your images to this day; and will you come to me for directions, O children of Israel? By my life, says the Lord, you will get no direction from me.

32 And that which comes into your minds will never take place; when you say, We will be like the nations, like the families of the countries, servants of wood and stone;

33 By my life, says the Lord, truly, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with burning wrath let loose, I will be King over you:

34 And I will take you out from the peoples and get you together out of the countries where you are wandering, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with burning wrath let loose:

35 And I will take you into the waste land of the peoples, and there I will take up the cause with you face to face.

36 As I took up the cause with your fathers in the waste land of the land of Egypt, so will I take up the cause with you says the Lord.

37 And I will make you go under the rod and will make you small in number:

38 Clearing out from among you all those who are uncontrolled and who are sinning against me; I will take them out of the land where they are living, but they will not come into the land of Israel: and you will be certain that I am the Lord.

39 As for you, O children of Israel, the Lord has said: Let every man completely put away his images and give ear to me: and let my holy name no longer be shamed by your offerings and your images.

40 For in my holy mountain, in the high mountain of Israel, says the Lord, there all the children of Israel, all of them, will be my servants in the land; there I will take pleasure in them, and there I will be worshipped with your offerings and the first-fruits of the things you give, and with all your holy things.

41 I will take pleasure in you as in a sweet smell, when I take you out from the peoples and get you together from the countries where you have been sent in flight; and I will make myself holy in you before the eyes of the nations.

42 And you will be certain that I am the Lord, when I take you into the land of Israel, into the country which I made an oath to give to your fathers.

43 And there, at the memory of your ways and of all the things you did to make yourselves unclean, you will have bitter hate for yourselves because of all the evil things you have done.

44 And you will be certain that I am the Lord, when I take you in hand for the honour of my name, and not for your evil ways or your unclean doings, O children of Israel, says the Lord.

45 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

46 Son of man, let your face be turned to the south, let your words be dropped to the south, and be a prophet against the woodland of the south;

47 And say to the woodland of the South, Give ear to the words of the Lord: this is what the Lord has said: See, I will have a fire lighted in you, for the destruction of every green tree in you and every dry tree: the flaming flame will not be put out, and all faces from the South to the north will be burned by it.

48 And all flesh will see that I the Lord have had it lighted: it will not be put out.

49 Then I said, Ah, Lord! they say of me, Is he not a maker of stories?

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 485

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485. CHAPTER 11

1. Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood by, saying, "Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.

2. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.

3. And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."

4. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.

5. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire will proceed from their mouth and devour their enemies. And if anyone wants to do them injury, he must be killed in this manner.

6. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.

7. Then, when they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

8. And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

9. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their bodies for three and a half days, and not allow their bodies to be put into tombs.

10. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and be glad, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

11. But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.

12. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.

13. In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth part of the city fell. And in the earthquake seven thousand people by name were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

15. Then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"

16. And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God,

17. saying: "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who are and who were and who are to come, because You have taken Your great power and entered Your kingdom.

18. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time to judge the dead, and to reward Your servants the prophets and saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and to destroy those who are destroying the earth."

19. Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter

The subject continues to be the state of the church among the Protestant Reformed and the character of those inwardly caught up in faith alone in opposition to the two essential elements of the New Church, namely, that the Lord alone is God of heaven and earth, whose humanity is Divine, and that people ought to live in accordance with the Ten Commandments. These two essential elements were proclaimed before them (verses 3-6). But they were utterly rejected (verses 7-10). The Lord revived them (verses 11, 12). Those people perished who rejected them (verse 13). From the New Heaven the state of the New Church was shown (verses 15-19).

The Contents of the Individual Verses:

Verse ContentsSpiritual Meaning
1. Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod.John was given the ability and power to learn and see the state of the church in heaven and in the world.
And the angel stood by, saying, "Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.The Lord's presence and His command to see and learn the state of the church in the New Heaven.
2. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it,The state of the church on earth, as it is still, must be set aside and not learned.
for it has been given to the gentiles.Because, owing to evil practices, the state of that church has been lost and forsaken.
And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.It has dispelled every truth of the Word to the point that none remains.
3. And I will give power to my two witnesses,Those people who confess and acknowledge from the heart that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, whose humanity is Divine, and who are conjoined with Him by a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments.
and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days,These two - an acknowledgment of the Lord and a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments, which are the two essential elements of the New Church - must be taught until the end and a new beginning.
clothed in sackcloth."The grief experienced meanwhile over the truth's not being accepted.
4. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.The love and intelligence, or charity and faith, that people have in them from the Lord.
5. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire will proceed from their mouth and devour their enemies.Anyone who wishes to destroy these two essential elements perishes from a hellish love.
And if anyone wants to do them injury, he must be killed in that way.Anyone who condemns the two essential elements is likewise condemned.
6. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy;People who turn away from these two essential elements cannot receive any truth from heaven.
and they have power over waters to turn them to blood,People who turn away from these two essential elements falsify the Word's truths.
and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.People who wish to destroy these two essential elements propel themselves into evils and falsities of every kind, as often as, and in the measure that, they do so.
7. Then, when they finish their testimony,After the Lord has taught these two essential elements of the New Church,
the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.those people who are caught up in the interior tenets of the doctrine regarding faith alone will reject these two elements.
8. And their bodies will lie in the street of the great cityThese two elements have been utterly rejected.
which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt,The two hellish loves, namely, a love of ruling springing from a love of self, and a love of holding sway from a conceit in one's own intelligence, loves which are present in the church where there is not one God and where the Lord is not worshiped, and where people do not live in accordance with the Ten Commandments.
where also our Lord was crucified.A failure to acknowledge the Lord's Divine humanity, and thus a state in which He is rejected.
9. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their bodies for three and a half days,All those who were or who would be caught up in doctrinal falsities and evil practices at the end of the church still existing, when they have heard and later hear about these two essential elements at the beginning of the New Church,
and not allow their bodies to be put into tombs.have condemned them and will continue to condemn them.
10. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and be glad,The delight of the heart and soul's affection among those people in the church caught up in faith alone.
and send gifts to one another,Their consociation by love and friendship.
because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.These two essential elements of the New Church, opposed as they are to the two essential elements accepted in the Protestant Reformed Church, are objects of contempt, distress, and repugnance.
11. But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet,As the New Church commences and grows, these two essential elements are made living by the Lord in people who accept them.
and great fear fell on those who saw them.A disturbance of the mind and alarm at Divine truths.
12. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here."The two essential elements of the New Church raised by the Lord into heaven, where they originate and where they remain, and where they are protected.
And they ascended to heaven in a cloud,Their elevation into heaven and conjunction with the Lord there through the Divine truth of the Word in its literal sense.
and their enemies saw them.People caught up in a faith divorced from charity heard of these, but remained in their falsities.
13. In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth part of the city fell.A considerable change of state occurring then in those people, and their being plucked away from heaven and sinking into hell.
And in the earthquake seven thousand people by name were killed,All those people who professed faith alone and for that reason made works of charity of no account, perished.
and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.People who saw their destruction acknowledged the Lord and were set apart.
14. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.A lamentation over the corrupted state of the church, and lastly a final lamentation, as depicted after this.
15. Then the seventh angel sounded,An examination and exposure of the state of the church after its end, at the time of the Lord's advent and the advent of His kingdom.
and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"Celebrations on the part of angels, that heaven and the church had become the Lord's, as they had been from the beginning, and that they had now become those of His Divine humanity, thus that the Lord would reign over heaven and earth as regards both aspects of Him to eternity.
16. And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God,An acknowledgment on the part of all the angels in heaven that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, and their highest adoration of Him.
17. saying: "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who are and who were and who are to come,A confession and glorification on the part of the angels in heaven, that the Lord is He who exists, lives, and has power of Himself, and who governs all things, because He alone is eternal and infinite.
because You have taken Your great power and entered Your kingdom.The New Heaven and New Church, where people will acknowledge Him alone as God.
18. The nations were angry,People who were caught up in faith alone and thus in evil practices were enraged, and harassed those who opposed their faith.
and Your wrath has come, and the time to judge the dead,Their destruction, and the last judgment on those people who were without any spiritual life.
and to reward Your servants the prophets and saints,The happiness of eternal life for people who possess doctrinal truths from the Word and live in accordance with them.
and those who fear Your name, small and great,People who love things having to do with the Lord, in a lesser or greater degree.
and to destroy those who are destroying the earth."The casting down into hell of the people who destroyed the church.
19. Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple.The New Heaven, in which the Lord is worshiped in His Divine humanity, and where people live in accordance with the Ten Commandments, which constitute the two essential elements of the New Church that are the means of conjunction.
And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.The reasonings, disturbances, and falsifications of goodness and truth then in the lower regions.

THE EXPOSITION

Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. (11:1) This symbolically means that the Lord gave John the ability and power to learn and see the state of the church in heaven and in the world.

A reed symbolizes weak power, the kind a person has of himself, and a rod symbolizes strong power, the kind a person has from the Lord. Consequently John's being given a reed like a measuring rod symbolizes power from the Lord. That it was the ability and power to learn and see the state of the church in heaven and in the world is apparent from the events that follow in this chapter to the end.

[2] That a reed or length of cane symbolizes weak power such as a person has of himself is apparent from the following:

Look, you are relying on the staff of (a) broken reed, on Egypt, which, when a man leans on it, will go into his hand and pierce it. (Isaiah 36:6)

That... the inhabitants of Egypt may know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. When they took hold of you with the hand, you broke and punctured all their shoulders... (Ezekiel 29:6-7)

Egypt symbolizes the natural person who relies on his own powers, and that is why it is called the staff of a broken reed.

A reed symbolizes weak power, in Isaiah:

A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not extinguish. (Isaiah 42:3)

[3] A rod, on the other hand, symbolizes strong power, which comes from the Lord, here the power to learn the state of the church, because John used the rod to measure the temple and altar, and to measure means, symbolically, to learn, and the temple and altar symbolize the church, as depicted next.

A rod symbolizes power because in olden times people in the church made wooden rods, and wood symbolizes goodness. It also substituted for the right hand and supported it, and the right hand symbolizes power. It is owing to this that a scepter is a shortened rod, and a scepter symbolizes the power of a king. Moreover, "scepter" and "rod" in Hebrew are the same word. 1

[4] That a rod symbolizes power is apparent from the following passages:

Say, "How the strong staff is broken, the beautiful rod!" ...Come down from your glory, and sit in thirst. (Jeremiah 48:17-18)

Jehovah shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. (Psalms 110:2)

You punctured with his shafts the head of the faithless. (Habakkuk 3:14)

...Israel the rod of (Jehovah's) inheritance. (Jeremiah 10:16; 51:19)

Your rod and Your staff will comfort me. (Psalms 23:4)

Jehovah has broken the staff of the wicked... (Isaiah 14:5, cf. Isaiah 9:4, Psalms 125:3)

My people consult a piece of wood, and their staff answers them. (Hosea 4:12)

...Jehovah... takes away from Jerusalem... the whole staff of bread and the whole staff of water. (Isaiah 3:1, cf. Ezekiel 4:16; 5:16; 14:13, Psalms 105:16, Leviticus 26:26)

A staff of bread and of water symbolizes the power of goodness and truth, and Jerusalem symbolizes the church.

The rod of Levi with the name of Aaron on it, which in the Tabernacle blossomed with almonds (Numbers 17:2-10), symbolizes, in the spiritual sense, nothing else than the power of truth and goodness, because Levi and Aaron symbolized the truth and goodness of the church.

[5] That a rod symbolizes power is apparent from the power of Moses' rod: On being stretched out it turned water into blood (Exodus 7:20). It caused frogs to come up on the land of Egypt (Exodus 8:1ff.). It produced lice (Exodus 8:16f.). It summoned thunder and hail (Exodus 9:23ff.). It caused locusts to come (Exodus 10:12ff.). It caused the Red Sea to be parted and the waters to return (Exodus 14:16, 21, 26). It caused water to flow from the rock at Horeb (Exodus 17:5ff., Numbers 20:7-13). In Moses' hand it enabled Joshua to prevail over the Amalekites (Exodus 17:9-12).

And an angel's staff caused fire to come forth from a rock (Judges 6:21).

It is apparent from these instances that a rod or staff symbolizes power, and also elsewhere, as in Isaiah 10:5, 24, 26; 11:4; 14:29; 30:31-32, Ezekiel 19:10-14, Lamentations 3:1, Micah 7:14, Zechariah 10:11, Numbers 21:18.

Mga talababa:

1. I.e., מַטֶּה.

  
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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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