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Ezekiel 3

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1 And he said to me: Son of man, eat all that thou shalt find: eat this book, and go speak to the children of Israel.

2 And I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that book :

3 And he said to me: Son of man, thy belly shall eat, and thy bowels shall be filled with this book, which I give thee. And I did eat it: and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.

4 And he said to me: Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and thou shalt speak my words to them.

5 For thou art not sent to a people of a profound speech, and of an unknown tongue, but to the house of Israel:

6 Nor to many nations of a strange speech, and of an unknown tongue, whose words thou canst not understand: and if thou wert sent to them, they would hearken to thee.

7 But the house of Israel will not hearken to thee: because they will not hearken to me: for all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and an obstinate heart.

8 Behold I have made thy face stronger than their faces: and thy forehead harder than their foreheads.

9 I have made thy face like an adamant and like flint: fear them not, neither be thou dismayed at their presence: for they are a provoking house.

10 And he said to me: Son of man, receive in thy heart, and hear with thy ears, all the words that I speak to thee:

11 And go get thee in to them of the captivity, to the children of thy people, and thou shalt speak to them, and shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: If so be they will hear and will forbear.

12 And the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great commotion, saying: Blessed be the glory of the Lord, from his place.

13 And the noise of the wings of the living creatures striking one against another, and the noise of the wheels following the living creatures, and the noise of a great commotion.

14 The spirit also lifted me, and took me up: and I went away in bitterness in the indignation of my spirit: for the hand of the Lord was with me, strengthening me.

15 And I came to them of the captivity, to the heap of new corn, to them that dwelt by the river Chobar, and I sat where they sat: and I remained there seven days mourning in the midst of them.

16 And at the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel: and thou shalt hear the word out of my mouth, and shalt tell it them from me.

18 If, when I say to the wicked, Thou shalt surely die: thou declare it not to him, nor speak to him, that he may be converted from his wicked way, and live: the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at thy hand.

19 But if thou give warning to the wicked, and he be not converted from his wickedness, and from his evil way: he indeed shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.

20 Moreover if the just man shall turn away from his justice, and shall commit iniquity: I will lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die, because thou hast not given him warning: he shall die in his sin, and his justices which he hath done, shall not be remembered: but I will require his blood at thy hand.

21 But if thou warn the just man, that the just may not sin, and he doth not sin: living he shall live, because thou hast warned him, and thou hast delivered thy soul.

22 And the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he said to me: Rise and go forth into the plain, and there I will speak to thee.

23 And I rose up, and went forth into the plain: and behold the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chobar: and I fell upon my face.

24 And the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet: and he spoke to me, and said to me: Go in; and shut thyself up in the midst of thy house.

25 And thou, O son of man, behold they shall put bands upon thee, and they shall bind thee with them: and thou shalt not go forth from the midst of them.

26 And I will make thy tongue stick fast to the roof of thy mouth, and thou shalt be dumb, and not as a man that reproveth: because they are a provoking house.

27 But when I shall speak to thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: He that heareth, let him hear: and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a provoking house.

   

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Apocalypse Explained #62

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62. And being turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. That this signifies, the New Heaven and the New Church, which are in the good of love, is evident from the signification of turned to see, as denoting to understand from enlightenment (concerning which see what has just been said, n. 61); and from the signification of seven, as denoting all and what is full, and as being said of the holy things of heaven and the church (concerning this see above, n. 20, 24); from the signification of lampstands, as being the New Heaven and the New Church, as will be seen in what follows; and from the signification of gold, as being the good of love (respecting which, see Arcana Coelestia 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9510, 9874, 9881). That the seven lampstands signify heaven and the church, is evident from the last verse of this chapter, where it is said, "The seven lampstands which thou sawest are the seven churches." That the seven churches signify all who belong to the church of the Lord, thus the church in general, may be seen above (n. 20); the reason why they also signify heaven, is, that heaven and the church make one. Heaven also is in those in whom the church is; the reason is, that the good of love and the good of faith constitute the church with man, and also constitute heaven with him, as with the angels; therefore those who, while in the world, had the church in them, that is to say, the goods and truths of the church, come into heaven after death. (That this is the case, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 12; and in the work, Heaven and Hell 57, 221-227.) The reason why the New Heaven and the New Church are here meant by the seven lampstands is, that these are ultimately treated of in the Apocalypse (as may be seen, chap. 21), and thus form the conclusion of all things therein; and since that which is ultimate is also the primary, therefore a prediction concerning them is presented in the beginning of that book.

In the Word it is also usual to mention those things in the first place which are done in the last, because intermediate things are included in them; for the primary thing, in the spiritual sense, is the end for which all the other things exist, inasmuch as the end is the primary and the ultimate, and all other things have respect to it (as may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 98).

[2] That a lampstand signifies heaven and the church, may be evident from the description of the lampstand which was in the tabernacle; for by the tabernacle was represented heaven in its whole extent; and by the lampstand therein the spiritual heaven, which is the second heaven (see Arcana Coelestia 3478, 9457, 9481, 9485, 9548-9577, 9783). That this is the case is clearly evident from the fact, that John saw in the midst of the seven lampstands one like unto the Son of man; and the Son of man is the Lord as to the Divine Human, from which Divine truth proceeds, which is the all in all of heaven and the church. In the spiritual heaven the inhabitants see lampstands of great splendour; their heaven is represented by these; I have also been permitted to see them. It is, therefore, evident what is meant, in the spiritual sense of the Word, by lampstands and by lamps, in the following passages. In the Apocalypse:

"I will remove thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent" (2:5)

To remove their lampstand, is to take away heaven or the church from them. In Zechariah:

The angel said to the prophet: "What seest thou? And I said, I saw, and behold a lampstand all of gold, its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon, with seven pipes to the lamps" (4:2, 3).

In this passage Zerubbabel is treated of, who was to lay the foundation of the house of God, and to perfect it; by whom is represented the Lord, who was about to come, and to restore heaven and the church, which are signified by the lampstand; and the holy truths therein are the seven lamps. Because a lampstand derives its representative signification from lamps, and lamps theirs from light, which in heaven is the Divine truth, therefore the Lord also is called a lamp, as in the Apocalypse:

The holy Jerusalem "had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof" (21:23; 22:5).

This is why David, and the kings after him, were called "lamps of Israel" (2 Sam. 21:17; 1 Kings 11:36; 15:4; 2 Kings 8:19). For by David was represented the Lord as to his regal function; and similarly by the kings of Judah and Israel. (The representation by David may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 1888, 9954; and by kings, above, n. 31.) The reason why the lampstands that were seen were of gold, was, that gold signifies the good of love, and all that proceeds from the Lord is from Divine love; wherefore the Divine of the Lord in the heavens is love to Him and love towards the neighbour, which is charity (as may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 13-19). This is the reason why the lampstands here mentioned, and also the lampstand lit the tabernacle, was of gold.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.