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Exodus第37章

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1 And Bezalel made the ark of hard wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide and a cubit and a half high;

2 Plating it inside and out with the best gold, and putting an edge of gold all round it.

3 And he made four gold rings for its four angles, two on one side and two on the other,

4 And rods of the same wood plated with gold.

5 These rods he put in the rings at the sides of the ark, for lifting it.

6 And he made the cover all of gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.

7 And he made two winged ones, hammered out of one bit of gold, for the two ends of the cover;

8 Placing one at one end and one at the other; the winged ones were part of the cover.

9 And their wings were stretched out over the cover; the faces of the winged ones were opposite one another and facing the cover.

10 And he made the table of hard wood, two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high;

11 Plating it with the best gold and putting a gold edge all round it.

12 And he made a frame all round it about as wide as a man's hand, edged with gold all round.

13 And he made four gold rings, and put the rings at the angles of its four feet.

14 The rings were fixed under the frame to take the rods with which the table was to be lifted.

15 The rods for lifting the table he made of hard wood plated with gold.

16 And all the table-vessels, the plates and spoons and basins and the cups for liquids, he made of the best gold.

17 Then he made the support for the lights, all of the best gold; its base and its pillar were of hammered gold; its cups and buds and flowers were all made out of the same metal:

18 It had six branches coming out from its sides, three from one side and three from the other;

19 Every branch having three cups made like almond flowers, every cup with a bud and a flower on all the branches;

20 And on its pillar, four cups like almond flowers, every one with its bud and its flower;

21 And under every two branches a bud, made with the branch, for all six branches of it.

22 The buds and the branches were made of the same metal, all together one complete work of the best hammered gold.

23 And he made the seven vessels for the lights, and all the necessary instruments for it, of gold.

24 A talent of the best gold was used for the making of it and its vessels.

25 And he made the altar for the burning of spices, using the same hard wood; it was square, a cubit long and a cubit wide and two cubits high; the horns made of the same.

26 The top and the sides and the horns were all plated with the best gold; and he put an edge of gold all round it.

27 And he made two gold rings, placing them on the two opposite sides under the edge, to take the rods for lifting it.

28 The rods he made of the same hard wood, plating them with gold.

29 And he made the holy oil and the perfume of sweet spices for burning, after the art of the perfume-maker.

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Apocalypse Revealed#43

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43. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands. This symbolizes a new church, which will have an enlightenment from the Lord from the Word.

We are told in the last verse of this chapter that the seven lampstands are the seven churches, and it may be seen in no. 10 above that the seven churches mean all in the Christian world who turn to the church - and this in every case according to each one's state of reception (no. 41).

The seven lampstands mean a new church because the Lord is in it and in the midst of it. For we are told that in the midst of the seven lampstands John saw one like the Son of Man, and the Son of Man means the Lord in relation to the Word.

The lampstands appeared golden, because gold symbolizes goodness, and every church is a church by virtue of the goodness that is formed through truths. That gold symbolizes goodness will be seen in subsequent explanations.

[2] These lampstands were not next to one another or placed so as to touch each other, but stood at some intervals forming a kind of circle, as it apparent from this statement in the following chapter,

These things says He who... walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. (Revelation 2:1)

We are not told anything about the lamps on the lampstands, but later it is said that the Holy Jerusalem, which is to say, the New Church, "has no need of the sun or of the moon," because "its lamp is the Lamb, and the nations that are saved shall walk in its light" (Revelation 21:23-24). And furthermore,

They need no lamp..., for the Lord God gives them light. (Revelation 22:5)

For those people who will be constituents of the Lord's New Church are the only "lampstands" that will shine with light from the Lord.

[3] The golden lampstand in the Tabernacle represented nothing else than the church in relation to its enlightenment by the Lord. Regarding this lampstand, see Exodus 25:31-40; 37:17-24; 26:35, Numbers 8:2-4. That it represented the Lord's church as to Divine spiritual love, which is love for the neighbor, see Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), nos. 9548, 9555, 9558, 9561, 9570, 9783. See also no. 493 below.

The lampstand in Zechariah 4 also symbolizes a new church to be established by the Lord, since it symbolizes a new house of God or temple, as is apparent from what follows there; and a house of God or temple symbolizes the church, and in the highest sense, the Lord's Divine humanity, as He Himself teaches in John 2:19-21, 1 and elsewhere.

But we will say what in turn is symbolically meant in Zechariah 4, when the lampstand appeared to him:

The particulars contained in verses 1-7 symbolize the Lord's enlightenment of a new church from the goodness of love by means of truth. The olive trees there symbolize the church in regard to the goodness of love.

The particulars from 8-10 verse there mean, symbolically, that the enlightenment comes from the Lord. Zerubbabel there, who is to build the house, thus the church, represents the Lord.

The particulars from verse 11-14 mean, symbolically, that that the church will also have in it truths from a heavenly origin.

This explanation of that chapter was given to me by the Lord through heaven.

脚注:

1. Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body.

  
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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.