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Exodus第19章

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1 In the third month after the departure of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they [into] the wilderness of Sinai:

2 they departed from Rephidim, and came [into] the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped in the wilderness; and Israel encamped there before the mountain.

3 And Moses went up to God, and Jehovah called to him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:

4 Ye have seen what I have done to the Egyptians, and [how] I have borne you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.

5 And now, if ye will hearken to my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then shall ye be my own possession out of all the peoples -- for all the earth is mine --

6 and ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak to the children of Israel.

7 And Moses came and called the elders of the people, and laid before the mall these words which Jehovah had commanded him.

8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that Jehovah has spoken will we do! And Moses brought the words of the people back to Jehovah.

9 And Jehovah said to Moses, Lo, I will come to thee in the cloud's thick darkness, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee also for ever. And Moses told the words of the people to Jehovah.

10 And Jehovah said to Moses, Go to the people, and hallow them to-day and to-morrow, and let them wash their clothes;

11 and let them be ready for the third day; for on the third day Jehovah will come down before the eyes of all the people on mount Sinai.

12 And set bounds round about the people, saying, Take heed to yourselves, [not] to go up unto the mountain nor touch the border of it: whatever toucheth the mountain shall certainly be put to death:

13 not a hand shall touch it, but it shall certainly be stoned, or shot through; whether it be a beast or a man, it shall not live. When the long drawn note of the trumpet soundeth, they shall come up to the mountain.

14 And Moses came down from the mountain to the people, and hallowed the people; and they washed their clothes.

15 And he said to the people, Be ready for the third day; do not come near [your] wives.

16 And it came to pass on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunders and lightnings and a heavy cloud on the mountain, and the sound of the trumpet exceeding loud; and the whole people that was in the camp trembled.

17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

18 And the whole of mount Sinai smoked, because Jehovah descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended as the smoke of a furnace; and the whole mountain shook greatly.

19 And the sound of the trumpet increased and became exceeding loud; Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice.

20 And Jehovah came down on mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain; and Jehovah called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

21 And Jehovah said to Moses, Go down, testify to the people that they break not through to Jehovah to gaze, and many of them perish.

22 And the priests also, who come near to Jehovah, shall hallow themselves, lest Jehovah break forth on them.

23 And Moses said to Jehovah, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai; for thou hast testified to us, saying, Set bounds about the mountain, and hallow it.

24 And Jehovah said to him, Go, descend, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee; but the priests and the people shall not break through to go up to Jehovah, lest he break forth on them.

25 So Moses went down to the people, and told them.

   

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Arcana Coelestia#8794

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8794. 'And you are to set bounds for the people round about' means not extending into heaven beyond the spiritual spheres of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'setting bounds round about' as the extension of a sphere into heaven to specific limits that are determined by each one's good; and from the representation of the children of Israel, to whom 'the people' refers here, as those governed by spiritual good in which truth is to be implanted. For this state of the good of those belonging to the spiritual Church is described in the present chapter and in those that follow it, 8753. So it is that 'you are to set bounds for the people round about' means extension into heaven no further than to the spiritual spheres of good.

[2] No one can know except from revelation what to understand by extension into heaven as far as the spiritual spheres of good. The situation is this: Any good imparted to a person through regeneration by the Lord extends itself to communities in heaven. The amount and the nature of this extension varies with each person; it varies in amount as it advances towards more distant boundaries in heaven, and in nature as it shifts more towards the internal parts of heaven or more towards the external parts. The actual good residing with a person flows in from the Lord by way of the communities of heaven that are round about; good that does not flow in by way of those communities is not possible. The communities of heaven exist round about, closely joined together without a break; not a break between them appears anywhere. It is the same with every single thing that is connected with good and constitutes its essential nature. Therefore when a person is being regenerated his enrichment in good is nothing other than being introduced into angelic communities, and in this way being joined to them. See also 4067, 4073, 4077, 6598-6613

[3] This has also been demonstrated to me quite a number of times by actual experience. Sometimes contact with certain communities has been withdrawn from me, and then the amount and the nature of life that remained were determined by the amount and nature of extension into the communities that were left. And when more communities were taken away, my life suffered and began seemingly to be snuffed out. Every angel, spirit, and man has a spiritual sphere, and its nature is determined by its extension into different communities. It extends not into the actual communities, but into the spheres emanating from their good. These matters are arcana that are unknown to anyone in the world but are very well known indeed in the next life. The reason why they are unknown to anyone in the world is that a person at the present day believes that he has life in himself, and consequently that he lives without association with spirits and angels, and so without being linked to heaven. But in this he is altogether mistaken; for all the life a person has comes from the Lord by way of communities [in the spiritual world].

[4] In addition it should be recognized that the life emanating from those belonging to the spiritual Church reaches as far as the angelic spheres in the second heaven, called the spiritual heaven, but not as far as the third heaven, where those who are celestial are. The reason for this is that a member of the spiritual Church cannot receive the Divine as He exists in the inmost or third heaven where those who are celestial are, except in so general a way that he does not even notice it. And the reason for this is that those who are spiritual cannot reach even the outer doorstep of the good governing those who are celestial, 2718, 3833, 6500, 8521. All this shows what should be understood by not extending into heaven beyond the spiritual spheres of good, meant by the injunction 'you are to set bounds for the people round about', and also what should be understood by the words that follow it.

[5] It should also be recognized that just as those governed by good have an extension into angelic communities according to the nature and amount of their good, so those ruled by evil have an extension into hellish communities according to the nature and amount of their evil. And in addition to this, everyone in the next life comes among those with whom he had been in contact during his lifetime. His ruling love determines this; for that love is what constitutes the sphere emanating from each person's life, and extends as far as the nature and amount of it determine.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.