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Exodus第19章

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1 In the third month, when the children of Israel had gone forth from the land of Egypt, the same day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.

2 For they had departed from Rephidim, and had come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mount.

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

4 Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to myself.

5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people: 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 for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.

8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people to the LORD.

9 And the LORD said to Moses, Lo, I come to thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.

10 And the LORD said to Moses, Go to the people, and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow, and let them wash their clothes,

11 And be ready against the third day: for on the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.

12 And thou shalt set bounds to the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up upon the mount, or touch the border of it: whoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:

13 There shall not a hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through: whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.

14 And Moses went down from the mount to the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.

15 And he said to the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.

16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that were in the camp trembled.

17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.

18 And mount Sinai was altogether in a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke of it ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount trembled greatly.

19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice.

20 And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.

21 And the LORD said to Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through to the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.

22 And let the priests also who come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.

23 And Moses said to the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.

24 And the LORD said to him, Away, go down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: But let not the priests and the people break through, to come up to the LORD, lest he break forth upon them.

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

   

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Apocalypse Explained#970

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970. And they became blood. That this signifies that it was destroyed through falsifications, is evident from the signification of blood, as denoting truth falsified (see above, n. 966). Therefore by the rivers and fountains becoming blood, is signified that the faculty of understanding the truths of the Word was destroyed through falsifications.

Every man indeed has the faculty of understanding truths for it is this faculty by which he is distinguished from beasts. This also is left with every man, even with the evil; for that is man's spiritual, and the most essential means of his regeneration. For man is regenerated by the Lord by means of truths, which, unless he could understand them, could not be received, nor, consequently, could he be reformed; for to receive what cannot be understood leads to nothing.

That this is the case has also been confirmed by experience in the spiritual world. It was a subject of talk among spirits, whether every one has the faculty of understanding truths; and an infernal spirit was taken to witness whether he could understand the truths of heaven. It was found that he understood them when he heard them quite as well as a good spirit; but still that he did not wish to understand them, for he turned away from them, because they were opposed to the evils and the falsities therefrom that constituted his delight. And it was said that a man by that faculty has conjunction with the Lord, because it is proper to man.

The reason why that faculty is said to be destroyed through falsifications is, that those who have falsified the Word are not willing to understand actual truths; and these appear not to be able, although they are able, if they were but willing. For while their minds cling to opposites, they are rejected truths; and, as one deaf, they do not hear them. But when opposites are removed, it is like the ears of the deaf being opened.

These things are said in order that it may be known how it is to be understood that the faculty of understanding the truths of the Word is destroyed through falsifications.

Continuation concerning the Fifth Precept:-

[2] It was said above, that communication with heaven is not granted before evils and the falsities therefrom are removed, by which the natural mind is closed up; for these are like black clouds between the sun and the eye; or like a wall between the light (lux) of heaven, and the light (lumen) of a candle in a chamber. For a man is, as it were, shut up in a chamber, where he sees by the light of a candle, so long as he is in the light (lumen) of the natural man only; but as soon as the natural man is purified from evils and the falsities therefrom, then it is as if he saw the things which are of heaven from the light thereof through windows in that wall. For as soon as evils are removed, then the higher mind is opened, which is called the spiritual mind; and this, strictly considered, is a type or image of heaven. By means of this mind the Lord flows in and causes him to see from the light of heaven. And by this also he reforms, and at length regenerates, the natural man, implanting therein truths instead of falsities, and goods instead of evils. This the Lord does by means of spiritual love, which is the love of truth and good. A man then is placed in the midst between two loves - the love of evil and the love of good; when the love of evil recedes, the love of good succeeds in its place. The love of evil is removed solely by a life according to the precepts of the Decalogue, that is, by desisting from the evils there enumerated because they are sins; and, lastly, by shunning them as infernal.

[3] In a word, so long as man does not desist from evils because they are sins, the spiritual mind is shut; but as soon as he desists from evils because they are sins, the spiritual mind is opened, and with that mind heaven also. And heaven having been opened, a man comes into another light as to all things relating to the church, to heaven, and life eternal; although the difference between this light and that which preceded it can scarcely be noticed by him while he lives in the world. The reason is, that a man thinks in a natural manner in the world even concerning spiritual things; and spiritual things are included in natural ideas, until he passes from the natural into the spiritual world, where spiritual things are then revealed, perceived, and made clear.

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