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Exodus第29章

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1 `And this [is] the thing which thou dost to them, to hallow them, for being priests to Me: Take one bullock, a son of the herd, and two rams, perfect ones,

2 and bread unleavened, and cakes unleavened anointed with oil, of fine wheaten flour thou dost make them,

3 and thou hast put them on one basket, and hast brought them near in the basket, also the bullock and the two rams.

4 `And Aaron and his sons thou dost bring near unto the opening of the tent of meeting, and hast bathed them with water;

5 and thou hast taken the garments, and hast clothed Aaron with the coat, and the upper robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and hast girded him with the girdle of the ephod,

6 and hast set the mitre on his head, and hast put the holy crown on the mitre,

7 and hast taken the anointing oil, and hast poured [it] on his head, and hast anointed him.

8 `And his sons thou dost bring near, and hast clothed them [with] coats,

9 and hast girded them [with] a girdle (Aaron and his sons), and hast bound on them bonnets; and the priesthood hath been theirs by a statute age-during, and thou hast consecrated the hand of Aaron, and the hand of his sons,

10 and hast brought near the bullock before the tent of meeting, and Aaron hath laid -- his sons also -- their hands on the head of the bullock.

11 `And thou hast slaughtered the bullock before Jehovah, at the opening of the tent of meeting,

12 and hast taken of the blood of the bullock, and hast put [it] on the horns of the altar with thy finger, and all the blood thou dost pour out at the foundation of the altar;

13 and thou hast taken all the fat which is covering the inwards, and the redundance on the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat which [is] on them, and hast made perfume on the altar;

14 and the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, thou dost burn with fire at the outside of the camp; it [is] a sin-offering.

15 `And the one ram thou dost take, and Aaron and his sons have laid their hands on the head of the ram,

16 and thou hast slaughtered the ram, and hast taken its blood, and hast sprinkled [it] on the altar round about,

17 and the ram thou dost cut into its pieces, and hast washed its inwards, and its legs, and hast put [them] on its pieces, and on its head;

18 and thou hast made perfume with the whole ram on the altar. It [is] a burnt-offering to Jehovah, a sweet fragrance; a fire-offering it [is] to Jehovah.

19 `And thou hast taken the second ram, and Aaron hath laid -- his sons also -- their hands on the head of the ram,

20 and thou hast slaughtered the ram, and hast taken of its blood, and hast put on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot, and hast sprinkled the blood on the altar round about;

21 and thou hast taken of the blood which [is] on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and hast sprinkled on Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him, and he hath been hallowed, he, and his garments, and his sons, and the garments of his sons with him.

22 `And thou hast taken from the ram the fat, and the fat tail, and the fat which is covering the inwards, and the redundance on the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat which [is] on them, and the right leg, for it [is] a ram of consecration,

23 and one round cake of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one thin cake out of the basket of the unleavened things which [is] before Jehovah.

24 `And thou hast set the whole on the hands of Aaron, and on the hands of his sons, and hast waved them -- a wave-offering before Jehovah;

25 and thou hast taken them out of their hand, and hast made perfume on the altar beside the burnt-offering, for sweet fragrance before Jehovah; a fire-offering it [is] to Jehovah.

26 `And thou hast taken the breast from the ram of the consecration which [is] for Aaron, and hast waved it -- a wave-offering before Jehovah, and it hath become thy portion;

27 and thou hast sanctified the breast of the wave-offering, and the leg of the heave-offering, which hath been waved, and which hath been lifted up from the ram of the consecration, of that which [is] for Aaron, and of that which [is] for his sons;

28 and it hath been for Aaron and for his sons, by a statute age-during from the sons of Israel, for it [is] a heave-offering; and it is a heave offering from the sons of Israel, from the sacrifices of their peace-offerings -- their heave-offering to Jehovah.

29 `And the holy garments which are Aaron's, are for his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and to consecrate in them their hand;

30 seven days doth the priest in his stead (of his sons) put them on, when he goeth in unto the tent of meeting, to minister in the sanctuary.

31 `And the ram of the consecration thou dost take, and hast boiled its flesh in the holy place;

32 and Aaron hath eaten -- his sons also -- the flesh of the ram, and the bread which [is] in the basket, at the opening of the tent of meeting;

33 and they have eaten those things by which there is atonement to consecrate their hand, to sanctify them; and a stranger doth not eat -- for they [are] holy;

34 and if there be left of the flesh of the consecration or of the bread till the morning, then thou hast burned that which is left with fire; it is not eaten, for it [is] holy.

35 `And thou hast done thus to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded thee; seven days thou dost consecrate their hand;

36 and a bullock, a sin-offering, thou dost prepare daily for the atonements, and thou hast atoned for the altar, in thy making atonement on it, and hast anointed it to sanctify it;

37 seven days thou dost make atonement for the altar, and hast sanctified it, and the altar hath been most holy; all that is coming against the altar is holy.

38 `And this [is] that which thou dost prepare on the altar; two lambs, sons of a year, daily continually;

39 the one lamb thou dost prepare in the morning, and the second lamb thou dost prepare between the evenings;

40 and a tenth [deal] of fine flour, mixed with beaten oil, a fourth part of a hin, and a libation, a fourth part of a hin, of wine, [is] for the one lamb.

41 `And the second lamb thou dost prepare between the evenings; according to the present of the morning, and according to its libation, thou dost prepare for it, for sweet fragrance, a fire-offering, to Jehovah: --

42 a continual burnt-offering for your generations, at the opening of the tent of meeting, before Jehovah, whither I am met with you, to speak unto thee there,

43 and I have met there with the sons of Israel, and it hath been sanctified by My honour.

44 `And I have sanctified the tent of meeting, and the altar, and Aaron and his sons I sanctify for being priests to Me,

45 and I have tabernacled in the midst of the sons of Israel, and have become their God,

46 and they have known that I [am] Jehovah their God, who hath brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I may tabernacle in their midst; I [am] Jehovah their God.

   

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Apocalypse Explained#1153

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1153. And fine flour and wheat.- That these signify worship from truths and goods that are from a spiritual origin, profaned, is evident from the signification of fine flour, which denotes truth from a spiritual origin, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of wheat, which denotes good from a spiritual origin (concerning which see above, n. 374, 375). The reason why these things also signify worship is, that the meat offering, which, together with the sacrifices, was offered up upon the altar, was composed of them, similarly the wine and oil; for the meat offerings were prepared with oil, and the drink offerings with wine. On account of the gathering in of these things, festivals also were instituted in which they rejoiced on account of their produce. Fine flour signifies truth from spiritual good, because it is prepared from wheat, which signifies spiritual good, as truth is derived from good.

[2] Since this truth of the church was signified by fine flour, therefore the quantity to be used in the cakes that were called the meat offerings and were offered with the sacrifices upon the altar, was prescribed (concerning which see Exodus 29:5-7, 13; Numbers 18, 28, 29). Similarly the quantity of fine flour in the cakes of proposition, or shew-bread, was prescribed (Leviticus 23:17; chap. 24:5), for it was commanded, that "the meat offering which was to be offered upon the altar should be prepared from fine flour, and oil and frankincense poured thereon" (Leviticus 2:1). On account of this signification of fine flour, when Abraham spoke with the three angels, he said to Sarah his wife, "Hasten and knead three measures of fine flour, and make cakes" (Genesis 18:6).

[3] Fine flour also signifies the truth of good from a spiritual origin in Ezekiel:

"Fine flour, honey, and oil hast thou eaten, whence thou art become exceeding beautiful, and hast prospered unto a kingdom. My bread which I gave thee, fine flour, honey, and oil, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast set before" idols "for an odour of rest" (16:13, 19).

This treats of Jerusalem, by which the church as to doctrine is signified; and in that chapter its quality at its beginning is described, and what it became afterwards. Fine flour and oil signify truth and good from a spiritual origin, while honey signifies good from a natural origin. By becoming exceedingly beautiful is signified to become intelligent and wise; by prospering unto a kingdom is signified even to become a church, a kingdom signifying a church. By setting those things before idols for an odour of rest, is signified the idolatrous worship into which the true worship of the church was afterwards converted.

[4] By the meal of barley, however, truth from a natural origin is signified, for barley signifies natural good just as wheat signifies spiritual good.

Thus in Isaiah,

"Take thee a mill-stone and grind flour, make thyself bare" (47:2).

This refers to Babel. By taking a millstone and grinding flour is signified to falsify the truths of the Word, and by making herself bare or naked is signified to adulterate the goods of the Word.

In Hosea,

"They sow the wind, and they reap the whirlwind; he hath no standing corn, the blade shall yield no meal, and if it do yield, strangers shall devour it" (8:7).

Here also meal (farina) signifies truth from a natural origin.

[5] Continuation concerning the Athanasian Creed.- The fifth law of the Divine Providence is, That man should not know from feeling and perception in himself how good and truth from the Lord enter by influx, and how evil and falsity enter by influx from hell; nor see how the Divine Providence operates in favour of good against evil; for in such case man would not act as of himself from freedom according to reason. It is sufficient for him to know and acknowledge these things from the Word, and from the doctrine of the church. This is meant by the Lord's words in John:

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, or whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (3:8);

and also by these words in Mark:

"The kingdom of God is as if a man should cast seed upon the earth, and should sleep and rise night and day; but the seed springeth up and groweth he knoweth not how; for the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ear, at length the full corn in the ear; and when the fruit is brought forth, he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come" (4:26-29).

The reason why man does not perceive the operation of the Divine Providence in himself is, that such perception would take away his freedom, and consequently the power of thinking as if from himself, and with it also all the enjoyment of life, so that a man would be like, an automaton, in which there is no power of reciprocation as means by which conjunction is effected; and he would also be a slave, and not a free man.

[6] The reason why Divine Providence moves so secretly, that scarcely any vestige of it appears, although it operates in the most minute things of man's thought and will that regard his eternal state, is, that the Lord continually desires to impress His love on him, and His wisdom by means of it, and thus to create him into His image. The Lord, therefore, acts upon man's love, and from it upon his understanding, and not from his understanding upon his love. Love together with its affections, which are manifold and innumerable, is not perceived by man except by a most general feeling, and consequently in so small a degree as scarcely to amount to anything; and yet man is to be led from one affection of his loves into another, according to the connection in which they are from order, so that he may be reformed and saved, which is incomprehensible, not only to men, but also to the angels.

[7] If man knew any thing of these secret operations (arcana) he could not be withdrawn from leading himself, even though it were continually from heaven into hell, notwithstanding that he is constantly led by the Lord from hell towards heaven; for from himself he constantly acts in opposition to order, but the Lord constantly acts according to it. For, in consequence of the nature derived from his parents, man is in the love of himself, and in the love of the world, and consequently from a feeling of delight he perceives the whole of these loves as good; and still those loves as ends must be removed. This is effected by the Lord by an infinity of ways which appear like labyrinths, even before the angels of the third heaven.

[8] From these considerations it is evident, that it would be of no advantage to a man to know any thing of this from feeling and perception, but that on the contrary it would be hurtful to him, and would destroy him for ever. It is sufficient for him to be acquainted with truths, and by means of them with the nature of good and evil, and to acknowledge the Lord and His Divine government in every thing; then so far as he knows truths, and by means of them sees what good and evil are, and does truths as if from himself, so far the Lord, by love, introduces him into wisdom and the love of wisdom, conjoining wisdom with love, and making them one because they are one in Himself. The ways by which the Lord leads man may be compared with the vessels through which his blood flows and circulates; and also with the fibres and their foldings within and without the viscera of the body, especially in the brain, through which the animal spirit (spiritus animalis) flows and imparts life.

[9] Man is not aware how all these things enter by influx and flow through him; and yet he lives, provided he knows and does what is conducive to his well being. But the ways by which the Lord leads him are much more complicated and intricate, both those by which He leads man through the societies of hell, and away from them, and those by which He leads man through the societies of heaven, and interiorly into them. This, therefore, is what is meant by the words: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth" (John 3), also, by the seed springing up and growing, a man knowing not how (Mark 4:27). Of what importance is it for a man to know how the seed grows, provided he knows how to plough the earth, to harrow it, to sow the seed, and when he reaps the harvest, to bless God?

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