IBhayibheli

 

Ezekiel 42

Funda

   

1 Then he brought me forth into the outer court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the chamber that was over against the separate place, and which was over against the building toward the north.

2 Before the length of a hundred cubits was the north door, and the breadth was fifty cubits.

3 Over against the twenty [cubits] which belonged to the inner court, and Over against the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in the third story.

4 And before the chambers was a walk of ten cubits' breadth inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors were toward the north.

5 Now the upper chambers were shorter; for the galleries took away from these, more than from the lower and the middlemost, in the building.

6 For they were in three stories, and they had not pillars as the pillars of the courts: therefore [the uppermost] was straitened more than the lowest and the middlemost from the ground.

7 And the wall that was without by the side of the chambers, toward the outer court before the chambers, the length thereof was fifty cubits.

8 For the length of the chambers that were in the outer court was fifty cubits: and, lo, before the temple were a hundred cubits.

9 And from under these chambers was the entry on the east side, as one goeth into them from the outer court.

10 In the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, before the separate place, and before the building, there were chambers.

11 And the way before them was like the appearance of [the way of] the chambers which were toward the north; according to their length so was their breadth: and all their egresses were both according to their fashions, and according to their doors.

12 And according to the doors of the chambers that were toward the south was a door at the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one entereth into them.

13 Then said he unto me, The north chambers and the south chambers, which are before the separate place, they are the holy chambers, where the priests that are near unto Jehovah shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meal-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering; for the place is holy.

14 When the priests enter in, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the outer court, but there they shall lay their garments wherein they minister; for they are holy: and they shall put on other garments, and shall approach to that which pertaineth to the people.

15 Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it round about.

16 He measured on the east side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.

17 He measured on the north side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed round about.

18 He measured on the south side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.

19 He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.

20 He measured it on the four sides: it had a wall round about, the length five hundred, and the breadth five hundred, to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common.

   

Okususelwe Emisebenzini kaSwedenborg

 

Apocalypse Revealed #487

Funda lesi Sigaba

  
Yiya esigabeni / 962  
  

487. "But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it." (11:2) This symbolically means that the state of the church on earth, as it is still, must be set aside and not learned.

The court outside the temple symbolizes the church on earth, because that church is outside heaven, heaven being the temple (no. 486). To leave out means, symbolically, to remove, here to remove from heaven, because its state is of such a character. And not to measure means, symbolically, not to learn or investigate its character (no. 486). The reason follows: "for has been given to the gentiles, and they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months."

That the court outside the temple here symbolizes the church on earth as it is still, is apparent from the following particulars in this chapter, where it is described by the great city called Sodom and Egypt, in which the Lord's two witnesses lay dead, and which afterward fell in a great earthquake, and seven thousand people by name were killed in it - and many other particulars besides.

[2] Elsewhere in the Word the court symbolizes the outward aspect of the church. For there were two courts 1 to be crossed when entering the Temple itself in Jerusalem, and as the Temple symbolized the church in respect to its inner aspect, therefore the courts symbolized the church in respect to its outward one. Consequently strangers who came from the surrounding nations were admitted into the courts, but not into the Temple itself.

Moreover, because the court symbolized the outward aspect of the church, it symbolized therefore also the church on earth, and heaven as well in its outmost manifestations, inasmuch as the church on earth is an entryway into heaven, and so is heaven in its outmost manifestations.

[3] A court has this symbolic meaning in the following places:

Blessed is he whom You choose... He shall dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, with the holiness of Your temple. (Psalms 65:4)

Praise the name of Jehovah..., O you... who stand in (His) house, in the courts of the house of our God. (Psalms 135:1-2)

How lovely are Your habitations, O Jehovah...! My soul... indeed faints for the courts of Jehovah. (Psalms 84:1-2)

Enter into His gates with confession, His courts with praise. (Psalms 100:4)

The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree... Those who are planted in the house of Jehovah shall sprout in the courts of our God. (Psalms 92:12-13)

...a day in Your courts is better than thousands. I have chosen to stand at the door in the house of my God... (Psalms 84:10)

And so on elsewhere, as in Psalms 96:8; 116:18-19, Isaiah 1:12; 62:9, Zechariah 3:7, Ezekiel 10:3-5.

Regarding the courts of the Temple in Jerusalem, see 1 Kings 6:36; 7:12.

Regarding the courts of the new Temple, Ezekiel 40:17-44; 42:1-14; 43:4-7.

And regarding the court outside the Tabernacle, Exodus 27:9-18.

Imibhalo yaphansi:

1. I.e., the inner court or court of priests, and the outer court or great court. See 1 Kings 6:36; 7:12

  
Yiya esigabeni / 962  
  

Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

IBhayibheli

 

Revelation 11

Funda

   

1 A reed like a rod was given to me. Someone said, "Rise, and measure God's temple, and the altar, and those who worship in it.

2 Leave out the court which is outside of the temple, and don't measure it, for it has been given to the nations. They will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months.

3 I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."

4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, standing before the Lord of the earth.

5 If anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. If anyone desires to harm them, he must be killed in this way.

6 These have the power to shut up the sky, that it may not rain during the days of their prophecy. They have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.

7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them.

8 Their dead bodies will be in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

9 From among the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations people will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.

10 Those who dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and they will be glad. They will give gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

11 After the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them.

12 I heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here!" They went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them.

13 In that day there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe comes quickly.

15 The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!"

16 The twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God's throne, fell on their faces and worshiped God,

17 saying: "We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who was; because you have taken your great power, and reigned.

18 The nations were angry, and your wrath came, as did the time for the dead to be judged, and to give your bondservants the prophets, their reward, as well as to the saints, and those who fear your name, to the small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth."

19 God's temple that is in heaven was opened, and the ark of the Lord's covenant was seen in his temple. Lightnings, sounds, thunders, an earthquake, and great hail followed.