IBhayibheli

 

Ezekiel 38

Funda

   

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Mosoch and Thubal: and prophesy of him,

3 And say to him: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I come against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Mosoch and Thubal.

4 And I will turn thee about, and I will put a bit in thy jaws: and I will bring thee forth, and ail thy army, horses and horsemen all clothed with coats of mail, a great multitude, armed with spears and shields and swords.

5 The Persians, Ethiopians, and Libyans with them, all with shields and helmets.

6 Gomer, and all his bands, the house of Thogorma, the northern parts and all his strength, and many peoples with thee.

7 Prepare and make thyself ready, and all thy multitude that is assembled about thee, and be thou commander over them.

8 After many days thou shalt be visited: at the end of years thou shalt come to the land that is returned from the sword, and is gathered out of many nations, to the mountains of Israel which have been continually waste: but it hath been brought forth out of the nations, and they shall all of them dwell securely in

9 And thou shalt go up and come like a storm, and like a cloud to cover the land, thou and all thy bands and many people with thee.

10 Thus saith the Lord God: In that day projects shall enter into thy heart, and thou shalt conceive a mischievous design.

11 And thou shalt say: I will go up to the land which is without a wall, I will come to them that are at rest, and dwell securely: all these dwell without a wall, they have no bars nor gates :

12 To take spoils, and lay hold on the prey, to lay thy hand upon them that had been wasted, and afterwards restored, and upon the people that is gathered together out of the nations, which hath begun to possess and to dwell in the midst of the earth.

13 Saba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tharsis, and all the lions thereof shall say to thee: Art thou come to take spoils? behold, thou hast gathered thy multitude to take a prey, to take silver, and gold, and to carry away goods and substance, and to take rich spoils.

14 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy and say to Cog: Thus saith the Lord God: Shalt thou not know, in that day, when my people of Israel shall dwell securely?

15 And then shalt come out of thy place from the northern parts, thou and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company and a mighty army.

16 And thou shalt come upon my people of Israel like a cloud, to cover the earth. Thou shalt be in the latter days, and I will bring thee upon my land: that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

17 Thus saith the Lord God: Thou then art he, of whom I have spoken in the days of old, by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in the days of those times that I would bring thee upon them.

18 And it shall come to pass in that day, in the day of the coming of Gog upon the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my indignation shall come up in my wrath.

19 And I have spoken in my zeal, and in the fire of my anger, that in that day there shall be a great commotion upon the land of Israel:

20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the ground, and all men that are upon the face of the earth, shall be moved at my presence: and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the hedges shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

21 And I will call in the sword against him in all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man's sword shall be pointed against his brother.

22 And I will judge him with pestilence, and with blood, and with violent rain, and vast hailstones: I will rain fire and brimstone upon him, and upon his army, and upon the many nations that are with him.

23 And I will be magnified, and I will be sanctified: and I will be known in the eyes of many nations: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

   

Amazwana

 

Judge

  
St Lucy before the Judge, by Lorenzo Lotto

It's easy to see the connection between judging and truth. In a court of law, the whole purpose of the judge is to find the truth. Any time anyone judges anything, we hope it is on the basis of the truth. It's no wonder, then, that judging and judgment in the Bible represent truth being put to work. Depending on the circumstances judging can be teaching truth, determining someone's character from truth or setting order to things according to truth. There is a twist, though -- when the Lord is referred to as a judge, it actually signifies Divine Good, rather than Divine Truth. This is because the Lord judges us ultimately from love, and his truth flows from that love.

Okususelwe Emisebenzini kaSwedenborg

 

Apocalypse Explained #302

Funda lesi Sigaba

  
Yiya esigabeni / 1232  
  

302. Verse 2. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice, signifies exploration by the influx of the Lord into heaven. This is evident from the signification of a "strong angel," as being heaven (of which presently); also from the signification of "proclaiming with a great voice," as being exploration by the influx of the Lord, namely, exploration whether anyone is able to know the states of life of all in heaven and on the earth in general and in particular, for this is what is here treated of. This is signified by "proclaiming," and the influx of the Lord is signified by "a great voice;" for "voice," in reference to the Lord, signifies every truth of the Word, of doctrine, and of faith from Him; and in reference to heaven and the church, it signifies every thought and affection thence; and since everything true and good that angels in heaven and men in whom the church is, think and are affected by, is from the influx of the Lord, this is what is here signified by "a great voice." For it is well known, that no one from the love of good can be affected by good, and from the love of truth can think truth, of himself, but that this flows in from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord; and because this is so, "a great voice" signifies the influx of the Lord. (That "voice" in the Word signifies the truth of the Word, of doctrine, and of faith, also everything announced in the Word, see above, n. 261, and Arcana Coelestia 3563, 6971, 8813, 9926; and that it signifies the interior affection of truth and good, and thought therefrom, n. 10454) A "strong angel" signifies heaven because the whole angelic heaven before the Lord is as one man, or as one angel, likewise each society of heaven; therefore by "angel" in the Word an angel is not meant, but an entire angelic society, as by "Michael," "Gabriel," "Raphael." Here, therefore, "a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice" signifies the influx of the Lord into the whole heaven. That it is into the whole heaven is clear from what follows, for it is said, "And no one was able, in heaven nor upon the earth, neither under the earth, to open the book and to look thereon." (That "angels" in the Word mean entire societies of heaven, and in the highest sense the Lord in respect to Divine truth proceeding, see above, n. 90, 130, 200; and that The Whole Heaven before the Lord is as One Man, or as One Angel, and also every Society of Heaven, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 59-87.)

  
Yiya esigabeni / 1232  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.