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Apocalypse Revealed #937

Funda lesi Sigaba

  
Yiya esigabeni / 962  
  

937. 22:3 And nothing accursed shall be there, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. This symbolically means that in the church that is the New Jerusalem, people will not live apart from the Lord, because the Lord Himself will reign there, and people who are governed by truths acquired from Him through the Word and keep His commandments will abide with Him, being conjoined with Him.

That nothing accursed shall be there means, symbolically, that no evil or falsity stemming from evil that separates people from the Lord will be found in the New Jerusalem. Moreover, because evil and falsity exist only in their recipient vessel, namely people, it symbolically means that none will live apart from the Lord there. Something in the Word that is accursed means every evil and falsity that separates people from the Lord and turns them away from Him; for in that case the person becomes a diabolical or satanic spirit.

That the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in the New Jerusalem means, symbolically, that the Lord Himself will reign in that church, for the throne here symbolizes a kingdom or reign, and the Lord reigns where He alone is worshiped.

That His servants shall serve Him means, symbolically, that people who possess truths from the Lord through the Word will abide with Him and keep His commandments, being conjoined with Him. Servants of the Lord symbolize people governed by truths from Him, as may be seen in nos. 3 and 380 above, and those who minister symbolize people governed by good from Him, as may be seen in no. 128. Consequently servants who minister to Him symbolize people governed by truths springing from goodness received from the Lord through the Word, who keep His commandments.

[2] Because the church at this day does not know that conjunction with the Lord produces heaven, and that the conjunction is formed by acknowledging that He is God of heaven and earth, and at the same time by living in accordance with His commandments, we will say something about it here:

Someone who has no knowledge of this may say, "What is the conjunction? How can such an acknowledgment and life form a conjunction? Why are these needed? Cannot everyone be saved out of mercy simply? Why is some other means of salvation than faith required? Is God not merciful and almighty?"

But he should know that in the spiritual world, knowledge and acknowledgment bring about every presence, while affection that is a matter of love brings about every conjunction. For intervals of space in the spiritual world are simply appearances that accord with similarities of hearts, that is, of affections and the accompanying thoughts. Consequently, when someone is acquainted with another, whether by reputation, or by dealings with him, or socially, or as a relative, and he thinks about him with a mental image of him, the other becomes present, even though he might be as much as a hundred miles 1 from where he appears. Furthermore, if someone also loves another that he knows, they dwell together in the same society. And if he loves the other intimately, they dwell together in the same house.

This condition is something experienced by everyone throughout the whole spiritual world, and it is a condition experienced by them that takes its origin from the fact that the Lord is present with everyone in accordance with his faith, and conjoined with a person in accordance with his love. Faith and the Lord's consequent presence are brought about by concepts of truths from the Word, especially those concepts in it regarding the Lord Himself, while love and a consequent conjunction with the Lord are brought about by living in accordance with His commandments. For the Lord says,

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me..., and I will love him and... make (My) abode with him. (John 14:21-24)

[3] But we must also say how the case is with this. The Lord loves everyone and wills to be conjoined with them, but He cannot be conjoined with a person as long as the person is caught up in the delight of evil, such as the delight of hating and taking revenge, the delight of committing adultery and behaving licentiously, the delight of thieving or of stealing under some pretext, the delight of blaspheming and lying, and the lusts of the loves of self and the world. For everyone caught up in these is in the company of devils who reside in hell. The Lord, indeed, loves those who are there, too, but He cannot be conjoined with them unless the delights of these evil are removed, and the Lord cannot remove them unless a person examines himself so as to know his evils, acknowledge them and confess them before the Lord, and wish to desist from them and so repent. This a person must do as though of himself, because he has no sensation that he does anything from the Lord. And it is granted to a person to do so, because for the conjunction to be real, it must be a reciprocal conjunction of the person with the Lord, and of the Lord with the person.

To the extent, therefore, that evils with their delights are thus removed, to the same extent the Lord's love enters, which, as we said, is universal toward all, and the person is then withdrawn from hell and introduced into heaven.

This process is something the person must accomplish in the world, for the character of a person in the world in respect to his spirit remains the same to eternity, the only difference being that if he has lived rightly, his state becomes more and more perfect, because he is then not encompassed by a material body, but lives as a spiritual being in a spiritual body.

Imibhalo yaphansi:

1. Literally, a thousand stadia.

  
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

 

Numbers 4

Funda

   

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

2 "Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses,

3 from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

4 "This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting, the most holy things.

5 When the camp moves forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it,

6 and shall put a covering of sealskin on it, and shall spread over it a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles.

7 "On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it.

8 They shall spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover the same with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

9 "They shall take a blue cloth, and cover the lampstand of the light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it.

10 They shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it on the frame.

11 "On the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

12 "They shall take all the vessels of ministry, with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, and cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame.

13 "They shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it.

14 They shall put on it all its vessels, with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the flesh hooks, the shovels, and the basins; all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.

15 "When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary, and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it: but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.

16 "The duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the continual meal offering, and the anointing oil, the requirements of all the tabernacle, and of all that is in it, the sanctuary, and its furnishings."

17 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

18 "Don't cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites;

19 but thus do to them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them everyone to his service and to his burden;

20 but they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die."

21 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

22 "Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers' houses, by their families;

23 you shall count them from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old; all who enter in to wait on the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

24 "This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:

25 they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, and the covering of sealskin that is above on it, and the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting,

26 and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever shall be done with them. Therein shall they serve.

27 At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden, and in all their service; and you shall appoint their duty to them in all their responsibilities.

28 This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting: and their duty shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

29 "As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families, by their fathers' houses;

30 you shall count them from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who enters on the service, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting.

31 This is the duty of their burden, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the tabernacle's boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets,

32 and the pillars of the court around it, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name you shall appoint the instruments of the duty of their burden.

33 This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the Tent of Meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest."

34 Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families, and by their fathers' houses,

35 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting.

36 Those who were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred fifty.

37 These are those who were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.

38 Those who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, their families, and by their fathers' houses,

39 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting,

40 even those who were numbered of them, by their families, by their fathers' houses, were two thousand six hundred thirty.

41 These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh.

42 Those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers' houses,

43 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting,

44 even those who were numbered of them by their families, were three thousand two hundred.

45 These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.

46 All those who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered, by their families, and by their fathers' houses,

47 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of service, and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting,

48 even those who were numbered of them, were eight thousand five hundred eighty.

49 According to the commandment of Yahweh they were numbered by Moses, everyone according to his service, and according to his burden. Thus were they numbered by him, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

   

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