Friday, October 24, 2008

AC 9431, 9435 - six days, and then the seventh

AC 9431
. . . there are two states with the person
who is being regenerated by the Lord;
the first state is called a state of truth,
and the second state is called a state of good.
The reason why the first state is called a state of truth,
is that the person is then being brought into good by means of truth;
and the reason why the second state is called a state of good,
is that when the person is in good he has been brought in.
Moreover, when a person is in a state of truth he is outside of heaven;
but when he is in good, he is in heaven;
thus has been brought in to the Lord.
Besides, when a person is in the first state, or the state of truth,
he is then in labor and combat, for he is then undergoing temptations;
but when he is in the second state, or the state of good,
he is then at rest and in the tranquillity of peace.
The former state is what is represented in the Word by the six days
which precede the seventh;
but the latter state is what is represented by the seventh day or Sabbath.

AC 9435
The six days during which Moses remained in the extremity
of the mountain (Mount Sinai),
signified a state of truth,
and the seventh day, on which he went up into the mountain,
signified a state of good.
The reason is, that with those who are being regenerated by the Lord
there are similar degrees of ascent from the world to heaven;
for a person is elevated from external to internal things;
because from the natural person who is in external things
to the spiritual person who is in internal things.
Such an elevation or ascent was also represented by Moses
when he put on the representation of the holy external, which mediates;
for the holy external of the Word
is the entrance to a state of good, thus to heaven.

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