AE 419f [24, 26]
There arose a great storm of wind,
and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was now filling.
But Jesus was in the stern, slumbering on a pillow;
and they awake Him, and say unto Him,
Do you not care that we perish?
And He awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea,
Be still, be dumb.
And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
(Mark 4:37-39; also Luke 8:23,24)
This miracle of the Lord, like all the rest,
involves arcana of heaven and interior things of the church.
The difference between Divine miracles and those not Divine
is that Divine miracles also signify Divine things,
because the Divine is in them,
while miracles not Divine signify nothing,
because there is nothing of the Divine within them;
and moreover, in the description of the Divine miracles in the Word,
and in every particular thereof, there is a spiritual sense.
This miracle involves spiritual temptations;
"a great storm of wind,
so that the waves beat into the boat, and it was filling,"
signifies such temptations; and that when they were in extreme fear,
"Jesus awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea,
Be still, be dumb; and the wind ceased, and there was a great calm,"
signifies deliverance from temptations.
Moreover, every single word here contains a spiritual sense;
. . ."storm" and "tempest of wind" signify temptations,
for these are irruptions of falsities,
or inundations of the mind by falsities.
This, too, is plain from the rebuke of the wind and the waves,
and from the words of the Lord to the sea,
"Be still, be dumb,"
as if He were speaking to those things
or those persons that induce temptations.
This makes clear what effect is there produced
by the wind coming from the east, which is called "the east wind,"
namely, that with the evil it disperses all the goods and truths
which they presented in external form before the world,
and all the truths which they talked about for the sake of appearances.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
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1 comment:
From Keith:
This passage from below was very helpful to me on Sunday.
"This miracle involves spiritual temptations;
'a great storm of wind,
so that the waves beat into the boat, and it was filling,'
signifies such temptations; and that when they were in extreme fear,
"Jesus awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea,
Be still, be dumb; and the wind ceased, and there was a great calm,"
I've been in a spiritual and heart situation where I've needed to trust Lord to take care of me, comfort me and be Lord of the situation. And hope for a great outcome which could still be two months away. And somehow I have! And this gave me strength and reminded me to avoid negative thinking, avoid expecting a negative outcome, instead expect Lord to order that temptation of negativity and separation to be still, be dumb. Along with this passage, Pastor Patrick read from Mark 9 where the boy with seizures had the demons cast out, and again, the negative spirits were removed. But it was conditional on participation: Lord I believe help me in my unbelief! Then those spirits had to be still and come out of the boy. Spirits of hurtfulness and negativity. Replaced with wholeness.
So I somehow got the message loud enough that I am to continue to trust the Lord for the outcome of this relationship situation, and to trust process, and to keep living rightly an hour at a time, and expect great things from God. Instead of expecting small gifts or even disappointments from life, I'm expecting [a healthy kind of expectation] God to be good to his kids. Today I've been given hope that if I seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, these other things will be provided. After a day of these thoughts and some 'prayer as I go about', an unexpected event occurred last night that has given me hope & I believe a sign that He is saying 'yes I'm looking after you'.
Regardless of outcome He will be Lord and I will be alright. I do have a sense that some wonderful things will be unfolding as I rest in Lord, and my job is to rest in His caring and let Him manage this situation, and of course I hope for an outcome that i yearn for. This will be a spiritual adventure and learning experience regardless of outcomes.
Seeing the inner sense of the AE passage began my Sunday and carried me through to bedtime.
Keith
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