AC 2780 - A Peaceful Morning

AC 2780

The state of peace in the heavens
is like that of the dawn on earth.
In the state of peace in the heavens
come forth all celestial and spiritual things,
and derive therefrom all that is auspicious,
blessed, and happy in them,
as in the time of dawn on earth
all things come forth before man
as things of delight and gladness;
for all the singulars derive their quality
from the general affection.
The case is the same with the state of innocence:
this comes forth in the state of peace,
and is a general thing
affecting all the things of love and faith.
Unless these have innocence in them,
they lack their essential.
So it is that no one can come into heaven
unless he has something of innocence.

Worshiping Other Gods

Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole
beside the altar you build to the Lord your God,
and do not erect a sacred stone,
for these the Lord your God hates.

(Deuteronomy 16:21-22)

AC 2768 - "God Did Tempt"

AC 2768

That God did tempt Abraham.
(Genesis 22 :1)

That the Lord suffered
most grievous and inmost temptations,
which are described in this chapter in the internal sense,
will be made evident.
But its being said that "God did tempt,"
is according to the sense of the letter,
in which temptations and many other things
are attributed to God;
but it is according to the internal sense
that God tempts no one;
but in the time of temptations
is continually liberating from them, as far as possible,
or as far as the liberation does not do harm,
and is continually looking to the good
into which He is leading him who is in the temptations;
for God never takes part in temptations
in any other manner;
and though it is predicated of Him that He permits,
still it is not according to the idea
which man has of permission, namely,
that by permitting He concurs.
Man cannot comprehend it in any other manner
than that he who permits is also willing;
but it is the evil within the man which causes,
and even leads into the temptation;
and no cause of this is in God --
as the cause is not in the king or in the judge,
when a man does evil and suffers punishment therefor.
For he who separates himself
from the laws of Divine order,
all of which are the laws of good and so of truth,
casts himself into the laws
that are opposite to Divine order,
which are those of evil and falsity,
and consequently of punishments and torments.

Fear the Lord Your God

Fear the Lord your God and serve Him.
Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name.
He is your praise;
He is your God . . ..

(Deuteronomy 10:20-21)

AC 2762 - Horses

AC 2762 [1, 2]

It is from the representation of the horse,
as being the understanding,
that when horses are mentioned in the Word,
the spirits and angels with man
at once know
that the understanding is what is treated of.
It is also why,
when spirits from some other planet
who have been endowed
with intelligence and wisdom
are raised up from the world of spirits into heaven,
horses shining appear as though they consisted of fire,
which I also have seen
when those people were carried up.

From this I could see what is signified by
the chariot of fire and horses of fire seen by Elisha
when Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven;
as also what is signified
by the exclamation of Elisha then:

My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and its riders.
(II Kings 2: 11, 12),

and by the same spoken by Joash king of Israel
to Elisha when the latter was dying,

My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and its riders.
(II Kings 13: 14)

That by Elijah and Elisha was represented
the Lord as to the Word,
will of the Lord's Divine mercy be told elsewhere;
the doctrine of love and charity from the Word
being meant by the "chariot of fire,"
and the doctrine of faith from there
by the "horses of fire."
The doctrine of faith is the same as
the understanding of the Word as to its interiors,
or as to its internal sense. 

Be Careful

So be careful to do
what the Lord your God has commanded you;
do not turn aside to the right or to the left.
Walk in all the way
that the Lord our God has commanded you,
so that you may live and prosper
and prolong your days
in the land that you will possess.

(Deuteronomy 5:32-33)

AC 2728-2729, 2735 - Conjugial Love - From Good United to Truth

  AC 2728

Conjugial love takes its origin
from the Divine marriage of good and truth,
and thus from the Lord Himself.
That conjugial love is from this,
is not apparent to sense nor to apprehension;
but still it may be seen
from influx and from correspondence,
as well as from the Word.
From influx,
inasmuch as heaven,
from the union of good and truth,
which inflows from the Lord
is compared to a marriage, and is called a marriage:
from correspondence,
since, when good united to truth
flows down into a lower sphere,
it forms a union of minds;
and when into one still lower,
it forms a marriage:
therefore union of minds
from good united to truth from the Lord,
is conjugial love itself.

That genuine conjugial love is from this,
may be seen from the fact
that no one can be in it
unless he is in the good of truth
and the truth of good from the Lord;
also from the fact
that heavenly blessedness and happiness is in that love;
and they who are in it all come into heaven,
or into the heavenly marriage.
Also from the fact
that when angels are conversing
about the union of good and truth,
there is then presented
among good spirits in the lower sphere
a representative of marriage;
but among evil spirits a representative of adultery. 
From this is that in the Word
the union of good and truth is called "marriage;"
but the adulteration of good
and the falsification of truth,
"adultery" and "whoredom".

Genuine conjugial love is the image of heaven,
and when it is represented in the other life
this is done by the most beautiful things
that can ever be seen by the eyes,
or conceived by the mind.
It is represented by a virgin of inexpressible beauty,
encompassed by a bright cloud,
so that it may be said to be beauty itself
in essence and form.
It has been said
that all beauty in the other life is from conjugial love.
Its affections and thoughts are represented
by diamond-like auras,
sparkling as it were with rubies and carbuncles,
and these things are attended with delights
which affect the inmosts of the mind;
but as soon as anything of lasciviousness enters in,
they disappear. 

Og, King of Bashan

Next we turned
and went up along the road toward Bashan,
and Og king of Bashan with his whole army
marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei.
The Lord said to me,
"Do not be afraid of him,
for I have handed him over to you
with his whole army and his land.
Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorite,
who reigned in Heshbon."

So the Lord our God also gave me into our hands
Og king of Bashan and all his army.
We struck them down, leaving no survivors.
At that time we took all his cities.
There was not one of the sixty cities
that we did not take from them --
the whole region of Argob, Og's kingdom in Bashan.
All these cities were fortified
with high walls and with gates and bars,
and there were also a great many unwalled villages.
We completely destroyed them,
as we had done with Sihon king of Hesbon,
destroying every city --
men, women and children.
But all the livestock and the plunder from their cities
we carried off for ourselves.

We took all the towns on the plateau,
and all Gilead,
and all Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei,
towns of Og's kingdom in Bashan.
(Only Og king of Bashan was left
of the remnant of the Rephaites.
His bed was made of iron
and was more than
nine cubits long and four cubits wide.
It is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)

(Deuteronomy 3:1-7, 10-11)
 

AC 2722 - Groves and Mountains

AC 2722 [1, 7]

As regards groves:
In the Ancient Church holy worship
was performed on mountains and in groves;
on mountains, because mountains signified
the celestial things of worship;
and in groves,
because groves signified its spiritual things.
So long as that church, namely, the Ancient,
was in its simplicity,
their worship at that time
on mountains and in groves was holy,
for the reason that celestial things,
which are those of love and charity,
were represented by things high and lofty,
such as mountains and hills;
and spiritual things, which are therefrom,
by things fruitful and leafy,
such as gardens and groves;
but after representatives and significatives
began to be made idolatrous,
by the worship of external things without internal,
that holy worship became profane;
and they were therefore forbidden
to worship on mountains and in groves.

As regards groves in particular,
among the ancients they were of various signification,
and indeed according to the kinds of trees in them.
Groves of olive-trees
signified the celestial things of worship;
groves of vines
signified the spiritual things of worship;
but groves of fig-trees, cedars, fir-trees,
poplars, and oaks,
signified various things relating to
what is celestial and spiritual.

 

Cities of Refuge

"Six of the towns you give the Levites
will be cities of refuge,
to which a person who has killed someone may flee.
In addition, give them forty-two other towns.
In all you must give the Levites forty-eight towns,
together with their pasturelands.
The towns you give the Levites
from the land the Israelites possess
are to be given in proportion
to the inheritance of each tribe:
Take many towns from a tribe that has many,
but few from one that has few."

Then the Lord said to Moses:
"Speak to the Israelites and say to them:
'When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,
select some towns to be your cities of refuge,
to which a person
who has killed someone accidentally may flee.
They will be places of refuge from the avenger,
so that a person accused of murder
may not die before he stands trial before the assembly.
These six towns you give will be your cities of refuge.
Give three on this side of the Jordan
and three in Canaan as cities of refuge.
These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites,
aliens and any other people living among them,
so that anyone
who has killed another accidentally can flee there."

(Numbers 35:6-15)

AC 2718 -Where the Spiritual Ends, the Celestial Begins

AC 2718 [3, 7]

Take as an example that it is celestial to think and act
from the affection of good, or from good:
Those who are in the affection of truth
discuss whether this be so,
whether it be possible, and what it is;
and so long as they are occupied with doubts about it
they cannot be admitted;
but those who are in the affection of good
do not discuss, nor busy themselves with doubts,
but affirm that it is so, and are therefore admitted;
for those who are in the affection of good,
that is, who are celestial,
begin where those who are in the affection of truth,
that is, who are spiritual, stop;
so that the furthest boundary of the latter
is the first of the former.
For this reason it is given to them to know,
to recognize, and to perceive
that there are innumerable affections of good
(as many, in fact, as there are societies in heaven);
and that they are all conjoined by the Lord
into a heavenly form,
so as to constitute as it were one man;
and it is also given them to distinguish by perception
the kind and variety of each affection.

From all this we can see
why those who are in the affection of truth
(that is, the spiritual)
have obscurity in comparison
with those who are in the affection of good
(that is, the celestial).
Nevertheless the spiritual can come
from obscurity into light,
provided they are willing to be in the affirmative
that all good is of love to the Lord
and of charity toward the neighbor;
and that love and charity are spiritual conjunction;
and that all blessedness and happiness are from these;
and thus that heavenly life
is in the good of love from the Lord,
but not in the truth of faith separate from it.

Anything That Can Withstand Fire

Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers
who had gone into battle,
"This is the requirement of the law
that the Lord gave Moses:
Gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, lead
and anything else that can withstand fire
must be put through the fire,
and then it will be clean.
But it must also be purified 
with the water of cleansing.
And whatever cannot withstand fire
must be put through that water.
On the seventh day wash your clothes
and you will be clean.
Then you may come into the camp."

(Numbers 31:21-24)

AC 2706 - The Lord's Presence; AC 2709 - The Use of the Spiritual

AC 2706

God was with the child.
(Genesis 21:20)

That this signifies the Lord's presence with the spiritual,
is evident from the signification of
"God being with" anyone,
and from the signification of the "child."
That "God being with" anyone
signifies the Lord's presence,
is evident without explanation.
The Lord is indeed present with everyone;
for life is from no other source,
and He governs the most minute things of it,
even with the worst of men, and in hell itself;
but in various ways
according to the reception of life.
With those who receive the life
of the love of His good and truth in a wrong manner,
and pervert it into loves of evil and falsity,
the Lord is present,
and overrules their ends as far as possible for good;
but His presence with them is called absence,
and indeed in the same degree
in which evil is distant from good,
and falsity from truth.
But with those who receive the life of the love
of the Lord's good and truth,
He is said to be present,
and indeed according to the degree of reception.
It is with the Lord's presence as with that of the sun,
which is present with its heat and light
in the vegetation of the world
also according to the reception. 
That the "child" signifies the spiritual as to truth,
has been said above;
but here he signifies those who are spiritual
because he represents the man of the spiritual church,
and also the spiritual church itself,
and in the universal sense
the Lord's spiritual kingdom . . ..

AC 2709

And he became a shooter of the bow.
(Genesis 21:20)

That this signifies the man of the spiritual church,
is evident from the signification
of a "shaft," "dart," or "arrow," as being truth;
and from the signification of a "bow," as being doctrine.
The man of the spiritual church
was formerly called a "shooter of the bow,"
because he defended himself by truths,
and disputed about truths;
differently from the man of the celestial church,
who is secure by means of good,
and does not dispute about truths.
The truths by which
the man of the spiritual church defends himself,
and respecting which he disputes,
are from the doctrine which he acknowledges.

Day of Atonement

"'On the tenth day of this seventh month
hold a sacred assembly.
You must deny yourselves and do no work.
Present as an aroma pleasing to the Lord
a burnt offering of one young bull,
one ram and seven male lambs a year old,
all without defect.
With the bull prepare a grain offering
of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil;
with the ram, two-tenths;
and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth.
Include one male goat as a sin offering,
in addition to the sin offering for atonement
and the regular burnt offering with its grain offering,
and their drink offerings.'"

(Numbers 29:7-11)

AC 2701 - "Eye"; AC 2702 - "Water"; AC 2704 - "And Gave the Child Drink"

AC 2701 [2]

That the "eye" signifies the understanding
is because the sight of the body
corresponds to the sight of its spirit,
which is the understanding;
and because it corresponds,
in the Word the understanding is signified by the "eye"
in almost every place where it is mentioned . . ..

The "left eye" is the intellectual,
but the "right eye" is its affection:
that the right eye is to be plucked out
means that the affection is to be subdued
if it causes stumbling.

AC 2702

. . . the signification of a "well of water,"
and of a "fountain," as being the Word,
and also doctrine from the Word,
consequently also truth itself;
and from the signification of "water," as being truth.
That a "well in which there is water," and a "fountain,"
denote the Lord's Word,
and also doctrine from the Word,
consequently also truth itself,
may be seen from very many passages.

AC 2704

And gave the child drink.
(Genesis 21:19)

That this signifies instruction in spiritual things,
is evident from the signification of "giving to drink,"
as being to instruct in truths;
and from the signification of the "child,"
as being the spiritual as to truth.
This state, which is that of instruction,
treated of in this verse,
is the third state of those
who are coming out of vastation or desolation;
for when they come into a state of enlightenment
or of heavenly light,
they are then in the affection
of knowing and learning truths;
and when they are in this affection,
they are easily and as it were spontaneously
imbued with truths:
those who are on earth,
from the Lord's Word or from doctrine;
but those who are in heaven, from the angels,
who perceive nothing more blessed and happy
than to teach novitiate brethren,
and imbue them with the truths and goods
which are of heavenly order,
and thus lead to the Lord.

Balaam's Third Oracle

Now when Balaam saw
that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel,
he did not resort to sorcery as at other times,
but turned his face toward the desert.
When Balaam looked out,
and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe,
the Spirit of God came upon him
and he uttered his oracle:

"The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of one whose eye sees clearly,
the oracle of one who hears the words of God,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls prostrate,
and whose eyes are opened:

"How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob,
your dwelling places, O Israel!

"Like valleys they spread out,
like gardens beside a river,
like aloes planted by the Lord,
like cedars beside the waters.
Water will flow from their buckets;
their seed will have abundant water.

"Their king will be greater than Agag;
their kingdom will be exalted.

"God brought them out of Egypt;
they have the strength of a wild ox.
They devour hostile nations
and break their bones in pieces;
with their arrows they pierce them.
Like a lion they crouch and lie down,
like a lioness -- who dares to rouse them?

"May those who bless you be blessed
and those who curse you be cursed!"

Then Balak's anger burned against Balaam.
He struck his hands together and said to him,
"I summoned you to curse my enemies,
but you have blessed them these three times.
Now leave at once and go home!
I said I would reward you handsomely,
but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded."

Balaam answered Balak,
"Did I not tell the messengers you sent me,
'Even if Balak gave me his palace
filled with silver and gold,
I could not do anything of my own accord,
good or bad,
to go beyond the command of he Lord --
and I must say only what the Lord says'?
Now I am going back to my people,
but come, let me warn you
of what this people will do to your people
in days to come."

(Numbers 24:1-14)

AC 2698 - Those Who Despair of Truth and Those Who Despair of Good

AC 2698

Those who experience internal grief
and experience despair
because truth is taken away from them
are uplifted and supported solely by truth,
for it is for that same truth
that they suffer grief and despair.
In the case of those
governed by an affection for good,
the good with them desires good,
as a person hungers for bread;
but in the case of those
governed by an affection for truth
the good with them desires truth
as a person thirsts for water. 

 

The Deaths of Miriam and Aaron

In the first month
the whole Israelite community
arrived at the Desert of Zin,
and they stayed in Kadesh.
There Miriam died and was buried.

The whole Israelite community set out from Kadesh
and came to Mount Hor.
At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom,
the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
"Aaron will be gathered to his people.
He will not enter the land I give the Israelites,
because both of you rebelled against My command
at the waters of Meribah.
Get Aaron and his son Eleazar
and take them up Mount Hor.
Remove Aaron's garments
and put them on his son Eleazar,
for Aaron will be gathered to his people;
he will die there.

Moses did as the Lord commanded:
They went up Mount Hor
in the sight of the whole community.
Moses removed Aaron's garments
and put them on his son Eleazar.
And Aaron died there on top of the mountain.
Then Moses and Eleazar
came down from the mountain,
and when the whole community learned
that Aaron had died,
the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.

(Numbers 20:1, 22-29)

AC 2680, 2682 - Desolation and Despair

AC 2680

And the water was spent out of the bottle,
and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
(Genesis 21:15)

"The water was spent out of the bottle,"
signifies the desolation of truth;
"and she cast the child under one of the shrubs,"
signifies despair
that nothing of truth and good was perceived.

AC 2682 [2-3]

In this verse
the second state of those who are being reformed
is treated of,
which is that they are reduced to ignorance
till they know nothing of truth,
and this even to despair.
The cause of their being reduced to such ignorance
is that persuasive light may be extinguished,
which is of such a nature
as to illuminate falsities equally as well as truths,
and to induce a belief in falsity by means of truths,
and a belief in truth by means of falsities,
and at the same time trust in themselves;
also that they may be led by experience itself
to a knowledge of the fact
that nothing of good and nothing of truth
is of self or of man's own,
but from the Lord.
Those who are being reformed
are reduced into ignorance even to despair,
and then they have comfort and enlightenment,
as is evident from what follows;
for the light of truth from the Lord cannot flow
into the persuasive which is from man's own;
for this is of such a nature as to extinguish that light.
In the other life
that which is persuasive
appears like the light of winter;
but at the approach of the light of heaven,
instead of that light there comes darkness,
in which there is ignorance of all truth.
With those who are being reformed
this state is called the state of desolation of truth,
and this also is much treated of
in the internal sense of the Word.

But of this state few have any knowledge,
because few at this day are being regenerated.
To those who are not being regenerated
it makes no difference
whether they know the truth, or do not;
nor whether what they do know be truth or not,
provided they can palm a thing off for truth.
But they who are being regenerated
think much about doctrine and life,
because they think much about eternal salvation;
and therefore if truth be deficient with them,
as it is the subject of their thought and affection,
they grieve at heart.
The state of the one and of the other
may be seen from this:
While a man is in the body
he is living as to his spirit in heaven,
and as to his body in the world;
for he is born into both,
and has been so created
that as to his spirit he can actually be with the angels,
and at the same time with men
by means of what is of the body.
But as there are few who believe
that they have a spirit which is to live after death,
there are few who are being regenerated.
To those who believe it,
the other life is the whole of their thought and affection,
and the world is nothing in comparison;
but to those who do not believe it,
the world is the whole of their thought and affection,
and the other life is in comparison nothing.
The former are those who can be regenerated,
but the latter are they who cannot.

Sinning Unintentionally and Intentionally

"'But if just one person sins unintentionally,
he must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering.
The priest is to make atonement before the Lord
for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally,
and when atonement has been made for him,
he will be forgiven.
One and the same law applies to everyone
who sins unintentionally,
whether he is a native-born Israelite or an alien.

"'But anyone who sins defiantly,
whether native-born or alien,
blasphemes the Lord,
and that person must be cut off from his people.
Because he has despised the Lord's Word
and broken His commands,
that person must surely be cut off;
his guilt remains on him.'"

(Numbers 15:27-31)

AC 2675, 2679 - The Lord Foresees and Provides

AC 2675

With those who are becoming spiritual,
good and truth are implanted by the Lord
in the affection of memory-knowledges;
and this so that they desire to know and to learn
what is good and true
for the purpose and use 
of becoming rational and of becoming spiritual;
for the affection of memory-knowledges
is the mother through whom is born
the rational in which is the spiritual.
The like does indeed flow in from the Lord with all,
but no others receive it for that end and that use
except those who can be reformed;
the rest do it for other ends and other uses,
which are innumerable,
and have regard to themselves and the world.

AC 2679

. . . all things even the least with a person
are foreseen by the Lord,
and are provided for his future state to eternity;
and this for his good insofar as is in any wise possible,
and as he suffers himself to be led by the Lord.
 

Miriam and Aaron Speak Against Moses

Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses
because of his Cushite wife,
for he had married a Cushite.
"Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?" they asked.
"Hasn't He also spoken through us?"
And the Lord heard this.

(Now Moses was a very humble man,
more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam,
"Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you."
so the three of them came out.
Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud;
He stood at the entrance to the Tent
and summoned Aaron and Miriam.
When both of them stepped forward, He said,
"Listen to My words:

"When a prophet of the Lord is among you,
I reveal Myself to him in visions,
I speak to him in dreams.
But this is not true of My servant Moses;
he is faithful in all My house.
With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid to speak
against My servant Moses?"

The anger of the Lord turned against them,
and He left them.

(Numbers 12:1-8)

AC 2669 - Celestial and Spiritual

AC 2669 [3]

The celestial are they of whom the Lord says:

He calls His own sheep by name,
and leads them out;
and when He has led out His own sheep,
He goes before them,
and the sheep follow Him,
for they know His voice.
(John 10:3-4)

But the spiritual are those of whom He says:

And I have other sheep which are not of this fold;
I must bring them also,
and they shall hear My voice,
and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd.
(John 10:16)

The good of love is what makes the celestial church,
but the good of faith is what makes the spiritual church.
The truth of faith does not make the church,
but introduces into it.
  

Setting Up the Lamps

When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting
to speak with the Lord,
he heard the Voice speaking to him
from between the two cherubim above
the atonement cover on the ark of the Testimony.
And He spoke with him.

The Lord said to Moses,
"Speak to Aaron and say to him,
'When you set up the seven lamps,
they are to light the area in front of the lampstand.'"

Aaron did so; he set up the lamps
so that they faced forward on the lampstand,
just as the Lord commanded Moses.
This how the lampstand was made:
It was made of hammered gold --
from its base to its blossoms.
The lampstand was made exactly
like the pattern the Lord had shown Moses.

(Numbers 7:89; 8:1-4)

AC 2657 - The Two Rationals

AC 2657 [2, 3, 6, 7]

With every man who is being regenerated
there are two rationals,
one before regeneration,
the other after regeneration.
The first, which is before regeneration,
is procured through the experience of the senses,
by reflections upon things of civic life and of moral life,
and by means of the sciences
and the reasonings derived from them
and by means of them,
also by means of the knowledges of spiritual things
from the doctrine of faith or from the Word.
But these go no further at that time
than a little above the ideas of the corporeal memory,
which comparatively are quite material.

But the rational after regeneration
is formed by the Lord
through the affections of spiritual truth and good,
which affections are implanted by the Lord
in a wonderful manner
in the truths of the former rational;
and those things in it
which are in agreement and which favor
are given life;
but the rest are separated from it as of no use;
until at length spiritual goods and truths
are collected together as it were into bundles,
the which do not agree and which cannot be given life
being rejected to the circumference,
and this by successive steps,
as spiritual goods and truths grow,
together with the life of the affections of them.

The first rational, in the beginning,
knows no other love than that of self and the world;
and although it hears
that heavenly love is altogether of another character,
it nevertheless does not comprehend it.
But then, when the man does any good,
he perceives no other delight from it
than that he may seem to himself
to merit the favor of another,
or may hear himself called a Christian,
or may obtain from it the joy of eternal life.
The second rational, however,
with which he is gifted by the Lord through regeneration,
begins to feel some delight in good and truth itself,
and to be affected by this,
not for the sake of anything of his own,
but for the sake of the good and truth;
and when he is led by this delight,
he disclaims merit,
till at length he rejects it as an enormity.
This delight grows with him step by step,
and becomes blessed;
and in the other life it becomes happiness,
and is itself his heaven.

But be it known
that although a man is being regenerated,
still each and all things of the first rational
remain with him,
and are merely separated from the second rational,
and this in a most wonderful manner by the Lord.
But the Lord wholly banished His first rational,
so that nothing of it remained;
for what is merely human
cannot be together with the Divine.
Consequently He was no longer the son of Mary,
but was Jehovah as to each essence.

Each Day, One Tribe Brought The Offering for the Dedication of the Tabernacle

His offering was one silver plate
weighing a hundred and thirty shekels,
and one silver sprinkling bowl
weighing seventy shekels,
both according to the sanctuary shekel,
each filled with fine flower mixed with oil
as a grain offering;
one gold dish weighing ten shekels,
filled with incense;
one young bull,
one ram and one male lamb a year old,
for a burnt offering;
one male goat for a sin offering;
and two oxen, five rams,
five male goats and five male lambs a year old,
to be sacrificed as a fellowship offering.

(Numbers 7:13-17, and eleven others)

AC 2654 - The Human Rational Mocks

AC 2654 [3-5, 7]

The human rational . . . which has its birth
from worldly things through impressions of sense,
and afterwards from analogies of worldly things
by means of knowledges --
is ready to laugh and mock
if told that it does not live of itself,
but only appears to live so;
and that one lives the more,
that is, the more wisely and intelligently,
and the more blissfully and happily,
the less he believes that he lives of himself;
and that this is the life of angels,
especially of those who are celestial,
and inmost, or nearest to the Lord;
for they know that no one lives of himself
except Jehovah alone, that is, the Lord.

This rational would mock also
if it were told that it has nothing of its own,
and that its having anything of its own
is a fallacy or an appearance;
and still more would it mock if told
that the more it is in the fallacy
that it has anything of its own,
the less it has; and the converse.
So too would it mock if told
that whatever it thinks and does
from what is its own is evil,
although it were good;
and that it is not wise
until it believes and perceives
that all evil is from hell,
and all good from the Lord.
In this belief, and even in this perception,
are all the angels; who nevertheless have
what is their own more abundantly than all others;
but they know and perceive
that this is from the Lord,
although it altogether appears as theirs.

Again:  This rational would mock if it were said
that in heaven the greatest are they who are least,
the wisest are those who believe and perceive
themselves to be the least wise,
and the happiest are those
who desire others to be the most happy,
and themselves the least so;
that it is heaven to wish to be below all,
but hell to wish to be above all;
consequently that in the glory of heaven
there is absolutely nothing
the same as in the glory of the world.

That there were such things
in the merely human rational,
and that therefore this rational
mocked at Divine things,
the Lord saw (when He was in the world as a man) . . ..
That a person is able to look from within
into the things in himself which are below,
is known by experience
to those who are in perception,
and even to those who are in conscience;
for they see so far as to reprove their very thoughts.
Consequently the regenerate can see
what is the quality of the rational
which they had before regeneration.
With man such perception is from the Lord;
but the Lord's was from Himself.

The Census

The Lord spoke to Moses
in the Tent of Meeting in the Desert of Sinai
on the first day of the second month of the second year
after the Israelites came out of Egypt.
He said:
"Take a census of the whole Israelite community
by their clans and families,
listing every man by name, one by one.
You and Aaron are to number by their divisions
all the men in Israel twenty years old or more
who are able to serve in the army."

The families of the tribe of Levi, however,

were not counted along with the others.

The Lord said to Moses in the Desert of Sinai,
"Count the Levites by their families and clans.
Count every male a month old or more."
So Moses counted them,
as he was commanded by the word of the Lord.

(Numbers 1:1-3, 47; 3:14-16)

AC 2632 - Circumcision

AC 2632 [3]

In the Ancient Church nothing else
was represented and signified by circumcision
than that a man should be purified
from the loves of self and of the world,
and this also by successive steps and continually;
especially when he has been born a new man,
that is, when he has been regenerated;
for the Lord then flows in by the internal way,
that is, by the good of conscience,
and successively and continually separates
the things which adhere
both from hereditary and from actual evil. 

Dedicating a House to the Lord

"'If a man dedicates his house
as something holy to the Lord,
the priest will judge its quality as good or bad.
Whatever value the priest then sets,
so it will remain.
If the man who dedicates his house redeems it,
he must add a fifth to its value,
and the house will again become his.'"

(Leviticus 27:14-15)

AC 2621, 2628 - Being and Coming Forth; AC 2625 - Angelic Life

AC 2621, 2628

As regards Being and Coming Forth
we may add
that they seem as if they were nearly the same,
but are not the same.
Every person and every thing,
has its Being from conception,
but its Coming Forth from birth;
and thus as conception is prior to birth,
so Being is prior to Coming Forth.

. . . the Lord's Divine Human came forth
from the Divine Itself;
. . . the Lord's Divine Human was not only conceived,
but also born, of Jehovah,
and consequently the Lord as to His Divine Human
is called the "Son of God," and the "Only-begotten".
. . . that the Lord's Divine Human
is the "name" of Jehovah,
that is, His quality.

AC 2625 [2]

Angelic life is of such a nature
as to be the wisest and happiest of all.

The Sabbath and the Sabbath Year

"'There are six days when you may work,
but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest,
a day of sacred assembly.
You are not to do any work;
wherever you live,
it is a Sabbath to the Lord.'"

(Leviticus 23:3)

The Lord said to Moses on Mount Sinai,
"Speak to the Israelites and say to them:
'When you enter the land I am going to give you,
the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord.
For six years sow your fields,
and for six years prune your vineyards
and gather their crops.
But in the seventh year
the land is to have a sabbath of rest,
a sabbath to the Lord.
Do not sow your field or prune your vineyards.
Do not reap what grows of itself
or harvest the grapes of your untended vines.
The land is to have a year of rest.
Whatever the land  yields during the sabbath year
will be food for you --
for yourself, your hired worker and temporary resident
who live among you,
as well as for your livestock
and the wild animals in your land.
Whatever the land produces may be eaten.'"

(Leviticus 25:1-7)

AC 2619 - "Saying," "Speaking"

AC 2619

. . . what it is to perceive from the Divine celestial
and to think from the Divine celestial
through the Divine spiritual,
does not fall into
even the most enlightened understanding
by means of things that belong to the light of the world.
This shows how infinite the rest of the Word may be.

With man the case is this:
it is good from which he perceives,
but it is truth by means of which he thinks.
Good is of love and its affections,
consequently from it is perception;
but truth is of faith,
consequently this is of thought.
The former is signified
in the historic parts of the Word by "saying,"
but the latter by "speaking."
But when "saying" is found alone,
it then sometimes signifies perceiving,
and sometimes thinking;
because "saying" involves both.

Do Not

"'Do not steal.
"'Do not lie.
"'Do not deceive one another.

"'Do not swear falsely by My name
and so profane the name of your God.
I am the Lord.

"'Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him.

"'Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.

"'Do not curse the deaf
or put a stumbling block in front of the blind,
but fear your God.
I am the Lord.

"'Do not pervert justice;
do not show partiality to the poor
or favoritism to the great,
but judge your neighbor fairly.

"'Do not go about spreading slander among your people.
"'Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life.
I am the Lord.'"

(Leviticus 19:11-16)

AC 2606-2607 - The Word

AC 206-2607

The Word of the Old Testament
was formerly called the "Law and the Prophets."
By the "Law" were meant all the historical books,
which are the five books of Moses,
and those of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings:
by the "Prophets" were meant all the prophetical books,
which are those of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel,
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zephaniah, Malachi;
and also the Psalms of David.
The historical books of the Word are also called "Moses;"
so it is occasionally said, "Moses and the Prophets,"
instead of the "Law and the Prophets;"
and the prophetical books are called "Elias".

As regards the historical narratives,
they are all historically true,
except those in the first chapters of Genesis,
which are made up history, as shown in volume 1.
Yet although they are historically true,
they nevertheless have an internal sense;
and in that sense, like the propheticals,
treat solely of the Lord.
They do indeed treat of heaven and the church,
and of what belongs to heaven and the church,
but as these are of the Lord,
through these the historicals look to the Lord,
and therefore are the Word.
The historic events are all representative,
and every word by which they are described is significative.
That the historic events are representative
is evident from what has been unfolded thus
far concerning Abraham,
and will be further evident from what
of the Lord's Divine mercy is to be explained
concerning Isaac, Jacob, and his twelve sons;
concerning Egypt,
the sojourning of the people in the wilderness,
their entrance into the land of Canaan, etc.

That every word
by which these historicals are described is significative,
is also evident from what has been shown
for instance in regard to the names as signifying actual things;
thus "Egypt" signifies memory-knowledge,
"Asshur" the rational,
"Ephraim" the intellectual,
"Tyre" knowledges,
"Zion" the celestial church,
"Jerusalem" the spiritual church, and so on.
The same has been shown in regard to the words;
as that "king" signifies truth,
"priest" good,
and that all other words
have their respective internal significance;
such as "kingdom," "city," "house," "nation," "people,"
"garden," "vineyard," "oliveyard," "gold," "silver,"
"brass," "iron," "birds," "beasts," "bread," "wine,"
"oil," "morning," "day," "light;"
and this uniformly
in both the historical and the prophetical books,
although they were written by various individuals,
and at different times --
a uniformity that would not be possible
unless the Word had come down from heaven.
From this it may be known
that there is an internal sense in the Word;
as well as from the fact that
the Divine Word cannot treat of mere men,
such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
and their posterity (which was the worst of nations);
of their kings, their wives, sons, and daughters;
of harlots, plunderings, and such things,
which, considered in themselves,
are not worthy to be even mentioned in the Word,
unless by them are represented and signified
such things as are in the Lord's kingdom:
it is these things that are worthy of the Word.

What Aaron Is to Wear on the Day of Atonement

The Lord spoke to Moses
after the death of the two sons of Aaron
who died when they approached the Lord.
The Lord said to Moses:
"Tell your brother Aaron not to come
whenever he chooses
into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain
in front of the atonement cover on the ark,
or else he will die,
because I appear
in the cloud over the atonement cover.

"This is how Aaron is to enter the sanctuary area:
with a young bull for a sin offering
and a ram for a burnt offering.
He is to put on the sacred linen tunic,
with linen undergarments next to his body;
he is to tie the linen sash around him
and put on the linen turban.
These are sacred garments;
so he must bathe himself with water
before he puts them on."

(Leviticus 16:1-4)

AC 2590 - All Who Have Lived

AC 2590 [2]

For in the wide world
all those who have lived in good
are of the Lord's mercy received and saved;
for good is that which receives truth.

A Regulation Regarding Mildew on Clothing

"If any clothing is contaminated with mildew --
any woolen or linen clothing,
any woven or knitted material of linen or wool,
any leather or anything made of leather --
and if the contamination in the clothing, or leather,
or woven or knitted material, or any leather article,
is greenish or reddish,
it is a spreading mildew and must be shown to the priest.
The priest is to examine the mildew
and isolate the affected article for seven days.
On the seventh day he is to examine it,
and if the mildew has spread in the clothing,
or the woven or knitted material, or the leather,
whatever its use,
it is destructive mildew;
the article is unclean.
He must burn up the clothing,
or the woven or knitted material of wool or linen,
or any leather article that has the contamination in it,
because the mildew is destructive;
and the article must be burned up.

(Leviticus 13:47-52)

AC 2586 - God, Jehovah, Lord; AC 2588 - What Being Affirmative Really Is

AC 2586, 2588 [1]

. . . up to this point in this chapter (Genesis 20)
"God" is mentioned,
but here for the first time "Jehovah,"
is because "God" is mentioned where the subject is truth,
but "Jehovah" where the subject is good.
All the conception of doctrine is from good as a father,
but its birth is by means of truth as a mother,
as occasionally stated before.
Here the conception of doctrine is treated of,
and as this is from good,
"Jehovah" is mentioned . . ..

Whether we say "spiritual truth and celestial good,"
or "the Lord," it is the same;
because the Lord is truth itself and good itself,
and is the very marriage itself of truth and good,
and of good and truth.

AC 2588 [4, 5, 6]

It is among the primary things of the doctrine of faith
that all good is from the Lord,
and all evil from man, that is, from one's self.
Those who are in the affirmative that it is so,
can confirm themselves
by many things of reason and of memory-knowledge,
such as that no good can possibly flow in
except from good itself, that is,
from the Fountain of Good, thus from the Lord;
and that the beginning or principle of good
can be from no other source;
finding illustration in all things that are truly good,
in themselves, in others, in the community,
and also in the created universe.
But those who are in the negative
confirm themselves in what is contrary
by everything they think of,
insomuch that at last they do not know what good is;
and dispute among themselves
as to what is the highest good,
being deeply ignorant of the fact
that it is the celestial and spiritual good from the Lord,
by which all lower good is made alive,
and that the delight therefrom is truly delight.
Some also think that unless good is from themselves,
it cannot possibly come from any other source.

Those who are in love to the Lord
and charity toward the neighbor
can receive the truths of doctrine
and have faith in the Word,
but not those
who are in the life of the love of self and the world;
or what is the same,
that those who are in good can believe,
but not those who are in evil.
Those who are in the affirmative can confirm this
by numberless things of reason and memory.
From reason they can confirm it on the ground
that truth and good agree,
but not truth and evil;
and that as all falsity is in evil, so it is from evil;
and that if any who are in evil nevertheless have truth,
it is on the lips, and not in the heart;
and from their memory-knowledge
they can confirm by many things that truths shun evils,
and that evils spew out truths.
But those who are in the negative
confirm themselves by alleging that everyone,
of whatever character,
is able to believe just as well as others,
even though he lives in continual hatred,
in the delights of revenge, and in deceit;
and this even while they themselves
altogether reject from their doctrine the good of life,
after the rejection of which they do not believe anything.

Those who are in the affirmative
that the Word has been so written as to possess
an internal sense which does not appear in the letter,
can confirm themselves therein by
many rational considerations;
as that by the Word man has connection with heaven;
that there are correspondences
of natural things with spiritual,
in which the spiritual are not seen;
that the ideas of interior thought
are altogether different from the material ideas
which fall into the words of language;
that man, being born for both lives,
can, while in the world,
be also in heaven, by means of the Word
which is for both worlds;
that with some persons a certain Divine light
flows into the things of the understanding,
and also into the affections,
when the Word is read;
that it is of necessity
that there should be something written
that has come down from heaven,
and that therefore the Word cannot be
such in its origin as it is in the letter;
and that it can be holy only from a certain holiness
that it has within it.
He can also confirm himself
by means of memory-knowledges;
as that men were formerly in representatives,
and that the writings of the Ancient Church
were of this nature;
also that the writings of many among the Gentiles
had this origin;
and that it is on this account
that in the churches
such a style has been revered as holy,
and among the Gentiles as learned,
as examples of which
the books of many authors might be mentioned.
But those who are in the negative,
if they do not deny all these things,
still do not believe them, and persuade themselves
that the Word is such as it is in the letter,
appearing indeed worldly,
while yet being spiritual
(as to where the spiritual is hidden within it
they care little,
but for manifold reasons are willing to let it be so),
and this they can confirm by many things.

Moses Ordains Aaron and His Sons

Moses said to the assembly,
"This is what the Lord has commanded to be done."
Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward
and washed them with water.
He put the tunic on Aaron,
tied the sash around him,
clothed him with the robe
and put the ephod on him.
He also tied the ephod to him
by its skillfully woven waistband;
so it was fastened on him.
He placed the breastpiece on him
and put the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece.
Then he placed the turban on Aaron's head
and set the gold plate,
the sacred diadem, on the front of it,
as the Lord commanded Moses.

Then Moses took the anointing oil
and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it,
and so consecrated them.
He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times,
anointing the altar
and all its utensils and the basin with its stand,
to consecrate them.
He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head
and anointed him to consecrate him.
Then he brought Aaron's sons forward,
put tunics on them,
tied sashes around them
and put headbands on them,
as the Lord commanded Moses.

(Leviticus 8:5-13)

AC 258 - The Quality of the Doctrine of Faith

AC 2584 [3]

(Regarding) the quality of the doctrine of faith
when regarded from Divine truths,
and when regarded from the rational:
when it is regarded from Divine truths,
that is, from the Word,
then each and all things,
of both reason and memory, confirm it;
but this is the the case
when it is regarded from human things,
that is, from reason and memory-knowledges;
for then nothing of good
and nothing of truth is conceived;
for to regard it from the Word
is to regard it from the Lord,
whereas to regard it from reason and memory-knowledge
is to regard it from man.
From the former comes all intelligence and wisdom;
from the latter all insanity and folly.

The Fellowship Offering

"'If someone's offering is a fellowship offering,
and he offers an animal from the herd,
whether male or female,
he is to present before the Lord
an animal without defect.
He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering
and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
Then Aaron's sons the priests
shall sprinkle the blood against the altar on all sides.
From the fellowship offering
he is to bring a sacrifice made to the Lord by fire:
all the fat that covers
the inner parts or is connected to them,
both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins,
and the covering of the liver,
which he will remove with the kidneys.
Then Aaron's sons are to burn it on the altar
on top of the burnt offering
that is on the burning wood,
as an offering made by fire,
and aroma pleasing to the Lord.

(Leviticus 3:1-5)

(Leviticus means "about the Levites.")
 

AC 2576 - Rational Truths and the Veils (or Curtains) of the Tabernacle

AC 2576 [2-7]

As regards rational truth being like
a covering or clothing to spiritual truths . . .
things that are mentioned in the Word . . .
in all cases their exteriors are a covering or clothing;
as for example the ark of the covenant
and the tent that was round about it;
the ark, being the inmost,
represented the Lord Himself,
for therein was the Testimony;
and the tent outside of it
represented the Lord's kingdom.
The clothing, that is, the veils and coverings,
each and all represented the more exterior
celestial and spiritual things in His kingdom,
that is, in the three heavens;
as is evident from the fact that the form of the Tent
was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai.
From this it had its holiness,
and not from the gold, the silver, and the carvings,
that were in it.

Since rational truths are now treated of,
as being a kind of veil or clothing to spiritual truths,
and as the tent is described in Moses
in respect to its clothing or coverings,
and also in respect to its veils
which were before the entrance,
for the sake of illustration we may explain
what was specifically signified by the veils;
but what was signified by the encompassing coverings
will of the Lord's Divine mercy be told elsewhere.
The veils of the tent were three:
the first, which made the division
between the holy and the holy of holies;
the second, which is called
the hanging for the door of the tent;
and the third,
which was the hanging for the gate of the court.

[4] Concerning the veil itself,
which was the first, before the ark,
we read in Moses:

You shall make a veil
of violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet
and fine-twined linen.
The work of a designer,
you shall make it with cherubs on it.
And you shall hang it on four pillars of shittim,
overlaid with gold, 
a
nd their hooks shall be of gold;
[they shall stand] on four bases of silver.
And you shall hang the veil under the clasps.
And you shall bring in, within the veil,
the Ark of the Testimony,
and the veil shall divide for you
the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies.
(Exodus 26: 31-34; 36: 35, 36).

This veil represented
the nearest and inmost appearances
of rational good and truth,
in which are the angels of the third heaven;
which appearances are described by
the hyacinthine, the bright crimson,
the double-dyed scarlet, and the fine twined linen;
in which the red color represented the goods of love,
and the white its truths.
The same is true also of the gold and silver
with which the pillars were overlaid,
and of which the hooks and the bases were made.
(. . . "gold" is the good of love,
and that "silver" is truth.)

From this we can see what is signified
by the veil of the temple being rent in twain
(Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45),
namely, that the Lord
entered into the Divine Itself
by dispersing all appearances;
and that He at the same time
opened the way to His Divine Itself
through His Human made Divine. 

Concerning the second veil,
or the hanging for the door of the tent,
we read in Moses:

You shall make a screen for a door of the tent,
of violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet
and fine-twined linen,
the work of an embroiderer.
And you shall make for the screen
five pillars of shittim and overlay them with gold,
and their hooks shall be of gold;
and you shall cast for them five bases of bronze.
(Exodus 26: 36, 37; 36 37, 38)

By this hanging were represented
appearances of good and truth
that are lower or more external than the former,
that is, the middle ones of the rational,
in which are the angels of the second heaven;
which appearances are described
almost in the same manner as the first,
with the difference however
that for this hanging
there were five pillars and five bases,
by which number is signified
what is comparatively but little;
for these appearances do not so cohere together,
or are not so heavenly,
as are the appearances of the inmost or third heaven.
And because these appearances look to natural things,
it was commanded
that the bases should be cast of brass;
for by brass was represented and signified natural good.

Concerning the third veil,
or the hanging for the gate of the court,
we read in Moses:

The screen for a gate of the court
shall be twenty cubits [long],
of violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet
and fine-twined linen,
the work of an embroiderer;
the pillars of it shall be four
and the bases of these four.
All the pillars of the surrounding court
shall be fastened with silver;
their hooks shall be of silver
but their bases of bronze.
(Exodus 27: 16, 17; 38)
 
By this hanging were represented
still lower or more external appearances
of good and truth,
which are the lowest ones of the rational,
in which are the angels of the first heaven.
As these appearances correspond to interior things,
they are described in a similar manner,
yet with the difference
that these pillars were not overlaid with gold,
but filleted with silver,
and that the hooks were of silver,
by which are signified rational truths
that derive their origin immediately
from memory-knowledges;
and the bases were of brass,
by which are signified natural goods.
All this shows that there was nothing in the Tent
that was not representative
of the celestial and spiritual things
of the Lord's kingdom,
or that all things were made according to
the type of celestial and spiritual things
in the three heavens;
also that the veilings or coverings
signified the things that are like a body or dress
around or without that which is inmost.

The Tabernacle Is Completed

Then the Lord said to Moses:
"Set up the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting,
on the first day of the first month.
Place the ark of the Testimony in it
and shield the ark with the curtain.
Bring in the table and set out what belongs on it.
Then bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps.
Place the gold altar of incense
in front of the ark of the Testimony
and put the curtain
at the entrance to the tabernacle.

"Place the altar of burnt offering
in front of the entrance to the tabernacle,
the Tent of Meeting;
place the basin
between the Tent of Meeting and the altar
and put water in it.
Set up the courtyard around it
and put the curtain
at the entrance to the courtyard.

"Take the anointing oil and anoint
the tabernacle and everything in it;
consecrate it and all its furnishings,
and it will be holy.
Then anoint the altar of burnt offering
and all its utensils;
consecrate the altar,
and it ill be most holy.
Anoint the basin and its stand
and consecrate them.

"Bring Aaron and his sons
to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting
and wash them with water.
Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments,
anoint him and consecrate him
so he may serve me as priest.
Bring his sons and dress them in tunics.
Anoint them just as you anointed their father,
so they may serve me as priests.
Their anointing will be to a priesthood
that will continue for all generations to come."
Moses did every just as the Lord commanded him.

Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting,
and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting
because the cloud had settled upon it,
and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

In all the travels of the Israelites,
whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle,
they would set out;
but if the cloud did not lift,
they did not set out --
until the day it lifted.
So the cloud of the Lord
was over the tabernacle by day,
and fire was in the cloud by night,
in the sight of all the house of Israel
during all their travels.

(Exodus 40:1-16, 34-38)

AC 2572- The Good of Doctrine

AC 2572 [2, 4]

The good of doctrine is love and charity,
the truth of doctrine is faith.
Those who are in the good of doctrine,
that is, in love and charity,
are in the truth of doctrine,
that is, in faith.
But it is one thing to be in good, or in love and charity,
and another to be in the good of doctrine.
Little children who are in love to their parents
and in charity toward other little children are in good,
but not in the good of doctrine,
consequently not in the truth of doctrine, or faith.
But those who have been regenerated by the truths of faith
are in the good of doctrine.
Insofar as these are in good,
so far are they in truths;
that is, insofar as they are in love and charity,
so far are they in faith,
consequently, so far in wisdom and intelligence.


. . . between the Infinite and the finite
there is no ratio;
but yet there is a communication
from the Divine omnipotence . . . 
. . . the Lord is in everything in which there is good,
both in heaven and on earth.
Those who think
that the Lord is in truth separate from good
are much mistaken.
He is not in anything but good,
and from that in truth;
that is, in love and charity,
and from that in faith.

Moses Goes Up Mount Sinai a Second Time

The Lord said to Moses,
"Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones,
and I will write on them the words
that were on the first tablets,
which you broke.
Be ready in the morning,
and then come up on Mount Sinai.
Present yourself to Me there on top of the mountain.

So Moses chiseled out
two stone tablets like the first ones
and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning,
as the Lord had commanded him;
and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.

Moses was there with the Lord
forty days and forty nights
without eating bread or drinking water.
And he wrote on the tables the words of the covenant --
the Ten Commandments.

(Exodus 34:1-2, 4,28)

AC 2568 - Doubt

AC 2568 [6]

. . . there are some who are in doubt before they deny,
and there are some who are in doubt before they affirm.
Those who are in doubt before they deny
are those who incline to a life of evil;
and when this life carries them away,
then in so far as they think of the matters in question
they deny them.
But those who are in doubt before they affirm
are those who incline to a life of good;
and when they suffer themselves
to be bent to this by the Lord,
then in so far as they thing about those things
so far they affirm.

The Breastpiece

"Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions --
the work of a skilled craftsman.
Make it like the ephod:
of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn,
and of finely twisted linen.
It is to be square --
a span long and a span wide --
and folded double.
Then mount four rows of precious stones on it.
In the first row there shall be
a ruby, a topaz and a beryl;
in the second row
a turquoise, a sapphire and an emerald;
in the third row
a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst;
in the fourth row
a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper.
Mount them in gold filigree settings.
There are to be twelve stones,
one for each of the names of the sons of Israel,
each engraved like a seal
with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

"Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place,
he will bear the names of the sons of Israel
over his heart on the breastpiece of decision
as a continuing memorial before the Lord.
Also put the Urim and the Thummin
in the breastpiece,
so they may be over Aaron's heart
whenever he enters the presence of the Lord.
Thus Aaron will always bear
the means of making decisions for the Israelites
over his heart before the Lord.

(Exodus 28:15-21, 29-30)
 

AC 2556, 2557 - Influx

AC 2556

With the man who is truly rational, that is, regenerate,
all things have been disposed into order
such as exists in heaven,
and this from influx.
From this there is given man a faculty of thinking,
concluding, judging, and reflecting so wonderful
as to exceed all mere human knowledge and wisdom,
and immeasurably to surpass the analyses
which human industry has drawn from these sources.


AC 2557 [3]

. . .  if spiritual truth were to flow in from within,
as good does,
man would then be born into everything of reason,
and at the same time into everything of knowledge,
so that he would have no need to learn anything.
But as man is such that he is hereditarily in all evil,
and consequently in all falsity,
and therefore if truths themselves also were to flow in
man would adulterate and falsify them,
and thereby the man would eternally perish,
it has been provided by the Lord
that nothing of truth flows in through man's internal,
but only through his external.

Laws of Justice and Mercy

"Do not spread false reports.
Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness.

"Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.
When you give testimony in a lawsuit,
do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd,
and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

"If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey
wandering off,
be sure to take it back to him.
If you see the donkey of someone who hates you
fallen down under its load,
do not leave it there;
be sure you help him with it.

"Do not deny justice
to your poor people in their lawsuits.
Have nothing to do with a false charge
and do not put an innocent or honest person to death,
for I will not acquit the guilty.

"Do not accept a bribe,
for a bribe blinds those who see
and twists the words of the righteous.

"So not oppress an alien;
you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens,
because you were aliens in Egypt."

(Exodus 23:1-9)

(Apologies for the late postings - 
we have been without electricity all day. 
A ferocious storm that took out many trees and the power.)

AC 2551 - What Delights the Angels; Ac 2554 - Thinking Spiritual Truth Is Not Important

AC 2551 [1-2]

The internal sense of the Word
is especially for the angels;
and therefore is adapted
to their perceptions and thoughts.
They are in their delightful,
indeed in their blessed and happy states,
when they are thinking about the Lord,
His Divine and His Human,
and how the Human was made Divine;
for they are encompassed
with a celestial and spiritual sphere
which is full of the Lord;
so that it may be said 
that they are in the Lord.
Consequently nothing is
more blessed and happy to them
than to think in accordance with the things
that belong to that sphere and its derivative affection.

At the same time, moreover,
they are instructed and perfected,
especially in this:
how the Lord by degrees and of His own power,
as He grew up,
made Divine the human into which He was born;
and thus how, by means of the knowledges
that He revealed to Himself
He perfected His rational,
dispersed by successive steps its shadows,
and introduced it into Divine light.
These and innumerable other things
are presented before the angels
in a celestial and spiritual manner,
with a thousand and a thousand representatives,
in the light of life,
when the Word is being read.

AC 2554 [2]

. . . if men were to have no regard for spiritual truth,
celestial good would thereby also perish;
for when the former is rejected
the latter perishes . . ..

They Arrive at Mount Sinai

In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt --
on the very day --
they came to the Desert of Sinai.
After they set out from Rephidim,
they entered the Desert of Sinai,
and Israel camped there in the desert
in front of the mountain.

On the morning of the third day
there was thunder and lightning,
with a thick cloud over the mountain,
and a very loud trumpet blast.
Everyone in the camp trembled.

The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai
and called Moses to the top of the mountain.
So Moses went up . . ..

(Exodus 19:1-2, 16, 20)

AC 2540 - Why We Read About the Lord

AC 2540 [2]

The reason why the perception
which the Lord had when in the Human,
and His thought
concerning what is rational in the doctrine of faith,
are so much treated of in the internal sense,
is that . . . it is angelic to think with distinctiveness 
of various things concerning the Lord's life in the world,
and how He put off the human rational,
and made the rational Divine from His own power;
and at the same time
concerning the doctrine of charity and faith,
such as it is when the rational mixes itself with it;
besides many more things dependent on these,
which are interior things of the church and of man.
To the man whose mind and heart
are set upon worldly and corporeal things,
these things appear as unimportant,
and perchance as of no advantage to him;
yet to the angels,
whose minds and hearts
are set upon celestial and spiritual things,
these same things are precious;
and their ideas and perceptions respecting them
are ineffable (beyond words).
This shows that very many things
which seem unimportant to man,
because they transcend his comprehension,
are held in the highest estimation by the angels,
because they enter into the light of their wisdom;
and on the other hand,
things that are most highly esteemed by man,
because they are of the world,
and therefore come within his comprehension,
are unimportant to the angels,
for they pass outside of the light of their wisdom.
And such is the case
with the internal sense of the Word,
relatively to angels and to men,
in many places.

Leaving Egypt

When Pharaoh let the people go,
God did not lead them on the road
through the Philistine country,
though that was shorter.
For God said, "If they face war,
they might change their minds and return to Egypt."
So God led the people around by the desert road
toward the Red Sea.
The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle.

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him
because Joseph had made the sons of Israel
swear an oath.  He had said,
"God will surely come to your aid,
and then you must carry my bones
up with you from this place."

After leaving Succoth
they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.
By day the Lord went ahead of them
in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way
and by night in a pillar fire to give them light,
so that they could travel by day or night.
Neither the pillar of cloud by day
nor the pillar fire by night
left its place in front of the people.

(Exodus 13:17-22)

Teaching and a Prophet

AC 2533 [2]

. . . although the doctrine of faith is in itself Divine,
and therefore above
all human and even angelic comprehension,
it has nevertheless been expressed in the Word
in a rational manner
in accordance with man's range of understanding. 
The case here is the same as it is with a parent
who is teaching his little boys and girls:
when he is teaching,
he sets forth everything
in accordance with their genius,
although he himself thinks
from what is more interior or higher;
otherwise it would be teaching
without their learning,
or like casting seed upon a rock.
The case is also the same with the angels
who in the other life instruct the simple in heart:
although these angels
are in celestial and spiritual wisdom,
yet they do not hold themselves above
the comprehension of those whom they teach,
but speak in simplicity with them,
yet rising by degrees as these are instructed;
for if they were to speak from angelic wisdom,
the simple would comprehend nothing at all,
and thus would not be led
to the truths and goods of faith.
The case would be the same
if the Lord had not taught in the Word
in accordance with man's comprehension,
in a rational manner.
Nevertheless in its internal sense
the Word is elevated to the angelic understanding;
and yet that sense, in its highest elevation
in which it is perceived by the angels,
is infinitely below the Divine.
This shows what the Word is like in origin,
and so what it is in itself,
and thus that at every point
it embodies more than the whole of heaven
is capable of comprehending,
even as to one small part,
though in the letter
it seems so ordinary and so crude.

AC 2534

In the Word we frequently read of a "prophet;"
and in the sense of the letter "prophet"
signifies those to whom revelation is made,
also abstractedly, revelation itself;
but in the internal sense a "prophet"
signifies one who teaches,
and also abstractedly doctrine itself;
and as the Lord (as before said)
is doctrine itself, that is, the Word which teaches,
He is called a "Prophet"  . . .

 

The Lord's Mighty Hand

"In days to come, when your son asks you,
'What does this mean?'
say to him,
'With a mighty hand
the Lord brought us out of Egypt,
out of the land of slavery.
When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go,
the Lord killed every firstborn in Egypt,
both man and animal.
This is why I sacrifice to the Lord
the first male offspring of every womb
and redeem each of my firstborn sons.'
And it will be like a sign on your hand
and a symbol on your forehead
that the Lord brought us out of Egypt
with His mighty hand."

(Exodus 13:14-16)

AC 2526, 2531 - Receiving the Lord

 AC 2526

. . . good is good from innocence;
and truth is truth from good;
and when these are in their order,
there is then all ability.

AC 2531 [3]

In the Lord's Word are Truths themselves;
but in its literal sense are truths
which are accommodated to the understanding
of those who are in external worship;
whereas in its internal sense are truths
accommodated to those who are internal men;
that is, to those who are angelic as to doctrine
and at the same time as to life.
Their rational is enlightened therefrom
to such a degree
that their enlightenment is compared
to the brightness of the stars and the sun
(Dan. 12:3; Matt. 13:43).
Consequently it is plain how important it is
that interior truths be known and received.
These truths may indeed be known,
but by no means received,
except by those who have love to the Lord,
or faith in Him;
for as the Lord is the Divine good,
so He is the Divine truth;
consequently He is doctrine itself,
since whatever is in the doctrine of true faith
looks to the Lord,
and looks also to the heavenly kingdom and the church,
and to all things
of the heavenly kingdom and the church.
But all these are His,
and are the intermediate ends through which
the last end, that is, the Lord, is regarded.

That the Lord is doctrine itself as to truth and good,
and thus that it is He who alone
is regarded in doctrine, He teaches John:

Jesus said, I am the way, the Truth, and the Life.
(John 14:6, 7)

where the "Way" is doctrine,
the "Truth" all that is of doctrine,
and the "Life" the good itself
which is the life of the truth.
And that love to Him or faith in Him is what receives,
He also teaches in John:

His own received Him not;
but as many as received Him,
to them gave He power to be the sons of God,
even to them that believe on His name
who were born,
not of bloods,
nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man,
but of God.
(John 1:11-13)

Those are "born of God"
who are in love and from that in faith.

The Lord Will Help This People

Moses returned to the Lord and said,
"O Lord, why have You
brought trouble upon this people?
Is this why You sent me?
Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name,
He has brought trouble upon this people,
and you have not rescued Your people at all.

Then the Lord said to Moses,
"Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh:
Because of My mighty and he will let them go;
because of My mighty hand
he will drive them out of his country."

God also said to Moses,
"I am the Lord.
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob
as God Almighty,
but by My name the El-Shaddai
I did not make Myself known to them."

(Exodus 5:22-23; 6:1-3)

AC 2515 - Thoughts; AC 2517 - Husband, Wife, Man, Woman

AC 2515

Thoughts from perception
exist only with the celestial,
that is, with those who are in love to the Lord;
such thought is the most internal that exists with man;
and it exists with the celestial angels in heaven,
for it is perception from the Lord
by which and from which their thought exists;
and to think contrary to perception is impossible.

Thoughts from conscience are lower,
and exist with the spiritual,
that is, with those who are in the good of charity
and faith as to life and as to doctrine.
Moreover with these persons
to think contrary to conscience is impossible;
for this would be to think against the good and truth
which are dictated to them
from the Lord through conscience.

But thoughts from no conscience
exist with those who do not suffer themselves
to be inwardly directed by what is good and true,
but only by what is evil and false;
that is, not by the Lord,
but by themselves.

AC 2517

For she is married to a husband.
(Genesis 20:3)

That this signifies that the doctrine of true faith is spiritual,
and that its contents are conjoined with the celestial,
is evident from the signification
of being "married to a husband."
"Husband," when mentioned in the Word, signifies good,
and "wife" then signifies truth.
It is otherwise when the husband is called the "man;"
for then "man" signifies truth,
and "wife" good.
Here therefore her being "married to a husband"
signifies that truth is conjoined with good,
and in such a manner that the truth also is good.