AE 606 - His Footstool; AE 609 - "To Create"; AE 612 - The Lord Appears

AE 606

I will make the place of My feet honorable.
(Isaiah 60:13)

"The place of the Lord's feet" in a general sense
means all things of heaven and the church,
since the Lord as a sun is above the heavens;
but in a particular sense
"the place of His feet" means the church,
for the Lord's church is with people in the natural world,
and the natural is the lowest,
into which the Divine closes,
and upon which it as it were subsists.
This is why the church on the earth
is also called "the footstool of the Lord," . . .

AE 609

. . . "to create," as being not only to cause to be,
but also to be perpetually,
by holding it together and sustaining it
by the Divine proceeding;
for the heavens have had existence
and perpetually have existence,
that is, subsist by means of the Lord's Divine,
which is called the Divine truth united to Divine good.

AE 612

. . . the Lord is the Word,
wherefore when the Word is opened
the Lord appears.

~ 'Shibboleth', 'Sibboleth' ~

The men of Ephraim called out their forces,
crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah,
"Why did you go to fight the Ammonites
without calling us to go with you?
We're going to burn down your house over your head."

Jephthah answered, "I and my people
were engaged in a great struggle with the Ammonites,
and although I called,
you didn't save me out of their hands.
When I saw that you wouldn't help,
I took my life in my hands
and crossed over to fight the Ammonites,
and the Lord gave me the victory over them.
Now why have you come up today to fight me?"

Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead
and fought against Ephraim.
The Gileadites struck them down
because the Ephraimites had said,
"You Gileadites are renegades
from Ephraim and Manasseh."
The Gileadites captured
the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim,
and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said,
"Let me cross over," the men of Gilead asked him,
"Are you an Ephraimite?"
If he replied, "No," they said,
"All right, say 'Shibboleth.'
If he said, "Sibboleth,"
because he could not pronounce the word correctly,
they seized him and killed him at the fords of Jordan.
Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time.

Jephthah led Israel six years.
Then Jephthah the Gileadite died,
and was buried in a town in Gilead.

(Judges 12:1-7)

AE 600 - Right and Left; AE 601 - The Lion Roars

AE 600 [2]

. . . the "right" signifies all things of good
which is the source of truth,
and the "left all things of truth from good . . ..
And as all things of heaven and the church
have relation to good ant truth,
also to things exterior and things interior,
therefore these words mean in general
all things of heaven and the church.

AE 601 [5]

Thus Jehovah said unto me,
Like as the lion, and the young lion roars over his prey,
when a multitude of shepherds go out against him,
and he is not dismayed at their voice
nor affected by their tumult,
so shall Jehovah of Hosts come down to wage war
upon Mount Zion and upon the hill thereof.
(Isaiah 31:4)

Jehovah is compared to a lion roaring,
because a "lion" signifies the Lord
in relation to Divine truth and its power,
and "to roar" signifies the eagerness to defend the church
against evils and falsities;
therefore it is said,
"so shall Jehovah of Hosts come down to wage war
upon Mount Zion, and upon the hill thereof,"
"Mount Zion" meaning the celestial church,
and "the hill thereof" (or Jerusalem) the spiritual church;
the "prey over which the lion roars"
means deliverance from hell.

~ The End of Abimelech, son of Jerub-Baal ~

Next Abimelech went to Thebez
and besieged it and captured it.
Inside the city, however, was a strong tower,
to which all the men and women --
all the people of the city -- fled.
They locked themselves in
and climbed up on the tower roof.
Abimelech went to the tower and stormed it.
But as he approached the entrance to the tower
to set it on fire,
a women dropped an upper millstone on his head
and cracked his skull.

Hurriedly he called to his armor-bearer,
"Draw your sword and kill me,
so they can't say, 'A woman killed him.'"
So his servant ran him through, and he died.
When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead,
they went home.
Thus God repaid the wickedness
that Abimelech had done to his father
by murdering his seventy brothers.
God also made the men of Shechem
pay for all their wickedness.
The curse of Jotham son of Jerub-Baal came on them.

After the time of Abimelech
a man of Issachar, Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo,
rose to save Israel.
He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim.
He led Israel twenty-three years;
then he died, and was buried in Shamir.

(Judges 9:50-57; 10:1-2)

AE 592 - Explanation of Revelation 10:1; AE 595 - Rainbows of Heaven

AE 592 - Explanation of Revelation 10:1

And I saw another strong angel
coming down out of heaven encompassed with a cloud,
and the rainbow above his head,
and his face as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.
(Revelation 10:1)

"And I saw another strong angel
coming down out of heaven,"
means the Lord as to the Word,
here in relation to its ultimate sense,
which is called the sense of the letter;
"encompassed with a cloud,"
means the ultimate of the Word;
"and the rainbow above his head,"
means the interior things of the Word;
"and his face as the sun,"
means the Lord's Divine love,
from which is all Divine truth,
which in heaven and in the church is the Word;
"and his feet as pillars of fire,"
means Divine truth, or the Word in ultimates,
sustaining interior things there,
and also full of the good of love.

AE 595 [3]

. . . the rainbows of heaven
are from the light that arises from the Lord as a sun,
and as that sun is in its essence the Lord's Divine love,
and the light therefrom is Divine truth,
the variations of light which are presented as rainbows
are variations of intelligence and wisdom with the angels.
From this it is that rainbows there
mean the form and beauty of spiritual Divine truth.

. . . the rainbows of heaven (mean)
spiritual Divine truths in their form and beauty;
these truths are such as those of the Word
in the spiritual sense.
 

~ Gideon Goes After the Midianites ~

Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor
with a force of about fifteen thousand men,
all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples;
a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen.
Gideon went up by the route of the nomads
east of Nobah and Jogbehah
and fell upon the unsuspecting army.
Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled,
but he pursued them and captured them,
routing their entire army.

(Judges 8:10-12)

AE 585 - Doctrine from Self-Intelligence, Hewn Stones; AE 586 - Cupidity Defined

 AE 585 [11, 12-13]

Moreover, the work of the workman,
the artificer, and the mechanic,"
means in the Word
whatever of doctrine, religion, and worship
is from self-intelligence.
This is why the altar, and also the temple,
were built, by command, of whole stones,
and not hewn by any workman or artificer.

Respecting the altar it is thus said in Moses:

If you make to Me an altar of stones
you shall not build it of hewn stones,
for if you move a tool upon it
you wilt profane it.
(Exodus 20:25)

And in Joshua:

Joshua built an altar unto the God of Israel in Mount Ebal,
an altar of whole stones,
on which no one had moved iron.
(Joshua 8:30, 31)

And respecting the temple, in the first book of Kings:

The temple at Jerusalem was built of stone,
whole as it was brought;
for there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron
heard in the house while it was building.
(I Kings 6:7)

. . . "the work of His hands"
means a person regenerated by Him,
thus the man of the church.

Jehovah of Hosts shall bless, saying,
Blessed be Egypt My people,
and Assyria the work of My hands,
and Israel Mine inheritance.
(Isaiah 19:25)

"Egypt" here signifies the natural,
"Assyria" the rational,
and "Israel" the spiritual;
and "Assyria" is called "the work of Jehovah's hands"
because the rational is what is reformed in a person,
for it is the rational that receives truths and goods,
and from this the natural;
the spiritual is what regenerates,
that is, the Lord by spiritual influx;
in a word, the rational is the medium between
the spiritual and the natural,
and the spiritual, which regenerates,
flows in through the rational into the natural,
and thus the natural is regenerated.

AE 586

The affection of evil and falsity is what is called cupidity,
and is what is meant by "demon."

~ Gideon Builds Two Altars ~

When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord,
he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign Lord! 
I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!"

But the Lord said to him,
"Peace!  Do not be afraid.  You are not going to die."

So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there
and called it The Lord is Peace.
To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

That same night the Lord said to him,
"Take the second bull from your father's herd,
the one seven years old.
Tear down your father's altar to Baal
and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.
Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God
on top of this height.
Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down,
offer the second bull as a burnt offering."

So Gideon took ten of his servants
and did as the Lord told him.
But because he was afraid
of his family and the men of the town,
he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

In the morning when the men of the town got up,
there was Baal's altar, demolished,
with the Asherah pole beside it cut down
and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!

They asked each other, "Who did this?"

When they carefully investigated,
they were told, "Gideon son of Joash did it."

The men of the town demanded of Joash,
"Bring out your son.
He must die,
because he has broken down Baal's altar
and cut down the Asherah pole beside it."

But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him,
"Are you going to plead Baal's cause?
Are you trying to save him?
Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning!
If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself
when someone breaks down his altar."
So that day they called Gideon "Jerub-Baal,"
saying, "Let Baal contend with him,"
because he broke down Baal's altar.''

(Judges 6:22-32)

AE - Several Short Truths

AE 578 [2, 6]

. . . falsities of evil from the love of self
will destroy the church.

. . . the quality of external worship
is the same as the quality of its internal.

AE 579

. . . when the understanding of truth is extinguished
a person is spiritually killed . . ..

AE 581

. . . sensual knowledges become fallacies
when a person reasons from them
concerning spiritual things . . ..

~ The Last Verse of Deborah's Song ~

"So may all your enemies perish, O Lord!
But may they who love You
be like the sun when it rises in its strength."

Then the land had peace forty years.

(Judges 5:31)

AE 570, 572, 573 - The Source of Reasoning; AE 575 - Visions

 AE 570

. . . the sensual person only reasons
from such things as he sees in the world with his eyes,
while the things that are within and above these
he declares cannot be,
since he does not see them;
this is why the things that belong to heaven and the church,
because they are above his thoughts,
he either denies or does not believe,
but ascribes all things to nature.

AE 572

. . . it is by means of truths from good
that the understanding is opened,
not by means of truths without good;
for a person thinks truth
so far as he lives in the good of love and charity.

AE 573

. . . since reasonings from falsities
are from the understanding perverted and destroyed,
for truths constitute the understanding,
but falsities destroy it.

AE 575 [2]

Visions, which and from which
a person or the spirit of a person sees,
are of a twofold kind;
there are real visions and visions that are not real;
real visions are visions of such things
as really appear in the spiritual world,
corresponding altogether with
the thoughts and affections of angels,
consequently they are real correspondences.
Such were the visions that the prophets had
who prophesied truths;
such also were the visions that appeared to John,
and that are described throughout Revelation.
But visions that are not real
have the same appearance in the external form
as real visions, but not in the internal form;
they are produced by spirits by means of fantasies.
Such visions those prophets had
who prophesied vain things or lies.
All such visions, because they are not real are fallacies,
and thus they also signify fallacies. 

~ The Israelites Remember and Then Forget ~

  After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites,
they went to take possession of the land,
each to his own inheritance.
The people served the Lord
throughout the lifetime of Joshua
and of the elders who outlived him
and who had seen
all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.

Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord,
died at the age of a hundred and ten.
And they buried him in the land of his inheritance,
at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim,
north of Mount Gaash.

After that whole generation
had been gathered to their fathers,
another generation grew up,
who knew neither the Lord
nor what He had done for Israel.
Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord
and served the Baals.
They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers . . ..

(Judges 2:6-12)

AE 569 [23] - Degrees of Reasoning

AE 569 [23}

. . . reasonings are in a like degree as the thoughts are,
since they descend from the thoughts;
thus there are reasonings from the spiritual person
which might better be called
conclusions from reasons and from truths;
there are reasonings from the natural person,
and there are reasonings from the sensual person.
Reasonings from the spiritual person are rational,
and therefore might better be called
conclusions from reasons and from truths,
because they are from the interior
and from the light of heaven;
but reasonings from the natural person
respecting spiritual things are not rational,
however rational they may be in things moral and civil,
which are evident before the eyes,
because they are from natural light alone;
but reasonings from the sensual person
respecting spiritual things are irrational,
because they are from fallacies
and thus from ideas that are false;
these are the reasonings here treated of in Revelation.

 

~ Some of Joshua's Last Words & Actions ~

"Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness.
Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped
beyond the River and in Egypt,
and serve the Lord.
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you,
then choose for ourselves this day whom you will serve,
whether the gods
your forefathers served beyond the River,
or the gods of the Amorites,
in whose land you are living.
But as for me and my household,
we will serve the Lord."

. . . On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people,
and there at Shechem
he drew up for them decrees and laws.
And Joshua recorded these things
in the Book of the Law of God.
Then he took a large stone
and set it up there under the oak
near the holy place of the Lord.

"See!" he said to all the people.
"This stone will be a witness against us.
It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us.
It will be a witness against you
if you are untrue to your God."

(Joshua 24:14-15, 25-27)

AE 569 - It Is One Thing to be Rational, and Another to be Spiritual

AE 569 [7-8, 15, 20]

It is one thing to be rational,
and another to be spiritual;
every spiritual person is also rational,
but the rational person is not always spiritual,
since the rational is in the natural person,
that is, is its thought,
while the spiritual is above the rational,
and through the rational passes into the natural,
into the cognitions* and knowledges of its memory.

But it is to be known that the rational does not
introduce anyone into the spiritual,
but it is only said to do so
because such is the appearance;
for the spiritual flows into the natural
through the rational as a medium,
and in this way it introduces.
For the spiritual is the inflowing Divine,
since it is the light of heaven,
which is the Divine truth proceeding,
and this light through the higher mind,
which is called the spiritual mind,
flows into the lower mind,
which is called the natural mind,
and conjoins this to itself,
and through that conjunction
causes the natural mind to make one with the spiritual;
thus introduction is effected.
Since it is contrary to Divine order
for a person to enter through his rational into the spiritual,
therefore in the spiritual world
there are angel guards to prevent this from taking place.

As "the river Euphrates" means the rational,
so in the contrary sense it signifies reasoning;
reasoning here means thinking and arguing
from fallacies and falsities,
while the rational means thinking and arguing
from knowledges and from truths;
for the rational is cultivated always by knowledges,
and is formed by truths,
therefore one who is led by truths or whom truths lead,
is called a rational person;
but a person who is not rational has the ability to reason,
for by various reasonings he is able to confirm falsities,
and also to induce the simple to believe them,
which is done mainly by means of
the fallacies of the senses.

For by means of the Word
there is conjunction of the Lord with the church,
and when the Word is perverted
by reasonings that favor evils and falsities
there is no longer any conjunction . . ..
__________

* cognitions - the mental action or process
of acquiring knowledge and understanding
through thought, experience, and the senses

 

~ And Last, the Levites Are Given Their Towns ~

The towns of the Levites
in the territory held by the Israelites
were forty-eight in all,
together with their pasturelands.
Each of these towns had pasturelands surrounding it;
this was true for all these towns.

So the Lord gave Israel all the land
He had sworn to give their forefathers,
and they took possession of it and settled there.
The Lord gave them rest on every side,
just as He had sworn to their forefathers.
Not one of their enemies withstood them;
the Lord handed all their enemies over to them.
Not one of all the Lord's good promises
to the house of Israel failed;
every one was fulfilled.

(Joshua 21:41-45)

AE 559, 560 - Thought From the Eye Closes the Understanding

 

AE 559 [1, 2-3, 6]

And they had tails like scorpions,
(Revelation 9:10)
means sensual knowledges which are persuasive.

All who are in the love of self
and have confirmed themselves against
Divine and spiritual things
are sensual people,
and when they are left to themselves
and think in their spirit,
they think about Divine and spiritual things
from sensual knowledges,
and consequently they reject
Divine and spiritual things as not to be believed,
because they do not see them
with their eyes or touch them with their hands;
and they apply their knowledges,
which they have made sensual and material,
to the destruction of these.
For example,
people who are learned in this kind of knowledge,
who are skilled in physics, anatomy, botany,
and other branches of human learning,
when they see the wonderful things
in the animal and vegetable kingdoms
say in their hearts that all these things are from nature,
and not from the Divine,
and this because they believe in nothing
that they do not see with their eyes
and touch with their hands;
for they are unable to elevate their minds upward
so as to see these things from the light of heaven . . ..
But as every person has the faculty
to understand truths and perceive goods,
such people are able from that faculty to talk about
these things like those who are spiritual-rational,
although in respect to their spirit they are sensual;
for when such people speak before others
they do not speak from the spirit
but from the bodily memory.

All this has been said
to make known what sensual knowledges are.
These are what especially persuade,
or are especially persuasive,
because they are the ultimates of the understanding;
for into these
as into its ultimates
the understanding closes,
and these captivate the common people
because they are appearances drawn from such things
as they see in the world with their eyes;
and so long as the thought clings to these
it is impossible to dispose the mind to think interiorly
or above them until they are put away;
for the interior things of the mind all close into ultimates
and rest upon them, as a house upon its foundation;
consequently these are especially persuasive,
but only with those
whose minds cannot be elevated above sensual things;
and the mind is elevated above them
with those who are in the light of heaven from the Lord,
for the light of heaven dissipates them.
For this reason
spiritual people rarely think from things sensual,
for they think from things rational and intellectual;
but sensual people,
who have confirmed themselves in falsities
against Divine and spiritual things,
when they are left to themselves
think only from sensual things.

. . . a person by self looks only to the world.
For a person's interiors
which belong to his thought and affection
are elevated to heaven by the Lord
when a person is in the good of life
and from that in the truths of doctrine;
but when he is in the evil of life and then in falsities,
his lower things look downward,
thus only to his body
and to such things as are in the world,
and thus to hell.

AE 560

It is to be known that sensual people are
more crafty and shrewd than others,
and thus in acutely deceiving;
for as spiritual people possess intelligence and prudence,
so those who are sensual and in falsities
possess malice and craftiness,
for all malice has its seat in evil,
as all intelligence has its seat in good.

~ Joshua's Allotment ~

When they had finished dividing the land
into its allotted portions,
the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun
an inheritance among them,
as the Lord had commanded.
They gave him the town he asked for -
Timnath Gerah in the hill country of Ephraim.
And he built up the town and settled there.

These are the territories that Eleazar the priest,
Joshua son of Nun
and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel
assigned by lot at Shiloh
in the presence of the Lord
at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
And so they finished dividing the land.

(Joshua 19:49-51)

 

AE 557 - The Love of Self Powers Persuasion

 AE 557

And they had breastplates as iron breastplates,
(Revelation 9:9)
means the persuasions
with which they gird themselves for combats,
against which the truths of the rational-spiritual man
prevail not.
This is evident from the meaning of
"breastplates" (or coats of mail),
as being defenses against evils and falsities in combats,
but here defenses of evils and falsities
against goods and truths,
because this treats of those who are in the falsities of evil
in opposition to truths.
Here "breastplates" mean persuasions,
because sensual men who are in the falsities of evil,
who are here described,
do not fight against truths from reason,
for they do not see truths, but falsities only,
and are therefore in the persuasion
that falsities are truths,
consequently they fight solely
from the persuasion of falsity,
and with them this persuasion is such
that the truths brought forth by the spiritual-rational man
are of no avail,
for they are repelled as a sword is
from a breastplate or coat of mail.
So "breastplates as iron breastplates"
mean persuasions against which truths are of no avail.
The persuasiveness with such
is so infatuating and suffocating
that the spiritual-rational is of no avail against it.
Moreover, breastplates or coats of mail,
cover that part of the body called the breast or thorax,
and this signifies the spiritual affection of truth;
also all affection is contained in the sound
which comes forth from the breast with the speech.
But those who are here meant by "locusts,"
who are such sensual men as are in falsities,
have no other affection than that of the love of self,
and because that affection is full of self-confidence
and full of the persuasion that their falsity is truth,
and because that affection is in the sound
which comes forth from the breast with the speech,
so the locusts appeared
in "breastplates which were as iron breastplates."
Moreover, "iron" means truth in ultimates,
and likewise falsity there,
and at the same time what is hard;
and the persuasiveness that they have
causes the falsity to be so hard
that the truths opposed to it rebound,
as if they were of no account or avail.
Because the persuasion of sensual men
who are in falsities from self-confidence is such,
and with spirits is so powerful
that it suffocates and extinguishes
the rational of other spirits
with whom they converse in the world of spirits,
it is severely prohibited,
and those who make use of it
are sent among spirits where they are distressed
even to swooning
by other spirits by means of still stronger persuasions,
and this until they desist.

~ Ephraim and Manasseh Receive Their Allotted Lands ~

So Manasseh and Ephraim, the descendants of Joseph,
received their inheritance.
. . . They did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer;
to this day the Canaanites live among
the people of Ephraim but are required to do forced labor.

. . . The people of Joseph said to Joshua,
"Why have you given us only one allotment
and one portion for an inheritance?
We are a numerous people
and the Lord has blessed us abundantly.

"If you are so numerous," Joshua answered,
"and if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you,
go up into the forest and clear land for yourselves
there in the land of the Perizzites and Raphaites."

The people of Joseph replied,
"The hill country is not enough for us,
and all the Canaanites who live in the plain
have iron chariots,
both those in Beth Shan and its settlements
and those in the Valley of Jezreel."

But Joshua said to the house of Joseph --
to Ephraim and Manasseh --
"You are numerous and very powerful.
You will have not only one allotment
but the forested hill country as well.
Clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours;
though the Canaanites have iron chariots
and though they are strong,
you can drive them out.

(Joshua 16:4, 10; 17: 14-18)

AE 556 - "Gnashing of Teeth"

  AE 556 [16-17,18]

One who is ignorant of the spiritual sense of the Word
might suppose that they are said "to gnash the teeth"
merely because they were angry and intent on evil,
since men then press the teeth together;
but they are said "to gnash the teeth"
because the endeavor to destroy
and the act of destroying truths by means of falsities
are meant by it;
this is said in the Word
because "teeth" signify falsities in things most external,
and "gnashing" signifies vehemence in fighting for them;
this effort and act are also from correspondence.

Moreover, such was the deaf and dumb spirit
that the Lord cast out;
for all spirits are from the human race;
this spirit was from that kind of men
who had vehemently fought for falsities against truths;
consequently the one obsessed by him
"foamed and gnashed his teeth."
He is called by the Lord "deaf and dumb"
because he was unwilling
to perceive and understand the truth,
for such are signified by "the deaf and the dumb."
And because this spirit
was determined and obstinate against truths,
and had confirmed himself in falsities,
the disciples were not able to cast him out,
for the falsities for which he had fought
they were not yet able to dispel
because they had not yet reached the proper state,
and it was for this also
that the disciples were rebuked by the Lord.

"Gnashing of teeth" in the hells means
continual disputation and combat of falsities
with each other and against truths,
 and thus of those who are in falsities,
joined with contempt of others, enmity, jeering,
derision, blaspheming,
and these also burst forth into attempts
to tear each other in pieces,
for everyone fights for his own falsity
from love of self, of learning, and of fame.
These disputations and contests
are heard outside of these hells as gnashings of teeth,
and are also turned into gnashings of teeth
when truths flow in from there out of heaven.

~ Caleb Settles in Judah ~

 In accordance with the Lord's command to him,
Joshua gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh
a portion in Judah --
Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron.
(Arba was the forefather of Anak.)

(Joshua 15:13)

 

AE 556 - Two Truths in Brief

 AE 445 [10, 13]

. . . a person is not punished on account of hereditary evils
but on account of his own
and so far as he makes hereditary evils actual in himself . . ..

. . . the knowledges of good are also truths,
for to know goods is from the understanding,
and the understanding is of truth.

~ Division of the Land West of the Jordan ~

 Now these are the areas the Israelites received
as an inheritance in the land of Canaan,
which Eleazar the priest,
Joshua son of Nun
and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel
allotted to them.
Their inheritances were assigned by lot
to the nine-and-a-half tribes,
as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
Moses had granted the two-and-a-half tribes
their inheritance east of the Jordan
but had not granted the Levites
an inheritance among the rest,
for the sons of Joseph had become two tribes --
Manasseh and Ephraim.
The Levites received no share in the land
but only towns to live in,
with pasturelands for their flocks and herds.
So the Israelites divided the land,
just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

(Joshua 14:1-5)

 

AE 552, 553, 554 - The Sensual Person and Divine Truth

AE 552 [2]

The sensual person,
who is in falsities from evil,
reasons as if from an understanding of truth,
because he is in the persuasion
that falsity is truth and that evil is good;
and so long as he is in that persuasion
he can see nothing rationally and intellectually;
but whatever he has persuaded himself of,
he believes to be a matter of the highest reason
and most eminent understanding;
for the rational and intellectual in him is closed up,
and thus he is in a persuasive belief
respecting the things he thinks and speaks.
The sensual person reasons acutely and readily,
because his thought is so near his speech
as to be almost in it,
and because he places all intelligence
in discoursing merely from the memory . . ..

AE 553

. . . Divine truth combats from Divine good . . ..

AE 554

. . . Divine truth dissipates everything fantastic
that comes from persuasiveness.

~ Joshua Subdues the South and the North ~

AE 552

. . . "battle" means in the Word spiritual combat,
which is a combat of falsity against truth
and of truth against falsity . . ..
_____________

So Joshua subdued the whole region,
including the hill country, the Negev,
the western foothills and the mountain slopes,
together with all their kings.
He left no survivors.
He totally destroyed all who breathed,
just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded.
Joshua subdued them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza
and from the whole region of Goshen to Gibeon.
All these kings and their lands
Joshua conquered in one campaign,
because the Lord, the God of Israel,
fought for Israel.

Then Joshua returned with All Israel to the Camp at Gilgal.

(Joshua 10:40-43)

So Joshua took this entire land:
the hill country, all the Negev,
the whole region of Goshen, the western foothills,
the Arabah and the mountains of Israel with their foothills,
from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir,
to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon.
He captured all their kings and struck them down,
putting them to death.
Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time.

. . . At that time Joshua went and destroyed
the Anakites from the hill country:
from Hebron, Debir and Anab,
from all the hill country of Judah,
and from all the hill country of Israel.
Joshua totally destroyed them and their towns.
No Anakites were left in Israelite territory;
only In Gaza, Gath and Ashdod did any survive.
So Joshua took the entire land,
just as the Lord had directed Moses,
and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel
according to their tribal divisions.

Then the land had rest from war.

(Joshua 11:16-18, 21-23)

AE 548 - Space & Times & Feeding Five Thousand; AE 551 - The Gifts of Perceiving and Understanding

AE 548 [2, 8, 9]

. . . so long as a person lives in the world
he is in natural thought,
and natural thought derives its ideas from
spaces and times and also from numbers and measures;
for these are proper to nature,
because all things in nature are determined by them;
while spiritual thought is without any determinate idea
of space, time, number, and measure.

 "The fifth part" also signifies as much as is sufficient . . ..

That the Lord fed five thousand men
with five loaves and two fishes.
(Matthew 14:15-22; Mark 6:38-43;
Luke 9:13-16; John 6:9-13).
That they then took up "twelve baskets of fragments"
means fullness, thus full instruction and full blessing.

AE 551

. . . the faculty to perceive good,
like the faculty to understand truth,
is given to every person,
for truth loves good and good loves truth;
these, therefore, constantly wish to be conjoined,
and they are conjoined
like the will and the understanding,
or like affection and thought.
When they are conjoined
then the understanding thinks truth
from the affection of thinking it,
and then the understanding also sees the truth
and the will perceives it.
To perceive truth from the affection of the will
is to perceive good,
for truth is changed into good
when a person wills it or is affected by it,
that is, when he loves it;
and for this reason everything that is loved is called good.

~ Ai Falls ~

Then the Lord said to Joshua,
"Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
take the whole army with you,
and go up and attack Ai.
For I have delivered into your hands
the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land.
You shall do to Ai and its king
as you did to Jericho and its king,
except that you may carry off
their plunder and livestock for yourselves.
Set an ambush behind the city.

So Joshua and the whole army moved to attack Ai.
He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men
and set them out at night . . .

Then the Lord said to Joshua,
"Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in  your hand,
for into your hand I will deliver the city."
So Joshua held out his javelin toward Ai.
As soon as he did this,
the men in the ambush
rose quickly from their position and rushed forward.
They entered the city and captured it
and quickly set it on fire.

So Joshua burned Ai
and made it a permanent heap of ruins,
a desolate place to this day.

(Joshua 8:1-3, 18-19, 28)

 

AE 543 - Thinking, Form; AE 544 - Persuasion

AE 543 [3, 4]

. . . whoever does not think from God
thinks from hell.

. . . falsity is the form of evil,
as truth is the form of good.

AE 544 [1, 2]

And there was given unto them power
as the scorpions of the earth have power,
(Revelation 9:3)
means their ability to persuade, and its effect and might.

This is evident from the signification of a "scorpion,"
as being an infatuating and suffocating persuasiveness;
and from the meaning of "power,"
as being might and effect,
here the might of the sensual person
from his persuasiveness,
and the effect which is infatuating and suffocating.
. . .Those who are in such persuasiveness
do not speak from any reason,
but from blind faith without reason,
because they speak from the lowest sensual,
and in this there is no reason,
but only a persuasive faith from such things
as ascend from the body and flow in from the world,
inspired by the fire of self-love;
it is this fire
that breathes into, draws out, and pours into another.
Consequently
those are more especially in this persuasiveness
who have permeated themselves
with falsities from the love of self,
and believe themselves to be wiser than others.
This persuasiveness is said to be infatuating
because it induces a stupor in the understanding,
and is called suffocating
because it takes away the free breathing of another;
for everyone breathes
in harmony with the thought of his mind.
But inasmuch as this persuasiveness
is most noxious and pernicious,
including a kind of swoon on the mind of another,
so that he can see nothing rationally,
spirits are strictly forbidden to make use of it;
and those who do make use of it
are separated from the others,
and are either punished or sent down into hell;
for in the spiritual world
everyone is allowed to confirm the opinions of his mind,
whether they be true or false,
by things rational and intellectual,
but not by any persuasive fascination.

The antediluvians, who were called the "Nephilim,"
were in such persuasiveness more than others,
and unless the Lord when He was in the world
had subjugated them and cast them into hell
and had closed it up,
no mortal could have been saved;
for they were infesting and almost murdering
whomsoever they met in the spiritual world.

~ Jericho Falls ~

When the trumpets sounded,
the people shouted,
and at the sound of the trumpet,
when the people gave a loud shout,
the wall collapsed;
so every man charged straight in,
and they took the city.

. . . Joshua said to the two men
who had spied out the land,
"Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out
and all who belong to her,
in accordance with your oath to her."
So the young men who had done the spying
went in and brought out Rahab,
her father and mother and brothers
and all who belonged to her.
They brought out her entire family
and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.

(Joshua 6:20, 22-23)

AE 535, 540 - The Falsification of Truth and Heaven

AE 535 [1, 2, 3]

. . . the knowledges of truth perish
when denied and when falsified,
here when falsified;
for this book does not treat of those who deny truths,
but of those who falsify them.
For those who deny truths are not among those
who are in "the former heaven,"
and who are cast down therefrom into hell
at the day of the Last Judgment,
for such are cast down to there immediately after death.
But in this book those who, for various reasons,
falsify truths are treated of,
for such made for themselves a heaven
that was afterwards destroyed.
Those falsify the knowledges of truth and good
from the Word
who acknowledge the Word
but apply it to favor their loves and to favor principles
that are from self-intelligence,
thus they turn the truths of the Word into falsities,
and thus
the knowledges of good and truth with them perish.

"Satan" means every falsity that destroys truth,
for the hells where and from which
are such falsities are called "Satan,"
while the hells where and from which
are the evils that destroy goods,
are called the "devil,"

. . . the essential thing in heaven is the good of life,
which is the same as the good of love to the Lord
and the good of charity towards the neighbor;
for in heaven everyone has perception
of truth, intelligence, and wisdom,
in accordance with that good.

AE 540 [10]

. . . the spiritual person thinks and wills
out of heaven from the Lord,
and to be led of the Lord is freedom.

~ The Israelites Cross the Jordan ~

So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them.
They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan,
according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,
as the Lord had told Joshua;
and they carried them over with them to their camp,
where they put them down.
Joshua set up the twelve stones
that had been in the middle of the Jordan
at the spot where the priests
who carried the ark of the covenant had stood.
And they are there to this day.

Now the priests who carried the ark
remained standing in the middle of the Jordan
until everything the Lord had commanded Joshua
was done by the people,
just as Moses had directed Joshua.
The people hurried over,
and as soon as all of them had crossed,
the ark of the Lord and the priests came to the other side
while the people watched.
The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh
crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites,
as Moses had directed them.
About forty thousand armed for battle
crossed over before the Lord
to the plains of Jericho for war.

That day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel;
and they revered him all the days of his life,
just as they had revered Moses.

Then the Lord said to Joshua,
"Command the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony
to come up out of the Jordan."

So Joshua commanded the priests,
"Come up out of the Jordan."

And the priests came up out of the river
carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground
than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place
and ran at flood stage as before.

(Joshua 4:8-18)
 

AE 529 - "To Fly"; AE 532 - When the Good of Love Perishes

AE 529 [2]

That in reference to the Lord,
"to fly" signifies omnipresence;
consequently it signifies also enlightenment,
for where the Lord is present there is enlightenment.

AE 532 [9]

When the good of love perishes in the church,
truth becomes not truth,
because all truth derives its essence from good.
  

 

~ The Lord Tells Joshua: Be Strong and Courageous ~

"Be strong and courageous,
because you will lead these people to inherit the land
I swore to their forefathers to give them.
Be strong and very courageous.
Be careful to obey all the law My servant Moses gave you;
do not turn from it to the right or to the left,
that you may be successful wherever you go.
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth;
meditate on it day and night,
so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.
Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous.
Do not be terrified;
do not be discouraged,
for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

(Joshua 1:6-9)
 

AE 526 - Darkness

  AE 526 [1-2]

The evil of falsity is the falsity of doctrine
out of which comes evil of life,
and the falsity of evil is the evil of life
out of which comes the falsity of doctrine.

Darkness signifies falsity because light signifies truth,
and falsity is the opposite of truth as darkness is of light;
moreover, when the light of life,
which is the Divine truth,
is not with a person,
the shadow of death is with him, which is falsity;
for a person from what is his own (proprium)
is in every evil and in falsity from the evil,
and he is removed from these
only by means of the truths of the church;
consequently where there are no truths
there are the falsities of evil. 

 

~ Moses Gives a Last Blessing ~

This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God,
pronounced on the Israelites before his death.  He said:

"The Lord came from Sinai
and dawned over them from Seir;
He shone forth from Mount Paran.
He came with myriads of holy ones from the south,
from His mountain slopes.
Surely it is You who love the people;
all the holy ones are in Your hand.
At Your feet they all bow down,
and from You receive instruction,
the law that Moses gave us,
the possession of the assembly of Jacob.
He was king over Jeshurun*
when the leaders of the people assembled,
along with the tribes of Israel.

. . . "There is no one like the God of Jeshurun*,
who rides on the heavens to help you
and on the clouds in His majesty.
The eternal God is your refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
He will drive out your enemy before you,
saying, 'Destroy him!'
So Israel will live in safety alone;
Jacob's spring is secure in a land of grain and new wine,
where the havens drop dew.
Blessed are you, O Israel!
Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord?
He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword.
You enemies will cower before you,
and you will trample down their high places."

(Deuteronomy 33:1-5,26-29)
* Jeshurun means the upright one, that is, Israel

AE 519, 520 - Wormwood, Truth Mixed With the Falsity of Evil

  AE 519

And the name of the star is called Wormwood,
(Revelation 8:11)
signifies truth mixed with the falsity of evil.

. . . truths are what make the spiritual life,
while falsities of evil extinguish it;
and when truths are mixed with falsities of evil
they are no longer true but falsified;
and truths falsified are in themselves falsities.

AE 520

Truth is mixed with the falsity of evil when evils of life,
which are adulteries, whoredoms, murders,
hatreds of various kinds, enmities,
injustices for the sake of gain,
artful and clandestine thefts and robberies,
cunning, deceit, and other like evils
are confirmed by the sense of the letter of the Word,
so, too, when falsities of religion
are upheld by such means
by those who are in the love of self,
and thus in the pride of self-intelligence.
Truths are then mixed with the falsities of evil,
because all things of the Word are truths,
but when they are applied
and wrested to confirm evils of life
and false principles of religion,
the truths of the Word are mingled with the falsities of evil,
and in this way
truths themselves come to be no longer truths,
but truths falsified,
and these in themselves are falsities.
The truths of the sense of the letter of the Word,
that they may remain truths,
must be applied to the confirmation of goods of life
and true principles of religion;
if they are drawn aside
and diverted from this application as their end
they are no longer truths,
since there is no perception of truth in them.
The perception of truth comes from good,
not from evil.

For in every part of the Word
there is a marriage of good and truth;
consequently if good is not in the truths of the Word,
as they are perceived,
truths are without their consort,
and may be applied to any evil cupidities
and to any false principles whatsoever,
and thus become the falsities of evil.
In this way the truths of the Word are falsified
by all those who from self-love
are in the pride of self-intelligence;
for inwardly, evils of every kind from love of self,
and so falsities of every kind
from the pride of self-intelligence, have rule,
while outwardly, in speech and in preaching,
there are truths from the Word
which sound like truths to those who are in simple good,
but within with the one speaking or preaching these
swarm with falsities of every kind.
With such the truth of the Word
is like a vessel pure and shining,
in which are filthy waters
that are not seen through the vessel
by those who are in simple good,
but are plainly seen by the angels of heaven.

 

~ The Beginning of the Last Song of Moses ~

  And Moses recited the words of this song
from beginning to end
in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:

Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;
hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Let my teaching fall like rain
and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants.

I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
He is the Rock,
His works are perfect,
and all His ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
and upright and just is He.

(Deuteronomy 31:30, 32:1-4)  

 

AE 517 - Self-love; AE 518 - Waters and Trees

  AE 517 [1, 3]

And there fell from heaven a great star burning as a lamp,
(Revelation 8:10)
means the truth of the Word falsified by self-love.

There are two states of a person's thoughts,
one
when from the Lord
he is in thought respecting truths,
the other
when from himself.
When from the Lord
he is in thought respecting truths his mind
is elevated even into the light of heaven,
from which he has illustration and right perception of truth;
but when from himself he is in thought respecting truths,
his mind falls into the light of the world;
and that light, in respect to things spiritual,
or the things of heaven and the church,
is thick darkness,
in which person sees only such things
as shine from the fire or the love of self and of the world,
and these in themselves
are falsities that are opposites of truths.

AE 518 [8, 12]

For Jehovah leads you to a land
of brooks of water, of fountains,
of depths flowing forth in valley and mountain.
(Deuteronomy 8:7)

The land of Canaan, to which Jehovah was to lead them,
means the church, therefore
"brooks of water, fountains,
and depths flowing forth in valley and mountain,"
mean such things as belong to the church;
"brooks of water" meaning the understanding of truth,
"fountains" doctrinals from the Word,
and "depths flowing forth in valley and mountain"
the knowledges of truth and good
in the natural and in the spiritual person.

Where trees and gardens are treated of in the Word,
waters and rivers to water them are also mentioned,
for the reason that "trees"
mean perceptions and knowledges,
and "waters" and "rivers"
truths and understanding therefrom;
for without the understanding of truths
a person is like a garden where there is no water,
whose trees wither away.

~ If You Return to the Lord ~

When all these blessings and curses
I have set before you
come upon you
and you take them to heart
wherever The Lord your God disperses you
among the nations,
and when you and your children
return to the Lord your God
and obey Him
with all your heart and with all your soul
according to everything I command you today,
then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes
and have compassion on you
and gather you again
from all the nations where he scattered you.
Even if you have been banished
to the most distant land under the heavens,
and from there
the Lord your God will gather you
and bring you back.
He will bring
you to the land that belonged to your fathers,
and you will take possession of it.
He will make you more prosperous and numerous
than your fathers.
The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts
and the hearts of your descendants,
so that you may love Him
with all your heart and with all your soul,
and live.
The Lord your God will put these curses on your enemies
who hate and persecute you.
You will again obey the Lord
and follow all His commands I am giving you today.
Then the Lord your God will make you
most prosperous in all the work of your hands
and in the fruit of your womb,
the young of your livestock
and the crops of your land.
The Lord will make delight in you
and make you prosperous,
just as He delighted in your fathers,
if you obey the Lord your God
and keep His commands and decrees
that are written in the Book of the Law
and turn to the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul.

Now what I am commanding you today
is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.
It is not up in heaven, so you have to ask,
"Who will ascend into heaven
to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?
Nor is it beyond the sea,
so that you have to ask,
"Who will cross the sea to get it
and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?"
No, the word is very near you;
it is in your mouth and in your heart
so you may obey it.

See, I set before you today life and prosperity,
death and destruction.
For I command you today to love the Lord your God,
to walk in His ways,
and to keep His commands, decrees and laws,
then you will live and increase,
and the Lord your God will bless you in the land
you are entering to posses.

But if your heart turns away
and you are not obedient,
and if you are drawn away
to bow down to other gods and worship them,
I declare to you this day
that you will certainly be destroyed.
You will not live long in the land you
are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

This day I call heaven and earth
as witnesses against you
that I have set before you life and death,
blessings and curses.
No chose life,
so that you and your children may live
and that you may love the Lord your God,
listen to His voice,
and hold fast to Him.
For the Lord is your life,
and He will give you many years
in the land he swore to give your fathers,
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

(Deuteronomy 30)  

AE 514 - He Calms the Sea

 AE 514 [22]

When Jesus had entered into a boat
His disciples followed Him.
And behold, there arose a great commotion in the sea,
so that the boat was covered by the waves;
but He was asleep.
Therefore the disciples, coming to Him awoke Him,
saying, Lord, save us; we perish.
Then He arose and rebuked the wind;
and there was a great calm.
(Matthew 8:23-26; Mark 4:36-40; Luke 8:23, 24)

This represented the state of men of the church
when they are in what is natural
and not yet in what is spiritual,
in which state the natural affections,
which are various evils springing from
the loves of self and the world,
rise up and produce various commotions of the mind.
In this state the Lord appears as it were absent;
this apparent absence is signified by His being asleep;
but when they come out of a natural
into a spiritual state
these commotions cease,
and there comes tranquillity of mind;
for the Lord calms
the tempestuous commotions of the natural person
when the spiritual mind is opened,
and through it the Lord flows into the natural.
Since the affections
that are of the love of self and of the world,
and the consequent thoughts and reasonings,
are from hell, for they are lusts of every kind
that rise up therefrom into the natural person,
these, too, are signified by
"the wind and the waves of the sea,"
and hell itself is signified by the "sea"
in the spiritual sense.

~ The Israelites Renew Their Covenant With the Lord ~

 Carefully follow the terms of this covenant,
so that you may prosper in everything you do.
All of you are standing today
in the presence of the Lord your God --
your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials,
and all the other men of Israel,
together with our children and your wives,
and the aliens living in your camps
who chop your wood and carry your water.
You are standing here in order to enter into
a covenant with the Lord your God,
a covenant the Lord is making with you this day
and sealing with an oath . . ..

Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe
among you today
whose heart turns away from the Lord our God
to go and worship the gods of those nations;
make sure there is no root among you
that produces such bitter poison.

When such a person hears the words of this oath,
he invokes a blessing on himself
and therefore thinks, "I will be safe,
even though I persist in going my own way."
This will bring disaster on the watered land
as well as the dry.

(Deuteronomy 29:9-12, 18-19)

AE 503 - Angelic Thoughts and the Works of His Hands

  AE 503 [2, 9]

. . . all the ideas of the thought of angels and spirits
are turned into various representatives outside of them;
when turned into such things as are of
the vegetable kingdom
they are turned into trees and shrubs of various kinds;
and when into such things as are of the animal kingdom
they are turned into land animals
and flying things of various kinds;
when the ideas of the angels of heaven
are turned into land animals
they are turned into lambs, sheep, goats,
bullocks, horses, mules, and other like animals;
but when into flying things
they are turned into turtle doves, pigeons,
and various kinds of beautiful birds.
But the ideas of thought of those who are natural
and who think from mere knowledges
are turned into the forms of fishes.
Consequently in the seas various kinds of fishes appear . . ..

You made him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
the flock and all herds,
the beasts of the fields,
the fowl of heaven,
and the fish of the sea,
whatsoever passes through the paths of the seas.
(Psalm 8:6-8)

This is said of the Lord and His dominion.
That He has dominion over angels in the heavens
and over men on the earth
is known from the Word,
for He says that unto Him
"all power in heaven and in earth has been given"
(Matthew 28:18);
but that dominion was given to Him
over animals, fowl, and fishes,
is not a matter of sufficient importance
to be mentioned in the Word,
where each and every thing
has reference to heaven and the church.
It is therefore evident that
"flock and herds, the beasts of the fields,
the fowl of heaven, and the fish of the sea,"
mean such things as belong to heaven with angels
and to the church with man,
"the flock and the herds" signifying, in general,
things spiritual and natural,
the "flock" things spiritual,
and "herds" things natural that are with man,
or that belong to the spiritual mind
and to the natural mind with him.
"The beasts of the fields" signify things voluntary,
which belong to the affections;
"the fowl of heaven" signify things intellectual,
which belong to the thoughts;
and "the fishes of the sea" signify knowledges
which belong to the natural man.

~ Follow the Lord's Commands ~

 The Lord your God commands you this day
to follow these decrees and laws;
carefully observe them
with all your heart and with all your soul.
You have declared this day
that the Lord is your God
and that you will walk in His ways,
that you will keep His decrees, commands and laws,
and that you will obey Him.
And the Lord has declared this day
that you are His people,
His treasured possession as He promised,
and that you are to keep all His commands.
He has declared
that He will set you
in praise, fame and honor high above
all the nations He has made
and that you will be a people
holy to the Lord your God,
as He promised.

(Deuteronomy 26:16-19)

AE 504 - Our Own Self; AE 507 - The Use of Knowledges

  AE 504 [26]

. . . a person's own [(ego)(proprium)]
drinks in every evil and falsity
and thereby destroys every good and truth . . ..

AE 507 [2]

A person becomes wise by knowledges
when he uses them to confirm
the truths and goods of the church,
which are spiritual truths and goods;
and he becomes insane by knowledges
when he uses them to invalidate and refute
the truths and goods of the church.
When they are used to confirm
the truths and goods of the church
they are called true knowledges,
as also living knowledges;
but when they are used to invalidate and refute
the truths and goods of the church
they are called false knowledges,
and also dead knowledges.
Knowledges [scientiae] are only means to uses,
and they are such
as the uses are that spring from them.
They are living knowledges
when a person by means of them
acquires for himself intelligence and wisdom.
All intelligence and wisdom
is from truths that are from heaven;
such intelligence and wisdom,
because it is from heaven, that is,
from the Lord through heaven, is living,
because it is the very spiritual life of a person;
but from falsities there can be no intelligence and wisdom,
and if it is supposed to exist in anyone,
yet it is dead, because it is from hell.

~ If Your Brother Loses Something ~

  If you see your brother's ox or sheep straying,
do not ignore it
but be sure to take it back to him.
If the brother does not live near you
or if you do not know who he is,
take it home with you and keep it
until he comes looking for it.
Then give it back to him.
Do the same
if you find your brother's donkey or his cloak
or anything he loses.
Do not ignore it.

(Deuteronomy 2:1-3)

 

AE 504 - "Fire"

 AE 504 [10]

. . . the Lord's Divine love was meant by the fire
in which the Lord went
before the sons of Israel in the wilderness,
when they were journeying;
also by the fire over the Tent of meeting during the night,
which is thus described in Moses:

Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of cloud,
to lead them in the way,
and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light;
neither the pillar of cloud by day
nor the pillar of fire by night
departed from before the people.
(Exodus 13:21, 22; Numbers 9:15-23; Deuteronomy 1:33)

The cloud of Jehovah was upon the tabernacle by day,
and there was fire in it by night,
in the eyes of all the house of Israel,
throughout all their journeys.
(Exodus 40:38; Psalm 105:32, 39)

The "cloud appearing by day, and the fire by night,"
represented the Lord's protection of heaven and the church;
for "the tabernacle" represented heaven and the church,
"cloud and fire" protection;
for "the day when there was the cloud"
means Divine truth in light,
and the "night" means Divine truth in shade.
Lest they might be hurt by too much light
they were guarded by a cloud,
and from being hurt by too much shade
they were guarded by a shining fire.

AE 504 [15]

So far respecting the meaning of "fire" in the Word,
when it is attributed to the Lord,
or when it is predicated of heaven and the church.
But when "fire" is predicated in the Word
of the evil and of the hells,
it signifies the love of self and of the world,
and from them every evil affection and desire
that torments the wicked after death in the hells.
"Fire" has this contrary meaning
for the reason that Divine love,
when it comes down out of heaven
and falls into the societies where the evil are,
is changed into a love contrary to the Divine love,
and thus into various heats of cupidity and of lusts,
and so into evils of every kind,
and also into torments,
because evils carry with them the punishments of evil.
From this change of the Divine love
into infernal love with the evil,
the hells where the love of self and the world
and hatreds and revenge prevail,
appear to be as if on fire,
both within and round about,
although the infernal crew that is in them
perceive nothing fiery.
Indeed, from these loves
the crew that is in such hells appear
with faces inflamed and reddened as from fire.

 

~ Trees in a Siege ~

 When you lay siege to a city for a long time,
fighting against it to capture it,
do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them,
because you can eat their fruit.
Do not cut them down.
Are the trees of the field people,
that you should besiege them?
However, you may cut down trees
that you know are not fruit trees
and use them to build siege works
until the city at war with you falls.

(Deuteronomy 20:19-20)

 

AE 500, 502, 503 - The Trumpets Sound and Divine Influx Flows

 AE 500

And the seven angels having the seven trumpets
prepared themselves to sound,
(Revelation 8:6)
means changes in their order
to arise from the influx out of heaven.

AE 502 [1-2, 7]

"To sound a trumpet"
means the influx of Divine truth out of heaven,
because when Divine truth flows down out of heaven
it is sometimes heard in the spiritual world
as the sound of a horn or as the blast of a trumpet,
and also to those who stand below there
appear as it were angels having trumpets;
but these are representations and appearances,
such as exist below the heavens,
for it is Divine truth descending
or flowing down out of heaven
towards the lower parts that is thus represented.
This is why "to sound a trumpet"
means the flowing down of Divine truth out of heaven.

When this flowing down is strong
it produces one effect with the good
and another with the evil.
With the good it illustrates the understanding,
joins them more closely with heaven,
and thence gladdens and vivifies their minds;
but with the evil it disturbs the understanding,
separates them from heaven,
joins them more closely with hell,
induces terror in their minds,
and finally brings spiritual death.
This makes clear that "sounding a trumpet" means,
in its effect,
the revelation and manifestation of Divine truth;
and in the contrary sense
the deprivation of truth and desolation.

Because Divine truth coming down
from the Lord through the heavens
makes the hearts glad and infuses the holiness of worship,
and therefore trumpets were sounded
on days of gladness and at the feasts,

AE 503 [7]

 . . . when Jehovah, that is, the Lord,
renders the influx powerful,
it is not that He may destroy the evil
but that He may rescue and protect the good,
for He thus conjoins the good to Himself
more closely and interiorly,
and thus they are separated from the evil,
and the evil perish;
for if the evil were not separated
the good would perish
and the angelic heaven would fall to ruin.

~ The Role of Witnesses ~

One witness is not enough
to convict a man accused of any crime
or offense he may have committed.
A matter must be established
by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

If a malicious witness takes the stand
to accuse a man of a crime,
the two men involved in the dispute
must stand in the presence of the Lord
before the priests and the judges
who are in office at the time.
The judges must make a thorough investigation,
and if the witness proves to be a liar,
giving false testimony against his brother,
then do to him as he intended to do to his brother.
You must purge the evil from among you.
The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid,
and never again will such an evil thing be done among you.
Show no pity:
life for life,
eye for eye,
tooth for tooth,
hand for hand,
foot for foot.

(Deuteronomy 19:15-21)
 

AE 492, 493 - Living

 AE 492

. . . spiritual good is formed in a person by means of truths;
for truth becomes spiritual good with a person
when he lives according to it . . ..

AE 493

The "prayers" with which the incense was to be offered
do not mean prayers,
but truths from good,
by means of which prayers are offered;
for truths with a person are what pray,
and a person is continually in such prayers
when he lives according to truths.
(. . . "prayers" mean in the Word
truths from good which are with a person,
and not prayers of the mouth . . ..)

~ Follow Justice ~

  Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes
in every town the Lord your God is giving you,
and they shall judge the people fairly.
Do not pervert justice or show partiality.
Do not accept a bribe,
for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise
and twists the words of the righteous.
Follow justice and justice alone,
so that you may live and possess the land
the Lord your God is giving you.

(Deuteronomy 16:18-20)

AE 478 - And They Serve Him In Good Clothed With Truth

 AE 478

And they serve Him day and night in His temple,
(Revelation 7:15)

signifies that they are constantly held in truths in heaven.
. . . those who are in falsities from ignorance
and yet in good of life according to their religion
cannot be saved before the falsities in them
have been withdrawn
and truths have been implanted in their place;
and truths are implanted by means of temptations.
When, therefore, these come out of temptations
the falsities still remain,
although they have been withdrawn by means of truths;
for nothing evil and false
can be wholly wiped away from a person, spirit, or angel,
but only withdrawn;
for the Lord withholds them from their evils and falsities
and holds them in good and truth;
and when this is done
they seem to themselves to be without evils and falsities.
For this reason,
unless those who had been in
falsities from ignorance in the world
were constantly held in truths by the Lord,
they would fall back into falsities.

Their having been in the good of life
according to their religion saves them,
indeed, but it does not save
so long as they are in falsities,
therefore after their life in the world
the falsities in them are withdrawn.
They cannot be saved before,
because good derives its essence from truths;
for good is the esse of truth,
and truth is the form of good,
therefore according to the quality of the truths is the good.
From this it is clear
that even though one lives well
he cannot come into heaven until he is in truths.
On this account
there are places of instruction
for those who are to come into heaven,
because no one can come there
until he has been instructed.

It is said "they serve Him day and night in His temple,"
but this does not mean
that they are continually in a temple,
or continually in worship and prayers,
for this is not done in the heavens.
Everyone there, as in the world,
is in his vocation and employment,
and on occasion, as in the world, in the temple;
and yet they are said
"to serve God day and night in the temple"
when they are constantly in truths;
for thus inwardly they constantly serve Him.
For every good spirit and angel
is his own truth and his own good,
for they are the affections of truth and good.
Affection or love constitutes the life of everyone;
consequently those who are in the affection of truth
constantly serve the Lord,
even when they are in
their vocations, business, and employments,
for the affection that is within
reigns continually and serves.
Moreover, this is the service the Lord desires,
but not being constantly in temples and in worship.
To be in temples in worship there,
and not in truths, is not serving the Lord,
but serving the Lord is to be in truths,
and to act sincerely and justly in everything;
for then the principles of truth, sincerity, and justice,
that are with a person,
serve the Lord.
Again, through these, but not through worship alone,
a person after his life in the world can be in heaven,
for worship without these,
consequently without truths,
is empty worship,
into which no influx enters. 

~ It Is Evil to Worship Other Gods ~

 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter,
or the wife you love,
or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying,
"Let us go and worship other gods"
(gods that neither you nor your fathers have known,
gods of the peoples round you,
whether near or far,
from one end of the land to the other),
do not yield to him or listen to him.
Show him no pity.
Do not spare him or shield him.
You must certainly put him to death.
Your hand must be the first in putting him to death,
and then the hands of all the people.
Stone him to death,
because he tried to turn you away from the Lord your God,
who brought you out of Egypt,
out of the land of slavery.
Then all Israel will hear and be afraid,
and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.

(Deuteronomy 13:6-11)

 

AE 460 - Salvation; AE 465, 466 - Blessing, Glory, and Wisdom; AE 467 - Power and Strength

  AE 460 [2]

. . . so far as the Lord is with a person
so far a person has salvation.
. . . this is why the Lord was called "Jesus,"
for Jesus means salvation.

AE 465

. . . as "blessing, glory, and wisdom," are mentioned,
because these things are said
by the angels of the three heavens;
and the reception of Divine truth
in the lowest or first heaven is called "blessing,"
the reception of Divine truth
in the middle or second heaven is called "glory,"
and the reception of Divine truth
in the inmost or third heaven is called "wisdom."
The saying, "The blessing, and the glory, and the wisdom,
be unto God unto the ages of ages,"
signifies that these are in the heavens from Him,
for "blessing, glory, and wisdom,"
are said to be "unto God"
when they are with those who are in the heavens,
for with them are
Divine blessing, Divine glory, and Divine wisdom.

AE 466

. . . as "blessing, glory, and wisdom,"
are predicated of the reception of Divine truth,
so "thanksgiving and honor"
are predicated of the reception of Divine good;
for there are two things that proceed from the Lord,
from which are all things
in the heavens and on earth,
namely, Divine truth and Divine good.

AE 467

. . . "power" is predicated of Divine truth,
and "strength" of Divine good;
thus both "power and strength" signify
omnipotence through Divine truth from Divine good.

~ Moses Askes the Question ~

 And now, O Israel,
what does the Lord your God ask of you
but to fear the Lord your God,
to walk in all His ways,
to love Him,
to serve the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul,
and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees
that I am giving you today
for your own good?

(Deuteronomy 10:12-13)

 

AE 427 - Two Opposite Loves

AE 427 [9]

. . . the good of love is heavenly,
and consequently mild, patient, and modest,
so the evil opposite to that good
is infernal, hard, stubborn, and shameless.

AE 453 - The Lord Alone Knows, "Jehovah of Hosts, A Joyous Dance; AE 455 - Bending the Knees, The Source of Falsifications, Speaking in Tongues

AE 453 [2, 6, 10]

. . . it is the Lord alone by whom all are arranged
and disposed according to their quality,
for He sees the quality of everyone,
thus what his nature is
and what will happen to him to eternity,
since the Lord's sight which is called
omniscience, foresight, and providence,
is eternal.
This is why no one except the Lord alone
knows the quality of good and truth with anyone.

. . . the Lord is called in the Word "Jehovah of Hosts,"
from truths and goods fighting against falsities and evils,
for "zebaoth" means hosts,
 and "hosts" signify the truths and goods
of heaven and the church;
and "to number" signifies to arrange these,
and "war" signifies spiritual combat.

Mount Zion shall be glad,
the daughters of Judah shall exult,
because of Thy judgments.
Encompass Zion and encircle her;
number her towers,
set your heart to the bulwarks,
mark you well her palaces;
that you may tell the generation following.
(Psalm 48:11-13).

"Mount Zion which shall be glad,"
means the celestial church,
in which are those who are in love to the Lord;
"the daughters of Judah who shall exult,"
mean the affections of good and truth
which those have who are of that church;
"because of Thy judgments"
means because of Divine truths
which they have from the Lord;
"encompass Zion and encircle her"
means to embrace the things belonging to that church
from love;
"to number her towers"
means to give thought to the higher or interior truths
of that church,
"to number"
meaning to see and give thought to their quality,
and "towers" meaning the higher or interior truths;
"set your heart to the bulwarks"
means to love the exterior truths
that defend that church against falsities;
"mark you well her palaces"
means to perceive the goods of truth,
for "houses" mean goods,
and "palaces" the more noble goods of truth;
"that you may tell the generation following"
means their permanence to eternity.

AE 455 [14, 16, 22]

. . . bending the knees means
acknowledgment, thanksgiving, and adoration
from spiritual good and delight in the natural . . ..

. . . all falsifications of the Word
spring from the pride of self-intelligence
and from the love of self.

To the apostles there appeared divided tongues
like as of fire, which sat on them.
And being filled with the Holy Spirit
they began to speak with other tongues.
(Acts 2:3, 4)

The "fire" signified the love of truth,
and "filled with the Holy Spirit"
meant the reception of Divine truth from the Lord;
and "new tongues"
meant confessions from the love of truth or zeal;
for, as was said above, all Divine miracles,
consequently all miracles mentioned in the Word,
involved and signified things spiritual and celestial,
that is, such things that pertain to heaven and the church:
by this
Divine miracles are distinguished
from miracles not Divine.
It is unnecessary to quote more passages from the Word
to show that "tongues"
do not mean speech in the ordinary sense,
but confessions from the truths of the church,
and in the contrary sense
confessions from the falsities of any religion.