AE 701 - Covenant

 AE 701 [15-16, 18]

"The old covenant" means
conjunction through such Divine truth
as was given to the sons of Israel,
which was external,
and therefore representative of internal Divine truth.
They had no other Divine truth,
because they could not receive any other,
for they were external and natural people,
and not internal or spiritual,
as can be seen from the fact
that such as knew anything about the Lord's coming
had no other thought of Him
than that He was to be a king
who would raise them above
all the peoples in the whole world,
and thus establish a kingdom with them on the earth,
and not in the heavens
and therefrom on the earth
with all who believe on Him.
"The old covenant," therefore,
was a conjunction through such Divine truth
as is contained in the books of Moses
and is called "commandments, judgments, and statutes,"
in which, nevertheless,
there lay inwardly hidden
such Divine truth as is in heaven,
which is internal and spiritual.
This Divine truth was disclosed by the Lord
when He was in the world;
and as through this alone
there is conjunction of the Lord with people,
therefore this is what is meant by "the new covenant,"
also by "His blood,"
which is therefore called
"the blood of the new covenant."
"Wine" has a similar meaning.

This "new covenant,"
which was to be entered into with the Lord
when He should come into the world . . ..

That Jehovah, that is, the Lord,
"was to make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and house of Judah"
does not mean that it was to be made with
the sons of Israel and with Judah,
but with all
who from the Lord
are in the truths of doctrine
and in the good of love to the Lord.

. . . spiritual Divine truth is received by a person inwardly,
thus otherwise than with the sons of Israel and the Jews,
who received it outwardly;
for when a person receives Divine truth inwardly in himself,
that is, makes it to be of his love and thus of his life,
truth is known from the truth itself,
because the Lord flows into His own truth with a person,
and teaches him;
this is what is meant by the words . . ..
The conjunction itself thereby effected,
which "the new covenant" means,  is meant by
"I will be to them for God,
and they shall be to Me for a people."

 . . . "a covenant of peace,"
because man by conjunction with the Lord
has peace
from the infestation of evil and falsity from hell . . ..

~ Part of David's Charge to Solomon ~

When the time drew near for David to die,
he gave a charge to Solomon his son.

"I am about to go the way of all the earth," he said.
"So be strong,
show yourself a man,
and observe what the Lord your God requires:
Walk in His way,
and keep His decrees and commands,
His laws and requirements,
as written in the Law of Moses,
so that you may prosper in all you do
and where you go,
and that the Lord may keep His promise to me:
"If your descendants watch how they live,
and if they walk faithfully before Me
with all their heart and soul,
you will never fail
to have a man on the throne of Israel.'"

(I Kings 2:1-4)

AE 701 [4] - Covenant

AE 701 [4]

That "covenant" signifies conjunction with the Lord
through the reception of Divine truth
by the understanding and will,
or by the heart and soul,
that is, by love and faith,
and that this conjunction is effected reciprocally,
can be seen from the Word where "covenant" is mentioned.
For from the Word it is evident:

(1) That the Lord Himself is called a "covenant,"
because conjunction with Him is effected by Him
through the Divine that proceeds from Him.

(2) That the Divine proceeding,
which is Divine truth, thus the Word,
is the covenant, because it conjoins.

(3) That the commandments, judgments,
and statutes commanded to the sons of Israel
were to them a covenant,
because through these
there was then conjunction with the Lord.

(4) And further, that whatever conjoins
is called a "covenant."

 

~ A Plague and David Builds and Altar ~

When David saw the angel
who was striking down the people,
he said to the Lord,
"I am the one who has sinned and done wrong.
These are but sheep.
What have they done?
Let Your hand fall upon me and my family."

On that day Gad went to David and said to him,
"Go up and build an altar to the Lord
on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."
So David went up,
as the Lord had commanded through Gad.
When Araunah looked and saw
the king and his men coming toward him,
he went out and bowed down before the king
with his face to the ground.
Araunah said,
"Why has my lord the king come to his servant?"

"To buy  your threshing floor," David answered,
"so I can build an altar to the Lord,
that the plague on the people may be stopped."

Araunah said to David,
"Let my lord the king take whatever pleases him
and offer it up.
Here are oxen for the burnt offering,
and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood.
O King, Araunah gives all this to the king."
Araunah also said to him,
"May the Lord your God accept you."

But the king replied to Araunah,
"No, I insist on paying you for it.
I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God
burnt offerings that cost me nothing."

So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen
and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.
David built an altar to the Lord there
and sacrificed burned offerings and fellowship offerings.
Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land,
and the plague on Israel was stopped.

(II Samuel 24:17-25)

AE 701 - He Gifts Us With His Light and Freedom

AE 701

The Lord continually flows into all people
with light that enlightens,
and with the affection
of knowing and understanding truths,
also for willing and doing them;
and as that light and that affection
continually flow in from the Lord,
it follows that a person becomes rational
to the extent that he receives of that light,
and he becomes wise and is led by the Lord
so far as he receives of that affection.
That affection with its light
draws to itself and conjoins to itself
the truths that a person from infancy
has learned from the Word,
from doctrine out of the Word, and from preaching;
for every affection desires to be nourished
by the knowledges that are in harmony with it.
From this conjunction
a person's spiritual love or affection is formed,
through which he is conjoined to the Lord,
that is, through which the Lord conjoins man to Himself.

But in order that that light
and that affection may be received,
freedom of choice has been given to a person,
and as that freedom is from the Lord,
it is also a gift of the Lord with a person
and is never taken away from him;
for that freedom belongs to a person's affection or love,
and consequently also to his life.
From freedom a person can think and will what is evil,
and can also think and will what is good.
So far, therefore, as from that freedom,
which belongs to his love and thence to his life,
a person thinks falsities and wills evils,
which are the opposites of the truths and goods of the Word,
so far he is not conjoined to the Lord;
but so far as he thinks truths and wills goods,
which are from the Word,
so far he is conjoined to the Lord,
and the Lord makes those truths and goods
to be of his love,
and thence of his life.
From this it is evident that this conjunction is reciprocal,
namely, of the Lord with a person
and of a person with the Lord;
such is the conjunction
that is meant in the Word by "covenant."

He greatly errs who believes
that a person is incapable of doing anything
for his own salvation
because the light to see truths
and the affection of doing them,
as well as the freedom to think and will them,
are from the Lord,
and nothing of these from a person.
Because these appear to a person to be as if in himself,
and when they are thought and willed
to be as from himself,
a person ought, because of that appearance,
to think and will them as if from himself,
but at the same time acknowledge
that they are from the Lord.
In no other way
can anything of truth and good or of faith and love
be appropriated to a person.
If one lets his hands hang down and waits for influx
he receives nothing,
and can have no reciprocal conjunction with the Lord,
thus he is not in the covenant.
That this is so is clearly evident from this,
that the Lord in a thousand passages in the Word
has taught that a person
must do good and must not do evil,
and this the Lord would by no means have said,
unless something had been given to a person
by which he has ability to do,
and unless that which has been given to a person
might seem to him to be as if his own,
although it is not his.
Because this is so the Lord speaks thus in John:

I stand at the door and knock;
if anyone hear My voice and open the door
I will come in to him,
and will sup with him and he with Me.
(Revelation 3:20)

~ "When One Rules" ~

These are the last words of David:

"The oracle of David son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man exalted by the Most High,
the man anointed by the God of Jacob,
Israel's singer of songs:

"The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me;
His word was on my tongue.
The God of Israel spoke,
the Rock of Israel said to me:

'When one rules over men in righteousness,
when he rules in the fear of God,
he is like the light of morning at sunrise
on a cloudless morning,
like the brightness after rain
that brings the grass from the earth.'"

(II Samuel 23:1-4)

 

AE 700 - The Ark

AE 700 [11, 24, 30, 34]

Because the ark, from the law that was in it,
meant the Lord in relation to Divine truth,
and the Lord has omnipotence
from Divine good through Divine truth,
therefore by means of the ark miracles were wrought.
Thus by means of it
the waters of Jordan were divided,
so that the sons of Israel passed over on dry ground;
the wall of the city of Jericho was overthrown;
Dagon, the god of the Ashdodites, fell down before it;
the Ashdodites, the Gittites,
the Ekronites, and the Bethshemites,
were smitten with plagues on account of it;
Uzzah died because he touched it;
Obed-edom, into whose house it was brought,
was blessed.

All the historicals of the Word,
as well as its prophetical parts,
contain a spiritual sense that treats,
not of the sons of Israel and of nations and peoples,
but of the church and its establishment and progress,
for this is the spiritual of the Word,
while the history is the natural that contains the spiritual.
Therefore also all the miracles described in the Word,
as the miracles done in Egypt
and afterwards in the land of Canaan,
involve such things as belong to heaven and the church,
and for this reason also these miracles are Divine.

. . . the "ark," because of the law in it,
signifies Divine truth proceeding from the Lord.

. . . the cherubim that were over the mercy-seat
which was upon the ark,
mean the guard that the Lord be not approached
except through the good of love.

. . . the third heaven,
where angels are conjoined to the Lord by love to Him,
. . . consequently
have Divine truth inscribed on their hearts.

~ Portions from David's Song ~

David sang to the Lord the words of this song
when the Lord delivered him
from the hand of all his enemies
and from the hand of Saul.  He said:

"The Lord is my rock,
my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock,
in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation.
He is my stronghold,
my Refuge and my Savior --
from violent men You save me.
I call to the Lord,
who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.

"The Lord had rewarded me
according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness in His sight.

"To the faithful You show Yourself faithful,
to the blameless You show Yourself blameless,
to the pure You show Yourself pure,
but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.
You save the humble,
but Your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.
You are my lamp, O Lord;
the Lord turns my darkness into light.

"As for God, His way is perfect;
the word of the Lord is flawless.
He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him.
For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect."

(II Samuel 22:1-5, 25-29, 31-33)

AE 700 - The Heavens Guard; The Lord's Divine Truth Leads & Saves

AE 700 [3, 7]

That heaven with its angels is a guard
against anything being elevated to the Lord Himself
except what proceeds from
the good of love to Him and from Him.

. . . the Lord by His Divine truth
leads people and defends them
against falsities and evils,
which are from hell,
especially in temptations . . ..

~ King David and Shimei Meet Again ~

Now the men of Judah had come to Gilgal
to go out and meet the king
and bring him across the Jordan.
Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim,
hurried down with the men of Judah to meet King David.
With him were a thousand Benjamites,
along with Ziba, the steward of Saul's household,
and his fifteen sons and twenty servants.
They rushed to the Jordan,
where the king was.
They crossed at the ford
to take the king's household over
and to do whatever he wished.

When Shimei son of Gera crossed the Jordan,
he fell prostrate before the king and said to him,
"May my lord not hold me guilty.
Do not remember how your servant did wrong
on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem.
May the king put it out of his mind.
For I your servant know that I have sinned,
but today I have come here
as the first of the whole house of Joseph
to come down and meet my lord the king."

Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said,
"Shouldn't Shimei be put to death for this?
He cursed the Lord's anointed."

David replied, "What do you and I have in common,
you sons of Zeruiah?
This day you have become my adversaries!
Should anyone be put to death in Israel today?
Do I not know that today I am king over Israel?"
So the king said to Shimei,
"You shall not die."
And the king promised him on oath.

(II Samuel 19:15.5-23)

AE 696 - Knowing, Living, Salvation, Worship

 AE 696 [1, 6, 11]

. . . in the measure that a person
knows the truths of faith
and lives according to them
does he worship the Lord,
for worship is not from a person
but from the truths from good
that are with a person,
since these are from the Lord,
and the Lord is in them.

. . . all are saved who fear God
and live in mutual love,
in uprightness of heart
and in sincerity from a religious principle,
for all such,
by an intuitive faith in God and by a life of charity,
are consociated as to their souls
with the angels of heaven,
and are thus conjoined to the Lord and saved.
For after death
everyone comes to his own in the spiritual world,
with whom he was closely consociated as to his spirit
while he was living in the natural world.

. . . Divine truth causes fear
in that it condemns the evil to hell;
but Divine good does not,
since so far as it is received through truths
by man and angel
it takes away condemnation.

. . . all internal spiritual worship of God,
which consists in the good of life,
must be according to the truths of doctrine,
because these must teach.
. . . internal spiritual worship
is thinking and understanding truths,
thus thinking in a reverent and holy way about God,
which is "fearing Him,"
and external natural worship is doing truths, that is,
keeping the commandments and the words of the law.

~ Joab Reprimands King David ~

 Joab was told,
"The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom."
And for the whole army
the victory that day was turned into mourning,
because on that day the troops heard it said,
"The king is grieving for his son."
The men stole into the city that day as men steal in
who are ashamed when they flee from battle.
The king covered his face and cried aloud,
"O my son Absalom!  O Absalom, my son, my son!"

Then Joab went into the house to the king and said,
"Today you have humiliated all your men,
who have just saved your life
and the lives of your sons and daughters
and the lives of your wives and concubines.
You love those who hate you
and hate those who love you.
You have made it clear today
that the commanders and their men
mean nothing to you.
I see that you would be pleased
if Absalom were alive today
and all of us were dead.
Now go out and encourage your men.
I swear by the Lord
that if you don't go out,
not a man will be left with you by nightfall.
this will be worse for you
than all the calamities that have come upon you
from your youth till now."

So the king got up and took his seat in the gateway.
When the men were told,
"The king is sitting in the gateway,"
they all came before him.

(II Samuel 19:1-8)

AE 695 - For the Lord's Sake

 AE 695 [7, 9]

Rather love your enemies,
and do good and lend,
hoping for nothing again;
then shall your reward be much,
and you shall be sons of the Most High.
(Luke 6:35)

. . . good is not to be done for the sake of recompense,
that is, for the sake of self and the world,
thus not for the sake of reputation, glory, honor, and gain,
but for the Lord's sake,
that is, for the sake of good itself and truth itself
which are with such from the Lord,
thus in which the Lord is.
. . . he who does good and teaches truth from the Lord
is the Lord's son,
but not he who does good from self,
which is what everyone does
who looks to honor and gain as his end.

. . . everyone has heaven in the measure
of his affection of truth and good,
and according to its quality and quantity;
for on these affections
all things of heaven are inscribed,
since no one can have these affections
except from the Lord,
for it is the Divine proceeding from the Lord
in which and from which is heaven.

~ As David Flees Jerusalem, Shimei Curses Him ~

As King David approached Bahurim,
a man from the same clan as Saul's family
came out from there.
His name was Shimei son of Gera,
and he cursed as he came out.
He pelted David and all the king's officials with stones,
though all the troops and special guard
were on David's right and left.
As he cursed, Shimei said,
"Get out, get out, you man of blood, you scoundrel!
The Lord has repaid you
for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul,
in whose place you have reigned.
The Lord has handed the kingdom
over to your son Absalom.
You have come to ruin because you are a man of blood!"

Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king,
"Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?
Let me go over and cut off his head."

But the king said,
'What do you and I have in common,
you sons of Zeruiah?
If he is cursing because the Lord said to him,
'Curse David,' who can ask, 'Why do you do this?'

David then said to Abishai and all his officials,
"My son, who is of my own flesh,
is trying to take my life.
How much more then, this Benjamite!
Leave him alone;
let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.
It may be that the Lord will see my distress
and repay me with good
for the cursing I am receiving today."

So David and his men continued along the road
while Shimei was going along the hillside opposite him,
cursing as he went
and throwing stones at him
and showering him with dirt.
The king and all the people with him
arrived at their destination exhausted.
And there he refreshed himself.

(II Samuel 16:5-14)

 

AE 695 - Service, Reward, Work

AE 695 [1, 2, 3]

. . . those are called "servants of the Lord'
who are in truths,
because truths are serviceable for
bringing forth, confirming, and preserving good,
and whatever serves good serves the Lord.

. . . "reward" means salvation, and thus heaven . . ..
"Reward" means properly
that delight, blessedness, and happiness
that is in the love or affection of good and truth.
This love or affection has in itself all joy of heart,
which is called heavenly joy, and also heaven;
and for the reason that
the Lord is in that love or affection,
and with the Lord is heaven;
consequently such joy,
or such delight, blessedness, and happiness,
is what is properly meant by the "reward"
that those will receive who do good and speak truth
from the love or affection of good and truth,
thus from the Lord,
and in no wise from themselves;
and as they do this from the Lord
and not from themselves
it is not a reward of merit
but a reward of grace.

. . . where the Lord is,
there heaven is,
for heaven is not heaven from the angels there,
but from the Lord with the angels.

. . . such as the love or affection is,
such is the work.

~ The Woman From Tekoa Tells King David ~

"But God does not take away life;
instead, He devises ways
so that a banished person
may not remain estranged from Him."

(II Samuel 14:14.5)

 

AE 689 - We Give Thee Thanks, O Lord God Almighty

 AE 689 [1, 2]

Saying, we give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
(Revelation 11:17)

means the acknowledgment
that all being, living, and ability are from the Lord
. . . here the omnipotence of the Lord.

In respect to Divine omnipotence:
it does not involve any power to act contrary to order,
but it involves all power to act according to order,
for all order is from the Lord;
from this it follows that no one
has any power to act according to order
except from Him from whom is order;
and this shows that it is of the Divine omnipotence
to lead a person according to order,
and this every moment from the beginning of his life
even to eternity,
and this it does according to the laws of order,
which are innumerable,
and the number of which cannot be expressed;
and yet this can be done
only so far as a person suffers himself to be led,
that is, so far as he is willing not to be led by himself;
for so far as he wishes to be led by himself
he is brought into opposition to order.

Because it is of the Divine omnipotence to lead one
who wishes to be led according to order,
and thus to lead no one contrary to order,
therefore it is not of the Divine omnipotence
to lead anyone to heaven who wishes to lead himself,
since it is a law of order that what a person does
he shall do from reason and from freedom,
because that which is received by the reason
and done from freedom
remains with person,
and is appropriated to him as his own,
but not that which is not received
by the reason and done from freedom.

So it is clear that it is not of the Divine omnipotence
to save those
who are not willing to be led according to order,
for to be led according to order
is to be led according to the laws of order,
and the laws of order are
the precepts of doctrine and life from the Word;
it is therefore of the Divine omnipotence
to lead a person who is willing to be led according to these
every moment and continually to eternity.

For every minute there are infinite things to be seen,
to be removed, and to be insinuated,
that a person may be withheld from evils
and held in goods,
and this continually in connection according to order.

It is also of the Divine omnipotence
to protect people from the hells,
so far as this can be done
without injury to freedom and reason;
for all the hells are as nothing
against the Lord's Divine power;
without this power of the Lord
it is impossible for any man to be saved.

~ Joab and David Fight Against Rabbah ~

Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites
and captured the royal citadel.
Joab then sent messengers to David, saying,
"I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply.
Now muster the rest of the troops
and besiege the city and capture it.
Otherwise I will take the city,
and it will be named after me."

So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah,
and attacked and captured it.
He took the crown from the head of their king --
its weight was a talent of gold,
and it was set with precious stones --
and it was placed on David's head.
He took a great quantity of plunder from the city
and brought out the people who were there,
consigning them to labor
with saws and with iron picks and axes,
and he made them work at brickmaking.
He did this to all the Ammonite towns.
then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

(II Samuel 12:26-31)

AE 682 - "Great Voices in the Heavens"; AE 684 - "Sons", Part of Psalm 132

 AE 682

And there were great voices in the heavens,
(Revelation 11:12)

means . . . enlightenment, wisdom, and joy
in the higher heavens;
for "voices" have various significations in the Word,
as Divine truth, revelation, the Word itself with us,
also every precept and command of the Word;
these are meant by "voices from heaven,"
but "voices in heaven" means the enlightenment
from which angels have wisdom and consequent joy;
for when angels are in enlightenment
they are also in wisdom,
and they then have "great voices,"
by which they express the arcana of wisdom;
and there is consequent joy,
because the joy of angels is from wisdom;
this, too, is why the voices are called "great,"
for "great" is predicated of the affection of good and truth,
which is the source of joy in the heavens.

AE 684 [5]

. . . in the Word "sons" means truths,
and thus "the Son of God" means Divine truth.

AE 684 [28]

"Arise, O Jehovah, to Thy rest,
Thou and the ark of Thy strength,"
(Psalm 132: 8-9)

means the union of the Divine itself
with the Human in the Lord,
and consequent peace to all
in heaven and in the church,
"Jehovah's rest" meaning that union,
and "the ark of His strength" heaven and the church;
"let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let Thy saints shout for joy,"
signifies worship from love
for those who are in celestial good,
and worship from charity
for those who are in spiritual good,
"priests" meaning those
who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom,
while those who are in His spiritual kingdom
are called "saints."

~ The Armies of David Fight the Arameans & Ammonites ~

Joab saw that there were battle lines
in front of him and behind him;
so he selected some of the best troops in Israel
and deployed them against the Arameans.
He put the rest of the men
under the command of Abishai his brother
and deployed them against the Ammonites.
Joab said, "If the Arameans are too strong for me,
then you are to come to my rescue;
but if the Ammonites are too strong for you,
then I will come to rescue you.
Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people
and the cities of our God.
The Lord will do what is good in His sight."

Then Joab and the troops with him
advanced to fight the Arameans,
and they fled before him.
When the Ammonites saw
the Arameans were fleeing,
they fled before Abishai and went inside the city.
So Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites
and came to Jerusalem.

(II Samuel 10:5-14)

AE 675 - Having and Living Truths. "Bread"; AE 677 - How Do You Regard Life?

AE 675 [7, 9, 12

. . . those who possess truths
both in the memory and in the life
enrich themselves in intelligence to eternity . . ..

Those who do not acquire
spiritual intelligence in the world through
the knowledges of truth and good from the Word are evil,
as can be seen from this,
that all are born into evils of every kind,
and these evils are removed
only by means of Divine truths from the Word,
that is, by applying truths to uses,
and thus receiving them in the life.
So to those who have gained it is said:

Good and faithful servants,
you have been faithful over a few things,
I will set you over many things;
enter you into the joy of your Lord.
(Matthew 25: 21, 23)

. . . "bread" means everything that nourishes the soul,
and in particular the good of love . . ..

AE 677 [4]

. . . the good regard the life of the soul
and not so much the life of the body
as the chief and final thing,
while the evil regard the life of the body
and not so much the life of the soul
as the chief and final thing;
in fact, the evil do not in heart believe in that life,
and such as do believe
still love only the things that are of the body,
such as the appetites and pleasures of various kinds.
But with the good the reverse is true.

~ Uzzah Touches the Ark of the Lord ~

David again brought together out of Israel chosen men,
thirty thousand in all.
He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah
to bring up from there the ark of God,
which is called by the Name,
the name of the Lord Almighty,
who is enthroned between the cherubim
that are on the ark.

They set the ark of God on a new cart
and brought it from the house of Abinadab,
which was on the hill.
Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab,
were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it,
and Ahio was walking in front of it.
David and whole house of Isarel
were celebrating with all their might before the Lord,
with songs and with harps, lyres,
tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.

When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon,
Uzzah reached out took hold of the ark of God,
because the oxen stumbled.
The Lord's anger burned against Uzzah
because of his irreverent act;
therefore God struck him down
and he died there beside the ark of God.

(II Samuel 6:1-7)
____________

AC 878 [7-8]

Concerning Uzzah it is said
that he put forth (his hand) to the ark of God,
and took hold of it,
and therefore he died (2 Samuel 6:6, 7).
The "ark" represented the Lord,
thus all that is holy and celestial.
Uzzah's putting forth (his hand) to the ark,
represented man's own power, or what is his own;
and as this is profane,
the word "hand" is understood,
but is not expressed in the original,
lest it should be perceived by the angels
that such a profane thing had touched what is holy.
And because Uzzah put it forth, he died.

 

AE 666 - A Full Life; AE 668 - "A Voice Out of Heaven"

 AE 666 [4]

. . . life is in its fullness
when the natural lives from the spiritual.

AE 668

"A voice out of heaven"
means all that proceeds from the Lord,
which in general is called Divine truth,
and with us in the world is called the Word;
thus in particular
every precept and command in the Word is meant;
this is called "a voice out of heaven"
because it descended and is continually descending
from the Lord through heaven
with those who read the Word
from the spiritual affection of truth.

~ David Establishes the City of David ~

When all the elders of Israel had come
to King David at Hebron,
the king made a compact with them at Hebron
before the Lord,
and they anointed David king over Israel.

. . . the king and his men marched to Jerusalem
to attack the Jebusites, who lived there.
The Jebusites said to David,
"You will not get in here;
even the blind and the lame can ward you off."
They thought, "David cannot get in here."
Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion,
the City of David.

. . . David then took up residence in the fortress
and called it the City of David.
He built up the area around it,
from the supporting terraces inward.
And he became more and more powerful,
because the Lord God Almighty was with him.

Now Hiram king of Tyre sent Messengers to David,
along with cedar logs
and carpenters and stonemasons,
and they built a palace for David
And David knew that the Lord had established him
as king over Israel
and had exalted his kingdom
for the sake of his people Israel.

(II Samuel 5:3, 6-7, 9-12)

AE 659 - "To Be Buried"; AE 660 - "Rejoice and Be Glad"

AE 659 [1, 7-8, 17]

. . . "to be buried" means in the Word
awakening into life and resurrection,
because when a person dies and is buried
he is awakened or rises again into eternal life.
For after death
a person continues to live equally as in the world,
but he lays aside the earthly or material body,
which served him for use in the natural world,
and continues his life in a spiritual body.
Burial, therefore, is only the rejection,
as it were, of the skin and bones (exuviae)
that he carried about in the natural world.
Burial signifies awakening into eternal life or resurrection,
because the angels do not know
what the death of a person is nor what his burial is,
since with them there is no death and therefore no burial,
but they perceive all things spiritually;
when, therefore,
the death of a person is mentioned in the Word,
instead of death they perceive his passing over
from one world into another;
and where burial is mentioned
they perceive his resurrection into life.

. . . every one after death
comes to his like
with whom he is to live forever.

AE 660 [1-2]

. . . all joy and all gladness is of love,
since everyone rejoices and is glad
when his love is favored,
and when he pursues and obtains what he loves;
in a word, all the joy of a person
proceeds from his love
and all the sadness and grief of mind
from antagonism to his love.

It is said "rejoice and be glad"
because of the marriage of good and truth;
for "joy" is predicated of good because it relates to love,
for it belongs especially to the heart and will,
and "gladness" is predicated of truth,
because it relates to the love of truth,
for it belongs especially to the mind and its thought;
therefore we speak of
"joy of heart" and "gladness of mind."

. . . there is no good with anyone
unless it is formed by truths,
nor is there truth with anyone
unless it is made living by good;
for every truth is a form of good,
 and all good is the being of truth,
and as one is not possible without the other
it follows that there must needs be
a marriage of good and truth
with the person of the church
as well as with an angel of heaven.

~ David Anointed King Over Judah ~

In the course of time,
David inquired of the Lord.
"Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?" he asked.

The Lord said, "Go up."

David asked, "Where shall I go?"

"To Hebron," the Lord answered.

So David went up there with his two wives,
Ahinoam of Jezreel
and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
David also took the men who were with him,
each with his family,
and they settled in Hebron and its towns.
Then the men of Judah came to Hebron
and there they anointed David king
over the house of Judah.

. . . Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner,
the commander of Saul's army,
had taken Ish-Bosheth son of Saul
and brought him over to Mahanaim.
He made him king over Gilead, Ashuri and Jezreel,
and also over Ephraim, Benjamin and all Israel.

Ish-Bosheth son of Saul
was forty years old when he became king over Israel,
and he reigned two years.
the house of Judah, however, followed David.
the length of time David was king in Hebron
over the house of Judah
was seven years and six months.

. . . The war between the house of Saul
and the house of David lasted a long time.
David grew stronger and stronger,
while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.

(II Samuel 2:1-4, 8-11; 3:1)

AE 655 - Why Was Our Lord Crucified?

AE 655 [1, 4, 10]

Where also our Lord was crucified.
(Revelation 11:8)

. . . evils themselves and their falsities
springing from infernal love
are what reject and condemn the Lord.

As it is here said "where our Lord was crucified,"
it shall be told what "crucifixion" (or hanging upon wood)
meant with the Jews.
They had two modes of capital punishment,
crucifixion and stoning;
and "crucifixion" meant a condemnation and curse
because of the destruction of good in the church,
and "stoning" meant a condemnation and curse
because of the destruction of truth in the church.

Jesus said to the disciples
that He must suffer at Jerusalem,
and that the Son of man
shall be delivered to the chief priests and scribes,
and they shall condemn Him,
and deliver Him up to the Gentiles
to be mocked, to be scourged, and to be crucified;
and the third day He shall rise again.
(Matthew 20:18, 19; Mark 10:32-34)

The spiritual sense of these words
is that Divine truth, in the church
where mere falsities of doctrine and evils of life reign,
shall be blasphemed,
its truth shall be perverted,
and its good destroyed.
"The Son of man" means Divine truth, which is the Word,
and "Jerusalem" means the church
where mere falsities and evils reign;
"the chief priests and scribes"
means the adulterations of good
and the falsifications of truth,
both from infernal love;
"to condemn Him and deliver Him to the Gentiles"
means to assign Divine truth and Divine good to hell
and to deliver them
to the evils and falsities that are from hell,
the "Gentiles" meaning the evils that are from hell
and that destroy the goods of the church;
"to be mocked, to be scourged, and to be crucified,"
means to blaspheme, falsify and pervert the truth,
and to adulterate and destroy
the good of the church and of the Word;
"and the third day He shall rise again"
means the complete glorification of the Lord's Human.

~ Achish Sends David Back to Ziklag ~

So David and his men got up early in the morning
to go back to the land of the Philistines,
and the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day.
Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag.
They had attacked Ziklag and burned it,
and had taken captive the women and all who were in it,
both young and old.
They killed none of them,
but carried them off as they went on their way.

When David and his men came to Ziklag,
they found it destroyed by fire
and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.
So David and his men wept aloud
until they had no strength left to weep.
David's two wives had been captured --
Ahinoam of Jezreel
and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
David was greatly distressed
because the men were talking of stoning him;
each one was bitter in spirit
because of his sons and daughters.
But David found strength in the Lord his God.

Then David said to Abiathar the priest,
the son of Ahimelech,
"Bring me the ephod."
Abiathar brought it to him,
and David inquired of the Lord,
"Shall I pursue this raiding party?
Will I overtake them?"

"Pursue them," He answered.
"You will certainly overtake them
and succeed in the rescue."

(I Samuel 29:11; 30:1-8)

AE 654 - Natural, Rational, Spiritual

 AE 654 [48, 52, 57, 62-63, 64]

. . . a person becomes merely natural
when in his life he has regard to himself and to the world
and not to the Lord;
for he is then in the pride of self-intelligence,
which is common with the learned,
and this perverts the rational in them,
and closes up the spiritual mind.

. . . all truth and good,
even in the natural person,
are from the Lord . . ..

The person of the church
from becoming spiritual becomes natural
when he separates faith from charity,
that is, believes the Word
but does not live according to its commands;
so also when he claims to himself intelligence
and does not attribute it to the Lord;
from this is the conceit
whereby a person becomes natural.
For a person is first natural,
afterwards he becomes rational,
and lastly spiritual.
When a person is natural he is in Egypt,
when he becomes rational,
he is in Assyria,
and when he becomes Spiritual
he is in the land of Canaan, thus in the church.

. . . in order that a person
from being rational may become spiritual
he must needs endure temptations,
for by these the rational is so subdued,
as not to call forth from the natural
such things as favor the lusts,
and destroy the rational.
Finally when a person has in this way been made rational
he then is made spiritual,
for the rational is the medium
between the spiritual and the natural,
consequently the spiritual flows into the rational,
and through this into the natural.
In a word, a person must first
enrich the memory with knowledges,
afterwards by these
his understanding must be cultivated,
and finally the will.
The memory belongs to the natural person,
the understanding to the rational,
and the will to the spiritual.
This is the way of a person's reformation and regeneration.

But those who are not willing
to be reformed and regenerated
stop at the first stage,
and remain natural;
and this is why the sons of Israel,
who were not willing,
so often desired to return to Egypt.

~ Samuel Is Dead ~

Now Samuel was dead,
and all Israel had mourned for him
and buried him in his own town of Ramah.
Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.

(I Samuel 28:3)

 

AE 654 - Instruction and Becoming Rational

AE 654 [15, 18, 28]

Every person with whom the church is to be implanted
must first be instructed in knowledges,
for unless the natural person is instructed
by means of knowledges,
which are also various experiences
from worldly things and associations,
a person cannot become rational;
and if he does not become rational
he cannot become spiritual;
for the rational of person is conjoined
on one side to the spiritual, that is, to heaven,
and on the other side to the natural, that is, to the world.

When Israel was a child then I loved him,
and called My son out of Egypt.
(Hosea 11:1)
"Israel" signifies in the spiritual sense the church,
and in the highest sense the Lord,
who as He is the all of heaven is also the all of the church.
And as the sons of Israel were to represent the church,
and it was according to Divine order
that they should first be instructed in such things
as would be serviceable to the rational
and through this to the spiritual,
they first sojourned in Egypt,
and afterwards were led into the wilderness
that they might undergo temptations,
and that through these
the natural person might be subdued;
for a person does not become rational
until empty and false knowledges are removed,
and the natural person is thus purified,
which is effected mainly by temptations.

. . . all the intelligence of the spiritual person
has its limit and foundation in the natural person
and in his cognitions and knowledges,
so without these
a person is not intelligent and wise and not even rational,
for the spiritual person must act as one
with the natural person,
as cause with effect,
and it acts as one by correspondences . . ..

 

~ The Lord Rewards ~

The Lord rewards every man
for his righteousness and faithfulness.

(I Samuel 26:23)

AE 653 - Short Truths on Loving Self Over Loving the Lord

AE 653 [1, 1, 4, 8]

. . . the evils of the love of self
and the falsities of doctrine
are what crucify the Lord . . ..

. . . the more a person loves himself
the more he despises, indeed, denies spiritual things.

Spiritual good,
which is the good of charity toward the neighbor,
is the opposite of infernal evil,
which is the evil of the love of the world;
and celestial good is the opposite of diabolical evil,
which is the evil of the love of self.

. . . he who knows the will of the Lord and does it not,
sins more than he who does not know it.

 

AE 652 - "The Streets of a City"

AE 652 [30-32]

Because "the streets of a city" means the truths of doctrine,
according to which one should live,
it was customary to teach and to pray in the streets.
Thus in the second book of Samuel:

Tell it not in Gath,
publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice.
(II Samuel. 1:20)

When you give alms
sound not a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
and in the open places
that they may have glory of men.
And when you pray you shall not be as the hypocrites,
for they love to pray standing in the synagogues
and in the corners of the streets
where they may be seen of men.
(Matthew 6:2, 5)
or
Then shall you begin to say,
We did eat before You and drink,
and You did teach in our streets;
but He shall say,
I tell you I know you not where you are from.
(Luke 13:26, 27)

Furthermore, from the signification of "street,"
as meaning the truth of doctrine,
it is also evident why the Lord said in the parable that:

The master of the house commanded his servants
to go out quickly into the streets and open places of the city
and bring in the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind.
(Luke 14:21)

"The poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind,"
do not mean such in a natural sense,
but such in a spiritual sense,
that is, such as had not the Word,
and were therefore in ignorance of truth
and in lack of good,
but still desired truths
by means of which they might obtain good;
such were the Gentiles
with whom the church of the Lord
was afterwards established.

AE 652 - Cities, Open Places and Streets in the Spiritual World

AE 652 [2, 3, 10]

. . . in the spiritual world there are cities,
and streets in them,
as in the cities of the world;
and what each one is
in respect to the affection of truth
and intelligence therefrom
is known there merely from the place where he dwells
and from the streets in which he walks.
Those who are in a clear perception of truth
dwell in the southern quarter of the city and also walk there;
those who are in a clear affection of the good of love
dwell in the eastern quarter and also walk there;
those who are in an obscure affection of the good of love
dwell in the western quarter and also walk there;
and those who are in an obscure perception of truth
dwell in the northern quarter and also walk there.
But in the cities where those live
who are in the persuasion of falsity from evil
the reverse is true.
This makes clear why it is that a "street"
means truth or falsity leading.

. . . in the cities in the spiritual world has his dwelling place
in accordance with his affection of good
and his perception of truth, clear or obscure,
therefore "open places" mean truths and goods
according to each one's affection and perception.

. . . "streets" mean the truths of doctrine
leading to the good of life,
or truths according to which one must live.

~ Saul Orders Doeg to Kill the Lord's Priests ~

Saul said to him (Ahimelech),
"Why have you conspired against me,
you and the son of Jesse,
giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him,
so that he has rebelled against me and lies in wait for me,
as he does today?"

Ahimelech answered the king,
"Who of all your servants is as loyal as David,
the king's son-in-law,
captain of your bodyguard
and highly respected in your household?
Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him?
Of course not!
Let not the king accuse your servant
or any of his father's family,
for your servant knows nothing at all
about this whole affair."

But the king said,
"You will surely die, Ahimelech,
you and your father's whole family."

Then the king ordered the guards at his side:
"Turn and kill the priests of the Lord,
because they too have sided with David.
They knew he was fleeing,
yet they did not tell me."

But the king's officials were not willing
to raise a hand to strike the priests of the Lord.

The king then ordered Doeg,
"You turn and strike down the priests."
So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down.
That day he killed eighty-five men
who wore the linen ephod.
He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests,
and its men and women, its children and infants,
and its cattle, donkeys and sheep.

But Abithar, a son of Ahimelech son of Ahitub,
escaped and fled to join David.
He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord.
Then David said to Abiathar:
"That day, when Doeg the Edomite was there,
I knew he would be sure to tell Saul.
I am responsible for the death of your father's whole family.
Stay with me; don't be afraid;
the man who is seeking your life is seeking mine also.
You will be safe with me."

(I Samuel 22:13-23)
 

AE 650 - A Bit At a Time

 AE 650 [60]

. . . a person who is reformed and regenerated
to the extent that the church may be in him
is reformed and regenerated by little and little;
for he is conceived anew, is born, and is educated,
and this is done so far as the evils and their falsities
that are in him from birth and hereditary are removed,
which is not effected in a moment,
but through a considerable course of life. 

 

~ Saul Is Jealous ~

When the men were returning home
after David had killed the Philistine,
the women came out from all the towns of Israel
to meet King Saul with singing and dancing,
with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes.
As they danced, they sang:

"Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands."

Saul was very angry;
this refrain galled him.
"They have credited David with tens of thousand,"
he thought, "but me with only thousands.
What more can he get but the kingdom?"
And from that time on
Saul kept a jealous eye on David.

(I Samuel 18:6-9)

AE 649 - "Testimony"; AE 650 - Thinking and the Word

AE 649 [1, 2]

And when they shall have finished their testimony,
(Revelation 9:7)
means in the end of the church,
when the Divine of the Lord is no longer acknowledged,
and so there is no longer
any good of love or truth of doctrine.

That "testimony" here means
the acknowledgment of the Divine in the Lord
is evident from what follows in Revelation:

That the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
(Revelation 19:10)

For unless a person acknowledges this from the heart,
and believes it from spiritual faith,
he can have no ability to receive
the good of love or the truth of doctrine.

AE 650 [4, 13]

. . . man has above the beasts
the super-added faculty to think
and so to will spiritually,
which gives him the eminent faculty
to see and perceive abstract things;
but if this spiritual faculty is not vivified
by the knowledges of truth and good,
and afterwards by faith and the life of faith,
he is no better than the beasts,
except merely that by virtue of that higher faculty
he is able to think and speak.

. . . the Word. .  is given solely
to teach a person the way to heaven,
by teaching him the truths of faith
and the goods of love . . .

~ David Warns Goliath ~

David said to the Philistine,
"You came against me with sword and spear and javelin,
but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty,
the God of the armies of Israel,
whom you have defied.
This day the Lord will hand you over to me,
and I'll strike you down and cut off your head.
Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army
to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth,
and the whole world will know
that there is a God in Israel.
All those gathered here will know
that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves;
for the battle is the Lord's,
and He will give all of you into our hands."

(I Samuel 17:45-47)

 

AE 641 - The Progression of Churches; AE 644 - Conquering in Temptation

AE 641 [4]

As regards the successive states
of the churches on our globe,
they have evidently been similar
to the successive states of a person
who is being reformed and regenerated,
namely, that to become a spiritual person,
he is first conceived, next is born, then grows up,
and is afterwards led on further and further
into intelligence and wisdom.
The church, from the most ancient times
to the end of the Jewish Church,
progressed like a person
who is conceived, born, and grows up,
and is then instructed and taught;
but the successive states of the church
after the end of the Jewish Church,
or from the time of the Lord even to the present day,
have been like a person
increasing in intelligence and wisdom,
or becoming regenerate.
For this end the interior things
of the Word, of the church, and of worship,
were revealed by the Lord when He was in the world;
and now again, things still more interior are revealed;
and in the measure that things interior are revealed
can person become wiser;
for to become interior is to become wiser,
and to become wiser is to become interior.

AE 644 [24]

. . . he who receives Divine truths in both parts,
that is, both in the understanding and in the will,
conquers in temptation.

~ The Lord Tells Samuel ~

"The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.
Man looks at the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart."

(I Samuel 16:7)

 

AE 636, 638 - The Two Witnesses; Gardens

AE 636

. . . "the two witnesses,"
which mean the good of love and charity
and the truth of doctrine and faith,
for these with a person are what teach
and what also are taught;
for those who are in the goods of love
and in the truths of doctrine teach,
and the goods of love and the truths of doctrine
are what are taught by them.

AE 638 [2. 20]

It is said that
"the two witnesses are the two olive trees
and the two lamp stands"  . . .
because "two" means conjunction and so a one.
For there are two things that make a one,
namely, good and truth;
good is not good except it be from truth,
and truth is not truth except it be from good;
consequently it is only when these two make a one
that they have being and existence.

"Gardens" signify such things
as belong to spiritual intelligence . . ..

~ Saul ~

All the days of Saul
there was bitter war with the Philistines,
and whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man,
he took him into his service.

(I Samuel 14:52)
__________

AC 1361

. . . every king, whoever he was, in Judah and Israel,
and even in Egypt and elsewhere,
could represent the Lord.
Their royalty itself is what is representative.
So that the worst of all kings could represent . . ..

AC 705

. . . the Philistines,
who represent those who take up false principles,
and reason from them concerning spiritual things,
which reasonings inundate a person . . ..

AE 630 - The Temple; AE 631, 632 - Thinking from Spiritual Truths

AE 630 [7, 8]

. . . the temple in the highest sense
means the Lord in relation to the Divine Human,
so also in relation to Divine truth,
so the temple also signifies Divine truth
proceeding from the Lord,
consequently the Word,
for that is the Divine truth in the church.

. . . "courts" mean the external things
of heaven and of the church,
and so the externals of the Word and of worship.
That the externals of these are signified by the "courts"
is evident from this alone,
that the "temple" in general means heaven and the church,
therefore the three divisions of the temple,
namely, the courts, the temple itself, and the adytum*,
signify the three heavens according to their degrees.

AE 631 [2]

. . . at this day the Word is not explained
according to spiritual truths,
but according to the appearances
of the sense of the letter,
which are applied to confirm
both evils of life and falsities of doctrine;
and because interior truths,
which are spiritual truths,
are unknown and are not received,
it follows that the sense of the letter of the Word
is perverted by evils of the will
and falsities of thought therefrom.

AE 632 [6]

. . . unless a person becomes spiritual,
and thinks from what is spiritual,
he thinks nothing but falsities from evil.
__________

*adytum - the innermost sanctuary

~ Samuel Reassures and Warns ~

  The people all said to Samuel,
"Pray to the Lord your God for your servants
so that we will not die,
for we have added to all our other sins
the evil of asking for a king."

"Do not be afraid," Samuel replied.
"You have done all this evil;
yet do not turn away from the Lord,
but serve the Lord with all your heart.
Do not turn away after useless idols.
They can do you no good,
nor can they rescue you,
because they are useless.
For the sake of His great name
the Lord will not reject His people,
because the Lord was pleased to make you His own.
As for me, far be it from me
that I should sin against the Lord
by failing to pray for you.
And I will teach you the way that is good and right.
But be sure to fear the Lord
and serve Him faithfully with all your heart;
consider what great things He has done for you.
Yet if you persist in doing evil,
both you and your king will be swept away.

(I Samuel 12:19-25)

 

AE 629 - Why Measurements Matter

AE 629 [4]

There are only three things that are measured,
namely, breadth, length, and height;
and "breadth" means the truth of the church,
"length" the good of the church,
and "height" both of these as to degrees;
the degrees of truth and good
are the quality of truth and good
as interior or higher
and as exterior or lower.
Such is the signification of these three dimensions,
because breadth is predicated of heaven
from south to north,
and length from east to west,
and height from the third heaven
which is in things highest
to the first heaven
which is in things lowest.
And as those in heaven who dwell from south to north
are in the truths of doctrine,
so "breadth" means the truth of heaven or of the church;
and as those who dwell in heaven from east to west
are in the good of love,
so "length" means the good of heaven or of the church;
and as those who dwell in the third heaven,
who are the most wise, are in things highest,
while those who dwell in the first heaven,
who are relatively simple,
are in things lowest,
so "height" means wisdom and intelligence
as to their degrees.

~ Samuel Anoints Saul ~

After they came down from the high place to the town,
Samuel talked with Saul on the roof of his house.
They rose about daybreak
and Samuel called to Saul on the roof,
"Get ready, and I will send you on your way."
When Saul got ready,
he and Samuel went outside together.
As they were going down to the edge of the town,
Samuel said to Saul,
"Tell the servant to go on ahead of us" --
and the servant did so --
"but you stay here awhile,
so that I may give you a message from God."

Then Samuel took a flask of oil
and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him,
say, "Has not the Lord anointed you
leader over His inheritance?
When you leave me today,
you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb,
at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin.
They will say to you,
'The donkeys you set out to look for have been found.
And now your father has stopped thinking about them
and is worried about you.
He is asking, "What shall I do about my son?"'

Then you will go on from there
until you reach the great tree of Tabor.
Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there.
One will be carrying three young goats,
another three loaves of bread,
and another a skin of wine.
They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread,
which you will accept from them.

"After that you will go to Gibeah of God,
where there is a Philistine outpost.
As you approach the town,
you will meet a procession prophets
coming down from the high place
with lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps
being played before them,
and they will be prophesying.
the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power,
and you will prophesy with them;
and you will be changed into a different person.
Once these signs are fulfilled,
do whatever your hand finds to do,
for God is with you."

(I Samuel 9:25-27; 10:1-7)
 

AE 627 - Levels of Perception of Divine truth; AE 628 - When the Lord Says

 AE 627 [5]

By ultimate truth, or truth in the ultimate of order,
is meant sensual truth,
such as the truth in the sense of the letter of the Word is
to those who are merely sensual.

Divine truth in its descent proceeds according to degrees,
from the highest or inmost to the lowest or ultimate.

Divine truth in the highest degree is such as is
the Divine that proceeds most nearly from the Lord,
thus such as is the Divine truth above the heavens;
and as this is infinite,
it cannot come to the perception of any angel.

But Divine truth of the first degree
is that which comes to the perception of the angels
of the inmost or third heaven,
and is called celestial Divine truth;
from this is the wisdom of those angels.

Divine truth of the second degree
is that which comes to the perception of the angels
of the middle or second heaven,
and constitutes their wisdom and intelligence,
and is called spiritual Divine truth.

Divine truth of the third degree
is that which comes to the perception of angels
of the lowest or first heaven,
and constitutes their intelligence and knowledge,
and is called celestial-natural
and spiritual-natural Divine truth.

But Divine truth of the fourth degree is that which comes
to the perception of the people of the church
who are living in the world,
and constitutes their intelligence and knowledge;
this is called natural Divine truth,
and its lowest is called sensual Divine truth.

AE 628

. . . what the Lord says is to be done,
or that any one should do it,
is a command.

~ The Ark of the Covenent Ends Up in the Land of the Philistines ~

After the Philistines had captured the ark of God,
they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
Then they carried the ark into Dagon's temple
and set it beside Dagon.
When the people of Asdod rose early the next day,
there was Dagon,
fallen on his face on the ground
before the ark of the Lord.
They took Dagon and put him back in his place.
But the following morning when they rose,
there was Dagon,
fallen on his face on the ground
before the ark of the Lord!
His head and hands had been broken off
and were lying on the threshold;
only his body remained.
That is why to this day
neither the priests of Dagon
nor any others who enter Dagon's temple at Ashdod
step on the threshold.

The Lord's hand was heavy
upon the people of Ashdod and its vicinity;
He brought devastation upon them
and afflicted them with tumors.
When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening,
they said, "The ark of the God of Israel
must not stay here with us,
because His hand is heavy upon us
and upon Dagon our god."
So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines
and asked them,
"What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?"

They answered,
"Have the ark of the God of Israel moved to Gath."
So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.

But after they had moved it,
the Lord's hand was against that city,
throwing it into a great panic.
He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old,
with an outbreak of tumors.
So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.

As the ark of God was entering Ekron,
the people of Ekron cried out,
"They have brought the ark of the God of Israel
around to us, to kill us and our people."
So they called together
all the rulers of the Philistines and said,
"Send the ark of the God of Israel away;
let it go back to its own place,
or it will kill us and our people."
For death had filled the city with panic;
God's hand was very heavy upon it.
Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors,
and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.

(I Samuel 5)

AE 624 - Old Men, Young Men, Prophets

 AE 624 [8, 13, 15]

. . . "old men" mean those who are in wisdom,
and "young men," those who are in intelligence.

By "prophets" here and elsewhere in the Word
are meant in the nearest sense
such prophets as those were in the Old Testament
through whom the Lord spoke;
but in the spiritual sense those prophets are not meant,
but all whom the Lord leads;
with these also the Lord flows in
and reveals to them the secrets of the Word,
whether they teach or not; such, therefore,
are signified by "prophets" in the spiritual sense.
But "the prophets that prophesy out of their own heart,
and go away after their own spirit,
and who behold vanity and divine falsehood,"
mean all who are not taught and led by the Lord
but by themselves,
consequently they have insanity in place of intelligence,
and folly in place of wisdom,
for they have the love of self
in place of the love to God,
and the love of the world
in place of the love to the neighbor,
and from these loves falsities continually pour forth.

. . . "prophets" mean all whom the Lord teaches,
thus all who are in the spiritual affection of truth,
that is, who love truth, because it is truth,
for the Lord teaches these,
and flows into their understanding and enlightens . . ..

~ The Lord Calls Samuel ~

The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli.
In those days the word of the Lord was rare;
there were not many visions.

One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak
that he could barely see,
was lying down in his usual place.
The lamp of God had not yet gone out,
and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord,
where the ark of God was.
Then the Lord called Samuel.

Samuel answered, "Here I am."
And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am: you called me."

But Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down."
So he went and lay down.

Again the Lord called "Samuel!"
And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said,
"Here I am; you called me."

"My son," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down."

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord:
The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

The Lord called Samuel a third time,
and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said,
"Here I am; you called me."

Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy.
So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down,
and if He calls you, say, 'Speak, Lord,
for you servant is listening.'"
So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

Then the Lord came and stood there,
calling as at the other times, "Samuel!  Samuel!"

Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

(I Samuel 3:1-10)

AE 620-622 - The Little Book Is Sweet and Bitter

 AE 620-622

And I took the little book out of the hand of the angel,
and ate it up,
(Revelation 10:10)

means exploration.
This is evident from the things that precede,
namely, that "the little book" means the Word,
"the angel" the Lord in relation to the Word,
and "to devour or to eat it" means
to receive, perceive, and appropriate to oneself,
consequently to explore,
here of what quality the understanding of the Word still is
in the church.
Exploration is effected
by means of a thing's being perceived
and the way in which it is perceived;
it was effected with the prophet John,
because a "prophet" means the doctrine of the church,
and in a universal sense, the Word.

And it was in my mouth as honey, sweet,
means that the Word, in respect to its external,
or in respect to its sense of the letter,
was still perceived as the delight of good,
but as delight only for the reason
that it served to confirm the principles of falsity,
and the loves of evil, that is,
the principles arising from the love of self and of the world,
all of which are falsities.
That the Word, which is meant by "the little book,"
was perceived on this account to be "sweet as honey,"
may be seen in what has been shown above.

And when I had eaten it my belly was made bitter,
means that it was perceived and ascertained
that the Word was inwardly undelightful
because of the adulterated truth of the sense of its letter.
. . . The "belly" here means the interiors of the Word,
which are called spiritual,
because exploration was represented by
"devouring or eating up the little book,"
which means the Word,
and by its taste, which means perception;
therefore the first perception
is meant by the taste in the mouth,
where the little book was "sweet as honey."
The first perception of the Word
is such as is the perception of the sense of its letter,
that is, as the Word is outwardly.
The other perception however is meant by its taste
when it has come into the belly,
which is said to be made bitter by it.
This other perception of the Word
is such as the perception of its spiritual sense is,
that is, as the Word is inwardly.
Consequently, as the "mouth" signifies what is exterior,
so here the "belly"means what is interior,
because inwardly received and ascertained.
The "belly" means interior things
because the belly stores up the food inwardly,
and "food" signifies everything that nourishes the soul;
also because the belly, like the bowels,
is within or in the midst of the body;
for this reason the "belly," and also the "bowels,"
mean in the Word interior things.

~ Part of Hannah's Prayer ~

  "There is no one holy like the Lord;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.

. . ."For the foundations of the earth are the Lord's;
upon them He has set the world.
He will guard the feet of His saints,
but the wicked will be silenced in darkness.

"It is not by strength that one prevails;
those who oppose the Lord will be shattered.
He will thunder against them from heaven;
the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.

"He will give strength to His king
and exalt the horn of His anointed."

(I Samuel 2:2, 8.5-10)

AE 619 - Life, the Church, Jerusalem, the Word

AE 619 [6, 7, 11, 18]

Every delight of life that abides to eternity
is a delight of spiritual good and truth . . ..

. . . the church is with those only
who are in spiritual good
and at the same time in natural good;
in such the church if formed by the Lord . . ..

So were you decked with gold and silver,
and your garments were
fine linen and silk and broidered work;
you did eat fine flour, honey, and oil,
from which you became exceeding beautiful,
and did prosper even to a kingdom.
But My bread which I gave you,
and the fine flour and oil and honey
with which I fed you,
you did set before idols as an odor of rest.
(Ezekiel 16:13, 19)

This is said about Jerusalem, which signifies the church,
first the Ancient Church,
and afterwards the Israelitish Church.
Of the Ancient Church it is said
"she was decked with gold and silver,"
which means the love of good and truth
that the people of that Church had;
"the garments of fine linen, silk, and broidered work,"
mean the knowledges
of celestial, spiritual, and natural truth,
"fine linen" meaning truth from a celestial origin,
"silk" truth from a spiritual origin,
and "broidered work" truth from a natural origin,
which is called knowledge.
"She ate fine flour, honey and oil,"
means the perception
of natural and spiritual truth and good,
and their appropriation,
"to eat" meaning to be appropriated,
"fine flour" truth, "honey" natural good, and "oil"
spiritual good, which were appropriated to them
by a life according to the truths above mentioned.
"She became exceeding beautiful
and prospered even to a kingdom"
means to become intelligent and wise
so as to constitute a church,
"beauty" meaning intelligence and wisdom,
and a "kingdom" the church.
But of the Israelitish Church,
which was merely in externals without internals,
from which the people of that church were idolatrous,
it is said that "they set the fine flour, honey, and oil
before the images of a male, or idols,
as an odor of rest," that is,
they perverted the truths and goods of the church
into falsities and evils, and thus profaned them.

. . . there is nothing written in the Word
that does not represent and mean such things
as belong to heaven and the church,
and these can be known only
by a knowledge of correspondences,
and thus from the spiritual sense of the Word.

~ The End of Judges ~

 The people grieved for Benjamin,
because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel.

At that time the Israelites left that place
and went home to their tribes and clans,
each to his own inheritance.

In those days Israel had no king;
everyone did as he saw fit.

(Judges 21, 15, 24-25)

 

AE 617 (con't) - Eating and Drinking

AE 617 [18, 19, 25]

The king said to them on his right hand,
I was an hungered and you gave me to eat;
I was thirsty and you gave me to drink.
And to those on the left hand,
I was an hungered and you gave me not to eat;
I was thirsty and you gave me not to drink.
(Matthew 25:34, 35, 41, 42)

By these words also spiritual hunger and thirst
and spiritual eating and drinking are meant;
spiritual hunger and thirst
are the affection and desire for good and truth,
and spiritual eating and drinking
are instruction, reception, and appropriation.
It is said here that the Lord hungered and thirsted,
because from His Divine love
He desires the salvation of all;
and it is said that men gave Him to eat and to drink;
which is done
when from affection they receive and perceive
good and truth from the Lord,
and by means of the life
appropriate them to themselves.
The like may be said of a man who from his heart
loves to instruct man and desires his salvation;
therefore it is charity,
or the spiritual affection of truth,
that is described by these words and those that follow.

From what has been said
it can now be seen what is signified in the spiritual sense
by eating bread and drinking wine in the Holy Supper,
Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22;
where it is also said, that the bread is the Lord's body,
and the wine is His blood.
There "bread" signifies the good of love,
and "wine" truth from that good,
which is the good of faith,
and "flesh and blood," have a similar signification,
also "eating" signifies appropriation and conjunction
with the Lord . . ..

Before the Lord's coming into the world,
to eat fat and drink blood was forbidden,
because the sons of Israel were in externals only,
for they were natural-sensual men,
and not at all in things internal or spiritual,
consequently if they had been permitted
to eat fat and blood,
which signifies the appropriation
of interior goods and truths,
they would have profaned them,
therefore "eating fat and blood" signified profanation.

~ The Traveler in Gibeah ~

. . . unwilling to stay another night,
the man left and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem),
with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.

When they were near Jebus
and the day was almost gone,
the servant said to his master,
"Come, let's stop at this city of the Jebusites
and spend the night."

His master replied, "No.
We won't go into an alien city,
whose people are not Israelites.
We will go on to Gibeah."
He added, "Come, let's try to reach Gibeah or Ramah
and spend the night in one of those places."
So they went on, and the sun set
as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin.
There they stopped to spend the night.
They went and sat in the city square,
but no one took them into his home for the night.

That evening an old man
from the hill country of Ephraim,
who was living in Gibeah
(the men of the place were Benjamites),
came in from his work in the field.
When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square,
the old man asked "Where are you going?
Where did you come from?"

He answered, "We are on our way
from Bethlehem in Judah
to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim
where I live.
I have been to Bethlehem in Judah
and now I am going to the house of the Lord.
No one has taken me into his house.
We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys
and bread and wine for ourselves and your servants --
me, your maidservant, and the young man with us.
We don't need anything."

"You are welcome at my house," the old man said.
"Let me supply whatever you need.
Only don't spend the night in the square."
So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys.
After they had washed their feet,
they had something to eat and drink.

(Judges 19:10-21)

AE 617 - Without Silver and Without Price

 AE 617 [10]

Ho, everyone that thirsts,
come ye to the waters,
and he that has no silver;
come ye, buy, and eat;
yes, come, buy wine and milk
without silver and without price.
Wherefore do you weigh silver
for that which is not bread?
and your labor for that which satisfies not?
In hearkening hearken unto Me,
and eat ye good,
that your soul may delight itself in fatness,
(Isaiah 55:1, 2)

It is very clear that "to eat" means here
to appropriate to oneself from the Lord,
for it is said, "Ho, everyone that thirsts,
come ye to the waters,
and he that has no silver; come ye, buy and eat,"
which signifies that everyone who desires truth,
and who had not truth before,
may acquire and appropriate it from the Lord;
"one that thirsts" signifies one who desires,
"water" truth, "silver" the truth of good,
here one who has no truth of good is meant;
"to come" means to come to the Lord,
"to buy" means to acquire for oneself,
and "to eat" to appropriate.
"Come you, buy wine and milk
without silver and without price,"
means that spiritual Divine truth and natural Divine truth
may be acquired without self-intelligence,
"wine" meaning spiritual Divine truth,
and "milk" spiritual-natural Divine truth.
"Wherefore do ye weigh silver for that which is not bread?
and your labor for that which satisfies not?"
means that it is useless
to endeavor to acquire from what is one's own [proprium]
the good of love and that which nourishes the soul;
"silver" as well as "labor" means here
truth from what is one's own [proprium],
or from self-intelligence,
"bread" means the good of love,
and "that which satisfies" that which nourishes the soul,
here that which does not nourish;
"In hearkening hearken unto Me"
means that these things are from the Lord alone;
"and eat ye good,
that your soul may delight itself in fatness,"
means that they may appropriate to themselves
celestial good, from which is every enjoyment of life,
"to delight in fatness"
meaning to have enjoyment from good,
and "soul" signifying life.