AE 893 - "follow the Lord and to take up the cross"

AE 893 [3, 4]

Jesus said, He that does not take up his cross
and follow after Me
is not worthy of Me.
(Matthew 10:38; Luke 14:27)

Jesus said to His disciples,
If anyone will come after Me
let him deny himself,
take up his cross,
and follow Me.
(Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23)

In these passages the "cross" means temptations,
and "to follow the Lord" means to acknowledge His Divine
and to do His commandments.
. . . The "cross" means temptations
because the evils and the falsities therefrom
that cling to man from his birth
infest and thus torment those who are natural
when they are becoming spiritual.
And as those evils and their falsities that infest and torment
can be dispersed only by temptations,
temptations are signified by the "cross."
Therefore the Lord says, that
"they must deny themselves and take up their cross,"
that is, that they must reject what is their own,
"their cross" meaning what is man's own [proprium],
against which he must fight.

Jesus spake to the rich man
who asked Him what he should do to inherit eternal life.
Jesus said to him, You know the commandments:
Thou shalt not commit adultery;
Thou shalt not kill;
Thou shalt not steal;
Thou shalt not bear false witness;
Thou shalt not defraud;
Honor thy father and mother.
He answered and said unto Him,
All these things have I observed from my youth.
Jesus looked upon him and loved him;
yet He said unto him,
One thing you lack;
go, sell whatsoever you have and give to the poor;
so shalt you have treasure in the heavens;
and come, follow Me,
taking up the cross.
(Mark 10:17-21)

Here "to follow the Lord and to take up the cross"
have the same signification as above,
namely, to acknowledge the Lord's Divine,
and the Lord as the God of heaven and earth;
for without that acknowledgment
no one can abstain from evils and do good
except from self and as meritorious good,
for the good that is good in itself
and that is not meritorious good
is solely from the Lord;
consequently he cannot be saved
unless the Lord is acknowledged,
and it is acknowledged that all good is from Him.
And yet before anyone can act from the Lord
he must undergo temptations,
for the reason that the internal of man,
by which he is conjoined with heaven,
is opened by means of temptations.
And because no one can do the commandments
apart from the Lord,
therefore the Lord said,
"Yet one thing you lack;
sell all that you have and follow Me, taking up the cross;"
that is, the Lord must be acknowledged
and temptations must be endured.
That "he should sell all that he had and give to the poor"
signifies in the spiritual sense
that he should alienate and cast away from himself
what is his own [proprium],
thus it has the same signification as "denying oneself"
in the passages quoted above;
and "to give to the poor"
signifies in the spiritual sense to do the works of charity.
The Lord said this to him because he was rich;
and "riches" signify in the spiritual sense
the knowledges of good and truth,
and with this man, who was a Jew,
the knowledges of evil and falsity, since they were traditions.
From this it can be seen that the Lord,
here as elsewhere, spoke by correspondences. 

The Lord's Promise

"O afflicted city,
lashed by storms and not comforted,
I will build you with colorful gems,
your foundations with sapphires.
I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.
All your sons will be taught by the Lord,
and great will be your children's peace.

(Isaiah 54:11-13)

AE 888 - Falsifying the Word Exasperates the Angels

AE 888 [3]

How infernal and thus how injurious it is
to falsify the Word
even to the destruction
of the Divine truth and the Divine good in the heavens
can be seen from the fact
that all things of the sense of the letter of the Word,
which are Divine truths for the natural man,
communicate through the spiritual sense
with the angels of heaven,
to the extent that men and the angels of heaven
are conjoined by means of the Word;
consequently the sense of the letter of the Word,
with the man who falsifies it,
is perceived in heaven in a two-fold manner,
namely as genuine truth
and also as that truth destroyed;
as genuine truth
from the sense of the letter according to correspondences,
and as destroyed
according to falsifications.
From this it comes
that truth and falsity are presented together as conjoined,
from which the angels of heaven are exasperated,
and turn themselves entirely away.
Thus heaven is closed up,
and all communication of heaven with that man
is destroyed;
consequently he comes into conjunction with hell.
And so far as anyone is conjoined with hell
so far he is in the love of all evil and its falsity,
and from that in a lust of destroying
the truths and goods of the church,
and at the same time he is in torment.
This, then, is what is signified by
"being tormented with fire and brimstone
before the holy angels and before the Lamb."  

When the Lord Returns to Zion

How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
"Your God reigns!"
Listen!
Your watchmen lift up their voices;
together they shout for joy.
When the Lord returns to Zion,
they will see it with their own eyes.
Burst into songs of joy together,
you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord will lay bare His holy arm
in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth
will see the salvation of our God.

(Isaiah 52:7-10)

AE 881 - the falsities of evil

AE 881

They are called falsities of evil
because all falsities
arising from the love of ruling
for the sake of self and self-eminence
are falsities of evil,
and are direful according to that love.

If Only

This is what the Lord says --
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
"I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you what is best for you,
who directs you in the way you should go.
If only you had paid attention to My commands,
your peace would have been like a river,
your righteousness like the waves of the sea."

(Isaiah 48:17-18)

AE 874 - to give glory

AE 874

. . . "to give glory to Him,"
signifies to live according to Divine truth.

Our Rock

"This is what the Lord says --
Israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last;
apart from Me there is no God.
Who then is like Me?
Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and lay out before Me
what has happened 
since I established My ancient people,
and what is yet to come --
yes, let him foretell what will come.
Do not tremble,
do not be afraid.
Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?
You are My witnesses.
Is there any God besides Me?
No, there is no other Rock;
I know not one."

(Isaiah 44:6-8)

AE 865 - "Firstfruits to God and the Lamb"

AE 865

These were bought from among men,
firstfruits to God and the Lamb,
(Revelation 14:4)

signifies those received in the New Church by the Lord.
This is evident from the signification of
"those bought by the Lord,"
as being those who receive instruction from the Word,
especially respecting the Lord,
and who live according to it.
The same are meant by those called
"redeemed by the Lord;"
and "the redeemed" are those
who have been regenerated by the Lord
and these are those who follow the Lord,
that is, are led by Him.
Also from the signification of
"firstfruits of God and the Lamb,"
as being those who have given themselves to the Lord
and have been adopted by Him.
That those who are of the New Church are meant
is evident from their being called
"firstfruits to God and to the Lamb,"
since those who are received in that church
acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human
and live according to His commandments.
No others are received in the New Church
which is called "the New Jerusalem,"
because those who do not believe this
and live thus
are not in accord with the life of heaven,
nor with the light there,
nor with the heat there:
for the light there is the Divine truth,
which is the source of all intelligence and wisdom;
and the heat there is the Divine good,
which is the source of all love and charity.

The Lord Is the Everlasting God

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and His understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

So do not fear,
for I am with you;
do not be dismayed,
for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

(Isaiah 40:28-31; 41:10)

AE 864 - to follow the Lord

AE 864 [2, 3, 5, 6]

He that abides In Me and I in him,
the same bears much fruit;
for without Me you can do nothing.
(John 15:5)

To acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human
and to do His commandments is to follow Him,
because only those who do this 
can be conjoined to the Lord.

Jesus said, I am the light of the world;
he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life.
(John 8:12)

"I am the light of the world"
signifies that He is the Divine truth itself;
"he that follows Me"
signifies he that acknowledges His Divine
and does His commandments;
"shall not walk in darkness"
signifies that he shall not be in falsities;
"but shall have the light of life"
signifies that he shall be in Divine truths,
which teach man eternal life and lead to heaven.
Here evidently "to follow the Lord"
does not mean to follow Him,
but to acknowledge His Divine and obey Him. 

Whosoever wills to come after Me
let him deny himself and follow Me.
(Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23)

Evidently "to go after the Lord and to follow Him"
is to deny self;
and to deny self is to be led not by self
but by the Lord;
and he denies self who shuns and turns away from evils
because they are sins;
and when man turns away from evils
he is led by the Lord;
for he does the Lord's commandments,
not from self but from the Lord.

All this makes clear that to "follow the Lord"
is to be led by Him and not by self;
and only those who are not led by self
can be led by the Lord;
and everyone is led by self 
who does not shun evils
because they are contrary to the Word
and thus contrary to God;
consequently because they are sins and are from hell.
Everyone who does not thus shun and turn away from evils
is led by self;
and for the reason
that the evil that is in man by heredity constitutes his life,
because that is his own [proprium];
and until such evils have been removed
man does all things from them,
thus from self.
But it is otherwise when evils have been removed,
which is done when he shuns them
because they are infernal;
then the Lord enters with truths and goods from heaven,
and leads him.
The chief reason is that every man is his own love;
and man, as to his spirit,
which lives after death,
is nothing else than the affection which is of his love,
and all evil is from his love,
and thus belongs to his love;
from which it follows
that a man's love or affection is reformed
only by a spiritual shunning of evils
and turning away from them,
which is shunning them and turning away from them
because they are infernal. 

The Sign for Hezekiah

"This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah:

"This year you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
Once more a remnant of the house of Judah
will take root below and bear fruit above.
For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."

(Isaiah 37:30-32)

AE 859 - the 144,000

AE 859 [1,2]

And no one was able to learn the song
save the hundred forty-four thousand.
(Revelation 14:3)

signifies that acknowledgment and confession of the Lord
was possible only with those
who are in faith from charity,
or in truths from good.

. . . the Lord flows into the life of everyone;
and the life of heaven is from love or charity,
that is from good;
and the quality of love or charity is formed by truths.
From this, then, is man's life;
and therefore no other life
receives influx out of heaven from the Lord,
and thus acknowledges and confesses the Lord in heart,
than the life of faith from charity
or the life of truth from good.
The life of faith separated from charity
or the life of truth separated from good
is a merely natural life,
which receives nothing and can receive nothing from heaven,
because from that life
no communication with heaven is possible;
for communication with heaven is given
only through spiritual love,
which is also called charity,
that is, through a life according to truths from the Word;
and that life is not given with those
who separate faith from charity
and believe that they are saved by faith alone,
that is, by faith separated from good works.
Since, then, "the hundred forty-four thousand" mean
those who are in truths from good
or who are in faith from charity,
it is evident why they alone were able to learn the song,
that is, were able to acknowledge
and confess the Lord in heart,
namely, that He is the only God,
and that the trinity is in Him.

To the Rebellious

Go now, write it on a tablet for them,
inscribe it on a scroll,
that for the days to come
it may be an everlasting witness.
These are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord's instruction.
They say to the seers,
"See no more visions!"
and to the prophets,
"Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.
Leave this way,
get off this path,
and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!"

This is what the Sovereign Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, says:

"In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it."

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
He rises to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for Him!

(Isaiah 30:8-11, 15, 18)

AE 850 - He shall roar

AE 850 [15]

Jehovah shall roar out of Zion,
and utter His voice from Jerusalem.
(Isaiah 1:2)

"To roar," and the "roaring of a lion,"
when predicated of Jehovah,
signify an ardent zeal for protecting heaven and the church,
and for saving those who are therein
by the Divine truth and its power,
which is done by destroying
the evils and falsities that rise up out of hell.

Praise and Honor the Lord

Lord, You establish peace for us;
all that we have accomplished
You have done for us.
O Lord, our God,
other lords besides You have ruled over us,
but Your name alone do we honor.

(Isaiah 26:12-13)

AE 850 - The Lord's Presence on Mount Zion

AE 850 [1, 8]

And behold a Lamb standing on the Mount Zion,
(Revelation 14:1)
signifies the presence of the Lord
in heaven and in the church
for separating the good from the evil
and for executing judgment.

The presence of the Lord is perpetual in the whole heaven
and in the whole church;
for heaven is not heaven
from what is the angels' own [proprium] in it,
nor is the church a church
from what is men's own [proprium] in it,
but from the Divine of the Lord with them.
For an angel's own [proprium] cannot make heaven,
nor a man's own [proprium] the church,
since the own [proprium],
both of angels and of men, is not good.
Consequently it is the Divine that goes forth from the Lord,
as received by them,
that makes heaven and the church in particular with each one,
and thus makes heaven and the church in general
in all in whom heaven and the church exist.
From this it is evident
that the presence of the Lord is perpetual
with all who are in heaven and in the church;
but it is a presence that is
peaceful, tranquil, preserving, and sustaining,
by which all things in the heavens and on the earth
are held constantly in their order and connection,
or are reduced to that order; so, too, in the hells.
But the presence that is meant here by
"standing upon the Mount Zion"
is the unusually active presence of the Lord,
for the purpose of effecting an influx of His Divine
through the heavens into the lower parts,
that the good there may be separated from the evil,
and the evil be cast down from their places
where they had formed for themselves
a semblance of heavens.

He that is left in Zion
and he that remains in Jerusalem
shall be called holy to Him,
everyone that is written unto life in Jerusalem.
Jehovah will create over every dwelling of Mount Zion,
and over her assemblies,
a cloud by day
and a smoke and the shining of a flame of fire by night.
(Isaiah 4:3, 5)

Jehovah of Hosts shall reign
in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and before His elders shall be glory.
(Isaiah 24:23)

Jehovah hath chosen Zion,
He has desired it for a seat for Himself;
this is My rest forever,
here will I dwell,
for I have desired it.
(Psalm 132:13, 14)

Blessed be Jehovah out of Zion,
who dwells in Jerusalem.
(Psalm 135:21)

Jehovah shall reign forever thy God,
O Zion, in generation and generation.
(Psalm 146:10)

These passages (and more) respecting Zion
are quoted that everyone may see
that in the Word "Zion" does not mean Zion,
but heaven and the church
where the Lord reigns by means of His Divine truth.
Most of these are also prophetic of the Lord,
that when He came
He would love Zion and dwell there forever;
and yet He did not love that city nor Jerusalem,
as is evident from His words respecting them;
but He loved heaven and the church,
where He is received through His Divine truth.
This is why Zion is called
"His rest," "His dwelling place," "the mountain of Jehovah,"
"the city of God," "the city of the great King," "the city of truth,"
and it is said that His kingdom shall be there
"to eternity," "forever," and "to generation and generation;"
none of which things could by any means be said
of the Zion of David, or be meant by it.

AE 850 - The Lord's Presence on Mount Zion

AE 850 [1, 8]

And behold a Lamb standing on the Mount Zion,
(Revelation 14:1)
signifies the presence of the Lord
in heaven and in the church
for separating the good from the evil
and for executing judgment.

The presence of the Lord is perpetual in the whole heaven
and in the whole church;
for heaven is not heaven
from what is the angels' own [proprium] in it,
nor is the church a church
from what is men's own [proprium] in it,
but from the Divine of the Lord with them.
For an angel's own [proprium] cannot make heaven,
nor a man's own [proprium] the church,
since the own [proprium],
both of angels and of men, is not good.
Consequently it is the Divine that goes forth from the Lord,
as received by them,
that makes heaven and the church in particular with each one,
and thus makes heaven and the church in general
in all in whom heaven and the church exist.
From this it is evident
that the presence of the Lord is perpetual
with all who are in heaven and in the church;
but it is a presence that is
peaceful, tranquil, preserving, and sustaining,
by which all things in the heavens and on the earth
are held constantly in their order and connection,
or are reduced to that order; so, too, in the hells.
But the presence that is meant here by
"standing upon the Mount Zion"
is the unusually active presence of the Lord,
for the purpose of effecting an influx of His Divine
through the heavens into the lower parts,
that the good there may be separated from the evil,
and the evil be cast down from their places
where they had formed for themselves
a semblance of heavens.

He that is left in Zion
and he that remains in Jerusalem
shall be called holy to Him,
everyone that is written unto life in Jerusalem.
Jehovah will create over every dwelling of Mount Zion,
and over her assemblies,
a cloud by day
and a smoke and the shining of a flame of fire by night.
(Isaiah 4:3, 5)

Jehovah of Hosts shall reign
in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and before His elders shall be glory.
(Isaiah 24:23)

Jehovah hath chosen Zion,
He has desired it for a seat for Himself;
this is My rest forever,
here will I dwell,
for I have desired it.
(Psalm 132:13, 14)

Blessed be Jehovah out of Zion,
who dwells in Jerusalem.
(Psalm 135:21)

Jehovah shall reign forever thy God,
O Zion, in generation and generation.
(Psalm 146:10)

These passages (and more) respecting Zion
are quoted that everyone may see
that in the Word "Zion" does not mean Zion,
but heaven and the church
where the Lord reigns by means of His Divine truth.
Most of these are also prophetic of the Lord,
that when He came
He would love Zion and dwell there forever;
and yet He did not love that city nor Jerusalem,
as is evident from His words respecting them;
but He loved heaven and the church,
where He is received through His Divine truth.
This is why Zion is called
"His rest," "His dwelling place," "the mountain of Jehovah,"
"the city of God," "the city of the great King," "the city of truth,"
and it is said that His kingdom shall be there
"to eternity," "forever," and "to generation and generation;"
none of which things could by any means be said
of the Zion of David, or be meant by it.

The Lord's Devastation of the Earth

The floodgates of the heavens are opened,
the foundations of the earth shake.
The earth is broken up,
the earth is split asunder,
the earth is thoroughly shaken.
The earth reels like a drunkard,
it sways like a hut in the wind;
so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion
that it falls - never to rise again.

In that day the Lord will punish . . ..
The moon will be abashed,
the sun ashamed;
for the Lord Almighty
will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and before its elders,
gloriously.

(Isaiah 24:18-21, 23)

AE 844, 846 - falsity is tricky

AE 844

. . . those who are in falsities,
when they have confirmed their falsities
believe themselves to be wiser than others.
The evil do the like
when they are in their evils
and are contriving devices
by which they may do evil to the good;
they then appear to themselves to be ingenious,
yea even wiser than others,
and yet before the eyes of angels they appear crazy.
And this is why their insanity
when they are in falsities
is called in the Word "wisdom and intelligence,"
as in the following passages:

O Lord God, Thou hast hidden these things
from the wise and intelligent,
and hast revealed them unto babes.
(Matthew 11:25; Luke 10:21)

Woe to the wise in their own eyes,
and the intelligent before their own faces.
(Isaiah 5:21)

AE 846 [3]

. . . the Lord wishes man
both to know the truths of His church
and also to understand them;
not, however, from natural light separated from spiritual light;
for natural light separated from spiritual light,
in the things of heaven or in spiritual matters,
is not light but thick darkness.
For man, from natural light separated from spiritual light,
views the things of the church
from self and not from the Lord,
and consequently he can see them
only from appearances and fallacies;
and to see them from these is to see falsities for truths,
and evils for goods.
The fire that propagates and enkindles that light
is the love of self
and the consequent pride of self-intelligence.
Man who thinks from that fire and that light
so far as he excels in genius
and thence in the ability to confirm whatever he pleases,
so far he is able to so confirm falsities and evils
as to make them appear to be truths and goods,
and can even set forth falsities and evils
in a resplendent natural light,
which is, nevertheless, a delusive light
that has been thus exalted by art.
But to apprehend church matters by this light
is not to understand them,
but rather to not understand them,
since by that light alone
man sees truths as falsities, and falsities as truths.

A Throne

In love a throne will be established;
in faithfulness a Man will sit on it -
One from the house of David -
One who in judging seeks justice
and speeds the cause of righteousness.

(Isaiah 16:5)

AE 837, 839 - faith

AE 837 [11]

When the world could no longer see truths
from the love of them
and from their light,
because men had become natural and external,
then faith began to be mentioned,
and every thing of faith began to be called truth,
although it was not perceived or seen
but only asserted by some leader
and confirmed by passages of the Word not understood.

AE 839 [1, 2]

. . . faith is such as man's love and life are,
so it is such as his works are.

Man supposes that even if he lives wickedly
he can still have faith,
at least to believe that there is a God,
that the Lord is the Savior of the world,
that there is a heaven and a hell,
and that the Word is holy.
But . . . if he does not shun evils because they are sins,
and then look to the Lord,
he does not at all believe these things;
since they are not of his life and love,
but only of his memory and knowledge;
and they do not come to be of his life and love
until he fights against evils and overcomes them. 

Woe to Those

Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.
What will you do on the day of reckoning,
when disaster comes from afar?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your riches?
Nothing will remain
but to cringe among the captives
or fall among the slain.

(Isaiah 10:1-4)

AE 834 - it is the man's quality that is to be loved

AE 834

. . . "neighbor" does not mean in the Word
a man merely in respect to person,
but in respect to the quality in him
that makes him to be such and such a man;
also that the quality of a man
is from his understanding and will,
and the quality of his understanding is from truths,
and the quality of his will is from goods,
and the quality of both the understanding and the will
is from his love.
From this it is known
that while every man is a neighbor,
every man is a neighbor from his quality,
and consequently that it is
the quality of a man from which he is a man
that is meant in the spiritual sense by "neighbor;"
for otherwise a bad man
would be as much a neighbor as a good man;
and yet to do good to the evil
is sometimes doing evil to the good.

. . . it is the man's quality that is to be loved. 

The Lord Tells Ahaz His Sign

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz,
"Ask the Lord your God for a sign,
whether in the deepest depth or in the highest heights."

But Ahaz said, "I will not ask;
I will not put the Lord to test."

Then Isaiah said,
"Hear now, you house of David!
Is it not enough to try the patience of men?
Will you try the patience of my God also?
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:
The virgin will be with Child
and will give birth to a Son,
and will call Him Immanuel.
He will eat curds and honey
when He knows enough
to reject the wrong and choose the right.
But before the Boy knows enough
to reject the wrong and choose the right,
the land of the two kings you dread
will be laid to waste."

(Isaiah 7:10-16)

AE 831 - the activity of the will and understanding

AE 831 [4]

For as truths derive all their essence and all their life from good,
so the understanding derives all its essence and life
from the will and its activity;
for the understanding is the receptacle of truth,
and the will the receptacle of good,
and their activity fills and establishes them.
. . . From this also it is clear
that the life of every man is from his works,
since in them the affection which is of the will,
and the thought which is of the understanding,
terminate and thus have existence;
and unless they are terminated they perish.
For the will has no existence unless it becomes active;
and when there is no will
the understanding perishes,
and there remains merely the faculty to understand.  

The Mountain of the Lord

Many peoples will come and say,

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us His ways,
so that we may walk in His paths."
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."

(Isaiah 2:3)

AE 825 - the pride of self-intelligence and good works defined

AE 825 [2, 3]

The pride of self-intelligence is with all who confirm falsities
even to the destruction of the Divine truth,
in which the angels of heaven are;
for those are in that pride who regard self only,
that is, their reputation, in their writings and preachings.
For such are in the love of self,
and everyone who is in the love of self
when he writes and preaches is in pride;
and pride derives all things from man's own [proprium],
consequently it is called the pride of self-intelligence.
The love of self has its seat in the will,
and the pride of self-intelligence in the thought therefrom;
consequently when they think anything from self
they can think nothing but what is false,
for one's own [proprium] which is of the will
and therefore of the love,
is what rules,
and this, viewed in itself, is nothing but evil.
It is otherwise with those who are in the love of uses,
and from that in the love of truth for the sake of truth. 

Good works are all things
that a man does, writes, preaches, and even speaks,
not from self but from the Lord;
and he acts, writes, preaches, and speaks from the Lord
when he is living according to the laws of his religion.
The laws of our religion are
that one God is to be worshiped;
that adulteries, thefts, murders, false witness, must be shunned;
thus also frauds, unlawful gains, hatreds,
revenge, lies, blasphemies,
and many other things that are mentioned
not alone in the Decalogue
but everywhere else in the Word,
and are called sins against God and also abominations.
When man shuns these because they are opposed to the Word,
and so opposed to God,
and because they are from hell,
then man lives according to the laws of his religion,
and so far as he lives according to his religion
is he led by the Lord;
and so far as he is led by the Lord
are his works good;
for he is then led to do goods and to speak truths
for the sake of goods and for the sake of truths,
and not for the sake of self and the world;
uses are his enjoyments, and truths his delights.
Moreover, he is daily taught by the Lord
what he must do and what he must say,
also what he must preach or what he must write;
for when evils are removed
he is continually under the Lord's guidance and in enlightenment.
Yet he is not led and taught immediately by any dictate,
or by any perceptible inspiration,
but by an influx into his spiritual delight,
from which he has perception
according to the truths of which his understanding consists.
When he acts from this influx,
he appears to be acting as if from himself,
and yet he acknowledges in heart that it is from the Lord.
All angels are in such a state;
and all infants in heaven are being led by that way to heaven. 

Set a Guard Over My Mouth, O Lord

O Lord, I call to You; 
come quickly to me.
Here my voice when I call to You.
May my prayer be set before You like incense;
may the lifting up of my hand
be like the evening sacrifice.

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,
to take part in wicked deeds
with men who are evildoers;
let me not eat of their delicacies.

(Psalm 141:1-4)

AE 822 - works

AE 822 [2]

. . . all things of man's life are in his works,
since works seem to be mere movements,
which are called actions
because they are alive with man,
and are called speech
because they are effected by movements
of the mouth, tongue, and larynx.
And yet these are what make clear (manifest)
the charity and faith in man,
and also complete and perfect them;
and this for the reason
that neither faith nor charity is with man
until they actually exist;
and they actually exist in works.  

Search Me, O God

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
try me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any evil way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

(Psalm 139:23-24)

AE 819 - what falsifies the Word

AE 819 [4]

. . . reasonings from the natural man are what falsify the Word;
for the Word cannot be falsified
except by reasonings from the natural man.

Your Word, O Lord, Is Eternal

Your word, O Lord, is eternal;
it stands firm in the heavens.
Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
You established the earth, and it endures.
Your laws endure to this day,
for all things serve You.
If Your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget Your precepts,
for by them You have preserved my life.
Save me, for I am Yours;
I have sought out Your precepts.
The wicked are waiting to destroy me,
but I will ponder Your statutes.
To all perfection I see a limit;
but Your commands are boundless.

(Psalm 119:89-96)

AE 817 - there have been several churches

AE 817 [2]

. . . there have been several churches on this earth,
namely, the Most Ancient, which was before the flood;
the Ancient, which was after the flood;
the Jewish, which followed the Ancient;
and lastly the Christian Church.
All of these churches degenerated in process of time
into two enormous errors,
into one which adulterated all the goods of the church,
and into the other which falsified all its truths.
The church that adulterated all the goods of the church
is described in the Word by the "Babylonians and Chaldeans;"
and the church that falsified all the truths of the church
is described by "Cain," by "Reuben," and by the "Philistines,"
and by the "he-goat" in Daniel
which fought with the ram and overcame it. 

Glory to the Lord

Not to us, O Lord, not to us
but to Your name be the glory,
because of Your love and faithfulness.

How can I repay the Lord
for all His goodness toward me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord.
I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all His people.

(Psalm 115:1, 116:12-14)

AE 815 - her faith, her tears

AE 815 [6, 10]

Jesus said to the woman who was a sinner,
and who made His feet wet with her tears,
and wiped them with the hair of her head,
and kissed His feet,
which she also anointed with oil,
Thy sins are forgiven thee;
thy faith hath saved thee;
go in peace.
(John 7:38, 48, 50)
 
From this it is clear
that it was faith in the Lord's omnipotence that healed them,
and that the same faith remitted, that is, removed, sins.
The reason of this was
that this woman not only had faith
in the Divine omnipotence of the Lord,
but also loved Him,
for she kissed His feet.
Wherefore the Lord said,
"Thy sins are forgiven thee, thy faith hath saved thee,"
because faith makes the Divine of the Lord to be present,
and love conjoins.
It is possible, however,
for the Lord to be present and not be conjoined;
from which it is evident that it is faith from love that saves. 


. . . he who is in faith from the Lord
asks for nothing but what contributes to the Lord's kingdom
and to himself for salvation,
other things he does not wish,
saying in his heart,
Why should I ask for what does not contribute to this use?

The Wondrous Lord

Praise the Lord.

I will extol the Lord with all my heart
in the council of the upright and in the assembly.

Great are the works of the Lord;
they are pondered by all who delight in them.
Glorious and majestic are His deeds,
and His righteousness endures forever.
He has caused His wonders to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
He provides food for those who fear Him;
He remembers His covenant forever.
He has shown His people the power of His works,
giving them the lands of other nations.
The works of His hands are faithful and just;
all His precepts are trustworthy.
They are steadfast for ever and ever,
done in faithfulness and uprightness.
He provided redemption for His people;
He ordained His covenant forever -
holy and awesome is His name.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow His precepts have good understanding.
To Him belongs eternal praise.

(Psalm 111)

AE 815 - The Diseases Healed by the Lord

AE 815 [5]

. . . all the diseases healed by the Lord
represented and thus signified the spiritual diseases
that correspond to these natural diseases;
and spiritual diseases can be healed only by the Lord,
and in fact
by looking to His Divine omnipotence
and by repentance of life.
This is why He sometimes said,
"Thy sins are forgiven thee; go and sin no more."
This faith also was represented and signified
by their miraculous faith;
but the faith by which spiritual diseases
are healed by the Lord
can be given only through truths from the Word
and a life according to them;
the truths themselves and the life itself according to them
make the quality of the faith. 

Praise the Lord, O My Soul

Praise the Lord, O my soul;
all my inmost being,
praise His holy name.

Praise the Lord, O my soul;
and forget not all His benefits -
Who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
Who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The Lord works righteousness and justice
for all the oppressed.

He made known His ways to Moses,
His deeds to the people of Israel:
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger,
abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will He harbor His anger forever;
He does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His love for those who fear Him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him;
for He knows how we are formed,
He remembers that we are dust.

As for man,
his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord's love is with those who fear Him,
and His righteousness with their children's children -
with those who keep His covenant
and remember to obey His precepts.

The Lord has established His throne in heaven,
and His kingdom rules over all.

Praise the Lord, you His angels,
you mighty ones who do His bidding,
who obey His word.
Praise the Lord, all His heavenly hosts,
you His servants who do His will.
Praise the Lord,
all His works everywhere in His dominion.

Praise the Lord, O my soul.

(Psalm 103)

AE 810 [5] - the trinity is in the Lord

AE 810 [5]

. . . God is one and not three,
and the trinity is in the Lord;
consequently when the Lord is approached
the Father and the Holy Spirit
are at the same time approached.

The Lord Knows

Take heed, you senseless ones among the people;
you fools, when will you become wise?
Does He who implanted the ear not hear?
Does He who formed the eye not see?
Does He who disciplines nations not punish?
Does He who teaches man lack knowledge?
The Lord knows the thoughts of man;
He know that they are futile.

Blessed is the man You discipline, O Lord,
the man You teach from Your law;
You grant him relief from days of trouble,
till a pit is dug for the wicked.
For the Lord will not reject His people;
He will never forsake His inheritance.
Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.

(Psalm 94:8-15)

AE 808 - "If anyone has an ear . . ."

AE 808

If any one has an ear
let him hear . . ."
(Revelation 13:9)

. . . these words signify also the reception of Divine truth
by those who are in the understanding of it.
Those who are in the perception of good are also meant,
because "to have an ear and to hear"
signifies both to understand truth and to perceive good;
to understand truth pertains to thought,
and to perceive good pertains to affection;
and both pertain to the ear or to hearing,
since what enters the ear
passes into the sight of the understanding
and also into the affection of the will;
and for this reason the "ear" and "hearing"
signify hearkening and obedience.
So "to hear" anyone signifies to understand,
and "to give ear to" anyone signifies to obey,
and both are meant by "hearkening."  

The Favor of the Lord

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us -
yes, establish the work of our hands.

(Psalm 90:17)

AE 805 - to put it simply

AE 805 [5, 6, 9]

. . . sins can be annulled
only by repentance of life
by him who has sinned.

. . . it is blasphemy to say
that a man can live wickedly
and yet live from the Lord.

. . . intelligence is from the truths in the Word,
and . . . wisdom is from truths in act,
which are called goods.

Hear Me, O Lord, Teach Me

Hear, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
Guard my life,
for I am devoted to You.
You are my God;
save Your servant who trusts in You.
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I call to You all day long.
Bring joy to Your servant,
for to You, O Lord,
I lift up my soul.

Teach me Your way, O Lord,
and I will walk in Your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear Your name.
I will praise You, O Lord my God,
will all my heart;
I will glorify Your name forever.
For great is Your love toward me;
You have delivered me
from the depths of the grave.

(Psalm 86:1-7; 11-13)

AE 803 - living the life of faith in belief and love

AE 803 [2-4]

It is known that faith from love
is the essential means of salvation,
and thus is the principle of the doctrine of the church;
but since it is important to know
how a man can be in such enlightenment
as to learn the truths that must constitute his faith
and in such affection as to do the goods
that must constitute his love,
and thus can know whether his faith is a belief in truth
and his love a love of good,
this shall be told in its proper order, as follows:

(1) Let him read the Word every day, one or two chapters,
and learn from a master and from preachings
the dogmas of his religion;
and especially let him learn that God is one,
and that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth
(John 3:35; 17:2; Matt. 11:27; 28:18),
that the Word is holy,
that there is a heaven and a hell,
and that there is a life after death.

(2) Let him learn from the Word,
from a master, and from preachings,
what works are sins,
and that they are especially
adulteries, thefts, murders, false witness,
and the others mentioned in the Decalogue;
likewise that lascivious and obscene thoughts
are also adulteries,
that frauds and illicit gains are also thefts,
that hatred and revenge are also murders,
and that lies and blasphemies are also false witness;
and so on.
Let him learn all these things from childhood to youth.

(3) When man begins to think for himself,
which is the case after he has grown up,
it must be to him the first and chief thing
to refrain from doing evils
for the reason that they are sins against the Word,
thus against God,
and for the reason that if he does them he will gain,
not life eternal, but hell;
and afterwards as he grows up and becomes old
he must shun them as damned,
and must turn away from them in thought and intention.
But in order to so refrain from them
and shun and turn away from them,
he must pray to the Lord for help.
The sins he must refrain from
and must shun and turn away from
are chiefly adulteries, frauds, illicit gains, hatreds,
revenges, lies, blasphemies, and elation of mind.

(4) So far as man detests these evils
because they are opposed to the Word,
and thence opposed to God,
so far there is granted him communication with the Lord,
and conjunction is effected with heaven.
For the Lord enters,
and with the Lord 
heaven enters,
as sins are removed;
since these and their falsities are the sole hindrances.
The reason is because man has been placed in the midst
between heaven and hell,
wherefore hell acts from the one side,
and heaven from the other;
therefore so far as evils that are from hell are removed,
so far goods from heaven enter; for the Lord says:

Behold I stand at the door and knock;
if anyone hear and open the door,
I will come in to him.
(Revelation 3:20) 

But if man refrains from doing these evils
for any other reason than because they are sins,
and are opposed to the Word and because thence to God,
no conjunction of heaven with him is effected,
because his refraining is from self,
and not from the Lord.
The Lord is in the Word,
even so that He is called the Word (John 1:1-4),
because the Word is from Him;
consequently the conjunction of heaven
with the man of the church
is by means of the Word.

I Will Remember

I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember Your miracles of long ago.
I will meditate on all Your works
and consider all Your mighty deeds.

(Psalm 77:11-12)

AE 800 - becoming spiritual

AE 800 [2]

. . . faith and life make one,
like affection and thought,
like will and understanding,
like heat and light in the time of spring and summer,
from the conjunction of which comes all germination,
and like truth and good,
when truth is put in place of faith,
and good in place of life.

Such affirm within themselves
that no one who lives wickedly can have faith,
but only he who lives well,
and that one who lives wickedly cannot receive faith
unless he performs repentance of life
by seeking out his evils and desisting from them;
likewise that one who lives wickedly 
cannot, in his spirit or in himself,
have any other faith than a belief in falsity,
however he may profess with the mouth a belief in truth.
Therefore the life of those
who so conjoin life and faith 
in profession and in works 
is charity,
and their faith is the thought that a thing is so in truth.
The faith of such is spiritual
so far as they know truths from the Word,
and live according to them,
for faith becomes spiritual from the life,
and so far as man from them becomes spiritual
heaven is opened to him. 

My Refuge, My Hope

In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
Rescue me and deliver me in Your righteousness;
turn Your ear to me and save me.
Be my Rock of Refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for You are my rock and my fortress.
Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of evil and cruel men.

But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise You more and more.
My mouth will tell of Your righteousness,
of Your salvation all day long,
though I know not its measure.
I will come and proclaim Your mighty acts,
O Sovereign Lord;
I will proclaim Your righteousness, Yours alone.
Since my youth, O God, You have taught me,
and to this day
I declare Your marvelous deeds.

(Psalm 71:1-4, 14-17)

AE 799 - tabernacles and tents

AE 799 [3]

How good are thy tabernacles O Jacob,
thy tents O Israel.
(Numbers 24:5)

Here and elsewhere in the Word
both tabernacles and tents are mentioned;
and a "tabernacle" signifies the church consisting of those
who are in the good of love to the Lord;
and the "tent" signifies the church consisting of those
who are in truths from that good;
and as doctrine and worship therefrom constitute the church,
a "tabernacle" signifies the doctrine of the good of love,
and a "tent" the doctrine of truth from that good.
So, too, "tabernacles," in the plural,
signify the goods of the church and of doctrine,
and "tents" the truths of the church and of doctrine.
This makes clear the signification of those words of David,
"How good are thy tabernacles O Jacob,
thy tents O Israel,"
"Jacob" signifying the church
that is in the good of doctrine and of life,
and "Israel" the church that is in truths from good.  

Come and Listen

Come and listen, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what He has done for me.
I cried out to Him with my mouth;
His praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.
Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld His love from me!

(Psalm 66:16-20)

AE 795 - conjunction with the Lord

AE 795

. . . the conjunction of the Lord with man
is like the conjunction of good with truth.
Good is from the Lord,
and truths are with man,
but they are truths that are not yet living.
But as man receives good in truths
so he receives the Lord into himself and lives;
and he receives
in the measure in which he abstains from evils,
and from the Word shuns and turns away from them,
for thus he shuns and turns away from them
from the Lord and not from self. 

The Lord Speaks

The Mighty One, God, the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun
to the place where it sets.
From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.

(Psalm 50:1-2)

AE 790 - opening the spiritual mind

AE 790 [4, 6, 10]

In the Word
there are truths that are to be known and thought,
and goods that must be willed and done;
therefore it is by these goods and these truths
that man's spiritual mind is opened and formed.

The spiritual mind is primarily opened
by man's abstaining from doing evils
because they are contrary
to the Divine commandments in the Word.

For no man is a man from his natural mind;
from that he is rather a beast;
but he becomes a man
through intelligence and wisdom from the Lord,
and so far as he is intelligent and wise
he is a beautiful man and an angel of heaven.
. . . From this it can be seen
that man is not a man from his parents,
but from the Lord,
of whom he is born and created anew.

By Day and By Night

By day the Lord directs His love,
at night His song is with me -
a prayer to the God of my life.

(Psalm 42:8)

AE 786 - When Doctrine Disagrees With the Word

AE 786

. . . when doctrine disagrees with the Word
there is no longer a church,
but only a religion that counterfeits the church.

Be Still and Be Patient

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret - it leads only to evil.
For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the Lord
will inherit the land.

(Psalm 37:7-9)

AE 785 - Deeds and Doing, Love and Loving

AE 785 [6]

. . . those passages in the Word
where "deeds" and "doing" are mentioned
there are also very many
where "love" and "loving" are mentioned;
and "loving" means the like as "doing,"
since he that loves does,
for to love is to will,
since everyone wills what he interiorly loves;
and to will is to do,
since everyone does that which he wills when he is able.

Blessed Is He

Blessed is he
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man
whose sin the Lord does not count against him
and in whose spirit is no deceit.

When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night
Your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.  Selah.

Then I acknowledged my sin to You
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, "I will confess my transgression to the Lord" --
and You forgave the guilt of my sin.  Selah.

(Psalm 32:1-5)

AE 781 - natural conclusions

AE 781 [4]

The many things that man reasons
and forms conclusions about
from the natural man without spiritual light, that is,
without the light of the understanding enlightened by the Lord,
are called fallacies,
for the natural man takes the ideas of his thought
from earthly, corporeal, and worldly things,
which in themselves are material;
and when a man's thought is not elevated above these
he thinks materially about things spiritual;
and material thought without spiritual light
derives everything from the loves of the natural man
and from their delights,
which are contrary to heavenly loves and their delights. 

The Ways of the Lord

Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore He instructs sinners in His ways.
He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them His way.
All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
for those who keep the demands of His covenant.

(Psalm 25:8-10)

AE 780 - doing good

AE 780 [4]

. . . to do good from the Word,
that is, because it is commanded in the Word,
is to do good from the Lord . . ..

The Lord Protects

He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
He drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a spacious place;
He rescued me because He delighted in me.

The Lord has dealt with me
according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands
He has rewarded me.
For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
I have not done evil by turning from my God.
All His laws are before me:
I have not turned away from His decrees.
I have been blameless before Him
and have kept myself from sin.
The Lord has rewarded me
according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands
in His sight.

You, O Lord, kept my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.

(Psalm 18:16-24, 28)
 

AE 776 - all power belongs to truth

AE 776

. . . all power belongs to truths;
nevertheless, falsities from the fallacies of the senses
and reasonings from these
do have much power with men on earth
before they are in truths from good, that is,
before they are regenerated by the Lord.

A Refuge, A Stronghold

The Lord reigns forever;
He has established His throne for judgment.
He will judge the world in righteousness;
He will govern the peoples with justice.

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know Your name
will trust in You,
for You, Lord,
have never forsaken those who seek you.

(Psalm 9:7-10)

AE 774 - from ourselves

AE 774 [4, 5]

. . . no man has or can have
a freedom to do good from himself,
since man is merely a recipient;
consequently the good that man receives is not man's
but is the Lord's with him.
Nor do angels even have any good
except from the Lord;
and the more they acknowledge and perceive this
the more they are angels,
that is, higher and wiser than the others.

. . . to love what is good, sincere, and just,
and from love to will it,
is from the Lord alone.

Deliverance

From the Lord comes deliverance.
May Your blessing be on Your people.

(Psalm 3:8)

AE 768 - "The Seed of . . ."

AE 768 [13, 16]

The seed of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
(Deuteronomy 4:37; 10:15; 11:9)

Since. . . the Lord is meant
by "Abraham," "Isaac," and "Jacob;"
by "Abraham" the Lord in reference
to the celestial Divine of the church;
by "Isaac" in reference to the spiritual Divine of the church,
and by "Jacob" in reference to the natural Divine of the church,
so their "seed" signifies Divine truth proceeding from the Lord;
"the seed of Abraham" signifying celestial Divine truth;
"the seed of Isaac" spiritual Divine truth,
and "the seed of Jacob" natural Divine truth;
consequently those also are meant
who are in Divine truth from the Lord.
But the "land which the Lord will give to them"
means the church which is in Divine truth from Him;
and so it may be known what is signified by
"in their seed shall all nations be blessed;"
for they could not be blessed in their posterity,
namely, in the Jewish and Israelitish nation,
but they were to be blessed
in the Lord and from the Lord
by the reception of Divine truth from Him.

. . . for truths of doctrine from the Word,
or the truths of the Word,
are all from good;
and these are meant by "the seed of David" . . ..

 

Josiah, King of Judah

Then the king called together
all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
He went up to the temple of the Lord with the men of Judah,
the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets --
all the people from the least to the greatest.
He read in their hearing
all the words of the Book of the Covenant,
which had been found in the temple of the Lord.
The king stood by the pillar
and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord -
to follow the Lord
and keep His commands, regulations and decrees
with all his heart and all his soul,
thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book.
Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

(II Kings 23:1-3)

AE 764 - saving faith

AE 764 [2]

. . . it is according to doctrine that faith produces fruits,
which are good works,
and that the faith that justifies and saves
is believing what is in the Word,
and doing it.

Samaria Resettled

The king of Assyria brought people
from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim
and settled them in the towns of Samaria
to replace the Israelites.
They took over Samaria and lived in its towns.
When they first lived there,
they did not worship the Lord;
so He sent lions among them
and they killed some of the people.
It was reported to the king of Assyria:
"The people you deported
and resettled in the towns of Samaria
do not know what the God of that country requires.
He has sent lions among them,
which are killing them off,
because the people do not know what He requires.

Then the king of Assyria gave this order:
"Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria
go back to live there
and teach the people what the God of the land requires."
So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria
came to live in Bethel
and taught them how to worship the Lord.

Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods
in the several towns where they settled,
and set them up in the shrines
the people of Samaria had made at the high places.
The men from Babylon made Succoth Benoth,
the men from Cuthah made Nergal,
and the men from Hamath made Ashima;
the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak,
and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire
as sacrifices to Adrammelech and Anamelech,
gods of Sepharvaim.
They worshiped the Lord,
but they also appointed all sorts of their own people
to officiated for them as priests
in the shrines at the high places.
They worshiped the Lord,
but they also served their own gods
in accordance with the customs of of the nations
from which they had been brought.

(II Kings 17:24-33)

AE 758 - opposite loves

AE 758 [2]

All who are in the hells
are in the loves of self and the world,
but all who are in the heavens
are in love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor,
and these loves are direct opposites.
Those who are in the loves of self and of the world
love nothing but what is their own [proprium],
and what is man's own is nothing but evil;
but those who are in love to the Lord
and love towards the neighbor
do not love what is their own,
for they love the Lord above self,
and the neighbor beyond self.
Moreover, they are withheld from what is their own,
and are held in the Lord's own [proprium],
which is the Divine.
Furthermore, all the delights of life are delights of loves;
the delights of the loves of self and of the world
are the delights of various kinds of hatred,
but the delights of love to the Lord
and love towards the neighbor
are the delights of various kinds of charity,
and the former are the direct opposites of the latter . . ..

Elisha's Bones

Elisha died and was buried.

Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring.
Once while some Israelites were burying a man,
suddenly they saw a band of raiders;
so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb.
When the body touched Elisha's bones,
the man came to life and stood up on his feet.

(II Kings 13:20-21)

AE 752, 753, 754 - how the spiritual overcomes the natural and sensual

AE 752

. . . man is born sensual and natural, that is, as if in hell,
because into evils of every kind;
but by regeneration he becomes spiritual,
and by it he is drawn out of hell
and raised up into heaven by the Lord.

AE 753

. . . for the natural man is in those evils (from hell) from birth,
and unless he becomes also spiritual
continues in them;
for when man becomes spiritual
he has communion with the heavens,
and receives goods therefrom,
and goods received
from the Lord through heaven
removes evils,
which is effected solely by means of a life 
according to the commandments from the Word.

AE 754 [1,2]

To live from the Word
is to live from the Lord,
for the Lord is in the Word,
yes, He is the Word.

. . . those who do not live from the Word
but from the world,
since they continue natural,
receive evils and the falsities from evils from hell,
and conceive from them hatred
against spiritual truths and goods.

Jehu

So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel.
However, he did not turn away
from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat,
which he caused Israel to commit -
the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.

The Lord said to Jehu,
"Because you have done well
in accomplishing what is right in My eyes
and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do,
your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel
to the fourth generation."
Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the Lord,
the God of Israel,
with all his heart.
He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam,
which he had caused Israel to commit.

(II Kings 28-31)

AE 748 - apparent truth

AE 748 [2]

. . . when the apparent truth is taken for the real truth,
and is confirmed,
then the Word is falsified . . .

The Shunammite's Land Restored

Now Elisha had said to the woman
whose son he had restored to life,
"Go away with your family
and stay for a while wherever you can,
because the Lord has decreed a famine in the land
that will last seven years."
The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said.
She and her family went away
and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.

At the end of the seven years
she came back from the land of the Philistines
and went to the king to beg her for her house and land.
The king was talking to Gehazi,
the servant of the man of God, and had said,
"Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done."
Just as Gehazi was telling the king
how Elisha had restored the dead to life,
the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life
came to beg the king for her house and land.

Gehazi said, "This is the woman, my lord the king,
and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life."
The king asked the woman about it,
and she told him.

Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him,
"Give back everything that belonged to her,
including all the income from her land
from the day she left the country until now."

(II Kings 8:1-6)

AE 746 - teachers, fathers, brethren

AE 746 [13]

Be ye not called teacher,
for one is your Teacher, Christ;
but all ye are brethren.
And call no man your father upon earth,
for one is your Father who is in the heavens.
(Matthew 23:8, 9)

In the natural sense men may be called teachers and fathers,
but representatively; that is to say,
teachers in the world teach truths indeed,
but from the Lord, not from themselves,
and fathers in the world are good,
and lead their children to good,
but from the Lord, not from themselves.
From this it follows
that although they are called teachers and fathers
still they are not teachers and fathers,
but the Lord alone is Teacher and Father.
"To call" and "to call by a name"
signifies in the Word to recognize the quality of anyone.
Because all in heaven and in the church
are disciples and sons of the Lord,
who is their Teacher and their Father,
the Lord says, "all ye are brethren;"
for the Lord calls all in heaven and in the church
"sons and heirs" from their consociation by love from Him,
and thus by mutual love, which is charity;
therefore it is from the Lord that they are brethren.
In this way the common saying
that all are brethren in the Lord
is to be understood.

Three Kings and Elisha

So the king of Israel set out
with the king of Judah and the king of Edom.
After a round-about march of seven days,
the army had no more water
for themselves or for the animals with them.

"What!" exclaimed the king of Israel.
"Has the Lord called these three kings together
only to hand us over to Moab?"

But Jehoshaphat asked,
"Is there no prophet of the Lord here,
that we may inquire of the Lord through him?"
An officer of the king of Israel answered,
"Elisha son of Shaphat is here.
He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah."

Jehoshaphat said, "The word of the Lord is with him."
So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat
and the king of Edom went down to him.

Elisha said to the king of Israel,
"What do we have to do with each other?
Go to the prophets of your father
and the prophets of your mother."

"No," the king of Israel answered,
"because it was the Lord
who called these three kings together 
to hand us over to Moab."

Elisha said, "As surely and the Lord Almighty lives,
whom I serve,
if I did not have respect for the presence
of Jehoshaphat king of Judah,
I would not look at you or even notice you.
But now bring me a harpist."

While the harpist was playing,
the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha . . ..

(II Kings 3:9-15)

AE 745 - "who receive with heart and soul"

AE 745 [2]

It is said "who receive with heart and soul,"
meaning with love and faith,
likewise with the will and understanding;
for in the Word
when "soul and heart" are both mentioned
"soul" signifies faith, likewise understanding,
and "heart" signifies love, likewise will;
for soul [anima] means there in the ultimate sense
the respiration of man,
which is also called his "spirit" [or breath],
and the verb animare means to respire;
also when a man dies
he is said "to give up the ghost" [emittere animam et spirituum].
Moreover, it is also from correspondence
that "soul" signifies faith, also the understanding,
and that "heart" signifies love, as also the will;
for faith and understanding correspond
to the breathing [animatio] or respiration of the lungs,
and the love and will correspond
to the motion and pulsation of the heart . . ..

Micaiah's Prophesy

So the king of Israel brought together the prophets -
about four hundred men - and asked them,
"Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?"

"Go," they answered,
"for the Lord will give it into the king's hand."

But Jehoshaphat asked,
"Is there not a prophet of the Lord here
whom we can inquire of?"

The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat,
"There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the Lord,
but I hate him
because he never prophesies anything good about me,
but always bad.  He is Micaiah son of Imlah."

"The king should not say that," Jehoshaphat replied.

So the king of Israel called on of his officials and said,
"Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once."

The messenger had had gone to summon Micaiah said to him,
"Look, as one man
the other prophets are predicting success for the king.
Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably."

But Micaiah said, "As surely as the Lord lives,
I can tell him only what the Lord tells me."

When he arrived, the king asked him,
"Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead,
or shall I refrain?

"Attack and be victorious," he answered,
"For the Lord will give it into the king's hand."

The king said to him,
"How many times must I make you swear
to tell me nothing but the truth
in the name of the Lord?"

Then Micaiah answered, "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills
like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said,
"These people have no master.  Let each go home in peace."

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you
that he never prophesies anything good about me,
but only bad?"

Micaiah continued, "Therefore hear the word of the Lord.
I saw the Lord sitting on His throne
with all the host of heaven standing around Him
on His right and on His left.
And the Lord said,
'Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead
and going to his death there?'

"One suggested this, and another that.
Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said,
"I will entice him.'

"'By what means?' the Lord asked.

"'I will go out and be a lying spirit
in the mouths of all his prophets,' he answered.

"'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the Lord.
'Go and do it.'

"So now the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths
of all these prophets of yours.
The Lord has decreed disaster for you."

Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up
and slapped Micaiah in the face.
"Which way did the spirit from the Lord go
when he went from me to speak to you?" he asked.

Micaiah replied, "You will find out
on the day you go to hide in an inner room."

The king of Israel then ordered,
"Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city
and to Joash the king's son and say,
'This is what the king says:  Put this fellow in prison
and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.'"

Micaiah declared, "If you ever return safely,
the Lord has not spoken through me.
The he added, "Mark my words, all you people."

(I Kings 22:6-9;13-28)

AE 741 - fire

AE 741 [23]

. . . the Lord appears to every one
according to what is his quality,
to the good as a recreating fire,
and to the evil as a consuming fire.

Elijah on Mount Carmel

So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him,
and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
When he saw Elijah, he said to him,
"Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"

"I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied.
"But you and your father's family have.
You have abandoned the Lord's commands
and have followed the Baals.
Now summon the people from all over Israel
to meet me on Mount Carmel.
And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal
and the four hundred prophets of Asherah,
who eat at Jezebel's table."

So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel
and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.
Elijah went before the people and said,
"How long will you waver between two opinions?
If the Lord is God, follow Him;
but if Baal is God, follow him."

But the people said nothing.

Then Elijah said to them,
"I am the only one of the Lord's prophets left,
but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.
Get two bulls for us.
Let them choose one for themselves,
and let them cut it into pieces
and put it on the wood but not set fire to it.
I will prepare the other bull
and put it on the wood but not set fire to it.
Then you call on the name of your god,
and I will call on the name of the Lord.
The god who answers by fire - He is God."

Then all the people said, "What you say is good."

Elijah said to the prophets of Baal,
"Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first,
since there are so many of you.
Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire."
So they took the bull given them and prepared it.

Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon.
"O Baal, answer us!" they shouted.
But there was no response; no one answered.
And they danced around the altar they had made.

At noon Elijah began to taunt them.
"Shout louder!" he said.  "Surely he is a god! 
Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling.
Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened."
So they shouted louder
and slashed themselves with swords and spears,
as was their custom, until their blood flowed.
Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying
until the time for the evening sacrifice.
But there was no response,
no one answered, no one paid attention.

Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me."
They came to him,
and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which was in ruins.
Elijah took twelve stones,
one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob,
to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying,
"Your name shall be Israel."
With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord,
and he dug a trench around it
large enough to hold two seahs of seed.
He arranged the wood,
cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood.
Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water
and pour it on the offering and on the wood."

"Do it again," he said, and they did it again.

"Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time.
The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

At the time of sacrifice,
the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed:
"O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
let it be known today that You are God in Israel
and that I am your servant
and have done all these things at Your command.
Answer me, O Lord, answer me,
so these people will know that You, O Lord, are God,
and that You are turning their hearts back again."

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice,
the wood, the stones and the soil,
and also licked up the water in the trench.

When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried,
"The Lord - He is God!  The Lord - He is God!"

Then Elijah commanded them,
"Seize the prophets of Baal.  Don't let anyone get away!"
They seized them,
and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley
and slaughtered there.

And Elijah said to Ahab,
"Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain."
So Ahab went off to eat and drink,
but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel,
bent down to the ground
and put his face between his knees.

"Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant.
And he went up and looked.

"There is nothing there," he said.

Seven times Elijah said, "Go Back."

The seventh time the servant reported,
"A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea."

So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab,
'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'"

Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds,
the wind rose, a heavy rain came on
and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.
The power of the Lord came upon Elijah
and, tucking his cloak into his belt,
he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

(I Kings 18:16-46)

AE 740 - faith

AE 740 [11]

. . . faith without charity is the faith of falsity.

Asa and Ahab Become Kings

In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel,
Asa became king of Judah,
and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years.
His grandmother's name was Maacah
daughter of Abishalom.

Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord,
as his father David had done.
He expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land
and got rid of all the idols his fathers had made.
He even deposed his grandmother Maacah
from her position as queen mother,
because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole.
Asa cut the pole down and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
Although he did not remove the high places,
Asa's heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life.

In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah,
Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel,
and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years.
Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord
than any of those before him.
He not only considered it trivial
to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat,
but he also married Jezebel
daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians,
and began to serve Baal and worship him.
He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal
that he built in Samaria.
Ahab also made and Asherah pole
and did more to provoke
the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger
than did all the kings of Israel before him.

(I Kings 15:9-14; 16:29-33)

AE 739 - protection of the spiritual; the difference in the sensual and the celestial

AE 739 [3,10]

For the spiritual man is in heaven
and the natural in the world,
and so far as heaven, that is, the Lord through heaven,
can flow in through the spiritual man into the natural,
so far evils and the falsities from the evils,
which, as was said, have their seat in the natural man,
are removed;
for the Lord removes them,
as He removes hell from heaven.
The interior degree with man can be opened in no other way,
because the evils and falsities that are in the natural man
keep it closed up;
for the spiritual degree, that is, the spiritual mind,
contracts itself
against evil and the falsity of evil of every kind
as a fibril of the body does at the touch of a sharp point;
for like as the fibers of the body contract themselves
at every harsh touch,
so does man's interior mind,
which is called the spiritual mind,
at the touch or breath of evil or the falsity from the evil.
But on the other hand, when things homogeneous,
which are Divine truths from the Word
that derive their essence from good,
approach that mind,
it opens itself;
yet the opening is effected not otherwise
than by the reception of the good of love
flowing in through heaven from the Lord,
and by its conjunction with the truths
that man has stored up in his memory,
and this conjunction is only effected
by a life according to Divine truths in the Word,
for when these truths come to be of the life
they are called goods.

. . . the sensual man believes that he knows all things,
and that nothing is concealed from him;
but not so the celestial man,
who knows that he knows nothing from himself
but only from the Lord,
and that what he does know is so little
as to be scarcely anything
as compared with what he does not know.

King Rehoboam and King Jeroboam

When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned,
they sent and called him to the assembly
and made him king over all Israel.
Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem,
he mustered the whole house of Judah
and the tribe of Benjamin -
a hundred and eighty thousand fighting men -
to make war against the house of Israel
and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.

But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God:
"Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah,
to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin,
and to the rest of the people,
'This is what the Lord says:
Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites.
Go home, every one of you,
for this is My doing.'"
So they obeyed the word of the Lord
and went home again,
as the Lord had ordered.

(I Kings 12:20-24)

AE 734 [24, 25, 26] - wars

AE 734 [24, 25, 26]

. . . evil will fight with evil
and falsity with falsity,
for evils never agree among themselves
nor falsities among themselves;
this is why churches are divided,
and so many heresies have arisen . . .

. . . in the Word, "wars" signify spiritual wars,
which are the combats of falsity against truth
and of truth against falsity . . .

. . . it is always those who are in falsities who attack,
while those who are in truths only defend;
but in reference to the Lord,
He never even resists,
but merely protects truths.

A Portion of Solomon's Dedication Prayer

. . . when a prayer or plea is made
by any of Your people Israel -
each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart,
and spreading out his hands toward this temple -
then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place.
Forgive and act;
deal with each man according to all he does,
since You know his heart
(for You alone know the hearts of all men),
so that they will fear You
all the time they live in the land You gave our fathers.

(I Kings 8:38-40)