AE 1112, 1114, 1115 - Separation From and Being In the Lord

AE 1112 [2]

. . . the Lord does not separate Himself from such (the evil),
but that they separate themselves from the Lord;
for the Lord regards everyone from the face
and not from the back of the head;
and for this reason
the angels of heaven
have the Lord continually before their face,
and this whichever way they turn,
but evil spirits turn the face away from the Lord
and turn to Him the back part of the head,
and thus they separate themselves from Him.
The falsities from evils that are with them are what do this.

AE 1114

. . . it is attributed to the Lord Himself that He is angry,
that He punishes, and thus that He acts from revenge;
and yet anger and revenge are not possible in the Lord,
and consequently not in those
who are led by the Lord and live from Him.

AE 1115 [5]

An angel is not an angel from what is his own,
but from the Divine that he receives from the Lord.

As You Have Done

"The day of the Lord is near for all nations.
As you have done,
it will be done to you;
your deeds will return upon your own head.
Just as you drank on My holy hill,
so all the nations will drink continually;
they will drink and drink
and be as if they had never been.
But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;
it will be holy . . .."

(Obadiah 1:15-17)

AE 1108 - One Man Who Is God

AE 1108 [2]

. . . the soul does not change itself into body,
nor so mingle itself with body as to become body,
but it takes a body to itself.
Thus soul and body, although the two are distinct,
are still one man,
and in respect to the Lord,
one Christ, that is, one Man who is God.

The Lord God Almighty

He who forms the mountains,
creates the wind,
and reveals His thoughts to man,
He who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads the high places of the earth --
the Lord God Almighty is His name.

(Amos 4:13)


Seek good, not evil,
that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say He is.

(Amos 5:14)

AE 1106 - A Voice From Heaven

AE 1106

. . . every thing a man absorbs from the Word
is a voice from heaven . . ..

 

AE 1105 - Thinking About the Lord

AE 1105 [3, 5]

. . . those who separate the Divine from His Human,
and do not think that the Divine is in His Human
as the soul is in the body,
and that the two are one Person,
may fall into strange ideas about the Lord,
even into an idea like that of a man separated from his soul.
Take heed, therefore,
not to think of the Lord as a man like yourself,
but think of the Lord as Man who is God.


That the Divine is in the Lord's Human
as the soul is in the body
the Word teaches and testifies in Matthew and in Luke.

When Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,
before they came together,
she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
And an angel said to Joseph in a dream,
Fear not to take Mary thy bride,
for that which is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit.
And Joseph knew her not
till she had brought forth her firstborn son,
and he called his name Jesus. 
(Matthew 1:18, 20, 25)

The angel said to Mary,
Behold thou shalt conceive in the womb,
and bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus.
Mary said to the angel,
How shall this be, since I know not a man?
The angel answered and said unto her,
The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee,
and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee,
therefore that Holy One that is born of thee
shall be called the Son of God.
(Luke 1:31-32, 34-35)

All this makes clear
that the Divine was in the Lord from conception,
and that the Divine was His life from the Father,
which life is the soul.

The Lord's Army

Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on My holy hill.
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is close at hand --
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was of old
nor ever will be in ages to come.

Before them the earth shakes,
the sky trembles,
the sun and moon are darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
The Lord thunders at the head of His army,
His forces are beyond number,
and mighty are those who obey His command.
The day of the Lord is great;
it is dreadful.
Who can endure it?

"Even now," declares the Lord,
"return to Me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning."

Rend your heart and not your garments.
Return to the Lord our God,
for He is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and He relents from sending calamity.
Who knows?
He may turn and have pity
and leave behind a blessing --
grain offerings and drink offerings
for the Lord your God.

(Joel 2:1-2, 10-14)

AE 1100 - Birds

AE 1100 [8, 20]

Jesus said, The kingdom of the heavens
is like unto a grain of mustard seed,
which a man took and sowed in his field,
and it became a tree,
so that the winged things of heaven come
and build nests in the branches thereof.
(Matthew 13:31-32; Mark 4:31-32; Luke 13:19)

"A tree from a grain of mustard seed"
signifies a man of the church,
and also a church beginning
from a very little spiritual good 
by means of truth;
for if only a very little spiritual good takes root with a man
it grows like a seed in good ground.
And as a "tree" thus signifies a man of the church,
it follows that "the winged things of heaven"
that made nests in its branches signify
the knowledges of truth and thoughts therefrom.
Anyone can see this is not a mere comparison,
for if it were,
what would be the need of such things in the Word
and of like things in the Prophets?

In Hosea:

Ephraim, as a bird shall his glory fly away,
from the birth and from the belly and from conception.
(Hosea 9:11)

I will not return to destroy Ephraim.
They shall go after Jehovah.
With honor shall they come as a bird out of Egypt,
and as a dove from the land of Assyria.
(Hos. 11:9-11)

"Ephraim" signifies
the understanding of the truths of the church;
and this is why he is compared to a bird,
and it is said, "as a bird shall his glory fly away."
Also in Hosea (7:12) he is compared to a bird,
for a "bird" signifies
everything pertaining to the understanding, including
the knowing, the thinking, and the reasoning faculties;
while everything that is delightful and pleasurable,
thus that pertains to the will and affection,
is signified by "beast and wild beast." 
"The bird from Egypt"
signifies the knowing faculty,
which pertains to the natural man;
and "the dove from Assyria" the rational faculty,
since "Egypt" signifies the knowing faculty,
and "Assyria" the rational faculty.
Here a church to be established by the Lord
is treated of. 

 

The Righteous Walk, The Rebellious Stumble

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
Take words with you and return to the Lord.
Say to Him:
"Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips."

Who is wise?
He will realize these things.
Who is discerning?
He will understand them.
The ways of the Lord are right;
the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.

(Hosea 14:1-2, 9)

AE 1096, 1097 - Thought About the Lord

AE 1096 [2], 1097 [3-4]

The first and foremost thought that opens heaven to man
is thought about God,
and for the reason that God is the all of heaven,
even to the extent that
whether we say heaven or God
it is the same thing.

Thought about God as Man,
in whom is the Divine trinity, that is, the trinity
called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
alone opens heaven;
while on the other hand thought about God as not Man,
which idea is presented in appearance as a little cloud,
or as nature in her least parts, closes heaven,
for God is Man,
as the whole angelic heaven in its complex is Man,
and every angel and every spirit is in consequence a man.
For this reason
thought about the Lord as being the God of the universe
is what alone opens heaven, for the Lord says:

The Father has given all things into the hand of the Son.
(John 3:35)

The Father has given the Son power over all flesh.
(John 17:2)

All things have been delivered to Me by the Father.
(Matthew 11:27)

All authority has been given unto Me
in heaven and on earth.
(Matthew 28:18)

All this makes clear
that man without such an idea of God as exists in heaven
cannot be saved.
The idea of God in heaven is the Lord,
for the angels of heaven are in the Lord
and the Lord is in them;
consequently to think of any other God than the Lord
is to them impossible.
Allow me to add that the idea of God as Man
has been implanted from heaven
in every nation throughout the whole world,
but what I lament,
it has been destroyed in Christendom.

For It Is Time

Sow for yourselves righteousness,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;
for it is time to seek the Lord,
until He comes and showers righteousness on you.

(Hosea 10:12)

AE 1092 - Where Are You?

AE 1092 [5]

. . . man is in the spiritual world with his head
as he is in the natural world with his body,
head meaning here his mind,
which consists of understanding, thought, will, and love,
and body here meaning his senses,
which are seeing, hearing, smelling, taste, and touch.
And as a man is in the spiritual world as to his head,
that is, as to his mind,
so he is either in heaven or in hell;
and where the mind is
there the whole man with the head and body is
when he becomes a spirit.
Moreover, man is wholly such as his conjunction is
with the societies of the spiritual world,
such an angel as his conjunction is
with the societies of heaven,
and such a devil as his conjunction is
with the societies of hell.

What Will the Outcome Be?

I heard, but I did not understand.  So I asked,
"My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?"

He replied, "Go your way, Daniel,
because the words are closed up and sealed
until the time of the end.
Many will be purified,
made spotless and refined,
but the wicked will continue to be wicked.
None of the wicked will understand,
but those who are wise will understand."

(Daniel 12:8-9)

AE 1088 - The Heart & Lungs and Their Containers of the Word

AE 1088 [2]

The Divine truth is what is called holy,
but only when it is in its ultimate,
and its ultimate is the Word in the sense of the letter;
therefore the Divine truth there is holy,
and may be called a sanctuary,
and for the reason that that sense contains and encloses
all the holy things of heaven and the church.

The appearance is that the Divine truths in the heavens,
which are called spiritual and celestial,
are more holy than the Divine truths
in the sense of the letter of the Word, which are natural;
but the Divine truths in the heavens,
which are called spiritual and celestial,
are comparatively like the lungs and heart in man,
which form the chest
only when they are encompassed by ribs,
and enclosed in the pleura and diaphragm;
for without these integuments
they could not perform their vital functions,
and even unless connected with them by bonds.
The spiritual things of the Word
are like the breathing of the lungs,
its celestial things
are like the systole and diastole of the heart,
and its natural things
are like the pleura, the diaphragm, and the ribs,
with the moving fibers attached,
by which the motions are made reciprocal. 

 

Those Who Are Wise

"Those who are wise will instruct many,
though for a time they will fall by the sword
or be burned or captured or plundered.
When they fall, they will receive a little help,
and many who are not sincere will join them.
Some of the wise will stumble,
so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless
until the time of the end,
for it will still come at the appointed time.

(Daniel 11:33-35)

AE 1083 - What We Read, What the Angels Understand

AE 1083 [2-8]

As there is a trine, one within another,
in every least particular of the Word,
and this trine is like that of effect, cause, and end,
it follows that there are three senses in the Word,
one within another,
namely, the natural, the spiritual, and the celestial;
the natural for the world,
the spiritual for the heavens of the Lord's spiritual kingdom,
and the celestial for the heavens of His celestial kingdom.
Now as there is one sense within another,
the first which is the sense of the letter for the natural world,
the second which is the internal sense
for the spiritual kingdom,
and the third which is the inmost for the celestial kingdom,
it follows that the natural man draws from it his sense,
the spiritual angel his sense,
and the celestial angel his sense,
thus everyone what is analogous to and in agreement with
his own essence and nature.
This takes place whenever a man who is led by the Lord
is reading the Word.

But let this be illustrated by examples.
When this commandment of the Decalogue is read:
"Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother,"
a man in the world understands by "father and mother"
a father and mother on the earth,
and also all who are or may be in the place
of father or mother;
and by "honoring" he understands to hold such in honor.
But an angel of the spiritual kingdom understands
by "father" the Divine good,
and by "mother" the Divine truth,
and by "honoring" loving;
while an angel of the celestial kingdom understands
by "father" the Lord,
and by "mother" heaven and the church,
and by "honoring" doing.

When the fifth commandment of the Decalogue,
"Thou shalt not steal," is read,
by "stealing" a man understands stealing, defrauding,
and taking away under any pretense his neighbor's goods.
But an angel of the spiritual kingdom
by "stealing" understands
depriving another of his truths and goods
by means of falsities and evils,
while an angel of the celestial kingdom by "not to steal"
understands not to attribute to himself
the things that are the Lord's,
as the good of love and the truth of faith;
for thereby good becomes not good,
and truth not truth,
because they are from men.

When the sixth commandment,
"Thou shalt not commit adultery," is read,
a man by "committing adultery"
understands committing adultery and whoredom,
also thinking filthy thoughts, speaking lasciviously,
and doing obscene things.
But an angel of the spiritual kingdom
by "committing adultery" understands
falsifying the truths of the Word and adulterating its goods,
while an angel of the celestial kingdom
by "committing adultery" understands
blaspheming against the Lord, heaven, and the church.

When the seventh commandment
"Thou shalt not kill," is read,
by "killing" a man understands hating and desiring revenge,
even to murder.
But an angel of the spiritual kingdom
by "killing" understands the killing of a man's soul
by stumbling blocks to the life and by reasonings,
whereby a man is led into spiritual death,
while an angel of the celestial kingdom
by "killing" understands seducing a man into believing
that there is no God and no heaven and no hell,
for thus man perishes as to eternal life.

When the eighth commandment,
"Thou shalt not bear false witness," is read,
a man by "false witness" understands lying and defamation.
But an angel of the spiritual kingdom
by "false witness" understands asserting, confirming,
and persuading that falsity is truth and evil is good,
or on the other hand that truth is falsity and good is evil,
while an angel of the celestial kingdom
by "false witness" understands
every falsity against the Lord,
and against heaven in favor of hell.

All this makes clear how a man draws
and calls forth from the Word in the letter the natural sense,
a spiritual angel the spiritual sense,
and a celestial angel the celestial sense,
much as the wood of a tree draws its sap,
the leaf its sap,
and the fruit its sap,
from the same soil.
And what is wonderful, this is done instantly,
without the angel's knowing what the man thinks,
or the man what the angel thinks,
and yet their thoughts are one by correspondences,
as end, cause, and effect are one.
Moreover, ends are actually in the celestial kingdom,
causes in the spiritual kingdom,
and effects in the natural world.

Nebuchadnezzar Learns

Immediately what had been said
about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled.
He was driven away from people
and ate grass like cattle.
His body was drenched with the dew of heaven
until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle
and his nails like the claws of a bird.

At the end of that time, I Nebuchadnezzar,
raised my eyes toward heaven,
and my sanity was restored.
Then I praised the Most High;
I honored and glorified Him who lives forever.

His dominion is an eternal dominion;
his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing.
He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back His hand or say to Him:
"What have you done?"

At that same time that my sanity was restored,
my honor and splendor were returned to me
for the glory of my kingdom.
My advisers and nobles sought me out,
and I was restored to my throne
and became even greater than before.
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar,
praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven,
because everything He does is right
and all His ways are just.
And those who walk in pride
He is able to humble.

(Daniel 4:33-37)

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream Revealed to Daniel

During the night 
the mystery was reveled to Daniel in a vision.
Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said:

"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are His.
He changes times and seasons;
he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.2:
He reveals deep and hidden things;
He knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with Him.
I thank and praise You, O God of my fathers:
You have given me wisdom and power,
You have made known to me what we asked of You,
You have made known to us the dream of the king."

(Daniel 2:19-23)

AE 1067 - a warning; AE 1069 - two truths

AE 1067

. . . the Word in general is invalidated,
and even blasphemed,
by the claim that it allowable to change it
according to the state of the church.


AE 1069

. . . the Lord has authority over heaven and earth,
and the Word alone is holy and Divine;
for these two truths
make the church itself of the Lord on earth,
for the church is a church from this:
-- that the Lord is adored
-- and that the Word is read.

For the Lord reforms man,
and the Word teaches how man must live
that he may be reformed by the Lord;
therefore if these two truths
are not acknowledged and received
the church itself perishes,
for upon these two truths
the church is founded.

The River From the Temple

The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple,
and I saw water coming out
from under the threshold of the temple 
toward the east (for the temple faced east).
The water was coming down
from under the south side of the temple,
south of the altar.
He then brought me out through the north gate
and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east,
and the water was flowing from the south side.

Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river.
Their leaves will not wither,
nor will their fruit fail.
Every month they will bear,
because the water from the sanctuary flows to them.
Their fruit will serve for food
and their leaves for healing.

(Ezekiel 47:1-2, 12)

* * * * * *

AE 1072 [2, 3]

The Word is like a garden,
that may be called a heavenly paradise,
in which are dainties and delightful things of every kind,
dainties from the fruits,
and delightful things from the flowers;
and in the middle of it trees of life,
and near them fountains of living water,
and round about trees of the forest,
and near them rivers.

[3] Again, the Word is like fruit
within which there is a nutritious pulp,
and in the middle of it seed vessels,
in which inmostly is a living germ
that germinates in good soil.
Again, the Word is also like a most beautiful infant,
which, except the face,
is enveloped in wrappings upon wrappings;
the infant itself is in the inmost heaven,
the wrappings are in the lower heavens,
and the general covering of the wrappings is on the earth.
As the Word is such
it is holy and Divine from inmosts to the externals.
 

AE 1064 - Joking About the Word

AE 1064 [3]

Fifth Kind of Profanation

This kind is not like the others that have been treated of,
for it consists in jesting from the Word and about the Word.
For those who make jokes from the Word
do not regard it as holy,
and those who joke about it hold it in no esteem.
And yet
the Word is the very Divine truth of the Lord with men,
and the Lord is present in the Word, and heaven also;
for every particular of the Word communicates with heaven,
and through heaven with the Lord;
therefore to jest from the Word and about the Word
is to bespatter the holy things of heaven
with the dust of the earth.
  
 

Stop!

"'This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
You have gone far enough, O princes of Israel!
Give up your violence and oppression
and do what is just and right.
Stop dispossessing my people,
declares the Sovereign Lord.'"

(Ezekiel 45:9)

AE 1058 - In Order to Be Saved

AE 1058 [3]   

. . . man, in order to be saved and admitted into heaven
must look to the Lord and pray to Him.

The Lord Warns Again

"I will display My glory among the nations,
and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict
and the hand I lay upon them.
From that day forward
the house of Israel will know
that I am the Lord their God.
And the nations will know
that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin,
because they were unfaithful to me.
So I hid My face from them
and handed them over to their enemies,
and they all fell by the sword.
I dealt with them
according to their uncleanness and their offenses,
and I hid My face from them."

(Ezekiel 39:21-24)

(also posted on May 7, 2016)

AE 1053 - Dominion

AE 1053 [2, 3]

The Divine order is that heaven and the church,
and consequently the holy things of these,
be the end,
and domination the means for promoting that end.
For when holy things are the end
and domination the means,
the Lord is worshiped and adored;
but when domination is the end
and holy things the means,
instead of the Lord
man is worshiped and adored. 

The Lord Will Show Himself Holy

"'I will sprinkle clean water on you,
and you will be clean;
I will cleanse you from all your impurities
and from all your idols.
I will give you a new heart
and put a new spirit in you;
I will remove from you your heart of stone
and give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put My Spirit in you
and move you to follow My decrees
and be careful to keep My laws.

(Ezekiel 36:25-27)

AE 1044 - Pearls

AE 1044 [3, 5]

That "pearls" signify the knowledges of good and truth
can be seen from the following passages.

The kingdom of the heavens
is like unto a merchant seeking beautiful pearls,
who, when he had found one precious pearl,
going away sold all that he had and bought it.
(Matthew 13:45-46)

"The kingdom of the heavens" means
both heaven and the church;
the "merchant" means
those who acquire for themselves the goods and truths
through which heaven and the church come;
"pearls" signify the knowledges of good and truth,
for these are the truths of the natural man;
"the one precious pearl" means
the knowledge respecting the Lord and His Divine;
"going away he sold all that he had and bought it"
signifies to reject what is one's own [proprium]
in order to receive life from the Lord.

The merchants of the earth
shall weep and wail over Babylon,
for no one buys their merchandise any more,
merchandise of gold and silver,
and of precious stone and pearl.
(Revelation 18:11-12)

The twelve gates of the wall of the New Jerusalem
were twelve pearls;
each one of the gates was one pearl.
(Revelation 21:21)

As "the gates to the New Jerusalem"
signify such things of doctrine from the Word
as introduce man into the church,
and these are
the knowledges of truth and good from the Word,
so the gates were seen to be "of pearls."

The Shepherds Over the Sheep

The word of the Lord came to me:
"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel;
prophesy and say to them:
'This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
Woe to the shepherds of Israel
who only take care of themselves!
Should not shepherds take care of the flock?
You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool
and slaughter the choice animals,
but you do not take care of the flock.
You have not strengthened the weak
or healed the sick or bound up the injured.
You have not brought back the strays
or searched for the lost.
You have ruled them harshly and brutally.

"'Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord,
because My flock lacks a shepherd
and so has been plundered
and has become food for all the wild animals,
and because My shepherds did not search for My flock
but cared for themselves rather than My flock,
therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
I am against the shepherds
and will hold them accountable for My flock.
I will remove them from tending the flock
so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves.
I will rescue My flock from their mouths,
and it will no longer be food for them.

"'For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
I Myself will search for My sheep and look after them.
. . . They will live in safety,
and no one will make them afraid.
I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops,
and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land
or bear the scorn of the nations.
Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them
and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
You are My sheep, the sheep of My pasture,
are people, and I am your God,
declares the Sovereign Lord.'"

(Ezekiel 34:1-4, 7-11, 28-31)

AE 1037 - A Religious Persuasion

AE 1037

. . . a church in which there is no longer any good or truth
is not a church,
it is called a religious persuasion.

Those Who Traded With Tyre

"'Tarshish did business with you
because of your great wealth of goods;
they exchanged silver, iron, tin and lead for your merchandise.

"'Greece, Tubal and Meshech traded with you;
they exchanged slaves and articles of bronze for your wares.

""Men of Beth Togarmah exchanged
work horses, war horses and mules for your merchandise.

"'The men of Rhodes traded with you,
and many isles were your customers;
they paid you with ivory tusks and ebony.

"'Aram did business with you because of your many products;
they exchanged turquoise, purple fabric, embroidered work,
fine linen, coral and rubies for your merchandise.

"'Judah and Israel traded with you;
they exchanged wheat from Minnith
and confections, honey, oil and balm for your wares.

"'Damascus, because of your many products
and great wealth of goods, did business with you
in wine from Helbon and wool from Zahar.

"'Danites and Greeks from Uzal bought your merchandise;
they exchanged wrought iron,
cassia and calamus for your wares.

"'Dedan traded in saddle blankets with you.

"Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your customers;
they did business with you in lambs, rams and goats.

"'The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you;
for your merchandise they exchanged the finest
of all kinds of spices and precious stones, and gold.

"'Haran, Canneh and Eden and merchants of Sheba,
Asshur and Kilmad traded with you.
In your marketplace they traded with you
beautiful garments, blue fabric, embroidered work
and multicolored rugs with cords twisted and tightly knotted.'"

"'By your great skill in trading
you have increased your wealth,
and because of your wealth
your heart has grown proud.'"

(Ezekiel 27:12-24; 28:5)
 

AE 1029 - More on Babylon; AE 1032 - Looking to the Lord

AE 1029 [13, 14, 18]

. . . to those in hell
nothing is more delightful
than to be able to draw one down from heaven
and destroy him by falsities of evil.

. . .  in general "Babel" or "Babylon" means the church
in which all the goods of love have been destroyed
and finally profaned,
and "Chaldea" the church
in which all the truths of faith are destroyed
and finally profaned;
. . . "Sodom" also signifying the destruction of all good
by the love of self,
and "Gomorrah" the destruction of all truth therefrom.

It is to be known in general
that every church in its beginning is like a virgin,
but in process of time it becomes a harlot.
For it enters gradually into a life of evil
and thus embraces a doctrine of falsity,
as gradually it begins to love self and the world;
and then from being a church
it becomes either Babylon or Philistia,
Babylon with those who love self above all things,
and Philistia with those who love the world above all things.
For as these two loves increase,
the men of the church adulterate and falsify
the goods and truths of the Word,
which is from being a virgin to become a harlot.

AE 1032 [2]

Man is either led from heaven or he is led from hell;
he cannot be led by both at the same time;
and he is led from heaven when he is led by the Lord,
and from hell when he is led by self.
For man was so created
as to be capable of being raised above
what is his own [proprium]
and of thinking in that elevated state.
He is raised above what is his own [proprium]
and thinks in that elevated state
when he is raised up by the Lord;
and this is effected when he acknowledges the Lord
and His Divine power over heaven and earth;
and by that confession and faith of the heart
he has conjunction with the Lord;
and when conjunction is effected,
the interiors, which belong to his mind,
that is, to his understanding and will,
are held by the Lord under his view.
This is effected by an elevation above
what is his own  [proprium];
and when man thinks in that elevated state
he thinks truth from the Lord
and does good from Him. 

The Lord Will Take Action

"'I the Lord have spoken.
The time has come for Me to act.
I will not hold back;
I will not have pity,
nor will I relent.
You will be judged
according to your conduct and your actions,
declares the Sovereign Lord.'"

(Ezekiel 24:14)

AE 1029 - Babylon

AE 1029

"Babylon" (or Babel) means the church consisting of those
who by means of the holy things of the church
strive to gain dominion over the whole world,
and this by dominion over the souls of men,
claiming to themselves authority to save
whomsoever they will;
and these finally seek dominion over heaven and hell
and make it their own.
And to this end
they draw and transfer to themselves
all the Lord's authority,
as if it had been given them by Him.

The church consisting of such
is very different in the beginning
from what it becomes in process of time.
In the beginning
they are as it were in zeal for the Lord,
for the Word, for love and faith,
and especially for the salvation of men.
But in that zeal the fire of domineering lies hidden;
and in process of time
as dominion increases
this breaks forth;
and so far as it comes into act
the holy things of the church become the means,
and dominion itself the end;
and when dominion becomes the end
the holy things of the church are applied to that end,
and thus to themselves;
and then they not only ascribe
the salvation of souls to their own authority,
but they also appropriate to themselves
all the Lord's Divine power.
And when they do this
they pervert every good and every truth of the church,
and thus profane the holy things of the church.
These things are "Babylon."

I Gave to Them But They Rejected My Laws

"'I gave them My decrees and made known to them My laws,
for the man who obeys them will live by them.
Also I gave them My Sabbaths as a sign between us,
so they would know 
that I the Lord made them Holy.

"'Yet the people of Israel rebelled against Me in the desert.
They did not follow My decrees but rejected My laws --
although the man who obeys them will live by them --
and they utterly desecrated My Sabbaths.'"

(Ezekiel 20:11-13)

AE 1028 - Sin Against One Commandment

AE 1028 [2, 4]

It is said by some that he who sins
against one commandment of the Decalogue
sins also against the rest . . ..

But the opposite is true of those who abstain
from the evil forbidden in one commandment,
and who shun and afterwards turn away from it
as a sin against God.
Because such fear God,
they come into communion with the angels of heaven,
and are led by the Lord to abstain
from the evils forbidden in the other commandments
and to shun them,
and finally to turn away from them as sins;
and if perchance they have sinned against them,
yet they repent
and thus by degrees are withdrawn from them. 

Repent! Do Not Sin!

"Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you,
each one according to his ways,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
Repent!
Turn away form all your offenses;
then sin will not be your downfall.
Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed,
and get a new heart and a new spirit.
Why will you die, O house of Israel?
For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
Repent and live!"

(Ezekiel 18:30-32)

AE 1016, 1017 - Hatred and the Works of Charity

AE 1016 [2], 1017

. . . every man is born into the love of self and of the world,
and in consequence conceives hatred,
and from it is inflamed against all
who do not make one with him and favor his love,
especially against those who oppose his lusts.
For no one can love himself above all things
and love the Lord at the same time;
neither can anyone love the world above all things
and love the neighbor at the same time;
since no one can serve two masters at the same time
without despising and hating the one
while he honors and loves the other.
Hatred is especially with those
who are in the love of ruling over all;
with others it is enmity. 

When a man abstains from hatred
and turns away from it and shuns it as diabolical,
then love, charity, mercy and clemency
flow in through heaven from the Lord,
and then first the works which he does
are works of love and charity.
The works he had done before,
however good might be their appearance
in the external form,
were all works of the love of self and of the world,
in which hatred lurked whenever they were not rewarded.
So long as hatred is not put away
so long man is merely natural;
and the merely natural man remains in all his inherited evil,
nor can he become spiritual before hatred,
with its root,
which is the love of ruling over all,
is removed;
for the fire of heaven, which is spiritual love,
cannot flow in so long as the fire of hell,
which is hatred,
stands in the way and shuts it out. 

 

The Lord Has Ezekiel Symbolize the Exile

The word of the Lord came to me:
"Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people.
They have eyes to see but do not see
and ears to hear but do not hear,
for they are a rebellious people.

"Therefore, son of man,
pack your belongings for exile
and in the daytime, as they watch,
set out and go from where you are to another place.
Perhaps they will understand,
though they are a rebellious house.
During the daytime, while they watch,
bring out your belongings packed for exile.
Then in the evening, while they are watching,
go out like those who go into exile.
While they watch, dig through the wall
and take your belongings out through it.
Put them on your shoulders as they are watching
and carry them out at dusk.
Cover your face so that you cannot see the land,
for I have made you a sign to the house of Israel."

So I did as I was commanded.
During the day I brought out my things packed for exile.
Then in the evening
I dug through the wall with my hands.
I took my belongings out at dusk,
carrying them on my shoulders
while they watched.

In the morning the word of the Lord came to me:
"Son of man, did not that rebellious house of Israel ask you,
'What are you doing?'

"Say to them, 'This is that the Sovereign Lord says:
This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem
and the whole house of Israel who are there.'
Say to them, 'I am a sign to you.'

"As I have done,
so it will be done to them.
They will go into exile as captives."

(Ezekiel 12:1-11)
 

AE 1007, 1008 - garments

AE 1007, 1008

And keeps his garments,
(Revelation 16:15)

signifies who live according to His Divine truths.
This is evident from the signification of "garments,"
as being truths covering good;
therefore "to keep the garments"
signifies to live according to truths,
here according to the Lord's Divine truths in the Word.

That he may not walk naked,
(Revelation 16:15)

signifies that he may not be without truths,
and thus without goods.
This is evident from the signification of "naked,"
as meaning to be without truth,
and thus without good;
for those who are without truths are also without goods,
since all good is acquired by means of truths;
and moreover,
good without truth is not good,
and truth without good is not truth  . . .

. . . "to walk" signifies to be and to live . . ..

The Man in Linen

Then I heard Him call out in a loud voice,
"Bring the guards of the city here,
each with a weapon in his hand."
And I saw six men coming 
from the direction of the upper gate,
which faces north,
each with a deadly weapon in his hand.
With them was a man clothed in linen
who had a writing kit at his side.
They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

Now the glory of the God of Israel
went up from above the cherubim,
where it had been,
and moved to the threshold of the temple.
Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen
who had the writing kit at his side and said to him,
"Go throughout the city of Jerusalem
and put a mark on the foreheads of those
who grieve and lament
over all the detestable things that are done in it."

Then the Man in linen with the writing kit at his side
brought back word, saying,
"I have done as you commanded."

I looked, and I saw the likeness
of a throne of sapphire above the expanse
that was over the heads of the cherubim.
The Lord said to the man clothed in linen,
"Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim.
Fill your hands 
with burning coals from among the cherubim
and scatter them over the city."
and as I watched, he went in.

Now the cherubim were standing
on the south side of the temple when the man went in,
and a cloud filled the inner court.
Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherubim
and moved to threshold of the temple.
The cloud filled the temple,
and the court was full of the glory of the Lord.
The sound of the wings of the cherubim
could be heard as far away as the outer court,
like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks.

When the Lord commanded the man in linen,
"Take fire from among the wheels,
from among the cherubim,"
the man went in and stood beside a wheel.
Then one of the cherubim
reached out his hand to the fire that was among them.
He took up some of it
and put it into the hands of the man in linen,
who took it and went out.
(Under the wings of the cherubim could be seen
what looked like the hands of a man.)

(Ezekiel 9:1-4, 11; 10:1-8)

AE 1001, 1004 - angels have their beauty from conjugial love

AE 1001, 1004 [4]

From conjugial love angels have all their beauty;
thus each angel has beauty in the measure of that love.
For all angels are forms of their affections;
for the reason that it is not permitted in heaven
to counterfeit with the face
things that do not belong to one's affection;
consequently their faces are types of their minds.
When, therefore, they have
conjugial love, love to the Lord, mutual love,
love of good and love of truth, and love of wisdom,
these loves in them give form to their faces,
and show themselves like vital fires in their eyes;
to which innocence and peace add themselves,
which complete their beauty.
Such are the forms of the inmost angelic heaven;
and they are truly human forms.

. . . for all the angels of heaven are in the Lord
and the Lord in them.

The Lord Issues Ezekiel a Dire Warning

He then said to me:
"Son of man, I will cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem.
The people will eat rationed food in anxiety
and drink rationed water in despair,
for food and water will be scarce.
They will be appalled at the sight of each other
and will waste away because of their sin."

"'And they will know that I am the Lord,
when their people lie slain
among their idols around their altars,
on every high hill and on all the mountaintops,
under every spreading tree and every leafy oak -
places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols.
And I will stretch out my hand against them
and make the land a desolate waste
from the desert to Diblah - wherever they live.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.'"

(Ezekiel 4:16-17; 6:13-14)

AE 997, 998, 999 - more on conjugial love

AE 997 [4]

Since conjugial love in its first essence
is love to the Lord from the Lord,
and thus is innocence,
conjugial love is also peace,
such as the angels in the heavens have.

For as innocence is the very being [esse] of all good,
so peace is the very being [esse] of all delight from good,
consequently is the very being [esse]
of all joy between the marriage pair.

As then, all joy is of love,
and conjugial love is the fundamental love
of all the loves of heaven,
so peace itself has its seat chiefly in conjugial love.
Peace is happiness of heart and soul
arising from the conjunction of the Lord
with heaven and the church,
as well as from the conjunction of good and truth,
when all conflict and combat
of evil and falsity with good and truth has ceased . . ..
And as conjugial love descends from such conjunction
so all the delight of that love
descends and derives its essence from heavenly peace.

Moreover, this peace shines forth in the heavens
as heavenly happiness
from the faces of a marriage pair who are in that love,
and who mutually regard each other from that love.
But such heavenly happiness,
which inmostly affects the delights of loves,
and is called peace,
can be granted only to those
who can be joined together inmostly, that is,
as to their very hearts.

AE 998 [4]

Man has such and so much of intelligence and wisdom
as he has of conjugial love.
The reason is that conjugial love descends
from the love of good and truth
as an effect does from its cause,
or as the natural from its spiritual;
and from the marriage of good and truth
the angels of the three heavens
have all their intelligence and wisdom;
for intelligence and wisdom are nothing else
than the reception of light and heat
from the Lord as a sun,
that is,
the reception of Divine truth conjoined to Divine good,
and of Divine good conjoined to Divine truth;
thus it is the marriage of good and truth from the Lord.

That it is so
has been made clearly evident by angels in the heavens.
When these are separated from their consorts
they are indeed in intelligence, but not in wisdom;
but when they are with their consorts
they are also in wisdom;
and what is wonderful,
as they turn the face to their consort
they are to the same extent in a state of wisdom;
for the conjunction of truth and good
is effected in the spiritual world by looking;
and the wife there is good and the husband truth;
therefore as truth turns itself to good
so truth becomes living.

By intelligence and wisdom
ingenuity in reasoning about truths and goods is not meant,
but the faculty of seeing and understanding truths and goods,
and this faculty man has from the Lord.

AE 999 [2]

From true conjugial love
there is power and protection against the hells,
because it is against
the evils and falsities that ascend from the hells,
and for the reason
that through conjugial love
man has conjunction with the Lord,
and the Lord alone has power over all the hells;
also because through conjugial love
man has heaven and the church;
consequently as the Lord unceasingly
protects heaven and the church
from the evils and falsities that rise up from the hells,
so He protects all who are in true conjugial love
because heaven and the church is with these
and with no others.

Ezekiel Sees

I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north -
an immense cloud with flashing lightning
and surrounded by brilliant light.
The center of the fire looked like glowing metal,
and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures.
In appearance their form was that of a man,
but each of them had four faces and four wings.

Spread out above the heads of the living creatures
was what looked like an expanse,
sparkling like ice, and awesome.
Under the expanse
their wings were stretched out
one toward the other,
and each had two wings covering its body.
When the creatures moved,
I heard the sound of their wings,
like the roar of rushing waters,
like the voice of the Almighty,
like the tumult of an army.
When they stood still,
they lowered their wings.

Then there came a voice
from above the expanse over their heads
as they stood with lowered wings.
Above the expanse over their heads
was what looked like a throne of sapphire,
and high above on the throne
was a figure like that of a man.
I saw that from what appeared to be His waist up
He looked like glowing metal,
as if full of fire,
and that from there down He looked like fire;
and brilliant light surrounded Him.
Like the appearance of a rainbow
in the clouds on a rainy day,
so was the radiance around Him.

This was the appearance
of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.
When I saw it,
I feel face down,
and I heard the voice of one speaking.

(Ezekiel 1:4-6, 22-28)

 

AE 993 - repenting

AE 993

And they repented not of their works,
(Revelation 16:11)

signifies that they were unwilling
to live according to the Lord's commandments.
This is evident from the signification of "repenting,"
as being to live a different life;
also from the signification of "their works,"
as being evils from falsities.

For those who separate faith from works
do evils from falsities,
in that they say that as works are from man
they are not good but are meritorious,
and therefore must not be joined with faith,
which is spiritual and justifying.

For a man can do nothing that is good
from a false principle;
and where there is no good there is evil.
It is otherwise when a man lives
according to the Lord's commandments,
which are, that evils must be refrained from
and goods must be done.
Therefore "they repented not of their works"
signifies not to be willing to live
according to the Lord's commandments. 

 

It Is Good

I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I hope:

Because of the Lord's great love
we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself,
"The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for Him."

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him,
to the one who seeks Him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.

(Lamentations 3:19-26)

AE 984, 985 - Conjugial Love - The Love of Marriage

AE 984 [2], 985 [2]

Man was so created as to be spiritual and celestial love,
and thus an image and likeness of God.
Spiritual love, which is the love of truth,
is the image of God;
and celestial love, which is the love of good,
is the likeness of God.
All the angels in the third heaven are likenesses of God;
and all the angels in the second heaven are images of God.
Man can become the love
which is an image or likeness of God
only by a marriage of good and truth;
for good and truth inmostly love one another,
and ardently long to be united that they may be one;
and for the reason that the Divine good and the Divine truth
proceed from the Lord united,
therefore they must be united in an angel of heaven
and in a man of the church.
This union is by no means possible
except by the marriage of two minds into one,
since, as has been said before,
man was created to be the understanding of truth,
and thus truth,
and woman was created to be the affection of good,
and thus good;
therefore in them
the conjunction of good and truth is possible.
For conjugial love which descends from that conjunction
is the veriest means by which man [homo]
becomes the love that is the image or the likeness of God.
For the two partners who are in conjugial love from the Lord
love one another mutually and reciprocally from the heart,
thus from inmosts;
and therefore although apparently two
they are actually one,
two as to their bodies,
but one as to life.
This may be compared to the eyes,
which are two as organs but one as to the sight;
also to the ears,
which are two as organs but one as to hearing;
so, too, the arms and the feet
are two as members but one as to use,
the arms one as to action,
and the feet one as to walking.
So with the other pairs with man.
All these have reference to good and truth,
the organ or member on the right to good,
and that on the left to truth.
It is the same with a husband and wife
between whom there is love truly conjugial;
they are two as to their bodies but one as to life;
consequently in heaven
two partners are not called two angels but one.
All this makes clear
that through marriage man becomes a form of love,
and thus a form of heaven,
which is the image and likeness of God. 

. . . love truly conjugial is derived
from the Lord's love for the church,
and from the love of good and truth
which is the love of the angels of the third heaven;
therefore conjugial love,
which descends therefrom as the love of the heavens,
is innocence,
which is the very being [esse]
of every good in the heavens.
And for this reason
embryos in the womb are in a state of peace,
and after birth infants are in a state of innocence;
so, too, is the mother in relation to them. 

What the Babylonians Took From the Temple

The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars,
the moveable stands and the bronze Sea
that were at the temple of the Lord
and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.
They also took away
the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes
and all the bronze articles used in the temple service.
The commander of the imperial guard took away
the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands,
dishes and bowls used for drink offerings -
all that were made of pure gold or silver.

The bronze from the two pillars,
the Sea and the twelve bronze bulls under it,
and the moveable stands,
which King Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord,
was more than could be weighed.
Each of the pillars was eighteen cubits high
and twelve cubits in circumference;
each was four fingers thick, and hollow.
The bronze capital on top of the one pillar
was five cubits high
and was decorated with
a network and pomegranates of bronze all around.
The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar.
There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides;
the total number of pomegranates
above the surrounding network
was a hundred.

(Jeremiah 52:17-23)

AE 979 - What are good works?

AE 979 [2]

. . . good works . . . are all works done by man
when evils have been removed as sins.
For the works done after this
are done from man only as if from him;
for they are done from the Lord,
and all works done from the Lord are good,
and are called
the goods of life, the goods of charity, and good works;
as for instance,
all the judgments of a judge who has justice as his end,
and who venerates and loves it as Divine,
and who detests as infamous
decisions made for the sake of rewards or friendship,
or from favor.
Thus he consults the good of his country
by causing justice and judgment to reign there as in heaven;
and thus he consults the peace of every innocent citizen
and protects him from the violence of evildoers.
All these are good works.
So all services of managers and dealings of merchants
are good works when they shun unlawful gains
as sins against the Divine laws.
When a man shuns evils as sins
he daily learns what a good work is,
and the affection of doing good grows with him,
and the affection of knowing truths for the sake of good;
for so far as he knows truths
he can perform works more fully and more wisely,
and thus his works become more truly good.
Cease, therefore, from asking in thyself,
"What are the good works that I must do,
or what good must I do to receive eternal life?"
Only cease from evils as sins and look to the Lord,
and the Lord will teach and lead you. 

Babylon

"We are disgraced,
for we have been insulted
and shame covers our faces,
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the Lord's house."

"But days are coming," declares the Lord,
"when I will punish her idols,
and throughout her land
the wounded will groan."

(Jeremiah 51:51-52)

AE 976

. . . the Lord never avenges the evil done to Him by man.
. . . but that man . . . from the evil which he is man
has falsified the Word,
and consequently is in the falsities of evil.
 

AE 970, 971 - understanding truths

AE 970

Every man has the faculty of understanding truths,
for it is this faculty by which man is distinguished from beasts;
and this remains with every man,
even with the evil,
since it is the spiritual part of man
and the most essential means of his regeneration.
For man is regenerated by the Lord by means of truths . . ..

AE 971 [2]

So far as man refrains from evils
and shuns and turns away from them as sins,
good flows in from the Lord.
The good that flows in
is the affection of knowing and understanding truths,
and the affection of willing and doing goods.

The Lord Has Had Enough

Then Jeremiah said to all the people,
both men and women . . .
"Did not the Lord remember and think about
the incense burned in the towns of Judah
and the streets of Jerusalem
by you and your fathers,
your kings and your officials and the people of the land?
When the Lord could no longer endure
your wicked actions and the detestable things you did,
your land became an object of cursing
and a desolate waste without inhabitants,
as it is today.
Because you have burned incense
and have sinned against the Lord
and have not obeyed Him
or followed His law or His decrees or His stipulations,
this disaster has come upon you,
as you now see."

(Jeremiah 44:20, 21-23)

AE 969 [2] - evil and good

AE 969 [2-3]

. . . evils are infernal and goods are heavenly,
and everything infernal burns with hatred
against everything heavenly.

. . . before the Lord can flow in with heaven out of heaven
and form man to the image of heaven,
those evils that lie heaped up in the natural mind
must needs be removed.
Moreover, as the removal of evils must come first
before man can be taught and led by the Lord,
the reason is evident
why in eight commandments of the Decalogue
the evil works that must not be done are recounted,
but not the goods that must be done.
Good does not exist together with evil,
nor does it exist before evils have been removed;
for until then
there is no way possible from heaven into man.

Three Stones

So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the Lord
and went as far as Tahpanhes.

In Tahpanhes the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:
"While the Jews are watching,
take some large stones with you
and bury them in clay in the brick pavement
at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace in Tahpanhes.
Then say to them,
'This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,
and I will set his throne over these stones I have buried here;
he will spread his royal canopy above them.
He will come and attack Egypt,
bringing death to those destined for death,
captivity to those destined for captivity,
and the sword to those destined for the sword.
He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt;
he will burn their temples and take their gods captive.
As a shepherd wraps his garment around him,
so will he wrap Egypt around himself
and depart from there unscathed.'"

(Jeremiah 43:7-12)

AE 959, 960 - the second commandment

AE 959 [4]

. . . the quality of God or the Lord
is everything that is from Him
by which He is worshiped.

AE 960 [14-15]

Since "the name of God" means
that which is from God and which is God,
and this is called the Divine truth,
and with us the Word,
this must not be profaned,
because it is in itself Divine and most holy;
and it is profaned when its holiness is denied,
which is done when it is despised, rejected,
and treated contemptuously.
When this is done
heaven is closed and man is left to hell.
For the Word is the only medium of conjunction
of heaven with the church;
therefore when the Word is cast out of the heart
that conjunction is dissolved;
and because man is then left to hell
he no longer acknowledges any truth of the church. 

There are two things
by which heaven is closed to the men of the church.
One is the denial of the Lord's Divine,
and the other is the denial of the holiness of the Word;
and for this reason
that the Lord's Divine is the all of heaven,
and the Divine truth,
which is the Word in the spiritual sense,
is what makes heaven;
which makes clear
that he who denies the one or the other
denies that which is the all of heaven,
and from which heaven is and exists,
and thus deprives himself of communication
and thence of conjunction with heaven.
To profane the Word
is the same as "blaspheming the Holy Spirit,"
which is not forgiven to anyone,
consequently it is said in this commandment
that he who profanes the name of God
shall not be left unpunished.

Freedom for Slaves

The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord
after King Zedekiah had made a covenant
with all the people in Jerusalem
to proclaim freedom for the slaves.
Everyone was to free his Hebrew slaves,
both male and female;
no one was to hold a fellow Jew in bondage.
So all the officials and people
who entered into this covenant
agreed that they would free their male and female slaves
and no longer hold them on bondage.
they agreed, and set them free.
But afterward they changed their minds
and took back the slaves they had freed
and enslaved them again.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:
"This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:
I made a covenant with your forefathers
when I brought them out of Egypt,
out of the land of slavery.  I said,
'Every seventh year each of you must free
any Hebrew who has sold himself to you.
After he has served you six years,
you must let him go free.'
Your fathers, however,
did not listen to Me or pay attention to Me.
Recently you repented and did what is right in My sight:
Each of you proclaimed freedom to his countrymen.
You even made a covenant before Me
in the house that bears My Name.
But now you have turned around and profaned My name;
each of you has take back
the male and female slaves you had set free
to go where they wished.
You have forced them to become your slaves again.

"Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
You have not obeyed Me;
you have not proclaimed freedom for your fellow countrymen.
So I now proclaim 'freedom' for you,
declares the Lord -
'freedom' to fall by the sword, plague and famine.
I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth."

(Jeremiah 34:8-17)

AE 954, 956 - The Light of Influx and Entering the Lord

AE 954 [2]

So far as a man resists his own two loves,
which are the love of ruling
from the mere delight of ruling
and the love of possessing the goods of the world
from the mere delight of possession,
thus so far as he shuns as sins
the evils forbidden in the Decalogue,
so far there flows in through heaven from the Lord,
that there is a God,
who is the Creator and Preserver of the universe,
yes also, that God is One.
This then flows in for the reason
that when evils have been removed
heaven is opened,
and when heaven is opened
man no longer thinks from self
but from the the Lord through heaven;
and that there is a God and that God is one
is the universal principle in heaven
which comprises all things.

Man's interior thought,
which is the thought of his spirit,
is either from hell or from heaven;
it is from hell
before evils have been removed,
but from heaven,
when they have been removed.

. . . when a man thinks from heaven,
as he does when evils have been removed,
he sees from the light in heaven
that there is a God and that He is one.
Seeing from light out of heaven
is what is meant by influx.


AE 956 [2]

. . . no one can enter heaven
unless he is in the Lord,
for he enters into the Lord
when he enters into heaven.

After That Time

"This is the covenant I will make
with the house of Israel after that time, "
declares the Lord.
"I will put My law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be My people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying,
'Know the Lord,'
because they will all know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the Lord.
"For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."

(Jeremiah 31:33-34)

AE 949, 952 - the living faith of the Ten Commandments

AE 949 [3]

So far as evils are removed as sins,
so far goods flow in,
and so far does man afterwards do goods,
not from self,
but from the Lord.

As, first, so far as one does not worship other gods,
and thus does not love self and the world above all things,
so far the acknowledgement of God flows in from the Lord,
and then he worships God,
not from self but from the Lord.

Second, so far as one does not profane the name of God,
that is, so far as he shuns the lusts
arising from the loves of self and of the world,
so far he loves the holy things of the Word and of the church;
for these are the name of God,
and are profaned by the lusts
arising from the loves of self and of the world.

Third, so far as one shuns thefts,
and thus shuns frauds and unlawful gains,
so far sincerity and justice enter,
and he loves what is sincere and just
from sincerity and justice,
and thus does what is sincere
and just not from self but from the Lord.

Fourth, so far as one shuns adulteries,
and thus shuns unchaste and filthy thoughts,
so far conjugial love enters,
which is the inmost love of heaven,
and in which chastity itself resides.

Fifth, so far as one shuns murders,
and thus shuns deadly hatreds and revenges
that breathe slaughter,
so far the Lord enters with mercy and love.

Sixth, so far as one shuns false testimonies,
and thus shuns lies and blasphemies,
so far truth from the Lord enters.

Seventh, so far as one shuns
the covetousness for the houses of others,
and thus shuns the love and consequent lusts
for possessing the goods of others,
so far charity towards the neighbor enters from the Lord.

Eighth, so far as one shuns
the covetousness for the wives of others, their servants, etc.,
and thus shuns the love and consequent lusts
of ruling over others
(for the things enumerated in this commandment
are what belong to man),
so far love to the Lord enters.

These eight commandments include
the evils that must be shunned,
but the two others, namely, the third and fourth,
include certain things that must be done,
namely, that the sabbath must be kept holy,
and that parents must be honored.
But how these two commandments should be understood,
not by the men of the Jewish Church
but by the men of the Christian Church,
will be told elsewhere.

AE 952

A faith of the lips is faith in externals,
a faith of the heart is faith in internals;
and if the internals are crowded with evils of every kind,
when the externals are taken away
(as they are with every man after death),
man rejects from them even the faith that there is a God.

The Lord's Plans

"For I know the plans I have for you,"
declares the Lord,
"plans to prosper you and not harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.
Then you will call upon Me
and come and pray to Me,
and I will listen to you.
You will seek Me and find Me
when you you seek Me with all your heart.
I will be found by you,"
declares the Lord.

(Jeremiah 26:11-13)

AE 942, 943 - fear and glorify His name

AE 942, 943

Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord,
And glorify Thy name,
(Revelation 15:4)

signifies the worship of the Lord from the good of love.
This is evident from the signification of "fearing the Lord,"
as being to worship Him.
It means "from the good of love,"
because it is added,
"who shall not glorify Thy Name?"
which signifies worship from truths that are from that good.
These two are meant,
because all worship of the Lord
is from the good of love by means of truths.
Good fears the Lord,
and truths glorify Him.
Worship from the good of love
means worship by those who are in the good of life;
with others worship from the good of love is not given.
Moreover, true worship consists
in a life according to the Lord's commandments,
and to do the Lord's commandments
is to love Him.

The Days Are Coming

"The days are coming," declares the Lord,
"when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
In His days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which He will be called:
The Lord Our Righteousness."

(Jeremiah 23:5-6)

AE 936, 940, 941 - shunning evils and enlightenment

AE 936 [2]

In the previous article
the evils that must be shunned
were enumerated from the Decalogue.
But many, I know, think in their heart
that no one can shun these of himself,
because man is born in sins
and has therefore no power of himself to shun them.
But let such know
that anyone who thinks in his heart
that there is a God,
that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth,
that the Word is from Him, and is therefore holy,
that there is a heaven and a hell,
and that there is a life after death,
is able to shun these evils.
But he is not able who despises these truths
and casts them out of his mind,
and not at all he who denies them.
For how can one who never thinks about God
think that anything is a sin against God?
And how can one who never thinks about
heaven, hell, and the life after death,
shun evils as sins?
Such a man does not know what sin is.
Man is placed in the middle between heaven and hell.
Out of heaven goods unceasingly flow in,
and out of hell evils unceasingly flow in;
and as man is between
he has freedom
to think what is good or to think what is evil.
This freedom the Lord never takes away from anyone,
for it belongs to his life,
and is the means of his reformation.
So far, therefore, as man from this freedom
has the thought and desire
to shun evils because they are sins,
and prays to the Lord for help,
so far the Lord removes them
and gives man the ability to refrain from them
as if of himself,
and then to shun them. 

AE 940 [2]
When man's interior is purified from evils
by his refraining from them and shunning them
because they are sins,
the internal which is above it,
and which is called the spiritual internal, 
is opened.
This communicates with heaven;
consequently man is then admitted into heaven
and is conjoined to the Lord.

AE 941 [2]

When the spiritual internal is opened,
and through it communication with heaven
and conjunction with the Lord are given,
then man becomes enlightened.
He is enlightened especially when he reads the Word,
because the Lord is in the Word,
and the Word is the Divine truth,
and the Divine truth is light to angels.
Man is enlightened in the rational,
for this directly underlies the spiritual internal,
and receives light from heaven
and transfers it into the natural
when it is purified from evils,
filling it with the knowledges of truth and good,
and adapting to them the knowledges [scientiae]
that are from the world,
for the sake of confirmation and agreement.
Thus man has a rational,
and thus he has an understanding.
He is deceived who believes
that man has a rational and an understanding
before his natural has been purified from evils,
for the understanding is seeing the truths of the church
from the light of heaven;
and the light of heaven
does not flow into those not purified.
And as the understanding is perfected
the falsities of religion and of ignorance and all fallacies
are dispersed. 

 

For this is what the Lord says about Shallum son of Josiah,
who succeeded his father as king of Judah . . .

"Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,
his upper rooms by injustice,
making his countrymen work for nothing,
not paying them for their labor.
He says, 'I will build myself a great palace
with spacious upper rooms.'
so he makes large windows in it,
panels it with cedar
and decorates it in red.

"Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just,
so all went well with him.
He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
and so all went well.
Is not that what it means to know Me?"

(Jeremiah 22:11, 13-16)

AE 935 - understanding the Ten Commandments

AE 935 [2]

The previous article treated of the two things necessary
that works may be good, namely,
that the Divine of the Lord be acknowledged,
and that the evils forbidden in the Decalogue 
be shunned as sins.

The evils enumerated in the Decalogue
include all the evils that can ever exist;
therefore the Decalogue is called the ten commandments,
because "ten" signifies all.

The first commandment,
"Thou shalt not worship other gods,"
includes not loving self and the world;
for he that loves self and the world above all things
worships other gods;
for everyone's god is that which he loves above all things.

The second commandment,
"Thou shalt not profane the name of God,"
includes not to despise the Word
and doctrine from the Word,
and thus the church,
and not to reject these from the heart,
for these are God's "name."

The fifth commandment,
"Thou shalt not steal,"
includes the shunning of frauds and unlawful gains,
for these also are thefts.

The sixth commandment,
"Thou shalt not commit adultery,"
includes having delight in adulteries
and having no delight in marriages,
and in particular cherishing filthy thoughts
 respecting such things as pertain to marriage,
for these are adulteries.

The seventh commandment,
"Thou shalt not kill,"
includes not hating the neighbor nor loving revenge;
for hatred and revenge breathe murder.

The eighth commandment,
"Thou shalt not bear false witness,"
includes not to lie and blaspheme;
for lies and blasphemies are false testimonies.

The ninth commandment,
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house,"
includes not wishing to possess or to divert to oneself
the goods of others against their will.

The tenth commandment,
"Thou shalt not covet
thy neighbor's wife, his man-servants," and so on,
includes not wishing to rule over others
and to subject them to oneself,
for the things here enumerated
mean the things that are man's own.

Anyone can see that these eight commandments
contain the evils that must be shunned,
and not the goods that must be done. 

Heal Me

Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed;
save me and I will be saved,
for You are the One I praise.

(Jeremiah 17:14)

AE 927 - Great and Wonderful

AE 927

Great and wonderful,
(Revelation 15:1)

signifies from Divine omnipotence and providence.
This is evident from the signification of "great,"
as being in reference to the Lord His Divine omnipotence;
also from the signification of "wonderful,"
as being in reference to the Lord His Divine providence.
For when man looks to what is great in the Lord
he looks to His Divine omnipotence,
and when he looks to what is wonderful in the Lord
he looks to His Divine providence. 

The Living God

No one is like You, O Lord;
You are great,
and Your name is mighty in power.
Who should not revere You,
O King of the nations?
This is Your due.
Among all the wise men of the nations
and in their kingdoms,
there is no one like You.
They are all senseless and foolish;
they are taught by worthless wooden idols.
Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish
and gold from Uphaz.
What the craftsman and goldsmith have made
is then dressed in blue and purple --
all made by skilled workers.
But the Lord is the true God;
He is the living God,
the eternal King.

(Jeremiah 10:6-10)

AE 918 - grapes

AE 918 [9-10]

The "grapes" signify the good of charity
because a "vineyard" signifies the spiritual church,
and "vine" the man of that church;
and therefore "clusters" or "bunches," and "grapes,"
which are its fruits,
signify the goods which make that church,
which are called spiritual goods and also goods of charity.
And as all truth is from good,
as all wine is from grapes,
so "wine" signifies in the Word truth from good.

As "the land of Canaan"
represented and thus signified the church,
and the church is a church from spiritual good,
for this is the mark of the church, therefore:

The explorers of that land
brought back a cluster of grapes of a remarkable size,
carried on a pole by two.
(Numbers 13:23, 24)

This was a representative sign of the church 
that was signified by "the land of Canaan."
The church is a church from the good of charity
because that good regarded in itself
is the good of life arising from love to the Lord;
consequently it is an effect of that love.
The good of charity means justice, sincerity, and uprightness
in every work and in every function
from a love of justice, sincerity, and uprightness,
which love is solely from the Lord. 

Obey Me

. . . I gave them this command:
Obey Me,
and I will be your God
and you will be My people.
Walk in all the ways I command you,
that it may go well with you.

(Jeremiah 7:23)

AE 918 - Charity or Spiritual Good

AE 918 [2]

Charity or spiritual good is to do good
because it is true;
thus it is to do truth,
and to do truth
is to do what the Lord has commanded in His Word.

AE 914 - What falsifying the Word does

AE 914 [2-3]

The wisdom of men as compared with the wisdom of angels
is as knowledge compared with intelligence,
which difference is so great that it cannot be described.
 
As to the devastation of the church
in respect to the Divine truth,
it is wrought by the falsification of the Word;
for when the Word is explained to favor earthly loves
and to confirm falsities of doctrine
the church is laid waste.
It is not laid waste
when the Word is understood in simplicity
according to the sense of the letter;
but it is laid waste
when the Word is so explained
as to destroy even the Divine truth in heaven;
for then heaven is closed up,
and when heaven is closed up
there is no longer any church with man.
There are those within the church
who explain the sense of the letter of the Word
even so as to destroy the Divine truth in heaven;
and there are those
who do not misinterpret it to that degree,
and these do not devastate the church with them,
but the former do.
The sense of the letter understood in simplicity
does no harm to any spiritual truth in heaven;
but the sense of the letter explained
according to falsities of doctrine,
and in harmony with evils of the love,
does harm to it,
for the sense of the letter of the Word
is natural Divine truth.
This Divine truth differs indeed from spiritual truth
as what is natural differs from what is spiritual,
and yet they make one by correspondences.
But when natural Divine truth is so explained
as even to destroy spiritual Divine truth
they can no longer make one by correspondence;
but the falsity according to which
natural Divine truth is explained
destroys the spiritual Divine truth.
This, then, is the falsification of the Word
and the devastation of the church by falsifications.

Look! Listen!

This is what the Lord says:

"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is,
and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'

I appointed watchmen over you and said,
'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!'
But you said, 'We will not listen.'

Therefore hear, O nations;
observe, O witnesses,
what will happen to them.
Hear, O earth:
I am bringing disaster on this people,
the fruit of their schemes,
because they have not listened to My words
and have rejected My law.

What do I care about incense from Sheba
or sweet calamus from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;
your sacrifices do not please Me."

(Jeremiah 6:16-20)

AE 911 - the Lord's gift

AE 911 [17]

For it is to be known, that,
although the Lord works all things,
and man nothing from self,
yet He wills that man should work as if from self
in all that comes to his perception.
For without man's cooperation as if from self
there can be no reception of truth and good,
thus no implantation and regeneration.
For to will is the Lord's gift to man;
and because the appearance to man
is that this is from self,
He gives him to will as if from self.  

The Call of Jeremiah

The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah,
one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.
The word of the Lord came to him
in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah
son of Amon king of Judah,
and through the reign of Jehoiakim
son of Josiah king of Judah,
down to the fifth month of the eleventh year
of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah,
when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

"Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said,
"I do not know how to speak;
I am only a child."

But the Lord said to me,
"Do not say, 'I am only a child.'
You must go to everyone I send you to
and say whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord.

Then the Lord reached out His and
and touched my mouth and said to me,
"Now, I have put My words in your mouth.
See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms
to uproot and tear down,
to destroy and overthrow,
to build and to plant.

(Jeremiah 1:1-10)

AE 907 - what Divine truth does not do

AE 907 [4]

For the real truth is,
that the Divine truth never fights against falsity from evil,
but falsity fights against truth;
and thus heaven does not fight against hell,
but hell against heaven.

A Cluster of Grapes

This is what the Lord says:

"As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes
and man say,
'Don't destroy it,
there is yet some good in it,'
so will I do in behalf of My servants;
I will not destroy them all.
I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
and from Judah those who will possess My mountains;
My chosen people will inherit them,
and there will My servants live.
Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,
and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
for My people who seek Me.

"But as for you who forsake the Lord
and forget My holy mountain,
who spread a table for fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
I will destine you for the sword,
and you will all bend down for the slaughter;
for I called but you did not answer,
I spoke but you did not listen.
You did evil in My sight
and chose what displeases Me."

(Isaiah 65:8-12)

AE 899 - "to die"

AE 899 [4]

. . . "to die" can mean in the spiritual sense resurrection,
because the angels,
who are in the spiritual sense of the Word,
know nothing about natural death,
by which man is taken out of this world;
but they know only about spiritual death,
which comes to those
who are being regenerated by the Lord
by means of temptations,
and with whom evils and falsities therefrom
are being subdued and put to death.
Again, natural death is nothing but resurrection,
for the reason that when the body dies
man rises again as to his spirit,
and thus death is simply a continuation of his life;
for through death
man passes from a life in the natural world
into a life in the spiritual world,
with the difference only
that the life in the natural world
is a more external and imperfect life,
and the life in the spiritual world
is a more internal and perfect life;
and yet the two are alike in appearance . . ..

Peace

"Peace, peace, to those far and near,"
says the Lord.
"And I will heal them."
But the wicked are like the tossing sea,
which cannot rest,
whose waves cast up mire and mud.
"There is no peace," says my God,
"for the wicked."

(Isaiah 57:19-21)