AC 7217 - States of Distress and States Near to Despair; AC 7225 - "Uncircumcised"

AC 7217

That distress of spirit denotes a state near to despair,
can be seen from the fact
that those who are in a state near to despair
are in internal anxiety,
and are then actually in shortness of breath.
In the external sense
this condition is a compression of the breast,
and from this as it were a difficulty of breathing;
but in the internal sense
it is anxiety on account of the deprivation
of the truth which is of faith,
and of the good which is of charity,
and from this is a state near to despair.
. . . That the deprivation of spiritual truth and good
gives birth to such anxiety,
and consequently to such distress,
cannot be believed by those
who are not in faith and charity;
for these suppose that to be in distress on this account
is weakness and sickliness of mind.
The reason is that they do not place anything real
in faith and charity,
nor therefore in those things
which belong to their souls and to heaven,
but only in wealth and eminence,
thus in the things of the body and the world.
They also think,
"What are faith and charity but mere words?
What is conscience even?
To feel distressed by these things
is the same as being distressed by such things
as a man sees within him
from the silly creations of his fancy,
and which he imagines to have some existence,
although they have not any.
Wealth and high position we can see with our eyes,
and we know that they exist
by the pleasure they afford,
for they excite in our whole bodies
an expansion and a fullness of joy."
So think merely natural men,
and so do they speak among themselves.
But spiritual men think differently,
for these have their chief life in their spirit,
thus in the things that belong to their spirit,
that is, in faith and charity;
and therefore when they believe themselves deprived
of the truths and goods of faith and charity,
they are affected with anguish,
as are those who are in the anguish of death,
for they see before them spiritual death,
that is, damnation.
As before said, to the merely natural
these persons appear weak and sickly in spirit,
but they are strong and healthy;
whereas those who are merely natural
appear to themselves strong and healthy,
and also are so as to the body,
but as to the spirit they are quite weakly,
because spiritually dead.
If they could see what kind of a spirit they have,
they would acknowledge it to be so;
but they do not see the spirit until the body has died.

AC 7225 [2]

. . . "to be uncircumcised" denotes to be impure;
and as everything impure is from impure loves,
which are the love of the world and the love of self,
therefore by "uncircumcised" is signified
that which impedes the influx of good and truth.
Where these loves are,
the inflowing good and truth are extinguished,
for they are contraries, like heaven and hell.
Hence by the "uncircumcised ear"
is signified disobedience,
and by the "uncircumcised heart"
the rejection of good and truth,
which is especially the case
when these loves have fortified themselves
with falsity as with a wall. 

~ Sarah Bears a Son ~

Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as He had said,
and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised.
Sarah became pregnant
and bore a son to Abraham in his old age,
at the very time God had promised him.
Abraham gave the name Isaac
to the son Sarah bore him.
When his son Isaac was eight days old,
Abraham circumcised him.
Abraham was a hundred years old
when his son Isaac was born to him.

Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter,
and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me."
And she added,
"Who would have said to Abraham
that Sarah would nurse children?
Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."

(Genesis 21:1-7)

AC 7205 - "A Stretched Out Arm"

AC 7205

. . . the signification of a "stretched out arm,"
as being divine power.
. . . arm denotes power . . .;
but a "stretched out arm"
denotes omnipotence or Divine power, is because
when an arm appears stretched out in the heavens,
there is represented power from the Divine;
and when not stretched out, but bent,
there is represented power in a general sense.
So it is then, that in the Word,
Divine power is very often expressed
by a "stretched out arm,"
and by a strong hand," . . .

I have made the earth, the man, and the beast,
that are upon the faces of the earth,
by My great power
and by My stretched out arm.
(Jeremiah 27:5)

I will lead you out from the peoples,
and will gather you out of the lands
wherein you are scattered,
by a strong hand and by a stretched out arm.
(Ezekiel 20:34)

~ The Lord Makes an Everlasting Covenant ~

When Abram was ninety-nine years old,
the Lord appeared to him and said,
"I am God Almighty;
walk before Me and be blameless.
I will confirm My covenant between Me and you
and will greatly increase your numbers."

Abram fell face down, 
and God said to him,
"As for Me, this is My covenant with you:
You will be the father of many nations.
No longer will you be called Abram;
you name will be Abraham,
for I have made you a father of many nations.
I will make you very fruitful;
I will make nations of you,
and kings will come from you.
I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant
between Me and you and your descendants after you
for the generations to come,
to be your God
and the God of your descendants after you.
The whole land of Canaan,
where you are now an alien,
I will give as an everlasting possession to you
and your descendants after you;
and I will be their god."

God also said to Abraham,
"As for Sarai your wife,
you are no longer to call her Sarai;
her name will be Sarah.
I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.
I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations;
kings of peoples will come from her."

(Genesis 17:1-8, 15-16)
 

AC 7181 - One Must Know the Difference

AC 7181

Nothing is more necessary to a person
than to know whether heaven be in him, or hell;
for in one or the other he must live to eternity.
In order that he may know this,
it is necessary that he should know what good is,
and what evil,
for good makes heaven,
and evil makes hell;
the doctrine of charity teaches about both. 

~ Abram Defeats Kedorlaomer ~

After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer
and the kings allied with him,
the king of Sodom came out to meet him
in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

Then Melchizedek king of Salem
brought out bread and wine.
He was priest of God Most High,
and he blessed Abram, saying,

"Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
And bless be God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand."

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

The king of Sodom said to Abram,
"Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself."

But Abram said to the king of Sodom,
"I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and have taken an oath
that I will accept nothing belonging to you,
not even a thread or the thong of a sandal,
so that you will never be able to say,
'I made Abram rich.'
I accept nothing but what my men have eaten
and the share
that belongs to the men who went with me --
to Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre.
Let them have their share."

(Genesis 14:17-24)

AC 7145 - Bricks; AC 7112 - Stones

AC 7145

. . . the signification of "making bricks,"
as being to receive things fictitious and false
which are introduced by the evil.

AC 7112

. . . the internal sense of these words,
which does indeed seem remote
from the sense of the letter;
but it should be recognized
that there is nothing in the natural world
that does not correspond to some reality
in the spiritual world.
The angels present with a person
understand in a spiritual way
everything understood by the person in a natural way.
They do not know what straw is,
or what bricks are either.
Such things were well known to those angels
when they were in the world,
but they forgot about them
when they entered heaven,
because there they moved on to spiritual things.
This explains why when a person's ideas
of such things in the natural world
are perceived by angels
they convert them
into the corresponding spiritual realities.
The fact that 'straw' or 'grass'
means the basest kind of factual knowledge,
and 'bricks' fabrications and falsities,
may be seen from a number of considerations;
for herbaceous plants,
and also those that produce straw,
are nothing else than such knowledge.
But seeds, barley-grains, wheat-grains, and the like
are interior truths and forms of good;
and stones that are not man-made are truths.

~ The Tower of Bricks, Not Stone ~

Now the whole world had one language
and a common speech.
As men moved from the east,
they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

They said to each other,
"Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly."
they used brick instead of stone,
and tar for mortar.
Then they said,
"Come, let us build ourselves a city,
with a tower that reaches to the heavens,
so that we may make a name for ourselves
and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower
that the men were building.
The Lord said,
"If as one people speaking the same language
they have begun to do this,
then nothing they plan to do
will be impossible for them.
Come, let us go down and confuse their language
so they will not understand each other."

So the Lord scattered them
from there over all the earth,
and they stopped building the city.
That is why it was called Babel --
because there the Lord confused the language
of the whole world.
From there the Lord scattered them
over the face of the whole earth.

(Genesis 11:1-9)

AC 7130 - Two Minds, Two Lights

AC 7130

There are two minds in man;
one is the natural, and the other the rational mind;
the natural mind is the mind of the external man,
but the rational mind is the mind of the internal man.
The things of the natural mind
are called memory-knowledges,
but those of the rational mind
are called intellectual reasons;
they are also distinguished from each other
by the fact that the things of the natural mind
are for the most part in the light of the world,
which is called the light of nature;
whereas the things of the rational mind
are in the light of heaven,
which light is spiritual light.
 

~ The Rain Stops ~

But God remembered Noah
and all the wild animals and all the livestock
that were with him in the ark,
and He sent a wind over the earth,
and the waters receded.
Now the springs of the deep
and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed,
and the rain had stopped falling from the sky.
The water receded steadily from the earth.
At the end of the hundred and fifty days
the water had gone down,
and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month
the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
the waters continued to recede until the tenth month,
on the first day of the tenth month
the tops of the mountains became visible.

(Genesis 8:1-8)

AC 7122 - Associations and Conflicts

AC 7122

. . . before truths and goods can appear,
and the man be thus associated
with those who are in heaven,
it is necessary
that these evils and falsities be uncovered,
so that he may see them and know them,
and thus learn what is true and what is good.
This cannot possibly be done
without combat with the evils and falsities in himself;
which combat takes place actually,
the evil spirits exciting falsities and evils,
and the angels excusing if the end has been good,
and instilling truths.
This is perceived as if it were in himself,
as is the case with temptation in man,
which is felt no otherwise than as being in him,
when yet it is the combat
of angels with evil spirits outside of him.

~ And the Flood Came ~

For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth,
and as the waters increased
they lifted the ark high above the earth.
the waters rose and increased greatly on the earth,
and the ark floated on the surface of the water.
They rose greatly on the earth,
and all the ark floated on the surface of the water.
They rose greatly on the earth,
and all the high mountains under the entire heavens 
were covered.
The waters rose and covered the mountains
to a depth of more than fifteen cubits.
Every living thing that moved on the earth perished --
birds, livestock, wild animals,
all the creatures that swarm over the earth,
and all mankind.
Everything on dry land
that had the breath of life in its nostrils died.
Every living thing on the face of the earth
was wiped out;
men and animals
and the creatures that move along the ground
and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth.
Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.

The waters flooded the earth
for a hundred and fifty days.

(Genesis 7:17-24)

AC 7102 - Vastations and Punishments

AC 7102 [2]

Mention is made in the Word
 of four kinds of vastations and punishments;
namely, the Sword, Famine,
the Evil Beast, and Pestilence;
and by the "sword"
is signified the vastation of truth
and the punishment of falsity;
by "famine," the vastation of good
and the punishment of evil;
by the "evil beast,"
the punishment of the evil from falsity;
by "pestilence,"
the punishment of the evil
not from falsity but from evil.
And as punishment is signified,
damnation is also signified,
for this is the punishment
of those who persevere in evil.

~ The Lord Asks Cain Three Questions ~

Then the Lord said to Cain,
"Why are you angry?
Why is your face downcast?
If you do what is right,
will you not be accepted?
But if you do not do what is right,
sin is crouching at your door;
it desires to have you,
but you must master it."

(Genesis 4:6-7)

AC 7089 - The Divine Law and the Doctrine Derived from It

AC 7089

And afterward Moses and Aaron came.
(Exodus 5:1)

That this signifies the Divine law
and the doctrine derived from it,
is evident from the representation of Moses,
as being the Lord as to the Divine law;
and from the representation of Aaron,
as being the doctrine of good and truth.
By the Divine law which Moses represents
is meant the Word such as it is in its internal sense,
thus such as it is in the heavens;
but by doctrine is meant the Word
such as it is in its literal sense,
thus as it is on the earth;
how much these differ,
can be seen from what has been thus far unfolded
in respect to the internal sense of the Word.
Take as an illustration the ten commandments,
which specifically are called the "Law."
The literal sense of these
is that parents are to be honored,
that murder is not to be committed,
nor adultery, nor theft, and so on;
but the internal sense is
that the Lord is to be worshiped;
that hatred must not be felt;
that truth must not be falsified;
and that we must not claim for ourselves
that which belongs to the Lord.
So are these four commandments of the Decalogue
understood in heaven,
and the rest also in their own way.
For in the heavens
they know no other Father than the Lord;
therefore by that parents are to be honored,
they understand that the Lord is to be worshiped:
neither do they know in the heavens what killing is,
for they live to eternity;
but instead of killing they understand feeling hatred,
and injuring the spiritual life of anyone;
neither do they know in the heavens
what it is to commit adultery,
and therefore instead thereof
they perceive that which corresponds, namely,
not to falsify truth;
and instead of stealing they perceive
not to take anything away from the Lord,
and claim it to themselves,
as for instance good and truth.

In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and empty,
darkness was over the surface of the deep,
and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, "Let there be light,"
and there was light.
God saw that the light was good,
and He separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light "day,"
and the darkness He called "night".

(Genesis 1:1-5)
______________________________

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.

Through Him all things were made;
without Him nothing was made that has been made.
In Him was life,
and that life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness,
but the darkness has not understood it.

(John 1:1-5)
_______________________________

AC 1

From the mere letter
of the Word of the Old Testament
no one would ever discern the fact
that this part of the Word
contains deep secrets of heaven,
and that everything within it
both in general and in particular
bears reference to the Lord, to His heaven,
to the church, to religious belief . . ..

** Happy Are They **

Happy are they that do His commandments,
that their power may be in the tree of life,
and they may enter through the gates into the city.

(Revelation 22:14)

AR 932

"Happy are they that do His commandments,
that their power may be in the tree of life,
and they may enter through the gates into the city,"
signifies that they have eternal happiness
who live according to the Lord's commandments,
for the end that they may be in the Lord
and the Lord in them by love,
and in His New Church by knowledges concerning Him.

AC 7068 - Bending and Bowing

AC 7068

And they bent themselves and bowed themselves down.
(Exodus 4:31

That this signifies humiliation,
is evident from the signification of
"bending themselves and bowing themselves down,"
as being the effect of humiliation;
but that "bending themselves"
denotes exterior humiliation,
and is that of those who are in truth;
and that "bowing themselves down"
denotes interior humiliation,
and is that of those who are in good . . ..
That this is so, has often been made plain
from those who are in truth
and those who are in good;
those who are in truth are as it were rigid,
and stand erect as if they were hard;
and when they ought to humble themselves
before the Divine,
they only bend the body a little;
but those who are in good
are as it were soft,
and when they humble themselves before the Divine,
they bow themselves down to the earth.
For truth without good is quite rigid,
and when it looks to good as the end,
this rigidity begins to soften;
but good is in itself soft,
and the truth which is being instilled,
as it becomes good there, also grows soft.
The reason is
that truth cannot be ordered
in the heavenly form except by good;
hence it is in itself hard;
for the heavenly form is most free
and makes no resistance;
and from this the good
with which truth has been rightly ordered is like it;
and as above said is soft.

~ Mary Magdalene Sees Two Angels and the Lord ~

Then the disciples went back to their homes,
but Mary stood outside the tomb crying.
As she wept,
she bent over to look into the tomb
and saw two angels in white,
seated where Jesus' body had been,
one at the head and the other at the foot.

They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"

They have taken my Lord away," she said,
"and I don't know where they have put Him."
At this, she turned around
and saw Jesus standing there,
but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

"Woman," he said, "why are you crying?
Who is it you are looking for?"

Thinking he was the gardener, she said,
"Sir, if you have carried Him away,
tell me where you have put Him,
and I will get Him."

Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward Him and cried out in Aramaic,
"Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).

Jesus said, "Do not hold on to Me,
for I have not yet returned to the Father.
Go instead to My brothers and tell them,
'I am returning to My Father and your Father,
to My God and your God.'"

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news:
"I have seen the Lord!"
And she told them
that He had said these things to her.

(John 20:10-18)

** The Lamb's Book of Life **

And there shall not enter into it any unclean thing
and that does abomination and a lie,
but they that are written in the Lamb's book of life.

(Revelation 21:26)

AR 876

"And there shall not enter into it any unclean thing
and that does abomination and a lie"
signifies that no one is received
into the Lord's New Church
who adulterates the goods
and falsifies the truths of the Word,
and who does evils from confirmation
and thus also falsities.
"But they that are written in the Lamb's book of life"
signifies that no others
will be received into the New Church,
which is the New Jerusalem,
but those who believe in the Lord,
and live according to His commandments in the Word. 

 

AC 7032 - Obstinacy; AC 7038 - "To Serve the Lord"; AC 7044 - Purification

AC 7032 [2]

As regards the obstinacy of those
who are in falsities and the derivative evils,
and in evils and the derivative falsities,
be it known that the obstinacy is such
as cannot be described;
for they never desist
except through grievous punishments
and the consequent fears;
exhortations and threats are of no avail whatever,
because the delight of their life is to do evil.
They contracted this delight
during their life in the world,
especially from the fact
that they loved themselves only
and not the neighbor,
thus being in no Christian charity.
As people of this kind do not suffer themselves
to be led by the Lord,
they act from their own proper will,
which is evil by heredity,
and also by actual life;
and they who act from their own will,
do evil from love;
for that which is of the will is of the love;
and from this they have the delight of doing evil,
and so far as they are in this delight,
so far they are in obstinacy. 

AC 7038

That "to serve the Lord" denotes to perform uses,
is because true worship consists
in the performance of uses,
thus in the exercises of charity.
He who believes that serving the Lord
consists solely in frequenting a place of worship,
in hearing preaching there, and in praying,
and that this is sufficient,
is much mistaken.
The very worship of the Lord
consists in performing uses;
and during man's life in the world
uses consist in everyone's discharging aright
his duty in his station,
thus from the heart being of service to his country,
to societies, and to the neighbor,
in dealing sincerely with his fellow,
and in performing kind offices with prudence
in accordance with each person's character.
These uses are chiefly the works of charity,
and are those whereby the Lord is chiefly worshiped.
 
AC 7044

The reason why purification is effected
by means of the truths of faith,
is that these teach what is good,
and also what is evil,
and thus what ought to be done,
and what ought not to be done;
and when man knows these truths,
and wills to act according to them,
he is then led by the Lord,
and is purified by His Divine means.

~ The Spirit of Truth ~

"I have much more to say to you,
more than you can now bear.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes,
he will guide you into all truth.
He will not speak on his own;
he will speak only what he hears,
and he will tell you what is yet to come.
He will bring glory to Me
by taking from what is Mine
and making it known to you.
All that belongs to the Father is Mine.
That is why I said
the Spirit will take from what is Mine
and make it known to you.

"In a little while you will see Me no more,
and then after a little while
you will see Me."

(John 16:12-16)

** The Key of the Abyss **

And I saw an angel coming down from heaven,
having the key of the abyss,
and a great chain in his hand.

And if any one was not found written in the book of life,
he was cast into the lake of fire.

(Revelation 22:1, 15)

AR 840

"And I saw an angel coming down from heaven
having the key of the abyss,
and a great chain in his hand,"
signifies the Lord's Divine operation into lower things,
from His Divine power of shutting and opening,
and of binding and loosing.

"And if anyone was not found written in the book of life,
he was cast into the lake of fire,"
signifies that they who had not lived
according to the Lord's commandments in the Word,
and had not believed in the Lord, were condemned.

 

AC 6998 - Moses and Aaron; AC 7003 - Truth Divine Proceeding; AC 7022 - The Wife of Moses

AC 6998

And He said, Is there not Aaron thy brother the Levite?
(Exodus 7:20)

That this signifies the doctrine of good and truth,
is evident from the representation of Aaron,
as being the Lord
as to Divine good or the priesthood;
but here, before he was initiated into the priesthood,
the doctrine of good and truth:
and therefore also it is said that
"he should be to Moses for a mouth,
and Moses to him for God;"
for by Moses is represented the Lord
as to the Divine truth
which proceeds immediately from the Lord;
consequently by Aaron,
the Divine truth
which proceeds mediately from the Lord,
and which is the doctrine of good and truth.
That truth which Moses here represents
is truth which cannot be heard or perceived by man;
but the truth which Aaron represents
is truth which can be
both heard and perceived by man;
hence Aaron is called the "mouth,"
and Moses his "God;"
and so Aaron is called a "Levite,"
for by a "Levite" is signified
the doctrine of good and truth of the church,
which ministers to and serves the priesthood.

AC 7003

. . . in doctrine there is
truth Divine proceeding from the Lord,
and in truth Divine proceeding from the Lord
there is love,
thus what is pleasant and enjoyable.

AC 7022

. . . the wife of Moses
represents good conjoined with truth,
even in the supreme sense,
in which the Lord is treated of;
in like manner
as does Sarah the wife of Abraham;
and also Rebecca the wife of Isaac.

" I Am"

"I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in Me will live,
even though he dies;
and whoever lives and believes in Me
will never die."

(John 11:25-26)

** And Behold a White Horse **

And I saw heaven opened; and behold a white horse;
and He that sat upon him is called faithful and true;
and in justice He does judge and make war.

And His eyes were as a flame of fire,
and upon His head were many diadems;
having a name written,
which no one knew but Himself:

And He was clothed with a garment dipped in blood;
and His name is called, The Word of God.

And the armies which are in heaven
followed Him upon white horses,
clothed in fine linen white and clean.

And out of His mouth went forth a sharp sword,
that with it He should smite the nations;
and He shall tend them with a rod of iron:
and He treads the wine-press
of the wine of the fury and anger of God Almighty.

And He has upon His garment and upon His thigh
a name written,
King of kings and Lord of lords.
   
(Revelation 19:11-16)

AR 803

"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse,"
signifies the spiritual sense of the Word
revealed by the Lord,
and the interior understanding of the Word
disclosed thereby,
which is the coming of the Lord.
"And He that sat upon him is called faithful and true;
and in justice He does judge and make war,"
signifies the Lord as to the Word,
that it is the Divine good itself
and the Divine truth itself,
from both of which He executes judgment.
"And His eyes were as a flame of fire,"
signifies the Divine wisdom of the Lord's Divine love.
"And upon His head were many diadems,"
signifies the Divine truths of the Word from Him.
"Having a name written which no one knew but Himself,"
signifies that what the quality of the Word is
in its spiritual and celestial senses
no one sees but the Lord,
and he to whom He reveals it.
"And He was clothed with a garment dipped in blood;
and His name is called The Word of God,"
signifies the Divine truth in its ultimate sense,
or the Word in the letter,
to which violence has been offered.
"And the armies which are in heaven
followed Him upon white horses,
clothed in fine linen white and clean,"
signifies the angels in the New Christian heaven,
who were conjoined to the Lord
in the interior understanding of the Word,
and thus who are in pure and genuine truths.
"And out of His mouth went forth a sharp sword,"
signifies the dispersion of falsities by the Lord
by doctrine therefrom.
"That with it He should smite the nations;
and He shall tend them with a rod of iron,"
signifies that He will convince all who are in dead faith,
by the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word,
and by rational things.
"And He treads the winepress
of the fury and anger of God Almighty,"
signifies that the Lord endured alone
all the evils of the church,
and all the violence offered to the Word,
and thus to Himself.
"And He has upon His garment and upon His thigh
a name written,
King of kings, and Lord of lords,"
signifies that the Lord teaches in the Word what He is,
that He is the Divine truth of the Divine wisdom
and the Divine good of the Divine love,
thus that He is the God of the universe.

AC 6996 - Mediation and Communication

AC 6996 [1-2]

. . . the Divine truth proceeding immediately
from the Lord's Divine Human
cannot be heard and perceived by any man,
nor even by an angel.
Therefore in order that it may be heard and perceived,
there must be mediation,
which mediation is effected through heaven,
and afterward
through the angels and spirits with the person.

This can be plainly known from the fact
that man cannot even hear
the spirits who are with him
speaking with one another;
and if he heard
he could not perceive,
because the speech of spirits is without human words,
and is the universal speech of all languages.
Moreover spirits cannot hear angels;
and if they heard 
they could not perceive,
because the angelic speech is still more universal.
Indeed, the angels of the inmost heaven
can be still less heard and perceived,
because their speech is not a speech of ideas,
but of affections which are of celestial love.
Seeing that since these kinds of speech
are so far away from man,
that they cannot possibly
be heard and perceived by him,
what then, so to speak, must be the Divine speech,
which is infinitely above
all the kinds of speech in the heavens!
It is said "the Divine speech,"
but the Divine truth proceeding
from the Divine Human of the Lord is meant.
This being so, it can be seen
that the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord,
in order to be heard and perceived,
must pass to man through mediations.
The last mediation is through
the spirit who is with the man,
who inflows either into his thought,
or by means of a living voice. 

~ He Who Belongs to God ~

Jesus said to them,
"If God were your Father,
you would love Me,
for I came from God
and now am here.
I have not come on My own;
but He sent Me.
Why is My language not clear to you?
Because you are unable to hear what I say.
You belong to your father, the devil,
and you want to carry out your father's desire.
He was a murderer from the beginning,
not holding to the truth,
for there is not truth in him.
When he likes,
he speaks his native language,
for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Yet because I tell the truth,
you do not believe Me!
Can any of you prove Me guilty of sin?
If I am telling the truth,
why don't you believe Me?
He who belongs to God
hears what God says.
The reason you do not hear
is that you do not belong to God."

(John 8:42-47)

** Babylon the Great is Fallen **

And after these things I saw
an angel coming down out of heaven,
having great authority,
and the earth was lightened by his glory.

And he cried out mightily with a great voice, saying,
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen,
and is become a habitation of demons,
and a hold of every unclean spirit,
and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird.

(Revelation 18:1-2)

AR 753

"After these things I saw,"
signifies a continuation respecting
the Roman Catholic religious persuasion.
"I saw an angel coming down out of heaven,
having great authority,
and the earth was lightened by his glory,"
signifies a strong influx
of the Lord out of heaven by the Divine truth,
from which His church was in celestial light

"And he cried out mightily with a great voice, saying,
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen,"
signifies that he made it known,
that by the Lord's Divine power
all who have been in that religion
and at the same time in the love of domineering from it,
were destroyed in the spiritual world,
and cast into many hells.
"And is become a habitation of demons,"
signifies that their hells
are the hells of the lusts of domineering
from the fire of the love of self,
and of the lusts of profaning the truths of heaven
from the spurious zeal of that love.
"And a hold of every unclean spirit,
and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird,"
signifies that the evils of will and thence of the deed,
and the falsities of thought and thence of design,
of those who are in those hells, are diabolical,
because they are turned away
from the Lord to themselves.

 

AC 6963 - Leprosy

AC 6963

. . . the signification of "leprosy," as being profanation,
specifically, the profanation of truth . . ..
In the historic Word much is said about leprosy,
and about its various appearances in the skin,
and about the judgment  to be formed of its quality -
whether the leper was to be shut in,
or to go out of the camp, or to be set at liberty;
and also about leprosy in garments, in vessels,
and in the very houses.
Leprosy is so much treated of,
not on account of leprosy as a disease,
but because it signified the profanation of truth,
thus for the sake of the spiritual sense . . ..

~ I Am the Bread of Life ~

Then Jesus declared,  "I am the bread of life.
He who comes to Me will never go hungry,
and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty.
But as I told you,
you have seen Me and still you do not believe.
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me,
and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away.
For I have come down from heaven
not to do My will
but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
And this is the will of Him who sent Me,
that I shall lose none of all that He has given Me,
but raise them up at the last day.
For My Father's will is
that everyone who looks to the Son
and believes in Him
shall have eternal life,
and I will raise Him up at the last day."

(John 6:35-40)

** Seven Angels With Seven Vials **

And there came one
of the seven angels that had the seven vials
and spake with me,
saying unto me,
Come; I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot,
that sits upon many waters:

With whom the kings of the earth
have committed whoredom,
and the inhabitants of the earth
have been made drunk with the wine of her whoredom.

(Revelation 17:1-2)

AR 716

"And there came one
of the seven angels that had the seven vials,
and spake with me"
signifies influx and revelation now
from the Lord out of the inmost heaven,
concerning the Roman Catholic religion.
"Saying unto me,
I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot
that sits upon many waters"
signifies revelation concerning that religion
as to its profanations and adulterations
of the truths of the Word.

"With whom the kings of the earth
committed whoredom,"
signifies that it has adulterated
the truths and goods of the church
which are from the Word.
"And the inhabitants of the earth
have been made drunk with the wine of her whordom,"
signifies insanity in spiritual things
from the adulteration of the Word
with those who are in that religion.
 

AC 6954 - Be Lifted Up

AC 6954

From himself man looks downward only,
that is, into the world, and to the earth,
because from himself he is in evil and falsity;
and when he looks thither (in that direction),
then the sensuous has dominion,
and interior things makes no opposition,
because they follow the force of the stream,
and yield to it.
Nevertheless not from himself
but from the Lord,
man looks upward,
that is, to heaven and to the Lord,
which is effected by means of an uplifting
and when the interiors are uplifted,
the sensuous also is uplifted,
but its light is then obscured,
because the light of heaven has dominion.
When this takes place,
good and truth from the Lord flow in,
and are also received;
and this is meant
by power communicated from the Divine.
Yet no others can be uplifted in this way
than those who have lived
in the good of faith and of charity.

 

~ He Opened Their Minds ~

Then He opened their minds
so they could understand the Scriptures.

(Luke 24:45)

** It Is Done. **

And there went forth a great voice
out of the temple of heaven
from the throne, saying,
It is done.

(Revelation 16:17.5)

AR 675

"And there went forth a great voice
out of the temple of heaven
from the throne, saying,
It is done,"
signifies that it was thus made manifest by the Lord,
that all things of the church were devastated,
and that now the Last Judgment was at hand.

AC 6916 - Living According to Truths; AC 6917 - Riches; AC 6921 - Material Things; AC 6931 - Purer Spirits and Angels

AC 6916

. . . when any one lives according to truths,
the truths themselves then become goods;
and therefore such as is the quality of the truth,
and such becomes the good.
This good afterward
associates and adjoins to itself 
no other truths
than such as are in accord with its own quality,
consequently no other than such as are helpful,
thus which are in the neighborhood and in the house.

AC 6917

Riches and wealth are hurtful to those who are in evil,
because they apply them to evil uses;
but they are useful to those who are in good,
because they apply them to good uses.
If therefore the riches and wealth
which pertain to the evil
are transferred to the good,
they become good.

AC 6921

. . . material things are like weights
which induce slowness and retard,
because they bear the mind downward
and immerse it in earthly things,
and thus remove it from the spiritual,
from which all clear discernment comes.

AC 6931

The purer spirits and angels are,
the more readily and fully do they take in,
and the more perfectly retain in the memory,
what they hear.
And as this goes on to eternity,
it is evident that they are continually
increasing in wisdom.

~ The Widow's Offering ~

As He looked up,
Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts
into the temple treasury.
He also saw a poor widow
put in two very small copper coins.
"I tell you the truth," He said,
"this poor widow has put in more than all the others.
All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth;
but she out of her poverty 
put in all she had to live on."

(Luke 21:1-4)

** They Were Singing the Song of Moses **

And they were singing the song of Moses
the servant of God,
and the song of the Lamb;
saying, Great and marvelous are Thy works,
O Lord God Almighty;
just and true are Thy ways, O King of saints.
Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord;
and glorify Thy name,
for Thou alone art Holy:
therefore all the nations shall come,
and shall adore before Thee;
because Thy judgments are made manifest.

(Revelation 15:3-4)

AR 656

"And they were singing the song of Moses
the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb,"
signifies confession from charity,
and thus from a life according to the precepts of the law,
which is the Decalogue,
and from faith in the Divinity of the Lord's Human.
"Saying, Great and marvelous are Thy works,
O Lord God Almighty,"
signifies that all things of the world,
of heaven, and of the church
were created and made by the Lord
from Divine love by Divine wisdom.
"For just and true are Thy ways, O King of saints,"
signifies that all things which proceed from Him
are just and true,
because He is Divine good itself
and Divine truth itself in heaven and in the church
"Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord,
and glorify Thy name,"
signifies that He alone is to be loved and worshiped.
"For Thou alone art Holy,"
signifies that He is the Word, the Truth,
and Enlightenment."
Wherefore all nations shall come
and adore before Thee,"
signifies that all who are in the good of love and charity
acknowledge the Lord alone as God.
"Because Thy judgments are made manifest,"
signifies that the truths of the Word openly testify this.

 

AC 6907 - The Light of Evil, the Light of Heaven

AC 6907 [3]

Those who are in evil of life,
and from this in falsity,
are in the light of the world,
for this is the light by which intellectual objects are seen;
this light, with those who are in falsity from evil,
has a ruddy glow,
and the more so in proportion
as they are more in falsity from evil.
The glory of the world,
which is from the love of self,
kindles this light, and causes its glow;
and because this is so,
truths appear therein wholly as falsities,
and falsities wholly as truths.
The reason is that heavenly light cannot flow
into a beam of that light,
but becomes thick darkness when with it;
hence it is that such are in a strong persuasion
in favor of falsities against truths;
because in that light they see them in this way.
But with those who are in truths from good,
the light of the world does not glow, but is obscure;
while the light of heaven with them
is clear and bright,
and because this light is so clear,
truths appear in it as truths,
and falsities as falsities.
For when this light falls upon falsities,
which in the light of the world separate
from the light of heaven
appear as truths,
it not only obscures but altogether extinguishes them.
This light, namely, the light of heaven,
becomes successively brighter and brighter with them,
and at last so much so
that the light of the world cannot be compared to it.
From all this appears the reason why
those who are in falsities from evil,
from so strong a persuasion
oppose themselves to those who are in truths,
which opposition has been treated of above.

~ The Woman and the Lost Coin ~

"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins
and loses one.
Does she not light a lamp,
sweep the house
and search carefully until she finds it?
And when she finds it,
she calls her friends and neighbors together
and says, 'Rejoice with me;
I have found my lost coin.'
In the same way, I tell you,
there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God
over one sinner who repents.

(Luke 15:8-10)

** I Saw and Heard **

And I saw,
and behold a Lamb standing on the Mount Zion,
and with Him a hundred forty-four thousand,
having His Father's name written upon their foreheads.
   
And I heard a voice from heaven,
as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of great thunder;
and I heard the voice of harpers
harping with their harps.

And the angel sent his sickle into the earth,
and gathered the vineyard of the earth,
and he cast it into
the great winepress of the anger of God.

And the winepress was trodden without the city;
and there went out blood from the winepress
even unto the bridles of the horses,
for a thousand six hundred stadia.

(Revelation 14:1-2, 19-20)

AR 612

"And I saw,
and behold a Lamb standing on the Mount Zion,
and with Him a hundred forty-four thousand,"
signifies the Lord
now in the New Heaven from Christians,
who acknowledged Him
as the God of heaven and earth,
and were in truths of doctrine
from Him through the Word.
"Having His Father's name in their foreheads,"
signifies acknowledgment
of the Lord's Divine and the Divine Human with them.

"And I heard a voice from heaven,
as the voice of many waters,"
signifies the Lord speaking through the New Heaven
from Divine truths.
"And as the voice of great thunder,"
signifies and from the Divine love.
"And I heard the voice of harpers
harping with their harps,"
signifies confession of the Lord
from gladness of heart
by the spiritual angels in the lower heavens.

. . . "And  the angel sent his sickle into the earth,
and gathered the vineyard of the earth,"
signifies the end of the present Christian church.
"And he cast it
into the great winepress of the anger of God,"
signifies exploration of the quality of their works,
that they were evil.

"And the winepress was trodden without the city,"
signifies that exploration was made
from the Divine truths of the Word
as to the quality of the works
which flow forth from the doctrine of faith of the church.
"And there went out blood from the winepress
even unto the bridles of the horses,"
signifies violence done to the Word
by dreadful falsifications of the truth,
and the understanding so closed up thereby,
that man can scarcely be taught any longer,
and thus be led of the Lord by Divine truths.
"For a thousand six hundred stadia,"
signifies mere falsities of evil.

AC 6866, 6872 - The State of the Lord's Humiliation While He Was in the World

AC 6866

So far as the Lord
was in the human not yet made Divine,
so far He was in humiliation;
but so far as He was in the Human made Divine,
so far He could not be in humiliation,
for so far He was God and Jehovah.
The reason why He was in humiliation
when in the human not yet made Divine,
was that the human
which He took from the mother
was by heredity, evil,
and this could not come near to the Divine
without humiliation;
for in genuine humiliation
a man divests himself
of all ability to think and do anything from himself,
and wholly leaves himself to the Divine,
and thus draws near to the Divine.
The Divine was indeed in the Lord,
because He was conceived of Jehovah,
but this appeared remote
insofar as His human
was in the heredity from the mother;
for in spiritual and heavenly things
it is unlikeness of state
that causes removal and absence,
and it is likeness of state
that causes approach and presence;
and it is love that makes likeness and unlikeness.
All this shows whence came
the state of humiliation with the Lord
when He was in the world;
but afterward, when He put off all the human
which He took from the mother,
insomuch that He was no longer her son,
and put on the Divine,
then the state of humiliation ceased,
for then He was one with Jehovah.

AC 6872 [2, 4]

He with whom there is Divine love,
which was with the Lord alone, is God;
thus His Human was made Divine
when He received in the Human
the love of His Father,
which was the being of His life.

For the Divine love does not agree with any
but a Divine form;
all other forms it absolutely casts out;
hence it is that the Lord when glorified
was no longer the son of Mary.

~ Fear Him ~

"I tell you, My friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
and after that can do no more.
But I will show you whom you should fear:
Fear Him who,
after the killing of the body,
has power to throw you into hell.
Yes, I tell you, fear Him."

(Luke 12:4-5)

(Fear does not just mean
to be afraid of or anxious about.
The word fear in past times,
when used regarding the Lord,
also means to love, revere,
or be in awe.)

** The Beast **

And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea,
having seven heads and ten horns,
and upon his horns ten diadems,
and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

And the beast which I saw
was like unto a leopard,
and his feet like a bear's,
and his mouth as the mouth of a lion;
and the dragon gave him his power,
and his throne, and great authority.

(Revelation 13:1-2)

AR 566

"And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea,"
signifies the laity in the churches of the Reformed,
who are principled
in the doctrine and faith of the dragon
concerning God and salvation:
"Having seven heads,"
signifies insanity arising from mere falsities:
"And ten horns,"
signifies much power:
"And upon his horns ten diadems,"
signifies the power of falsifying many truths of the Word:
"And upon his heads the name of blasphemy,"
signifies denial of the Lord's Divine Human,
and doctrine of the church not drawn from the Word,
but from self-derived intelligence.

"And the beast which I saw
was like unto a leopard,"
signifies a heresy destructive of the church
because derived from truths of the Word falsified:
"And his feet like a bear's,"
signifies full of fallacies
from the literal sense of the the Word
read but not understood:
"And his mouth as the mouth of a lion,"
signifies reasonings from falsities as if from truths:
"And the dragon gave him his power,
and his throne, and great authority,"
signifies that this heresy prevails and reigns
in consequence of its reception by the laity.

AC 6853 - Loves and Belief

AC 6853

The delights of the loves of self and of the world
take away all belief about the life after death.

~ The Sign of Jonah ~

As the crowds increased, Jesus said,
"This is a wicked generation.
It asks for a miraculous sign,
but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.
For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites,
so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.
The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment
with the men of this generation
and condemn them;
for she came from the ends of the earth
to listen to Solomon's wisdom,
and now one greater than Solomon is here.
The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment
with this generation
and condemn it;
for they repented at the preaching of Jonah,
and now one greater than Jonah is here."

(Luke 11:29-32)
 

** A Great Red Dragon **

And another sign was seen in heaven;
and behold, a great red dragon,
having seven heads,
and ten horns,
and upon his heads seven diadems.

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven,
and cast them to the earth;
and the dragon stood before the woman
who was about to bring forth,
that after she had brought forth,
he might devour her offspring.

(Revelation 12:3-4)

AR 531

"And another sign was seen in heaven,"
signifies revelation from the Lord
concerning those who are against
the New Church and its doctrine.
"And behold a great red dragon,"
signifies those in the Church of the Reformed
who make God three and the Lord two,
and who separate charity from faith,
and make faith saving,
and not charity at the same time.
"Having seven heads,"
signifies insanity
from the truths of the Word falsified and profaned.
"And ten horns,"
signifies much power.
"And upon his heads seven diadems,"
signifies all the truths of the Word
falsified and profaned.

"And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven,
and cast them to the earth,"
signifies that
by falsifications of the truths of the Word
they have alienated all spiritual knowledges
of good and truth from the church,
and by applications to falsities
have entirely destroyed them.
"And the dragon stood before the Woman
who was about to bring forth,
that after she had brought forth,
he might devour her offspring,"
signifies that they who are meant by "the dragon"
will endeavor to extinguish
the doctrine of the New Church
at its first appearance.

AC 6843, 6844 - Approaching the Lord

AC 6843

. . . a person cannot approach the Divine with the body,
as a person approaches a person,
but with the mind,
thus with the thought and the will
There is no other access to the Divine,
because the Divine
is above the things of place and time . . ..

AC 6844

. . . the externals of the natural are of such a nature
that they cannot be present
when the Divine is the object of holy thought . . ..

 

~ Trees ~

"No good tree bears bad fruit,
nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.
People do not pick figs from thornbushes,
or grapes from briers.
The good man brings good things
out of the good stored up in his heart,
and the evil man brings evil things
out of the evil stored up in his heart.
For out of the overflow of his heart
his mouth speaks.

(Luke 6:43-45)

** My Two Witnesses **

And I will give to My two witnesses,
and they shall prophesy
a thousand two hundred and sixty days,
clothed in sackcloth.
(Revelation 11:3)

AR 485

"And I will give My two witnesses,"
signifies those who confess and acknowledge in heart
that the Lord is the God of heaven and the earth,
and that His Human is Divine,
and who are conjoined to Him
by a life according to the precepts of the Decalogue.
"And they shall prophesy
a thousand two hundred and sixty days,"
signifies that these two articles,
the acknowledgment of the Lord,
and a life according
to the commandments of the Decalogue,
which are the two essentials of the New Church,
are to be taught until the end and the beginning.
"Clothed in sack cloth,"
signifies mourning in the meantime
on account of the non-reception of truth.

 

AC 6829 - The Darkness of Temptations and the Light Afterwards

AC 6829

When a man is in temptation,
he is beset round by falsities and evils
which impede the influx of light from the Divine,
that is, the influx of truth and good,
and then the man is as it were in darkness.
Darkness in the other life is nothing else
than being besieged by falsities,
for these take away the light
from the man who is in temptation,
and thus the perception of consolation by truths.
But when the man emerges from temptation,
then the light appears with its spiritual heat,
that is, truth with its good,
and from this he has gladness after anxiety.
This is the morning
which in the other life follows the night.
The reason why good is then perceived,
and truth appears,
is that after temptation
truth and good penetrate toward the interiors,
and there take root.
For when a man is in temptation,
he is as it were in hunger for good,
and in thirst for truth;
and therefore when he emerges
he draws in good as a hungry man devours food,
and receives truth as a thirsty man imbibes drink.
Moreover, when light from the Divine appears,
falsities and evils are removed,
and when these are removed,
the way is opened
for truth and good to penetrate more interiorly.
These are the reasons why after temptations
the good of love appears with its light from the Lord.
That after the obscurity and anxiety of temptations,
brightness and gladness appear,
is known to all in the other life,
because it is there a common occurrence.

~ "This Scripture Is Fulfilled" ~

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,
and news about Him spread 
through the whole countryside.
He taught in their synagogues,
and everyone praised Him.

He went to Nazareth,
where He had been brought up,
and on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue,
as was His custom.
And He stood up to read.
The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him.
Unrolling it, He found the place were it is written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,
because He has anointed Me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

The He rolled up the scroll,
gave it back to the attendant and sat down.
The eyes of everyone in the synagogue
were fastened on Him,
and He began by saying to them,
"Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

(Luke 4:14-21)
 

** Another Mighty Angel **

And  I saw another mighty angel
coming down from heaven,
encompassed with a cloud;
and a rainbow was over his head,
and his face was as the sun,
and his feet as pillars of fire.

And he hand in his hand a little book open.
And he set his right foot upon the sea,
and his left upon the earth.

. . . And I went unto the angel, saying unto him,
Give me the little book.
And he said unto me,
Take it, and eat it up;
and it shall make they belly bitter,
but in they mouth it shall be sweet as honey.

(Revelation 10:1-2, 9)

AR 463

"And I saw another mighty angel
coming down from heaven,"
signifies the Lord in Divine majesty and power.
"Encompassed with a cloud,
and a rainbow was over his head,"
signifies His Divine natural and Divine spiritual.
"And his face was as the sun,"
signifies the Divine love,
and at the same time the Divine wisdom.
"And his feet as pillars of fire,"
signifies the Lord's Divine natural as to the Divine love,
which sustains all things

"And he had in his hand a little book open,"
signifies the Word as to this doctrinal point therein,
that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth
and that His Human is Divine.
"And he set his right foot upon the sea,
and his left upon the earth,"
signifies that the Lord has the whole church
under His auspices and dominion.

"And I went unto the angel, saying unto him,
Give me the little book,"
signifies a motion of the mind with many
to receive the doctrine.
"And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up,
and it shall make thy belly bitter,
but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey,"
signifies that reception of the acknowledgment
that the Lord is the Savior and Redeemer,
is grateful and pleasing,
but that the acknowledgment
that He alone is the God of heaven and earth,
and that his Human is Divine,
is disagreeable and difficult by reason of falsifications.

AC 6789 - Moses - The law from the Divine; AC 6806 - "Knowing"

AC 6789 [2-3]

True memory-knowledge,
which is here represented by Moses,
is the truth of the external church;
this truth arises
from the truth which is of the law from the Divine,
which truth also is "Moses",
and the truth which is of the law from the Divine
is the truth of the internal church.
Unless external truth is from internal truth,
it cannot be conjoined with good.
Take the Word as an illustration.
Unless the internal of the Word
flows in with those who read the Word
and abide in the literal sense,
no conjunction is effected
of truth from the Word with good;
and the internal of the Word
flows in and is conjoined with good
when the man esteems the Word holy;
and he esteems it holy when he is in good.

Take as another illustration the Holy Supper.
Scarcely any know that the "bread" therein
signifies the Lord's love
toward the universal human race,
and the reciprocity of man;
and that the "wine" signifies charity.
Nevertheless, with those
who receive the bread and wine holily,
conjunction is effected
with heaven and with the Lord through these;
and the goods of love and charity
flow in through the angels,
who then do not think of bread and wine,
but of love and charity.
Hence it is evident
that external truth is conjoined with internal truth
when the man is in good,
without his knowing it.

AC 6806 [1, 3]

And God took knowledge.
(Exodus 2:25)

. . . the signification of "knowing,"
when predicated of God, that is, of the Lord,
as being to endow with charity;
for it is charity which conjoins the Lord with man,
and causes the Lord to be present with him,
consequently to know him.

"To know" involves conjunction,
and man is said to be "known" by the Lord
insofar as he is conjoined with Him.
The Lord also knows those who are not conjoined,
indeed, the very smallest particulars in every such man;
but these men, being in evil,
are in a different kind of presence,
which is as it were absence;
although the Lord is not absent,
but the man and the spirit who is in evil
is he who is absent;
and then it is said
that the Lord "does not know" them.
An image of this condition
appears among angels and spirits;
those who are alike as to states of life
appear near each other,
and thus mutually know each other;
but those who are unlike as to states of life,
appear to each other to be far away,
nor do they know each other in the same way.
In a word,
in the other life likeness of state
causes people to appear present, and to be known;
and unlikeness of state 
causes them to appear absent, and not to be known.

~ John the Baptist Prepares the Way ~

He went into all the country around the Jordan,
preaching a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins.
As it written in the book of the words
of Isaiah the prophet:

"A voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for Him.
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
And all mankind will see God's salvation.'"

John said to the crowds coming out
to be baptized by him,
"You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
And do not begin to say to yourselves,
'We have Abraham as our father.'
For I tell you that out of these stones
God can raise up children for Abraham.
The ax is already at the root of the trees,
and every tree that does not produce good fruit
will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

"What should we do then?" the crowd asked.

John answered, "The man with two tunics
should share with him who has none,
and the one who has food should do the same."

Tax collectors also came to be baptized.
"Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?"

"Don't collect any more than you are required to,"
he told them.

Then some soldiers asked him,
"And what should we do?"

He replied, "Don't extort money
and don't accuse people falsely --
be content with your pay."

(Luke 3:3-15)
 

** And the Fifth Angel Sounded **

And the fifth angel sounded,
and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth,
and to him was given the key of the pit of the abyss.
(Revelation 9:1)

AR 417

"The fifth angel sounded,"
signifies the exploration and manifestation
of the states of life
of those in the church of the reformed,
who are called learned and wise
from the confirmation of faith separated from charity,
and of justification and salvation by it alone.
"And I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth,"
signifies spiritual Divine truth
flowing from heaven into the church with them
and exploring and manifesting.
"And to him was given the key of the pit of the abyss"
signifies the opening of their hell.

AC 6766 - "Who Set Thee for a Man, a Prince, and a Judge Over Us?"; AC 6786 - "Flock"

AC 6766

And he said,
Who set thee for a man, a prince, and a judge over us?
(Exodus 2:14)

That this signifies perception
that he was not as yet
so far advanced in the truths of faith
as to settle differences within the church,
is evident from the signification of
"he said," as being perception (of which often above);
and from the signification of "a man a prince,"
as being one who is in primary truths,
thus who has been preeminently enlightened
in the doctrine of truth.
Such a one was meant in the representative church
by "a prince," and hence by the words
"Who set thee for a man, a prince?"
is signified that he was not yet
so far advanced in the truths of the church
(that a "prince" is one in primary truths, see n. 5044).
And from the significance of a "judge,"
as being one who settles disputes or differences,
here differences within the church,
because between two Hebrew men,
by whom are signified those who are of the church.

[2] In the supreme sense
the subject treated of has been
the beginnings of the law Divine in the Lord's Human,
and now the subject treated of
is the progress of this law;
but in the internal sense the subject treated of now
is the progress of Divine truth
with the man who is being regenerated.
This progress is such
that the man is for the first time enabled
to discriminate between falsity and truth;
for from the truth in which he is he can see falsity,
because it is opposite;
but he cannot at this first time settle differences
between the truths of faith within the church;
in order to be able to do this
he must make further progress,
for man is enlightened successively.
This is very evident from youths and young men,
who believe the doctrinal things of their church
to be truth itself,
and from these judge of falsities,
but as yet are not able to settle differences
between matters of faith within the church.
This ability comes by degrees;
and therefore a man to whom this is possible
must be of a more advanced age,
and must have
the interiors of his understanding enlightened.

AC 6786

"Flock" signifies both good, and the church,
that is, those who are in good and of the church,
because the two are so conjoined
that one cannot be separated from the other;
for he who in the good of faith is a church,
and he who is a church
is in the good of faith.

~ "I Am" ~

Again the high priest asked Him,
"Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?"

"I am," said Jesus.
"And you will see the Son of Man
sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One
and coming on the clouds of heaven."

(Mark 14:61.5-62)
 

** The Seventh Seal and the Seven Trumpets **

And when He had opened the seventh seal,
there was silence in heaven as of half an hour.

And I saw the seven angels,
who stood before God;
and there were given them seven trumpets.

(Revelation 8:1-2)

AR 386

The church of the Reformed is here treated of,
as to the quality of those therein
who are in faith alone:
the preparation of the spiritual heaven
for communication with them.

"And when He had opened the seventh seal,"
signifies exploration by the Lord
of the state of the church,
and thence of the life of those
who are in His spiritual kingdom,
being those who are in charity and its faith,
in this case who are in faith alone.

"There was silence in heaven as of half an hour,"
signifies that the angels of the Lord's spiritual kingdom
were greatly amazed when they saw those
who said they were in faith in such a state.

AC 6750 - The First Plane; AC 6752 - Moses and Elias

AC 6750

. . . memory-knowledges are what those
who are being regenerated must first learn,
because they are a plane
for the things of the understanding,
and the understanding is the recipient of the truth of faith,
and the truth of faith is the recipient of the good of charity.
Hence it can be seen that memory-knowledge
is the first plane when man is being regenerated.

That memory-knowledge was also the first plane
with the Lord when He made His Human Divine truth,
or the Divine law, is signified by the Lord,
when an infant, being brought into Egypt
(Matthew 2:13, 14),
as follows in the prophetic utterance in Hosea:
 "Out of Egypt have I called My Son."
(Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:15).
That by "Egypt" are signified memory-knowledges,
has been often shown;
but by memory-knowledges are not meant
those of philosophy, but those of the church.

AC 6752

Two men especially represent the Lord as to the Word,
namely, Moses and Elias;
Moses as to the historic books,
Elias as to the prophetic.
There are besides, Elisha, and lastly John the Baptist,
wherefore this is he who is meant by
"Elias who was to come" (Matthew 17:10-13; Luke 1:17).
But before it can be shown
that Moses represents the law Divine,
what this is must be told.
The law Divine in a wide sense signifies the whole Word;
in a sense less extended the historic Word;
in a close sense, what was written through Moses;
and in the closest sense, the ten commandments
written on the tables of stone upon Mount Sinai.
Moses represents the law in the less wide sense,
also in the close, and likewise in the closest sense.

(From Wikipedia: 
Elias is the Latin and Greek equivalent
of Elijah (Hebrew Eliyahu),
a prophet in Israel in the 9th century BCE.)

~ In Those Days ~

"But in those days, following that distress,

"'the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'

"At that time
men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds
with great power and glory.
And He will send His angels
and gather His elect from the four winds,
from the ends of the earth
to the ends of the heavens.

(Mark 13:24-27)

** Those Who Have Come Out of the Great Tribulation **

And he said, "These are they
who have come out of the  great tribulation;
they have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Therefore,

"they are before the throne of God
and serve Him day and night in His temple;
and He who sits on the throne
will spread His tent over them.
Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
He will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

(Revelation 7:14-17)

AC 6724 - When a Person Is Being Reformed; AC 6737 - Compassion

AC 6724 [2-3]

When a person is being reformed,
he is kept by the Lord
as to his internal 
in good and truth,
but as to his external 
he is let into his evils and falsities,
consequently among infernal spirits
who are in these evils and falsities.
These hover round him,
and endeavor by every method to destroy him.
But the good and truth
which flow in through the internal
render him so safe
that the infernal spirits cannot do him the least harm;
for that which acts inwardly
prevails immeasurably
over that which acts outwardly;
because what is interior,
in consequence of being purer,
acts upon each and every individual particular
of the exterior,
and thus disposes the external to its will.
But in this case there
must be good and truth in the external,
wherein the influx from the internal can be fixed;
and in this way good can be among evils and falsities,
and yet be in safety.
Everyone who is being reformed is let into this state,
and in this way the evils and falsities in which he is,
are removed,
and goods and truths are inserted in their place.

Unless this secret is known,
it cannot possibly be known
why around the Divine truth in a person
there are goods mixed with evils and falsities,
signified by the bitumen and pitch
wherewith the little ark was daubed
in which the infant was laid.
Be it known further that good
can be mixed with evils and falsities,
but that nevertheless
they are not on this account conjoined,
for each shuns the other,
and by a law of order
each separates itself from the other.
For good is of heaven,
and evil and falsity are of hell;
therefore, as heaven and hell are separate,
so also each and all things from them
separate themselves.

AC 6737

. . . when those who are in perception
feel compassion,
they know that they are
admonished by the Lord to give aid.

 

~ Salt ~

"Everyone will be salted with fire.

"Salt is good,
but if it loses its saltiness,
how can you make it salty again?
Have salt in yourselves,
and be at peace with each other.

(Mark 9:49-50)
__________________________

AC 9207 [3]

. . . "to be salted with fire"
denotes the longing of good for truth;
and "to be salted with salt"
denotes the longing of truth for good;
"salt that has lost its saltiness"
denotes truth without any longing for good;
"to have salt in oneself"
denotes to have this longing.

AC 10300

Salted.
That this signifies the longing of truth for good,
is evident from the signification of "salt,"
as being that longing for good 
which is of the love of truth (of which below);
hence "salted" denotes that in which is this longing.
The reason why there must be
a longing of truth for good
is that this longing is conjunctive of the two;
for insofar as truth longs for good,
so far it is conjoined with it.
The conjunction of truth and good
is what is called the heavenly marriage,
which is heaven itself with man;
and therefore when in Divine worship,
and in each and all things of it,
there is a longing for this conjunction,
heaven is in each and all things there.
Thus the Lord is in them.
This is signified by the requirement
that the incense should be salted.
Salt has this signification from its conjunctive nature;
for it conjoins all things,
and from this gives them relish . . ..

** Come and Look **

And I saw when the Lamb
had opened the first of the seals,
and I heard one of the four animals saying,
as with a voice of thunder,
Come and look.

(Revelation 6:1)

"And I saw when the Lamb had opened 
the first of the seals,"
signifies exploration by the Lord of all those
upon whom the Last Judgment was about to come
as to their understanding of the Word,
and thence as the their states of life.
"And I heard one of the four animals saying,
as with a voice of thunder,"
signifies, according to the Divine truth of the Word.
"Come and look,"
signifies a manifestation concerning the first in order.

AC 6693 - Cast Every Son Into the River

AC 6693

Saying, Every son that is born,
you shall cast him forth into the river.
(Exodus 1:22)

That this signifies that they should immerse in falsities
all truths which appear,
is evident from the signification of
"son," as being truth;
and from the signification of "river,"
as being things that belong to intelligence,
here in the opposite sense,
things contrary, thus falsities.
That "to cast forth" denotes to immerse is clear. 

~ The Apostles Report ~

The apostles gathered around Jesus
and reported to Him all they had done and taught.
Then, because so many people were coming and going
that they did not even have a chance to eat,
He said to them,
"Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place
and get some rest."

(Mark 6:30-31)

** In His Right Hand **

And I saw in the right hand
of Him that sat on the throne,
a book written within and on the back,
sealed with seven seals.

(Revelation 5:1)

"And I saw in the right hand
of Him that sat on the throne,
a book written within and on the back,"
signifies the Lord as to His Divine itself from eternity,
who is omnipotent and omniscient,
and who is the Word.
"Sealed with seven seals,"
signifies that is altogether hidden
from the angel and man.

AC 6673 - Midwives; AC 6674 - His "Name"

AC 6673

That "midwives" denote the natural,
is because the natural receives
that which flows in from the Internal,
and thus as it were acts as a midwife.

AC 6674 [2, 8]

He who does not know
that a name denotes the quality and state
of the subject being treated of,
can believe that where a name is mentioned,
the name merely is meant;
thus when the Lord speaks of His "name,"
that it is merely the name,
when yet it is the quality of the worship,
that is, everything of faith and charity
by which He is to be worshiped, 
as in these passages:

Where two or three are gathered together in My name,
there am I in the midst of them.
(Matthew 18:20);
here the "name" is not meant,
but worship from faith and charity.

As many as received,
to them gave He power to be the sons of God,
to them that believe in His name.
(John 1:12);
here also by "name" is meant faith and charity,
whereby the Lord is worshiped.

These things have been written that you
may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing you may have life in His name.
(John 20:31);
where the sense is the same.

That the "name of Jehovah"
denotes everything by which He is worshiped,
thus in the supreme sense everything
that proceeds from the Lord,
is evident from the benediction:

Jehovah bless thee and keep thee,
Jehovah make His faces to shine upon thee,
and have mercy on thee;
Jehovah lift up His faces upon thee,
and give thee peace.
So shall they put My name upon the sons of Israel.
(Numbers 6:23-27)

From all this it is now clear what is meant
by this commandment of the Decalogue:

Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain;
for Jehovah will not hold him innocent
that takes His name in vain.
(Exodus 20:7);

also by
Hallowed be Thy name,
in the Lord's prayer (Matthew 6:9).

~ The Appointing of the Twelve Apostles ~

Jesus went up on a mountainside
and called to Him those He wanted,
and they came to Him.
He appointed twelve -- designating them apostles --
that they might be with Him
and that He might send them out to preach
and to have authority to drive out demons.
These are the twelve He appointed:
Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter);
James son of Zebedee and his brother John
(to them He gave the names Boanerges,
which means Sons of Thunder);
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot
and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.

(Mark 3:13-19)

** A Throne Was Set in Heaven **

And behold, a throne was set in heaven,
And One sitting on the throne.
And He that sat was in appearance
like a jasper and a sardius stone;
and there was a rainbow round about the throne
in the appearance like an emerald.
(Revelation 4:2.5-3)

AR 225

"And, behold a throne was set in heaven,"
signifies the Judgment in a representative form.
"And One sitting on the throne,"
signifies the Lord.
"And He that sat was in appearance
like a jasper and a sardius stone,"
signifies the appearance of
the Lord's Divine wisdom and Divine love in ultimates.
"And there was a rainbow round about the throne
in appearance like an emerald,"
signifies the appearance of the same also
round about the Lord.

AC 6658 - A New Church in a Person

AC 6658

The church has indeed been set up anew with a person
when he does what is good from affection;
but still it has not been fully set up anew
until he has fought against evils and falsities,
thus until he has endured temptations;
after this he becomes truly a church,
and then is introduced into heaven . . ..

~ The Great Commission Given in Galilee ~

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
When they saw Him,
they worshiped Him;
but some doubted.
Then Jesus came to them and said,
"All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to Me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything
I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always,
to the very end of the age."

(Matthew 28:16-20)