Advent Reading - December 24

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by Him;
and without Him 
was not any thing made that was made.
In Him was life;
and the life was the Light of men.

And the light shines in darkness;
and the darkness comprehended it not.
There was a man sent from God,
whose name was John.

The same came for a witness, 
to bear witness of the Light,
that all men through him might believe.
He was not that Light,
but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

That was the true Light,
which lights every man that comes into the world.
He was in the world,
and the world was made by Him,
and the world knew Him not.

He came unto His own,
and His own received Him not.
But as many as received Him,
to them gave He power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on His name:

Which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God.
And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the one only of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.
(John 1:1-14)

AC 5057

. . . all Divine truth in general is called the “Word,”
and the Lord Himself,
from whom comes all Divine truth,
is in the supreme sense the “Word”.

AC 3195 [3]

As regards the very origin of light,
this has been from eternity from the Lord alone;
for Divine good itself and Divine truth,
from which light comes,
is the Lord.
The Divine Human, which was from eternity,
was this light itself.
And whereas this light could no longer
affect the human race,
which had removed itself so far from good and truth,
thus from light,
and had cast itself into darkness,
therefore the Lord willed to put on by birth
the human itself;
for in this way He could illumine
not only the rational
but also the natural things of a person;
for He made both the rational and the natural
in Himself Divine,
in order that He might also be a light
to those who were in such gross darkness.

 

AC 10449 - The Word Was Let Down from Heaven

 AC 10449

And Moses looked back,
and came down from the mountain,
and the two tables of the Testimony were in his hand;
the tables were written on the two crossings,
hereupon and hereupon were they written.
And the tables were the work of God,
and the writing was the writing of God,
graven upon the tables.
(Exodus 32:15-16)

“And Moses looked back
and came down from the mountain,”
means the Word let down from heaven;
“and the two tables of the Testimony were in his hand,”
means the Word of the Lord in special and in general;
“the tables were written on the two crossings,
hereupon and hereupon were they written,”
means by which there is
the conjunction of the Lord with the human race,
or of heaven with the world;
“and the tables were the work of God,
and the writing was the writing of God,
graven upon the tables,”
means that the external and the internal
sense of the Word were from the Divine,
and are Divine truth . . ..

Advent Reading - December 23

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about:
His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph,
but before they came together,
she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man
and did not want to expose her to public disgrace,
he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this,
an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
"Joseph son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife,
because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will give birth to a Son,
and you are to give him the name Jesus,
because He will save his people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:
"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel" -
which means, "God with us."

When Joseph woke up,
he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took Mary home as his wife.
But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son.
And he gave him the name Jesus.
(Matthew 1:18-25)  

AC 10436 - Worship and the Church

AC 10436 [2, 3]

Be it known that the church is not the church
from external worship,
but from internal worship;
for external worship is of the body,
but internal worship is of the soul.
Consequently external worship without internal
is of the outward act only,
thus is worship without life from the Divine.
Through the interior things of worship
the person of the church
communicates with the heavens,
to which the external serves as a plane
upon which the interior things may subsist,
as a house upon its foundations;
and when it so subsists it is complete and firm,
and the whole person is directed by the Divine.

. . . the end of all worship
is communication with heaven,
and thereby the conjunction of the Lord with a person.

 

Advent Reading - December 22

AC 2906 [6]

Behold I send My angel,
and he shall prepare the way before Me;
and the Lord whom ye seek
shall suddenly come to His temple,
even the angel of the covenant
whom ye desire;
behold He comes, said Jehovah Zebaoth;
and who may endure the day of His coming?
Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
be pleasant unto Jehovah,
according to the days of an age,
and according to the ancient years.
(Malachai 3:1-2, 4)

AC 2906 [6]

. . . where the advent of the Lord is treated of;
the “days of an age” denote the Most Ancient Church;
“ancient years,” the Ancient Church;
the “offering of Judah,” worship from celestial love;
and the “offering of Jerusalem,”
worship from spiritual love;
that Judah is not meant here, nor Jerusalem, is plain.

AC 10431 - The Lord Is Not Always What He Seems

AC 10431

In many passages of the Word it is said of Jehovah
that He burns with anger and is wroth (angry),
and also that He consumes and destroys.
But it is so said because it so appears to the person
who turns himself away from the Lord,
as is the case when he does evil;
and as then he is not heard, and is even punished,
he believes that the Lord is in anger against him;
although the Lord is never angry, and never consumes,
for He is mercy itself and good itself.
From this it is evident what is
the nature of the Word as to the letter, namely,
that it is according to the appearance with a person.
In like manner it is said
that “Jehovah repents,” as in what follows,
when yet Jehovah never repents,
for He foresees all things from eternity;
from which it can be seen
into how many errors those fall
who when reading the Word do not think
beyond the sense of the letter,
thus who read it without doctrine from the Word
to teach them how the case really is.
For those who read the Word
in accordance with doctrine
know that Jehovah is mercy itself and good itself,
and that it cannot possibly be said
of infinite mercy and infinite good
that it burns with anger and consumes.

Advent Reading - December 21

Shout for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion;
behold I come that I may dwell in the midst of you.
Then many nations shall cleave to Jehovah.
(Zechariah 2:10,11)

Exult greatly, O daughter of Zion;
resound, O daughter of Jerusalem;
behold, your King comes to you, just.
(Zechariah 9:9)

AC 2362

There are two affections, namely, of good and of truth.
The former, or the affection of good,
constitutes the celestial church,
and is called in the Word the “daughter of Zion,”
and also the “virgin daughter of Zion;”
but the latter, or the affection of truth,
constitutes the spiritual church,
and is called in the Word the “daughter of Jerusalem.”

 

AC 10422 - The Way

AC 10422 [2]

That “way” denotes truth
is from the appearance in the spiritual world,
where also there are ways and paths;
and in the cities, there appear streets and avenues,
and spirits go nowhere else than to those
with whom they are consociated by love.
From this it is that the quality of the spirits there
in regard to truth
is known from the way in which they go;
for all truth leads to its own love,
because that is called truth
which confirms what is loved.
From this it is
that in common human speech “way” denotes truth;
for the speech of man has derived this,
like many other things,
from the spiritual world.

 

Advent Reading - December 20

The glory of Jehovah shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together.
(Isaiah 40:5)

AC 9429

That the interior things of the Word are called “glory”
is because the Divine truth
proceeding from the Lord as a sun
is the light in heaven which gives sight
to the angels there,
and at the same time intelligence and wisdom.
From this Divine light is all the glory in heaven,
which is such as to surpass all human apprehension.
From this it is plain why
the internal sense of the Word is meant by “glory;”
for the internal sense of the Word
is the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord in heaven,
thus is the light from which is all the glory there.

AC 10409 - Worldly Blessings vs. Eternal Blessings

AC 10409 [3-4]

. . . the goods, the satisfactions, and the happiness
that are given and provided for a person by the Divine
are eternal and have no end;
and consequently these are true blessings.
What is temporary bears no ratio to what is eternal;
as what is finite in time
bears no ratio to the infinite of time.
What endures to eternity, this is;
but what has an end, this relatively is not.
That which is, the Divine provides;
but not that which is not,
except insofar as it conduces to that which is;
for Jehovah, which is the Divine Itself, is,
and that which is from Him also is.
From this it is evident what is the quality
of that which is given
and provided for a person by the Divine,
and what is the quality of that
which a person himself procures for himself.

Moreover, every person is led by the Divine
by means of his understanding;
if he were not led thereby,
no person could be saved;
and from this it is that the Divine
leaves this with a person in its freedom,
and does not check it.
From this cause it comes to pass
that the machinations and cunning devices of the evil
(which are from their understanding) succeed;
but the favorable results thus obtained
come to an end together with their life in the world,
and become unfavorable;
whereas those things
which are provided by the Divine for the good
have no end,
and become favorable and happy to eternity.

 

Advent Reading - December 19

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham begat Isaac;
and Isaac begat Jacob;
and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
and Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar;
and Phares begat Esrom;
and Esrom begat Aram;

And Aram begat Aminadab;
and Aminadab begat Naasson;
and Naasson begat Salmon;
and Salmon begat Booz of Rachab;
and Booz begat Obed of Ruth;
and Obed begat Jesse;

And Jesse begat David the king;
and David the king begat Solomon
of her that had been the wife of Urias;
and Solomon begat Roboam;
and Roboam begat Abia;
and Abia begat Asa;

And Asa begat Josaphat;
and Josaphat begat Joram;
and Joram begat Ozias;
and Ozias begat Joatham;
and Joatham begat Achaz;
and Achaz begat Ezekias;

And Ezekias begat Manasses;
and Manasses begat Amon;
and Amon begat Josias;
and Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren,
about the time they were carried away to Babylon:

And after they were brought to Babylon,
Jechonias begat Salathiel;
and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;
and Zorobabel begat Abiud;
and Abiud begat Eliakim;
and Eliakim begat Azor;

And Azor begat Sadoc;
and Sadoc begat Achim;
and Achim begat Eliud;
and Eliud begat Eleazar;
and Eleazar begat Matthan;
and Matthan begat Jacob;

And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary,
of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
So all the generations from Abraham to David
are fourteen generations;
and from David until the carrying away into Babylon
are fourteen generations;
and from the carrying away into Babylon
unto Christ are fourteen generations.
(Matthew 1:16)

AC 2009 [9]
In heaven it is solely by the quality
that anyone is known from another;
and in the sense of the letter
this is expressed by the name,
as everyone can see from the consideration
that on earth whoever is named
is presented in the listener’s idea
in accordance with his quality,
and it is by this idea
that he is known and distinguished from others.
In the other life the ideas remain,
but the names perish;
and this is still more the case among the angels.
So it is that in the internal sense
the “name” is the quality, or to know the quality.

AC 10406 - "Graven Images" and "Molten Images"

AC 10406 [2]

In the Word throughout mention is made of
“graven images” and “molten images.”
Those who apprehend the Word
merely according to the letter
suppose that idols only are meant by these images.
Nevertheless idols are not meant,
but false doctrinal things of the church,
such as are formed by a person himself
under the guidance of some love of his.
The forming of these falsities to cohere,
and to appear as if they were truths,
is meant by a “graven image.”
The joining of them together to favor external loves,
so that evils may appear as goods,
is meant by a “molten image.”
As both are meant by the “golden calf,”
therefore it is here said that Aaron
“formed it with a graving tool,”
by which is meant the forming of falsities
so as to appear as if they were truths;
and by its being said
that he “made the gold a molten calf.”
And afterward that he
“cast it into the fire, and it came forth a calf”,
means the joining together to favor external loves
so that evils may appear as goods.
Moreover such is the case with all doctrine
that is made from a person,
and not from the Lord;
and it is made from a person
when he has as his end
his own glory or his own profit;
but it is from the Lord
when the good of the neighbor
and the good of the Lord’s kingdom
are regarded as the end.

Advent Reading - December 18

And in mercy shall the throne be established:
and He shall sit upon it in truth
in the tabernacle of David,
judging, and seeking judgment,
and hasting righteousness.
(Isaiah 16:5)

AC 9857 [2 3]

That “judgment” denotes Divine truth
and the intelligence derived from it,
consequently that it denotes doctrine
and life according to doctrine . . ..

. . . speaking of the coming of the Lord,
“the throne upon which He was to sit”
denotes the Divine truth proceeding from Him,
and so the spiritual kingdom;
“to judge judgment” denotes to teach Divine truth,
and “to seek judgment” denotes
its reception with a person.

 

** "Among the Gods There Is None like You, O Lord" **

You are forgiving and good, O Lord,
abounding in love to all who call to You.
Here my prayer, O Lord;
listen to my cry for mercy.
In the day of my trouble I will call to You,
for You will answer me.

Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord;
no deeds can compare with Yours.
All the nations You have made
will come and worship before You, O Lord;
they will bring glory to Your name.
For You are great and do marvelous deeds;
You alone are God.

Teach me Your way, O Lord,
and I will walk in Your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear Your name.
I will praise You, O lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify Your name forever.

(Psalm 53:5-12)

AC 10381 - An Act of Angelic Charity

AC 10381

. . . it is not angelic to seek for the evils with a person
unless we at the same time seek for the goods.

Advent Reading - December 17

Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be delivered;
and she brought forth a son.
And her neighbors and her cousins heard
how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her;
and they rejoiced with her.

And it came to pass,
that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child;
and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
And his mother answered and said,
Not so; but he shall be called John.

And they said unto her,
There is none of your kindred that is called by this name.
And they made signs to his father,
how he would have him called.

And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying,
His name is John.
And they all marveled.
And his mouth was opened immediately,
and his tongue loosed,
and he spake, and praised God.

And fear came on all that lived round about them:
and all these sayings were noised abroad
throughout all the hill country of Judaea.
And all they that heard them
laid them up in their hearts, saying,
What manner of child shall this be!
And the hand of the Lord was with him.

And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit,
and prophesied, saying,
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
for He has visited and redeemed His people,

And has raised up an horn of salvation for us
in the house of His servant David;
As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
which have been since the world began:

That we should be saved from our enemies,
and from the hand of all that hate us;
To perform the mercy promised to our fathers,
and to remember His holy covenant;

The oath which he swore to our father Abraham,
That he would grant unto us,
that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies
might serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him,
all the days of our life.

And you, child, shalt be called
the prophet of the Highest:
for you shalt go before the face of the Lord
to prepare His ways;
to give knowledge of salvation unto His people
by the remission of their sins,
through the tender mercy of our God;
whereby the dayspring from on high has visited us,
To give light to them that sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit,
and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.
(Luke 1:57-80)

 

AC 10367 - The State of 'The Sabbath'

AC 10367 [6-7]

From all this it may now be seen
what the joining together of goodness and truth,
meant by 'the sabbath', is.
This joining together is called the sabbath
on account of the rest it brings,
for the sabbath consists in rest.
During the first state,
that is, while being led by truths towards good,
a person is engaged in conflicts against
the evils and falsities present with him.
By means of these conflicts,
which are temptations,
evils and accompanying falsities
are dispelled and separated,
from which there is no rest
until goodness and truth have been joined together.
At this point the person has rest,
and so does the Lord . . ..

The reason why in the highest sense
'the sabbath' means the Lord's Divine Human
is that when the Lord was in the world,
from His Human
He fought against and overcame all the hells,
and at the same time restored the heavens to order,
after which labors
He united His Human to the Divine,
making it Divine Good as well.
Consequently at this point He had rest,
for the hells cannot lift a finger against Divine Good.

 

Advent Reading - December 16

And Mary arose in those days,
and went into the hill country with haste,
into a city of Judah;
And entered into the house of Zacharias,
and saluted Elisabeth.

And it came to pass, that,
when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary,
the babe leaped in her womb;
and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit:
And she spake out with a loud voice, and said,
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

And why am I so favored,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation
sounded in mine ears,
the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

And blessed is she that believed:
for there shall be a performance of those things
which were told her from the Lord. 

And Mary said,

"My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior,
for He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden:
for, behold, from henceforth
all generations shall call me blessed.

For He that is mighty hath done to me great things;
and holy is His name.
And His mercy is on them that fear Him
from generation to generation. 

He hath shewed strength with His arm;
He hath scattered the proud
in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seats,
and exalted them of low degree. 

He hath filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He hath sent empty away.
He hath helped His servant Israel,
in remembrance of His mercy;
as He spake to our fathers,
to Abraham, and to his seed for ever."

And Mary abode with her about three months,
and returned to her own house. 

(Luke 1:39-56)

AC 10360 - The Sabbath and the Divine Human of the Lord

AC 10360 [1-3, 6, 8]

And you shall keep the Sabbath.
(Exodus 31:13)

That this means that the Divine Human of the Lord
is to be worshiped,
is evident from the meaning of “keeping,”
when said of the Divine, as being to worship;
and from the meaning of “the Sabbath,”
as being in the supreme sense
the union of the Divine which is called the “Father”
and of the Divine Human which is called the “Son,”
thus the Divine Human in which is this union.
This union is signified by “the Sabbath,”
because by the six days of labor
which precede the seventh
is meant every state of combat;
for in the spiritual sense “labor”
does not mean such labor as there is in the world,
but such as those who are in the church endure
before they enter the church
and become the church,
which labor is combat against evils and falsities of evil.
A like “labor” (in the spiritual sense)
was endured by the Lord
when He was in the world;
for He then fought against the hells,
and reduced them and likewise the heavens into order,
and at the same time He glorified His Human,
that is, He united it to the Divine Itself
which He had from conception.

The time and state when the Lord was in combats
is meant by the six days of labor,
but the state when the union had been effected
is meant by the seventh day,
which is called “the Sabbath,”
from “rest,” because the Lord then had rest.
Consequently by “the Sabbath” is meant also
the conjunction of the Lord with heaven,
with the church, with an angel of heaven,
and with a person of the church.
The reason is that all who are to come into heaven
must first be in combats
against evils and the falsities of evil,
and when these have been separated
they enter heaven and are conjoined with the Lord,
and then they have rest.
It is similar with people in the world.
It is known that these must be in combats,
that is, that they must undergo temptations,
before the good and truth which make the church
have been implanted in them;
thus before they have been conjoined with the Lord,
consequently before they have rest.
From this it is evident where it is from
that a state of combat is meant by the six days of labor,
while rest and also conjunction
are meant by the seventh day or the Sabbath.

That the conjunction of good and truth also,
is meant by “the Sabbath,”
is because when a person is in combats
he is in truths;
but when truths have been conjoined with good,
thus when the person is in good,
he then has rest;
in like manner as the Lord,
when He was in the world,
and fought with the hells,
was in respect to His Human Divine truth;
and when He had united
His Human to the Divine Itself,
He then, even in respect to His Human,
became the Divine good, or Jehovah.

. . . that those who reverently worship
the Divine Human of the Lord
shall be in the Divine truths
of heaven and of the church . . ..

And therefore when the Lord was in the world,
and united His Human to the Divine Itself,
He abrogated the Sabbath
in respect to representative worship,
or in respect to its worship
such as was with the Israelitish people;
and made the Sabbath day a day of instruction
in the doctrine of faith and of love.

 

Advent Reading - December 15

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel
was sent from God
unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
to a virgin espoused to a man
whose name was Joseph,
of the house of David;
and the virgin's name was Mary.

And the angel came in unto her, and said,
Hail, thou that art highly favored,
the Lord is with thee:
blessed art thou among women.
And when she saw him,
she was troubled at his saying,
and cast in her mind
what manner of salutation this should be.

And the angel said unto her,
Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.
And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb,
and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name JESUS.

He shall be great,
and shall be called the Son of the Highest:
and the Lord God shall give unto Him
the throne of His father David:
And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of His kingdom there shall be no end.

Then said Mary unto the angel,
How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
And the angel answered and said unto her,
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:
therefore also that holy thing
which shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of God.

And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth,
she hath also conceived a son in her old age:
and this is the sixth month with her,
who was called barren.
For with God nothing shall be impossible.

And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord;
be it unto me according to thy word.
And the angel departed from her.

(Luke 1:26-38)

 

AC 10355 - When Not Even Natural Good Remained

AC 10355 [5]

But when not even natural good remained
with the people of the church,
the Lord came into the world
and reduced into order
all things in the heavens and in the hells,
to the end that a person may receive influx from Him
out of heaven and be enlightened;
and that the hells should not be able to hinder,
and infuse thick darkness.
Then a fourth church began,
which is called the Christian Church
In this church
their information about heavenly things,
or about those of eternal life,
is effected solely by means of the Word.
Thereby a person has influx and enlightenment;
for the Word has been written
by means of mere correspondences,
and by means of mere representatives,
which signify (mean) heavenly things.
Into these come the angels of heaven
when the person of the church reads the Word;
consequently there is effected through the Word
the conjunction of heaven with the church,
or of the angels of heaven
with the people of the church;
but only with those therein
who are in the good of love and of charity.

Advent Reading - December 14

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

“Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
(Isaiah 40:3-5)

There was in the days of Herod,
the king of Judaea,
a certain priest named Zacharias,
of the course of Abia:
and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron,
and her name was Elisabeth.
And they were both righteous before God,
walking in all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

And they had no child,
because that Elisabeth was barren,
and they both were now well stricken in years.
And it came to pass,
that while he executed the priest's office
before God in the order of his course,

According to the custom of the priest's office,
his lot was to burn incense
when he went into the temple of the Lord.
And the whole multitude of the people
were praying without at the time of incense.

And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord
standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled,
and fear fell upon him.

But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias:
for your prayer is heard;
and your wife Elisabeth shall bear you a son,
and you shall call his name John.
And you shall have joy and gladness;
and many shall rejoice at his birth.

For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord,
and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink;
and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost,
even from his mother's womb.
And many of the children of Israel
shall he turn to the Lord their God.

And he shall go before Him
in the spirit and power of Elias,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just;
to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
And Zacharias said unto the angel,
Whereby shall I know this?
for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

And the angel answering said unto him,
I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God;
and am sent to speak unto you,
and to show you these glad tidings.
And, behold, you shall be dumb,
and not able to speak,
until the day that these things shall be performed,
because you believed not my words,
which shall be fulfilled in their season.

And the people waited for Zacharias,
and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.
And when he came out,
he could not speak unto them:
and they perceived
that he had seen a vision in the temple:
for he beckoned to them, and remained speechless.

And it came to pass, that, as soon
as the days of his ministration were accomplished,
he departed to his own house.
And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived,
and hid herself five months, saying,

Thus has the Lord dealt with me
in the days wherein He looked on me,
to take away my reproach among men.

(Matthew 1:5-25)

** Yet I Am Always With You **

When my heart as grieved and my spirit embittered,
I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before You.

Yet I am always with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward You will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And earth has nothing I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

Those who are far from You will perish;
You destroy all who are unfaithful to You.
But as for me,
it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
I will tell of all Your deeds.

(Psalm 73:21-28)

Advent Reading - December 13

Behold, I send My angel,
who shall prepare the way before Me;
and the Lord whom you seek
shall suddenly come to His temple,
and the Angel of the covenant whom you desire,
behold, He shall come.

(Malachi 3:1)

AC 10331 - Wisdom, Intelligence, knowledge, Work

AC 10331 [2-3]

. . . he is wise who does truths from love;
he is intelligent who does them from faith;
he has knowledge who does them from knowledge;
and “work” denotes that which is done from all these;
thus “work” denotes their effect
in which they conjoin themselves together.

Wherefore in the genuine sense
no one can be called wise,
nor intelligent,
nor as possessing knowledge,
who does not do these things.
For wisdom and intelligence and knowledge
are all of life,
and not of doctrine without life;
for the life is the end for the sake of which these are.
Such therefore as is the end,
such are the wisdom,
the intelligence,
and the knowledge.
If the end is genuine good,
which is the good of love to the Lord
and of charity toward the neighbor,
then there are wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge
in their proper sense;
for then they are with the person from the Lord.

 

Advent Reading - December 12

Shout for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion;
behold I come
that I may dwell in the midst of you.
Then many nations shall cleave to Jehovah.
(Zechariah 2:10, 11)

AC 2362

. . . a heavenly religion
(or the Lord's heavenly kingdom)
is called the daughter of Zion
because of a desire for goodness,
or in other words, love for the Lord himself . . ..

 

 

AC 10318 - The Word: A Revelation From the Divine

AC 10318

Without a revelation from the Divine,
a person cannot know anything about eternal life,
nor indeed anything about God,
and still less about love to Him and faith in Him.
For a person is born into mere ignorance,
and afterward has all things to learn
from what is of the world,
from which he must form his understanding.
He is also born hereditarily into all evil
that belongs to the love of self
and the love of the world.
The delights from these loves reign continually,
and prompt to such things
as are diametrically contrary to the Divine.
From this then it is that from himself
a person knows nothing about eternal life;
and therefore there must needs be a revelation
from which he may know this.

Advent Reading - December 11

 Then the Lord replied (to Habakkuk):

"Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets,
so that he may run who reads it.
For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger,
wait for it;
it will certainly come and will not delay."
(Habakkuk: 2:2-3)

AC 10291 - The Celestial Kingdom and the Spiritual Kingdom: AC 10310 - Who Has the Church Within?

AC 10291 [2, 3]

It has often been stated that heaven is divided into
the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom.
The two kingdoms have different kinds of truth,
as they do of good,
the good of the celestial kingdom
being the good of love to the Lord,
and the good of the spiritual kingdom
the good of charity towards the neighbor.
All good has its own truths;
celestial good has its own
and spiritual good its own,
and these are entirely different from each other.

The reason why all good has its own truths
is that good is given form by truths,
and also reveals itself through truths.
Such good and truths
are like a person's will and understanding,
in that his will is given form by
and also reveals itself through his understanding.
What belongs to the will is called good,
and what belongs to the understanding is called truth.

AC 10310

. . . only those are true members of the Church
who have the Church within them,
and they have the Church within them
who have an affection for truth for its own sake
and an affection for good for its own sake,
thus who are governed by
love towards the neighbor and love to God.
For good and truth are the neighbor,
and so is God
since good and truth are God's
and so are God as He exists with such people.
Those who are not like this
are not true members of the Church,
even though they may be within the Church.

 

Advent Reading - December 10

Behold, the days come, says the LORD,
that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch,
and a King shall reign and prosper,
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

In his days Judah shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely:
and this is his name whereby He shall be called,
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

(Jeremiah 23:5-6)

AR 815

Righteous acts are the practices of good lives
in the case of people governed by truths,
because no one can be called righteous
unless he lives in accordance with truths.
For in the natural sense
a righteous person is everyone who lives rightly
in accordance with civil and moral laws.
But in the spiritual sense
that person is called righteous
who lives rightly in accordance with Divine laws,
and Divine laws are truths from the Word.
Someone who believes that he is righteous
and so living a good life
without living in accordance with truths
is much deceived.
For a person cannot be reformed and regenerated
and so become good,
except by means of truths
and by a life in accordance with those truths.

AC 10284 - The Lord's Goal (or End) vs. a Person's Goal (or End)

AC 10284 [2]

Everything that is from the Lord is good and true.
But the good and truth in imitation of this by a person
is not good and true,
for the reason that everything good and true
has life in it from its end.
An end from a person
is merely for the sake of himself;
whereas that which is good and true from the Lord
is for the sake of good itself and truth itself as ends . . ..

Advent Reading - December 9

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
and the calf, and the young lion,
and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
And the cow and the bear shall feed;
and their young ones shall lie down together.
(Isaiah 11:6-7)

AC 430

A "little one" or "little child" in the Word,
means innocence, and also charity,
for true innocence cannot exist without charity,
nor true charity without innocence.
There are three degrees of innocence,
distinguished in the Word by the terms
"sucklings" "infants" and "little children;"
and as there is no true innocence
without true love and charity,
therefore also by
"sucklings" "infants" and "little children"
are meant the three degrees of love:
namely, tender love,
like that of a suckling toward its mother or nurse;
love like that of an infant toward its parents;
and charity, similar to that
of a little child toward its instructor.
Thus it is said in Isaiah:

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
and the calf, and the young lion,
and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
(Isaiah 11:6)

AC 3696 [2-3, 4]

. . . with the new life
in the person who is being regenerated:
at first he is in a state of tranquillity;
but as he passes into a new life,
he also passes at the same time
into an untranquil state;
for the evils and falsities
with which be had before become imbued
emerge and come forth,
and disturb him,
and this at last to such a degree
that he is in temptations and vexations
inflicted by the diabolical crew,
who are continually striving to destroy
the state of his new life.
Yet inmostly the person is in a state of peace,
for unless this were with him inmostly,
he would not combat,
for in his battlings he is continually looking
to this state as the end,
and unless he had such an end,
he would in no wise
have power and strength to combat.
This moreover is the reason why he overcomes;
and because this is the end in view,
he also comes into this state
after the combats or temptations.
This is like the state of spring,
which succeeds the state of autumn and winter;
or it is like the state of dawn,
which succeeds evening and night.

That in the Word "to lie down"
means a state of tranquillity . . .

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
and the calf and the young lion together;
and a little child shall lead them.
And the cow and the bear shall feed;
their young ones shall lie down together.
(Isaiag 11:6-7);

where the Lord is treated of,
and the state of peace in His kingdom;
that they shall "lie down together"
means that they cannot be infested
by any evil and falsity.

AC 10269, 10270 - The Lord As to His Divine Human

AC 10269

. . . anointing represented
the Lord as to the Divine Human;
for the Lord as to His Divine Human
was alone the anointed of Jehovah,
because in Him, from conception,
and consequently in His Human,
there was the Divine of the Father.
It is possible to know
that the human body proceeds from
the being of the father
which is called his soul;
for the likeness of the father in respect
to the various affections which are of love
appears in the children even in their faces.
From this each family derives
its own peculiarities
by which it is distinguished from others.
What then must have been the case with the Lord,
in whom the Divine Itself was His being
which is called the soul?
So it is that the Lord says,

"He that has seen Me has seen the Father.
Believe Me that I am in the Father,
and the Father in Me."
(John 14:9, 11)

AC 10270

The Lord inflows immediately from His Divine Human
into the celestial good which is of the inmost heaven.
The Lord inflows from the Divine Human
into the spiritual good
which is of the second heaven,
and also mediately through celestial good.
And the Lord inflows from the Divine Human
into the spiritual natural good,
which is of the ultimate heaven,
and again also mediately.
It is said "also mediately,"
because the Lord not only
flows into the goods of these heavens mediately,
but also immediately.

Advent Reading - December 8

A Shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him --
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord --
and He will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes,
or decide by what He hears with His ears;
but with righteousness He will judge the needy,
with justice He will give decisions
for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth;
with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
Righteousness will be His belt
and faithfulness the sash around His waist.

. . . It shall be in that day that a Root of Jesse,
which shall stand for a sign of the people,
the nations shall seek,
and His place of rest will be glorious.
(Isaiah 11:1-5, 10)

AE 175 [6]

It shall be in that day that a Root of Jesse,
which shall stand for a sign of the people,
the nations shall seek.
(Isaiah. 11:10).

"The root of Jesse" is the Lord;
"to stand for a sign of the people"
means that it may be seen by those
who are in truths;
 "the nations which shall seek,"
are those who are in the good of love.
It is believed that "nations" here mean
the nations that are to approach
and acknowledge the Lord,
from which is to be the church
that is called the church of the Gentiles;
but these are not meant by "nation"
but all who are
in love to the Lord and faith in Him,
whether within the church or out of it.

AC 10262 - Two Measures for Holy Use; AC 10268 - Heaven

AC 10262 [2, 5]

Two measures are mentioned in the Word,
which were in holy use,
one for liquids, which was called the "hin,"
the other for dry things, which was called the "ephah;"
by the hin were measured oil and wine,
and by the ephah, meal and fine flour;
the measure hin, which was for oil and wine,
was divided into four parts,
but the measure ephah was divided into ten.
The reason why the measure hin was divided into four,
was that it might mean what is conjunctive,
for "four" denotes conjunction;
but that the measure ephah was divided into ten
was that it might mean what is receptive,
the quality whereof was marked by the numbers,
for "ten" means much, all, and what is full.

But in Ezekiel, where the new temple is treated of,
there appears a different division
of the ephah and the bath;
the ephah and the bath
not being there divided into ten, but into six;
and the hin there corresponds to the ephah . . ..
The reason is that the subject there treated of
is not celestial good and its conjunction,
but spiritual good and its conjunction;
and in the spiritual kingdom
the corresponding numbers are twelve, six, and three,
because by these numbers are meant all things,
and when they are predicated of truths and goods,
all things of truth and of good in the complex.

AC 10269

For heaven is not haven from the angels
as regarded in what is their own;
but from the Divine of the Lord with them.

Advent Reading - December 7

The Lord Himself gives you a sign,
Behold a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a Son,
and shall call His name, Immanuel (God with us.)
(Isaiah 7:14)

Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given,
and the government shall be upon His shoulder;
His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace:
of the increase of His government
there shall be no end.
(Isaiah 9:6, 7)

AC 10154

And I will be to them for God.
(Exodus 29:45)

That this means the presence of the Lord
and His influx into the truth in the church,
is evident from the meaning of "to be for God,"
as being the presence of the Lord
and His influx into truth.
It is into truth,
because in the Word of the Old Testament
the Lord is called "God" where truth is treated of,
and "Jehovah" where good is treated of.
From this also it is
that angels are called "gods"
by virtue of their reception of Divine truth
from the Lord.
From this also it is that in the original tongue
God is called "Elohim" in the plural,
for truths are many, but good is one
That the Lord is called "the Father from eternity,"
and also "God," is clear in Isaiah:

Unto us a Child is born,
unto us a Son is given;
and the government shall be upon His shoulder,
and His name is called God, Hero,
Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace.
(Isaiah 9:5)

A virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and His name shall be called Immanuel,
which is, God with us.
(Isaiah. 7:14; Matthew 1:23)

That by "I will be to them for God"
is here meant the presence and influx
of the Lord into truth,
is evident also from the fact that by
"I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel"
is meant the presence of the Lord
and His influx through good.
For in the Word where good is treated of,
truth also is treated of,
on account of the heavenly marriage,
which is that of good and truth,
in every detail of the Word.

AC 10258 - "Cassia"

AC 10258

That "cassia" denotes truth from good
is because inmost truth
proceeds immediately from good,
and in lower things acts in conjunction with good.
This takes place when the understanding
acts wholly as a one with the will,
so that it is not known
whether the act is from the one or from the other.
Moreover the more interior heavenly things are,
the more perfect they are,
for all perfection increases toward the interiors,
and all perfection is from good,
that is, through good from the Lord.
__________
"Cassia" - a principle spice used in anointing oil,
extracted from the inner bark of a tree,
like cinnamon but not cinnamon(according to Google).

Advent Reading - December 6

It shall come to pass in that day
that Jehovah shall hiss for the fly
that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt,
and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
And they shall all come and rest
in the river of desolations
and in the clefts of the rocks,
and in all shrubs.
(Isaiah 7:18, 19)

The subject here treated of is the coming of the Lord,
and the state of the church at that time.
"The fly in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt"
denotes falsity in the extremes, that is,
in a person's external sensuous;
"the bee in the land of Assyria"
denotes the falsity which perverts
the reasonings of the mind,
for "Assyria" denotes reasoning;
"the river of desolations"
denotes falsity reigning everywhere;
"the clefts of the rock"
denote the truths of faith in obscurity,
because removed from the light of heaven;
the "shrubs" denote nascent (newly developing)
truths of a similar kind.

AC 10252 - Doing Truths From the Lord's Word Is Celestial Good

AC 10252 [3-4]

Celestial good is the good of the love of doing truths
from the Word for the sake of good,
thus for the Lord's sake;
for the Lord is the source of good, thus is good;
and this is the generation of this good.
From this it is evident
that this good comes forth
by means of truths from the Word,
first in the most external or sensuous person,
next by their elevation into the internal person,
and finally into the very inmost person,
where they become celestial good.
And as this good comes forth in this way
by means of truths in their order,
so it afterward subsists in a like order
by means of the same truths,
for subsistence is a perpetual coming-forth.
And when it so subsists,
as it had come forth,
it is complete,
for then the higher things subsist, rest,
and store up themselves in order,
upon the lower ones as upon their planes;
and upon their outermosts or ultimates,
which are sensuous memory-truths,
as upon their foundation.

These truths are described by John in Revelation
as the precious stones
forming the foundation of the wall
of the holy Jerusalem
that came down out of heaven (Rev. 21:19, 20).
By "precious stones" are meant truths Divine
received in good.

Advent Reading - December 5

(Note:  Several prophecies from Psalms.)

I anoint My king upon Zion.
I will proclaim concerning the statute,
Jehovah said to Me,
You are My Son, this day have I begotten Thee;
ask of Me, and I will give the nations
for Your inheritance,
and the ends of the earth for Your possession.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
and you perish in the way;
Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.
(Psalms 2:6-12)

Jehovah our Lord,
how magnificent is Your Name in all the earth,
giving to it honor above the heavens.
You hast caused Him to be a little less than the angels,
but You hast crowned Him with glory and honor;
You have made Him
to have dominion over the works of Your hands,
You have put all things under His feet.
(Psalms 8:1, 5, 6, 9)

Jehovah God said, Lo, I come;
in the roll of the Book it is written of Me.
(Psalms 40:7)

Out of Zion God shall shine forth;
our God shall come,
and shall not keep silence.
(Psalms 50:2, 3)

God shall come down like rain upon the herb.
He shall have dominion also from sea even to sea,
and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
The barbarians shall bow themselves down before Him,
and His enemies shall lick the dust;
the kings of Tarshish and of the isles
shall bring their present;
the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer their gift.
All kings shall bow themselves down to Him,
all nations shall serve Him;
for He shall deliver the miserable,
who has no helper.
He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence.
His Name shall be to eternity
He shall have the name of a Son before the sun,
and they shall be blessed in Him.
Blessed be God, the God of Israel;
blessed be the Name of His glory;
the whole earth shall be filled with His glory.
Amen and Amen.
(Psalms 72:1-19)

I have made a covenant with My Chosen.
Your seed will I establish even to eternity,
and I will build up Your throne
to generation and generation;
and the heavens shall confess Thy wonders.
(Psalms 89:3-5)

AC 10234, 10239 - Regeneration and Purification

AC 10234

And Jehovah spoke unto Moses, saying.
(Exodus 30:17)

That this means perceptivity
from enlightenment through the Word by the Lord,
is evident from the meaning of
"Jehovah speaking unto Moses,"
as being enlightenment
through the Word by the Lord;
and from the meaning of "saying" as being perception.
Be it known that when anything new,
distinct from what goes before,
is to be set forth,
it is said that "Jehovah spoke unto Moses,"
as in this chapter and also in other passages.
The new thing now set forth
is about purification from evils and falsities.

AC 10239 [1-2]

. . . "washing from the laver" is meant
a representative of
the purification of a person by the Lord.
That it is also a representative of regeneration,
is because regeneration was also
represented by washing,
but by the washing of the whole body,
which washing was called "baptizing"
("baptizing," or "baptism," means regeneration).

But regeneration differs from purification
in that regeneration precedes,
and purification follows;
for no one can be purified from evils and falsities
except the person who is being regenerated,
and after he has been regenerated;
for he who has not been regenerated
is indeed withdrawn from evils insofar as he allows;
but he is not purified from them,
for he is always impure.
It is otherwise with the regenerate person,
who is being purified from day to day,
which is meant by the Lord's words to Peter:

He that has been washed
needs not save to be washed as to his feet,
and so is wholly clean.
(John 13:10)

"He who has been washed"
means one who is regenerate.

Advent Reading - December 4

(Note:  In Deuteronomy, Moses reminded
the Children of Israel of everything
that the Lord had done for them. 
Moses also reviewed all the commands
that the Lord required them to follow. 
This prophecy is part of the warning
to avoid sorcery and divination. 
However, they were to listen
to the prophet the Lord raised up.)

AC 2534

In the Word we frequently read of a "prophet;"
and in the sense of the letter
"prophet" means those to whom revelation is made,
also abstractedly, revelation itself;
but in the internal sense a "prophet"
means one who teaches,
and also abstractedly doctrine itself;
and as the Lord is doctrine itself, that is,
the Word which teaches,
He is called a "Prophet," as in Moses:

The Lord your God will raise up for you
a prophet like unto Me
from among your brothers;
Unto Him shall you be obedient.
. . . I will put My words in His mouth,
and He will tell them everything I command Him.
(Deuteronomy 18:15, 18)

AC 10227 - The Rich and the Poor; And In the Sight of Angels

AC 10227 [2-3, 24]

All have the capacity to understand and to be wise;
but the reason one person is wiser than another
is that they do not in like manner
ascribe to the Lord all things of intelligence and wisdom,
which are all things of truth and good.
Those who ascribe all to the Lord
are wiser than the rest,
because all things of truth and good,
which constitute wisdom,
flow in from heaven, that is, from the Lord there.
The ascription of all things to the Lord
opens the interiors of a person toward heaven,
for thus it is acknowledged
that nothing of truth and good is from himself;
and in proportion as this is acknowledged,
the love of self departs,
and with the love of self
the thick darkness from falsities and evils.
Also, in the same proportion
the person comes into innocence,
and into love and faith to the Lord,
from which comes conjunction with the Divine,
influx from there, and enlightenment.
From all this it is evident from where it is
that one is more wise, and another less;
and also why the rich should not give more
and the poor less --
namely, that all alike have the capacity of being wise;
not indeed an equal capacity of being wise,
but they are alike in having the capacity to be so,
because both the one and the other can be wise.

By the capacity to be wise
is not meant the capacity to reason
about truths and goods from memory-knowledges,
nor the capacity to confirm whatever one pleases;
but the capacity to discern what is true and good,
to choose what is suitable,
and to apply it to the uses of life.
Those who ascribe all things to the Lord
do thus discern, choose, and apply;
while those who do not ascribe to the Lord,
but to themselves,
know merely how to reason about truths and goods;
nor do they see anything
except what is from others;
and this not from reason,
but from the activity of the memory.
As they cannot look into truths themselves,
they stand outside,
and confirm whatever they receive,
whether it be true or false.
Those who can do this in a learned way
from memory-knowledges
are believed by the world to be wiser than others;
but the more they attribute all things to themselves,
thus the more they love
what they think from themselves,
the more insane they are;
for they confirm falsities rather than truths,
and evils rather than goods,
and this because they have light
from no other source
than the fallacies and appearances of the world,
and consequently from their own light,
which is called natural light,
separated from the light of heaven;
and which light when thus separated
is mere thick darkness
in respect to the truths and goods of heaven.

The meaning of "wealth" and of "riches"
as being what belongs to intelligence and wisdom,
is also from correspondence;
for among the angels in heaven
all things appear as if they shone
with gold, silver, and precious stones,
and this because they are in the intelligence of truth
and in the wisdom of good;
for the interiors of the angels
are presented to view in this way
from the correspondence.
Moreover, with the spirits who are below the heavens
there is an appearance of riches
according to the state of the reception
of truth and good from the Lord.

Advent Reading - December 3

(Note:  Balack son of Zippor,
who was king of the Moabites,
sent for Balaam, prophet,
to put a curse on the army of Israel. 
At the command of the Lord,
Balaam gave this prophecy in his Fourth Oracle.)

I see Him, but now now;
I behold Him, but not near.
A Star shall rise out of Jacob,
and a Scepter shall rise up out of Israel.
(Numbers 24:17)

AC 9293 [3]

For it was known to the ancients
that all things correspond and are representative,
and consequently have a signification (meaning);
as is also evident from the most ancient books
and monuments of the Gentiles.
Consequently they knew
that gold, frankincense, and myrrh
signify the goods which are to be offered to God.
They also knew from their prophetic writings,
which were of the Ancient Church,
that the Lord was to come into the world,
and that a star would then appear to them,
of which star moreover Balaam,
who also was one of the sons of the East,
prophesied (Numbers 24:17; n. 3762, see below);
for a "star" signifies the knowledges
of internal good and truth,
which are from the Lord.

AC 3762 [5]

That the wise men from the east
who came to Jesus at His birth
were of those who were called the "sons of the east,"
is evident from the fact
that they were in the knowledge
that the Lord was to be born,
and that they knew of His advent by a star
which appeared to them in the east,
concerning which things we read in Matthew:

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
behold there came
wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying,
Where is He that is born King of the Jews?
for we have seen His star in the east,
and are come to worship Him.
(Matthew 2:1-2)

That from ancient times
such a prophetic knowledge had existed
among the sons of the east,
who were of Syria,
is evident from Balaam's prophecy
concerning the Lord's advent, in Moses:

I see Him, but not now;
I behold Him, but not nigh
there shall arise a star out of Jacob,
and a scepter shall rise up out of Israel.
(Numbers 24:17).

That Balaam was from the land of the sons of the east,
that is, from Syria, is evident from these words:

Balaam uttered his enunciation and said,
Balak hath brought me from Syria,
out of the mountains of the east.
(Numbers 23:7)

Those wise men who came to Jesus at His birth
are called magi,
but wise men were so called at that time,
as is evident from many passages;
such as Gen. 41:8; Exod. 7:11; Dan. 2:27; 4:6, 7;
1 Kings 4:30; and from the Prophets throughout.

 

AC 10225 - The Four States of a Person's Life

  AC 10225 [1, 3-6]

. . . from earliest infancy to extreme old age
a person passes through
a number of states in respect to his interiors
that belong to intelligence and wisdom.
The first state is from
birth to his fifth year;
this is a state of ignorance
and of innocence in ignorance,
and is called infancy.
The second state is from
the fifth year to the twentieth;
this is a state of instruction
and of memory-knowledge,
and is called childhood and youth.
The third state is from
the twentieth year to the sixtieth,
which is a state of intelligence,
and is called adolescence,
young manhood, and manhood.
The fourth or last state is from
the sixtieth year upward,
which is a state of wisdom,
and of innocence in wisdom.

That the first state is a state of ignorance
and also of innocence in ignorance is plain.
During the continuance of this state,
the interiors are being formed for use,
consequently are not manifest,
but only those most external,
that belong to the sensuous person;
and when these alone are manifest,
there is ignorance;
for whatever a person understands and perceives
is from the interiors;
from which it can also be seen
that the innocence which exists at that time
and is called the innocence of infancy,
is innocence most external.

That the second state is a state of
instruction and of memory-knowledge is also plain;
this state is not as yet a state of intelligence,
because at that time
the child or youth does not form
any conclusions from himself,
neither does he from himself discriminate
between truths and truths,
nor even between truths and falsities,
but from others;
he merely thinks and speaks things of memory,
thus from mere memory-knowledge;
nor does he see and perceive whether a thing is so,
except on the authority of his teacher,
consequently because another has said so.

But the third is called a state of intelligence,
because the person then thinks from himself,
and discriminates and forms conclusions;
and that which he then concludes is his own,
and not another's.
At this time faith begins,
for faith is not the faith of the person himself
until he has confirmed what he believes
by the ideas of his own thought.
Previous to this, faith was not his,
but another's in him,
for his belief was in the person,
not in the thing.
From this it can be seen
that the state of intelligence commences with a person
when he no longer thinks from a teacher,
but from himself;
which is not the case
until the interiors are opened toward heaven.
Be it known that the exteriors with a person
are in the world,
and the interiors in heaven;
and that in proportion as light flows in from heaven
into what is from the world,
the person is intelligent and wise;
and this according to the degree and quality
of the opening of his interiors,
which are so far opened
as the person lives for heaven
and not for the world.

But the last state is a state of wisdom
and of innocence in wisdom;
which is when the person is no longer concerned about
understanding truths and goods,
but about willing and living them;
for this is to be wise.
And a person is able to will truths and goods,
and to live them,
just insofar as he is in innocence,
that is, insofar as he believes
that he has nothing of wisdom from himself,
but that whatever he has of wisdom is from the Lord;
also insofar as he loves to have it so;
so it is that this state is also
a state of innocence in wisdom.

Advent Reading - December 2

(Note:  At the end of Genesis, Jacob blesses his sons,
and this prophecy is part of what he says of Judah.)

The scepter shall not be removed from Judah,
nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
until Shiloh come
and to Him is the obedience of the peoples.
(Genesis 49:10)

AC 3881 [2]

That in the internal sense
"Judah" means the Lord's celestial church;
in the universal sense His celestial kingdom;
and in the supreme sense the Lord Himself . . ..

AC 6371

The scepter shall not be removed from Judah.
 
That this means that sovereignty
shall not depart from the celestial kingdom,
is evident from the meaning of "being removed,"
as being to depart;
from the meaning of "scepter,"
as being sovereignty,
and indeed the sovereignty of truth from good,
for a scepter is a badge of royal power,
and by royalty is meant truth;
and from the representation of Judah,
as being the celestial kingdom.

AC 6372

And a lawgiver from between his feet.

It is said a "lawgiver from between his feet"
in order that
the spiritual of the celestial may be meant,
or the truth which is from good,
for at that time the spiritual kingdom was not such
as it was after the Lord's coming --
distinct from the celestial kingdom --
but was one with the celestial kingdom,
being merely its external . . ..

AC  6373

Until Shiloh come.

That this means the coming of the Lord,
and the tranquillity of peace then . . ..
"Shiloh" is derived from a word which means tranquillity.
The reason why the Lord is here called "Shiloh"
is plain from what was said above (n. 6371, 6372)
about the celestial kingdom and its sovereignty;
for when the Divine was presented to view
through that kingdom
there was in tranquillity,
because the things in heaven,
and the things in hell,
could not thereby be reduced into order,
for the Divine which flowed through that kingdom
could not be pure,
because heaven is not pure;
thus neither was that kingdom so strong
that all things could by means of it
be kept in order;
and therefore also the infernal and diabolical spirits
were then raising themselves up from the hells
and were ruling over the souls
who were arriving from the world.
The result was that none could be saved
but the celestial; and at last scarcely they,
unless the Lord had taken on the Human
and had made this in Himself Divine;
whereby the Lord reduced all things into order,
first those in heaven,
and afterward those in the hells;
thus producing the tranquillity of peace.

AC 6374

And to him is the obedience of the peoples.

That this means
that from His Divine Human should proceed truths
which could be received,
is evident from the meaning of "obedience,"
as being the reception of truths
which proceed from the Lord;
and from the meaning of "peoples,"
as being those who are in truths, thus also truths,
and so those who are of the spiritual church.

AC 10218 - From the Lord Alone Come All Goods and Truths

AC 10218 [4]

. . . all the goods and truths of faith and love
are from the Divine and not at all from a person,
is also known in the church,
and likewise
that it is evil for a person to attribute them to himself;
and that those are delivered from this evil
who acknowledge and believe
that these are from the Lord,
for so they claim for themselves
nothing which is Divine and from the Divine.
But see what has been shown above
on this subject, namely,
-- that those who believe
that they do good of themselves
and not from the Lord,
believe that they merit heaven (n. 9974);
-- that goods from self and not from the Lord
are not good,
because those who do goods from themselves
do them from evil (n. 9975, 9980);
-- that such despise the neighbor,
and are angry with God Himself
if they do not receive a reward (n. 9976);
-- that such persons cannot receive
heaven into themselves (n. 9977);
-- that they cannot possibly fight against the hells;
but that the Lord fights for those
who acknowledge and believe
that all goods and truths are from Him (n. 9978);
-- and that the Lord alone is merit and righteousness
(n. 9486, 9715, 9809, 9979-9984, 10019, 10152).

Advent Reading - December 1

(Note:  This first prophecy comes
at the fall of the Most Ancient Church.)

And I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed.
He will tread down your head,
and you will bruise His heel.
(Genesis 3:15)


AC 250 - 251

Everyone is aware that this is the first prophecy
concerning the Lord's Coming into the world;
indeed it is quite clear from the words themselves.
From them and from the Prophets
the Jews also know that a Messiah is going to come.
But nobody as yet knows
what the serpent, the woman,
the seed of the serpent, the seed of the woman,
the head of the serpent which He will tread down,
and the heel which the serpent will bruise,
are used to mean in particular.
Therefore these must be explained.
'The serpent' is here used to mean in general all evil,
and in particular self-love.
'The woman' is used to mean the Church,
'the seed of the serpent 'all faithlessness,
 'the seed of the woman' faith in the Lord,
'He' the Lord Himself,
'the head of the serpent' the reign of evil in general,
and of self-love in particular.
'Treading down' is used to mean forcing down
so that it goes on its belly and eats dust,
and 'the heel' the lowest part of the natural
which is the bodily,
which the serpent will bruise.

The reason 'the serpent' is used to mean
all evil in general and self-love in particular
is that all evil has originated in sensory evidence
and also factual knowledge,
which are what the serpent meant first.
Consequently it now means evil itself, of every kind,
and in particular self-love,
 or hatred of the neighbor and the Lord,
which is the same as self-love.
Because this evil or hatred is manifold,
there being many genera of it
and even more species, i
t is referred to in the Word
by means of different kinds of serpents,
such as snakes, adders, asps, haemorrhes,
presters or fiery serpents,
flying as well as creeping serpents, and vipers.