AC 8905, 8906 - stealing

AC 8905
Thou shalt not steal,
(Exodus 20:13)
signifies that no one's spiritual goods
must be taken away from him,
and that those things which belong to the Lord
are not to be attributed to self.

AC 8906 [4]
For the truths and goods of faith,
being from the Lord,
are in a free state,
and serve the Lord alone;
but when they are cast off,
they then come into a servile state,
for they serve any evil
of the love of self or of the love of the world . . ..

Portions: Mark 6 - 8

Immediately He spoke to them and said,
"Take courage!
It is I.  Don't be afraid."
(Mark 6:50)

"Are yo so dull?" He asked.
"Don't you see that nothing
that enters a man from the outside
can make him 'unclean'?
For it doesn't go into his heart
but into his stomach,
and then out of his body."
(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")
(Mark 7:18-19)

The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus.
To test Him, they asked Him for a sign from heaven.
He sighed deeply and said,
"Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign?
I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it."
Then He left them,
got back into the boat
and crossed to the other side.
(Mark 8:11-13)

AC 8903, 8904 - thou shalt not commit adultery

AC 8903
Thou shalt not commit adultery,
(Exodus 20:13)
signifies that those things which are
of the doctrine of faith and of charity
are not to be perverted;
thus that the Word is not to be applied
to confirm evils and falsities;
also that the laws of order are not to be upset.

AC 8904 [2]
The love which flows in from the Lord
and which exists between good and truth in heaven,
is turned into conjugial love on the earth,
and this by correspondence.
So it is
that the falsification of truth is "whoredom,"
and the perversion of good is "adulteration,"
in the internal sense.
So it also is
that they who are not in the good and truth of faith
cannot be in genuine conjugial love;
and also that those who find the delight of life in adulteries
can no longer receive anything of faith.
I have heard it said by the angels
that as soon as anyone commits adultery on the earth
and takes delight in it, heaven is closed to him,
that is, he refuses any longer to receive from heaven
anything of faith and charity.
That at this day in the kingdoms where the church is,
adulteries are made light of by very many persons,
is because the church is at its end,
and thus there is no longer any faith,
because there is no charity;
for the one corresponds to the other.

Portions: Mark 2 - 5

Then He said to them,
"The Sabbath was made for man,
not man for the Sabbath.
So the Son of Man is Lord
even of the Sabbath."
(Mark 2:27-28)

Whenever the evil (unclean) spirits saw Him,
they fell down before Him and cried out,
"You are the Son of God."
But He game them strict orders
not to tell who He was.
(Mark 3:11-12)

He said to them,
"Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed?
Instead, don't you put it on its stand?
For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed,
and whatever is concealed
is meant to be brought out into the open.
If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."
(Mark 4:21-23)

As Jesus was getting into the boat,
the man who had been demon-possessed
begged to go with Him.
Jesus did not let him, but said,
"Go home to your family and tell them how much
the Lord has done for you,
and how He has had mercy on you."
So the man went away
and began to tell in the Decapolis
how much Jesus had done for him.
And all the people were amazed.
(Mark 5:18-20)

AC 89002 - holding someone in hatred

AC 8902
Thou shalt not kill.
(Exodus 20:13)
That this signifies not to take away spiritual life from anyone,
also not to extinguish faith and charity,
as also not to hold the neighbor in hatred,
is evident from the signification of "killing,"
as being to deprive of spiritual life.
That "killing" means this in the internal sense,
is because in this sense 
spiritual life, or the life of heaven with a person, 
is treated of;
and spiritual life, or the life of heaven with a person,
is the life of faith and of charity;
therefore by "not to kill" is signified also
not to extinguish faith and charity in anyone.
The reason why "not to kill" is also in the internal sense
not to hold the neighbor in hatred,
is that he who holds in hatred 
continually wishes to kill,
and also would kill in act
unless prevented by the fear of the penalty, 
of the loss of life, of reputation, and the like.
For hatred is of evil,
is contrary to charity,
and breathes nothing but the murder of him whom it hates:
in the world the murder of his body;
in the other life the murder of his soul.

Portions: Matthew 27 - 28; Mark 1

When He was accused by the chief priests and the elders,
He gave no answer.
(Matthew 27:12)

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 28:18-20)

And so John came, 
baptizing in the desert region
and preaching a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins.
(Mark 1:4)

AC 8897 - Honor thy father and thy mother.

AC 8897
Honor thy father and thy mother.
(Exodus 20:12)
That this signifies love for good and truth,
in the supreme sense for the Lord and for His kingdom,
is evident from the signification of "honoring," as being to love,
for in the spiritual sense "to honor" denotes to love,
for the reason that in heaven one loves another,
and when he loves he also honors,
for in honor there is love.

AC 8899
But be it known that the commandments of the Decalogue
are rules of life both for those who are in the world
and for those who are in heaven
- the sense of the letter or the external sense
being for those who are in the world,
and the spiritual or internal sense
for those who are in heaven -
and consequently both senses,
external as well as internal,
are for those who while they are in the world are also in heaven,
that is, for those who are in the good of life
according to the truths of doctrine.

Portions: Matthew 24 - 26

"Heaven and earth will pass away,
but My words will never pass away."
(Matthew 24:35)

"'I tell you the truth,
whatever you did not do for one of the least of these,
you did not do for Me.'"
(Matthew 25:45)

Going a little farther,
He fell with His face to the ground and prayed,
"My Father,
if it is possible,
may this cup be taken from Me.
Yet not as I will,
but as You will."
(Matthew 26:39)

AC 8891 - the first chapter in Genesis - a review

AC 8891 [3]
When the first chapter of Genesis is read,
the angels do not perceive any other creation
than the new creation of a person,
which is called regeneration.
This regeneration is described in that history;
by paradise the wisdom of the person
who has been created anew;
by the two trees in the midst thereof,
the two faculties of that person,
namely, the will of good by the tree of life,
and the understanding of truth by the tree of knowledge.
And that it was forbidden to eat of this latter tree,
was because the person who is regenerated,
or created anew,
must no longer be led by the understanding of truth,
but by the will of good,
and if otherwise, the new life within him perishes.
Consequently by Adam, or man, and by Eve his wife,
was there meant a new church,
and by the eating of the tree of knowledge,
the fall of that church from good to truth,
consequently from love to the Lord and toward the neighbor
to faith without these loves,
and this by reasoning from their own intellectual,
which reasoning is the serpent.

Portions: Matthew 21 - 23

Jesus entered the temple area
and drove out all who were buying and selling there.
He overturned the tables of the money changers
and the benches of those selling doves.
"It is written," He said to them,
"'My house will be called a house of prayer,'
but you are making it a 'den of robbers'."
(Matthew 21:12-13)

"Teacher,
which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
Jesus replied:
"'Love the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind.'
This is the first and greatest commandment.
The second is like it:
'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
All the Law and the Prophets
hang on these two commandments."
(Matthew 22:36-40)

"You blind guides!
You strain out a gnat
but swallow a camel."
(Matthew 23:24)

AC 8879, 8880 - the Lord bestows

AC 8879
. . . for the Lord in mercy
bestows such things
as belong to eternal life and happiness . . .

AC 8880
Of them that love Me.
(Exodus 20:6)
That this signifies who receive the good of love . . .
for those who love the Lord
do not love from themselves
but from the Lord;
for all good flows in from Him,
and those love
who desist from evil,
because evil stands in the way and rejects
the influx of good from the Lord.

Portions: Matthew 16 - 20

Jesus turned and said to Peter,
"Get behind me, Satan! 
You are a stumbling block to Me;
you do not have in mind the things of God,
but the things of men."
(Matthew 16:23)

After six days Jesus took with Him
Peter, James and John the brother of James,
and led them up on a high mountain
by themselves.
There He was transfigured before them.
His face shone like the sun,
and His clothes became as white as the light.
(Matthew 17:1-2)

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked,
'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
He called a little child and had him stand among them.
And He said:  "I tell you the truth,
unless you change and become like little children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
(Matthew 18:1-4)

Now a man came up to Jesus and asked,
"Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
"Why do you ask Me about what is good?"
Jesus replied.
"There is only One who is good.
If you want to enter life,
obey the commandments."
(Matthew 19:16-17)

Jesus had compassion on them
and touched their eyes.
Immediately they received their sight
and followed Him.
(Matthew 20:34)

AC 8864 - "I am Jehovah thy God" (Exodus 20:2)

AC 8864
I am Jehovah thy God.
(Exodus 20:2)
That this signifies the Lord as to the Divine Human
universally reigning in each and all things of good and truth,
is evident from the fact that in the Word
no other than the Lord is meant by "Jehovah" . . .
that the Lord is called "Jehovah" from the Divine good,
which is the Divine Being,
but "God" from the Divine truth,
which is the Divine Coming-forth.
That it is the Divine Human of the Lord
which is here meant by "Jehovah God,"

[2] That the Divine Human of the Lord
is meant by "Jehovah God,"
is because the Divine Itself
which is in the Lord
cannot be seen in heaven, and not even perceived,
thus cannot be received in faith and love,
but the Divine Human only.
That the Divine Itself cannot
be communicated to the angels in heaven,
and still less to men on earth,
except through the Divine Human,
is known in the churches
from the words of the Lord in the Evangelists,
where He says that He is the "door,"
that He is the "mediator,"
that "no one can come to the Father but through Him,"
that "no one knows the Father but He,"
and that "no one hath seen the Father,"
not even any "shape" of Him.
From this it is plain that it is the Lord
who is here meant by "Jehovah God."
That it is He also who redeemed the human race
and liberated it from hell
is likewise known.
This is signified by the words which follow:
"who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of servants."
From all this it is now plain
that Jehovah God who spoke from Mount Sinai
denotes the Lord as to the Divine Human.

[3] That this is the first thing
which is said by the Lord from Mount Sinai,
is because this ought to reign universally
in each and all things that follow;
for what is said first
must be kept in the memory in the things that follow,
and must be regarded as the universal thing that is in them.
. . . The things said by the Lord are all of this nature,
namely, that the things said first
are to reign in the things which follow,
and are to involve them,
and so successively the things that follow in the series.
The things which follow in this chapter
are the commandments of the Decalogue,
which are internal truths,
and then the statutes,
which are external truths.
In both of these the Lord must reign as to the Divine Human,
for they are from Him, and are Himself,
because all truths that are truths proceed from Him,
and the things which proceed from Him are Himself.
That the Lord as to the Divine Human
must reign in each and all things of faith,
is also known in the churches, for it is there taught
that without the Lord there is no salvation,
and that all the truth and good of faith are from Him.
Thus as He is the source of faith,
He is the faith with a person,
and if the faith, He is also every truth
that is contained in the doctrine of faith,
which is from the Word.
From this also it is that the Lord is called "the Word."

Portions: Matthew 13 - 15

That same day
Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.
Such large crowds gathered around Him
that He got into a boat and sat in it,
while all the people stood on the shore.
Then He told them many things in parables . . .
(Matthew 13:1-3)

And He directed the people to sit down on the grass.
Taking the five loaves and two fish
and looking up to heaven,
He gave thanks and broke the loaves.
Then He gave them to the disciples,
and the disciples gave them to the people.
(Matthew 14:19)

He told the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then He took the seven loaves and the fish,
and when He had given thanks,
He broke them and gave them to the disciples,
and they in turn to the people.
(Matthew 15:35-36)

AC 8861 - "And God spoke all these words, saying" (Exodus 20:1)

AC 8861
And God spake all these words, saying.
(Exodus 20:1)
. . . the things which God speaks
are nothing else than truths.
From this also truth Divine is called "the Word,"
and "the Word" is the Lord, according to John 1:1,
for the reason that when the Lord was in the world
He was the Divine truth itself,
and afterward when He was glorified
He became the Divine good,
and from that time forward
all Divine truth proceeds from Him.
This Divine truth is light to the angels,
which light is also that which illuminates our internal sight,
which is that of the understanding.

[2] As this sight does not see natural, but spiritual things,
it has for its objects in the spiritual understanding
the truths which are called the truths of faith;
but in the natural understanding
it has for its objects truths of the civil state
which relate to what is just,
and also truths of the moral state
which relate to what is reputable,
and lastly natural truths
which are conclusions from the objects of the external senses,
especially of the sight.
From all this it can be seen in what order truths follow,
and that all and each have their origin from truths Divine,
which are the internal beginnings of all things.
. . . for truth Divine is the highest essential,
and is the only substantial through which all things are.

Portions: Matthew 9 - 12

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house,
many tax collectors and "sinners"
came and ate with Him and His disciples.
When the Pharisees saw this,
they asked His disciples,
"Why does your Teacher eat
with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
On hearing this, Jesus said,
"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."
(Matthew 9:10-12)

He called His twelve disciples to Him
and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits
and to heal every disease and sickness.
These are the names of the twelve apostles:
first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew:
James son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
Philip and Bartholomew;
Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;
James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Him.
(Matthew 10:1-4)

"Come to Me,
all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy
and My burden is light."
(Matthew 11:28-30)

"The good man brings good things
out of the good stored up in him,
and the evil man brings evil things
out of the evil stored up in him."
(Matthew 12:35)

AC 8838 - sanctify: to veil over or cover with a veil

AC 8838
For unless they were veiled over,
the Divine would penetrate and destroy,
because the presence of the Divine
is like a consuming fire to those who are not veiled over.
So it is that even the angels are veiled over with a cloud.
From all this it can be seen what is meant by being veiled over.
That this is signified by "being sanctified"
is because when they are veiled over
they appear in holiness,
for then the Divine can flow in
and present there a state of good
and a form of truth,
which cannot be effected without a veiling over.

Portions: Matthew 5 - 8

Now when He saw the crowds,
He went up on a mountainside and sat down.
His disciples came to Him,
and He began to teach them, saying:
"You have heart that it was said,
Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."
(Matthew 5:1-2,43-45)

"The eye is the lamp of the body.
If your eyes are good,
your whole body will be full of light.
But if your eyes are bad,
your whole body will be full of darkness.
If then the light within you is darkness,
how great is that darkness!"
(Matthew 6:22-23)

"Which of you,
if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
If you then, though you are evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father in heaven
give good gifts to those who ask Him?
So in everything,
do to others what you would have them to do you,
for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
(Matthew 7:9-12)

When He came down from the mountainside,
large crowds followed Him.
A man with leprosy came and knelt before Him and said,
"Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."
Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man.
"I am willing," He said.  "Be clean!"
Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.
Then Jesus said to him,
"See that you don't tell anyone.
But go, show yourself to the priest
and offer the gift Moses commanded,
as a testimony to them."
(Matthew 8:1-4)

AC 8814 - truth in the clouds; AC 8823 - truth sounding the trumpets

AC 8814
. . . the signification of "a cloud,"
as being truth accommodated to those
who are about to receive . . .
they did not understand internal things,
nor were they willing to understand them,
because these were contrary to their loves,
which were
- that they might be the most exalted
of all peoples in the world,
- and also the most opulent of all,
- and that all other nations might be as nothing
in comparison with them.
Where these loves are,
there heavenly loves cannot be received,
for these are extinguished and suffocated
by the worldly loves.
This is the reason why Jehovah, that is, the Lord,
appeared to them in a dense and heavy cloud,
in like manner 
as is the case in the other life,
where they who are in falsities from evil
are encompassed with a dense and black cloud
in accordance with the quality and the amount of the falsities.
This appears to everyone there before the eyes,
and yet the Sun there is continually shining.
Speaking generally,
the Divine in the other life appears to everyone
according to the quality of his faith and love.

AC 8823
. . . the signification of "the voice of the trumpet,"
as being heavenly or angelic truth
conjoined with what is Divine,
thus what is general of revelation;
for truth Divine is revelation,
and that which is made clear
through the medium of heaven
is general
relatively to the truth Divine itself in heaven . . ..
For the case herein is as it is with sound which is on high,
where the atmosphere is purer,
and the sound is silent;
but when it descends to lower regions
where the atmosphere is denser,
it becomes louder and more sonorous.
So it is with Divine truth and Divine good,
which in the highest are peaceful
and cause no disturbance whatever;
but when they descend toward lower things
they gradually become unpeaceful,
and finally tumultuous.
This is what is so described by the Lord
in the first book of the Kings
to Elijah, when he was in Horeb:

Go forth, and stand on the mountain before Jehovah;
behold Jehovah is passing by;
so that there was a great and strong wind
rending the mountains, and breaking in pieces
the rocks before Jehovah;
Jehovah was not in the wind.
Then after the wind an earthquake;
yet Jehovah was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake a fire;
Jehovah was not in the fire.
Lastly after the fire a still small voice.*
(1 Kings 19:11, 12)
* The Latin has "a still thin voice" (vox silentii tenuis).

Portions: Matthew 1 - 4

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."
(Matthew 1:22)

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,
during the time of King Herod,
Wise Men from the east
came to Jerusalem and asked,
"Where is He that is born king of the Jews?
We have seen His star in the east
and have come to worship Him."
(Matthew 2:1-2)

Jesus replied,
"Let it be so now;
it is proper for us to do this
to fulfill all righteousness."
Then John consented.
As soon as Jesus was baptized,
He went up out of the water.
At that moment heaven was opened,
and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and lighting on Him.
And a voice from heaven said,
"This is my Son, whom I love;
with Him I am well pleased."
(Matthew 3:15-17)

Jesus went throughout Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues,
preaching the good new of the kingdom,
and healing every disease and sickness
among the people.
News about Him spread all over Syria . . ..
Large crowds from Galilee,
the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea
and the region across the Jordan followed Him.
(Matthew 4:23-24,25)