AC 5331 - Pharaoh Changes Joseph's Name

AC 5331

And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah.
(Genesis 41:45)

That this signifies the quality of
the celestial of the spiritual at that time,
is evident from the signification of a "name"
and of "calling a name," as being the quality.
In its original language "Zaphenath-paneah" means
"a revealer of hidden things
and an opener of things to come,"
by which in the celestial sense is meant the Divine therein;
for to reveal hidden things,
and to open things to come,
is of God alone.
This is the quality this name involves,
and it is also the quality of the celestial of the spiritual;
for the celestial of the spiritual
is the good of truth in which is the Divine,
or which is immediately from the Divine.
This, namely
the celestial of the spiritual in which is the Divine,
belonged to the Lord alone when He was in the world,
and was the Human in which the Divine Itself could be,
and which could be put off
when the Lord made all the Human in Himself Divine.

AC 5323 - "Bend the Knees"

AC 5323

. . . in the original language
"abrech" means "bend the knees,"
and the bending of the knees is adoration.
For all inward endeavors that are of the will,
thus of the love or affection, consequently of the life,
have outward acts or gestures corresponding to them;
which acts or gestures flow from the very correspondence
of outward things with inward ones.
Holy fear with its consequent humiliation
(and therefore adoration),
has acts or gestures corresponding to itself,
namely, bending the knees,
falling down upon the knees,
and also prostrating the body down to the earth.
In this state, if the adoration is from genuine humiliation,
or if the humiliation is from genuine holy fear,
there is a failing of the spirits,
and consequently a giving way of the joints
in the border or intermediate region
where the spiritual is conjoined with the natural,
thus where the knees are;
for the parts below
have correspondence with natural things,
and those above with spiritual things.
So it is that the bending of the knees is a sign
representative of adoration.
With celestial people this act is spontaneous;
but with spiritual people it is a result of will.

AC 5321 - The Divine Truth Through the Lord's Divine Human

AC 5321 [2]

From the Divine Itself
nothing of doctrine can possibly proceed
except through the Divine Human,
that is, through the Word,
which in the supreme sense
is the Divine truth from the Lord's Divine Human.
Not even the angels in the inmost heaven
can apprehend that which proceeds immediately
from the Divine Itself,
because it is infinite,
and therefore transcends all apprehension,
even that of angels.
But that which proceeds
from the Lord's Divine Human
they can apprehend,
because it treats of God as a Divine Man,
concerning whom
some idea can be formed from the Human;
and any idea whatever
formed about the Human is accepted,
provided it flows from the good of innocence,
and is in the good of charity.
This is what is meant by the Lord's words in John:

No man has seen God at any time;
the only begotten Son,
who is in the bosom of the Father,
He has set Him forth.
(John 1:18)

In the same:

You have neither heard the Father's voice at any time,
nor seen His shape.
(John 5:37)

And in Matthew:

No one knows the Father, save the Son,
and those to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
(Matthew 11:27)

AC 5316 - Why Pharaoh Gave Joseph the Power

AC 5316

. . . Pharaoh deprived himself of his own authority,
and put all Egypt under Joseph.
These things were so done of the Divine Providence,
in order that Joseph might put on the representation
of the celestial of the spiritual the Lord had
when He was in the world,
and by means of which
He disposed His natural and also His sensuous,
in order that progressively
He might make them both Divine.
This was done to Joseph
to the end that the Word that was to be written about him
might contain Divine things,
thus such things as in the heavens are most holy
and are suited to the angels who are in the heavens;
for the angels there are in the Lord,
because they are in the sphere
of the Divine truth proceeding from Him;
and therefore the Divine things
in the Word's internal sense
relative to the Lord and to the glorification of His Human
so greatly affect them
that they perceive from them
all the blessedness of their wisdom and intelligence.

AC 5309 - "God Has Caused You to Know"

AC 5309

For as much as God has caused you to know all this.
(Genesis 41:39)

That this means because it has foresight and providence,
is evident from the meaning of "knowing,"
when predicated of God,
as being foresight and providence;
for it cannot be said of God
that He takes knowledge of a thing,
because He knows all things from Himself,
whereas a person's capacity to know something
is derived from Him.
Therefore in God "to know" is to foresee and to provide:
to foresee is to know from eternity to eternity,
and to provide is to do this.
The reason why the celestial of the spiritual
has foresight and providence,
is that in the internal sense the Lord is here treated of,
who is the celestial of the spiritual represented by Joseph.

AC 5307 - The Spirit of God

AC 5307

For the "spirit of God" denotes
that which proceeds from the Divine,
thus from good itself,
because the Divine is good itself,
and that which proceeds from it
is truth in which is good,
which is what is meant in the Word by the "spirit of God;"
for the spirit itself does not go forth,
but truth itself in which is good,
or holy truth,
the spirit being instrumental in bringing it forth.
This truth in which is good
is here the celestial of the spiritual,
which is represented by Joseph.

It is known in the church
that "Joseph" in the spiritual sense is the Lord . . ..
For the Lord is represented by
Abraham, and also by Isaac, as well as by Jacob,
and He is also represented by Moses and Elijah,
by Aaron, by David, besides by many others in the Word,
and yet not in the same way by one as by another.
By Abraham the Lord is represented as to the Divine Itself,
by Isaac as to the Divine rational,
by Jacob as to the Divine natural,
by Moses as to the law or historic Word,
by Elijah as to the prophetic Word,
by Aaron as to the priesthood,
and by David as to the royalty.
. . .That which Joseph represents is called
"the celestial of the spiritual from the natural,"
the only words by which it can be expressed.
For the celestial is good from the Divine,
and the spiritual is truth from that good,
and thus is the truth of the good from His Divine Human.
This the Lord was when He lived in the world;
but when He had glorified Himself,
He passed above it,
and became the Divine good itself
or Jehovah even as to the Human.

AC 5293 - "Food" - Especially Spiritual Food

AC 5293

And let them gather all the food.
(Genesis 41:35)

That this means all things that are of use,
is evident from the meaning of "gathering,"
as being to bring together and preserve;
and from the meaning of "food,"
as being things that are of use.
In the internal sense "food" properly means
the things that nourish the soul of a person,
that is, that nourish him after death,
for he then lives as a soul or spirit,
and no longer needs material food,
but spiritual food,
which consists in everything that is of use,
and everything that is conducive to use.
That which is conducive to use
is to know what is good and true;
that which is of use
is to will and do what is good and true.
These are the things that nourish the angels,
and are therefore called spiritual and heavenly food.
A person's mind within which
are his interior understanding and interior will,
or his intentions or ends,
is not nourished by any other food
even while he lives in the body.
Material food does not penetrate to the mind,
but only to the things of the body,
which that food sustains to the end
that this mind may enjoy its food
while the body enjoys its food,
that is, that this mind may be sound in a sound body.

That "food" in the spiritual sense
denotes everything that is of use,
is because all a person's knowing,
and all his understanding and being wise,
and therefore all his willing,
ought to have use for their end;
consequently the quality of his life
is according to the quality of his use.

AC 5287 - In Proportion

AC 5287 [2]

. . . in proportion as any one loves himself more than others,
in the same proportion he is less wise.

AC 5272 - The "Word" and Creation; AC 5276 - How Knowledges Become Truths

AC 5272  - The "Word" and Creation

. . . Divine revelation is called the "Word,"
and so also is the Lord in the supreme sense.
And by the "Word," when predicated of the Lord,
and also of revelation from Him,
in the proximate sense is meant Divine truth,
from which all things that are real have their existence.

That all things that are real
have come into existence
and do come into existence
through the Divine truth that is from the Lord,
and thus through the Word,
is a secret that has not yet been disclosed.
It is believed that by this is meant
that all things have been created
by God's saying and commanding as a king in his kingdom.
It is not this, however,
that is meant by all things having been made
and created through the Word,
but it is the Divine truth that proceeds from the Divine good,
that is, from the Lord,
from which all things have come into existence
and do come into existence.
The Divine truth proceeding from the Divine good
is the veriest reality
and the veriest essential in the universe,
and it is this that makes and creates.
Scarcely anyone has any other idea of the Divine truth
than as of a word that issues
from the mouth of a speaker
and is dispersed in the air.
This idea of the Divine truth has produced the opinion
that by the "Word" is meant only a command,
thus that all things were made merely by a command,
and thus not from any real thing
that has proceeded from the Divine of the Lord;
but as already said
it is the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord,
the veriest reality and essential,
that is the source of all things,
and from which are the forms of good and of truth.

AC 5276 - How Knowledges Become Truths

Knowledges do not become truths in a person
until they are acknowledged by the understanding,
which takes place when they are confirmed by him;
and these truths do not become his own
until he lives according to them;
for nothing is made a person's own
except that which becomes of his life,
for thus he himself is in the truths,
because his life is in them.

 

AC 5268 - "Seven" also Meanings & Why for All Words; AC 5270 - Reformation and Desolation

AC 5268 -  "Seven" Meanings & Why

As "seven" means what is holy,
so too in the opposite sense
it means what is profane;
for most of the expressions in the Word
have also an opposite sense,
and this for the reason
that the same things that take place in heaven,
on flowing down toward hell,
are turned into the opposite things,
and actually become opposite.
So it is that the holy things meant by "seven"
there become profane.

AC 5270 [2] - Reformation and Desolation

During his reformation
a person first learns truths
from the Word or from doctrine,
and stores them up in the memory.
When one who cannot be reformed
has learnt truths and stored them up in the memory,
he believes that this is sufficient;
but he is much mistaken.
The truths he has acquired
must be initiated and conjoined with good;
and this cannot be done
so long as the evils
of the love of self and the love of the world
remain in the natural person.
These loves were the first introducers,
but the truths cannot possibly be conjoined with them;
and therefore in order that conjunction may be effected,
the truths introduced and retained by these loves
must first be banished,
though they are not really banished,
but are drawn within so as not to appear,
for which reason it is called
a "seeming" privation of truth.
When this has been done,
the natural is illumined from within,
and the evils of the love of self
and the love of the world give way;
and in the degree in which they give way
truths are stored up,
and are conjoined with good.
The state when a person
is seemingly deprived of the truths
is called in the Word "desolation,"
and is also compared to "evening,"
in which a person is before he comes into the morning;
and therefore in the representative church
the day began from the evening.

AC 5259 - Everything Goes from High to Low

AC 5259 [2]

. . . nothing that is beneath
can do anything of itself;
but that which it can do,
it has from what is higher;
and because this is so,
it evidently follows that everything is
from the Most High, that is, from the Divine.
Consequently a person's thinking from the understanding
and acting from the will,
he has from the Most High or from the Divine.
But his thinking falsely and acting evilly
comes from the form he has impressed upon himself;
and his thinking truly and acting well
is from the form he has received from the Lord;
for it is known that one and the same power and energy
produces different motions
according to the configurations
in the mediates and the extremes;
thus in a person,
life from the Divine
produces diverse thoughts and actions,
according to the forms.

AC 5253 - Time, Space, Person; AC 5256 - The Human Glorified Is the Divine

AC 5253 - Time, Space, Person

There are three things in general
that perish from the literal sense of the Word
when it becomes the internal sense,
namely, what is of time,
what is of space,
and what is of person.
The reason is that in the spiritual world
there is neither time nor space,
these two belonging to nature;
and therefore it is said of those who die,
that they pass out of time,
and leave behind all that is of time.
That in the spiritual world
nothing is regarded as determined to person
is because directing the attention in speech to person
narrows and limits the idea,
instead of extending it and making it unlimited.
Extension and absence of limitation in speech
cause it to be universal,
and to comprise and be able to express
innumerable and also ineffable things.
Consequently the speech of the angels is of this character,
especially the speech of the celestial angels,
which is relatively unlimited;
and in consequence everything of their speech
flows into the infinite and the eternal,
consequently into the Divine of the Lord.

AC 5256 - The Human Glorified Is the Divine

. . . the Divine foresees,
consequently knows what is therein.
For when the Lord was in the world
He indeed had foresight and providence in the human,
but from the Divine;
but since His glorification
these are from the Divine alone;
for the Human glorified is the Divine.
Regarded in itself the human is nothing but a form
receptive of life from the Divine;
but the Lord's glorified Human, or His Divine Human,
is not a form recipient of life from the Divine,
but is the very being of life;
and that which proceeds therefrom is life.
Such is the idea that the angels have
in regard to the Lord . . ..

AC 5247, 5249 - The Details of the Word and the Angels

AC 5247

. . . all the details of the Word are holy;
but the holiness therein
is not apparent to the understanding,
except that of one who knows its internal sense;
nevertheless by influx from heaven
it comes to the perception of him
who believes the Word to be holy.
This influx is effected through
the internal sense in which the angels are;
and although this sense is not understood by the person,
still it affects him,
because in it the affection of the angels is communicated.
From this it is plain also
that the Word has been given to a person
in order that he may have communication with heaven,
and that the Divine truth which is in heaven
may affect him by means of the influx.

AC 5249

And Pharaoh sent and called Joseph,
and they brought him hastily out of the pit;
and he shaved,
and changed his garments,
and came to Pharaoh.
(Genesis 51:14)

What the words in this verse  involve
is clear from what has been unfolded,
for they treat of Joseph,
how he was freed from the pit and came unto Pharaoh.
By Joseph in the internal sense
is represented the Lord as to the celestial of the spiritual,
and by Pharaoh is represented
the natural or external person;
by the pit in which Joseph was
is represented the state of the Lord's temptation
as to the celestial of the spiritual;
and by his being called from the pit by Pharaoh
is meant the state of deliverance from temptations,
and further,
the subsequent state of influx and communication
with the new natural.
From this it is plain
that in the internal sense is here described
how the Lord made His natural new, and at last Divine.

These are the things the celestial angels think
when this history is being read by a person;
moreover, to think such things is to them most delightful,
for they are in the Lord's Divine sphere,
thus as it were in the Lord,
and in a perception of inmost joy
when thinking of the Lord
and of the salvation of the human race
by the Lord's making Divine the Human in Him;
and in order that the angels
might be kept in this most heavenly joy,
and at the same time in wisdom,
that Divine process is fully described
in the internal sense of the Word,
and at the same time
therein the process of a person's regeneration;
for the regeneration of a person
is an image of the Lord's glorification.
Some may possibly wonder
what the angels converse together about,
and consequently what people who become angels
converse about after death;
but be it known to them that it is about such things
as are contained in the internal sense of the Word,
namely, about the Lord's glorification,
His kingdom, the church,
the regeneration of a person
through the good of love and the truth of faith;
but they speak about these things
by means of secret things
that are for the most part inexpressible.

AC 5228 - Perception; AC 5229 - "To Remember" Is To Be Conjoined

AC 5228 - Perception

. . . perception is nothing else than
the speech or thought of the angels who are with a person.
When this speech or thought flows in,
it becomes the perception that a thing is so,
or is not so,
but only with those
who are in the good of love and of charity,
for it flows in through good.
With these this perception produces thoughts,
for to them what is perceptive is the general of thought.
Yet perception from thought is not actually given,
but only apparently.
But no more can be said regarding this mystery,
because, as already said,
it is unknown at this day what perception is.

AC 5229 - "To Remember" Is To Be Conjoined

The reason why "to remember" is conjunction,
is that the remembering
of anyone in the other life conjoins;
for as soon as any spirit
calls another to mind he appears present,
and so present that they speak together.
It is for this reason that angels and spirits
can meet all persons whom they have known
or have heard of,
can see them present and speak with them,
when the Lord allows them to call them to mind.

AC 5223 - "Magi," "Magicians," "Wise Men"; AC 5225 - The Expanded View in Heaven

AC 5223 - "Magi," "Magicians," "Wise Men"

. . . those who were skilled in and taught these knowledges
were called "magi," or "magicians," and "wise men;"
those who were skilled in mystical memory-knowledges
were called "magicians,"
and those skilled in memory-knowledges not mystical
were called "wise men;"
consequently those who taught interior memory-knowledges
were called "magicians,"
and those who taught exterior memory-knowledges
were called "wise men."

AC 5225 - The Expanded View in Heaven

. . . in the spiritual world, or in heaven,
not persons but things come into view,
for persons limit the idea,
and concentrate it upon something finite;
whereas things do not limit and concentrate it,
but extend it to the infinite, thus to the Lord.
For this reason also,
no person named in the Word is perceived in heaven,
but in his stead
the thing that is represented by that person;
so also no people or nation is perceived,
but only its quality.
Indeed, not even is any historic statement of the Word
about a person, nation, or people, known in heaven;
and consequently it is not known
who Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
the Israelitish people, and the Jewish nation were,
but it is there perceived what Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
the Israelitish people, and the Jewish nation denote;
and the same in all other cases.
Thus the angelic speech is without limitation,
and is also relatively universal.

AC 5212 - Kine and Corn; AC 5214 - What Makes Memory-knowledges of No Use

 AC 5212  [2, 4] - Kine and Corn

The reason why there were two dreams,
one of the seven kine (cows)
and the other of the seven ears of corn,
is that in the internal sense both naturals,
the interior and the exterior, are treated of,
and in what follows, the rebirth of both.
By the "seven kine" are meant
the things of the interior natural
called truths of the natural;
and by the "seven ears of corn,"
the truths of the exterior natural
called memory-knowledges.

. . . the "kingdom of God,"
which is compared to the blade, the ear, and the corn,
is heaven in a person through regeneration;
for one who has been regenerated
has the kingdom of God within him,
and becomes in image the kingdom of God or heaven.
The "blade" is the first memory-knowledge;
the "ear" is the memory-knowledge of truth
derived from there;
the "corn" is the derivative good.

AC 5214 - What Makes Memory-knowledges of No Use

The memory-knowledges of no use
are those which have no other end
than glory and pleasure.
These ends are of no use,
because they do not benefit the neighbor.

AC 5202 - The Amazing Processes of Regeneration

AC 5202 [4]

From his early infancy
to the last of his life in the world
and thereafter to eternity,
the person who is in good
is being born again every moment,
not only as to interiors,
but also as to exteriors,
and this by amazing processes.
It is these processes that for the most part
constitute angelic wisdom,
which is known to be ineffable,
and to contain such things
as ear has not heard, nor eye seen,
neither have entered into the thought of a person.
The internal sense of the Word
treats of things like these,
and thus is adapted to angelic wisdom;
and when it flows from this wisdom
into the sense of the letter
it becomes adapted to human wisdom,
and thereby in a hidden way
affects those who are in the desire from good
of knowing truths from the Word.
___________

ineffable - too great or extreme
to be expressed or described in words

AC 5199 - Spiritual Beauty

AC 5199

Spiritual beauty is the affection of interior truth,
and spiritual look is faith;
as a consequence by "beautiful in look"
is meant the affection of the truth of faith.
That spiritual beauty is the affection of interior truth,
is because truth is the form of good.
Good itself which is from the Divine in heaven
is that from which angels have life;
but the form of their life is given
by means of the truths which are from this good.
And yet beauty is not produced by the truth of faith,
but by the affection itself within the truths of faith,
which is from good.
Beauty that is from the truth of faith alone
is like that of a painted or sculptured face;
but beauty from the affection of truth,
which is from good,
is like that of a living face animated by heavenly love;
for such as is the love or affection
that beams from the form of the face,
such is the beauty.
From this it is that the angels appear in ineffable beauty;
from their faces beams forth
the good of love through the truth of faith,
which not only appear before the sight,
but are also perceived
from the spheres coming from them.

AC 5194 - "Two"

AC 5194

The reason 'two' means a joining together (conjunction)
is that every single thing in the spiritual world,
and consequently in the natural world,
has two forces associated with it -
goodness and truth.
Good is an active inflowing force,
truth a passive, recipient one.
Also, because everything
has these two forces associated with it,
and because nothing can ever be brought forth
unless the two are made one
by becoming so to speak married to each other,
a joining together is therefore meant by them.

This type of marriage exists in every single thing
within the natural order and its three kingdoms;
without it nothing whatever can come into existence.
For anything to come into existence
within the natural order
there needs to be heat and light,
heat in the natural world
corresponding to the good of love in the spiritual world,
and light corresponding to the truth of faith.
These two - heat and light -
must act as one if anything is to be brought forth.
If they do not act as one,
as is the case in winter time,
nothing at all is brought forth.
The same holds true on a spiritual level,
as is quite evident with the human being,
who has two mental powers - will and understanding.
The will has been formed
so that it may receive spiritual heat,
that is, the good of love and charity,
while the understanding has been formed
so that it may receive spiritual light,
that is, the truth of faith.
Unless these two residing with a person make one
nothing is brought forth,
for the good of love devoid of the truth of faith
cannot give
definition and particular character to anything,
while the truth of faith devoid of the good of love
cannot bring anything into effect.
So that the heavenly marriage may exist in a person
therefore, or rather
so that a person may be in the heavenly marriage,
those two entities must make one in him.

AC 5173 - Cause & Endeavor; AC 5177 - Worry About the Future

AC 5173 [2, 3] - Endeavor

. . . the truth is that in all and each of the things
in nature and her three kingdoms
there is an inward active force from the spiritual world;
and unless this were so,
nothing whatever in the natural world
could act as cause and effect,
and consequently nothing could be produced.

. . . it is according to laws known in the learned world
that when endeavor ceases, motion ceases,
and also that everything of determination
is in endeavor,
and that in motion there is nothing real except endeavor.
It is clear that this force or endeavor in action or motion
is the spiritual in the natural;
for to think and will is spiritual,
and to act and be moved is natural.

AC 5177 - Worry About the Future

Those who have been very solicitous about the future . . .
when confirmed by act,
greatly dulls and retards the influx of spiritual life;
for they attribute to themselves
that which is of the Divine Providence;
and those who do this
obstruct the influx,
and take away from themselves the life of good and truth.