AC 7233, 7236, 7245 - the variety of enlightenment

AC 7233 [3]
. . . the intellectual cannot be enlightened
unless it is believed
that love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor
are the principal and essential things of the church.
He who proceeds from the acknowledgment of these,
provided he himself is in them,
sees innumerable truths;
indeed he sees very many secrets disclosed to him,
and this from interior acknowledgment,
according to the degree of the enlightenment from the Lord.

AC 7236 [3]
That which makes good so various is truth;
for when truth is conjoined with good
it qualifies it.

AC 7245
. . . the law Divine appears impure 
to those who are in falsities . . ..

Portions: I Kings 8 - 10

When all the elders of Israel had arrived,
the priests took up the ark,
and they brought up the ark of the Lord
and the Ten of Meeting
and all the sacred furnishings in it.
The priests and Levites carried them up . . .
The priests then brought the ark of the Lord's covenant
to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple,
the Most Holy Place,
and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim
There was nothing in the ark
except the two stone tablets
that Moses had placed in it at Horeb . . .
When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place,
the cloud filled the temple of the Lord.
And the priests could not perform their service
because of the cloud,
for the glory of the Lord filled His temple.
(I Kings 8:3-4,6,9,10-11)

Three times a year Solomon sacrificed
burnt offerings and fellowship offerings
on the altar he had built for the Lord,
burning incense before the Lord along with them,
and so fulfilled the temple obligations.
(I Kings 9:25)

When the queen of Sheba heard
about the fame of Solomon
and his relation to the name of the Lord,
she came to test him with hard questions.
Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan -
with camels carrying spices,
large quantities of gold,
and precious stones -
she came to Solomon and talked with him
about all that she had on her mind.
Solomon answered all he questions;
nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her.
(I Kings 10:1-3)

AC 7217 - spiritual distress

AC 7217
That distress of spirit denotes a state near to despair,
can be seen from the fact that those
who are in a state near to despair are in internal anxiety,
and are then actually in shortness of breath.
In the external sense
this condition is a compression of the breast,
and from this as it were a difficulty of breathing;
but in the internal sense
it is anxiety on account of
the deprivation of the truth which is of faith,
and of the good which is of charity,
and from this is a state near to despair.

Portions: I Kings 5-7

When Hiram king of Tyre
heard that Solomon had been anointed king
to succeed his father David,
he sent his envoys to Solomon,
because he had always been on friendly terms with David.
Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:
"You know that because of the wars waged
against my father David from all sides,
he could not build a temple
for the Name of the Lord his God
until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.
But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side,
and there is not adversary or disaster.
I intend, therefore, to build a temple
for the Name of the Lord my God,
as the Lord told my father David, when He said,
'Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place
will build the temple for My Name."
(I Kings 5:1-5)

In the four hundred and eightieth year
after the Israelites had come out of Egypt,
in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel,
in the month of Ziv, the second month,
he began to build the temple of the Lord.
In building the temple,
only blocks dressed at the quarry were used,
and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool
was heard at the temple site while it was being built.
The word of the Lord came to Solomon:
"As for this temple you are building,
if you follow My decrees,
carry out My regulations
and keep all My commands and obey them,
I will fulfill through you
the promise I gave to David your father.
And I will live among the Israelites
and will not abandon my people Israel."
In the eleventh year
in the month of Bul, the eighth month,
the temple was finished in all its details
according to its specifications.
He had spent seven years building it.
(II Kings 6:1,7,11-13,38)

It took Solomon thirteen years, however,
to complete the construction of his palace.
When all the work King Solomon had done
for the temple of the Lord was finished,
he brought the things his father David had dedicated
 - the silver and gold and the furnishings -
and he placed them in the treasuries of the Lord's temple.
(I Kings 7:1,51)

AC 7195, 7197, 7211 - where the Lord is

AC 7195
. . . the Lord is more present
in a a state of temptations than out of this state,
although it appears otherwise.

AC 7197
. . . the life which has heaven in it,
is a life according to the truths
and goods of faith
about which the person has been instructed.
Unless these are the rules and principles of his life,
in vain does he look for heaven,
no matter how he has lived;
for without these truths and goods
a person is like a reed which is shaken by every wind;
for he is bent by evils equally as by goods,
because he has nothing of truth and good
made firm within him whereby he may 
be kept by the angels in truths and goods,
and be withdrawn from the falsities and evils
which the infernals are continually injecting.
In a word, the life of Christian good is what makes heaven;
not a life of natural good.

AC 7211
That the Lord's life is in heaven,
consequently that those who are there are in His life,
is because they are in the truth and good
which proceed from the Lord,
and the good which is in the truth
is the Lord Himself,
and the truth in which is the good
is the life from the Lord from which all live.
From all this it is evident
that they who are in good and so in truth,
as are all in the heavens,
are in the Lord's life.

Portions: I Kings 2 - 4

When the time drew near for David to die,
he gave a charge to Solomon his son.
Then David rested with his fathers
and was buried in the City of David.
He had reigned forty years over Israel -
seven years in Hebron
and thirty-three in Jerusalem.
So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David,
and his rule was firmly established.
(I Kings 2:1,10-12)

At Gibeon 
the Lord appeared to Solomon
during the night in a dream, 
and God said,
"Ask for whatever you want Me to give you."
Solomon answered,
"So give Your servant
a discerning heart to govern Your people
and to distinguish between right and wrong.
For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?"
The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.
(I Kings 3:5-6,9-10)

The people of Judah and Israel
were as numerous as the sand on the seashore;
they ate, they drank and they were happy.
And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms
from the River to the land of the Philistines,
as far as the border of Egypt.
These countries brought tribute
and were Solomon's subjects all his life.
God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight,
and a breadth of understanding
as measureless as the sand on the seashore.
Men of all nations
came to listen to Solomon's wisdom,
sent by all the kings of the world,
who had heard of his wisdom.
(I Kings 4:20-21,29,34)

AC 7178 - we need to know; AC 7186 - we choose

AC 7178
No one can know what good is,
as understood in the spiritual sense,
unless he knows
what love toward the neighbor and love to God are;
and no one can know what evil is,
unless he knows
what the love of self and the love of the world are.
Nor can anyone know from inward acknowledgment
what the truth is which is of faith,
unless he knows what good is,
and unless he is in good;
nor can anyone know what falsity is,
unless he knows what evil is.
Consequently no one can examine himself
unless he knows what good from its two loves is,
and what truth from good is;
and unless he knows what evil from its two loves is,
and what falsity from evil is.

AC 7186 [3]
Those who believe
that a person can be immediately introduced into heaven,
and that this is solely of the Lord's mercy,
are very much mistaken.
If this were possible,
all whatsoever who are in hell would be raised into heaven,
for the Lord's mercy extends to all.
But it is according to order
that everyone carries with him his life
which he had lived in the world,
 and his state in the other life is according to this,
and that the mercy of the Lord flows in with all,
but is diversely received,
and by those who are in evil, is rejected;
and as in the world they have filled themselves with evil,
they also retain it in the other life,
nor is amendment possible in the other life,
for the tree lies where it has fallen.
From all this it is evident
that it is according to order
that those who have lived in good,
and with whom there are also gross and impure things
which pertain to the love of the world and the love of self,
cannot be associated with those who are in the heavens
until these things have been removed.
From all this it is evident
that liberation from infestations
is effected successively by degrees.

Portions: II Samuel 23 - I Kings 1

The God of Israel spoke,
the Rock of Israel said to me:
'When one rules over men in righteousness,
when he rules in the fear of God,
he is like the light of morning at sunrise
on a cloudless morning,
like the brightness after rain
that brings the grass from the earth.'
(II Samuel 23:3-4)

Araunah said,
"Why has my lord the king come to his servant?"
"To buy your threshing floor," David answered,
"so I can build an altar to the Lord,
that the plague on the people may be stopped."
Araunah said to David,
"Let my lord the king take whatever pleases him
and offer it up. 
Here are oxen for the burnt offering,
and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood.
O king, Araunah gives all this to the king."
Araunah also said to him,
"May the Lord your God accept you."
But the king replied to Araunah,
"No, I insist on paying you for it.
I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God
burnt offerings that cost me nothing."
So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen
and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.
David built an altar to the Lord there
and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.
Then the Lord answered prayer in behalf of the land,
and the plague on Israel was stopped.
(II Samuel 24:21-25)

Then King David said, "Call in Bathsheba."
So she came into the king's presence
and stood before him.
The king then took an oath:
"As surely as the Lord lives,
who has delivered me out of every trouble,
I will surely carry out today what I swore to you
by the Lord, the God of Israel:
Solomon your son shall be king after me,
and he will sit on my throne in my place."
(I Kings 1:28-30)

AC 7166, 7167 - Divine Law

AC 7166
For the law from the Divine
is the law of order,
and the law of order
concerning those who are
in a state of infestations from falsities
is that they must be infested even to despair,
and unless they are infested to despair,
the uttermost of the use of the infestation is lacking.
That temptation is increased even to despair
is very evident from the Lord's temptation in Gethsemane,
and also afterward upon the cross,
in that it was carried even to a state of despair;
and the temptation of the Lord
is a pattern of the temptation of the faithful;
wherefore the Lord says
that whosoever would follow Him must take up his cross;
for the glorification of the Lord
is a pattern of the regeneration of man,
and regeneration is effected chiefly by means of temptation.

AC 7167
For the law Divine
is truth Divine proceeding from the Lord,
and that which proceeds from the Lord
is Divine good and truth;
and Divine good is love and charity,
and Divine truth is faith.

Portions: II Samuel 20 - 22

Then the woman went to all the people
with her wise advice,
and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bicri
and threw it to Joab.
So he sounded the trumpet,
and his men dispersed from the city,
each returning to his home.
And Joab went back to the king in Jerusalem.
(II Samuel 20:22)

David brought the bones
of Saul and his son Jonathan from there,
and the bones of those
who had been killed and exposed were gathered up.
They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan
in the tomb of Saul's father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin,
and did everything the king commanded.
After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land.
(II Samuel 21:14)

David sang to the Lord the words of this song
when the Lord delivered him
from the hand of all his enemies
and from the hand of Saul.
The Lord lives!
Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!
He is the God who avenges me,
who puts the nations under me,
who sets me free from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
from violent men You rescued me.
Therefore I will praise You, O Lord,
among the nations;
I will sing praises to your name."
(II Samuel 22:1,47-50)

AC 7155 - despair

AC 7155
. . . "they saw that they were in evil" (Exodus 5:19)
is signified that they perceived themselves
to be near damnation.
For as those who are in despair
suppose that they can no longer endure the assaults,
they think that they must needs deliver themselves up
as captives to falsities,
such being the state of despair;
but then they begin to be relieved,
and to be as it were led 
out of thick darkness into light.

Portions: II Samuel 16 - 19

When David had gone a short distance beyond the summit,
there was Ziba, the steward of Mephibosheth,
waiting to meet him.
He had a string of donkeys saddled and loaded with
two hundred loaves of bread,
a hundred cakes of raisins,
a hundred cakes of figs,
and a skin of wine.
The king asked Ziba, "Why have you brought these?
Ziba answered,
"The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on,
the bread and fruit are for the men to eat,
and the wine is to refresh
those who become exhausted in the desert."
The king then asked,
"Where is your master's grandson?"
Ziba said to him,
"He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks,
'Today the house of Israel will give me back
my grandfather's kingdom.'"
Then the king said to Ziba,
"All that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours."
"I humbly bow," Ziba said.
"May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king."
(II Samuel 16:1-4)

After the men had gone,
the two climbed out of the well
and went to inform King David.
They said to him,
"Set out and cross the river at once;
Ahithophel has advised such and such against you."
So David and all the people with him
set out and crossed the Jordan.
By daybreak, no one was left
who had not crossed the Jordan.
(II Samuel 17:21-22)

Then the Cushite arrived and said,
"My lord the king, hear the good news!
The Lord has delivered you today
from all who rose up against you."
The king asked the Chushite,
"Is the young man Absalom safe?"
The Cushite replied
"May the enemies of my lord the king
and all who rise up to harm you
be like that young man."
The king was shaken.
He went up to the room over the gateway and wept.
(II Samuel 18:31-33)

So all the people crossed the Jordan,
and then the king crossed over.
(II Samuel 19:39)

AC 7153 - these things

AC 7153
. . . the things contained in these verses in the internal sense,
. . . which to people may perhaps appear as of but little moment,
and also disconnected;
nevertheless they are each of them
essential to the subject treated of,
and cohere most beautifully.
That this is so 
is perceived by the angels,
for they see the series and connection of things
in the light of heaven,
together with countless secret things
that are shaped from interior truths,
giving rise to a form 
that is most beautiful and pleasing;
which cannot possibly be done by a person,
because interior truths have been hidden from him,
and consequently he cannot connect them together;
but they appear to him disconnected,
and therefore, as just said,
of little moment.

Portions: II Samuel 14 & 15

Then Joab did go to Absalom's house and said to him,
"Why have your servants set my field on fire?"
Absalom said to Joab,
"Look, I sent word to you and said,
'Why have I come from Geshur?
It would be better for me if I were still there!'
Now then, I want to see the king's face,
and if I am guilty of anything,
let him put me to death."
So Joab went to the king and told him this.
Then the king summoned Absalom,
and he came in and bowed down before the king.
And the king kissed Absalom.
(II Samuel 14:31-33)

A messenger came and told David,
"The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom."
Then David said to all his officials
who were with him in Jerusalem,
"Come! We must flee,
or none of us will escape from Absalom.
We must leave immediately,
or he will move quickly to overtake us
and bring ruin upon us
and put the city to the sword."
(II Samuel 15:13-14)

AC 7131 - general memory-knowledges

AC 7131
. . . it is a truth of memory-knowledge
- that charity toward the neighbor is the essential of the church;
- also that faith cannot be except where charity is;
- and likewise that truth and good can be conjoined,
- but not truth and evil, nor good and falsity;
besides many similar truths,
which are truths of memory-knowledge.
That these can be enriched with innumerable things,
can be seen from the fact
that volumes can be written about them,
and yet the singular truths,
which are the interior things of faith,
can never be described,
for these can only be seen in the light of heaven,
and do not fall into natural words.
These truths are like charity,
which is spiritual affection,
and which for the most part cannot be expressed by words,
except its most general things . . .
and which can be compared
with such things as are in the world.

Portions: II Samuel 9-13

The king asked,
"Is there no one still left of the house of Saul
to whom I can show God's kindness?"
Ziba answered the king,
"There is still a son of Jonathan;
he is crippled in both feet."
So King David had him brought from Lo Debar,
from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.
When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul,
came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.
David said, "Mephibosheth!"
"Your servant," he replied.
"Don't be afraid," David said to him,
"for I will surely show you kindness
for the sake of your father Jonathan.
I will restore to you all the land
that belonged to your grandfather Saul,
and you will always eat at my table."
(II Samuel 9:3,5-7)

When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer
saw that they had been defeated by Israel,
they made peace with the Israelites
and became subject to them.
So the Arameans were afraid
to help the Ammonites anymore.
(II Samuel 10:19)

When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead,
she mourned for him.
After the time of mourning was over,
David had her brought to his house,
and she became his wife and bore him a son.
But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.
(II Samuel 11:26-27)

Then Nathan said to David . . .
"This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:
'I anointed you king over Israel,
and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.
I gave your master's house to you,
and your master's wives into your arms.
I gave you the house of Israel and Judah.
And if all this had been too little,
I would have given you even more.
Why did you despise the word of the Lord
by doing what is evil in His eyes?"
After Nathan had gone home,
the Lord struck the child
that Uriah's wife had borne to David,
and he became ill.
On the seventh day the child died.
(II Samuel 12:7-9,15,18)

Absalom ordered his men,
"Listen! When Amnon is in high spirits
from drinking wine
and I say to you, 'Strike Amnon down,'
then kill him.
Don't be afraid.
Have I not given you this order?
be strong and brave."
So Absalom's men did to Amnon
what Absalom had ordered.
After Absalom fled and went to Geshur,
he stayed there three years.
(II Samuel 13:28-29,38)

AC 7112 - correspondence; AC 7113 - making bricks

AC 7112
. . . be it known that there is nothing in the natural world
which does not correspond to something in the spiritual world;
and the angels with a person
understand all things spiritually
which the person understands naturally . . ..

AC 7113
To make bricks.
(Exodus 5:7)
That his signifies to make things fictitious and false . . .
is evident from the signification of "making bricks,"
as to invent falsities.
 

Portions: II Samuel 4 - 8

(Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet.
He was five years old when the news
about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel.
His nurse picked him up and fled,
but as she hurried to leave,
he fell and became crippled.
His name was Mephibosheth.)
(II Samuel 4:4)

The king and his men marched to Jerusalem
to attack the Jebusites, who lived there.
The Jebusites said to David,
"You will not get in here;
even the blind and the lame can ward you off."
They thought, "David cannot get in here."
Nevertheless,
David captured the fortress of Zion,
the city of David.
Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David,
along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons,
and they built a palace for David.
And David knew
that the Lord had established him as king over Israel
and had exalted his kingdom
for the sake of His people Israel.
(II Samuel 5:6-7,11-12)

David again brought together out of Israel chosen men,
thirty thousand in all. 
He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah
to bring up from there the ark of God . . .
from the house of Abinadab . . ..
Now King David was told,
"The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom
and everything he has, because of the ark of God."
So David went down and brought up
the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom
to the City of David with rejoicing.
(II Samuel 6:1-2,3,12)

After the king was settled in his palace
and the Lord had given him rest
from all his enemies around him,
he said to Nathan the prophet,
"Here I am, living in a palace of cedar,
while the ark of God remains in a tent."
That night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying:
"Go and tell my servant David,
'This is what the Lord says:
Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?
I have not dwelt in a house from the day
I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day.
I have been moving from place to place
with a tent as My dwelling.
Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites,
did I ever say to any of their rulers
whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel,
"Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"
(II Samuel 7:1-2,4-7)

The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.
(II Samuel 8:6, also 14)

AC 7097 - the hells hate the Lord

AC 7097 [4]
. . . as the universal sphere of heaven
is full of the acknowledgment and love of the Lord,
so is the universal sphere of the hells
full of the denial of the Lord and of hatred against Him;
neither can they endure that He should be named.
The infernals are such
that they do not desist
on account of exhortations and threats,
so great is the delight of their life
in infesting the upright,
and turning them from the acknowledgment of the Lord,
and from faith in Him.

Portions: II Samuel 1-3

After the death of Saul,
David returned from defeating the Amalekites
and stayed in Ziklag two days.
On the third day a man arrived from Saul's camp,
with his clothes torn and dust on his head.
When he came to David, he fell to the ground
to pay him honor.
"Where have you come from? David asked him.
He answered, "I have escaped from the Israelite camp."
"What happened?" David asked.  "Tell me."
He said,
"The men fled from the battle.
Many of them fell and died.
And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead."
(II Samuel 1:1-4)

In the course of time,
David inquired of the Lord.
"Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?" he asked.
The Lord said, "Go up."
David asked, "Where shall I go?"
"To Hebron," the Lord answered.
Ish-Bosheth son of Saul was forty years old
when he became king over Israel,
and he reigned two years.
The house of Judah, however, followed David.
The length of time David was king in Hebron
over the house of Judah
was seven years and six months.
(II Samuel 2:1, 10-11)

The war between the house of Saul
and the house of David
lasted a long time.
David grew stronger and stronger,
while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.
(II Samuel 3:1)