AE 701 - Covenant

 AE 701 [15-16, 18]

"The old covenant" means
conjunction through such Divine truth
as was given to the sons of Israel,
which was external,
and therefore representative of internal Divine truth.
They had no other Divine truth,
because they could not receive any other,
for they were external and natural people,
and not internal or spiritual,
as can be seen from the fact
that such as knew anything about the Lord's coming
had no other thought of Him
than that He was to be a king
who would raise them above
all the peoples in the whole world,
and thus establish a kingdom with them on the earth,
and not in the heavens
and therefrom on the earth
with all who believe on Him.
"The old covenant," therefore,
was a conjunction through such Divine truth
as is contained in the books of Moses
and is called "commandments, judgments, and statutes,"
in which, nevertheless,
there lay inwardly hidden
such Divine truth as is in heaven,
which is internal and spiritual.
This Divine truth was disclosed by the Lord
when He was in the world;
and as through this alone
there is conjunction of the Lord with people,
therefore this is what is meant by "the new covenant,"
also by "His blood,"
which is therefore called
"the blood of the new covenant."
"Wine" has a similar meaning.

This "new covenant,"
which was to be entered into with the Lord
when He should come into the world . . ..

That Jehovah, that is, the Lord,
"was to make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and house of Judah"
does not mean that it was to be made with
the sons of Israel and with Judah,
but with all
who from the Lord
are in the truths of doctrine
and in the good of love to the Lord.

. . . spiritual Divine truth is received by a person inwardly,
thus otherwise than with the sons of Israel and the Jews,
who received it outwardly;
for when a person receives Divine truth inwardly in himself,
that is, makes it to be of his love and thus of his life,
truth is known from the truth itself,
because the Lord flows into His own truth with a person,
and teaches him;
this is what is meant by the words . . ..
The conjunction itself thereby effected,
which "the new covenant" means,  is meant by
"I will be to them for God,
and they shall be to Me for a people."

 . . . "a covenant of peace,"
because man by conjunction with the Lord
has peace
from the infestation of evil and falsity from hell . . ..

~ Part of David's Charge to Solomon ~

When the time drew near for David to die,
he gave a charge to Solomon his son.

"I am about to go the way of all the earth," he said.
"So be strong,
show yourself a man,
and observe what the Lord your God requires:
Walk in His way,
and keep His decrees and commands,
His laws and requirements,
as written in the Law of Moses,
so that you may prosper in all you do
and where you go,
and that the Lord may keep His promise to me:
"If your descendants watch how they live,
and if they walk faithfully before Me
with all their heart and soul,
you will never fail
to have a man on the throne of Israel.'"

(I Kings 2:1-4)

AE 701 [4] - Covenant

AE 701 [4]

That "covenant" signifies conjunction with the Lord
through the reception of Divine truth
by the understanding and will,
or by the heart and soul,
that is, by love and faith,
and that this conjunction is effected reciprocally,
can be seen from the Word where "covenant" is mentioned.
For from the Word it is evident:

(1) That the Lord Himself is called a "covenant,"
because conjunction with Him is effected by Him
through the Divine that proceeds from Him.

(2) That the Divine proceeding,
which is Divine truth, thus the Word,
is the covenant, because it conjoins.

(3) That the commandments, judgments,
and statutes commanded to the sons of Israel
were to them a covenant,
because through these
there was then conjunction with the Lord.

(4) And further, that whatever conjoins
is called a "covenant."

 

~ A Plague and David Builds and Altar ~

When David saw the angel
who was striking down the people,
he said to the Lord,
"I am the one who has sinned and done wrong.
These are but sheep.
What have they done?
Let Your hand fall upon me and my family."

On that day Gad went to David and said to him,
"Go up and build an altar to the Lord
on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."
So David went up,
as the Lord had commanded through Gad.
When Araunah looked and saw
the king and his men coming toward him,
he went out and bowed down before the king
with his face to the ground.
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 burned offerings and fellowship offerings.
Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land,
and the plague on Israel was stopped.

(II Samuel 24:17-25)

AE 701 - He Gifts Us With His Light and Freedom

AE 701

The Lord continually flows into all people
with light that enlightens,
and with the affection
of knowing and understanding truths,
also for willing and doing them;
and as that light and that affection
continually flow in from the Lord,
it follows that a person becomes rational
to the extent that he receives of that light,
and he becomes wise and is led by the Lord
so far as he receives of that affection.
That affection with its light
draws to itself and conjoins to itself
the truths that a person from infancy
has learned from the Word,
from doctrine out of the Word, and from preaching;
for every affection desires to be nourished
by the knowledges that are in harmony with it.
From this conjunction
a person's spiritual love or affection is formed,
through which he is conjoined to the Lord,
that is, through which the Lord conjoins man to Himself.

But in order that that light
and that affection may be received,
freedom of choice has been given to a person,
and as that freedom is from the Lord,
it is also a gift of the Lord with a person
and is never taken away from him;
for that freedom belongs to a person's affection or love,
and consequently also to his life.
From freedom a person can think and will what is evil,
and can also think and will what is good.
So far, therefore, as from that freedom,
which belongs to his love and thence to his life,
a person thinks falsities and wills evils,
which are the opposites of the truths and goods of the Word,
so far he is not conjoined to the Lord;
but so far as he thinks truths and wills goods,
which are from the Word,
so far he is conjoined to the Lord,
and the Lord makes those truths and goods
to be of his love,
and thence of his life.
From this it is evident that this conjunction is reciprocal,
namely, of the Lord with a person
and of a person with the Lord;
such is the conjunction
that is meant in the Word by "covenant."

He greatly errs who believes
that a person is incapable of doing anything
for his own salvation
because the light to see truths
and the affection of doing them,
as well as the freedom to think and will them,
are from the Lord,
and nothing of these from a person.
Because these appear to a person to be as if in himself,
and when they are thought and willed
to be as from himself,
a person ought, because of that appearance,
to think and will them as if from himself,
but at the same time acknowledge
that they are from the Lord.
In no other way
can anything of truth and good or of faith and love
be appropriated to a person.
If one lets his hands hang down and waits for influx
he receives nothing,
and can have no reciprocal conjunction with the Lord,
thus he is not in the covenant.
That this is so is clearly evident from this,
that the Lord in a thousand passages in the Word
has taught that a person
must do good and must not do evil,
and this the Lord would by no means have said,
unless something had been given to a person
by which he has ability to do,
and unless that which has been given to a person
might seem to him to be as if his own,
although it is not his.
Because this is so the Lord speaks thus in John:

I stand at the door and knock;
if anyone hear My voice and open the door
I will come in to him,
and will sup with him and he with Me.
(Revelation 3:20)

~ "When One Rules" ~

These are the last words of David:

"The oracle of David son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man exalted by the Most High,
the man anointed by the God of Jacob,
Israel's singer of songs:

"The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me;
His word was on my tongue.
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 23:1-4)

 

AE 700 - The Ark

AE 700 [11, 24, 30, 34]

Because the ark, from the law that was in it,
meant the Lord in relation to Divine truth,
and the Lord has omnipotence
from Divine good through Divine truth,
therefore by means of the ark miracles were wrought.
Thus by means of it
the waters of Jordan were divided,
so that the sons of Israel passed over on dry ground;
the wall of the city of Jericho was overthrown;
Dagon, the god of the Ashdodites, fell down before it;
the Ashdodites, the Gittites,
the Ekronites, and the Bethshemites,
were smitten with plagues on account of it;
Uzzah died because he touched it;
Obed-edom, into whose house it was brought,
was blessed.

All the historicals of the Word,
as well as its prophetical parts,
contain a spiritual sense that treats,
not of the sons of Israel and of nations and peoples,
but of the church and its establishment and progress,
for this is the spiritual of the Word,
while the history is the natural that contains the spiritual.
Therefore also all the miracles described in the Word,
as the miracles done in Egypt
and afterwards in the land of Canaan,
involve such things as belong to heaven and the church,
and for this reason also these miracles are Divine.

. . . the "ark," because of the law in it,
signifies Divine truth proceeding from the Lord.

. . . the cherubim that were over the mercy-seat
which was upon the ark,
mean the guard that the Lord be not approached
except through the good of love.

. . . the third heaven,
where angels are conjoined to the Lord by love to Him,
. . . consequently
have Divine truth inscribed on their hearts.

~ Portions from David's Song ~

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.  He said:

"The Lord is my rock,
my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock,
in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation.
He is my stronghold,
my Refuge and my Savior --
from violent men You save me.
I call to the Lord,
who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.

"The Lord had rewarded me
according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness in His sight.

"To the faithful You show Yourself faithful,
to the blameless You show Yourself blameless,
to the pure You show Yourself pure,
but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.
You save the humble,
but Your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.
You are my lamp, O Lord;
the Lord turns my darkness into light.

"As for God, His way is perfect;
the word of the Lord is flawless.
He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him.
For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect."

(II Samuel 22:1-5, 25-29, 31-33)

AE 700 - The Heavens Guard; The Lord's Divine Truth Leads & Saves

AE 700 [3, 7]

That heaven with its angels is a guard
against anything being elevated to the Lord Himself
except what proceeds from
the good of love to Him and from Him.

. . . the Lord by His Divine truth
leads people and defends them
against falsities and evils,
which are from hell,
especially in temptations . . ..

~ King David and Shimei Meet Again ~

Now the men of Judah had come to Gilgal
to go out and meet the king
and bring him across the Jordan.
Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim,
hurried down with the men of Judah to meet King David.
With him were a thousand Benjamites,
along with Ziba, the steward of Saul's household,
and his fifteen sons and twenty servants.
They rushed to the Jordan,
where the king was.
They crossed at the ford
to take the king's household over
and to do whatever he wished.

When Shimei son of Gera crossed the Jordan,
he fell prostrate before the king and said to him,
"May my lord not hold me guilty.
Do not remember how your servant did wrong
on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem.
May the king put it out of his mind.
For I your servant know that I have sinned,
but today I have come here
as the first of the whole house of Joseph
to come down and meet my lord the king."

Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said,
"Shouldn't Shimei be put to death for this?
He cursed the Lord's anointed."

David replied, "What do you and I have in common,
you sons of Zeruiah?
This day you have become my adversaries!
Should anyone be put to death in Israel today?
Do I not know that today I am king over Israel?"
So the king said to Shimei,
"You shall not die."
And the king promised him on oath.

(II Samuel 19:15.5-23)

AE 696 - Knowing, Living, Salvation, Worship

 AE 696 [1, 6, 11]

. . . in the measure that a person
knows the truths of faith
and lives according to them
does he worship the Lord,
for worship is not from a person
but from the truths from good
that are with a person,
since these are from the Lord,
and the Lord is in them.

. . . all are saved who fear God
and live in mutual love,
in uprightness of heart
and in sincerity from a religious principle,
for all such,
by an intuitive faith in God and by a life of charity,
are consociated as to their souls
with the angels of heaven,
and are thus conjoined to the Lord and saved.
For after death
everyone comes to his own in the spiritual world,
with whom he was closely consociated as to his spirit
while he was living in the natural world.

. . . Divine truth causes fear
in that it condemns the evil to hell;
but Divine good does not,
since so far as it is received through truths
by man and angel
it takes away condemnation.

. . . all internal spiritual worship of God,
which consists in the good of life,
must be according to the truths of doctrine,
because these must teach.
. . . internal spiritual worship
is thinking and understanding truths,
thus thinking in a reverent and holy way about God,
which is "fearing Him,"
and external natural worship is doing truths, that is,
keeping the commandments and the words of the law.

~ Joab Reprimands King David ~

 Joab was told,
"The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom."
And for the whole army
the victory that day was turned into mourning,
because on that day the troops heard it said,
"The king is grieving for his son."
The men stole into the city that day as men steal in
who are ashamed when they flee from battle.
The king covered his face and cried aloud,
"O my son Absalom!  O Absalom, my son, my son!"

Then Joab went into the house to the king and said,
"Today you have humiliated all your men,
who have just saved your life
and the lives of your sons and daughters
and the lives of your wives and concubines.
You love those who hate you
and hate those who love you.
You have made it clear today
that the commanders and their men
mean nothing to you.
I see that you would be pleased
if Absalom were alive today
and all of us were dead.
Now go out and encourage your men.
I swear by the Lord
that if you don't go out,
not a man will be left with you by nightfall.
this will be worse for you
than all the calamities that have come upon you
from your youth till now."

So the king got up and took his seat in the gateway.
When the men were told,
"The king is sitting in the gateway,"
they all came before him.

(II Samuel 19:1-8)

AE 695 - For the Lord's Sake

 AE 695 [7, 9]

Rather love your enemies,
and do good and lend,
hoping for nothing again;
then shall your reward be much,
and you shall be sons of the Most High.
(Luke 6:35)

. . . good is not to be done for the sake of recompense,
that is, for the sake of self and the world,
thus not for the sake of reputation, glory, honor, and gain,
but for the Lord's sake,
that is, for the sake of good itself and truth itself
which are with such from the Lord,
thus in which the Lord is.
. . . he who does good and teaches truth from the Lord
is the Lord's son,
but not he who does good from self,
which is what everyone does
who looks to honor and gain as his end.

. . . everyone has heaven in the measure
of his affection of truth and good,
and according to its quality and quantity;
for on these affections
all things of heaven are inscribed,
since no one can have these affections
except from the Lord,
for it is the Divine proceeding from the Lord
in which and from which is heaven.

~ As David Flees Jerusalem, Shimei Curses Him ~

As King David approached Bahurim,
a man from the same clan as Saul's family
came out from there.
His name was Shimei son of Gera,
and he cursed as he came out.
He pelted David and all the king's officials with stones,
though all the troops and special guard
were on David's right and left.
As he cursed, Shimei said,
"Get out, get out, you man of blood, you scoundrel!
The Lord has repaid you
for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul,
in whose place you have reigned.
The Lord has handed the kingdom
over to your son Absalom.
You have come to ruin because you are a man of blood!"

Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king,
"Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?
Let me go over and cut off his head."

But the king said,
'What do you and I have in common,
you sons of Zeruiah?
If he is cursing because the Lord said to him,
'Curse David,' who can ask, 'Why do you do this?'

David then said to Abishai and all his officials,
"My son, who is of my own flesh,
is trying to take my life.
How much more then, this Benjamite!
Leave him alone;
let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.
It may be that the Lord will see my distress
and repay me with good
for the cursing I am receiving today."

So David and his men continued along the road
while Shimei was going along the hillside opposite him,
cursing as he went
and throwing stones at him
and showering him with dirt.
The king and all the people with him
arrived at their destination exhausted.
And there he refreshed himself.

(II Samuel 16:5-14)

 

AE 695 - Service, Reward, Work

AE 695 [1, 2, 3]

. . . those are called "servants of the Lord'
who are in truths,
because truths are serviceable for
bringing forth, confirming, and preserving good,
and whatever serves good serves the Lord.

. . . "reward" means salvation, and thus heaven . . ..
"Reward" means properly
that delight, blessedness, and happiness
that is in the love or affection of good and truth.
This love or affection has in itself all joy of heart,
which is called heavenly joy, and also heaven;
and for the reason that
the Lord is in that love or affection,
and with the Lord is heaven;
consequently such joy,
or such delight, blessedness, and happiness,
is what is properly meant by the "reward"
that those will receive who do good and speak truth
from the love or affection of good and truth,
thus from the Lord,
and in no wise from themselves;
and as they do this from the Lord
and not from themselves
it is not a reward of merit
but a reward of grace.

. . . where the Lord is,
there heaven is,
for heaven is not heaven from the angels there,
but from the Lord with the angels.

. . . such as the love or affection is,
such is the work.

~ The Woman From Tekoa Tells King David ~

"But God does not take away life;
instead, He devises ways
so that a banished person
may not remain estranged from Him."

(II Samuel 14:14.5)

 

AE 689 - We Give Thee Thanks, O Lord God Almighty

 AE 689 [1, 2]

Saying, we give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
(Revelation 11:17)

means the acknowledgment
that all being, living, and ability are from the Lord
. . . here the omnipotence of the Lord.

In respect to Divine omnipotence:
it does not involve any power to act contrary to order,
but it involves all power to act according to order,
for all order is from the Lord;
from this it follows that no one
has any power to act according to order
except from Him from whom is order;
and this shows that it is of the Divine omnipotence
to lead a person according to order,
and this every moment from the beginning of his life
even to eternity,
and this it does according to the laws of order,
which are innumerable,
and the number of which cannot be expressed;
and yet this can be done
only so far as a person suffers himself to be led,
that is, so far as he is willing not to be led by himself;
for so far as he wishes to be led by himself
he is brought into opposition to order.

Because it is of the Divine omnipotence to lead one
who wishes to be led according to order,
and thus to lead no one contrary to order,
therefore it is not of the Divine omnipotence
to lead anyone to heaven who wishes to lead himself,
since it is a law of order that what a person does
he shall do from reason and from freedom,
because that which is received by the reason
and done from freedom
remains with person,
and is appropriated to him as his own,
but not that which is not received
by the reason and done from freedom.

So it is clear that it is not of the Divine omnipotence
to save those
who are not willing to be led according to order,
for to be led according to order
is to be led according to the laws of order,
and the laws of order are
the precepts of doctrine and life from the Word;
it is therefore of the Divine omnipotence
to lead a person who is willing to be led according to these
every moment and continually to eternity.

For every minute there are infinite things to be seen,
to be removed, and to be insinuated,
that a person may be withheld from evils
and held in goods,
and this continually in connection according to order.

It is also of the Divine omnipotence
to protect people from the hells,
so far as this can be done
without injury to freedom and reason;
for all the hells are as nothing
against the Lord's Divine power;
without this power of the Lord
it is impossible for any man to be saved.

~ Joab and David Fight Against Rabbah ~

Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites
and captured the royal citadel.
Joab then sent messengers to David, saying,
"I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply.
Now muster the rest of the troops
and besiege the city and capture it.
Otherwise I will take the city,
and it will be named after me."

So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah,
and attacked and captured it.
He took the crown from the head of their king --
its weight was a talent of gold,
and it was set with precious stones --
and it was placed on David's head.
He took a great quantity of plunder from the city
and brought out the people who were there,
consigning them to labor
with saws and with iron picks and axes,
and he made them work at brickmaking.
He did this to all the Ammonite towns.
then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

(II Samuel 12:26-31)

AE 682 - "Great Voices in the Heavens"; AE 684 - "Sons", Part of Psalm 132

 AE 682

And there were great voices in the heavens,
(Revelation 11:12)

means . . . enlightenment, wisdom, and joy
in the higher heavens;
for "voices" have various significations in the Word,
as Divine truth, revelation, the Word itself with us,
also every precept and command of the Word;
these are meant by "voices from heaven,"
but "voices in heaven" means the enlightenment
from which angels have wisdom and consequent joy;
for when angels are in enlightenment
they are also in wisdom,
and they then have "great voices,"
by which they express the arcana of wisdom;
and there is consequent joy,
because the joy of angels is from wisdom;
this, too, is why the voices are called "great,"
for "great" is predicated of the affection of good and truth,
which is the source of joy in the heavens.

AE 684 [5]

. . . in the Word "sons" means truths,
and thus "the Son of God" means Divine truth.

AE 684 [28]

"Arise, O Jehovah, to Thy rest,
Thou and the ark of Thy strength,"
(Psalm 132: 8-9)

means the union of the Divine itself
with the Human in the Lord,
and consequent peace to all
in heaven and in the church,
"Jehovah's rest" meaning that union,
and "the ark of His strength" heaven and the church;
"let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let Thy saints shout for joy,"
signifies worship from love
for those who are in celestial good,
and worship from charity
for those who are in spiritual good,
"priests" meaning those
who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom,
while those who are in His spiritual kingdom
are called "saints."

~ The Armies of David Fight the Arameans & Ammonites ~

Joab saw that there were battle lines
in front of him and behind him;
so he selected some of the best troops in Israel
and deployed them against the Arameans.
He put the rest of the men
under the command of Abishai his brother
and deployed them against the Ammonites.
Joab said, "If the Arameans are too strong for me,
then you are to come to my rescue;
but if the Ammonites are too strong for you,
then I will come to rescue you.
Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people
and the cities of our God.
The Lord will do what is good in His sight."

Then Joab and the troops with him
advanced to fight the Arameans,
and they fled before him.
When the Ammonites saw
the Arameans were fleeing,
they fled before Abishai and went inside the city.
So Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites
and came to Jerusalem.

(II Samuel 10:5-14)