AC 4551 - Obedience

AC 4551

. . . the things of obedience are things actual,
for to obey involves doing in act.
. . . for what a person believes, he does.

 

 

AC 4538 - His Process and Ours

AC 4538

And God said unto Jacob.
(Genesis 35:1)

That this means the perception of natural good,
such as Jacob now represents,
from the Divine,
is evident from the meaning
in the historicals of the Word of "to say,"
as being to perceive,
consequently that "God said"
denotes perception from the Divine;
and from the representation of Jacob,
who here in the supreme sense
is the Lord as to natural good.
In the preceding pages it has been shown
what Jacob represents in the Word;
and as he represents various things,
the subject shall be briefly explained.

In the supreme sense
Jacob represents in general the Lord's Divine natural.
But as the Lord glorified His natural,
it was different in the beginning
from what it was in the progression,
and at the end.
Therefore Jacob represented various things,
namely, in the beginning
the Lord's natural as to truth,
in the progression
the Lord's natural as to the good of truth,
and at the end
the Lord's natural as to good.
For the Lord's glorification
proceeded from truth to the good of truth,
and finally to good,
as has already been frequently shown.
Now as this is the end,
Jacob represents the Lord as to natural good.
The reason why Jacob now represents
the Lord's Divine natural as to good,
is that this is the end, as before said.

This was the process
when the Lord made His natural Divine,
and the process is similar also
when the Lord regenerates a person;
for it pleased the Lord to make His Human Divine
in the same order
as that in which He makes a person new.
It is for this reason that it has been repeatedly stated
that a person's regeneration
is an image of the Lord's glorification.
When the Lord makes a person new
He first instructs him in the truths of faith,
for without the truths of faith
a person does not know what the Lord is,
what heaven is, and what hell is, nor even that they exist;
and still less does he know the innumerable things
relating to the Lord, to His kingdom in heaven,
and to His kingdom on earth, that is, to the church;
neither does he know what and of what nature
are the things opposite to these, which relate to hell.

Before he has learned these things,
he cannot know what good is,
by which is not meant civil good and moral good,
for these are learned in the world
by means of laws and statutes,
and by reflections upon the morals of people,
and therefore the nations outside the church
also know such things;
but by good is meant spiritual good,
which good is called in the Word charity;
and this good is in general
to will and do good to others for no selfish reason,
but from the delight of the affection.
This good is spiritual good,
and to it no person can attain
except by means of the truths of faith,
which are taught by the Lord by means of the Word
and preachings of the Word.

After a person has been instructed in the truths of faith,
he is gradually led by the Lord to will the truth,
and also from willing to do it.
This truth is called the good of truth,
for the good of truth is truth in will and act;
and it is called the good of truth
because the truth which has been of doctrine
then becomes of the life.
At last, when the person perceives delight
in willing good and in doing it from will,
it is no longer called the good of truth, but good;
for he is then regenerate,
and no more wills and does good from truth,
but truth from good;
and the truth which he then does
is also as it were good,
for it derives its essence from its origin, which is good.
From all this it is evident why and from where it is
that Jacob in the supreme sense
represents the Lord's natural as to good.
The reason why Jacob here represents this good,
is that in the internal sense
further progress is now treated of, namely,
toward the interior things of the natural,
which are "Israel".
No one who is being regenerated by the Lord
can be led to these interior things
until the truth with him has become good.

AC 4526, 4530 - Heavenly Light and Color

AC 4526 - Heavenly Light

The reason why a person is able to acquire intelligence
by means of the things which appear before him
in the light of this world,
is that a higher light (that is, the light of heaven)
flows into the objects which are of the light of the world,
and causes them to appear
representatively and correspondently;
for the light which is above the light of the world
is a light that proceeds from the Lord,
who illumines the universal heaven.
The very intelligence and wisdom that are from the Lord
appear there as light.
It is this light which produces
a person's understanding or internal sight,
and when it inflows through the understanding
into the objects of this world's light,
it causes them to appear
representatively and correspondently, thus intellectually.
And as the eyesight which is in the natural world
corresponds to the sight of the understanding
which is in the spiritual world,
it corresponds to the truths of faith,
because these belong to genuine understanding;
for truths produce all a person's understanding,
inasmuch as all his thought
is employed in deciding that a thing is so, or is not so;
that is, that it is true, or is not true.

AC 4530 - Heavenly Color

In general the colors seen in the other life
have splendor and whiteness
insofar as they come from the truth of intelligence;
and they have refulgence (brilliance) and crimson
insofar as they come from the good of wisdom.
Those colors which derive their origin from these sources
also belong to the provinces of the eyes.

 

AC 4496 - Cupidities = Greed for Money or Possessions

AC 4496

When they were in pain.
(Genesis 34:25)

That this means cupidities is evident
from the signification of the "pain" after circumcision,
as being cupidity.
The reason why this pain means cupidity
is that circumcision means purification
from the love of self and of the world,
and all the cupidity of the flesh is from these loves,
and is therefore meant by this "pain,"
because when a person is being purified from these loves,
as is the case when he is being regenerated,
he is in pain and anxiety,
and it is the cupidities then being removed
which are in pain and anguish.

AC 4493 - The Secret Reason

 AC 4493 [4-6]

If a person of the Most Ancient Church
had read the historic or prophetic Word,
he would have seen its internal sense
without any previous instruction or explanation,
and this so fully
that the celestial and spiritual things of this sense
would have at once occurred to him,
and scarcely anything in the sense of the letter;
thus the internal sense would have been
in clearness to him,
but the sense of the letter in obscurity.
He would be like one who hears another speaking
and gets the meaning without attending to the words.

But if a person of the Ancient Church
had read the Word
he could not have seen its internal sense
without previous instruction or explanation;
thus the internal sense would have been
in obscurity to him,
but the sense of the letter in clearness.
He would be like one who hears another speaking
and is intent upon the words
while not attending to the meaning,
which is thus lost to him.

But when a person of the Jewish Church
reads the Word,
he apprehends nothing beyond the sense of the letter,
he is not aware that there is any internal sense,
and also denies it;
and at the present day the case is the same
with a person of the Christian Church.

All this shows what was the difference
between those represented by Hamor and Shechem
(who being of the remains of the Most Ancient Church
were in internals and not in externals),
and those signified by the sons of Jacob
(who were in externals and not in internals);
and it shows further that Hamor and Shechem
could not accede to externals
and accept those among the sons of Jacob
without their internals being closed;
thus causing their eternal destruction.

This is the secret reason why
Hamor and Shechem with their families were slain,
which otherwise would not have been permitted.
But this does not exculpate the sons of Jacob
from having committed an enormous crime.
They knew nothing of this secret reason,
and it was not the end they had in view.
Everyone is judged according to his end or intention,
and that their intention was fraudulent
is plainly stated in the thirteenth verse;
and when any such crime is permitted by the Lord,
it is evil men and their infernal instigators
who are the authors of it.
Nevertheless all the evil
which the evil intend and do to the good
is turned by the Lord into good,
as in the present instance,
in that Hamor and Shechem with their families
were saved.

AC 4478, 4479, 4480, 4482 - What Various Words Mean or Signify or Reading the Word to Understand the Spiritual

AC 4478 - "city" and "inhabitants"

. . . in ancient times
a city was nothing else than one family of a nation,
and the dwelling together of those who were of one family
was called a "city."
And as in the internal sense
it is not the family that is understood,
but the quality of the family in respect to life and doctrine,
by "city" is meant the truth of doctrine,
and by its "inhabitants" the good of doctrine.
But when the inhabitants of a city are called
the "men" of the city,
it is not the good of doctrine
but its truths which are then meant,
for in the Word "men" [viri] denote truths.

AC 4479 - "peaceable"

. . . in the spiritual sense those are called "peaceable"
who are in agreement
as to the doctrinal things and dogmas of the church.

AC 4480 - "to dwell in the land"

Whatever is written in the Word
is in itself and in its essence spiritual;
it is known that the Word is spiritual,
but its spiritual does not appear in the letter,
for in the letter it is worldly,
especially in the historical parts;
but when the Word is being read by a person,
what is worldly in it
becomes spiritual in the spiritual world,
that is, with the angels,
for they cannot think otherwise than spiritually
on every subject;
and such is the case with the expression
"to dwell in the land."
To think spiritually
is to think of the things of the Lord's kingdom,
thus of the things of the church.

AC 4482 [1, 3] - measures

In the Word,
description according to measures
does not mean measures in the internal sense,
but qualities of state;
for measures imply spaces,
and in the other life there are no spaces or times,
but states corresponding thereto,
and therefore the lengths, breadths, and heights
of measured space mean
such things as belong to state.
That "length" means holiness,
"height" good,
and "breadth" truth . . .
and therefore by a "land broad in spaces" is meant
the extension of the truth of doctrine in the church.

The reason why "breadth" has this meaning
is that in the spiritual world, or in heaven,
the Lord is the center of all things,
for He is the sun there.
Those who are in a state of good
are interior in proportion to
the quality and quantity of the good in which they are,
and therefore "height" is predicated of good.
Those who are in a like degree of good
are also in a like degree of truth,
and therefore are as it were at a like distance,
or, so to speak, in the same circumference,
and so "breadth" is predicated of truths;
and therefore when a person is reading the Word
this is what the angels who are with him
understand by "breadth."
In those historicals of the Word
where the ark, the altar, the temple,
and the spaces outside the cities are treated of,
by the dimensions of these in respect to
lengths, breadths, and heights,
are perceived the states of good and truth.
The case is similar where the new earth,
the new Jerusalem,
and the new temple are treated of in Ezekiel (40 to 47),
by which are signified heaven and a new church,
as may be seen from every particular.
So also in John,
where it is said of the new Jerusalem
that it will be foursquare,
and its length as great as its breadth (Rev. 21:16).

AC 4459 - Loving Gold and Silver

AC 4459 [6]

Those who love gains and profits
merely for the sake of the gold and silver,
in the possession of which
consists the sole delight of their life,
are in outermost or lowest things,
for the objects of their love are merely earthly;
whereas those who love gold and silver
for the sake of some use,
lift themselves above earthly things
according to the use.
The very use that a person loves
determines his life and distinguishes it from others;
an evil use makes the person infernal,
and a good use makes him heavenly --
not indeed the use itself,
but the love of the use,
for everyone's life is in his love.

AC 4447 - The Land of Canaan

AC 4447 [2, 3]

The remains of the Most Ancient Church which was celestial
still existed in the land of Canaan,
especially among those called Hittites and Hivites.
The reason why these remains did not exist anywhere else
was that the Most Ancient Church called "Man" or "Adam"
was in the land of Canaan,
and therefore the "garden of Eden,"
by which was meant
the intelligence and wisdom of the men of that church,
and by the trees in it their perception,
was in that land.
And because intelligence and wisdom
were meant by this "garden" or paradise,
the church itself was meant by it;
and because the church was meant,
so also was heaven;
and because heaven,
so also in the supreme sense, was the Lord;
and therefore in this sense
the "land of Canaan" itself signifies the Lord,
in the relative sense heaven and also the church,
and in the individual sense the person of the church;
and therefore also the term "land" or "earth"
when mentioned alone in the Word has a like meaning;
the "new heaven and new earth" being a new church
in respect to its internal and its external.
That the Most Ancient Church
was in the land of Canaan . . . and the result of this was
that the places there became representative,
and for this reason Abram was commanded to go there,
and the land was given to his descendants
the sons of Jacob
in order that the representatives of the places
in accordance with which the Word was to be written,
might be retained.

All this shows what is here meant by the
"Church among the Ancients," namely,
remains from the Most Ancient Church.
And as these remains existed
among the Hittites and Hivites,
therefore Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
together with their wives,
obtained a place of burial with the Hittites in their land;
and Joseph with the Hivites.

AC 4439 - Jacob Represents

AC 4439

. . . in very many passages in the Word
the external Ancient Church is represented by Jacob.
The reason why Jacob represents this church
is that in the supreme sense
he represents the Lord's Divine natural,
to which the external church corresponds.
But by his "sons" are meant his descendants,
who extinguished in themselves
the truth that existed among the ancients,
and thus destroyed that which was of the church,
the result being
that only its representative remained with them.

AC 4434 - Correspondences Through Love Truly Conjugial

AC 4434 [9]

Since through love truly conjugial
marriages on earth correspond to the heavenly marriage,
which is that of good and truth,
therefore the laws delivered in the Word
concerning betrothals and marriages
wholly correspond to the spiritual laws
of the heavenly marriage,
as that they were to espouse only one wife
(Mark 10:2-8; Luke 16:18);
for such is the case in the heavenly marriage,
namely, that good cannot be conjoined
except with its own truth,
and truth with its own good.
If good were conjoined with any other truth than its own,
it would not subsist at all,
but would be rent asunder and so would perish.
In the spiritual church
the wife represents good and the man represents truth,
but in the celestial church
the husband represents good and the wife truth;
and ---what is a mystery --
they not only represent those things
but also in actual fact correspond to them.

AC 4424 - Gnashing of Teeth

AC 4424 [3]

There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth;
(Matthew 24:51)

means their state in the other life,
"wailing," their state as to evils,
and "gnashing of teeth," their state as to falsities.
For in the Word
the "teeth" mean the lowest natural things,
in the genuine sense the truths of these natural things,
and in the opposite sense their falsities.
The teeth moreover correspond to these things,
and therefore the "gnashing of teeth"
is the collision of falsities with truths.
Those who are in mere natural things,
and who are in these from the fallacies of the senses,
and who believe nothing but what they see from them,
are said to be in the "gnashing of teeth,"
and also in the other life appear to themselves to be so
when they draw conclusions from their fallacies
concerning the truths of faith.
In a church vastated (laid waste) as to good and truth
such persons abound.

 

AC 4404 - AC 4405 - The Correspondences of the Senses, Particularly Sight

AC 4404 - AC 4405

As regards the correspondence of the senses,
speaking generally
the sense of touch corresponds to the affection of good,
the sense of taste to the affection of knowing,
the sense of smell to the affection of perceiving,
the sense of hearing to the affection of learning,
and also to obedience,
and the sense of sight to the affection of understanding
and of being wise.

The reason why the sense of sight corresponds to
the affection of understanding and being wise,
is that the sight of the body corresponds precisely
to the sight of its spirit, thus to the understanding.
For there are two lights,
one which is of the world from the sun,
the other which is of heaven from the Lord.
In the light of the world there is no intelligence,
but there is intelligence in the light of heaven.
Consequently insofar as those things with a person
which are of the light of the world are illumined
by those which are of the light of heaven,
thus insofar as these two classes of things
correspond to each other,
so far the person understands and is wise.

AC 4390 - "Building a House"; AC 4394 - Being in the Lord's Kingdom; AC 4402 - Good Acts

AC 4390 - "Building a House"

And built him a house.
(Genesis 33:17)

That this means the increase of good from truth . . .
is evident from the meaning of "building a house,"
as being to instruct the external person
in intelligence and wisdom.
And as intelligence belongs to truth,
and wisdom to good,
by "building a house" is here meant
the increase of good from truth.
What the good of truth is,
has been already stated, namely,
that it is truth in will and act.
This truth is what is called good,
and the conscience which is from this good
is called a conscience of truth.
This good which is from truth increases in proportion
as the person exercises charity from willing well,
thus in proportion and in such a manner
as he loves the neighbor.

AC 4394 - Being in the Lord's Kingdom

When a person is in interior truths in faith and in life,
he is in the Lord's kingdom,
and in a state of tranquillity,
and then looks at the exterior things
as one who looks from a high hill
upon a tempestuous sea.

AC 4402 - Good Acts

. . . good acts by truth when it exerts power.


 

AC 4380, 4383 - Two Short Truths; AC 4385 - How Correspondences Work

AC 4380

. . . good and truth from the Lord fill the whole heaven.

AC 4383

. . . all things both in general and in particular
are foreseen by the Lord,
even what they will be to eternity.

AC 4385 [2]

For correspondences work in the following way:
They are very much like
a person talking in a foreign language
to someone else who instantly understands what is meant
as if in his own language,
the sounds and pronunciation of the words actually used
being no hindrance to him.
So it is with the internal sense of the Word,
which sense is in perfect agreement
with the universal language which angels use,
that is, with the spiritual speech
which is expressive of their thought.
Their speech is spiritual
because their thought
is a product of the light of heaven
which shines from the Lord.

AC 4368 - Reading the Word in Love to the Lord vs. Self; AC 4372 - Spiritual Riches; AC 4373 - Inspiration

AC 4368 [2] - Reading the Word in Love to the Lord vs. Self

It is known that there are many within the church
who are affected by the Word of the Lord,
and who bestow much pains on the reading of it;
but still there are few who have as their end
that they may be instructed in the truth,
for most remain in their own dogma,
the confirmation of which from the Word
is their sole aim.
These seem to be in the affection of truth, but are not;
for those alone are in the affection of truth
who love to be instructed about truths,
that is, to know what the truth is,
and to search the Scriptures for this end.
No one is in this affection
except the person who is in good,
that is, who is in charity toward the neighbor,
and still more he who is in love to the Lord.
With these
good itself flows into truth,
and produces the affection,
for the Lord is present in this good.

AC 4372 - Spiritual Riches

Spiritual riches are predicated of truth,
and their uses of good.

AC 4373 [2] - Inspiration

. . . when these things are being read by a person
the angels . . . have no other idea than a spiritual one,
and with them the historical sense
is turned into this idea.
In this way do angelic thoughts
correspond with human thoughts.
It is such perpetual correspondences
that make the Word holy and Divine;
for thus by ascent the literal sense becomes spiritual,
and this even to the Lord,
where it is Divine.
This is inspiration.

AC 4358 - The Marriage of Good and Truth; AC 4359 - God's Providence

AC 4358 - The Marriage of Good and Truth

. . . good cannot have being without what it calls truths,
nor can truths exist without that which they call good.
The two join together of their own accord;
but as is the good
so are the truths
it joins to itself.
It is good that acknowledges them
and conjoins itself to them like a husband to his wife;
indeed the joining together of good and truths
is a marriage in the spiritual sense.
For good acknowledges its own truth,
and truth its own good,
and thereby they are joined together.

AC 4359 - God's Providence

. . . whatever God bestows is of His Providence.

AC 4353 - Act Precedes, Willing Follows

AC 4353 [3]

All Divine truth regards these two precepts --
to love God above all things,
and the neighbor as one's self.
It is these precepts from which
and for the sake of which
truths are,
and to which truths tend,
more nearly and more remotely.
Therefore when truths are put into act,
they are instilled successively
into their beginning and their end,
namely, into charity toward the neighbor,
and into love to the Lord;
and thereby truth becomes good,
which is called the good of truth;
and when this takes place,
it can then be conjoined with the internal person,
which conjunction becomes successively more interior,
in proportion as
more interior truths are implanted in this good.

Act precedes, a person's willing follows;
for that which a person does from the understanding,
he at last does from the will,
and finally puts it on as a habit;
and it is then instilled in his rational or internal person.
And when it has been instilled in this,
the person no longer does good from truth,
but from good;
for he then begins to perceive therein
somewhat of blessedness,
and as it were somewhat of heaven.
This remains with him after death,
and by means of it
he is uplifted into heaven by the Lord.

AC 4342 - The Depth of Interior Truths; AC 4347 - The Use of Humiliation and Submission

AC 4342 - The Depth of Interior Truths

For the more that truths enter in by the interior way
the more they are purified from worldly and earthly things.

AC 4347 [2-3] - The Use of Humiliation and Submission

As regards humiliation and submission,
few know why this must be in the presence of the Divine
when a person is in worship;
and consequently they do not know what it effects.
. . . The Divine is not in any affection of glory,
for what glory has the Divine from man?
But He wills humiliation and submission,
not for His own, but for the person's sake.
For when person is in humiliation
he feels aversion for the evil and falsity in himself,
and thus removes them,
and on their removal
the Divine can flow in with good and truth.
Everyone may be aware of this in himself.
He who is of elated mind is in the love of self,
and not only sets himself above others,
but also cares nothing for the Divine,
and consequently rejects the influx of good,
and so its conjunction with truths.
This is the genuine reason
for a person's humiliation before the Divine.

It is therefore clear
that good cannot be conjoined with truths,
thus that a person cannot be regenerated,
unless he humbles and submits himself.

AC 4337 - The Good of Truth Is Truth in Will and Act

AC 4337 [2]

. . . regarded in itself the good of truth is only truth;
for so long as truth is in the memory only,
it is called truth;
but when in the will and then in act,
it is called the good of truth;
for to do truth is nothing else.
Whatever proceeds from the will is called good,
for the essential of the will
is love and the derivative affection;
and everything that is done from love and its affection
is named good.
Neither can truth be conjoined with the good that flows in
through the internal person
and is in its origin Divine . . .,
until the truth is truth in will and act;
that is, the good of truth.
For the good that flows in through the internal person
and is in its origin Divine,
flows into the will,
and there meets the good of truth
that has been instilled through the external person.

AC 4302 - The Order of Heaven; AC 4303 - Truths Distorted

AC 4302 [3] - The Order of Heaven

In short, the order of heaven consists
in the proper arrangement of truths
that are the truths of faith within goods
that are those of charity towards the neighbor,
and the arrangement of these goods
within the good that is the good of love to the Lord.

AC 4303 - Truths Distorted

. . . once truths have been distorted
they cease to be truths any longer;
and the more they are distorted into the reverse of truths
the nearer they get to falsities.