AR 806 - the Lord is not angry; AR 814 - linen & cotton

AR 806

Anger and revenge are attributed to the Lord

when evil people are separated from the good

and cast into hell,

as happens at the time of a last judgment.

That time is therefore called

wrath and a day of wrath,

and a day of vengeance.

Not that the Lord is angry or vengeful,

but that those people are angry at the Lord

and filled with vengeance against Him.

The case is like that of a criminal

after sentence has been passed,

who is angry at the law

and filled with vengeance against the judge.

For the law is not angry,

not is the judge taking revenge.

AR 814

The fine linen is said to be clean and bright

because cleanliness symbolizes

something that is free of evil,

thus something that glistens

as a result of goodness,

and brightness symbolizes

something that is free of falsity,

thus something pure as a result of truth.

. . . Fine line is also called cotton,

so that this, too, symbolizes genuine truth . . .

Revelation 3: I am coming soon.

I am coming soon.

Hold on to what you have,

so that no one will take your crown.

Him who overcomes

I will make a pillar in the temple of My God.

Never again will he leave it.

I will write on him the name of My God

and the name of the city of My God,

the New Jerusalem,

which is coming down out of heaven from My God;

and I will also write on him My new name.

"Those whom I love

I rebuke and discipline.

So be earnest, and repent.

Here I am!

I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears My voice

and opens the door,

I will come in

and eat with him,

and he with Me.

To him who overcomes,

I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne,

just as I overcame

and sat down with My Father on His throne.

He who has an ear,

let him hear

what the spirit says to the churches."

(Revelation 3:11-12, 19-22)

When Will This Happen?

Jesus left the temple and was walking away

when His disciples came up to Him

to call His attention to its buildings.

"Do you see all these things?"  He asked.

"I tell you the truth,

not one stone here will be left on another;

every one will be thrown down."

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives,

the disciples came to Him privately.

"Tell us," they said, "When will this happen,

and what will be the sign of your coming

and of the end of the age?"

Jesus answered:

"Watch out that no one deceives you.

For many will come in My name,

claiming, 'I am the Christ,' 

and will deceive many.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars,

but see to it that you are not alarmed.

Such things must happen,

but the end is still to come.

Nation will rise against nation,

and kingdom against kingdom.

There will be famines

and earthquakes in various places.

All these are the beginning of birth pains.

"Then you will be handed over

to be persecuted and put to death,

and you will be hated by all nations

because of Me.

At that time many will turn away from the faith

and will betray and hate each other,

and many false prophets will appear

and deceive many people.

Because of the increase of wickedness,

the love of most will grow cold,

but he who stands firm to the end

will be saved.

. . . "No one knows about that day or hour,

not even the angels in heaven,

but only the Father.

As it was in the days of Noah,

so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."

(Matthew 24:1-13, 36-37)

AR 804 - Salvation, Glory, Honor, Power

AR 804

"Salvation and glory

and honor and power

to the Lord Our God!"

(Revelation 19:1)

Salvation to the Lord our God

symbolizes an acknowledgment and confession

that salvation is made possible by the Lord.

Glory and honor to the Lord our God

symbolizes an acknowledgment and confession

that the Lord is the source

of Divine truth and Divine good,

thus that these are received from Him.

Power to the Lord our God

symbolizes an acknowledgment and confession

that the power is the Lord's.

Revelation 2 - To him who overcomes

To him who overcomes

and does My will to the end,

I will give authority over the nations -

'He will rule them with an iron scepter;

He will dash them to pieces like pottery' -

Just as I have received authority from My Father.

I will also give him the morning star.

He who has an ear,

let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

(Revelation 2:26-29)

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

you who kill the prophets

and stone those sent to you,

how often I have longed

to gather your children together,

as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,

but you were not willing.

Look, your house is left to you desolate.

For I tell you,

you will not see Me again

until you say,

'Blessed is He

who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

(Matthew 23:37-39)

AR 796 - the light of a lamp & loving the Lord

AR 796

The light of a lamp symbolizes enlightenment by the Lord

and a consequent perception of spiritual truth.

That is because the light means the light of heaven,

which is the light angels have,

and people, too, as regards their intellect,

because the light in its essence is Divine wisdom.

For it emanates from the Lord

as the sun of the spiritual world,

which in its essence is the Divine love in Divine wisdom,

and the only light that can emanate from it

is the light of Divine wisdom,

and the only warmth

the warmth of Divine love.

Since that light comes from the Lord,

and the Lord is omnipresent in it and by means of it,

therefore it is the means of all enlightenment

and the consequent perception of spiritual truth,

a perception that those people have

who love Divine truths spiritually, that is,

who love Divine truths because they are true,

thus because they are Divine.

Plainly this is what it is to love the Lord.

For the Lord is omnipresent in that light,

inasmuch as Divine love and wisdom

do not exist in space,

but are present wherever they are received,

in accordance with their reception.

He was the true light

which enlightens every person

coming into the world.(John 1:4-12)

Revelation 1 - Every Eye Will See Him

The revelation of Jesus Christ,

which God gave Him

to show His servants what must soon take place.

He made it known

by sending His angel to His servant John,

who testifies to everything he saw -

that is, the word of God

and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Blessed is the one

who reads the words of this prophecy,

and blessed are those who hear it

and take to heart what is written in it,

because the time is near.

. . . Look, He is coming with the clouds,

and every eye will see Him,

even those who pierced Him;

and all the peoples of the earth will mourn

because of Him.

So shall it be!

Amen.

"I am the Alpha and the Omega,"

says the Lord God,

"who is,

and who was,

and who is to come,

the Almighty."

. . . I turned around to see the voice

that was speaking to me.

And when I turned

I saw seven golden lampstands,

and among the lampstands

was someone "like a Son of Man" . . ..

(Revelation 1:1-3,7-8, 12-13)

The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked,

"Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

He called a little child 

and had him stand among them.

And He said:

"I tell you the truth,

unless you change and become like little children,

you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child

is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

"And whoever welcomes a little child like this

in My name, welcomes Me.

But if anyone causes one of these little ones

who believe in Me to sin,

it would be better for him

to have a large millstone hung around his neck

and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

(Matthew 18:1-6)

AR 793 - craftsmen

AR 793

In the spiritual sense of the Word,

a craftsman symbolizes an intelligent person

and a thinking one by virtue of his intellect -

in a good sense,

someone who uses his intellect

to think thoughts that are true,

and in a bad sense,

someone who uses his intellect

to think thoughts that are false,

which are internal.

By virtue of their arts and crafts, too

and the correspondence of these,

craftsmen symbolize such things as have to do with

wisdom, intelligence and knowledge.

We say, by virtue of their correspondence,

because a person's every work,

likewise his very undertaking,

corresponds to such things

as have to do with the intelligence of angels,

provided it is of some use.

But the works of craftsmen

in gold, silver and precious stones

correspond to some matters or objects

of angelic intelligence,

the works of craftsmen

in bronze, iron, wood and stone to others,

and the works of craftsmen

in other valuable endeavors,

such as the making of cloth, linens, garments

and clothing of various kinds,

to still others.

All of these arts and crafts have, as we said,

a correspondence, because they are works.

Jesus Walks on the Water

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat

and go on ahead of Him to the other side,

while He dismissed the crowd.

After He had dismissed them,

He went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray.

When evening came,

He was there alone,

but the boat was already

a considerable distance from land,

buffeted by the waves

because the wind was against it.

During the fourth watch of the night

Jesus went out to them,

walking on the lake.

When the disciples saw Him walking on the lake,

there were terrified.

"It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them:

"Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

"Lord, if it's You," Peter replied,

"Tell me to come to You on the water."

"Come," He said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat,

walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid

and, beginning to sink, cried out, 

"Lord, save me!"

Immediately Jesus reached out His hand

and caught him.

"You of little faith," He said,

"Why did you doubt?"

And when they climbed into the boat,

the wind died down.

Then those who were in the boat

worshiped Him, saying,

"Truly You are the Son of God."

When they had crossed over,

they landed at Gennesaret.

And when the men of that place recognized Jesus,

they sent word to all the surrounding country.

People brought all their sick to Him

and begged Him to let the sick

just touch the edge of His cloak,

and all who touched Him were healed.

(Matthew 14:22-36)

AR 783 - purgatory

AR 783 [2]

As regards purgatory,

I can assert that it is nothing

but a Roman Catholic fiction

invented for the sake of material gains,

and that it neither exists nor can exist.

After death, every person comes first

into the world of spirits,

which is midway between heaven and hell,

and there he is prepared either for heaven or for hell,

each according to his life in the world.

Moreover, no one suffers any torment in that world,

but an evil person first meets with torment

when, after being prepared, he enters hell.

Come to Me

Come to Me,

all you who are weary and burdened,

and I will give you rest.

Take My yoke upon you

and learn from Me,

for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls.

For My yoke is easy

and My burden light.

(Matthew 11:28-30)

AR 777 - doctrine & worship

AR 777

Things having to do with doctrine are put first,

and things having to do with worship follow,

since worship has its character

from the goods and truths of doctrine.

For the church's worship is nothing but an outward act

whose internal elements ought to be those of doctrine.

Without them

the worship is lacking its essence, life and soul.

The Wise and Foolish Builders

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine

and puts them into practice

is like a wise man

who built his house on the rock.

The rain came down, the streams rose,

and the winds blew and beat against that house;

yet it did not fall,

because it had its foundation on the rock.

But everyone who hears these words of Mine

and does not put them into practice

is like a foolish man

who build his house on sand.

The rain came down, the streams rose,

and the winds blew and beat against that house,

and it fell with a great crash."

When Jesus had finished saying these things,

the crowds were amazed at His teaching,

because He taught as one who had authority,

and not as their teachers of the law.

(Matthew 7:24-29)

AR 766, 769 - the Lord's presence and power

AR 766

. . . the Lord does not judge anyone to hell.

Rather people themselves do,

for when they sense the angelic atmosphere

flowing down out of heaven from the Lord,

they flee away and cast themselves into hell.

AR 769 [2] - taken from LJ 57

For all power in heaven

is the power of truth springing from goodness,

or of goodness by means of truth.

. . . because all goodness and all truth

come from the Lord,

and nothing from any man . . ..

The Temptations in the Desert

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert

to be tempted by the devil.

After fasting forty days and forty nights,

He was hungry.

The tempter came to Him and said,

"If You are the Son of God,

tell these stones to become bread."

Jesus answered, "It is written:

'Man does not live on bread alone,

but on every word

that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Then the devil took Him to the holy city

and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple.

"If you are the Son of God," he said,

"throw yourself down.  For it is written:

'He will command His angels concerning You,

and they will lift You up in their hands,

so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus answered him,

"It is also written:

'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain

and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world

and their splendor.

"All this I will give You," he said,

"if You will bow down and worship me."

Jesus said to him,

"Away from Me, Satan!  For it is written:

'Worship the Lord your God,

and serve Him only.'"

Then the devil left Him,

and the angels came and attended Him.

(Matthew 4:1-11)

AR 760 - merchants or traders

AR 760 [3]

In the Word,

to be a merchant or trader means, symbolically,

to be engaged in procuring for oneself spiritual riches,

which are concepts of truth and goodness,

and in an opposite sense,

concepts of falsity and evil,

and to use the first to gain heaven,

and the second to gain the world.

For that reason

the Lord likened the kingdom of heaven

to a merchant seeking beautiful pearls (Matthew 13:45,46),

and the people in the church to servants

who were given talent with which to

trade and gain more (Matthew 25:14-30),

or who were given ten minas with which to likewise

trade and gain more (Luke 19:12-26).

The Day of the Lord

"Surely the day is coming;

it will burn like a furnace.

All the arrogant and every evildoer

will be stubble,

and that day that is coming

will set them on fire,"

says the Lord Almighty.

"Not a root or a branch will be left to them.

But for you who revere My name,

the Sun of righteousness will rise

with healing in its wings.

And you will go out

and leap like calves released from the stall.

Then you will trample down the wicked;

they will be ashes under the soles of your feet

on the day when I do these things,"

says the Lord Almighty.

(Malachi 4:1-3)

AR 754 - the light of heaven

AR 754

. . . Divine truth

emanating from the Lord

is the light of heaven,

which enlightens angels

and produces their wisdom.

On That Day

"I will refine them like silver

and test them like gold.

They will call on My name

and I will answer them;

I will say,

'They are My people,'

and they will say,

'The Lord is our God.'"

(Zechariah 13:9)

AR 739 - the celestial and spiritual meanings

AR 739

The Word is Divine good itself and Divine truth itself

because in each and every particular of it

there is a marriage of the Lord and the church

and so a marriage of goodness and truth.

It also has in every particular

a celestial meaning and a spiritual meaning,

and the celestial meaning has in it Divine goodness,

while the spiritual meaning has in it Divine truth.

Moreover, these are present in the Word

because the Lord embodies the Word.

It May Seem Marvelous

This is what the Lord Almighty says:

"It may seem marvelous

to the remnant of this people at this time,

but will it seem marvelous to Me?"

declares the Lord Almighty.

(Zechariah 8:6)

AR 735 - the Word still endures

AR 735

The Word still endures

because it is Divine,

and the Lord is present in it.

Zephaniah's Words

Seek the Lord,

all you humble of the land,

you who do what He commands.

Seek righteousness,

seek humility . . ..

The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you;

never again will you fear any harm.

On that day they will say to Jerusalem,

"Do not fear, O Zion;

do not let you hands hang limp.

The Lord your God is with you,

He is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing."

(Zephaniah 1:3; 3:15-17)

AR 729 - two kinds of love of dominion

AR 729 [2]

. . . a love of exercising dominion

from a love of self is diabolical,

for it has regard for self only

and for the world 

in the service of self.

In contrast, a love of exercising dominion

from a love of performing useful services

is heavenly,

for it has regard for the Lord,

from whom emanate only useful endeavors,

and useful endeavors to it

are to do good to the church

for the salvation of souls.

This latter love consequently abhors

a love of exercising dominion 
from a love of self.

The Lord to Habakkuk

"Look at the nations and watch -

and be utterly amazed.

For I am going to do something in your days

that you would not believe,

even if you were told."

"Of what value is an idol,

since a man has carved it?

Or an image that teaches lies?

But the Lord is in His holy temple;

let all the earth be silent before Him."

(Habakkuk 1:5; 2:18,20)

AR 719 - The Lord Is King

AR 720

. . . kings symbolize people who possess

truths springing from goodness from the Lord,

and so in an abstract sense

the truths themselves that spring from goodness . . ..

Watch and Wait

But as for me,

I watch in hope for the Lord,

I wait for God my Savior;

my God will hear me.

(Micah 7:7)

AR 718 - making a church a church

AR 718

. . . it is the Lord and the Word

that make the church a church,

and its perfection depends on

its acknowledgment of the Lord

and on its understanding of the Word.

The Mountain of the Lord

In the last days

the mount of the Lord's temple

will be established

as chief among the mountains;

it will be raised above the hills,

and peoples will stream to it.

Many nations will come and say,

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob.

He will teach us His ways,

so that we may walk in His paths."

The law will go out from Zion,

the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He will judge between many peoples

and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.

They will beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not take up sword against nation,

nor will they train for war anymore.

Every man will sit under his own vine

and under his own fig tree,

and no one will make them afraid,

for the Lord Almighty has spoken.

All the nations may walk in the name of their gods;

we will walk in the name of the Lord our God

for ever and ever.

(Micah 4:1-5)

AR 715 - What does it mean to blaspheme God?

AR 715

To blaspheme God means . . .

to deny and not to acknowledge

that the Lord alone is God of heaven and earth,

and to deny and not acknowledge likewise

the truth in the Word.

Part of Jonah's Prayer

"In my distress I called to the Lord,

and He answered me.

From the depths of the grave I called for help,

and You listened to my cry.

"When my life was ebbing away,

I remembered You, Lord,

and my prayer rose to You,

to Your holy temple.

"Those who cling to worthless idols

forfeit the grace that could be theirs.

But I, with a song of thanksgiving,

will sacrifice to You.

What I have vowed

I will make good.

Salvation comes from the Lord."

(Jonah 2:2, 7-9)

AR 705, 706 - learn of the Lord and be steadfast

"Blessed is he who watches,

and preserves his garments.

Lest he walk naked

and they see his shame."(Revelation 16:15)

AR 705

That person is called blessed

who receives eternal life.

To watch means, symbolically, to live spiritually,

that is, to posses truths

and live in accordance with them

and to look to the Lord.

And to preserve one's garments means, symbolically,

to remain steadfast in those truths

to the end of one's life.

For garments symbolize truths that clothe,

thus the Lord's precepts in the Word,

because these are truths.

. . . because the conflict is at hand,

those people who possess truths from the Word

are admonished to remain steadfast in them,

lest they succumb in the battle . . ..

AR 706

To walk naked means, symbolically,

to live without truths.

This admonition is for people

who will belong to the Lord's New Church,

warning them to learn truths

and remain constant in them . . ..

The truths which people are to learn

are truths having to do with the Lord

and with the precepts according to which

they are to live.

The Lord God Almighty

He who forms the mountains,

creates the wind,

and reveals His thoughts to man,

He who turns dawn to darkness,

and treads the high places of the earth -

the Lord God Almighty is His name.

Seek good, not evil,

that you may live.

Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,

just as you say He is.

(Amos 4:13; 5:14)

AR 692 - the nature of self-love

AR 692 [2]

We will briefly describe the nature of self-love.

Its accompanying delight

surpasses every other delight in the world,

for it consists of nothing but lusts for evils,

and every one of the lusts produces its own delight.

Every person is born into this delight,

and because it impels the person's mind

to focus its thought continually on itself,

it draws the mind away from

thinking about God and the neighbor

except from the perspective of self

and with a focus on self.

As a consequence,

if God does not favor the person's lusts,

he becomes angry with God,

as he becomes angry with the neighbor

who does not favor them.

As this delight grows,

it causes the person

to be unable to elevate his thought above himself,

but instead draws it down to a level beneath him,

for it immerses the mind

in the inherent nature of his body.

As a result the person becomes gradually sensual,

and a sensual person

speaks in a lofty and elevated tone

about worldly and civic matters,

but he can speak about God and Divine matters

only from memory.

If he is a politician,

he acknowledges nature as responsible for creation,

his own prudence as his guide,

and denies God's existence.

If he is a priest,

he speaks about God and Divine matters from memory,

even in a lofty and elevated tone;

but at heart he little believes them.

The Lord Thunders

The Lord thunders at the head of His army;

His forces are beyond number,

and mighty are those who obey His command.

The Lord will roar from Zion

and thunder from Jerusalem;

the earth and the sky will tremble.

But the Lord will be a refuge for His people,

a stronghold for the people of Israel.

(Joel 2:11; 3:16)

AR 678 - rejecting evils and lusts for evils

AR 678 [2]

. . . when a person rejects evil,

he at the same time rejects also its lusts,

though he still does not do this on his own

but from the Lord.

A person can indeed on his own reject evil,

but not its lusts.

Therefore, when he wishes to reject some evil

and is fighting against it,

he must look to the Lord,

since the Lord operates

from inmost elements to outmost ones.

For He enters through a person's soul

and purifies him.

The Lord is His Name

. . . the Lord God Almighty, the Lord 

is His name of renown!

But you must return to your God;

maintain love and justice,

and wait for your God always.

(Hosea 12:5-6)

AR 671 - bright linen, golden sashes

AR 671

Clothed in clean bright linen,

and having their chests girded with golden sashes.

(Revelation15:6)

Clean bright linen symbolizes pure, genuine truth . . ..

A golden sash about the breast symbolizes

the emanating Divinity that at the same time conjoins,

namely Divine good . . ..

To be clothed and girded means, symbollically,

to appear and to be seen in this truth and goodness,

for garments symbolize truths that clothe goodness.

Sashes or girdles then symbolize truths and goods

that hold everything in their order and connection.

Understanding and Acknowledgement

You stumble day and night,

and the prophets stumble with you.

. . . my people are destroyed

from lack of knowledge.

. . . I will not punish your daughters

when they turn to prostitution,

nor your daughters-in-law

when they commit adultery,

because the men themselves

consort with harlots

and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes -

a people without understanding

will come to ruin!

"Come, let us return to the Lord.

He has torn us to pieces

but He will heal us;

He has injured us

but He will bind up our wounds.

After two days He will revive us;

on the third day He will restore us,

that we may live in His presence.

Let us acknowledge the Lord;

let us press on to acknowledge Him.

As surely as the sun rises,

He will appear;

He will come to us like the winter rains,

like the spring rains that water the earth."

(Hosea 4:5,6,14; 6:1-3)

AR 662 - 668 (portions) - the song of Moses, and the song of the Lamb

AR 662

They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God,

and the song of the Lamb.

(Revelation 15:3)

. . . the Lamb means the Lord

in respect to His Divine humanity,

while Moses in a broad sense

means all the law written in his five books,

and in a strict sense,

the Law called the Ten Commandments . . ..

AR 663

Saying:  "Great and marvelous are Your works,

Lord God Almighty!"

(Revelation 15:3)

. . . greatness is predicated of love,

and marvelousness of wisdom . . ..

The Lord is called almighty

because He is, lives, and can do

all things of Himself,

and also directs all things from Himself . . ..

AR 664

"For just and true are Your ways,

O King of the saints!"

(Revelation 15:3)

Ways symbolize truths that lead to good.

. . . saints symbolize people who are governed

by divine truths from the Lord.

AR 665

"Who does not fear You, O Lord,

and glorify Your name?"

(Revelation 15:4)

To fear God means, symbolically, to love Him,

and to glorify His name means, symbolically, to worship Him.

AR 666

"For You alone are holy."

(Revelation 15:4)

. . . the Lord alone is holy . . .

and . . . He is the Divine truth called holy . . ..

Moreover, because the Word is divine truth,

and the Lord embodies Divine truth,

and because Divine truth enlightens spiritually,

being the light in heaven,

but emanating from the the Lord,

therefore the declaration,

"For You alone are holy,"

symbolically means that the Lord embodies

the Word, truth, and enlightenment.

AR 667

"Therefore all nations shall come and worship before You."

(Revelation 15:4)

All nations symbolize people who possess

the goodness of love and charity.

. . . To come and worship before Him means, symbolically,

to acknowledge the Lord as God,

and because there is only one God,

in whom is the Trinity,

and the Lord is that God,

it symbolically means to acknowledge Him alone to be God.

AR 668

"For Your judgments have been manifested."

(Revelation 15:4)

Judgments symbolize the Divine truths

in accordance with which

a person is to live,

truths which reveal his character

and are the precepts against which he will be judged.

. . . these Divine truths are found in the Word,

and the Word now lies open,

testifying that the Lord alone

is God of heaven and earth . . ..