AE 600 - What is needed for purification?

AE 600 [20]

. . . it is through truths from good

that a person is purified from his iniquities.

Jacob's Family Moves to Egypt

All those who went to Egypt with Jacob -

those who were his direct descendants,

not counting his sons wives -

numbered sixty-six persons.

With the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt,

the members of Jacob's family,

which went to Egypt, 

were seventy in all.

So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt

and gave them property in the best part of the land,

the district of Ramses, as Pharaoh directed.

Joseph also provided his father and his brothers

and all his father's household with food,

according to the number of their children.

(Genesis 46:26-27; 47:11-12)

AE 600 - right eye, right hand

AE 600 [8]

If thy right eye has caused thee to stumble,
pluck it out and cast it from thee.
And if thy right hand has caused thee to stumble,
cut it off and cast it from thee.
(Matthew 5:29, 30)

That by the "right eye" and the "right hand"
the Lord did not mean the right eye and the right hand,
anyone can see from its being said
that the eye "must be plucked out"
and the hand "must be cut off" if they cause to stumble;
but as the "eye" signifies in the spiritual sense everything
belonging to the understanding and to thought therefrom,
and the "right hand" everything
belonging to the will and to affection therefrom,
it is evident that
"if the right eye has caused thee to stumble
it must be plucked out"
signifies that if one thinks evil
the evil must be rejected from the thought;
also "if the right hand has caused thee to stumble
it must be cut off"
signifies that if evil is willed
the evil of the will must be cast out.
For the eye itself cannot cause to stumble,
nor can the right hand,
but the thought of the understanding
and the affection of the will,
to which they correspond,
can.

It is said the "right eye" and the "right hand,"
and not the left eye and the left hand,
because the "right" signifies good,
and in the contrary sense evil,
while the "left" hand signifies truth,
and in the contrary sense falsity,
and all cause of stumbling comes from evil,
not from falsity, 
unless the falsity is the falsity of evil. 

Joseph's Brothers Bow Down to Him Twice

When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt,
he said to his sons,
"Why do you just keep looking at each other?
He continued,
"I have heard that there is grain in Egypt.
Go down there and buy some for us,
so that we may live and not die."

Now Joseph was the governor of the land,
the one who sold grain to all its people.
So when Joseph's brothers arrived,
they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.

Now the famine was still severe in the land.
So when they had eaten all the grain
they had brought with them from Egypt,
their father said to them,
"Go back and buy us a little more food."

When Joseph came home,
they presented to him
the gifts they had brought into the house,
and the bowed down before him to the ground.

(Genesis 42:1-2, 6; 43:1-2, 26)
 

AE 594 - more on clouds; AE 595 - rainbows

AE 594 [17, 18]

I looked, and behold
a wind of a tempest came out of the north,
a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself in itself,
and a brightness round about it.
(Ezekiel 1:4)

The cherubim stood on the right side of the house
when the man entered in;
and the cloud filled the inner court;
and the glory of Jehovah mounted up
from above the cherub upon the threshold of the house;
and the house was filled with the cloud,
and the court was full
of the brightness of Jehovah's glory.
(Ezekiel 10:3, 4)

The "cherubim" signify the Lord in respect to guarding,
that there be no approach except through the good of love;
so, too, the "cherubim" signify the heavens,
in particular the inmost or third heaven,
because the angels who are there
receive Divine truth in the good of love,
therefore it is Divine truth,
which is in its essence the good of love,
that guards.
This Divine truth,
as it comes down out of the inmost heaven
into the lower heavens,
and at length into the world where men are,
from being pure becomes thus by degrees more dense,
consequently in the lowest degree it appears like a cloud;
this is why it signifies Divine truth
accommodated to the apprehension of the angels
who are in the lowest heaven, who are spiritual-natural,
and finally to the apprehension of men in the natural world.
Moreover, as Divine truth in this degree is similar
to the Divine truth in the sense of the letter of the Word,
 "cloud" signifies the Word as to the sense of the letter.
It was this Divine truth that filled the court like a cloud,
and at length the house,
at the right side of which stood the cherubim;
and as this Divine truth is inwardly
the spiritual that shines from heavenly light,
therefore it is called "glory,"
and it is said that
"the court was full of the brightness of Jehovah's glory."

When God makes the light of His cloud to be bright.
(Job 37:15)

Because the higher heavens appear
before the eyes of those who are in the lower heavens
as covered by a light and bright cloud
(for the reason that the lower angels are unable to see
the higher or interior Divine otherwise
than in accordance with their own quality),
therefore also Divine truth in the higher heavens,
or what is the same thing,
the higher heavens themselves,
are meant in some passages in the Word by "clouds;"
for whether you say Divine truth or the heavens
it is the same,
since the heavens are heavens from Divine truth,
and the angels there are angels
from the reception of Divine truth.

AE 595 [3]

 A "rainbow" signifies interior Divine truth,
such as the Word is in the spiritual sense,
because the light of heaven,
like as the light of the world,
according to its incidence upon objects
and its modification in them,
presents variegations of color and also rainbows . . ..
But the rainbows that appear in the angelic heaven
differ from the rainbows that appear in the world,
in that the rainbows of heaven are from a spiritual origin,
while the rainbows of the world are from a natural origin;
for the rainbows of heaven are from the light
that arises from the Lord as a sun,
and as that sun is in its essence the Lord's Divine love,
and the light therefrom is Divine truth,
the variegations of light which are presented as rainbows
are variegations of intelligence and wisdom with the angels.
From this it is that rainbows there
signify the form and beauty of spiritual Divine truth.
But the rainbows of the world are from a natural origin,
namely, from the sun of the world and its light;
therefore they are merely
modifications and consequent variegations of light
by waters that fall from a cloud.
And because there are like appearances of color
in the spiritual world as in the natural world,
and because these correspond,
therefore the rainbows of the world
have a similar signification as the rainbows of heaven,
namely, spiritual Divine truths in their form and beauty;
these truths are such
as those of the Word in the spiritual sense.

Joseph Has Two Dreams

Joseph, a young man of seventeen,
was tending the flocks with his brothers,
the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives,
and he brought their father a bad report about them.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons,
because he had been born to him in his old age;
and he made a richly ornamented robe for him.
When his brothers saw
that their father loved him more than any of them,
they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

Joseph had a dream,
and when he told it to his brothers,
they  hated him all the more.
He said to them,
"Listen to this dream I had:
We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field
when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright,
while your sheaves bowed down to it."

His brothers said to him,
"Do you intend to reign over us?
Will you actually rule us?"
And they hated him all the more
because of his dram and what he had said.

Then he had another dream,
and he told it to his brothers.
"Listen," he said,
"I had another dream, and this time
the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

When he told his father as well as his brothers,
his father rebuked him and said,
"What is this dream you had?
Will your mother and I and your brothers
actually come and bow down to the ground before you?"
His brothers were jealous of him,
but his father kept the matter in mind.

(Genesis 37:2-11)

AE 594 - a cloud

AE 594 [1, 3]

Encompassed with a cloud
(Revelation 10:1)
signifies the ultimate of the Word.

He who does not know that a "cloud"
in the spiritual sense of the Word
means the Word in the letter,
cannot know what arcanum is involved in this:

That in the consummation of the age
they shall see the Son of Man
coming in the clouds of heaven
with power and glory.
(Matt. 24:30; Mark 13:26; 14:61, 62; Luke 21:27)

Behold, Jesus Christ comes with the clouds
and every eye shall see Him.
(Revelation 1:7)

I saw, and behold a white cloud,
and on the cloud One sat like unto the Son of Man.
(Revelation 14:14)

I was seeing in the night visions,
and behold, there was coming with the clouds of the heavens
one like the Son of Man.
(Daniel 7:13)

He who is ignorant that "the clouds of heaven"
signify the truths of the Word in the sense of the letter,
cannot know otherwise
than that in the consummation of the age,
that is, in the end of the church,
the Lord is to come in the clouds of heaven,
and manifest Himself to the world;
but it is well known that since the Word was given,
the Lord manifests Himself through that only,
for the Word, which is Divine truth,
is the Lord Himself in heaven and in the church.
From this it can now be seen
that the manifestation here predicted
signifies His manifestation in the Word;
and His manifestation in the Word
was effected through His opening and revealing
the internal or spiritual sense of the Word,
for in that sense is the Divine truth itself,
such as it is in heaven,
and the Divine truth in heaven is the Lord Himself there. 

Jacob and Esau Meet

Jacob looked up and there was Esau,
coming with his four hundred men;
so he divided the children among
Leah, Rachel and the two maidservants.
He put the maidservants and their children in front,
and Rachel and Joseph in the rear.
He himself went on ahead
and bowed down to the ground seven times
as he approached his brother.

But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him;
he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.
And they wept.

(Genesis 33:1-4)

AE 587 - "They know not nor understand"

AE 587[7]

. . . that there is no life of intelligence
or of the perception of truth and good
is signified by

"They know not nor understand,
their eyes do not see,
and their hearts do not understand."
(Isaiah 44:18)

It would be too lengthy to explain
what each single thing signifies in particular in this description;
it is only necessary that everyone shall be able to see
that there is something signified more interior and wise
than the mere formation of a graven image.
Let it be known that in this description
heavenly wisdom which is ineffable lies hidden,
and that the angels are in this wisdom
when these things are read by a person,
although the person thinks of nothing
but a graven image and its formation;
for there are here as many correspondences
and as many arcana of wisdom therefrom
as there are words.

Esau and Jacob Are Born

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife,
because she was barren.
The Lord answered his prayer,
and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
The babies jostled each other within her,
and she said, "Why is this happening to me?"
So she went to inquire of the Lord.

The Lord said to her,
"Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger."

When the time came for her to give birth,
there were twin boys in her womb.
The first to come out was red,
and his whole body was like a hairy garment;
so they named him Esau.
After this, his brother came out,
with his hand grasping Esau's heel;
so he was name Jacob.
Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

The boys grew up,
and Esau became a skillful hunter,
a man of the open country,
while Jacob was a quiet man,
staying among the tents.

(Genesis 25:21-27)

AE 585 - "the work of His hands"

AE 585 [13]

Bless, O Jehovah, His strength,
and accept the work of His hands.
(Deuteronomy 33:11)

This is said of Levi,
who signifies the good of charity,
and in the highest sense the Lord
in respect to that good;
reformation by means of it
is meant by "the work of His hands."

Abraham Purchases the Cave of Machpelah

Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old.
She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan,
and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.

Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife
and spoke to the Hittites.  He said,
"I am an alien and a stranger among you.
Sell me some property for a burial site here
so I can bury my dead."

. . . Abraham agreed to Ephron's terms
and weighed out for him the price he had named
in the hearing of the Hittites:
four hundred shekels of silver,
according to the weight current among the merchants.

So Ephron's field in Machpelah near Mamre -
both the field and the cave in it,
and all the trees within the borders of the field -
was deeded to Abram as his property
in the presence of all the Hittites
who had come to the gate of the city.
Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave
in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron)
in the land of Canaan.
So the field and the cave in it
were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.

(Genesis 23:1-4, 16-20)

AE 585 - to repent

AE 585 [3]

To repent is to actually turn oneself away from evils,
because every man is such as his life is,
and the life of man consists mainly
in willing and consequent doing;
and from this it follows
that repentance which is merely of the thought and of the lips,
and not at the same time of the will and of action therefrom,
is not repentance,
for then the life remains the same afterwards as it was before. 

AE 578, 579 - fire, smoke, and brimstone

AE 578 [2]

Jehovah made brimstone and fire
to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah.
(Genesis 19:24)

In the same day that Lot went out of Sodom
it rained fire and brimstone from heaven,
and destroyed them all.
After the same manner shall it be in the day
that the Son of man is revealed.
(Luke 17:29, 30)

Those who were in Sodom and Gomorrah
mean those who are in the falsities of evil from the love of self;
and since the falsities of evil from that love destroyed them,
it rained brimstone and fire,
"brimstone" because of the lust of destroying the church
by the falsities of evil,
and "fire" because that lust burst forth from the love of self.
That it should be thus
"when the Son of man should be revealed,"
signifies that then, too,
falsities of evil from the love of self will destroy the church.
Such rain appears in the spiritual world
when the evil who are in falsities from that love
are cast down into hell.
 
AE 579

. . . "fire, smoke, and brimstone,"
signify the things that cause falsification,
which are the loves of evil and falsity,
and the lusts for destroying
the truths and goods of the church.
This is effected by the thoughts and by reasonings from fallacies
about the sense and understanding of the Word.
For when a man thinks from mere fallacies
he thinks solely from such things
as stand forth at first sight in the sense of the letter,
and not from any interior literal sense;
consequently he forms the most gross and harsh ideas
respecting every doctrine he derives from the Word,
as that God is angry, that He punishes,
casts men into hell, tempts them,
that He repents, and many like things;
moreover, he thinks corporeally and materially,
and not at all spiritually,
about everything he reads in the Word;
for this reason his thought is merely sensual,
and when it is merely sensual
it is solely from the love of self and of the world,
and when it is from these it is solely from evils and falsities.
When such a man, therefore, is left to himself
and thinks from his spirit,
he thinks from the affection of these loves,
which he conjoins to the things that are in the Word;
and when the Divine things of the Word
are conjoined to such loves
all things therein are adulterated and falsified,
for the Divine things of the Word
can never be conjoined to anything but celestial love,
or with spiritual affection;
if conjoined to any other love or any other affection,
the higher mind,
which is called the spiritual mind, is closed,
and the lower mind only,
which is called the natural mind, is opened;
yea, with those who conjoin
the truths of the Word to the affection of the love of self,
the natural mind also is closed,
and only the ultimate of this mind is opened,
which is called the sensual,
which clings most closely to the body,
and stands forth nearest to the world.
Thus does man's spirit become corporeal,
and then it can have no lot with the angels, who are spiritual.

The Lord Visits Abraham

The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre
while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent
in the heat of the day.
Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby.
When he saw them,
he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them
and bowed low to the ground.

. . . When the men got up to leave,
they looked down toward Sodom,
and Abraham walked along with them
to see them on their way.
Then the Lord said,
"Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?"

. . . Then the Lord said,
"The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great
and their sin so grievous
that I will go down and see
if what they have done is as bad
as the outcry that has reached Me.
If not, I will know.

The men turned away and went toward Sodom,
but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.

(Genesis 18:1-2, 16-17, 20-22)

AE 576 - hyacinthine

AE 576 [2, 3, 4]

In regard to "hyacinthine,"
it signifies in the spiritual sense the heavenly love of truth,
but in the contrary sense the diabolical love of falsity,
and also love of the world;
as can be seen from its being of the color of heaven,
and that color signifies truth from a heavenly origin,
so in the contrary sense,
falsity from a diabolical origin.
In the spiritual world the choicest colors appear;
and these have their origin in good and truth;
for colors there are modifications of heavenly light,
thus of the intelligence and wisdom,
that are with the angels in heaven.
This is why hyacinthine, purple, and scarlet double-dyed
were interwoven in the curtains of the tabernacle
and in the garments of Aaron;
for the tabernacle represented the heaven of the Lord,
and the garments of Aaron
the Divine truth of heaven and the church,
and those things of which the tabernacle was constructed,
and of which the garments of Aaron were woven,
represented celestial and spiritual things,
which are of Divine good and Divine truth.

This is because Divine truth proceeding from Divine love,
which is signified by "the cloth of hyacinthine,"
embraces and protects
all the holy things of heaven and the church,
which the things covered represent.

Because "hyacinthine" signified the celestial love of truth,
it was commanded:

That the sons of Israel should make for themselves
a fringe in the borders of their garments,
and should put on it a cord of hyacinthine,
that in looking upon it they might remember
all the commandments of Jehovah
and do them.
(Numbers 15:38, 39)

Here "the cord of hyacinthine" stands evidently for
the remembrance of the commandments of Jehovah;
the commandments of Jehovah are the essential truths
of heaven and the church,
and these are remembered only
by such as are in a celestial love of truth.

The Lord Comes to Abram in a Vision

. . . the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

"Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward."

(Genesis 15:1)

AE 573 - the balance

AE 573 [8]

. . . because truths from good
fight against the falsities from evil,
and reversely the falsities from evil
fight against the truths from good,
they are called "hosts;"
for there is continual combat;
evils and falsities continually exhale from the hells,
and endeavor to destroy the truths from good 
that are in heaven and from heaven,
and these continually resist.
For everywhere in the spiritual world
there is an equilibrium between heaven and hell;
and where there is an equilibrium,
there two forces continually act against each other;
one acts and the other reacts,
and continual action and reaction is continual combat;
but equilibrium is provided by the Lord.

The Lord's Warning to Cain

Then the Lord said to Cain,
"Why are you angry?
Why is your face downcast?
If you do what is right,
will you not be accepted?
But if you do not do what is right,
sin is crouching at your door;
it desires to have you,
but you must master it."

(Genesis 4:6-7)
 

AE 596 - the Euphrates

AE 596 [14, 15]

The Euphrates:

As the fourth river that went out of Eden.
(Genesis 2:14)
 
also signifies the rational,
for "the garden of Eden" (or Paradise) signifies wisdom.

As "the river Euphrates" signifies the rational,
so in the contrary sense it signifies reasoning;
reasoning here (Revelation 9:14) means
thinking and arguing from fallacies and falsities,
while the rational means thinking and arguing
from knowledges (scientiae) and from truths;
for the rational is cultivated always by knowledges,
and is formed by truths,
therefore one who is led by truths or whom truths lead,
is called a rational man;
but a man who is not rational has the ability to reason,
for by various reasonings he is able to confirm falsities,
and also to induce the simple to believe them,
which is done mainly by means of the fallacies of the senses.

The Garden of Eden

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden;
and there He put the man He had formed.
And the Lord God made
all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--
trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.
In the middle of the garden were 
the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A river watering the garden flowed from Eden;
from there it was separated into four head-waters.
The name of the first is the Pishon;
it winds through the entire land of Havilah,
where there is gold.
(The gold of that land is good;
aromatic resin and onyx are also there.)
The name of the second river is the Gihon;
it winds through the entire land of Cush.
The name of the third river is the Tigris;
it runs along the east side of Asshur.
And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

(Genesis 2:8-14)

AE 565 - the sixth angel sounded

AE 565

And the sixth angel sounded,
and I heard a voice
from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet,
Loose the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates.
And the four angels were loosed,
that had been prepared
for the hour and day and month and year,
that they should kill the third part of men.
And the number of the armies of the horsemen
was two myriads of myriads;
and I heard the number of them.
And thus I saw the horses in the vision,
and those that sat on them,
having breastplates fiery and hyacinthine and brimstone-like;
and the heads of the horses as the heads of lions;
and out of their mouths
proceeded fire, and smoke, and brimstone.
By these three was the third part of men killed,
by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone,
that proceeded out of their mouths.
For their power was in their mouth;
for their tails were like serpents, and had heads,
and with them do they hurt.
(Revelation 9:13-19)

13. "And the sixth angel sounded,"
signifies influx out of heaven
manifesting the state of the church at its end,
that it is utterly perverted . . ..
15. "And the four angels were loosed,"
signifies license to reason from fallacies;
"that had been prepared
for the hour and day and month and year,"
signifies continually in the state;
"that they should kill the third part of men,"
signifies of depriving themselves of all understanding of truth,
and thus of spiritual life.
16. "And the number of the armies of the horsemen
was two myriads of myriads,"
signifies that the falsities of evil,
from which and in favor of which they reason,
that conspire against truths of good, are innumerable;
"and I heard the number of them,"
signifies their quality perceived.
17. "And thus I saw the horses in the vision,
and those that sat on them,"
signifies the falsifications of the Word
by reasonings from fallacies;
"having breastplates fiery and hyacinthine and brimstone-like,"
signifies reasonings combating from
the cupidities of the love of self and of the love of the world
and from falsities therefrom;
"and the heads of the horses as the heads of lions,"
signifies knowledge and thought therefrom destructive of truth;
"and out of their mouths
proceeded fire, and smoke, and brimstone,"
signifies thoughts and consequent reasonings
springing from the love of evil, from the love of falsity,
and from the lust of destroying truths and goods
by falsities of evil.
18. "By these three was the third part of men killed,
by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone,
that proceeded out of their mouths,"
signifies that all the understanding of truth
and the spiritual life therefrom
were extinguished by them.
19. "For their power was in their mouth,"
signifies sensual thoughts and reasonings therefrom
that have most power with them;
"for their tails were like serpents, and had heads,"
signifies that from sensual knowledges
which are fallacies, they reason craftily;
"and with them do they hurt,"
signifies that they thus pervert
the truths and goods of the church.
 

John's Testimony and a Reminder from Jesus

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things.
And when I had heard and seen them,
I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel
who had been showing them to me.
But he said to me,
"Do not do it!
I am a fellow servant with you
and with your brothers the prophets
and of all who keep the words of this book.
Worship God!"

Then he told me,
"Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book,
because the time is near.
Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong;
let him who is vile continue to be vile;
let him who does right continue to do right;
and let him who is holy continue to be holy."

"Behold, I am coming soon!
My reward is with Me,
and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.
I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the Beginning and the End,
the First and the Last.

"Blessed are those who wash their robes,
that they may have the right to the tree of life
and may go through the gates into the city."

(Revelation 22:8-14)

AE 560 - thorns and pricks

AE 560 [5] 

If you will not drive out
the inhabitants of the land from before you,
then those you allow to remain
will become thorns in your eyes
and pricks in your sides.
(Numbers 33:55)

The "inhabitants of the land whom they were to drive out,"
signify the evils and falsities of religion and of doctrine;
for these were signified in an abstract sense
by the nations of the land of Canaan.
Therefore "they shall be thorns in your eyes"
signifies the harm that will be done
by malignant falsities to the truths of the church,
and "pricks in your sides"
signify the harm that will be done
by malignant falsities to the goods of the church,
"eyes" signifying in the Word the understanding of truth,
and "sides" the things of charity, consequently goods. 

The Seventh Trumpet

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet,
and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:

"The kingdom of the world
has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ,
and He will reign for ever and ever."

(Revelation 11:15)

AE 557 - His coat of mail and helmet

AE 557 [3]

He put on righteousness as a coat of mail,
and the helmet of salvation upon His head.
(Isaiah 59:17)

This treats of the Lord,
and of the subjugation of the hells by Him;
and "righteousness as a coat of mail"
signifies the zeal for rescuing the faithful from hell
and the Divine love of saving the human race;
and as it was from the zeal of Divine love and power therefrom
that the Lord fought and conquered,
so righteousness is called a "coat of mail;"
while the "helmet of salvation"
signifies Divine truth from Divine good,
by means of which is salvation,
for a "helmet" has a similar signification as the head,
because it is worn on the head;
(and) the "head" in reference to the Lord
signifies Divine truth and Divine wisdom . . ..

He Who Sits on the Throne

"You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for You created all things,
and by Your will they were created
and have their being."

(Revelation 4:11)

AE 556 - the sensual man and self-confidence

AE 556

. . . the sensual man is in self-confidence,
and in the belief that he is wiser than all others,
for he is unable to weigh and explore himself,
because he does not think interiorly;
and when he has persuaded himself of this,
then such confidence and belief are in all things that he speaks.
And because his speech takes its tone from these,
it fascinates and infatuates the minds of others,
for the tone of confidence and belief produces such an effect;
and this is especially manifest in the spiritual world,
where man speaks from his spirit;
for the affection of self-confidence
and of the consequent belief that a thing is so
is in man's spirit,
and a man's spirit speaks from his affection.
In the natural world it is different.
There man's spirit discourses by means of the body,
and for the sake of the world
brings forth such things as are not of the affection of his spirit,
which he rarely exhibits,
that its character may not be known.
For this reason it is unknown in the world
that there is such an infatuating and suffocating persuasiveness
as exists in the spirit of the sensual man,
who believes himself to be wiser than others.

 

The Disciples Believe and Jesus Prays

Then Jesus' disciples said,
"Now You are speaking clearly
and without figures of speech.
Now we can see that You know all things
and that You do not even need
to have anyone ask You questions.
This makes us believe that You came from God."

"You believe at last!" Jesus answered.
"But a time is coming, and has come,
when you will be scattered,
each to his own home.
You will leave Me all alone.
Yet I am not alone,
for My Father is with Me.

"I have told you these things,
so that in Me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart!
I have over come the world."

After Jesus said this,
He looked toward heaven and prayed:

"Father, the time has come.
Glorify Your Son,
that Your Son may glorify You.
For You granted Him authority over all people
that He might give eternal life
to all those You have given Him.
Now this is eternal life:
that they may know You, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
I have brought You glory on earth
by completing the work You gave Me to do.
And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence
with the glory I had with You
before the world began."

(John 16:29-33; 17:1-5)

AE 555 - one taken, one left

AE 555 [11]

Then shall two be in the field,
one shall be taken and the other left.
Two shall be grinding at the mill,
one shall be taken and the other left.
(Matthew 24:40, 41)

By the first two are meant men,
and women by the last two;
and "men" signify those who are in truths,
and "women" those who are in good from the affection of truth;
here, however, "men" mean those who are in falsities,
and "women" those who are in evils from the affection of falsity,
for it is said that "one shall be taken and the other shall be left;"
meaning that those shall be saved
who are in truths from affection,
and those shall be condemned
who are in evils from affection.
"Field" signifies the church;
"to grind" signifies to acquire for themselves
truths of doctrine from the Word;
those who apply these truths to good
are signified by those who "shall be taken,"
and those who apply them to evil
are signified by those who "shall be left."

A Voice Came From Heaven

"Whoever serves Me
must follow Me;
and where I am,
My servant will also be.
My Father will honor the one who serves Me.

"Now My heart is troubled,
and what shall I say?
'Father, save me from this hour'?
No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.
Father, glorify Your name!"

Then a voice came from heaven,
"I have glorified it,
and will glorify it again."
The crowd that was there and heard it
said it had thundered;
others said an angel had spoken to Him.

(John 12:26-29)

AE 551 - good and truth working together

AE 551

. . . the faculty to perceive good,
like the faculty to understand truth,
is given to every person,
for truth loves good and good loves truth;
these, therefore, constantly wish to be conjoined,
and they are conjoined
like the will and the understanding,
or like affection and thought.
When they are conjoined
then the understanding thinks truth
from the affection of thinking it,
and then the understanding also sees the truth
and the will perceives it.
To perceive truth from the affection of the will
is to perceive good,
for truth is changed into good
when a person wills it or is affected by it,
that is, when he loves it;
and for this reason
everything that is loved is called good.
  
 

Hold to My Teaching

To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said,
"If you hold to My teaching,
you are really My disciples.
Then you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.

(John 8:31)

AE 545 - do not pervert the Word

AE 545 [2]

-- Knowledges [scientifica] from the Word
mean all things of the sense of its letter there in
which doctrine does not appear,
-- while cognitions of truth and good
mean all things of the sense of the letter of the Word
in which and from which is doctrine.

That harm should not be done
to any true and living knowledge [scientificum],
nor to the cognitions of truth and good from the Word,
means that the sensual man by his persuasiveness
must not pervert any meaning of the letter of the Word
by denying it to be true;
for if he does this all is lost with him,
for there is then no hope of his reformation,
nor has he any faculty of understanding the truth of the church.
For he who denies
that the Word is Divine in the entire sense of the letter,
breaks off his connection with heaven,
because it is through the Word
that man has conjunction with heaven.

Jesus Tells the Royal Official

"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,"
Jesus told him,
"you will never believe."

(John 4:48)

AE 543 - locusts

AE 543 [2]

. . . "locusts" signify man's ultimate sensual
which is in the falsity of evil . . .
man's ultimate sensual . . . does not mean
the sensual of sight, of hearing, of smell, of taste, and of touch,
for these things are proper to the body,
but the ultimate of thought and affection,
which is the first to be opened with infants,
and which is such that they think of nothing else
and are affected by no other objects
than what make one with the senses just named.
For infants learn to think by means of the senses,
and to be affected by objects 
that are in accord with
the things that are pleasing to the senses;
consequently the first internal that is opened with them
is the sensual that is called man's ultimate sensual,
or the corporeal-sensual.
But afterwards, as the infant grows older and becomes a boy,
a more interior sensual is opened,
from which he thinks naturally,
and is also affected naturally.
Later, in youth and early manhood,
a still more interior sensual is opened,
from which he thinks rationally,
and if he is in the good of charity and faith,
he thinks spiritually,
and is also affected rationally and spiritually.
This thought and affection is what is called
the rational and spiritual man,
while the former is called the natural man,
and the first the sensual man. 

He Was in the World

He was in the world,
and though the world was made through Him,
the world did not recognize Him.
He came to that which was His own,
but His own did not receive Him.
Yet all who received Him,
to those who believed in His name,
He gave the right to become children of God -
children born not of natural descent,
nor of human decision or a husband's will,
but born of God.

For the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

(John 1:10-13, 17)

AE 540 - "furnace of iron"

AE 540 [10]

Because "Egypt" signifies the natural man
in respect to knowledge there,
and a "furnace of iron" has a similar signification,
therefore Egypt in the Word is called "a furnace of iron."
 
In the day that I brought you forth out of Egypt,
out of the furnace of iron.
(Jeremiah 11:4).

The natural man in respect to knowledge
is signified by the "furnace of iron,"
"furnace" meaning the natural man,
and "iron" knowledge, here false knowledge,
because it is said that "they were brought out;"
for the natural man, unless he is led by the spiritual man,
is in falsities and evils,
because he has no light from heaven,
for light from heaven
flows in through the spiritual man into the natural,
and enlightens, teaches, and leads;
it is the direct opposite
when the natural man does not think and act
under the auspices of the spiritual man;
then also he is in bondage,
for he thinks and acts from falsities and evils that are from hell;
this is what is signified when it is said that
"they were brought out of the house of bondage"
when they were brought out of Egypt.
For all freedom of thinking and acting is from the spiritual man,
because the spiritual man
thinks and wills out of heaven from the Lord,
and to be led of the Lord is freedom.

Jesus Prays

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives,
and His disciples followed Him.
On reaching the place,
He said to them,
"Pray that you will not fall into temptation."
He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them,
knelt down and prayed,
"Father, if you are willing,
take this cup from Me;
yet not My will, but Yours be done."
An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him.
And being in anguish,
He prayed more earnestly,
and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples,
He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.
"Why are you sleeping?" He asked them,
"Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."

(Luke 22:39-46)
 

AE 538 - the Lord's temptations

AE 538 [12]

The waters are come even to my soul.
I have sunk in mire of depths,
there is no standing;
I have come into depths of waters,
and the billow overwhelms me.
Deliver me out of the mire,
and let me not sink;
let me be delivered from them that hate me,
and out of the depths of waters.
Let not the flood of waters overwhelm me,
and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
(Psalm 69:1, 2, 14, 15).

These passages (there are three more) in David
describe the Lord's temptations when He was in the world,
by which He subjugated the hells and glorified His Human;
"waves" and "billows" signify evils and falsities;
and "abysses" and "depths of the sea,"
likewise "the pit" signify the hells
where and from which are evils and falsities;
for as was said above,
temptations are like immersions in the hells
and obsessions by evils and falsities.
This is signified by the lamentations in David in many places,
and also in the Prophets;
for in the spiritual sense of the Word
there is much that treats of the Lord's temptations
by which He subjugated the hells
and arranged all things in order in the heavens and in the hells,
and by which He glorified His Human . . ..

Jesus Warns His Disciples

Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them,
"We are going up to Jerusalem,
and everything that is written by the prophets
about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
He will be handed over to the Gentiles.
They will mock Him,
insult Him,
spit on Him,
flog Him
and kill Him.
On the third day He will rise again."

The disciples did not understand any of this.
Its meaning was hidden from them,
and they did not know what He was talking about.

(Luke 18:31-34)

AE 537 - where a person is

AE 537 [2]

No spirit or man can be anywhere else
than where the love of his life is,
for that which a man loves,
that he wills,
that he thinks,
and that he breathes.

Ten Healed of Leprosy

Now on His way to Jerusalem,
Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.
As He was going into a village,
ten men who had leprosy met Him.
They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice,
"Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"

When He saw them, He said,
"Go, show yourselves to the priests."
And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed,
came back, praising God in a loud voice.
He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him -
and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked,
"Were not all ten cleansed?
Where are the other nine?
Was no one found to return and give praise to God
except this foreigner?"
Then He said to him,
"Rise and go;
your faith has made you well."

(Luke 17:11-19)

AE 535 - a star fallen

AE 535

And I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth.
(Revelation 9:1)

Those falsify the knowledges of truth and good from the Word
who acknowledge the Word
but apply it to favor their loves
and to favor principles that are from self-intelligence,
thus they turn the truths of the Word into falsities,
and thus the knowledges of good and truth with them perish.
From this it can be seen that
"a star from heaven fallen unto the earth"
signifies that the knowledges of truth are falsified,
and thus turned into falsities.

"So I Say to You"

"So I say to you:
Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For every who asks receives;
he who seeds finds;
and to him who knocks,
the door will be opened."

(Luke 11:9-10)

AE 532 - two, three, four

AE 532 [6]

From this it can be seen that the number "three"
signifies what is finished or complete to the end . . ..
Moreover, it is to be known
that in the Word the number "three" is predicated of truths,
and "two" and "four" of goods;
for the reason that "two" and "four" signify conjunction,
while "three" signifies fullness,
and spiritual conjunction is love,
and all good is of love;
while spiritual fullness is formed by truths. 

Jesus Comments on "This Generation"

"To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation?
What are they like?
They are like children sitting in the marketplace
and calling out to each other:

"'We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not cry.'

For John the Baptist came
neither eating bread nor drinking wine,
and you say, 'He has a demon.'
The Son of Man came eating and drinking,
and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and "sinners."'
But wisdom is proved right by all her children."

(Luke 7:31-35)

AE 529 - enlightenment

AE 529 [2]

. . . where the Lord is present there is enlightenment.

Tax Collectors

After this, Jesus went out
and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi
sitting at his tax booth.
"Follow Me," Jesus said to him,
and Levi got up,
left everything and followed Him.

Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house,
and a large crowd of tax collectors and others
were eating with them.
But the Pharisees
and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect
complained to His disciples,
"Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

Jesus answered them,
"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
I have not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance."

(Luke 5:27-32)

AE 527 - day and night

AE 527 [1, 4]

That the day should not shine for the third part of it,
and the night likewise.
(Revelation 8:12)

"Day and night" here have a similar signification
as "day and night" in the first chapter of Genesis,
where it is said:

God said, Let there be light; and there was light.
And God saw the light that it was good;
and God divided between the light and the darkness.
And God called the light day,
and the darkness He called night.
And there was evening and there was morning,
the first day.
(Genesis 1:3-5)

And afterwards:

And God said,
Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens,
to divide between the day and the night;
and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years.
And God made two great luminaries;
the great luminary to rule by day,
and the lesser luminary to rule by night, and the stars.
And God set them in the expanse of the heavens
to give light upon the earth,
and to rule by day and by night,
and to divide between the light and the darkness.
And there was evening and there was morning,
the fourth day.
(Genesis 1:14-19)

The "light" that came the first day signifies the Divine light,
that in itself and in its essence is Divine truth,
thus spiritual light that enlightens the understanding.

. . . the first thing is to have the understanding enlightened,
for until that is enlightened by the Lord
there is no reformation,
thus no church with man . . ..

Zechariah's Song After the Birth of John the Baptist

His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because He has come and redeemed His people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of His servant David
(As he said through His holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us -
to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath He swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve Him without fear
in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him,
to give His people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven,
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace."

And the child grew and became strong in spirit;
and he lived in the desert
until he appeared publicly to Israel.

(Luke 1:67-80)

The Crucifixion - AE 519 - vinegar mingled with gall, hyssop

AE 519 [2]

When they were come unto a place called Golgotha,
they gave Jesus vinegar mingled with gall;
but when He had tasted He would not drink.
When He had been crucified,
one of them running and taking a sponge
and filling it with vinegar,
and putting it on a reed gave Him to drink.
(Matthew 27:33, 34, 48; Mark 15:23, 36)

After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now finished,
that the Scripture might be fulfilled said, I thirst.
And there had been placed a vessel full of vinegar;
and they filled a sponge and placed it upon hyssop
and put it to His mouth.
And when He had received the vinegar He said,
It is finished.
(John 19:28-30)

Each and every thing that is related in the Gospels
respecting the Lord's passion,
signifies in the spiritual sense,
the state of the church at that time
in relation to the Lord and the Word;
for the Lord was the Word because He was Divine truth;
and as the Jews had treated the Word, or Divine truth,
so they treated the Lord.
Their giving to the Lord "vinegar mingled with gall,"
which was also called "wine mingled with myrrh,"
signified the quality of the Divine truth from the Word
with the Jewish nation,
namely, that it was mingled with the falsity of evil,
and thus altogether falsified and adulterated,
therefore He would not drink it.
But that afterwards "
they gave the Lord vinegar in a sponge
and placed it upon hyssop"
signified the kind of falsity there was
among the upright Gentiles,
which was falsity from ignorance of the truth,
in which there was something good and useful;
because this falsity is accepted by the Lord
He drank this vinegar;
the "hyssop" upon which they placed it
signifies the purification of the falsity;
that the Lord said "I thirst," signifies Divine spiritual thirst,
which is for Divine truth and good in the church,
by which the human race is saved. 

AE 517 - two states of a person's thoughts

AE 517 [3]

There are two states of a person's thoughts,
one when from the Lord he is in thought respecting truths,
the other when from himself.
When from the Lord
he is in thought respecting truths
his mind is elevated even into the light of heaven,
from which he has illustration and right perception of truth;
but when from himself
he is in thought respecting truths,
his mind falls into the light of the world;
and that light, in respect to things spiritual,
or the things of heaven and the church,
is thick darkness,
in which a person sees only such things
as shine from the fire or the love of self and of the world,
and these in themselves are falsities
that are opposites of truths.
  
 

Blind Bartimaeus

Then they came to Jericho.
As Jesus and His disciples,
together with a large crowd,
were leaving the city, a blind man,
Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus),
was sitting by the roadside begging.
When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to shout,
"Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet,
but he shouted all the more,
"Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."

So they called to the blind man,
"Cheer up!  On your feet!  He's calling you."
Throwing his cloak aside,
he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."

"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you."
Immediately he received his sight
and followed Jesus along the road.

(Mark 10:46-52)

AE 514 - ships

AE 514

. . . the signification of "ships,"
as being the knowledges of truth and good, also doctrinals.
"Ships" have this signification
because they carry riches over the sea for traffic,
and "riches" signify in the Word
the knowledges of truth and good, which also are doctrinals.
"Ships," in a strict sense, as being containing vessels,
signify the Word and doctrine from the Word,
because the Word and doctrine therefrom
contain the knowledges of truth and good,
as ships contain riches;
and "trading," which is chiefly done by ships,
signifies acquiring knowledges for oneself
and communicating them to others.
But when the contents rather than the contained are meant,
"ships" signify the knowledges from the Word
and from doctrine from the Word. 

Peter Tries to Rebuke Jesus

He then began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer many things
and be rejected by the elders,
chief priests and the teachers of the law,
and that he must be killed 
and after three days rise again.
He spoke plainly about this,
and Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.

But when Jesus turned and looked at His disciples,
He rebuked Peter.
"Get behind Me, Satan!" He said.
"You do not have in mind the things of God,
but the things of men."

(Mark 8:31-33)

AE 513 - fishing

AE 513 [16]

When Jesus manifested Himself
to the disciples, who were fishing,
He told them to cast the net on the right side of the boat.
And they took so many that they were not able to draw the net
for the multitude of fishes.
When they descended upon the land they saw a fire built,
and a little fish lying thereon, and bread.
And Jesus gave them the bread, and the little fish likewise.
(John 21:2-13)

The Lord manifested Himself while they were fishing,
because "to fish" signified 
to teach the knowledges of truth and good, 
and thus to reform.
His commanding them
"to cast the net on the right side of the boat"
signified that all things should be
from the good of love and charity,
"the right side" signifying that good
from which all things should come,
for so far as knowledges are derived from good,
so far they live and are multiplied.
They said that
"they had labored all the night and had taken nothing,"
which signified that 
from self or from one's own (proprium) 
nothing comes,
but that all things are from the Lord;
and the like was signified by the "fire"
on which was the little fish, 
and by the "bread;"
for the "bread" signified the Lord and the good of love from Him,
and "the fish on the fire"
the knowledge of truth from good,
the "fish" the knowledge of truth,
and the "fire" good.
At that time there were no spiritual men,
because the church was wholly vastated,
but all were natural,
and their reformation was represented by this fishing,
and also by the fish on the fire.
He who believes that the fish on the fire and the bread
that were given to the disciples to eat
were not significative of something higher
is very much mistaken,
for the least things done by the Lord and said by Him
were significative of Divine celestial things,
which become evident only through the spiritual sense. 

The Twelve

Jesus went up on a mountainside
and called to Him those He wanted,
and they came to Him.
He appointed twelve -
designating them apostles -
that they might be with Him
and that He might send them out to preach
and to have authority to drive out demons.
These are the twelve He appointed:
Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter);
James son of Zebedee and his brother John
(to them He gave the name Boanerges,
which means Sons of Thunder);
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas,
James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot
and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.

(Mark 3:13-19)