AC 8043 - The Maker and Former"

AC 8043 [1, 2]

For he who is conceived anew,
comes as it were again into the womb;
and he who is born anew,
goes forth as it were again from the womb;
but that which is conceived in the womb
and born from the womb
is not a person as a person,
but is the faith of charity,
for this makes the spiritual of person,
thus as it were makes the person himself anew,
for then his life is derived from this.

. . . the Lord is called "the Maker and Former from the womb,"
because He regenerates a person,
and from natural makes him spiritual;
and as regeneration is effected by means of truth and good,
therefore it is said
that He "will pour out water upon him that is thirsty,
and His spirit upon his seed;"
for by "water" is meant the truth which is of faith,
and by "spirit" the good which is of charity.

AC 8020 - If There Was Not Something Spiritual; AC 8028 - The Preparation Work of the Angels and John the Baptist

AC 8020 - If There Was Not Something Spiritual

If there were not something spiritual
in the whole and in each detail (of the Word),
the angels who are with a person
when he reads the Word
would comprehend but little,
indeed scarcely anything, from the Word;
for the angels comprehend spiritually
all things that have been described
in the Word
in a natural manner.

AC 8028 - The Work of the Angels and John the Baptist

  . . . when angels are about to come,
a spirit is sent before to prepare the way,
and that he excites fear,
and gives admonition to receive the angels courteously;
and that he interrupts;
also that at first he does not understand
what the angels speak,
but afterward when he has been reduced to a better state
he understands;
in a word, that he is continually at hand,
and prepares the lower mind,
and endeavors to avert things unworthy.
In regard to this
there occurred to me a thought about John the Baptist,
that it was according to the order of heaven
for him to be sent before
and announce the coming of the Lord,
and that he should prepare the way
that He might be worthily received,
according to what is written in
Matt. 3:3; Luke 1:17; 3:4; John 1:23.

This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
"A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.'"
(Matthew 3:3)

"And he will go on before the Lord,
in the spirit and power of Elijah,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous --
to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
(Luke 1:17)

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet,
"I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness,
'Make straight the way for the Lord.'"
(John 1:23)

 

AC 7995 - The Laws of Order; AC 7999 - What Happens During Regeneration; AC 8002 - Regeneration Changes Perspective

AC 7995 - The Laws of Order

. . . all the statutes commanded to the sons of Israel
were laws of order in the external form,
but those things which they represented and signified
were laws of order in the internal form.
Laws of order are truths which are from good;
the complex of all the laws of order
is the Divine truth proceeding from
the Divine good of the Lord.
From this it is evident
that the Divine Itself of the Lord in heaven is order,
the Divine good the essential of order,
and the Divine truth its formal.

AC 7999 - What Happens in Regeneration

When a person is being regenerated,
his internal and external,
that is, the spiritual and the natural,
at first are at variance,
for the spiritual wills what is of heaven,
but the natural what is of the world.
But the spiritual then continually inflows into the natural
and brings it into agreement;
this is effected by means of truth;
and what the spiritual brings to itself in the natural
is called "bought with silver,"
that is, acquired and appropriated by means of truth.

AC 8002 [8] - Regeneration Changes Perspective

. . . before he is regenerated
a person cannot but think of reward;
but it is otherwise when he has been regenerated;
he is then indignant if anyone thinks
that he benefits his neighbor for the sake of reward,
for he feels delight and blessedness
in imparting benefits,
and not in recompense.

 

AC 7984 - What Is Vastation? AC 7989 - The Night Watches of Jehovah

AC 7984 [2] - What Is Vastation?

Vastation is deprivation.
That the evil who had been of the church
were vastated as to all good and truth,
has already been shown;
for the successive degrees of vastation
were signified by the plagues in Egypt.
But the good are vastated as to evil and falsity;
with them these are successively separated,
that is, rejected to the sides,
and goods and truth are brought together
toward the midst.
This collecting together of good and truth
is meant by "remains;"
and when they have a full state of remains,
they are then raised into heaven.
This state is that which is signified by "thirty,"
and the vastation by "four hundred."
The vastation of evil and falsity,
and the instilling of good and truth, with the good,
are effected by means of infestations,
and by means of temptations.
By the one, falsities and evils are removed;
and by the other, goods and truths, are put on;
and this even until the state becomes full.

AC 7989

A night of watches is this to Jehovah.
(Exodus 7:42)

That this means the presence of the Lord
with those who are in truth and good,
and with those who are in evil
and from evil in mere falsity,
is evident from the signification of "night,"
as being a state of damnation;
and from the meaning of the "watches to Jehovah,"
as being the presence of the Lord
and consequent protection;
for by the presence of the Lord
those are enlightened who are in good
and from good in truth,
and those are made blind
who are in evil and from that evil in falsity;
and also by the presence of the Lord
those are brought out from damnation
who are to be raised into heaven,
for they are withheld from evil and are kept in good,
and this by a strong force from the Lord;
and by the presence of the Lord
those also who are to be cast down into hell
are brought into damnation,
for according to the degree of the Lord's presence
they are in evil.
Consequently then it is
that this state and this time are called
"a night of watches to Jehovah."
The presence of the Lord
is described in what follows
by the pillar of cloud by day
and the pillar of fire by night,
to lead them (Exodus 13:21);
and His presence both with those
who were in good and truth,
and with those who were in evil and falsity,
is described by that pillar interposing itself
between the camp of Israel
and the camp of the Egyptians,
and that when Jehovah looked forth from it
to the camp of the Egyptians,
the Egyptians were immersed in the sea Suph
(Exodus 14:19, 20, 24-27).

AC 7977 - Flock and Herd

AC 7977

And flock, and herd, a very great acquisition.
(Exodus 12:38)

That this means the good acquired by means of truth,
interior and exterior,
in great abundance,
is evident from the meaning of "flock,"
as being interior good,
and from the meaning of "herd,"
as being exterior good.
That it was acquired is meant by "acquisition,"
for with those who are of the spiritual church
all good is acquired by means of truth,
because without the truth which is of faith
they do not know what spiritual truth is,
nor what spiritual good is.
They are indeed capable of knowing civil truth,
also moral truth, and their goods,
because they are in agreement with
things which are in the world,
from which they also have a perception
of these truths and goods.
But spiritual truth and its good
are not in agreement with those things
which are in the world,
and in many cases are even quite at variance with them,
and therefore those of the spiritual church
have to be instructed about them.
These things have been said to show
that with those who are of the spiritual church
all good must be acquired by means of truth.
That "very great" denotes great abundance, is evident.

AC 7957, 7966 - The Spiritual Church; AC 7964 - Opposites Repel

AC 7957 - The Spiritual Church

For the spiritual church is distinguished
from the celestial church in this,
that through truth which is of faith
it is introduced into the good which is of charity,
thus that it has truth for its essential.
The initiation is effected through truth,
for through truth they are instructed what must be done,
and when they do this truth,
it is called good.
From this good,
when they have been initiated,
they afterward see truths,
according to which they again act.
From this it is evident
that whether you say "those who are of the spiritual church,"
or "those who are in truth through which is good,
and in truth which is from good,"
it is the same.

AC 7966 [2]

These are the two states
in which those who are of the spiritual church,
when in good,
are kept by the Lord --
the first, that from the good which is of the will
they see and think truth;
the second, that from this marriage of good and truth
they produce truths,
which by willing them and doing them,
again become goods,
and so on continually.
Such are the productions and derivations of truth
with those who are of the spiritual church.
In the spiritual world this is presented representatively
as a tree with leaves and fruits;
the leaves there are truths;
the fruits are the goods of truth;
the seeds are the goods themselves,
from which are the rest.

AC 7964 - Opposites Repel

. . . those who are in mere falsity from evil
are so averse to those who are in truth from good
that they cannot endure even their presence.

AC 7944 - Going and Doing; AC 7945 - "And So They Did"

AC 7944

And the sons of Israel went and they did
as Jehovah commanded Moses and Aaron.
(Exodus 7:28)

That this means that those who are of the spiritual church
will obey truth Divine,
is evident from the meaning of "going and doing,"
as being to obey;
from the representation of the sons of Israel,
as being those who are of the spiritual church;
and from the representation of Moses and Aaron,
as being truth Divine;
Moses internal truth,
and Aaron external.

AC 7945

So did they.
(Exodus 7:28)

That this means performance from the will,
is evident from the fact that it is said a second time "they did,"
and that the first time
it means performance from the understanding,
and this second time from the will.
For it is common in the Word
for a thing to be seemingly repeated;
but the first mention
relates to the truth which is of the understanding,
and the second to the good which is of the will.
The reason is that in every detail of the Word
there is the heavenly marriage,
which is that of good and truth;
and, in the supreme sense, the Divine marriage,
which is that of the Divine good in the Lord
and of the Divine truth proceeding from Him.
From this also it can be seen
that the Word is most holy.

AC 7919 - "Hyssop"; AC 7920 - Natural Good and Good of the Natural

AC 7919 [1, 2]

. . . "hyssop" denotes external truth as a means of purification,
because all spiritual purification is effected by means of truths.
For the earthly and worldly loves
from which a person is to be purified,
are not recognized except by means of truths,
and when these are instilled by the Lord,
there is also instilled at the same time
horror for these loves as for things unclean and damnable,
the effect of which is
that when anything of the kind flows into the thought,
this feeling of horror returns,
and consequently aversion for such things.
Thus a person is purified by truths as by an external means.

As "hyssop" has this meaning,
it was therefore employed in cleansings,
which in the internal sense
meant purifications from falsities and evils . . ..

AC7920

Natural good is that which a person has hereditarily;
and the good of the natural
is that which he has from the Lord by regeneration.

AC 7902 - When Truth is Purified From Falsity; AC 7910 - Those Who Are In the Lord

AC 7902

. . . truth is said to be purified from falsity
when the person is capable
of being kept by the Lord
in the good of innocence.
Innocence consists in acknowledging
that in oneself there is nothing but evil,
and that all good is from the Lord;
and also in believing
that a person does not know or perceive
anything from himself,
but from the Lord,
thus also the truth which is of faith.
When person is in this state,
then falsity can be removed from him,
and truth can be instilled by the Lord.
This state is what is meant by the unleavened things,
and also by the eating of the paschal lamb.

AC 7910

. . . be it known that with those who are in the Lord,
that is, who are in the life of faith and charity,
good dwells in the interiors,
and the more interiorly it dwells with them,
the purer and the more heavenly the good is;
but truth dwells in the exteriors,
and the more exteriorly it dwells with them,
the more is truth widowed from good.
The reason is
that a person as to his interiors is in heaven,
and as to his inmosts is near the Lord,
but as to exteriors he is in the world;
and so it is that the truths which are of faith
enter by an external way,
but good by an internal way,
also that the appropriation of truth
is effected in the interiors where good is.

AC 7873 - "Gods"; AC 7884 - An Eternal Statute

AC 7873 - "Gods"

In the Word "gods" are often mentioned.
When the angels are so called, truths are meant;
consequently in the opposite sense
by "the gods of the nations," are meant falsities.
That truths are called "gods"
is because truth proceeds from the Divine Itself,
and in itself is Divine;
consequently they who receive it are called "gods"-
not that they are gods,
but that the truth which is with them is Divine.
That is why in the original tongue God is called "Elohim,"
in the plural.
The Divine Itself is the Divine good,
but that which proceeds from it is the Divine truth,
which fills the universal heaven.

AC 7884 - An Eternal Statute

That "an eternal statute" denotes the order of heaven,
is because all the statutes
that were commanded to the sons of Israel
were such as flowed from the order of heaven;
consequently they also represented
the things that are of heaven.
By worship according to the order of heaven
is meant all practicing of good
according to the Lord's precepts.
By the worship of God at this day
is chiefly meant the oral worship in a temple,
both morning and evening.
But the worship of God
does not consist essentially in this,
but in a life of uses;
this latter worship is according to the order of heaven.
Oral worship is also worship,
but it is of no avail whatever
unless there is the worship that belongs to the life;
for this worship is of the heart;
and oral worship, that it may be worship,
must proceed from this.

AC 7847 - Posts and the Lintel; AC 7848 - Houses and Minds

AC 7847 - Posts and the Lintel

. . . the natural person is instructed before the rational,
and the things which the person then learns
are natural things,
in which spiritual things are successively instilled,
which are interior.
From this it is evident how the natural
in respect to truths and goods
serves to introduce.
Moreover, the lintel and the posts have a like meaning
to the forehead and hands with a person.
Angelic ideas are of such a nature
that natural things bear relation
to such things as belong to a person.
The reason is that the spiritual world or heaven
is in the form of a person,
and all things of that world, that is, all spiritual things,
which are truths and goods,
bear relation to this form . . ..
And whereas in angelic ideas
natural things become spiritual,
so also does a house,
which to the angels is the mind of a person;
the bedchambers and inner rooms
being the interiors of the mind;
and the windows, the doors, the posts, and the lintels,
the exteriors of the mind, which introduce.
As angelic ideas are of such a nature,
they are also living;
and so when the things in the natural world
which are dead objects,
pass into the spiritual world,
they become living objects;
for everything spiritual is living,
because it proceeds from the Lord.

That the "posts" and the "lintel" have a like meaning
to the forehead and hands with a person,
appears from these words in Moses:

Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God from thy whole heart,
and from thy whole soul, and from all thy forces;
thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand,
and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes;
and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house,
and on thy gates
(Deuteronomy 6:5, 8-9; 11:13, 18, 20);

because they involve a similar meaning, both are mentioned.

That in the spiritual sense the "lintel and posts"
denote the goods and truths of the natural
through which there is introduction to spiritual things,
is evident from the description of the new temple in Ezekiel,
by which is meant the spiritual church.
"Posts and lintels" are there frequently mentioned,
and they are also measured,
which would never have been done
unless they had meant something
of the church and of heaven,
that is, something spiritual;
as in the following passages in that prophet:

The priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering,
and shall put it upon the post of the house,
and upon the four corners of the projection of the altar,
and upon the post of the gate of the inner court,
on the first day of the month.
(Ezekiel. 45:18-19)

The prince shall enter by way of the porch without,
and shall stand by the post of the gate,
and the priests shall prepare his burnt-offering;
then shall he adore upon the threshold of the gate
(Ezekiel 46:2);

that by the "temple" here is not meant a temple,
but the church of the Lord,
everyone can know;
for such things as have there been described
in many chapters
never came to pass, nor will come to pass.

That in the supreme sense by "temple"
is meant the Lord as to the Divine Human,
He Himself teaches in John 2:19-22.
Therefore in the representative sense
by a "temple" is meant His church.
That an angel measured the lintels of that new temple,
see Ezekiel 40:9-10, 14, 16, 24; 41:21, 25,
which measuring would have been of no importance
unless the lintels, and likewise the numbers,
meant some thing of the church.
Because the "posts" and the "lintels"
mean the truths and goods in the natural
which serve for introduction,
therefore in that new temple
they were made square in prospect (Ezekiel 41:21);
and therefore in the temple of Solomon
the posts were made of olive wood (1 Kings 6:31, 33).
"Olive wood" mean the good of truth,
or the good which is of the spiritual church.

AC 7848 - Houses and Minds

The reason why by a "house" is also meant the will,
is that by it
is meaning a person,
and a person is a person chiefly from his will.
Moreover, whether we speak of a person,
or of his mind, it is the same;
for a person is not a person from the form of his body,
but from his mind;
and a person is such as his mind is,
that is, such as his understanding and will are,
especially such as his will is.

AC 7839 - A Full State

AC 7839

A state is called "full,"
when the good is such that there is not anything lacking
for the reception of the influx of innocence.
The truths of faith conjoined with the good of charity
cause good to be such;
for spiritual good receives its quality from the truths of faith.
This is here meant by the "full state"
which is signified by the "son of a year."
But the state is not full
when truths have not as yet qualified good,
so that this can receive
the corresponding states of innocence.
This state first becomes full
when truths are regarded from good;
and it is not yet full
when good is regarded from truths.
In this latter state are they who are being regenerated,
but in the former are they who are regenerated.
The former are in truth leading to good,
but the latter are in truth which is from good;
or the former are in obedience to truth,
but the latter are in the affection of doing truth;
and therefore the former are people of the external church,
but the latter of the internal church.

AC 7814 - 7816: Look Up!

AC 7814

People have been so created that we can look upward,
or above himself;
and can also look downward, or below himself.
To look above himself
is to look to his neighbor, to his country, to the church,
to heaven, especially to the Lord;
but to look below himself
is to look to the earth, to the world, and especially to himself.

AC 7815

That to look to his neighbor, to his country, and to the church,
is to look above himself,
is because this is to look to the Lord;
for the Lord is in charity,
and it is of charity to look
to the neighbor, to one's country, and to the church,
that is, to will well to them.
But they look below themselves
who turn themselves away from these,
and will well only to themselves.

AC 7816

To look above oneself is to be uplifted by the Lord;
for no one can look above himself,
unless he is uplifted by Him who is above.
But to look below himself is of a person,
because then he does not suffer himself to be uplifted.

AC 7802 - Long Ago

AC 7802

It was also a common thing on our earth in ancient times
to speak with spirits and angels, from a like cause,
namely, that those people thought about heaven,
and little about the world.
But this living communication with heaven
was in time closed,
as a person from internal became external,
that is, as he began to think about the world
and little about heaven,
and especially when he no longer believed
that there is a heaven or a hell,
nor that there is in himself a spirit person who lives after death.
For at this day it is believed that the body lives from itself,
and not from its spirit;
and therefore unless a person could now have faith
that he is to rise again with the body,
he would have no belief in a resurrection.

AC 7796 - "Moses and Aaron did these wonders."

AC 7796

And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh.
(Exodus 11: 10)

It is said that "Moses and Aaron did these wonders,"
when yet they were not done by them,
but by the Divine;
but it is so said
because by Moses and Aaron is represented truth Divine,
and the wonders were wrought by the Divine
by means of truth proceeding from Itself;
for all things which are done by the Divine Itself
are done by means of truth proceeding from Itself;
the Divine Itself is the being [esse] of all things,
whereas the truth proceeding from It
is the derivative manifestation [existere] of all things;
Good Itself, which is the Divine Esse,
produces all things by means of its truth.

 

AC 7780 - Millstones

AC 7780

It is said "behind the millstones"
because a "millstone" is predicated of
those things which are of faith;
for by millstones grain is ground into flour,
and is thus prepared for bread;
and by "flour" is meant the truth from which is good,
and by "bread" that very good
which is derived from those truths.
Thus "to sit at the millstones"
is to learn and be filled with such things
as may be serviceable to faith,
and through faith to charity.
For this reason the ancients, when they described
the first rudiments of the doctrine of faith,
described them by "sitting at the millstones,"
and the things which were still more rudimentary
by "sitting behind the millstones."

Because of such a meaning,
the Lord, where He teaches about
the last time of the church, says:

Two women shall be grinding at the mill,
the one shall be taken and the other left
(Matthew 24:41),

which would never have been said unless a "mill"
had meant those things which are of faith.

As to the truths of faith which are in the first place,
and those which are in the last,
be it known that those truths of faith
which immediately proceed from the good of charity
are what are in the first place,
for they are goods in form;
but the truths which are in the last place are naked truths;
for when truths are successively derived,
they recede at each step from good,
and finally become naked truths.
Such truths are meant by
"maidservants behind the millstones."

AC 7778 - The Outcome of Faith Without Charity

AC 7778 [1-3]

. . . the "firstborn in the land of Egypt"
denotes faith without charity.

As regards faith without charity,
it is to be said further
that faith without charity is not faith,
but only the memory-knowledge
of such things as are of faith;
for the truths of faith look to charity as their ultimate end,
and afterward proceed from charity as their first end.
From this it is clear
that those things which are of faith
have no existence with those who are not in charity,
and yet it is known
that the memory-knowledge of the truths of faith
does exist with them.
This memory-knowledge is that which they call faith.
And when the memory-knowledges
of the truth and good of faith
are applied by them to confirm falsities and evils,
then the truths and goods of faith
no longer exist with them,
because the truths and goods
give assent to the falsities and evils which they serve,
for then those very falsities and evils
which they confirm are seen in them.

Those things which are of genuine faith
look upward to heaven and to the Lord;
but those which are of faith separate from charity
look downward,
and when they confirm evils and falsities
they look toward hell.
From this also it is evident
that faith separate from charity is not faith.
From all this it can be seen what is meant by
the damnation of faith separate from charity,
namely, that it is the damnation of
the falsified truth and adulterated good of faith;
for when good has been falsified
it is no longer truth but falsity,
and when good has been adulterated
it is no longer good but evil;
and faith itself is no longer the faith of truth and good,
but of falsity and evil,
no matter how it may appear and sound
in the outward form.
And (what is a secret)
the quality of everyone's faith is such
as is the quality of his life.
If therefore the life has been damned,
so also has the faith;
for it is the faith of falsity
when the life is a life of evil.

AC 7770 - Are Memory-knowledges the Essential Truths and Goods of Faith?

AC 7770 [1, 3]

It is believed that the memory-knowledges of truth and good
are the very truths and goods of faith;
but they are not.
It is the affections of truth and good that make faith,
and these flow into memory-knowledges,
as into their vessels.

. . . with the evil
the knowledges of good and truth are applied to evil uses,
and with the good
the knowledges of good and truth are applied to good uses;
the knowledges are the same,
but the application to uses
effects their quality with each person.
The case herein is like that of worldly riches,
which with one person are disposed for good uses,
with another for evil uses;
consequently riches are such with each person
as are the uses unto which they are disposed.
From this also it is evident that the same knowledges,
like the same riches,
which the evil had possessed,
can be with the good and serve for good uses.

AC 7757-7758 - When Good Is Conjoined With Truth

AC 7757

The conjunction of the good of charity with the truth of faith
is effected in the interiors of a person.
The good itself which flows in from the Lord
adopts truth there,
and appropriates it to itself,
and thereby causes the good with the person to be good,
and the truth to be truth;
or the charity to be charity,
and the faith to be faith.
Without this conjunction charity is not charity,
but only natural goodness;
neither is faith faith,
but only the memory-knowledge of such things
as are of faith,
and in some cases a persuasion
that a thing is so for the sake of earning gain or honor.

AC 7758

When truth has been conjoined with good
it is no longer called truth, but good;
and so when faith has been conjoined with charity
it is no longer called faith, but charity;
the reason is
that the person then wills and does the truth,
and that which he wills and does is called good.

AC 7724 - True Worship: An Offering Made from Good Through Truth

 AC 7724

The truest kind of worship consists in an offering
made from good through truth,
for the Lord is present in good;
but worship offered from truth without good is not worship,
only outward religious ceremony and action alone
with nothing real in them
since without good
truth is no more than the knowledge of truth.
To become the truth of faith
that knowledge must be combined with good,
and when combined with good
it passes into the internal person and becomes faith.
. . . By the good from which worship springs
one should understand the good of life,
good that has been made spiritual
through combination with truth,
for spiritual good derives its particular nature from truth,
and the essence of truth is good,
so that good is the soul of truth.
From this one may again see what truth without good is like,
namely like a body without its soul, that is, like a corpse.

Three Quotes from Micah

"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.

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.
(Micah 4:2, 5)

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He has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
(Micah 6:8)

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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)

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AC 7715 - Three Days

AC 7715

For three days.
(Exodus 10:22)

That this signifies a full state,
is evident from the signification of "three days,"
as being a full state.
By a full state is meant an entire state
from beginning to end;
for every state has its beginning,
its increments,
and its maximum.
This period is what is meant by a full state,
and is signified by "three days."

AC 7696 - Pharaoh Says, "I have sinned."

AC 7696

And he said, I have sinned to Jehovah your God,
and to you.
(Exodus 10:16)

That this means confession
that they have not obeyed the Divine and the truth,
is evident from the meaning of "sinning,"
as being to do contrary to Divine order,
and to avert and separate one's self from it,
thus from good and truth,
consequently it also denotes not to obey
the Divine and the truth,
for he who does not obey averts himself.
The Divine is what is meant by "Jehovah your God,"
and the truth by "Moses and Aaron".

 

AC 7693 - What Is the Sensuous Person?

AC 7693

The sensuous person,
or he who thinks and acts from the sensuous,
is he who believes nothing
except what is obvious to the outward senses,
and who is led solely by the bodily appetites,
by pleasures, and by concupiscences,
and not by reasons,
believing those to be reasons which favor such things.
Such being the sensuous person,
he therefore rejects everything internal,
until at last he is not willing even to hear it mentioned;
consequently at heart he denies whatever is of heaven;
the life after death he certainly does not believe in,
because he makes life to consist solely in the body,
and therefore he supposes
that he himself will die like a beast.
He thinks as it were in the surface,
that is, in the ultimates or in the extremes,
and is quite ignorant of the existence of an interior thought
according to the perception of truth and good.
The reason why he does not know this,
nor even that there is an internal person,
is because his interiors look downward
to the things of the world, of the body, and of the earth,
with which they make a one;
consequently they have been removed
from looking upward, or to heaven,
because they look in the opposite direction.
To look upward, or to heaven,
is not to think about the things that belong to heaven,
but it is to have these things as the end,
that is, to love them more than all other things;
for a person's interiors turn to where his love turns,
and consequently so does his thought.
From all this it can be seen
what is the nature of a person's sensuous,
that is, of his natural in the extremes;
for that person is called sensuous
who thinks from what is sensuous.

AC 7673 - Stretching Out the Arm

AC 7673

Stretch out thy hand.
(Exodus 10:12)

That "to stretch out the hand" denotes the rule of power
is because the hand or arm has power
when it is stretched out;
and therefore when it is said of Jehovah
that "He stretches out the hand" or "arm,"
there is meant power unlimited or infinite in act.
This is the reason why Jehovah so often said to Moses
when miracles were to be done,
that he should "stretch out his hand" or "rod," . . ..

Also, in many passages
omnipotence is described by
"Jehovah stretching out His hand,"
as also by "His outstretched hand,"
and by "His outstretched arm" --
by "Jehovah stretching out the hand," . . ..

It is also said of Jehovah
that "He stretches out the heaven,"
and here also by "stretching out" is meant omnipotence;
that is, that He enlarges the boundaries of heaven,
and fills its inhabitants with life and wisdom . . ..

From all this it can now be seen why
Moses was commanded to stretch out his hand and rod,
and that then miracles were done;
and that thus by "stretching out the hand"
is meant the rule of power,
and in the supreme sense omnipotence.

AC 7652, 7655 - The Evil

AC 7652

. . . the evil never advise what is good
except from fear.

AC 7655

. . . the evil call all those "simple"
who are of the church
and live according to its goods and truths,
that is, a life of faith and charity.

AC 7636 - "I am Jehovah"; AC 7640 - Obedience and Humility

AC 7636 - "I am Jehovah"

That by "I am Jehovah"
is meant that the Lord is the only God,
is because the name "Jehovah" means Is,
thus Him from whom is
the being and coming-forth of all things,
who cannot but be the sole and only one.

AC 7640 - Obedience and Humility

How long dost thou refuse to be humbled before Me?
(Exodus 10:3)

That this means no obedience,
is evident from the meaning of "refusing to be humbled,"
as being not to obey.
This is meant because it is said to those who are in evil,
who cannot be humbled before the Divine;
for there are two things in humiliation,
namely, the acknowledgment of self,
that it is nothing but evil,
and that relatively to the Divine it is as nothing;
and the acknowledgment of the Divine,
that it is nothing but good, and is infinite.
These two things are not possible with the evil,
because they are in the love of self.
If they humble themselves it is either from fear,
or that they may be honored or enriched;
thus they humble themselves only as to the body,
and not as to the mind,
which sometimes then jeers.
Such is the humiliation of fear,
and also that for the sake of gain and honor.
Such it is before the Divine,
although they do not know this;
for the internal with those
who are in evil from the love of self
is solely to regard and magnify themselves,
and to turn away from all who do not favor.
As humiliation is not possible with the evil,
therefore in the internal sense by "to be humbled"
is meant obedience,
and thus by "refusing to be humbled"
is meant no obedience.

AC 7601 - Flax

AC 7601 [2-3, 5, 6]

It is from representatives in heaven
that "flax" means truth.
In heaven those who are in the truth of the natural
appear clothed in white,
which white appears as of linen.

The truth itself of the natural is also there represented
as if woven from the purer threads of the flax.
These threads appear like threads of silk
-- bright, beautifully translucent, and soft;
and the clothing made of them appears similar
if the truth which is so represented is from good;
but on the other hand these threads,
which are like those of flax,
do not appear translucent, nor bright, nor soft,
but hard and brittle,
and yet white,
if the truth which is so represented is not from good.

As "flax" means the truth of the exterior natural,
and the exterior natural is what clothes the interiors,
therefore this truth is what was represented by
the linen garments with which the angels were clothed;
and also by the garments of flax (or linen)
with which Aaron was clothed
when he ministered in the holy place . . ..

From all this it can also be seen why the Lord,
when He washed the feet of His disciples,
girded Himself with a linen towel,
and wiped their feet with the linen towel
with which He was girded (John 13:4, 5);
for the washing of the feet meant purification from sins,
which is effected by means of the truths of faith,
for by means of these a person is taught how to live.

AC 7596 - Gestures; AC 7598 - The Church is the Lord's

AC 7596 - Gestures

There are gestures or actions of the body
which correspond to every affection of the mind,
as falling on the knees corresponds to humiliation,
and prostration to the earth to deeper humiliation;
but the spreading out of the hands toward heaven
corresponds to supplication, and so on.
These gestures or acts in the Word
signify the very affections to which they correspond,
for the reason that they represent them.
From this it can be seen what representations are.

AC 7598 - The Church Is the Lord's

. . . the church is the Lord's,
thus the Lord is the only God of the church.
 

AC 598 - Mercy or Grace?; AC 7573 - Voices

AC 598 [2] - Mercy or Grace?

In the Word however
a distinction is made between mercy and grace,
a distinction which depends in fact
on differences in those who are their recipients.
Mercy applies to those who are celestial,
but grace to those who are spiritual,
for celestial people acknowledge nothing other than mercy,
while spiritual acknowledge hardly anything other than grace.
Celestial people do not know what grace is,
while the spiritual scarcely know what mercy is,
for they make mercy and grace to be one and the same.
The reason for the difference
springs from each one's humility.
People in whom there is humility of heart
plead for the Lord's mercy,
but those in whom there is humility of mind
seek His grace.
Or if the latter do plead for mercy
they do so in a state of temptation
or with the lips only and not with the heart.

AC 7573 [1, 6] - "Voices"

And Jehovah gave voices of thunder.
(Exodus 9:23)

As regards truth Divine in heaven and in hell,
which truth is meant by the "voices,"
. . . in heaven truth Divine is mild and gentle,
but in hell is terrible.

. . . "voices" denote truth Divine;
"thunders," those who carry it
and bring it from heaven to earth.
Everyone can see that by "thunders" and "voices"
are meant Divine things, not thunders and sounds;
and because they mean Divine things,
and are called "the voices of Jehovah,"
it is evident that they denote Divine truth.
It was for this reason
that when Jehovah descended upon Mount Sinai
and promulgated Divine truth
there were voices, lightnings, and thunders
(Exodus 19:16; 20:18);
and He spoke out of the midst of the fire
(Deuteronomy 4:11-12; 5:22-25).