Revelation 13:2-4, 11-14

And I saw a beast coming out of the sea.
He had ten horns and seven heads,
with ten crowns on his horns,
and on each head a blasphemous name.
The beast I saw resembled a leopard,
but had feet like those of a boar
and a mouth like that of a lion.
The dragon gave the beast his power
and his throne and great authority.
One of the heads of the beast
seemed to have a fatal wound,
but the fatal wound had healed.
The whole world was astonished
and followed the beast.
Men worshiped the dragon
because he had given authority to the beast,
and they also worshiped the beast and asked,
"Who is like the beast?
Who can make war against him?"

Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth.
He had two horns like a lamb,
but he spoke like a dragon.
He exercised all the authority of the first beast
on his behalf,
and made the earth and its inhabitants
worship the first beast,
whose fatal wound had been healed.
And the performed great and miraculous signs,
even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth 
in full view of men.
Because of the signs 
he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast,
he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.

(Revelation 13:2-4, 11-14) NIV

AC 5893 - Remains are truths and goods stored in the interior person by the Lord.

AC 5893 [2-3]
Truths must be present in the natural mind
if good is to do its work,
and those truths must be brought into it
through an affection belonging to genuine love.
Everything without exception in a person's memory
has been brought into it through some love,
and having become joined to that love
remains in the memory.
This also applies to the truths of faith;
if they have been brought in through a love of truth,
those truths become joined to and remain there with that love.
Once they have become joined to it
the following is then the situation:
If the affection is evoked again,
the truths that have been joined to it
reappear at the same time;
and if the truths are evoked again,
the affection to which they have been joined
reappears at the same time.
This being so, when a person is being regenerated
- which happens in adult life
because he is unable before this
to think for himself about the truths of faith -
he is governed by angels sent by the Lord.
They govern him by maintaining in him the truths
which he has become convinced are truths,
and by maintaining in him
through those truths
the affection to which they have been joined.
And because that affection - an affection for truth -
has its origin in good,
he is then led step by step towards good.

A considerable amount of experience
has proved the truth of this to me.
For I have noticed
that when evil spirits have thrust evils and falsities at me,
the angels from the Lord present at the time
have maintained in me the truths implanted in me previously
and have thereby withheld me from those evils and falsities.
From this it has also been evident
that the truths of faith which,
through an affection for truth,
have become rooted in me
serve as a level into which angels can operate,
so that people who do not have this level laid down in them
cannot be led by angels
but allow themselves to be led by hell.
For without it
the operation of the angels
cannot become established anywhere
and so passes away from them.
That level for angels to operate into
cannot however be acquired
unless the truths of faith have been put into service
and thus have been implanted in the person's will
and through this in his life.
It is also worth mentioning
that when the operation of the angels
into the truths of faith present with a person 
takes place,
it is rarely plain to see, that is to say,
so plain that thought about the truth operated into is aroused.
Rather, a general notion of things
in keeping with that truth,
and the affection that goes with it,
is produced.
For that operation by the angels
is effected by means of an imperceptible inflowing which,
when a visual presentation of it is made,
looks like an inflowing beam of light.
That light is made up of countless truths present within good
which focus on one particular truth known by a person
and which, while they sustain the truth in him,
also sustain the love that belongs to that truth.
This is the way the angels raise a person's mind
above falsities and protect it from evils.
Yet the person is totally unaware of any of this. 

Revelation 12:7 - 13:1

And there was war in haven.
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon,
and the dragon had his angels fought back.
But he was not strong enough,
and they lost their place in heaven.
The great dragon was hurled down -
that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan,
who leads the whole world astray.
He was hurled to the earth,
and his angels with him.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

"Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of His Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short."

When the dragon saw
that he had been hurled to earth,
he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle,
so that she might fly to the place
prepared for her in the desert,
where she would be taken care of
for a time, times and half a time,
out of the serpent's reach.
Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river,
to overtake the woman
and sweep her away with the torrent.
But the earth helped the woman
by opening its mouth and swallowing the river
that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
Then the dragon was enraged at the woman
and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring -
those who obey God's commandments
and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.

(Revelation 12:7 - 13:1)

AC 5871 - morning; AC 5881 - commotion

AC 5871
. . . the mind is gladdened by the morning of the day.

(Loved this phrase.)


AC 5881
By commotion is meant a new disposition
and setting in order of truths in the natural,
concerning which setting in order
be it known
that the order in which memory-knowledges and truths
are arranged in a person's memory
is unknown to a person,
but when it pleases the Lord
it is known to angels.
For it is a wonderful order.
They cohere as in little bundles,
and the little bundles themselves cohere together,
and this according to the connection of things
which the person had conceived.
These coherences are more wonderful
than any person can ever believe.

Revelation 11:15-19

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."

And the twenty-four elders,
who were seated on their thrones before God,
fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:

"We give thanks to you,
Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken Your great power
and have begun to reign.
The nations were angry;
and Your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and Your saints and those who reverence Your name,
both small and great -
and for destroying those who destroy the earth."

Then God's temple in heaven was opened,
and within His temple was seen the ark of His covenant.
And there came flashes of lightning,
rumblings, peals of thunder,
an earthquake and a great hailstorm.

(Revelation 11:15-19)

AC 5854 - the Lord works hard

AC 5854 [2]
The Lord could
through angels
 lead man into good ends by omnipotent force;
but this would be to take away the person's life,
for his life consists in entirely contrary loves.
Therefore the Divine law is inviolable,
that a person shall be in freedom,
and that good and truth, or charity and faith,
shall be implanted in his freedom,
and by no means in compulsion;
because what is received in a state of compulsion
does not remain, but is dissipated.
. . .The Lord therefore rules a person through his freedom,
and as far as possible withholds him
from the freedom of thinking and willing evil;
for unless a person were withheld by the Lord,
he would be continually plunging into the deepest hell.

Revelation 10

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven.
He was robed in a cloud,
with a rainbow above his head;
his face was like the sun,
and his legs were like fiery pillars.
He was holding a little scroll,
which lay open in his hand.
He planted his right foot on the sea
and his left foot on the land,
and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion.
When he shouted,
the voices of seven thunders spoke,
I was about to write;
but I heard a voice from heaven say,
"Seal up what the seven thunders have said
and do not write it down."
Then the angel I had seen
standing on the sea and on the land
raised his right hand to heaven.
And he swore by Him Who lives for ever and ever,
Who created the heavens and all that is in them,
the earth and all that is in it, and said,
"There will be no more delay!
But in the days
when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet,
the mystery of God will be accomplished,
just as He announced to His servants the prophets."
Then the voice that I had heard from heaven
spoke to me once more:
"Go, take the scroll
that lies open in the hand of the angel
who is standing on the sea and on the land."
So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll.
He said to me,
"Take it and eat it.
It will turn your stomach sour,
but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey."
I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it.
It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth,
but when I had eat it,
my stomach turned sour.
Then I was told,
"You must prophesy again about many peoples,
nations, languages and kings."

(Revelation 10) NIV

AC 5820, 5826, 5828 - co-operation

AC 5820
Spiritual food is in general all good,
but specifically it is the good
which is acquired by means of truth,
that is, truth in the will and in act,
for this good becomes good from the willing and doing,
and is called the good of truth.
Unless truth thus becomes good,
it does not benefit the person in the other life;
for when he comes into the other life
it is dissipated,
because it does not agree with his will,
thus not with the delight of his love.

AC 5826 [5]
. . . in order that a person may be regenerated
and become the church,
he must be introduced through truth to good;
and he is introduced
when truth becomes truth in the will and in act.
This truth is good, and is called the good of truth,
and produces new truths continually;
for then for the first time it makes itself fruitful.
The truth which is therefore brought forth or made fruitful
is what is called internal truth,
and the good from which it is,
is called internal good;
for nothing becomes internal
until it has been implanted in the will,
because what is of the will is the inmost of a person.
So long as good and truth are outside of the will,
and in the understanding only,
they are outside of the person;
for the understanding is without,
and the will is within.

AC 5828 [3]
It is a universal law
that influx adjusts itself according to efflux,
and if efflux is checked
influx is checked.
Through the internal person
there is an influx of good and truth from the Lord,
and through the external there must be an efflux,
namely into the life,
that is, in the exercise of charity.
When there is this efflux
then there is continual influx from heaven,
that is, through heaven from the Lord . . ..

Revelation 9:1-6,12-16,20-21

The fifth angel sounded his trumpet,
and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to earth.
The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.
When he opened the Abyss,
smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace.
The sun and sky were darkened
by the smoke from the Abyss.
And out of the smoke
locusts came down upon the earth
and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.
They were told not to harm the grass of the earth
or any plant or tree,
but only those people
who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
They were not given power to kill them,
but only to torture them for five months.
And the agony they suffered
was like that of the sting of a scorpion
when it strikes a man.
During those days men will seek death,
but will not find it;
they will long to die,
but death will elude them.

The first woe is past;
two other woes are yet to come.
The sixth angel sounded his trumpet,
and I heard a voice
coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God.
It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet,
"Release the four angels
who are bound at the great river Euphrates."
And the four angels who had been kept ready
for this very hour and day and month and year
were released to kill a third of mankind.

The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues
still did not repent of the work of their hands;
they did not stop worshiping demons,
and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood -
idols that cannot see or hear or walk.
Nor did they repent of their murders,
their magic arts,
their sexual immorality
or their thefts.

(Revelation 9:1-6,12-16,20-21) NIV

AC 5794, 5798, 5807, 5816 - communication

AC 5794
. . . communication takes place solely through good,
and not through truth 
unless there is good in the truth.

AC 5798
. . . one who is angry with another turns away,
for in that state
he does not think like him,
but against him.

AC 5807 [2]
In its essence
love is the harmony
resulting from changes of the state,
and variations in the forms or substances,
of which the human mind consists.
This harmony,
if from the heavenly form,
is heavenly love.
It is evident therefore
that love cannot have any other origin
than the Divine love itself
which is from the Lord;
thus that love is the Divine
which flows into forms,
and so disposes them
that their changes of state and variations
may be in the harmony of heaven.

AC 5816
Good is like a little flame
which gives light and illumines,
and causes a person to see, perceive,
and believe truths.
For the affection of truth from good
determines the internal sight,
and withdraws the sight 
from worldly and bodily things,
which induce darkness.

Revelation 8

When He opened the seventh seal,
there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
And I saw the seven angels who stand before God,
and to them were given seven trumpets.

Another angel, who had a golden censer,
came and stood at the altar.
He was given much incense to offer,
with the prayers of all the saints,
on the golden altar before the throne.
The smoke of the incense,
together with the prayers of the saints,
went up before God
from the angels hand.
Then the angel took the censer,
filled it with fire from the altar,
and hurled it on the earth;
and there came peals of thunder, rumblings,
flashes of lightning
and an earthquake.

Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets
prepared to sound them.
The first angel sounded his trumpet,
and there came hail and fire mixed with blood,
and it was hurled down upon the earth.
A third of the earth was burned up,
a third of the trees were burned up,
and all the green grass was burned up.

The second angel sounded his trumpet,
and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze,
was thrown into the sea.
A third of the sea turned into blood,
a third of the living creatures in the sea died,
and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The third angel sounded his trumpet,
and a great star, blazing like a torch,
fell from the sky on a third of the rivers
and on the springs of water - -
the name of the star is Wormwood (Bitterness).
A third of the waters turned bitter,
and many people died from the waters
that had become bitter.

The fourth angel sounded his trumpet,
and a third of the sun was struck,
a third of the moon,
and a third of the stars,
so that a third of them turned dark.
A third of the day was without light,
and also a third of the night.

As I watched, I heard an eagle
that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice:
"Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth,
because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded
by the other three angels!"

(Revelation 8) NIV

AC 5773 - the Lord shines

AC 5773
. . . when temptation is over,
the Lord shines on them with comfort.

Revelation 7:9-17

After this I looked
and there before me
was a great multitude that no one could count,
from every nation, tribe, people and language,
standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.
They were wearing white robes
and were holding palm branches in their hands.
and they cried out in a loud voice:

"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."

All the angels were standing around the throne
and around the elders and the four living creatures.
They fell down on their faces before the throne
and worshiped God, saying:

"Amen!
Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks
and honor and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!"

Then one of the elders asked me,
"These in white robes - who are they,
and where did they come from?"
I answered, "Sir, you know."
And he said,
"These are they who have come out of the great tribulation;
they have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Therefore,
"they are before the throne of God
and serve Him day and night in His temple;
and He who sits on the throne
will spread His tent over them.
Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their Shepherd;
He will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

(Revelation 7:9-17) NIV

AC 5755
. . . the signification of "doing," as being to will;
for all deed is of the will.
The deed itself is natural,
and the will is the spiritual source of it.

AC 5763
. . . heavenly freedom . . .
consists in willing what is good
and so doing it,
and in desiring what is true
and so thinking it.
When a person receives this freedom
he is a servant of the Lord,
and is then in freedom itself . . ..

Revelation 6:1-5;7-13

I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals.
Then I heard one of the four living creatures say
in a voice like thunder, "Come!"
I looked, and there before me was a white horse!
Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown,
and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

When the Lamb opened the second seal,
I heard the second living creature say, "Come!"
Then another horse came out, a fiery red one.
Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth
and to make men slay each other.
To him was given a large sword.

When the Lamb opened the third seal,
I heard the third living creature say, "Come!"
I looked, and there before me was a black horse!
Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.

When the Lamb opened the fourth seal,
I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!"
I looked, and there before me was a pale horse!
Its rider was named Death,
and Hades was following close behind him.

When He opened the fifth seal,
I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain
because of the word of God
and the testimony they had maintained.
They called out in a loud voice,
"How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true,
until You judge the inhabitants of the earth
and avenge our blood?"
Then each of them was given a white robe,
and they were told to wait a little longer . . ..

I watched as He opened the sixth seal.
There was a great earthquake.
The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair,
the whole moon turned blood red,
and the stars feel to the earth,
as late figs drop from a fig tree
when shaken by a strong wind.

(Revelation 6:1-5;7-13) NIV

AC 5746 - What is evil? AC 5747 - What is spiritual theft?

AC 5746
. . . evil is nothing else
than a turning away from good . . .

AC 5747 [2]
The truth which is bestowed by the Lord
is first received as if it were not bestowed;
for before regeneration the person supposes
that he procures truth for himself,
and so long as he supposes this
he is in spiritual theft.
To claim good and truth to oneself,
and to attribute them to oneself
for righteousness and merit,
is to take away from the Lord
that which is His.

Revelation 5:1-3,11-14

Then I saw in the right hand of Him who sat one the throne
a scroll
with writing on both sides
and sealed with seven seals.
And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice,
"Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?"
But no one in heaven
or on earth
or under the earth
could open the scroll
or even look inside it.

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels,
numbering thousands upon thousands,
and ten thousand times ten thousand.
Then they encircled the throne
and the living creatures and the elders.
In a loud voice they sang:

"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"

Then I heard every creature in heaven
and on earth
and under the earth
and on the sea,
and all that is in them, singing:

"To Him who sits on the throne
and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!"

The four living creatures said, "Amen,"
and the elders fell down and worshiped.

(Revelation 5:1-3,11-14)

AC 5713 - heaven and hell

AC 5713
Heaven, which is the Grand Man,
holds all things together in connection and safety;
hell, being what is opposite,
destroys and severs all things.

Revelation 4:1-6

After this I looked,
and there before me was a door standing open in heaven,
And the voice I had first heard speaking to me
like a trumpet said,
"Come up here,
and I will show you what must take place after this."

At once I was in the Spirit,
and there before me was a throne in heaven
with someone sitting on it.
And the one who sat there
had the appearance of Jasper and carnelian.
A rainbow,
resembling an emerald,
encircled the throne.
Surrounding the throne
where twenty-four other thrones,
and seated on them were twenty-four elders.
They were dressed in white
and had crowns of gold on their heads.
From the throne came flashes of lightning,
rumblings and peals of thunder.
Before the throne,
seven lamps were blazing.
These are the seven spirits of God.
Also before the throne
there was what looked like a sea of class,
clear as crystal.

(Revelation 4:1-6)

AC 5704 - the Sun

AC 5704 [2]
. . . the Lord is nothing but Divine good;
Divine truth is not in the Lord,
but proceeds from Him . . ..
That the Lord is nothing but Divine good,
and that Divine truth is not in Him,
but proceeds from Him,
may be illustrated by comparison with the sun of the world.
The sun is nothing but fire,
and light is not in it,
but proceeds from it;
and likewise the things that are of light in the world,
such as vegetable forms,
are set in order by the heat
which proceeds from the sun's fire and is in its light,
as is evident in the time of spring and summer.
As universal nature is a theater
representative of the Lord's kingdom,
so also is this universal.
The sun represents the Lord,
the fire of it His Divine love,
and the heat from it the good which flows therefrom,
and the light the truths which are of faith;
and because they are representative,
therefore in the Word in the spiritual sense
by the "sun" is meant the Lord.

Revelation 3:1,7,16,19-22

"To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

These are the words of Him
who holds the seven spirits of God
and the seven stars.

"To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of Him
who is holy and true,
who holds the key of David.
What He opens
no one can shut,
and what He shuts
no one can open.

"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen,
the faithful and true witness,
the ruler of God's creation.

Those whom I love
I rebuke and discipline.
So be earnest, and repent.
Here I am!
I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice
and opens the door,
I will come in and eat with him,
and he with Me.
To him who overcomes,
I will give the right to sit with me on my throne,
just as I over came
and sat down with My Father on His throne.
He who has an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

(Revelation 3:1,7,16,19-22)

AC 5670 - giving provender; AC 5682 - bending and bowing

AC 5670
And he gave their asses provender.
(Genesis 43:24)
That this signifies instruction concerning good,
is evident from the signification of "giving provender,"
as being to instruct in good;
for by "provender" is signified
the good of the truths of memory-knowledge
and by "giving provender," which is "feeding,"
is signified to instruct in this good.


AC 5682
And they bent themselves and bowed themselves down.
(Genesis 43:28)
That this signifies outward and inward humiliation,
is evident from the signification of "bending themselves,"
as being outward humiliation;
and from the signification of "bowing themselves down,"
as being inward humiliation;
for bending is a less degree of bowing down,
and therefore it denotes outward humiliation;
and bowing down is a greater degree,
and therefore it denotes inward humiliation.
Moreover, "bending" denotes the humiliation of truth,
that is, of those who are in truth,
thus of the spiritual;
and "bowing down" denotes the humiliation of good,
that is, of those who are in good,
thus of the celestial.
In this case also "bending" is outward humiliation,
and "bowing down" inward;
for they who are in good
are more interior men than those who are in truth.

Revelation 2:1,8,12,18

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of Him
who holds the seven stars in His right hand
and walks among the seven golden lampstands . . ..

"To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of Him
who is the First and the Last,
who died and came to life again . . ..

"To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

These are the words of Him
who has the sharp, double-edged sword . . ..

"To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

These are the words of the Son of God,
whose eyes are like blazing fire
and whose feet are like burnished bronze . . .."

(Revelation 2:1,8,12,18)

AC 5657 - doubt; AC 5662 - peace; AC 5664 - a heavenly proprium

AC 5657
. . .  when anyone is in a state of doubt,
he feels doubtful also about the truths which confirm.


AC 5662
And he said, Peace be to you, fear not.
(Genesis 43:23)
That this signifies that it is well, let them not despair,
is evident from the signification of "peace,"
as being to be well;
and from the signification of "fear not,"
as being let them not despair.
For the internal sense treats of a change of state,
in that they no longer procure truths
and through them good
by their own power;
but are presented with them from the Lord.
And because they supposed
that they would thus lose their own (proprium), thus freedom,
and consequently all the delight of life,
they were in despair . . ..

That "peace" denotes it is well,
is because it is the inmost,
and consequently the universally reigning thing,
in each and all things in heaven;
for peace in heaven is like spring on earth,
or like the dawn,
which does not affect us by sensible changes,
but by a universal pleasantness
that flows into everything that is perceived . . ..
At the present day
scarcely anyone knows the meaning of "peace"
where mentioned in the Word,
as in the benediction,
"Jehovah lift up His faces upon thee,
and give thee peace"
(Numbers. 6:26); and in other places.
Almost everyone believes peace to be security from enemies,
and also tranquility at home and among companions.
Such peace is not meant in this passage,
but a peace which immeasurably transcends it -
the heavenly peace just now spoken of.
This peace can be bestowed on no one
unless he is led by the Lord and is in the Lord,
that is, in heaven where the Lord is all in all;
for heavenly peace flows in
when the cupidities arising from the love of self
and the love of the world are taken away.
These are what take peace away,
for they infest a person's interiors,
and at last cause him to make rest consist in unrest,
and peace in annoyances,
because his delight is in evils.
So long as a person is in these
he cannot possibly know what peace is,


AC 5664 [4]
. . . in order that a heavenly proprium
and heavenly freedom
may be bestowed on person,
he must needs do good
as of himself
and think what is true
as of himself;
but when he reflects
he should acknowledge
that these are from the Lord.
 

Revelation 1: 1-8

The revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave Him
to show His servants what must soon take place.
He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,
who testifies to everything he saw -
that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Blessed is the one who reads the words of the prophecy,
and blessed are those who hear it
and take to heart what is written in it,
because the time is near.

John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to you
from Him who is,
and who was,
and who is to come,
and from the seven spirits before His throne,
and from Jesus Christ,
Who is the faithful witness,
the first-born from the dead,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To Him who loves us
and has freed us from our sins by His blood,
and has made us to be a kingdom and priests
to serve His God and Father -
to Him be glory and power for ever and ever! 
Amen.

Look, He is coming wiht the clouds,
and every eye will see Him,
even those who pierced Him;
and all the peoples of the earth will mourn
because of Him.
So shall it be!  Amen.

I am the Alpha and the Omega,"
says the Lord God,
"Who is,
and who was,
and who is come,
the Almighty."

(Revelation 1:1-8)

AC 5639 - what the spiritual is relative to the natural

AC 5639 [2]
What the spiritual is relatively to the natural
must be further told in a few words . . ..
In its essence with a person
the spiritual is the very affection of good and truth
for the sake of good and truth,
and not for the sake of self,
and also the affection of what is just and fair
for the sake of what is just and fair,
and not for the sake of self.
When a person feels in himself delight and pleasantness,
and still more if he feels happiness and blessedness,
from these affections,
this is the spiritual in him,
which comes not from the natural,
but from the spiritual world or from heaven,
that is, through heaven from the Lord.
This then is the spiritual,
which when it reigns in a person,
affects and as it were tinges
all that he thinks, wills, and does,
and causes the thoughts and the acts of his will
to partake of the spiritual,
until at last these also become spiritual in him,
as when he passes out of the natural into the spiritual world.
In a word, the affection of charity and faith,
that is, of good and truth,
and the delight and pleasantness,
and still more
the happiness and blessedness derived from there,
which are felt inwardly in a person
and make him a person truly Christian,
are the spiritual.

Psalm 89:1,14-18,52

I will sing of the Lord's great love forever . . ..

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
love and faithfulness go before You.
Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim You,
who walk in the light of Your presence, O Lord.
They rejoice in Your name all day long;
they exult in Your righteousness.
For You are their glory and strength,
and by Your favor You exalt our horn.
Indeed, our shield belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.

Praise be to the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.

(Psalm 89:1,14-18,52)

AC 5623 - capacity, ability

AC 5623
. . . the capacities or abilities for receiving truth
are wholly according to good,
because the Lord adjoins them to good;
for when the Lord flows in with good
He also flows in with capacity.

Psalm 86: 11-13

Teach me Your way, O Lord,
and I will walk in Your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear Your name.
I will praise You, O Lord my God,
with all my heart;
I will glorify Your name forever.
For great is Your love toward me;
You have delivered me
from the depths of the grave.

(Psalm 86: 11-13)

AC 5598 - birth; AC 5608 - innocence

AC 5598
And unto our birth.
(Genesis 43:7)
. . . in heaven no other birth is understood
than that which is called regeneration,
which is effected by means of the truth of faith
and the good of charity.
By this birth,
from being sons of man 
men become sons of the Lord;
these are they who are said to be "born of God" (John 1:13).

AC 5608 [3,4,5]
. . . just as the end, cause, and effect
are distinct from one another,
so in the spiritual world are
love to the Lord,
charity toward the neighbor,
and the works of charity. 

. . . And also as in the works of charity:
unless charity from affection or the heart is within them,
they are not works of charity;
and unless love to God is within charity, 
it is not charity.
Therefore if you take away that which is interior,
the exterior falls;
for the exterior comes into existence and subsists
from its interiors in order.
So is it with innocence.
This makes one with love to the Lord,
and unless it is within charity it is not charity;
consequently unless charity in which there is innocence
is within the works of charity
they are not works of charity.
So it is that innocence must be within all
who are in the heavens.

That this is so,
and that innocence is signified by "little children,"
is evident in Mark:

Jesus said to the disciples,
Suffer the little children to come unto me,
and forbid them not; 
for of such is the kingdom of God.
Verily I say unto you,
whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God
as a little child,
he shall not enter therein.
And taking them up in His arms,
He put His hand upon them,
and blessed them.
(Mark 10:14-16; Luke 18:15-17; Matt. 18:3)

It is evident that by "little children" is here signified innocence,
because with little children there is innocence,
and because those who are innocent
appear in heaven as little children.

No one can enter heaven
unless he has somewhat of innocence;
and moreover
little children suffer themselves to be governed by angels
who are forms of innocence,
and not as yet by what is their own,
as is the case with adults
who govern themselves by their own judgment and will.
That little children suffer themselves to be governed by angels
is evident from the Lord's words in Matthew:

See that ye despise not one of these little ones;
for I say to you,
that their angels in the heavens
do always behold the face of My Father.
(Matthew 18:10)

no one can "see the face" of God except from innocence.

Psalm 85:10-13

Love and faithfulness meet together;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,
and righteousness looks down from heaven.
The Lord will indeed give what is good,
and our land will yield its harvest.
Righteousness goes before Him
and prepares the way for His steps.

(Psalm 85:10-13)

AC 5586, 5585 - Benjamin the intermediary

AC 5586
The intermediary which Benjamin represents
is the intermediate between the internal and the external,
or between the spiritual and the natural person,
and is the truth of good
which proceeds from the truth from the Divine
which is represented by Joseph.
This truth of good
is called the spiritual of the celestial,
and this is "Benjamin".
A person's internal and external
are most distinct from each other,
for his internal is in the light of heaven,
and his external in the light of the world;
and because they are most distinct,
they cannot be conjoined
except by means of an intermediary 
that partakes of both.


AC 5585
. . . 'face', when used in reference to a person,
(signifies/means) as his interiors, that is to say,
his affections and consequent thoughts.
But when used in reference to the Lord,
for the Lord is represented in the highest sense by 'Joseph',
'face' means mercy and compassion,
and therefore 'not seeing his face'
means a lack of mercy or absence of compassion.
Not that the Lord lacks any compassion,
for He is pure mercy;
but when the intermediary
that effects the joining to Him
is not present
it does seem to a person
as though there is no compassion in the Lord.
The reason for this is
that if no intermediary effecting the joining together is present,
no acceptance of good takes place.
And if there is no acceptance of good,
evil is present instead.
If the person then cries to the Lord,
and because he cries from evil
and thus for himself against all others,
is not heard,
it appears to him 
as if there were no compassion.

Psalm 84:1-7,10-12

How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young -
a place near Your altar,
O Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
they are ever praising You.  Selah.

Blessed are those whose strength is in You,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.

Better is a one day in Your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does He withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.

O Lord Almighty,
blessed is the man who trusts in You.

(Psalm 84:1-7,10-12)

AC 5563 - headaches

AC 5563
Pains are sometimes felt in the skull,
now in one part, now in another . . ..
Experience has taught me that things of this nature
are caused by falsities originating in evil desires.
And what is a marvel,
the genera and species of falsities
have their own particular locations in the skull . . ..
In the case of people undergoing reformation
such nodules, which are pieces of hardness,
are broken down and made soft;
and this is done in a variety of ways.
In general it is done
by means of instruction in what is good and true,
by means of incisive inroads made by truths,
an activity accompanied by pain inwardly,
and also by means of actual tearings apart,
an activity accompanied by pain outwardly.
For falsities originating in evil desires
are of such a nature as to cause hardness;
they are the opposite of truths.

Psalm 80: 3, 7, 19

Restore us O God;
make Your face shine upon us,
that we may be saved.

Restore us, O God Almighty;
make Your face shine upon us,
that we may be saved.

Restore us, O Lord God Almighty
make Your face shine upon us,
that we may be saved.

(Psalm 80: 3, 7, 19)

AC 5531 - sacks are receptacles

AC 5531
A person's natural is divided into receptacles;
and in each receptacle is some general thing,
in which things less general
or relatively particular
are set in order,
and in these
single (or specific) things.
Each such general thing,
together with its particulars and singulars,
has its own receptacle 
within which it can operate,
or vary its forms and change its states.
With the person who has been regenerated
these receptacles are as many in number
as there are general truths in him,
and each receptacle corresponds to some society in heaven.
Such is the setting in order with the person
who is in the good of love
and consequently in the truth of faith.

Psalm 77:16-19

The waters saw You, O God,
the waters saw You and writhed;
the very depths were convulsed.
The clouds poured down water,
the skies resounded with thunder;
Your arrows flashed back and forth.
Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,
Your lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and quaked.
Your path led through the sea,
Your way through the mighty waters,
though Your footprints were not seen.

(Psalm 77:16-19)

AC 5508 - providence, miracles, human freedom

5508 [2,3,5]
. . . everything that befalls or happens,
which in other words is called accidental,
and is ascribed to chance or fortune,
is of providence.
Divine providence works thus invisibly and incomprehensibly
in order that a person may in freedom attribute an event
either to providence or to chance;
for if providence acted visibly and comprehensibly,
there would be danger of a person's believing,
from what he sees and comprehends,
that it is of providence,
and afterward changing into the contrary.
Thus truth and falsity would be conjoined in the interior man,
and truth would be profaned,
which profanation is attended with eternal damnation.
Therefore it is better for such a person
to be kept in unbelief
than to be in faith and then recede from it.
 
Say to this people,
Hearing hear ye, but understand not;
and seeing see ye, and know not.
Make the heart of this people fat,
and make their ears heavy,
and besmear their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and their heart should understand,
and they should turn again, and be healed.
(Isaiah 6:9-10; John 12:40).

It is for this reason also
that miracles do not take place at this day,
for these, like all visible and comprehensible things,
would compel men to believe,
and whatever compels takes away freedom;
when yet all the reformation and regeneration of a person
is effected in his freedom.
That which is not implanted in freedom does not stay.
It is implanted in freedom when the person
is in the affection of good and truth.

That a person at this day ought to believe
what he does not see,
is evident from the Lord's words to Thomas, in John:

Because thou hast seen Me, Thomas,
thou hast believed:
blessed are they who do not see, and yet believe.
(John 20:29)

Psalm 75

We give thanks to you, O God,
we give thanks, for your Name is near;
men tell of your wonderful deeds.

You say, "I choose the appointed time;
it is I who judge uprightly.
When the earth and all its people quake,
it is I who hold its pillars firm. 
Selah.

To the arrogant I say, 'Boast no more,'
and to the wicked, 'Do not lift up your horns.
Do not lift your horns against heaven;
do not speak with outstretched neck.'"

No one from the east or the west
or from the desert can exalt a man.
But it is God who judges:
He brings one down,
He exalts another.
In the hand of the Lord is a cup
full of foaming wine mixed with spices;
He pours it out;
and all the wicked of the earth
drink it down to its very dregs.

As for me, I will declare this forever;
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
I will cut off the horns of all the wicked,
but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.

(Psalm 75)

AC 5486 - influx; AC 5503 - providence

AC 5486
. . . the internal commands in no other way than by influx,
and then by disposal for use . . .

AC 5503
. . . everything that God does
can be expressed by no other word than providence.
The reason of this is
that in everything that God or the Lord does
there is the eternal and the infinite,
and these are in the word "providence."

Psalm 73:25-26

Whom have I in heaven but You?
And the earth has nothing I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

(Psalm 73:25-26)

AC 5470, 5478 - choices

AC 5470
The Lord comes to a person constantly,
bringing good to him,
and also truth within that good;
but the person either accepts this or does not accept it.
If he accepts it, all is well with him;
but if he does not, all is ill.
If, while not accepting it, he feels worried,
described here as 'anguish of soul',
the hope exists that he can be reformed;
but if he has no such feeling,
the hope disappears.
For with every person
two spirits from hell are present
and two angels from heaven.
These are present because a person is born in sins
and cannot by any means live
unless he is on one hand in communication with hell
and on the other in communication with heaven.
His entire life depends on having these on either hand.
When a person is growing up
he begins to be his own master,
that is, it seems to him that his will and actions
spring from his own power of judgement,
and in matters of faith his thought and deductions
are the result of his own power of understanding.
If during this time he inclines to evils,
the two spirits from hell draw closer to him
and the two angels from heaven move a small distance away.
But if he inclines to good
the two angels from heaven draw nearer
and the two spirits from hell are withdrawn.

AC 5478
. . . truths known to the Church
are understood by those governed by good
. . . in a manner completely different
from that in which those who are not governed by good
understand them
does indeed seem to be a paradox;
but for all that, it is the truth.
For truths are understood in a spiritual manner
by those who are governed by good
because such people dwell in spiritual light,
whereas truths are understood in a natural manner
by those who are not governed by good
because they dwell in natural light.
Consequently those who are governed by good
are constantly conjoining truths
to the truths they already have,
whereas those who are not governed by good
conjoin very many illusions as well as falsities
to the truths they have.
The reason for this is
that the truths present with people governed by good
reach into heaven,
whereas the truths present with those
who are not governed by good
do not reach into heaven.
Consequently the truths present
with those governed by good are filled out,
whereas the ones present with those
who are not governed by good are virtually empty.
That fullness or emptiness is not seen by a person
as long as he lives in the world;
but the angels see it.
If a person knew
how much of heaven existed
within truths that have been joined to good
he would have a completely different conception of faith.

Psalm 72:18-20

Praise be to the Lord God,
the God of Israel,
Who alone does marvelous deeds.
Praise be to His glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen and Amen.

This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.

(Psalm 72:18-20) NIV

AC 5461 - the influx of the Divine from the Lord

AC 5461
. . . the influx of the Divine from the Lord
with the regenerate person
is into good and from there into truth,
or what is the same,
into the will and from there into the understanding.
In so far therefore
as the person who is in the truths of faith
receives good from the Lord,
so far the Lord forms in him
a new will in his intellectual part,
and so far the Lord flows in,
and produces the affection of doing what is good,
that is, of exercising charity toward the neighbor.

Psalm 71:1-8

In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
Rescue me and deliver me in Your righteousness;
turn Your ear to me and save me.
Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for You are my rock and my fortress.
Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of evil and cruel me.

For You have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord,
my confidence since my youth.
From birth I have relied on You;
You brought me forth from my mother's womb.
I will ever praise You.
I have become like a portent to many,
but You are my strong refuge.
My mouth is filled with Your praise,
declaring Your splendor all day long.

(Psalm 71:1-8) NIV

AC 5431 - reading the Word

AC 5431 [5]
. . the Word should be searched
with devout prayer to the Lord for enlightenment.

Psalm 69:1-3; 5-7;13-16;30-33

Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in the miry depths,
where there is no foothold.
Have come into the deep waters;
floods engulf me.
I am worn out calling for help;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail, looking for my God.

You know my folly, O God;
my guilt is not hidden from You.

May those who hope in You
not be disgraced because of me,
O Lord, the Lord Almighty;
may those who seek You
not be put to shame because of me,
O God of Israel.
For I endure scorn for Your sake,
and shame covers my face.

But I pray to You, O Lord,
in the time of Your favor;
in Your great love, O God,
answer me with Your sure salvation.
Rescue me from the mire,
do not let me sink;
deliver me from those who hate me,
from the deep waters.
Do not let the flood waters engulf me
or the depths swallow me up
or the pit close its mouth over me.
Answer me, O Lord,
out of the goodness of Your love;
in Your great mercy turn to me.

I will praise God's name in song
and glorify Him with thanksgiving.
This will please the Lord more than an ox,
more than a bull with its horns and hoofs.
The poor will see and be glad -
you who seek God, may your hearts live!
The Lord hears the needy
and does not despise His captive people.

(Psalm 69:1-3; 5-7;13-16;30-33) NIV

AC 5428 - heavenly wisdom, angelic power, and real freedom

AC 5428
. . . the glory of heaven
is the Divine that shines forth
from everything that appears there,
and is the perception of Divine things,
and the consequent wisdom;
but that this glory is possessed
only by those in heaven
who regard the magnificence there
as nothing
in comparison with wisdom,
and attribute all wisdom to the Lord
and none at all to themselves

. . . angelic power
indeed surpasses all the power of the mighty in the world,
and that it is so great
that one of the lesser angels
can drive away myriads of the infernals
and thrust them down into their hells,
and that this is the reason why in the Word
they are called "powers" and also "dominions;"
while nevertheless
 the least of them is the greatest, that is,
he is most powerful who believes, wills, and perceives
that all power is from the Lord
and none from himself,
and thus they who are powers in heaven
are utterly averse to all self-derived power . . .

. . . real freedom,
which is called heavenly freedom,
. . . consists in willing nothing from self,
but from the Lord,
and also in thinking nothing from self,
but from heaven,
and so that the angels are overwhelmed
with sorrow and grief
if permitted to think and to will from themselves . . ..

Psalm 68:11

The Lord announced the Word,
and great was the company
of those who proclaimed it.

(Psalm 68:11) NIV

AC 5398 - the Sanctuary

AC 5398 [2, 3]
. . . to be separated from the hells
is to be separated from sins,
and that this cannot be done
except by thousands upon thousands of ways
known to the Lord only,
and this - if you will believe it -
in a continual succession to eternity.
 
In what manner therefore
a person receives new life and is regenerated,
is contained in the sanctuary of the Word,
that is, in its internal sense,
chiefly to the end
that when the Word is being read by a person
the angels may thereby be in their happiness of wisdom . . ..

Psalm 67:1-5

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make His face shine upon us,
that Your ways may be known on earth,
Your salvation among all nations.

May the peoples praise You, O God;
may all the peoples praise You.
May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for You rule the peoples justly
and guide the nations of the earth.
May the peoples praise You, O God;
may all the peoples praise You.

(Psalm 67:1-5)

AC 5386 - conscience-monger spirits

AC 5386
Some of these spirits . . . are such
that they raise scruples in matters where
there need be none;
and because they burden the consciences of the simple,
they are called conscience-mongers.
What true conscience is, they know not,
because they make everything
that comes up a matter of conscience;
for when any scruple or doubt is suggested,
if the mind is anxious and dwells on it,
there are never wanting things to strengthen the doubt
and make it burdensome.
When such spirits are present they also induce
a sensible anxiety in the part of the abdomen
immediately under the diaphragm.
They are also present with a person in temptations.
. . . they have not enough extension of thought
to acquiesce in the more useful and necessary things;
for they were unable to give attention to reasons,
being tenaciously set in their own opinion.

Psalm 64:10

Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in Him;
let all the upright in heart praise Him!

(Psalm 64:10)

AC 5365 [2]
Truth has need of good,
and good has need of truth;
and when truth has need of good,
truth is conjoined with good,
and when good has need of truth,
good is conjoined with truth;
for the reciprocal conjunction of good and truth,
namely of truth with good and of good with truth,
is the heavenly marriage.
In the early stages of a person's regeneration,
truth is multiplied, but not good;
and as truth has then no good with which to be conjoined,
it is drawn in and stored up
in the interiors of the natural mind,
that it may be called forth from there
according to the increases of good.
. . . But when a person has been regenerated,
then good increases;
and as it increases it is in need of truth,
and also procures truth for itself
with which it may be conjoined,
and thereupon there is a conjunction of good with truth.
When this takes place,
truth is made fruitful from good,
and good from truth. 

Psalm 62:10-12

One thing God has spoken,
two things have I heard:
that You, O God, are strong,
and that You, O Lord, are loving.
Surely you will reward each person
according to what he has done.

(Psalm 62:10-12)

AC 5356 - what the Lord accomplishes through temptations

AC 5356
Temptations remove the loves of self and of the world,
thus evils; on the removal of which
the affection of good and truth flows in from the Lord.
Temptations also give quality
to the perception of good and truth,
by means of the opposite things . . .
for no one knows what is good
without also knowing what is not good,
nor what is true
without knowing what is not true.
Temptations also confirm goods and truths,
for the person then fights against evils and falsities,
and by conquering comes into a stronger affirmative.
Moreover, by means of temptations
evils and falsities are subdued,
so that they no longer venture to rise up;
and in this way
evils with falsities are rejected to the sides,
and there hang, but drooping downward;
while goods with truths are in the midst,
and according to the zeal of affection
are lifted upward,
thus to heaven toward the Lord,
by whom they are lifted up.

Psalm 61:1-5

Hear my cry, O God;
listen to my prayer.

From the ends of the earth I call to You,
I call as my heart grows faint;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For You have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the foe.

I long to dwell in Your tent forever
and take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.
Selah.

For You have heard my vows, O God;
You have given me
the heritage of those who fear Your name.

(Psalm 61:1-5)

AC 5331 - Just what is the celestial of the spiritual?

AC 5331
. . . the celestial of the spiritual
is the good of truth in which is the Divine,
or which is immediately from the Divine.
. . . the celestial of the spiritual in which is the Divine,
belonged to the Lord alone when He was in the world,
and was the Human in which the Divine Itself could be,
and which could be put off
when the Lord made all the Human in Himself Divine.

Psalm 60-11-12

Give us aid against the enemy,
for the help of man is worthless.
With God we will gain the victory,
and He will trample down our enemies.

(Psalm 60:11-12)

AC 5321 - the Lord is doctrine itself

AC 5321
. . . the Lord is doctrine itself,
for everything of doctrine proceeds from Him,
and everything of doctrine treats of Him;
for all doctrine
treats of the good of love and of the truth of faith.
These are from the Lord,
and therefore the Lord is not only in them,
but also is both.
From this it is evident
that the doctrine that treats of good and truth,
treats of the Lord only;
and that it proceeds from His Divine Human.

[2] From the Divine Itself
nothing of doctrine can possibly proceed
except through the Divine Human,
that is, through the Word,
which in the supreme sense
is the Divine truth from the Lord's Divine Human.
Not even the angels in the inmost heaven
can comprehend that which proceeds immediately
from the Divine Itself,
because it is infinite,
and therefore transcends all comprehension,
even that of angels.
But that which proceeds from the Lord's Divine Human
they can comprehend,
because it treats of God as a Divine Man . . ..

Psalm 51

Have mercy upon me, O God,
according to Your lovingkindness:
according to unto the multitude of Your tender mercies
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions:
and my sin is ever before me.
Against You, You only, have I sinned,
and done this evil in Your sight:
that You might be justified when You speak,
and be clear when You judge.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin my mother conceived me.
Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part
You will make me to know wisdom.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
and sinners shall be converted to You.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
the God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and contrite heart -
These, O God, You will not despise.

Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

(Psalm 51) NKJV

AC 5307 - men in the Word who represent the Lord

(It is a good idea to read the parts about Joseph slowly,
and attentively - what he represents is involved.)

AC 5307 [2]
It is known in the church that
"Joseph" in the spiritual sense is the Lord,
and therefore the Lord is called the "heavenly Joseph;"
but it is not known
what in the Lord Joseph represents.
For the Lord is represented by Abraham,
and also by Isaac, as well as by Jacob,
and He is also represented by Moses and Elijah,
by Aaron, by David,
besides by many others in the Word,
and yet not in the same way by one as by another.
By Abraham the Lord is represented as to the Divine Itself,
by Isaac as to the Divine rational,
by Jacob as to the Divine natural,
by Moses as to the law or historic Word,
by Elijah as to the prophetic Word,
by Aaron as to the priesthood,
and by David as to the royalty.
. . . That which Joseph represents is called
"the celestial of the spiritual from the natural,"
 the only words by which it can be expressed.
For the celestial is good from the Divine,
and the spiritual is truth from that good,
and thus is the truth of the good from His Divine Human.
This the Lord was when He lived in the world;
but when He had glorified Himself,
He passed above it,
and became the Divine good itself
or Jehovah even as to the Human. 

Psalm 49:20

A man who has riches without understanding
is like the beasts that perish.

(Psalm 49:20)

AC 5291 - remains; AC 5293 - spiritual food

AC 5291
 . . . "to tithe," in the Word,
signifies to make remains,
and to make remains
is to gather truths and goods,
and then to store them up.
. . . remains are goods and truths
stored up by the Lord in the inner person.

. . . a fifth part of the produce was to be collected there
in the seven years of plenty,
and to be preserved for use in the following years of famine.
Therefore it has been shown that by a "fifth part"
are signified goods and truths
stored up in a person by the Lord,
and reserved for use when there shall be a famine,
that is when there shall be
a lack and privation of good and truth;
for unless such things were stored up in a person by the Lord,
there would be nothing to uplift him
in a state of temptation and vastation,
consequently nothing through which he could be regenerated;
and thus he would be 
without the means of salvation in the other life.

AC 5293
And let them gather all the food.
(Genesis 41:35)
In the internal sense "food" properly signifies
the things that nourish the soul of a person,
that is, that nourish him after death,
for he then lives as a soul or spirit,
and no longer needs material food,
but spiritual food,
which consists in everything that is of use,
and everything that is conducive to use.
That which is conducive to use
is to know what is good and true;
that which is of use
is to will and do what is good and true.
These are the things that nourish the angels,
and are therefore called spiritual and heavenly food.
Within a person's mind
are his interior understanding and interior will,
or his intentions or ends,
which is not nourished by any other food
even while he lives in the body.

AC 5287 - wisdom

AC 5287 [2]
. . . in proportion as any one loves himself more than others,
in the same proportion he is less wise.

. . . In the Word a distinction is occasionally made
between "wisdom," "intelligence," and "knowledge;"
and by "wisdom" is meant what is from good,
by "intelligence" what is from truth,
and by "knowledge" both of these in a person's natural . . .

Psalm 46:4-6;10

There is a river
whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her,
she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar,
kingdoms fall;
He lifts His voice,
the earth melts.

"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

(Psalm 46:4-6;10)

Desolation: The Last State Before Regeneration

And the abundance of produce shall not be known in the land.
(Genesis 41:31)
AC 5280 [2-4]
In this verse the subject treated of
is the last state of desolation,
when there is the despair
which next precedes regeneration;
and as this is the subject treated of in the present verse,
it must be stated how the case is.
Every person must be reformed and be born anew
or regenerated that he may be able to come into heaven,
for
"Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God."
(John 3:3, 5, 6)
Man is born into sin,
which has been increased in a long line from parents,
grandparents, and ancestors, and made hereditary,
and thus transmitted to the offspring.
Every man who is born,
is born into all these inherited evils
thus increased in succession,
and consequently is nothing but sin;
and therefore unless he is regenerated
he remains wholly in sin.
But in order that man may be regenerated
he must first be reformed,
and this is done by means of the truths of faith;
for he has to learn from the Word
and from doctrine therefrom what good is.
The knowledges of good from the Word,
or from doctrine therefrom,
are called the truths of faith,
because all the truths of faith spring from good,
and flow to good,
for they look to good as the end.

This is the first state, and is called the state of reformation.
During their childhood and youth
most of those who are in the church,
are introduced into this state,
and yet few are regenerated;
for most in the church learn the truths of faith
or the knowledges of good
for the sake of reputation and honor, and also for gain;
and when the truths of faith
have been introduced by means of these loves,
the man cannot be born anew or regenerated
until these loves have been removed.
In order therefore that they may be removed,
the man is let into a state of temptation,
and this in the following manner.
The loves referred to are excited by the infernal crew,
for they desire to live in them;
but the affections of truth and good
that have been instilled from infancy in a state of innocence,
and afterward stored up interiorly and preserved for this use,
are then excited by angels.
The result is a conflict
between the evil spirits and the angels
which is felt in the man as temptation;
and because the conflict is about truths and goods,
the truths previously instilled are as it were banished
by means of the falsities injected by the evil spirits,
so that they no longer appear.
And then as the man suffers himself to be regenerated,
the light of truth from good is instilled by the Lord
through an internal way into the natural,
into which light the truths are returned in order.

This is the case with the person who is being regenerated;
but few at this day are admitted into this state.
Insofar as they permit it,
all do indeed begin to be reformed
by means of instruction in the truths and goods of spiritual life;
but as soon as they come to the age of early manhood
they suffer themselves to be carried away by the world,
and thus go over to the side of infernal spirits,
by whom they are gradually so estranged from heaven
that they scarcely believe any longer that there is a heaven.
Thus they cannot be let into any spiritual temptation,
for if they were they would at once yield,
and then their last state would be worse than the first:

"When an evil spirit comes out of a man,
it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.
Then it says,
'I will return to the house I left.'
When it arrives,
it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits
more wicked than itself,
and they go in and live there.
And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.
That is how it will be with this wicked generation.
(Matthew 12:45).

From this it may be seen how the case is
with what is here contained in the internal sense,
namely, with the state of reformation and that of regeneration;
but in this verse is described the last state of temptation
which is a state of despair.

Psalm 42:8

By day the Lord directs His love,
at night His song is with me -
a prayer to the God of my life.

(Psalm 42:8)

AC 5270 - during a person's reformation

AC 5270 [2]
During his reformation
a person first learns truths from the Word or from doctrine,
and stores them up in the memory.
The person who is unable to be reformed
imagines that once he has learned truths
and stored them away in his memory
there is nothing more to be done.
But he is much mistaken. 
The truths he has acquired
must be initiated and conjoined with good;
and this cannot be done
so long as the evils of the love of self
and the love of the world remain in the natural person.
These two loves served initially
in the introduction of such truths,
but the truths cannot possibly be conjoined with them;
and therefore in order that conjunction may be effected,
the truths that have been introduced
and retained by these loves must first be banished,
though they are not really banished,
but are withdrawn to a more interior position,
with the result that they do not seem to exist,
which is why the expression
'a seeming deprivation of truth' is used.
When this has been done,
the natural is illumined from within,
and the evils of the love of self
and the love of the world give way;
and in the degree in which they give way
truths are stored up, 
and are conjoined with good.

Psalm 40 :1-8

I waited patiently for the Lord;
He turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
He set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord.

Blessed is the man
who makes the Lord his trust,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.
Many, O Lord my God,
are the wonders You have done.
The things You planned for us
no one can recount to You;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare.

Sacrifice and offering
You did not desire,
but my ears You have opened;
burnt offerings and sin offerings
You did not require.
Then I said, "Here I am, I have come -
come with the scroll written for me.
I desire to do your will, O my God;
Your law is within my heart.

(Psalm 40 :1-8)

AC 5256 - the Human glorified is Divine

AC 5256
For when the Lord was in the world
He indeed had foresight and providence in the human,
but from the Divine;
but since His glorification
these are from the Divine alone;
for the Human glorified is the Divine.
Regarded in itself the human is nothing
but a form receptive of life from the Divine;
but the Lord's glorified Human, or His Divine Human,
is not a form recipient of life from the Divine,
but is the very being of life;
and that which proceeds therefrom is life.
Such is the idea that the angels have in regard to the Lord;
but nearly all who at this day
come from the Christian Church into the other life
have an idea of the Lord as being like any other man,
not only separate from the Divine
(though indeed they adjoin what is Divine to Him),
but also separate from Jehovah,
and what is more,
separate even from the holy that proceeds from Him.
They do indeed say "one God,"
but still they think of three;
and they actually divide the Divine among three;
for they distinguish it into persons, calling each God,
and attribute to each a distinct property.
Consequently it is said of Christians in the other life
that they worship three gods,
because they think of three,
however much they may say one.
But they who have been Gentiles
and have been converted to Christianity,
in the other life adore the Lord alone;
and this for the reason that they have believed
that it could not but be that the Supreme God
has showed Himself on earth as a man,
and that the Supreme God is a Divine man;
and that if they had not this idea of the Supreme God
they could have none at all,
and so could not think about God,
consequently could not know Him,
still less love Him.

Psalm 37:1-9, 27-28

Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.

Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the Lord
and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in Him and He will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret - it leads only to evil.
For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

Turn from evil and do good;
then you will dwell in the land forever.
For the Lord loves the just
and will not forsake His faithful ones.

(Psalm 37:1-9, 27-28)

AC 5246 - what temptation looks like; AC 5249 - what the angels think about

AC 5246 [2-3]
A state of temptation in respect to the state after it
is also like the condition of a pit or prison -
squalid and unclean;
for when a person is being tempted,
unclean spirits are near him, and surround him,
and excite the evils and falsities with him,
and also hold him in them and exaggerate them,
even to despair.
Consequently, it is that the person
is then in squalor and uncleanness.
Moreover when this state is presented to view in the other life
(for all spiritual states there can be presented to the sight)
it appears like a thick mist exhaled from unclean places,
and a stench from it is also perceived.

But when the state of temptation ceases,
the mist is dispersed, and the sky clears.
The reason for this is
that by means of temptation
the falsities and evils with a person
are laid open and removed;
when they are laid open that mist appears,
but when they are removed the clear sky appears.
The change of this state is also signified
by Joseph's "shaving himself and changing his garments."

AC 5249
By Joseph in the internal sense
is represented the Lord as to the celestial of the spiritual,
and by Pharaoh
is represented the natural or external man;
by the pit in which Joseph was
is represented the state of the Lord's temptation
as to the celestial of the spiritual;
and by his being called from the pit by Pharaoh
is signified the state of deliverance from temptations,
and further, the subsequent state of influx
and communication with the new natural.
From this it is plain
that in the internal sense is here described
how the Lord made His natural new, and at last Divine. 
[2] These are the things the celestial angels think
when this history is being read by a person;
moreover, to think such things is to them most delightful,
for they are in the Lord's Divine sphere,
thus as it were in the Lord,
and in a perception of inmost joy
when thinking of the Lord
and of the salvation of the human race
by the Lord's making Divine the Human in Him;
and in order that the angels might be kept
in this most heavenly joy,
and at the same time in wisdom,
that Divine process is fully described
in the internal sense of the Word,
and at the same time therein
the process of a person's regeneration;
for the regeneration of a person
is an image of the Lord's glorification.
Some may possibly wonder
what the angels converse together about,
and consequently what people who become angels
converse about after death;
but be it known to them
that it is about such things
as are contained in the internal sense of the Word,
namely, about the Lord's glorification,
His kingdom, the church,
the regeneration of man
through the good of love and the truth of faith;
but they speak about these things by means of secret things
that are for the most part inexpressible.

Psalm 34:3-22

I sought the Lord,
and He answered me;
He delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to Him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with same.
This poor man called,
and the Lord heard him;
He saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord
encamps around those who fear Him,
and He delivers them.

Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.
Fear the Lord, you His saints,
for those who fear Him lack for nothing.
The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord
lack no good thing.

Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.
Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and His ears are attentive to their cry;
the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

The righteous cry out,
and the Lord hears them;
He delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from then all;
He protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.

Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
The Lord redeems His servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in Him.

(Psalm 34:3-22) NIV

AC 5229 - "to remember"

AC 5229
The reason why "to remember" is conjunction,
is that the remembering of anyone in the other life conjoins;
for as soon as any spirit calls another to mind
he appears present,
and so present that they speak together.
It is for this reason
that angels and spirits can meet all persons
whom they have known or have heard of,
can see them present and speak with them,
when the Lord allows them to call them to mind.

Psalm 33:4-5;20-22

For the word of the Lord is right and true;
He is faithful in all He does.
The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of His unfailing love.

We wait in hope for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
In Him our hearts rejoice
for we trust in His holy name.
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord,
even as we put our hope in You.

(Psalm 33:4-5;20-22) NIV

AC 5212, 5214 - memory-knowledges

AC 5212
Lowest truths, or truths of the exterior natural,
are called memory-knowledges*,
because they are in a person's natural or external memory,
and because they partake
for the most part
of the light of the world,
and so can be presented and represented to others
by forms of words, or by ideas formed into words
by means of such things as are of the world and its light.
The things in the inner memory, however,
insofar as they partake of the light of heaven,
are not called memory-knowledges, but truths;
nor can they be understood
except by means of heavenly light . . ..

AC 5214
The memory-knowledges of no use
are those which have no other end
than glory and pleasure.
These ends are of no use,
because they do not benefit the neighbor.

* also translated as 'facts' (Elliot)

Psalm 32:5, 10-11

I acknowledged my sin to You
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord" -
and You forgave the guilt of my sin.

Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the Lord's unfailing love
surrounds the man who trusts in Him.

Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!

(Psalm 32:5, 10-11) NIV

AC 5199 - beauty

AC 5199
That spiritual beauty is the affection of interior truth,
is because truth is the form of good.
Good itself
which is from the Divine in heaven
is that from which angels have life;
but the form of their life
is given by means of the truths
which are from this good.
And yet beauty is not produced by the truth of faith,
but by the affection itself within the truths of faith,
which is from good.
Beauty that is from the truth of faith alone
is like that of a painted or sculptured face;
but beauty from the affection of truth,
which is from good,
is like that of a living face animated by heavenly love;
for such as is the love or affection
that beams from the form of the face,
such is the beauty.
From this it is that the angels appear in ineffable beauty;
from their faces beams forth
the good of love through the truth of faith,
which not only appear before the sight,
but are also perceived from the spheres coming from them.
The reason why they have beauty from this
is that the universal heaven is a Grand Man,
and corresponds to all things in a person
both in general and in particular;
and therefore the person who is in the good of love,
and consequently in the truth of faith,
is in the form of heaven,
and consequently is in the beauty in which heaven is,
where the Divine from the Lord
is all in all.

Psalm 30:1-5

I will exalt you, O Lord,
for You lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
O Lord my God,
I called to You for help and You healed me.
O Lord, You brought me up from the grave;
You spared me from going down into the pit.

Sing to the Lord, you saints of His;
praise His holy name.
For His anger lasts only a moment,
but His favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing come in the morning.
(Psalm 30:1-5) NIV

AC 5182 - accord, discord

AC 5182
In the other life
all must exist in accord and harmony with one another
if they are to be a unified whole,
even as all the individual parts of the human being,
which are varied throughout the body,
are nevertheless in harmony with one another
and so make a unified whole.
The same applies to the Grand Man,
in which one person's thought and speech must accord
with the thought and speech of all the others
if they are to achieve the same end.
It is absolutely essential
that the thought and speech
of each member in a community
should accord with the rest,
otherwise discord is detected,
which sounds in the minds of the others
like a harsh grating noise.
Furthermore everything discordant is destructive of unity;
it is an impurity that must be cast out.
This impurity arising from discord
is represented by the impurity with and in the blood,
from which it needs to be cleansed.
This cleansing is effected by means of agitations,
which are nothing else than temptations of various kinds;
and afterward by means of introduction into circles.
The first introduction into circles takes place
in order that the spirits may be accommodated together;
the second is in order
that the thought and speech may be in accord;
the third is that the spirits may agree together
as to thoughts and affections;
and the fourth is that they may agree in truths and goods.

Psalm 29:11

The Lord gives strength to His people;
the Lord blesses His people with peace.
(Psalm 29:11)