Part of Jonah's Prayer

"In my distress I called to the Lord,

and He answered me.

From the depths of the grave I called for help,

and You listened to my cry.

"When my life was ebbing away,

I remembered You, Lord,

and my prayer rose to You,

to Your holy temple.

"Those who cling to worthless idols

forfeit the grace that could be theirs.

But I, with a song of thanksgiving,

will sacrifice to You.

What I have vowed

I will make good.

Salvation comes from the Lord."

(Jonah 2:2, 7-9)

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

"Blessed is he who watches,

and preserves his garments.

Lest he walk naked

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

AR 705

That person is called blessed

who receives eternal life.

To watch means, symbolically, to live spiritually,

that is, to posses truths

and live in accordance with them

and to look to the Lord.

And to preserve one's garments means, symbolically,

to remain steadfast in those truths

to the end of one's life.

For garments symbolize truths that clothe,

thus the Lord's precepts in the Word,

because these are truths.

. . . because the conflict is at hand,

those people who possess truths from the Word

are admonished to remain steadfast in them,

lest they succumb in the battle . . ..

AR 706

To walk naked means, symbolically,

to live without truths.

This admonition is for people

who will belong to the Lord's New Church,

warning them to learn truths

and remain constant in them . . ..

The truths which people are to learn

are truths having to do with the Lord

and with the precepts according to which

they are to live.

The Lord God Almighty

He who forms the mountains,

creates the wind,

and reveals His thoughts to man,

He who turns dawn to darkness,

and treads the high places of the earth -

the Lord God Almighty is His name.

Seek good, not evil,

that you may live.

Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,

just as you say He is.

(Amos 4:13; 5:14)

AR 692 - the nature of self-love

AR 692 [2]

We will briefly describe the nature of self-love.

Its accompanying delight

surpasses every other delight in the world,

for it consists of nothing but lusts for evils,

and every one of the lusts produces its own delight.

Every person is born into this delight,

and because it impels the person's mind

to focus its thought continually on itself,

it draws the mind away from

thinking about God and the neighbor

except from the perspective of self

and with a focus on self.

As a consequence,

if God does not favor the person's lusts,

he becomes angry with God,

as he becomes angry with the neighbor

who does not favor them.

As this delight grows,

it causes the person

to be unable to elevate his thought above himself,

but instead draws it down to a level beneath him,

for it immerses the mind

in the inherent nature of his body.

As a result the person becomes gradually sensual,

and a sensual person

speaks in a lofty and elevated tone

about worldly and civic matters,

but he can speak about God and Divine matters

only from memory.

If he is a politician,

he acknowledges nature as responsible for creation,

his own prudence as his guide,

and denies God's existence.

If he is a priest,

he speaks about God and Divine matters from memory,

even in a lofty and elevated tone;

but at heart he little believes them.

The Lord Thunders

The Lord thunders at the head of His army;

His forces are beyond number,

and mighty are those who obey His command.

The Lord will roar from Zion

and thunder from Jerusalem;

the earth and the sky will tremble.

But the Lord will be a refuge for His people,

a stronghold for the people of Israel.

(Joel 2:11; 3:16)

AR 678 - rejecting evils and lusts for evils

AR 678 [2]

. . . when a person rejects evil,

he at the same time rejects also its lusts,

though he still does not do this on his own

but from the Lord.

A person can indeed on his own reject evil,

but not its lusts.

Therefore, when he wishes to reject some evil

and is fighting against it,

he must look to the Lord,

since the Lord operates

from inmost elements to outmost ones.

For He enters through a person's soul

and purifies him.

The Lord is His Name

. . . the Lord God Almighty, the Lord 

is His name of renown!

But you must return to your God;

maintain love and justice,

and wait for your God always.

(Hosea 12:5-6)

AR 671 - bright linen, golden sashes

AR 671

Clothed in clean bright linen,

and having their chests girded with golden sashes.

(Revelation15:6)

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

A golden sash about the breast symbolizes

the emanating Divinity that at the same time conjoins,

namely Divine good . . ..

To be clothed and girded means, symbollically,

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

for garments symbolize truths that clothe goodness.

Sashes or girdles then symbolize truths and goods

that hold everything in their order and connection.

Understanding and Acknowledgement

You stumble day and night,

and the prophets stumble with you.

. . . my people are destroyed

from lack of knowledge.

. . . I will not punish your daughters

when they turn to prostitution,

nor your daughters-in-law

when they commit adultery,

because the men themselves

consort with harlots

and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes -

a people without understanding

will come to ruin!

"Come, let us return to the Lord.

He has torn us to pieces

but He will heal us;

He has injured us

but He will bind up our wounds.

After two days He will revive us;

on the third day He will restore us,

that we may live in His presence.

Let us acknowledge the Lord;

let us press on to acknowledge Him.

As surely as the sun rises,

He will appear;

He will come to us like the winter rains,

like the spring rains that water the earth."

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

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

AR 662

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

and the song of the Lamb.

(Revelation 15:3)

. . . the Lamb means the Lord

in respect to His Divine humanity,

while Moses in a broad sense

means all the law written in his five books,

and in a strict sense,

the Law called the Ten Commandments . . ..

AR 663

Saying:  "Great and marvelous are Your works,

Lord God Almighty!"

(Revelation 15:3)

. . . greatness is predicated of love,

and marvelousness of wisdom . . ..

The Lord is called almighty

because He is, lives, and can do

all things of Himself,

and also directs all things from Himself . . ..

AR 664

"For just and true are Your ways,

O King of the saints!"

(Revelation 15:3)

Ways symbolize truths that lead to good.

. . . saints symbolize people who are governed

by divine truths from the Lord.

AR 665

"Who does not fear You, O Lord,

and glorify Your name?"

(Revelation 15:4)

To fear God means, symbolically, to love Him,

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

AR 666

"For You alone are holy."

(Revelation 15:4)

. . . the Lord alone is holy . . .

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

Moreover, because the Word is divine truth,

and the Lord embodies Divine truth,

and because Divine truth enlightens spiritually,

being the light in heaven,

but emanating from the the Lord,

therefore the declaration,

"For You alone are holy,"

symbolically means that the Lord embodies

the Word, truth, and enlightenment.

AR 667

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

(Revelation 15:4)

All nations symbolize people who possess

the goodness of love and charity.

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

to acknowledge the Lord as God,

and because there is only one God,

in whom is the Trinity,

and the Lord is that God,

it symbolically means to acknowledge Him alone to be God.

AR 668

"For Your judgments have been manifested."

(Revelation 15:4)

Judgments symbolize the Divine truths

in accordance with which

a person is to live,

truths which reveal his character

and are the precepts against which he will be judged.

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

and the Word now lies open,

testifying that the Lord alone

is God of heaven and earth . . ..

Daniel's Vision and Humility

On the twenty-fourth day of the first month,

as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris,

I looked up and there before me was a Man

dressed in linen,

with a belt of the finest gold around His waist.

His body was like chrysolite,

His face like lightning,

His eyes like flaming torches,

His arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze,

and His voice like the sound of a multitude.

I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision;

the men with me did not see it,

but such terror overwhelmed them

that they fled and hid themselves.

So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision;

I had no strength left,

my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless.

Then I heard Him speaking,

and as I listened to Him,

I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.

A hand touched me

and set me trembling on my hands and knees.

He said, "Daniel, you who are highly esteemed,

consider carefully the words

I am about to speak to you,

and stand up,

for I have now been sent to you."

And when He said this to me, 

I stood up trembling.

Then He continued,

"Do not be afraid, Daniel.

Since the first day

that you set your mind to gain understanding

and to humble yourself before your God,

your words were heard,

and I have come in response to them."

(Daniel 10:4-12)

AR 659 - absence, presence

AR 659

. . . where good is absent,

there 
evil is present.

A Portion of One of Daniel's Dreams

"In my vision at night I looked,

and there before me was one like a Son of Man,

coming with the clouds of heaven.

He approached the Ancient of Days

and was led into His presence.

He was given authority, glory and sovereign power;

all peoples, nations and men of every language

worshiped him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion

that will not pass away,

and His kingdom is one 

that will never be destroyed."

(Daniel 7:13-14)

AR 658 - the wrath of God

AR 658

The wrath of God symbolizes the evil in people,

which, because it is in opposition to God,

is called the wrath of God.

Not that God is angry at people,

but that people's evil

causes them to be angry at God.

The Writing on the Wall

Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared

and wrote on the plaster of the wall,

hear the lampstand in the royal palace.

The king watched the hand as it wrote.

His face turned pale and he was so frightened

that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way.

. . . The queen, hearing the voices of the king and his nobles,

came into the banquet hall.

"O king, live forever!" she said.

"Don't be alarmed!  don't look so pale!

There is a man in your kingdom

who has the spirit of the holy gods in him.

In the time of your father

he was found to have insight and intelligence

and wisdom like that of the gods.

King Nebuchadnezzer your father -

your father the king, I say -

appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters,

astrologers and diviners.

This man Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar,

was found to have a keen mind

and knowledge and understanding,

and also the ability to interpret dreams,

explain riddles and solve difficult problems.

Call for Daniel,

and he will tell you what the writing means."

(Daniel 5:5-6,10-12)

AR 655 - charity and faith

AR 655 [5]

. . . charity is the love's affection

for doing good to the neighbor 

for God's sake,

and for the sake of salvation and eternal life,

and that faith is confident thought regarding God,

salvation and eternal life.

The River from the Temple

The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple,

and I saw water coming out

from under the threshold of the temple

toward the east (for the temple faced east).

The water was coming down

from under the south side of the temple,

south of the altar.

He then brought me out through the north gate

and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east,

and the water was flowing from the south side.

Then he led me back to the bank of the river.

When I arrived there,

I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river.

He said to me,

"This water flows toward the eastern region

and goes down from into the desert,

where it enters the Sea.

When it empties into the Sea,

the water there becomes fresh.

Swarms of living creatures will live

wherever the river flows.

There will be large numbers of fish,

because this water flows there

and makes the salt water fresh;

so where the river flows

everything will live.

Fishermen will stand along the shore;

from En Gedi to En Eglaim

there will be places for spreading nets.

The fish will be of many kinds -

like the fish of the Great Sea.

But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh;

they will be left for salt.

Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river.

Their leaves will not wither,

nor will their fruit fail.

Every month they will bear,

because the water from the sanctuary flows to them.

Their fruit will serve for food

and their leaves for healing.

(Ezekiel 47:1-2,6-12)

AR 647 - a temple

AR 647

A temple symbolizes the whole of heaven . . ..

The Glory of the Lord Filled the Temple

Then the man brought me to the gate facing east,

and I saw the glory of the God of Israel

coming from the east.

His voice was like the roar of rushing waters,

and the land was radiant with His glory.

The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen

when He came to destroy the city

and like the visions I had see by the Kebar River,

and I fell facedown.

The Glory of the Lord entered the temple

through the gate facing east.

Then the Spirit lifted me up

and brought into the inner court,

and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

(Ezekiel 43:1-5)

AR 639 - temptations or trials; AR 641 - doing

AR 639 [2]

. . . a New Church person

will be examined through temptations or trials

to discover his character

as regards a life in accordance with the commandments

and as regards faith in the Lord.

. . . they will have rest from their labors,

which means symbolically

that those who undergo temptations or trials

will have peace in the Lord . . ...

AR 641 [2,3]

. . . a person's inner being or internal self

does not consist in understanding without willing,

but in willing and so understanding,

consequently that it does not consist

in believing without loving,

but in loving and so believing,

and doing accordingly

is a person's outward aspect or external self . . ..

. . . as they have loved and believed

so (they) have done and spoken.

The New Temple

In the twenty-fifth year of our exile,

at the beginning of the year,

on the tenth of the month,

in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city -

on that very day

the hand of the Lord was upon me

and He took me there.

In vision of God He took me to the land of Israel

and set me on a very high mountain,

on whose south side were some buildings

that looked like a city.

He took me there,

and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze;

he was standing in the gateway

with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand.

The man said to me,

"Son of man,

look with your eyes and hear with your ears

and pay attention to everything I am going to show you,

for that is why you have been brought here.

Tell the house of Israel everything you see.

I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area.

(Ezekiel 40:1-5)

AR 629 - His glory fills the heavens

AR 629

. . . angels in heaven perceive glory to mean

nothing else than Divine truth;

and because all Divine truth comes from the Lord,

they perceive giving glory to Him to mean

an acknowledgment and confession

that all truth comes from Him.

For all glory in the heavens 

springs from no other origin,

and to the extent that any society in heaven

is governed by Divine truth,

to the same extent everything in it is radiant . . ..

The Righteous and the Wicked

If a righteous man

turns from his righteousness

and does evil,

he will die for it.

And if a wicked man

turns away from his wickedness

and does what is just and right,

he will live by doing so.

(Ezekiel 33:18-19)

AR 618 - the Lord glorified His humanity

AR 618 [3]

. . . the Lord glorified His humanity, that is,

He united it to the Divinity of the Father,

namely to the Divinity that He had in Him from conception,

in order that the human race might be united 

to God the Father in Him and through Him.

This was the reason for the Lord's advent into the world,

and for the glorification of His humanity . . ..

A Cedar in Lebanon

In the eleventh year,

in the third month on the first day,

the word of the Lord came to me:

"Son of man,

say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes:

""Who can be compared with you in majesty?

Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon,

with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest;

it towered on high,

its top over the thick foliage.

The waters nourished it,

deep springs made it grow tall;

their streams flowed all around its base

and sent their channels to all the trees of the field.

So it towered higher than all the trees of the field;

its boughs increased and its branches grew long,

spreading because of abundant waters.

All the birds of the air nested in its boughs,

all the beasts of the field gave birth under its branches;

all the great nations lived in its shade.

It was majestic in beauty,

with its spreading boughs,

for its roots went down to abundant waters.

The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it,

nor could the pine trees equal its boughs,

nor could the plane trees compare with its branches -

no tree in the garden of God could match its beauty.

I made it beautiful with abundant branches,

the envy of all the trees of Eden in the garden of God.

"'Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

Because it towered on high,

lifting its top above the thick foliage,

and because it was proud of its height,

I handed it over to the ruler of the nations,

for him to deal with according to its wickedness.

I cast it aside,

and the most ruthless of foreign nations

cut it down and left it.

Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys;

its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land.

All the nations of the earth

came out from under its shade and left it.

All the birds of the air settled on the fallen tree,

and all the beasts of the field were among its branches.

Therefore no other trees by the waters

are ever to tower proudly on high,

lifting their tops above the thick foliage.

No other trees so well-watered

are ever to reach such a height;

they are all destined for death,

for the earth below,

among mortal men,

with those who go down to the pit.

""This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

On the day it was brought down to the grave

I covered the deep springs with mourning for it;

I held back its streams,

and its abundant waters were restrained.

Because of it I clothed Lebanon with gloom,

and all the trees of the field withered away.

I made the nations tremble at the sound of its fall

when I brought it down to the grave

with those who go down to the pit.

Then all the trees of Eden,

the choicest and best of Lebanon,

all the trees that were well-watered,

were consoled in the earth below.

Those who lived in its shade,

its allies among the nations,

had also gone down to the grave with it,

joining those killed by the sword.

"'Which of the trees of Eden

can be compared with you in splendor and majesty?

Yet you, too,

will be brought down with the trees of Eden

to the earth below;

you will lie among the uncircumcised,

with those killed by the sword.

'''This is Pharaoh and all his hordes,

declares the Sovereign Lord.'"

(Ezekiel 31)

AR 612 - a new heaven

AR 612

Then I looked, and behold,

a Lamb standing on Mount Zion

and with Him

one hundred and forty-four thousand.

(Revelation 14:1)

This symbolizes the Lord now present in a new heaven

composed of people in the Christian churches

who acknowledged the Lord alone

as God of heaven and earth,

and had doctrinal truths

springing from the goodness of love

received from Him

through the Word.

[2]  The heaven that is the subject here

is a heaven composed of Christians

from the time the Lord was in the world,

and formed of those

who approached the Lord alone

and lived in accordance with

His commandments in the Word

by shunning evils as sins against God.

This heaven is the new heaven

from which the holy Jerusalem or New Church,

will descend on earth (Revelation 21:1,2).

The heavens that existed before the Lord's advent

are above it and are called the ancient heavens.

The people in them

also all acknowledge the Lord alone

as God of heaven and earth.

Those heavens communicate with this new heaven

through influx.

The Lord's Lament of Tyre

The word of the Lord came to me:

"Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre

and say to him:

'This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

"'You were the model of perfection,

full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

You were in Eden, the garden of God;

every precious stone adorned you:

ruby, topaz and emerald,

chrysolite, onyx and jasper,

sapphire (lapis lazuli), turquoise and beryl.

Your settings and mountings were made of gold;

on the day you were created

they were prepared.

You were anointed as a guardian cherub,

for so I ordained you.

You were on the holy mount of God;

you walked among the fiery stones.

You were blameless in your ways

from the day you were created

til wickedness was found in you.

Through your widespread trade

you were filled with violence,

and you sinned.

So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,

and I expelled you, O guardian cherub,

from the fiery stones.

Your heart became proud

on account of your beauty,

and you corrupted your wisdom

because of your splendor.

So I threw you to the earth;

I made a spectacle of you before kings.

. . . All the nations who knew you

are appalled at you;

you have come to a horrible end

and will be no more.'"

(Ezekiel 28:11-17,19_

AR 611 - thinking

AR 611 [6,7]

Everyone who thinks about God

solely in terms of His person

and not in terms of His essence,

thinks materially.

Everyone who thinks about the neighbor

in terms of his appearance

and not in terms of his character,

thinks materially.

And everyone who thinks about heaven

solely in terms of a place,

and not in terms 

of the love and wisdom

of which heaven consists,

also thinks materially.

. . . anyone who thinks about God

and about the trinity in God

solely in terms of His person

and not in terms of His essence,

thinks about them materially.

For the Divine essence has many attributes,

like omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence,

mercy, grace, eternity, and others.

And the Divine essence has attributes emanating from it,

namely, creation and preservation,

salvation and redemption,

enlightenment and guidance.

Everyone who thinks about God

solely in terms of His person

supposes three gods,

saying that one god is the creator and preserver,

another the savior and redeemer,

and a third the enlightener and guide.

But everyone who thinks about God

in terms of His essence

and supposes one God,

saying that God

created us and preserves us,

redeems us and saves us,

and enlightens and guides us.

The Time Has Come

In the ninth year,

in the tenth month on the tenth day,

the word of the Lord came to me:

"Son of man, record this date, this very date,

because the king of Babylon

has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day."

(Ezekiel 24:1-2)

AR 598 - falsity & truth

AR 598 [3]

. . . a falsity is a denial of the truth,

and truth denied loses its light.

The Righteous and the Wicked

The righteousness of the righteous man

will be credited to him,

and the wickedness of the wicked

will be charged against him.

(Ezekiel 18:20)

AR 586 - truths from the Lord

AR 586 [3]

They are called "saints"

who live according to the truths of the Word;

not that they are holy,

but the truths in them are holy,

and they are holy when they are in them from the Lord;

and the Lord is in them

when the truths of His Word are in them (John 15:7).

By virtue of truths from the Lord

the angels are called "holy" (Matthew. 25:31; Luke 9:26);

and in like manner the prophets

(Luke 1:70; Revelation 18:20; 22:6);

and the apostles (Revelation 18:20).

It is for this reason that the temple is called

"the temple of holiness" (Psalms 5:7; 65:4)

and Zion, "the mountain of holiness"

(Isaiah 65:11; Jeremiah 31:23; Ezekiel 20:40;

Psalms 2:6; 3:4; 15:1).

And Jerusalem is called "the holy city"

(Isaiah 48:2; 64:10; Revelation 21:2, 10; Matthew 27:53).

And the church is called

"the people of saints" (Isaiah 62:12; 63:18; Psalms 149:1);

and also the "kingdom of saints" (Daniel 7:18, 22, 27).

The reason why they were called holy,

is because "angels," in an abstract sense,

signify Divine truths from the Lord;

"prophets," truths of doctrine;

"apostles," truths of the church;

"the temple," heaven and the church as to Divine truth;

and, in like manner, "Zion," "Jerusalem,"

"the people" and "the kingdom of God."

That no one is holy from himself,

not even the angels, may be seen in Job 15:14, 15,

but from the Lord,

because "the Lord alone is holy" (Revelation 15:4).

The Whitewashed Wall

"'Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

In My wrath

I will unleash a violent wind,

and in My anger

hailstones and torrents of rain

will fall with destructive fury.

I will tear down the wall

you have covered with whitewash

and will level it to the ground

so that its foundation will be laid bare.

When it falls,

you will be destroyed in it;

and you will know that I am the Lord.'"

(Ezekiel 13:13-14)