AC - 8337 - Moses, Aaron, Miriam

AC 8337
. . . Moses represents the truth of faith
which proceeds immediately from the Lord,
thus internal truth;
while Aaron represents the truth of faith
which proceeds mediately from the Lord,
thus external truth;
consequently "Miriam" denotes the good of faith
which proceeds mediately from the Lord;
for when men represent truth,
 their women represent good.
As Miriam with the women represent external good,
therefore it is added "the sister of Aaron,"
and it is not said "the sister of Moses."
Moreover good and truth are circumstanced
like sister and brother.
But be it known that women represent good,
and men truth,
when the spiritual church is treated of;
whereas women represent truth,
and men good,
when the celestial church is treated of.

Portions: Jeremiah 52, Lamentations 1-3

This is the number of the people
Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile:
In the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
In Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year,
832 people from Jerusalem;
in this twenty-third year,
745 Jews taken into exile by Nebuzaradan
the commander of the imperial guard.
There were 4,600 people in all.
(Jeremiah 52:28-30)

(Lamentations means "funeral songs".)

How deserted lies the city,
once so full of people!
How like a widow is she,
who once was great among the nations!
She who was queen among the provinces
has now become a slave.
(Lamentations 1:1)

All who pass your way clap their hands at you;
they scoff and shake their heads
at the Daughter of Jerusalem:
"Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of the whole earth?"
(Lamentations 2:15)

I say to myself,
"The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for Him."
The Lord is good to those
whose hope is in Him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
(Lamentations 3:24-26)

AC 8313 - keeping principles

AC 8313 [4]
For in the other life
everyone retains the principles of his faith
which he had in the life of the body,
and no others change them
into truths
than those who have been in the good of life;
for good longs for truth,
and receives it willingly,
because it is homogeneous.
But they who have been in evil of life
do not change them (they are as it were hard),
and they even reject truths
and are also in obscurity,
so that they cannot even see them:
they see only such things as confirm their own principles . . ..
Such also believe that they are the most intelligent of all;
but they know nothing
except how to reason from an assumed principle;
and therefore it is these who most assault charity,
consequently who desire to have dominion.
For they who are in charity are humble,
and desire to serve all,
as being the lowest;
whereas they who are in faith without charity are lofty,
and desire to be served by all . . ..

Portions: Jeremiah 51

He made the earth by His power;
He founded the world by His wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
When He thunders,
the waters in the heavens roar;
He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from His storehouses.
. . . He is the Maker of all things,
including the tribe of His inheritance -
the Lord Almighty is His name.

"When you finish reading this scroll,
tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates.
Then say, 'So will Babylon sink to rise no more
because of the disaster I will bring upon her.
And her people will fall.'"
The words of Jeremiah end here.
(Jeremiah 51:15-16,19;63-64)

AC 8307 - why abstaining from evils is essential to receiving His mercy

AC 8307
With regard to mercy from the Lord the case is this:
The mercy of the Lord is perpetual with every person,
for the Lord wills to save all men, whoever they are;
but this mercy cannot flow in
until evils have been removed,
for evils and the derivative falsities stand opposed,
and prevent it.
But as soon as evils are removed,
mercy flows in,
that is, good from mercy from the Lord,
which good is charity and faith.
From this it can be seen
that the mercy of the Lord is universal,
that is, toward all,
and that it is also special
toward those who abstain from evils.
Man can abstain from evils from himself;
but he cannot receive good from himself.
That man can abstain from evils from himself
is because the Lord continually
inflows into the will of a person with this endeavor,
and thereby puts in his freedom
to desist from evils, as also to apply himself to good.
The Lord also gives him the faculty of understanding truth,
but that he does not understand
is because he does not wish to understand,
and this on account of the evil that is of the life;
for falsity defends evil,
and truth condemns it.
Consequently it is
that a a person cannot
be presented with spiritual good by the Lord,
thus cannot be led through mercy,
unless he desists from evils.
 

Portions: Jeremiah 49 - 50

This is what the Lord says:
"If those who do not deserve to drink the cup
must drink it,
why should you go unpunished?
You will not go unpunished,
but must drink it."
(Jeremiah 49:12)

"My people have been lost sheep;
their shepherds have led them astray
and caused them to roam on the mountains.
They wandered over mountain and hill
and forgot their own resting place.
Whoever found them devoured them;
their enemies said, 'We are not guilty,
for they sinned against the Lord,
their true pasture,
the Lord, the hope of their fathers.
(Jeremiah 50:6-8)

AC 8284 - endeavors

AC 8284
The sphere of endeavors to do evil
is perpetual from the hells,
but the sphere of endeavors to do good
is perpetual from the heavens.

Portions: Jeremiah 44 - 48

"Why provoke Me to anger
with what your hands have made,
burning incense to other gods in Egypt,
where you have come to live?
You will destroy yourselves
and make yourselves an object of cursing and reproach
among all the nations on earth."
(Jeremiah 44:8)

(To Baruch, scribe to Jeremiah:)
"Should you then seek great things for yourself?
Seek them not.
For I will bring disaster on all people,
declares the Lord,
but wherever you go
I will let you escape with your life."
(Jeremiah 45:5)

The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
"I am about to bring punishment on Amon god of Thebes,
on Pharaoh, on Egypt and her gods and her kings,
and on those who rely on Pharaoh.
(Jeremiah 46:25)

This is the word of the Lord
that came to Jeremiah the prophet
concerning the Philistines
before Pharaoh attached Gaza . . .
(Jeremiah 47:1)

"Whoever flees from the terror
will fall into the pit,
whoever climbs out of the pit
will be caught in a snare;
for I will bring upon Moab
the year of her punishment,"
declares the Lord.
(Jeremiah 48:44)

AC 8267 - "Hallelu-Jah"

AC 8267 [2]
That "Jah" denotes the Divine truth
proceeding from the Divine Human of the Lord,
is because "Jah" is from "Jehovah"
and is called "Jah"
because it is not being, but coming-forth from being;
for Divine truth is coming-forth,
but Divine good is being ;
and consequently it is said "Jah is my song,"
because by "song"
is signified the faith which is of Divine truth.

In distress I called on Jah;
Jah answered me in breadth;
Jehovah helped me;
Jah is my strength and song;
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of Jah;
I will enter through the gates of righteousness,
and I will confess Jah.
(Psalm 118:5, 13, 14, 17, 19)

here "Jah" denotes the Lord as to Divine truth;
in like manner "Jah" in "Hallelu-Jah".

Portions: Jeremiah 39 - 43

Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
had given these orders about Jeremiah
through Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard:
"Take him and look after him;
don't harm him
but do for him whatever he asks."
(Jeremiah 39:11)

Then the commander gave him provisions and a present
and let him go.
So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahakam at Muizpah
and stayed with him among the people
who were left behind in the land.
(Jeremiah 40:5-6)

In the seventh month
Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama,
who was of royal blood
and had been one of the king's officers,
came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah.
While they were there,
Ishmael son of Nethaniah
and the ten men who were with him
got up and struck down
Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan,
with the sword, killing the one
whom the king of Babylon had appointed
as governor over the land.
(Jeremiah 41:1-2)

This is what the Lord, the God of Israel,
to whom you sent me to present your petition, says:
'If you stay in this land,
I will build you up and not tear you down;
I will plant you and not uproot you,
for I am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted on you.
Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon,
whom you now fear.
Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord,
for I am with you
and will save you and deliver you from his hands.'
(Jeremiah 42:9-11)

So Johanan son of Kareah
and all the army officers and all the people
disobeyed the Lord's command to stay in the land of Judah.
(Jeremiah 43:4)

AC 8250 - think & say; AC 8253 - piety & charity

AC 8250
. . . in the other life . . .
it is not allowable to speak in one way
and to think in another.

AC 8253
The life of piety is to think piously and to speak piously,
to devote oneself much to prayers,
to behave humbly at such times,
to frequent places of worship,
and while there to listen devoutly to the preachings,
to engage in the sacrament of the Supper frequently every year,
and in like manner in all other things of worship,
according to the ordinances of the church.
But the life of charity is to wish well and to do well to the neighbor,
to act from what is just and fair,
and from what is good and true, in every work,
in like manner in everything we do;
in a word, the life of charity consists in performing uses.
 

Portions: Jeremiah 34 - 38

"But now you have turned around and profaned My name;
each of you has taken back the male and female slaves
you had set free to go where they wished.
You have forced them to become your slaves again.
"Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
You have not obeyed me;
you have not proclaimed freedom for your fellow countrymen.
So I now proclaim 'freedom' for you,
declares the Lord -
'freedom' to fall by the sword, plague and famine.
I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth."
(Jeremiah 34:16-17)

Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Racabites,
"This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
'You have obeyed the command of your forefather Jonadab
and have followed all his instructions
and have done everything he ordered.'
Therefore, this is that the Lord Almighty,
the God of Israel, says:
'Jonadab son of Racab will never fail
to have a man to serve me.'"
(Jeremiah 35:18-19)

So Jeremiah took another scroll
and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah,
and as Jeremiah dictated,
Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll
that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire.
And many similar words were added to them.
(Jeremiah 36:65)

"This is what the Lord says:
Do not deceive yourselves, thinking,
'The Babylonians will surely leave us.'
They will not!'"
(Jeremiah 37:9)

So Ebed-Melech took the men with him
and went to a room under the treasury in the palace.
He took some old rags and worn out-cloths from there
and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.
Ebed-Melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah,
"Put these old rags and worn-out clothes
under your arms to pad the ropes."
Jeremiah did so,
and they pulled him up with ropes
and lifted him out of the cistern.
(Jeremiah 38:11-12)

AC 8223 - retaliation

AC 8223 [3]
It is a frequent occurrence in the next life
for the evil to be severely punished
when they wish to inflict evil on the good,
and for the evil which they aim at others
to recoil on themselves.
. . . The evil who carry out punishment
act from an inordinate desire to do ill,
whereas the good act from a fondness for doing good.
From all this one may see what should be understood
by the Lord's words in Matthew . . . about loving one's enemy,
and about the law of retaliation,
which the Lord did not set aside
but opened out; that is to say,
He explained that those governed by heavenly love
should take no delight in any act of retaliation or revenge
but in doing good.
His words should also be taken to mean
that the actual law of order
which protects good
achieves this of itself
by means of those who are evil.

Portions: Jeremiah 31 - 33

At this I awoke and looked around.
My sleep had been pleasant to me.
(Jeremiah 31:26)

O great and powerful God,
whose name is the Lord Almighty,
great are Your purposes
and mighty are Your deeds.
(Jeremiah 32:18-19)

"Give thanks to the Lord Almighty,
for the Lord is good;
and His love endures forever."
(Jeremiah 33:13)

AC 8209 - equilibrium

AC 8209
There is a sphere exhaling from the hells
which may be called a sphere of endeavors,
and which is a sphere of doing evil.
I have several times been allowed to perceive this sphere.
The endeavor in it is constant,
and as soon as any opportunity offers,
the effect breaks forth from it.
But this sphere is restrained by the sphere
of the endeavors of heaven which is from the Lord,
and is a sphere of imparting benefits,
in which is all power,
because it is from the Divine.
Nevertheless equilibrium is maintained
between these diametrically opposite endeavors,
to the intent that a person may be in freedom,
and thus in choice,
and that he can be reformed;
for all reformation is in freedom,
and without freedom there is no reformation.
Spiritual endeavor is the same as will.
During a person's reformation he is kept in equilibrium
(that is, in freedom)
between willing good and willing evil;
and insofar as he then accedes to willing what is good,
so far he accedes to heaven and recedes from hell;
and so far the new will
which he then receives from the Lord
prevails against his own will
which he received by inheritance from his parents
and afterward by actual life.
When therefore a person has been so far reformed
that he wills good and is affected with it,
then good removes evil,
because the Lord is present in good;
for good is from the Lord, thus it is His,
indeed, it is Himself.

Portions: Jeremiah 27 - 30

Then I said to the priests and all these people,
"This is what the Lord says: 
Do not listen to the prophets who say,
'Very soon now the articles from the Lord's house
will be brought back from Babylon.'
They are prophesying lies to you.
do not listen to them.
Serve the king of Babylon,
and you will live.
(Jeremiah 27:16-17)

Then the prophet Jeremiah
said to Hananiah the prophet,
"Listen, Hananiah!
The Lord has not sent you,
yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies.
Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
'I am about to remove you from the face of the earth.
This very year you are going to die,
because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.'"
In the seventh month of that same year,
Hananiah the prophet died.
(Jeremiah 28:15-17)

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel,
says to all those I carried into exile
from Jerusalem to Babylon:
"Build houses and settle down;
plant gardens and eat what they produce.
Marry and have sons and daughters;
find wives for your sons
and give your daughters in marriage,
so that they too may have sons and daughters.
Increase in number there;
do not decrease.
Also, seek the peace and prosperity
of the city to which I have carried you into exile.
Pray to the Lord for it,
because if it prospers,
you too will prosper"
(Jeremiah 29:4-7)

"'So you will be My people,
and I will be your God.'"
(Jeremiah 30:22)

AC 8200 - Divine power

AC 8200
. . . all Divine power
is through the truth which proceeds from the Lord.
This created all things . . .

All things were made by means of the Word,
and without Him was not anything made that was made.
(John 1:3)

Portions: Jeremiah 23 - 26

"The days are coming," declares the Lord,
"when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
In His days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which He will be called:
The Lord Our Righteousness."
(Jeremiah 23:5-6)

After Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah
and the officials, the craftsmen and the artisans of Judah
were carried into exile 
from Jerusalem to Babylon 
by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,
the Lord showed me two baskets of figs
placed in front of the temple of the Lord.
(Jeremiah 24:1)

For twenty-tree years -
from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah
until this very day -
the word of the Lord has come to me
and I have spoke to you again and again,
but you have not listened.
(Jeremiah 25:3)

Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people:
"The Lord sent me to prophesy
against this house and this city
and all the things you have heard.
Now reform your ways and your actions
and obey the Lord your God.
Then the Lord will relent
and not bring the disaster He has pronounced against you.
(Jeremiah 26:12-13)

AC 8179 - how the Lord sees prayer when a person is in temptation; AC 8189 - the Lord

AC 8179 [2-3]
. . . when people are in the throes of temptation
they usually stay their hands and resort solely to prayers,
which they then pour forth feverishly,
unaware that such prayers achieve nothing,
but that they should battle against
the falsities and evils which the hells introduce.
The truths of faith are the means for fighting that battle,
and they are of help
because they strengthen the forms of good and the truths
opposed to falsities and evils.
In the conflicts brought by temptations, furthermore,
a person should fight as if he did so in his own strength,
yet he should acknowledge and believe
that he does so in the Lord's . . ..
If a person does not fight as if in his own strength
he does not make his own the goodness and truth
which flow in from the Lord by way of heaven.
But when a person does fight
as if in his own strength
and yet believes that he does so in the Lord's,
he does make those things his own.
This gives him a new proprium (or selfhood),
called a heavenly proprium, which is a new will.

Moreover people in the throes of temptation
who take no action other than to send up prayers
do not realize that if their temptation were terminated
before running its full course
their preparation for heaven would not be accomplished,
and so they could not be saved.
For this reason also little heed is paid
to the prayers of those in the throes of temptation;
for the Lord desires the end in view,
which is the person's salvation.
The Lord knows that end,
but the person does not,
and the Lord does not do what prayers ask for
if that is contrary to the end, which is salvation.
The truth of this also
becomes more firmly established with the person
who conquers in temptations;
but one who does not conquer
entertains doubts about God's help and power
because he is not heard.
Then sometimes,
because he stays his hands,
he gives in to a degree.

AC 8189
. . . the Lord is the only God,
and besides Him there is none else . . .

Portions: Jeremiah 19 - 22

Jeremiah then returned from Topheth,
where the Lord had sent him to prophesy,
and stood in the court of the Lord's temple
and said to all the people,
"This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
'Listen!  I am going to bring on this city
and the villages around it
every disaster I pronounced against them,
because they were stiff-necked
and would not listen to My words.'"
(Jeremiah 19:14-15)

When the priest Pashhur son of Immer,
the chief officer in the temple of the Lord,
heard Jeremiah prophesying these things,
he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten
and put in the stocks
at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the Lord's temple.
(Jeremiah 20:1-2)

"I will punish you as your deeds deserve,"
declares the Lord.
"I will kindle a fire in your forests
that will consume everything around you."
(Jeremiah 21:14)

"Does it make you a king
to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just,
so all went well with him.
He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know me?"
declares the Lord.
(Jeremiah 22:15-16)