When It Rains No Rain

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Every good of love and every truth of faith flows in out of heaven, that is, from the Lord through heaven, with man, and that it flows in continually; from which it follows that neither the good of love nor the truth of faith is in anywise man's, but is the Lord's with him. These both flow insofar as evil and falsity do not obstruct; it is these that shut heaven so that there is no influx; for evil and good, and falsity and truth, are opposites, consequently where the one is the other cannot be; for evil with man prevents the entrance of good, and falsity the entrance of truth; while good causes evil to be removed, and truth falsity; for these are opposites, as heaven and hell are opposites; therefore the one acts against the other with an unceasing endeavor to destroy, and the one that prevails destroys the other.

Moreover, there are in every man two minds, an interior which is called the spiritual mind, and another, the exterior which is called the natural mind. The spiritual mind is created for the reception of light from heaven, but the natural mind for the reception of light from the world. The spiritual mind, therefore, which is man's interior mind, is heaven with him, and the natural mind, which is man's exterior mind, is the world with him. The interior mind, which is heaven with man, is opened so far as man acknowledges the Divine of the Lord, and man so far acknowledges this as he is in the good of love and charity and in the truths of doctrine and faith. But this interior mind, which is heaven with man, is unopened so far as man does not acknowledge the Divine of the Lord, and does not live the life of love and faith; and that mind is shut so far as man is in evils and in falsities therefrom; and when it is shut then the natural mind with man becomes a hell; for in the natural mind are evil and its falsity, consequently when the spiritual mind which is heaven with man is shut, the natural mind which is hell rules.

IT RAIN NO RAIN

"That it rain no rain" signifies no influx of Divine truth out of heaven, because "water," which makes rain, signifies the truth of the Word, and the truth of doctrine and faith therefrom and as rain water descends out of the clouds in heaven, so "to rain rain" signifies the influx of Divine truth from the Lord in heaven, and as rain fertilizes the earth, so "rain" signifies Divine truth fertilizing and making fruitful the church, for which reason "rain" signifies also spiritual blessing.

As it is not yet known that "waters" in the Word signify the truths of faith and the knowledges of truth, I would like, since this signification may possibly appear remote, to show here briefly that this is what is meant in the Word by "waters." This, moreover, is necessary, because without a knowledge of what "waters" signify, it cannot be known what baptism signifies, nor the "washings" in the Israelitish church so frequently referred to.

"Waters" signify the truths of faith, as "bread" signifies the good of love. "Waters" and "bread" have this signification because things that pertain to spiritual nourishment are expressed in the sense of the letter by such things as belong to natural nourishment; for bread and water, which include in general all food and drink, nourish the body, while the truths of faith and the good of love nourish the soul. This also is from correspondence, for when "bread" and "water" are read of in the Word, angels, because they are spiritual, understand the things by which they are nourished, which are the goods of love and the truths of faith.

But I will cite some passages from which it may be known that "waters" signify the truths of faith, likewise the knowledges of truth. Thus in Isaiah:

The earth is full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea (Isa. 11:9).

In the same:

Then with joy shall ye draw waters out of the fountains of salvation (Isa. 12:3).

In the same:

He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly, bread shall be given him, and his waters shall be sure (Isa. 33:15-16).

In the same:

The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none; their tongue faileth for thirst. I will open rivers upon the heights, and will place fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness into a pool of waters, and the dry land into a going forth of waters; that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand (Isa. 41:17, 18, 20).

In the same:

I will pour waters upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring (Isa. 44:3).

In the same:

Thy light shall arise in the darkness, and thy thick darkness be as the noonday; that thou mayest be like a watered garden, and like a going forth of waters, whose waters shall not prove false (Isa. 58:10-11).

In Jeremiah:

My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew out for themselves pits that hold no water (Jer. 2:13).

In the same:

Their nobles sent their little ones for water; they came to the pits and found no waters; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded (Jer. 14:3).

In the same:

They have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters (Jer. 17:13).

In the same:

They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them; I will lead them unto fountains of waters, in the way of right (Jer. 31:9).

In Ezekiel:

I will break the staff of bread, and they shall eat bread by weight and with carefulness; and they shall drink water by measure and with astonishment; that they may want bread and water, and be desolated, a man and a brother, and pine away for their iniquities (Ezek. 4:16-17; 12:18-19; Isa. 51:14).

In Amos:

Behold the days come, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the Word of Jehovah. They shall wander from sea to sea, they shall run to and fro, to seek the Word of Jehovah, and shall not find it; in that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst (Amos 8:11-13).

In Zechariah:

In that day living waters shall go out from Jerusalem (Zech. 14:8).

In David:

Jehovah is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He will lead me to the waters of rest (Ps. 23:1-2).

In Isaiah:

They shall not thirst, He will cause waters to flow out of the rock for them, and He will cleave the rock, that the waters may flow out (Isa. 48:21).

In David:

O God, early will I seek Thee; my soul thirsteth, I am weary without waters (Ps. 63:1).

In the same:

Jehovah sendeth His word, He maketh the wind to blow, that the waters may flow (Ps. 147:18).

In the same:

Praise Jehovah, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens (Ps. 148:4).

In John:

When Jesus came to the fountain of Jacob, a woman of Samaria came to draw water; Jesus said to her, Give Me to drink. If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give Me to drink, thou wouldest ask of Him, and He would give thee living water. The woman said unto Him, From whence hast Thou living water? Jesus said to her, Everyone that drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall give him shall not thirst for ever; and the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up unto everlasting life (John 4:7-15).

In the same:

Jesus said, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:37-38).

In Revelation:

I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely (Rev. 21:6).

And in another place:

The angel showed unto him a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb (Rev. 22:1).

And again:

The spirit and the bride say, Come. He that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come. And he that wisheth, let him take the water of life freely (Rev. 22:17).

These passages have been cited that it may be known that in the Word "waters" signify the truths of faith, consequently what is meant by the water of baptism, about which the Lord thus teaches in John:

Except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5).

"Waters" here are the truths of faith, and "spirit" a life according to them. Because it had not been known that "waters" signified the truths of faith, and that all things that were instituted among the sons of Israel were representative of spiritual things, it was believed that by the washings that were prescribed for them their sins were wiped away; yet this was not at all the case; those washings only represented purification from evils and falsities by means of the truths of faith and a life according to them (see Arcana Coelestia, n. 3147, 5954, 10237, 10240).

I know that some will wonder why "waters" are mentioned in the Word, and not the truths of faith, since the Word is to teach man about his spiritual life; and since, if the expression the truths of faith had been used, instead of "waters," man would have known that the waters of baptism and of washings contribute nothing to the purifying of man from evils and falsities.

But it is to be known, that the Word in order to be Divine, and at the same time useful to heaven and the church, must be wholly natural in the letter, for if it were not natural in the letter there could be no conjunction of heaven with the church by means of it; for it would be like a house without a foundation, and like a soul without a body, for ultimates enclose all interiors, and are a foundation for them.

Man also is in ultimates, and upon the church in him, heaven has its foundations.

For this reason the style of the Word is such as it is; and as a consequence, when man from the natural things that are in the sense of the letter of the Word thinks spiritually, he is conjoined with heaven, and in no other way could he be conjoined with it.   (from AE 71)

(from Apocalypse Explained 644)
to be continued

The Formations of the Celestial Man

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Genesis chapter two treats of the celestial man, as the preceding chapter did of the spiritual, who was formed out of a dead man.

When the spiritual man, who has become the "sixth day" is beginning to be celestial, which state is here first treated of, it is the "eve of the Sabbath" represented in the Jewish Church by the keeping holy of the Sabbath from the evening. The celestial man is the "morning" to be spoken of presently.

THE CELESTIAL MAN IS THE "SEVENTH DAY"

The celestial man is the "seventh day" which, as the Lord has worked during the six days, is called "His work;" and as all combat then ceases, the Lord is said to "rest from all His work." On this account the seventh day was sanctified, and called the Sabbath, from a Hebrew word meaning "rest." And thus was man created, formed, and made.

• Why the celestial man is the "Sabbath" or "rest" is that combat ceases when he becomes celestial. The evil spirits retire, and good ones approach, as well as celestial angels; and when these are present, evil spirits cannot possibly remain, but flee far away. And since it was not the man himself who carried on the combat, but the Lord alone for the man, it is said that the Lord "rested."
• The new creation, or regeneration, is the work of the Lord alone. The expressions to "create" to "form" and to "make" are employed quite distinctively.

"CREATING THE HEAVENS, FORMING THE EARTH, AND MAKING IT"

Everyone that is called by My name, I have created him for My glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him (Isa. 43:7)

and also in both the preceding and this chapter of Genesis; as in the passage before us: "He rested from all His work which God in making created." In the internal sense this usage always conveys a distinct idea; and the case is the same where the Lord is called "Creator" "Former" or "Maker."

THE FORMATIONS OF THE CELESTIAL MAN

These are the nativities of the heavens and of the earth, when He created them, in the day in which Jehovah God made the earth and the heavens. (Genesis 2:4)

The "nativities of the heavens and of the earth" are the formations of the celestial man.

That his formation is here treated of is very evident from all the particulars which follow —

• No herb was as yet growing
• There was no man to till the ground
• Jehovah God formed man,
 and afterwards
• He made every beast and bird of the heavens

Notwithstanding that the formation of these had been treated of in the foregoing chapter, from all which it is manifest that another man is here treated of.

This however is still more evident from the fact, that —

• Now for the first time the Lord is called "Jehovah God" whereas in the preceding passages, which treat of the spiritual man, He is called simply "God;"
• Now "ground" and "field" are mentioned, while in the preceding passages only "earth" is mentioned.

In this verse also "heaven" is first mentioned before "earth" and afterwards "earth" before "heaven;" the reason of which is that "earth" signifies the external man, and "heaven" the internal

• In the spiritual man reformation begins from "earth" that is, from the external man
• In the celestial man, who is here treated of, it begins from the internal man, or from "heaven."

And there was no shrub of the field as yet in the earth, and there was no herb of the field as yet growing, because Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth; and there was no man to till the ground. And He made a mist to ascend from the earth, and watered all the faces of the ground. (Genesis 2:5, 6)

By the "shrub of the field" and the "herb of the field" are meant in general all that his external man produces. The external man is called "earth" while he remains spiritual, but "ground" and also "field" when he becomes celestial. "Rain" which is soon after called "mist" is the tranquility of peace when combat ceases.

MAN'S STATE IS WHILE FROM BEING SPIRITUAL HE IS BECOMING CELESTIAL

But what these things involve cannot possibly be perceived unless it is known what man's state is while from being spiritual he is becoming celestial, for they are deeply hidden.

• While he is spiritual, the external man is not yet willing to yield obedience to and serve the internal, and therefore there is a combat
• When he becomes celestial, then the external man begins to obey and serve the internal, and therefore the combat ceases, and tranquility ensues.

This tranquility is signified by "rain" and "mist" for it is like a vapor with which the external man is watered and bedewed from the internal; and it is this tranquility, the offspring of peace, which produces what are called the "shrub of the field" and the "herb of the field" which, specifically, are things of the rational mind and of the memory [rationalia et scientifica] from a celestial spiritual origin.

The nature of the tranquility of peace of the external man, on the cessation of combat, or of the unrest caused by cupidities and falsities, can be known only to those who are acquainted with a state of peace. This state is so delightful that it surpasses every idea of delight:

It is not only a cessation of combat, but is life proceeding from interior peace, and affecting the external man in such a manner as cannot be described;

The truths of faith, and the goods of love, which derive their life from the delight of peace, are then born.

The state of the celestial man, thus gifted with the tranquility of peace — refreshed by the rain — and delivered from the slavery of what is evil and false, is thus described by the Lord in Ezekiel:

I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil wild beast to cease out of the land, and they shall dwell confidently in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods; and I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing; and I will cause the rain to come down in his season; rains of blessing shall they be. And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be upon their ground in confidence, and shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the reins of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that make them to serve them; and ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, ye are a man, and I am your God (Ezek. 34:25-27, 31).

And that this is effected on the "third day" which in the Word signifies the same as the "seventh" is thus declared in Hosea:

After two days will He vivify us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him and we shall know, and shall follow on to know Jehovah: His going forth is prepared as the dawn, and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the late rain watering the earth (Hos. 6:2-3).

And that this state is compared to the "growth of the field" is declared by Ezekiel, when speaking of the Ancient Church:

I have caused thee to multiply as the growth of the field, and thou hast increased and hast grown up, and hast come to excellent ornaments (Ezek. 16:7).

And it is also compared to:

A shoot of the Lord's planting, and a work of the hands of Jehovah God (Isa. 60:21)

(Extracts from Arcana Coelestia 81 - 93)

Like Following a Scent with The Nose

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Every thing confirmed by the will and also by the understanding remains to eternity, but not what has been confirmed by the understanding only. For that which pertains to the understanding alone is not within the man but is outside of him; it is merely in the thought; and nothing enters into man and is appropriated to him except what is accepted by the will, for it then comes to be of his life's love. This remains to eternity.

(from Divine Providence 318)

Every thing confirmed by the will and also by the understanding remains to eternity, because every one is his own love, and his love belongs to his will; also because every man is his own good or his own evil, for every thing that is called good, and likewise evil, belongs to the love.

As man is his own love he is also a form of his love, and may be called the organ of his life's love.

The affections of the love and consequent thoughts of man are changes and variations of the state and form of the organic substances of his mind.

What these changes and variations are and their nature shall now be explained.

Some idea of them may be gathered from the heart and lungs, where there are alternate expansions and compressions or dilations and contractions, which in the heart are called systole and diastole and in the lungs respirations; these are a reciprocal distension and retraction or reciprocal stretching apart and closing together of their lobes. Such are the changes and variations of the state of the heart and lungs.

There are like changes in the other viscera of the body, and changes more similar in their parts, by which the blood and the animal juice are received and carried onward.

FOUND IN THE ORGANIC FORMS OF THE MIND

Like things are to be found in the organic forms of the mind, which are the subjects of man's affections and thoughts; with the difference that their expansions and compressions, or reciprocations, are relatively in such higher perfection as cannot be expressed in the words of natural language, but only in those of spiritual language, and these can be defined in no other way than that they are vortex-like circlings inward and outward, after the manner of perpetual and incurving spirals wonderfully bundled together into forms receptive of life.

THE LOVE OF MAN'S WILL

The nature of these purely organic substances and forms in the evil and in the good shall now be stated.

> In the good these spiral forms are turned forward, but in the evil backward.
> The spiral forms turning forward are turned towards the Lord and receive influx from Him.
> Those turning backward are turned towards hell and receive influx therefrom.

It is to be known that so far as they are turned backward they are open behind and closed in front; and on the other hand, so far as they are turned forward they are opened in front and closed behind.

From all this, it is evident what kind of a form or organ an evil man is, and what kind of a form or organ a good man is, namely, that they are turned in contrary directions; and as the turning when once fixed cannot be reversed it is clear that such as man is when he dies such he remains to eternity.

It is the love of man's will that makes the turning, that is, that converts and inverts, for, as has been said above, every man is his own love. It is from this that every man after death goes the way of his own love — he that is in a good love to heaven, and he that is in an evil love to hell, and he finds rest only in that society where his reigning love is; and what is wonderful, every one knows the way; it is like following a scent with the nose.

(from Divine Providence 319)