December 6, 2016

- No Power Against Truth

From Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
"I will send My fear before thee ..." (Exodus 23:27) is signified the terror of those who are in the evils of falsity on account of the truths of good.

The case herein is this. All power in the spiritual world is from the truths which are from good, thus from the truths which proceed from the Lord. This can be plainly seen from the fact that the Lord disposes all things in heaven, and all things in hell, and also all things in the world, by means of the truths which are from Himself; for the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is that very thing through which all things have come into existence, and through which all things subsist.


That this is so is not comprehended by those who think solely from what is material, as those think who ascribe the origin and maintenance of all things to nature. These can have no idea about truths except that they are devoid of power, being matters of mere thought, concerning which they perceive nothing essential, and still less anything substantial; although they know that the thought directs the whole body, and excites its parts to motion, precisely in accordance with its own quality; likewise that there is nothing in the universe that does not bear relation to the truth which is from good. ...


From all this it is evident that the angels have power from the truth Divine which is from the Lord, and that from this they are called "powers." ...


Seeing that truth has all power, it follows that falsity from evil has no power whatever, because it is the privation of truth from good, thus the privation of power. Consequently they who are in hell - all there being in falsities from evil - have no power whatever; and therefore thousands of them can be driven away, cast down, and dispersed by one angel of heaven, much as a mote in the air is driven away by the breath of the mouth. From all this it can be seen why those who are in the evils of falsity feel terror on account of the truths of good. This terror is called "the terror of God" (Gen. 35:5; Job 13:21).  And in these passages:


I will put My terror in the land of the living; when he shall be made to lie down in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude (Ezek. 32:32).


If he shall reject My statutes, and if your soul shall abhor My judgments, so that ye will not do all My commandments, I will send dismay into their hearts, that the sound of a driven leaf may chase them; and they may flee as one fleeth from the sword; and may fall when none pursueth (Lev. 26:15, 36);


here is described the terror of those who are in the evils of falsity, and in the falsities of evil. It is said that "the sound of a leaf shall chase them, and they shall flee as one fleeth from the sword" because "leaf" signifies truth, and "sword" signifies truth fighting against the falsity of evil. That such have no power whatever against truth, is signified by "they shall fall when none pursueth."

(Arcana Coelestia 9327)