Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Take heed to thyself, lest perchance thou make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land upon which thou comest, lest perchance it become a snare in the midst of thee. Wherefore ye shall overturn their altars, and shall break their pillars, and shall cut down their groves. Wherefore thou shalt not bow thyself to another god; for Jehovah, whose name is Jealous, a jealous God is He. (Exodus 34:12-14)
- • "Take heed to thyself, lest perchance thou make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land upon which thou comest," signifies that there must be no adherence to any religious persuasion whatever that has evil in it
- • "lest perchance it become a snare in the midst of thee," signifies a consequent misleading in the Word itself
- • "wherefore ye shall overturn their altars," signifies that the evil of such a religious persuasion and of the consequent worship must be rejected
- • "and shall break their pillars," signifies that the falsities of evil must be dispersed
- • "and shall cut down their groves," signifies that their teachings must be utterly rejected
- • "wherefore thou shalt not bow thyself to another god," signifies that the Lord alone is to be worshiped from faith and love
- • "for Jehovah, whose name is Jealous, a jealous God is He," signifies that if another is worshiped, Divine good and Divine truth will depart
Wherefore thou shalt not bow thyself to another god; for Jehovah, whose name is Jealous, a jealous God is He. (Exodus 34:14)
Wherefore thou shalt not bow thyself to another god.
That this signifies that the Lord alone is to be worshiped from faith and love, is evident from the signification of "bowing one's self," as being to adore and to worship. That it is the Lord alone who is to be worshiped and no other is because by "Jehovah" and by "God" in the Word is meant the Lord (see at the places cited in n. 9315, 9373); and also because the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and also the one only God (n. 9194). It is said that the Lord is to be worshiped "from faith and love," because the worship of the Lord is either from faith, or from love. Worship from faith is called worship according to truths, for truths belong to faith; and worship from love is called worship from good, for good is of love. Those who are in the Lord's spiritual kingdom worship Him from faith; and those who are in His celestial kingdom worship Him from love.But something must here be said in regard to the worship of the Lord from faith and from love. Many suppose that they worship the Lord by faith when they believe the things of the doctrine of the church, and that they worship the Lord by love when they love Him. Yet the Lord is not worshiped by merely believing, and by merely loving, but by living according to His commandments, because these persons alone believe in the Lord and love Him. The others say that they believe in Him, and yet they do not believe; and they say that they love Him, and yet they do not love Him. The reason why those alone believe in the Lord and love Him who live according to His commandments is that the Lord is not in the understanding of truth without the willing of it; but is in the understanding of truth together with the willing of it. For truth does not enter into a man and become his, until the man wills it and from willing does it, because the will is the man himself, whereas the understanding is only so far the man as it partakes of the will.
Moreover, the Lord is present with a man in his truths which are from good, and the truths which are from good are those which the man wills, and from this does; but not those which he understands, and does without willing them; for to do without willing is hypocrisy, because it is done before men, and not before the Lord. Moreover, the Lord does not dwell with an empty man, that is, with a man who does not know his truths and do them. The Lord is present with a man in the truths which are from good, that is, which the man wills and does, for the truths which are from good make the church with a man, and make heaven with him; in a word, make the Lord Himself to be with him.
If a man reflects, he is able from reason alone to perceive that this is so; for he is able to know that a man's understanding is formed by means of truths, and all his will by means of goods, because all things in the universe bear relation to truth and to good, and man's understanding has been formed to receive truths, and his will to receive goods.
Truths which are believed are called "truths of faith;" and goods which affect with delight are called "goods of love."From this it can be seen that such as are the truths of faith by means of which the understanding is formed, and such as are the goods of love by means of which the will is formed, such is the man; for man is man from the understanding and the will. If therefore his understanding has been formed by means of truths Divine, and these truths become of his faith; and if his will has been formed by means of goods which become of his love, it follows that then heaven is in the man, and that the Lord can dwell with him as in His heaven. For the Divine truths which make the understanding and the Divine goods which make the will are from the Lord, or are the Lord's, and the things that are the Lord's are Himself. From this it is evident that to believe in the Lord is to imbue one's understanding with the truths of faith; and that to love the Lord is to imbue one's will with the goods of love; and that this cannot be done except by learning truths from the Lord, by willing them, and by doing them. Whether you say willing and doing, or loving, it is the same, for that which a man loves, he wills; and that which he actually wills, he loves.
From all this it can now be seen what it is to worship the Lord from faith and love. That such is the case is also evident from the fact that the Lord wills the salvation of all. To will the salvation of man is to will to bring him unto Himself in heaven. This cannot be done unless the Lord is in him, and the Lord cannot possibly be in him except in such things in him as are from Himself, which things are truths from good, thus His commandments which the man does from faith and from love, because there are no other recipients in man of the Lord and of heaven, nor can be. Heaven itself consists of no other things.
That to believe in the Lord and to love Him is to do His commandments, the Lord also teaches in John:
If ye love Me, keep My commandments. He that hath My commandments, and doeth them, he it is that loveth Me. If a man love Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him. He that loveth Me not keepeth not My words (John 14:15, 21, 23-24).
Abide ye in My love. If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love. Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever I command you (John 15:9, 10, 14).
For Jehovah, whose name is Jealous, a jealous God is He.
That this signifies that if another is worshiped, the Divine good and Divine truth will depart, is evident from the signification of "Jealous," as being one who does not suffer anyone but Himself to be loved and worshiped; and from the signification of the "name of Jehovah," as being everything by means of which the Lord is worshiped. And as this is the Divine truth that proceeds from His Divine Human, it is the Divine Human of the Lord which in the supreme sense is meant by the "name of Jehovah"; for the Divine truth is the Lord Himself in heaven, because that which proceeds from Him is Himself. From the Divine, nothing else can proceed than what is Divine, and the Divine is one. From this it is evident that by, "whose name is Jealous," is signified that the Lord does not suffer anyone but Himself to be worshiped, because from Him alone come all the truth and all the good whereby is salvation. The Lord is called "Jealous" because as soon as another is worshiped, all truth and good depart; for a man is conjoined with the Lord by means of the good and truth which are from Him; and therefore as soon as another is worshiped, disjunction takes place, and then falsity succeeds in the place of truth, and evil in the place of good.That He is twice called "jealous" is because by "Jehovah" is meant the Divine good, and by "God" the Divine truth. (In the Word the Lord is called "Jehovah" where the Divine good is treated of, but "God" where the Divine truth is treated of.) And as both the Divine good and the Divine truth depart from a man when another than the Lord is worshiped, He is twice called "jealous."
It is said that the Lord alone is to be worshiped. He who does not know how the case is with the worship of the Lord, may believe that the Lord loves to be worshiped, and desires glory from man, just like a man, who in order to be honored himself, gives others what they ask for. He who so believes has no knowledge of what love is, and still less of what love Divine is.
Love Divine consists in desiring worship and glory, not for the sake of itself, but for the sake of man and his salvation; for he who worships the Lord and gives glory to the Lord is in humiliation; and what is his own departs from the man who is in humiliation; and insofar as this departs, so far the Divine is received; for what is man's own, because it is evil and false, is that which alone obstructs the Divine.This is the glory of the Lord; and the worship of Him is for the sake of this end. Glory for the sake of self is from the love of self, and heavenly love differs from the love of self as heaven differs from hell, and infinitely more does the Divine love differ from it.
(from Arcana Coelestia 10645 - 10646)