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