The Representatives and Significatives in the Word

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

From the representatives that exist in the other life, the men of the Most Ancient Church, who were celestial, and were in company with spirits and angels while living on earth. From them, [the Most Ancient Church], the representatives passed to their posterity, and at length to those who merely knew that they had such a signification; but because the representatives came from the most ancient times, and were in their Divine worship, they were venerated and held sacred.

Besides representatives, there are also correspondences which suggest and also signify something altogether different in the spiritual world from what they do in the natural world; as the heart, the affection of good; the eyes, the understanding; the ears, obedience; the hands, power; besides innumerable other correspondences. These are not represented in this way in the world of spirits; but they correspond, as what is natural to what is spiritual.

Hence it is that every word, even to the smallest iota of all, in the Word, involves spiritual and heavenly things; and that the Word is in this manner inspired, so that when it is read by man, spirits and angels immediately perceive it spiritually according to the representations and correspondences. But this knowledge, which was so much cultivated and esteemed by the ancients after the flood, and by means of which they were able to think with spirits and angels, is at this day altogether obliterated, so much so that scarcely anyone is willing to believe that it exists; and they who believe in it merely call it a kind of mystical thing, of no use; and this for the reason that man has become altogether worldly and corporeal; to such a degree that when what is spiritual and heavenly is mentioned, he feels a repugnance, and sometimes a loathing, or even nausea.

What then will he do in the other life, which lasts forever, and where there is nothing worldly and corporeal, but only what is spiritual and heavenly, which makes the life in heaven?

(Arcana Coelestia 2763)

Eyes Opened to the Arcana of Heaven

Musings from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

From the first chapter of Genesis up to the mention of Eber, (Genesis 10:22), the historicals have not been true but made-up historicals, which in the internal sense signify celestial and spiritual actualities. But in Genesis chapter eleven and in those which follow, the historicals are not made-up but true historicals; and in the internal sense, these in like manner signify celestial and spiritual actualities, as anyone may see from the single consideration that it is the Word of the Lord.

SIGNIFY AND REPRESENT

In these things are true historicals, all the statements and words both in general and in particular have in the internal sense an entirely different signification from that which they bear in the sense of the letter; but the historicals themselves are representative.

• Abram, who is first treated of, represents in general the Lord, and specifically the celestial man;
• Isaac, who is afterwards treated of, in like manner represents in general the Lord, and specifically the spiritual man;
• Jacob also in general represents the Lord, and specifically the natural man.

Thus they represent the things which are of the Lord, of His kingdom, and of the church. But the internal sense is of such a nature that all things in general and in particular are to be understood abstractly from the letter, just as if the letter did not exist; for in the internal sense is the Word's soul and life, which does not become manifest unless the sense of the letter as it were vanishes. Thus, from the Lord, do the angels perceive the Word when it is being read by man.

HISTORICALS ARE REPRESENTATIVES
AND ALL THE WORDS ARE SIGNIFICATIVE

The case is the same with all the historicals of the Word, not only with those in the books of Moses, but also with those in the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. In all these, nothing is apparent but mere history; but although it is history in the sense of the letter, still in the internal sense there are arcana of heaven, which lie stored up and hidden there, and which can never be seen so long as the mind, together with the eye, is kept in the historicals; nor are they revealed until the mind is removed from the sense of the letter.

The Word of the Lord is like a body that contains within it a living soul; the things belonging to the soul do not appear while the mind is so fixed in corporeal things that it scarcely believes that there is a soul, still less that it will live after death; but as soon as the mind withdraws from corporeal things, those which are of the soul and life become manifest. And this also is the reason, not only why corporeal things must die before man can be born anew, or be regenerated, but also why the body itself must die so that he may come into heaven and see heavenly things.

Such also is the case with the Word of the Lord: its corporeal things are those which are of the sense of the letter; and when the mind is kept in these, the internal things are not seen at all; but when the former are as it were dead, then for the first time are the latter presented to view. But still the things of the sense of the letter are similar to those which are with man while in the body, to wit, to the knowledges of the memory that come from the things of sense, and which are general vessels that contain interior or internal things within them. It may be known from this that the vessels are one thing, and the essentials contained in the vessels another. The vessels are natural; the essentials contained in the vessels are spiritual and celestial. So likewise the historicals of the Word, and all the expressions in the Word, are general, natural, and indeed material vessels, in which are things spiritual and celestial; and these in no wise come into view except by the internal sense.

SPOKEN ACCORDING TO APPEARANCES

This will be evident to everyone from the mere fact that many things in the Word are said according to appearances, and indeed according to the fallacies of the senses, as that the Lord is angry, that He punishes, curses, kills, and many other such things; when yet in the internal sense they mean quite the contrary, namely, that the Lord is in no wise angry and punishes, still less does He curse and kill. And yet to those who from simplicity of heart believe the Word as they apprehend it in the letter, no harm is done while they live in charity. The reason is that the Word teaches nothing else than that everyone should live in charity with his neighbor, and love the Lord above all things. They who do this have in themselves the internal things; and therefore with them the fallacies taken from the sense of the letter are easily dispelled.

CELESTIAL CHURCH

The Most Ancient Church, which was celestial, looked upon all earthly and worldly, and also bodily things, which were in any wise objects of the senses, as being dead things; but as each and all things in the world present some idea of the Lord's kingdom, consequently of things celestial and spiritual, when they saw them or apprehended them by any sense, they thought not of them, but of the celestial and spiritual things; indeed they thought not from the worldly things, but by means of them; and thus with them things that were dead became living.

SPIRITUAL CHURCH

The things thus signified were collected from their lips by their posterity and were formed by them into doctrinals, which were the Word of the Ancient Church, after the flood. With the Ancient Church these were significative; for through them they learned internal things, and from them they thought of spiritual and celestial things. But when this knowledge began to perish, so that they did not know that such things were signified, and began to regard the terrestrial and worldly things as holy, and to worship them, with no thought of their signification, the same things were then made representative.

REPRESENTATIVE CHURCH

Thus arose the Representative Church, which had its beginning in Abram and was afterwards instituted with the posterity of Jacob. From this it may be known that representatives had their rise from the significatives of the Ancient Church, and these from the celestial ideas of the Most Ancient Church.

The nature of representatives may be manifest from the historicals of the Word, in which all the acts of the fathers, — Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, and afterwards those of Moses, and of the judges and kings of Judah and Israel, — were nothing but representatives.

• Abram in the Word, as has been said, represents the Lord; and because he represents the Lord, he represents also the celestial man;
• Isaac likewise represents the Lord, and thence the spiritual man;
• Jacob in like manner represents the Lord, and thence the natural man corresponding to the spiritual.

But with representatives the character of the person is not considered at all, but the thing which he represents; for all the kings of Judah and of Israel, of whatever character, represented the Lord's kingly function; and all the priests, of whatever character, represented His priestly function. Thus the evil as well as the good could represent the Lord and the celestial and spiritual things of His kingdom; for, as has been said and shown above, the representatives were altogether separated from the person.

Hence then it is that all the historicals of the Word are representative; and because they are representative, it follows that all the words of the Word are significative, that is, that they have a different signification in the internal sense from that which they bear in the sense of the letter.

(extractions from Arcana Coelestia 1403 - 1409)
[revisions made for reading purposes]

The Celestial Church — The Spiritual Church

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The first chapter [of Genesis] treats of THE NEW CREATION OR ESTABLISHMENT OF A CHURCH, which was the Most Ancient Church on this globe, as well as the most excellent of all, for it was a Celestial Church, because it was in love to the Lord; and consequently the men of that church were most wise, having almost immediate communication with the angels of heaven, through whom they received wisdom from the Lord.  (This statement will appear again in an upcoming article.)

DEVELOPMENT OF THIS CELESTIAL CHURCH

And a reminder of a previous statement of the development of this Celestial Church:   Genesis chapter two treats of the celestial man, as the preceding chapter did of the spiritual, who was formed out of a dead man.

~~~

There are in general Two Churches — the Celestial and the Spiritual.

• The Celestial Church is with the man who — can be regenerated or become a church as to the will part;
• The Spiritual Church is with the man who — can be regenerated only as to the intellectual part.

• The Most Ancient Church, which was before the flood, was Celestial, because with those who belonged to it there was some wholeness in the will part;
• The Ancient Church, which was after the flood, was Spiritual, because with those who belonged to it there was not anything whole in the will part, but only in the intellectual part.

THE CELESTIAL CHURCH

The man of the Celestial Church was regenerated as to the will part, by being imbued from infancy with the good of charity; and when he had attained to a perception of this, he was led into the perception of love to the Lord, whereby all the truths of faith appeared to him in the intellect as in a mirror. The understanding and the will made in him a mind wholly one; for by the things in the understanding it was perceived what was in the will. In this consisted the wholeness of that first "man" by whom the celestial church is signified.  (from Arcana Coelestia 5113:3)

THE SPIRITUAL CHURCH

For this reason where the Spiritual Church is treated of in the Word, its intellectual part is chiefly treated of. That with those who are of the Spiritual Church it is the intellectual part that is regenerated, may be seen also from the fact that the man of this Church has no perception of truth from good, as had they who were of the Celestial Church; but must first learn the truth which is of faith, and become imbued with what is intellectual, and thus from truth learn what is good; and after he has thus learned it, he is able to think it, and then to will it, and at last to do it; and then a new will is formed in him by the Lord in the intellectual part. By this new will the spiritual man is elevated by the Lord into heaven, evil still remaining in the will that is proper to him; which will is then miraculously separated, and this by a higher force, whereby he is withheld from evil and kept in good. (from Arcana Coelestia 5113:2)

~~~

— RAIN —

(The Celestial Church had immediate influx into the will part, hence, no need for doctrine. Doctrine began to be gathered after the fall. The Spiritual Church would be instructed, as to the intellectual part; yet the definition of "rain" remains.)

Returning to defining "rain" from our previous article:

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)

A few passages of Apocalypse Explained no. 644 —

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.

That "rain" in the Word does not mean rain, but the inflowing Divine, which causes intelligence and wisdom, and also the good of love and the truth of faith in man, to grow and become fruitful, and that "to rain" signifies influx can be seen from the following passages.

In Moses:

My doctrine shall flow down as the rain, My word shall distill as the dew, as the drops on the grass, and as the showers on the herb (Deut. 32:2).

Doctrine is here compared to rain, because "rain" signifies the Divine truth proceeding, from which is everything of doctrine; for all comparisons in the Word are also from correspondences.

• Because "rain" signifies the Divine truth flowing down it is said, "My doctrine shall flow down as the rain."
• "Dew" signifies good, and since "word" has the same signification, therefore it is said, "My word shall distill as the dew."

So intelligence and wisdom therefrom are signified by "the drops on the grass," and by "the showers on the herbs," for as the grass and herb of the field grow from the waters of the rain and dew, so do intelligence and wisdom by the influx of Divine truth from the Lord. This is first said by Moses, because in this chapter he is speaking of the twelve tribes of Israel, which signify in the spiritual sense all truths and goods of the church, and thus doctrine in the whole complex.

In the same:

The land which ye shall pass over to possess it is a land of mountains and valleys, of the rain of heaven it drinketh waters. And I will give the rain of your land in its time, the former rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy new wine, and thine oil.

But if ye shall serve other gods, and shall not walk in my statutes, the anger of Jehovah shall glow against you; He will shut heaven that there be no rain, and the land shall not yield her produce (Deut. 11:11, 14, 16, 17).

This describes the land of Canaan and its fruitfulness; but as that land means in the spiritual sense the church, it follows that all things of this description signify such things as belong to the church, as "mountains," "valleys," "corn," "new wine," "oil," "produce," and "rain."

"A land of mountains and valleys" signifies the higher and lower, or internal and external things of the church; the internal things of the church are with the internal man, which is also called the spiritual man, and the external things of the church are with the external man, which is called the natural man; that both these are such as to receive the influx of Divine truth is signified by "of the rain of heaven it drinketh waters."

That Divine truth inflows in both states, that is, when the man of the church is in his spiritual state and when he is in his natural state, is signified by "the rain given in its time, the former rain and the latter rain;" for the man of the church is by turns in a spiritual state and in a natural state, and the influx and reception of Divine truth in a spiritual state is meant by "the former or morning rain," and in a natural state by "the latter or evening rain;" spiritual and celestial good and truth which the man of the church has therefrom is meant by the "corn," "new wine," and "oil," which they shall gather in;

That the falsities of doctrine and of worship will prevent the influx and reception of Divine truth, and in consequence, the increase of spiritual life, is signified by "if ye shall serve other gods there shall be no rain, and the land will not yield her produce," "other gods" signifying the falsities of doctrine and of worship.

In the same:

If ye walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and do them, the land shall yield its produce, and the tree of the field shall yield its fruit (Lev. 26:3, 4).

Here "the rain that shall be given in its time, and the produce of the land," have a similar signification as above; and as the church was at that time an external church, representative of interior spiritual things, so when they walked in the statutes, and kept the commandments and did them, it came about that they had rain in its time, and the earth yielded its produce, and the tree of the field its fruit; and yet the rain and the produce thence were representative and significative, "rain" represented the Divine flowing in, "the produce," the truth of doctrine and the understanding of truth, and "the fruit of the tree," the good of love and the will of good.

This can be seen from its being said:

That the rain was withheld, and consequently there was a famine in the land of Israel for three years and a half, under Ahab, because they served other gods and killed the prophets (1 Kings 17 and 18; Luke 4:25).

This was a representative, and thus a significative, that no Divine truth flowing in out of heaven could be received because of the falsities of evil, which were signified by "other gods" and by "Baal," whom they worshiped. "Killing the prophets" signified also the destruction of the Divine, for a "prophet" signifies in the Word the doctrine of truth from the Word.

In Isaiah:

I will lay waste My vineyard; it shall not be pruned nor hoed, that the briar and the bramble may come up; and I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it (Isa. 5:6).

Here, too, it is said of Jehovah that He layeth waste His vineyard, "and commandeth the clouds that they rain no rain upon it;" and yet this is not done by Jehovah, that is, the Lord, for He always flows in both with the evil and with the good, which is meant by His "sending His rain upon the just and upon the unjust" (Matt. 5:45).

The cause is with the man of the church, that he does not receive any influx of Divine truth, for the man who does not receive closes up with himself the interiors of his mind, which receive; and when these are shut the inflowing Divine is rejected.

The "vineyard" which is laid waste signifies the church; "it is not pruned nor hoed" signifies no ability to be cultivated and so prepared to receive; "the briar and bramble" which shall come up signify the falsities of evil; "to command the clouds that they rain no rain" signifies that no influx of Divine truth from heaven is received.

In Jeremiah:

The showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and still the forehead of a harlot woman remained to thee, thou didst refuse to be ashamed (Jer. 3:3).

They said not in their heart, Come, let us fear Jehovah our God; that giveth the rain, and the former and the latter rain in its time. He keepeth unto us the weeks, the stated times of harvest; your iniquities make these things to turn away (Jer. 5:24, 25).

Again:

The nobles sent their little ones for water; they came to the pits and found no waters, because the land was broken, for there had been no rain upon the earth; the husbandmen were ashamed, they covered up the head (Jer. 14:3, 4).

"Nobles" mean those who teach and lead, and "little ones" those who are taught and led; "waters" signify the truths of doctrine; "pits in which there are no waters" signify doctrinals in which there are no truths; "there had been no rain upon the earth" signifies that no influx of Divine truth is received by reason of the falsities in the church; "the husbandmen were ashamed and covered up the head" signifies those who teach, and their grief.

In Isaiah:

Then Jehovah shall give rain to thy seed with which thou sowest the land; and the bread of the increase of the land, and it shall be fat and rich; thy cattle shall feed in that day in a broad meadow (Isa. 30:23).

This would be when the Lord should come. The influx of Divine truth proceeding from Him is signified by "the rain" which the Lord will then give to the seed, "rain" meaning Divine influx, and "seed" the truth of the Word; "to sow the land" signifies to plant and form the church in oneself; "the bread of the increase which Jehovah will give" signifies the good of love and charity, which is produced by the truths of the Word vivified by Divine influx; "fat and rich" signifies full of the good of love and truths therefrom, for "fat" is predicated of good, and "rich" of truths; "the cattle shall feed in that day in a broad meadow" signifies the extension and multiplication of good and truth by Divine influx, and consequent spiritual nourishment, "cattle" meaning the goods and truths in man, "that day" the Lord's coming, and "a broad meadow" the Word, through which is Divine influx and spiritual nourishment; "breadth" is predicated of the extension and multiplication of truth.

In the same:

As the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither but irrigateth the earth, and maketh it to bring forth and to bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me empty, but it shall do what I will, and it shall prosper in that to which I sent it (Isa. 55:10, 11).

Here "the Word" which goeth forth out of the mouth of God is compared to the rain and snow from heaven, because "the Word" means Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, which with us flows in through the Word; "rain and snow coming down out of heaven" have a similar meaning, "rain" signifying spiritual truth, which has been appropriated to man, and "snow" natural truth, which is like snow when it is in the memory only; but it is made spiritual by love, as snow is made rain water by heat. "To irrigate the earth and to make it to bring forth and to bud" signifies to vivify the church that it may bring forth the truth of doctrine and of faith, and the good of love and of charity; the truth of doctrine and of faith is signified by "the seed that it gives to the sower," and the good of love and of charity by "the bread that it gives to the eater;" "it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall do what I will," signifies that it shall be received, and that by it man shall be led to look to the Lord.

In Luke:

When ye see a cloud rising in the west straightway it is said, There cometh a shower, and so it cometh to pass; and when ye see the south wind blowing it is said, There will be a scorching heat, and it cometh to pass. Ye hypocrites, ye know how to discern the face of the earth and of heaven, how is it that ye do not discern this time? (Luke 12:54-56)

By this comparison the Lord teaches that they see earthly things but not heavenly things; and the comparison itself, like all other comparisons in the Word, is derived from correspondences.

For "a cloud rising in the west" signifies the Lord's coming at the end of the church predicted in the Word, "cloud" signifying the Word in the letter, "rising" the Lord's coming, and the "west" the end of the church; "straightway it is said, There cometh a shower" signifies that then there will be an influx of Divine truth; "and when ye see the south wind blowing" signifies the proclamation of His coming; "it is said, There will be a scorching heat" signifies that then there will be an influx of Divine good. The same words signify also contentions and combats of truth from good with falsities from evil, "shower and scorching heat" signifying also such contentions and combats; for this comparison follows the words of the Lord:

That He came not to give peace on the earth, but division, and that the father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father, the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother (Luke 12:51-53);

and these words signify such contention and combat; that "shower" also has this signification may be seen below. Because this comparison, regarded in its spiritual sense, implies the coming of the Lord, and because from blindness induced by falsities they did not acknowledge Him, although they might have known Him from the Word, it therefore follows:

Ye hypocrites, ye know how to discern the face of the earth and of heaven, but ye do not discern this time (verse 56);

that is, the time of His coming, and the conflict of the falsity of evil with the truth of good that then took place.

In Matthew:

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, bless them that hate you, and pray for them that hurt and persecute you; that ye may be sons of your Father who is in the heavens; who maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust (Matt. 5:44, 45).

Here first charity towards the neighbor, which is to wish good and do good even to enemies, is described by "loving them, blessing them, and praying for them," for genuine charity regards only the good of another.

Here "to love" signifies charity, "to bless" instruction, and "to pray" intercession, and for the reason that inwardly in charity there is the end to do good.

That this is the Divine itself with man, such as it is with regenerate men, is signified by "that ye may be sons of your Father in the heavens," "Father in the heavens" means the Divine proceeding, for all who receive this are called "sons of the Father," that is, of the Lord; "the sun that He maketh to rise on the evil and on the good" signifies the Divine good flowing in; and "the rain that He sendeth on the just and on the unjust" signifies the Divine truth flowing in; for the Divine proceeding which is "the Father in the heavens," flows in with the evil equally as with the good, but the reception of it must be on man's part, yet not on man's part as from man, but as if from man, for the ability to receive is given to man continually, and it also flows in to the extent that man removes the evils that oppose, and does this also from the ability that is continually given, the ability itself appearing to be man's, although it is of the Lord.

From this it can now be seen that "rain" signifies in the Word the influx of the Divine truth from the Lord, from which man has spiritual life, and this because "waters," of which rain consists, signify the truth of doctrine and the truth of faith.

OPPOSITE SENSE

But as "waters," in the contrary sense, signify the falsities of doctrine and of faith, so "showers of rain" or "a shower," as well as "inundations of waters" and a "flood," signify not only falsities destroying truths, but also temptations in which man either yields or conquers.

This is the signification of shower [imber] in Matthew:

Everyone that heareth My words and doeth them I will liken to a prudent man who built his house upon a rock; and the shower descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, yet it fell not.

But everyone that heareth My words and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the shower descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it (Matt. 7:24-27).

Here "shower" and "rivers" mean temptations, in which man conquers or in which he yields; "waters" mean the falsities that usually inflow in temptations; and "rivers," which here are inundations of water from a shower, signify temptations; "the winds that blow and beat" signify the thoughts that arise therefrom, for temptations arise through the breaking in of falsities injected by evil spirits into the thoughts. The "house" they beat upon signifies —

man, strictly his mind, which consists of understanding or thought and of will or affection;

he that receives the words of the Lord, that is, Divine truths, in one part of the mind only, which is that of the thought or understanding, and not at the same time in the other part, which is that of the affection or will, yields in temptations, and falls into grievous falsities, which are the falsities of evil; therefore it is said, "great was the fall of it;"

But he who receives Divine truths in both parts, that is, both in the understanding and in the will, conquers in temptations.

The "rock" upon which that house is founded signifies the Lord as to Divine truth, or Divine truth received by the soul and heart, that is, by faith and love, in other words, by the understanding and will; while the "sand" signifies Divine truth received only in the memory, and somewhat therefrom in the thought, and thus in a scattered and disconnected way, because intermixed with falsities, and falsified by notions. This makes clear what is meant by "hearing the words and not doing them." That this is the sense of these words can be seen more clearly from what precedes them.

(portions from Apocalypse Explained 644)

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)

Man's Part in His Salvation

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

CONJUNCTION IS RECIPROCAL

Conjunction with the Lord is a reciprocal conjunction, that is, that the Lord is in man and man in the Lord. That conjunction is reciprocal, Scripture teaches and reason also sees.

As to His conjunction with His Father, the Lord teaches that it is reciprocal, for He says to Philip:

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:10, 11)

That ye may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father (John 10:38).

Jesus said, Father, the hour is come glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee (John 17:1).

Father, all things that are Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine (John 17:10).

The same is said by the Lord respecting His conjunction with man, namely, that it is reciprocal; for He says:

Abide in Me and I in you; he that abideth in Me and I in him, the same beareth much fruit (John 15:4, 6).

He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me and I in him (John 6:66).

In that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you (John 14:20).

He that keepeth the commandments of Christ abideth in Him, and He in him (1 John 3:24; 4:13).

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God (1 John 4:15)

If anyone hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me (Apoc. 3:20).

From these plain statements it is clear that the conjunction of the Lord and man is reciprocal; and because it is reciprocal it necessarily follows, that man ought to conjoin himself to the Lord, in order that the Lord may conjoin himself to man; and that otherwise conjunction is not effected, but withdrawal and a consequent separation, yet not on the Lord's part, but on man's part.

FREEDOM OF CHOICE

In order that such reciprocal conjunction may exist, there is granted to man freedom of choice, giving him the ability to walk in the way to heaven or in the way to hell. From this freedom that is given to man flows his ability to reciprocate, which enables him to conjoin himself with the Lord, and also with the devil. 

HYPOTHESES RESPECTING FAITH AND FREEDOM OF CHOICE

It is to be lamented that the reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and man, although it stands out so clearly in the Word, is unknown in the Christian church. It is unknown because of certain hypotheses respecting faith and freedom of choice. The hypothesis respecting faith is that it is bestowed upon man without his contributing anything toward the acquisition of it, or adapting and applying himself, any more than a stock, to the reception of it. The hypothesis respecting freedom of choice is that man does not possess a single grain of freedom of choice in spiritual things. But that the reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and man, on which depends the salvation of the human race, may not remain longer unknown, necessity itself enjoins its disclosure, which may be best effected by examples, because they illustrate.

EXAMPLES

There are two kinds of reciprocation by which conjunction is effected:

• One is alternate
• The other mutual.

The alternate reciprocation by which conjunction is effected, may be illustrated by the action of the lungs in breathing. Man draws in the air and thereby expands the chest; then he expels the inhaled air and thereby contracts the chest. This inhalation and the consequent expansion is effected by means of the pressure of the air proportionate to its column; while the expulsion and the consequent contraction are effected by means of the ribs by the power of the muscles. Such is the reciprocal conjunction of the air and the lungs, and on it depends the life of all bodily sense and motion, for these swoon when respiration ceases.

Reciprocal conjunction, which is effected by alteration, may also be illustrated by the conjunction of the heart with the lungs and of the lungs with the heart. The heart from its right chamber pours the blood into the lungs, and the lungs pour it back again into the left chamber of the heart; thus is that reciprocal conjunction effected on which the life of the whole body is altogether dependent. There is a like conjunction of the blood with the heart, and vice versa. The blood of the whole body flows through the veins into the heart, and from the heart it flows out through the arteries into the whole body; action and reaction effect this conjunction. There is a like action and reaction (by which there is a constant conjunction) between the embryo and the mother's womb.

NO SUCH RECIPROCAL CONJUNCTION OF THE LORD AND MAN

But there is no such reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and man. That is a mutual conjunction, which is effected not by action and reaction, but by cooperation. For the Lord acts, and from Him man receives action, and operates as if of himself, even by the Lord from himself. This operation of man from the Lord is imputed to him as his own, because he is held constantly by the Lord in freedom of choice. The freedom of choice resulting from this is the ability to will and to think from the Lord, that is, from the Word, and also the ability to will and to think from the devil, that is, contrary to the Lord and the Word. This freedom the Lord gives to man to enable him to conjoin himself reciprocally with the Lord, and by conjunction be gifted with eternal life and blessedness, since this, without reciprocal conjunction, would not be possible.

This reciprocal conjunction, which is mutual, may also be illustrated by various things in man and in the world. Such is the conjunction of soul and body in every man; such is the conjunction of will and action, also of thought and speech; such is the mutual conjunction of the two eyes, the two ears, and the two nostrils. That the mutual conjunction of the two eyes is in a manner reciprocal, is evident from the optic nerve, in which fibers from both hemispheres of the cerebrum are folded together, and thus folded together they extend to both eyes. It is the same with the ears and nostrils.

There exists a like reciprocal and mutual conjunction between light and the eye, between sound and the ear, odor and the nose, taste and the tongue, touch and the body; for the eye is in the light and the light in the eye, sound is in the ear and the ear in the sound, odor is in the nose and the nose in odor, taste is in the tongue and the tongue in taste, and touch is in the body and the body in touch. This reciprocal conjunction may also be compared to the conjunction of a horse and a carriage, an ox and a plough, a wheel and machinery, a sail and the wind, a musical pipe and the air; in short, such is the reciprocal conjunction of the end and the cause, and such also is that of the cause and the effect.

(True Christian Religion 371)

What Shall We Do?

Selection from Doctrine of Life ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?

Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.   (John 6:26-29)

Man has two faculties, one called the will and the other the understanding. They are distinct from each other, but they are so created that they may be one; and when they are one, they are called the mind. The human mind then, consists of these two faculties, and the whole life of man resides therein. As all things in the universe which are according to Divine order have relation to good and truth, so all things with man have relation to the will and the understanding —

• For good with man pertains to his will
• Truth with him pertains to his understanding.

For these two faculties are the receptacles and subjects of good and truth: the will is the receptacle and subject of all things belonging to good, and the understanding is the receptacle and subject of all things belonging to truth. Goods and truths with man reside nowhere else; nor, consequently, do love and faith, since love has relation to good, and good to love, while faith has relation to truth and truth to faith.

Nothing is of greater importance to know than how the will and the understanding constitute one mind.

They make one mind as good and truth make one; for there is between the will and the understanding a marriage similar to that between good and truth. The nature of this marriage was stated in some measure in the preceding article; and to this it should be added that, as good is the very being (esse) of a thing and truth is its consequent existing (existere), so the will with man is the very being (esse) of his life and the understanding is its consequent existing (existere); for good, which is of the will, forms itself in the understanding, and in a certain manner renders itself visible.

~~~

They who are in good and truth have will and understanding, but they who are in evil and in falsity have not will and understanding; but instead of will they have cupidity, and instead of understanding they have science. For the truly human will is the receptacle of good, and the understanding is the receptacle of truth; for which reason will cannot be predicated of evil, nor can understanding be predicated of falsity, because they are opposites, and opposites destroy each other. Hence it is, that the man who is in evil and thence in falsity, cannot be called rational, wise, and intelligent.

With the evil, also, the interiors of the mind, in which the will and the understanding principally reside, are closed. It is believed that the evil also have will and understanding, because they say that they will, and that they understand; but their willing is only cupidity, and their understanding is only knowing.   (New Jerusalem and Heavenly Doctrine 33)

~~~

There are many truths which appear to pertain to faith only; as, that there is a God, that the Lord, who is God, is the Redeemer and Saviour; that there is a heaven and a hell; that there is a life after death; and many others, of which it is not said that they are to be done, but that they are to be believed.

These truths which pertain to faith are also dead with the man who is principled in evil, but alive with the man who is principled in good.

The reason is, that the man who is principled in good does well from the will, and also thinks well from the understanding not only before the world but also before himself, when he is alone. It is otherwise with the man who is principled in evil.

It was stated that these truths appear to pertain to faith only; but the thought of the understanding derives its existence (existere) from the love of the will, and this love is the being (esse) of the thought in the understanding, as was said above.

For whatever any one wills from love, that he wills to do, wills to think, wills to understand and wills to speak; or what is the same thing, what any one loves from the will, this he loves to do, loves to think, loves to understand and loves to speak.

Moreover, when a man shuns evil as sin, he is then in the Lord and the Lord works all things. Therefore, to those who asked Him what they should do that they might work the works of God, the Lord said:

This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent. (John 6:28, 29).

To believe on the Lord is not only to think that He is, but also to do His words, as He teaches elsewhere.

(from Doctrine of Life 43; 47, 48)

Inheriting the Lord's Kingdom

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

WHAT IS EXTERNAL SHALL NOT BE THE HEIR OF THE LORD'S KINGDOM

To become an heir, or to inherit, signifies eternal life in the Lord's kingdom.

All who are in the Lord's kingdom are heirs; for they live from the Lord's life, which is the life of mutual love; and from this they are called sons. The Lord's sons or heirs are all who are in His life, because their life is from Him, and they are born of Him, that is, are regenerate. They who are born of anyone are heirs; and so are all who are being regenerated by the Lord, for in this case they receive His life.

In the Lord's kingdom there are those who are external, those who are interior, and those who are internal.

• Good spirits, who are in the first heaven, are external
• Angelic spirits, who are in the second heaven, are interior
• Angels, who are in the third, are internal.

They who are external are not so closely related or so near to the Lord, as they who are interior; nor are these so closely related or so near to the Lord, as they who are internal. The Lord, from the Divine love or mercy, wills to have all near to Himself; so that they do not stand at the doors, that is, in the first heaven; but He wills that they should be in the third; and, if it were possible, not only with Himself, but in Himself.
 
What pertains to doctrine does not itself make the external, still less the internal; nor with the Lord does it distinguish churches from each other, but that which does this is a life according to doctrinals, all of which, provided they are true, look to charity as their fundamental.

What is doctrine but that which teaches how a man must live?

The heir of the Lord's kingdom is not what is external, but what is internal. What is external is so too, but through what is internal, for they then act as a one. That it may be known how the case herein is, it is to be kept in mind that all who are in the heavens — as well those who are in the first and in the second, as those who are in the third, — that is, as well those who are external and those who are interior, as those who are internal — are heirs of the Lord's kingdom; for they all make one heaven. In the Lord's heavens, the internals and the externals are circumstanced exactly as they are in man.

The angels in the first heaven are subordinate to those in the second, and these are subordinate to the angels in the third heaven. The subordination, however, is not that of command, but is, as in a man, the influx of things internal into things more external; that is, the Lord's life inflows through the third heaven into the second, and through this into the first, in the order of their succession, besides that it inflows immediately into all the heavens. The inferior or subordinate angels do not know that this is so unless reflection is given them by the Lord; thus there is no subordination of command.

• In proportion to the existence of what is internal in an angel of the third heaven is he an heir of the Lord's kingdom;
• In proportion to the same in an angel of the second heaven is he an heir;
• In proportion to the existence of what is internal in an angel of the first heaven, is he too an heir.

It is that which is internal that causes anyone to be an heir.

With the interior angels there is more of what is internal than there is with the more external angels, and therefore the former are nearer to the Lord, and are more fully heirs. That which is internal is love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor; in proportion therefore to the love and the charity which they have, in the same proportion are they sons and heirs, for in the same proportion are they partakers of the Lord's life.

But no one can possibly be taken up from the first or external heaven into the second or interior heaven until he has been instructed in the goods of love and the truths of faith. So far as he has been instructed, so far he can be taken up, and can come among angelic spirits. It is the same with angelic spirits before they can be taken up or come into the third heaven, or among angels. By instruction the interiors are formed, and thereby the internals, and are adapted to receiving the goods of love and the truths of faith, and thereby the perception of what is good and true.

No one can perceive what he does not know and believe, consequently he cannot be gifted with the faculty of perceiving the good of love and the truth of faith except by means of knowledges, so as to know what they are and of what nature.

It is so with all, even with infants, who are all instructed in the Lord's kingdom. But these are easily instructed, because they are imbued with no principles of falsity; they are however instructed in general truths only; and when they receive these they perceive things without number or limit.

The case in this respect is the same as it is with one who has been persuaded respecting any truth in general:

The particulars of the general truths, and the singulars of the particulars, which are confirmatory, he easily learns, as it were of himself, or spontaneously; for he is affected by the truth in general, and thence also by the particulars and singulars of the same truth, which confirm; for these enter into the general affection with delight and pleasantness, and thus constantly perfect it.

These are the internal things on account of which they are called "heirs," or by means of which they can inherit the Lord's kingdom.

But they first begin to be heirs, or to have a heritage, when they are in the affection of good, that is, in mutual love, into which they are introduced by the knowledges of good and truth, and by the affections of them; and in proportion as they are in the affection of good, or in mutual love, in the same proportion are they "heirs," or have an inheritance. For mutual love is the veriest life [vitale] which they receive from the Lord's essence, as from their Father.

(from Arcana Coelestia 1799; 1802)

Moved from the Understanding to Living

Selections from The Heavenly Doctrines ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

It is better not to know and apprehend the truths of faith, than to know and apprehend them and yet live a life of evil.

NO ONE CAN HAVE CELESTIAL GOOD UNLESS HE ACKNOWLEDGES THE LORD

• Two affections, namely, of good and of truth
• The affection of good, constitutes the Celestial Church — "daughter of Zion
• The affection of truth, constitutes the Spiritual Church — "daughter of Jerusalem."

Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. Verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things which ye see, but did not see them (Matt. 13:16-17; John 12:40)

They were not blessed because they saw the Lord, and saw His miracles, but because they believed; as may be seen from these words in John:

I said unto you, that ye also have seen Me, and believe not. This is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone who seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, should have eternal life. Not that anyone hath seen the Father, save He that is with the Father, He hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath eternal life (John 6:36, 40, 46-47)

"Seeing and not Believing" denotes knowing the truths of faith and not receiving them; "seeing and believing" denotes knowing and receiving them; "no one having seen the Father save He that is with the Father" denotes that Divine good cannot be acknowledged except by means of Divine truth.

FAITH IS THE EYE OF LOVE

The Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; I will not leave you orphans; I come unto you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me; because I live ye shall live also (John 14:17-19)

Where "seeing" signifies having faith, for the Lord is seen only by faith, because faith is the eye of love, the Lord being seen by love through faith, and love being the life of faith; wherefore it is said, "Ye see Me; because I live, ye shall live also."

FAITH FROM THE LORD vs FAITH FROM SELF

"Seeing," in the internal sense, signifies faith from the Lord, for there is no other faith which is faith than that which comes from the Lord. This also enables man to "see," that is, to believe; but faith from self, or from what is man's own, is not faith, for it causes him to see falsities as truths, and truths as falsities; and if he sees truths as truths, still he does not see, because he does not believe, for he sees himself in them, and not the Lord.

(portions from Arcana Coelestia 2362; 3863; )

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CAN A MAN BE SAVED UNLESS HE BE FIRST REFORMED?

Man is born into the love of self and of the world; and as these loves do not bear within themselves any love to God and towards the neighbour, except for the sake of self, he is born also into evils of every kind. Is there any love or mercy in these loves? Does he regard it of any moment to defraud another, to defame him, to hate him even to death, to commit adultery with his wife, to act cruelly to him when moved by revenge, while he cherishes in his mind (animus) the desire to be supreme over all, thus regarding others compared with himself as insignificant and worthless?

In order that such a man may be saved must he not first be led away from these evils, and so be reformed?

This can only be effected in accordance with several laws, which are laws of the Divine Providence. These laws are for the most part unknown; and yet they are laws of the Divine Wisdom and at the same time of the Divine Love; and the Lord cannot act contrary to them, for to do so would be to destroy man, not to save him.

There is no immediate influx from heaven, but only mediate influx through the Word, doctrine and preaching.  The Word to be Divine could only have been written throughout wholly by correspondences.

THE ESSENTIALS THINGS OF THE CHURCH

When the Church itself has assumed as its essentials things which belong to the understanding only, that is, to doctrine, and not things which belong to the will, that is, to the life; and when those things which belong to the life are not made essentials of the Church, then man from his understanding is in complete darkness and wanders about like a blind man, everywhere running up against things and falling into pits. For the will must see in the understanding, and not the understanding in the will; or what is the same, the life and its love must lead the understanding to think, speak and act, and not the reverse. If the reverse were the case the understanding, from an evil, indeed a diabolical love, might seize upon whatever presents itself through the senses and insist upon the will doing it.

Yet it has been provided that everyone, no matter in what heresy he may be with respect to his understanding, may still be reformed and saved, if only he shuns evils as sins and does not confirm heretical falsities in himself. For by shunning evils as sins, the will is reformed, and through the will, the understanding, which then first emerges out of darkness into light.

There are three essentials of the Church:

• An acknowledgment of the Divinity of the Lord
• An acknowledgment of the holiness of the Word
• The life that is called charity.

According to the life which is charity is every man's faith; from the Word he has a rational perception of what the life should be; and from the Lord he has reformation and salvation. Had these three been held as essentials of the Church intellectual dissensions would not have divided but would have merely varied it, as light varies colors in beautiful objects, and as the various emblems of royalty constitute the beauty of a kingly crown.

(from Divine Providence 259)

From Spiritual to Celestial

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host [the army] of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.   (Genesis 2:1-3)

• Man is now rendered so far spiritual as to have become the "sixth day"
• "heaven" is his internal man, and "earth" his external
• "the army of them" are love, faith, and the knowledges thereof, which were previously signified by the great luminaries and the stars

That the internal man is called "heaven" and the external "earth" is evident from the passages of the Word from Isaiah:

I will make a man more rare than solid gold, even a man than the precious gold of Ophir; therefore I will smite the heavens with terror, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place (Isa. 13:12-13).

Thou forgettest Jehovah thy Maker, that stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth; but I will put My words in thy mouth, and I will hide thee in the shadow of My hand, that I may stretch out the heaven, and lay the foundation of the earth (Isa. 51:13, 16).

From these words it is evident that both "heaven" and "earth" are predicated of Man; for although they refer primarily to the Most Ancient Church, yet the interiors of the Word are of such a nature that whatever is said of the church may also be said of every individual member of it, who, unless he were a church, could not possibly be a part of the church, just as he who is not a temple of the Lord cannot be what is signified by the temple, namely, the church and heaven. It is for this reason that the Most Ancient Church is called "Man" in the singular number.

WHEN THE CELESTIAL PRINCIPLE, AND NOT THE SPIRITUAL, BEGINS TO BE THE PRINCIPAL

The "heavens and the earth and all the army of them" are said to be "finished" when man has become the "sixth day" for then faith and love make a one. When they do this, love, and not faith, or in other words the celestial principle, and not the spiritual, begins to be the principal, and this is to be a celestial man.

GOD BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY, AND HALLOWED IT

God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it He rested from all His work which God in making created.

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."

THE SABBATH

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.

That the celestial man is the "seventh day" and that the seventh day was therefore hallowed, and called the Sabbath, are arcana which have not hitherto been discovered. For none have been acquainted with the nature of the celestial man, and few with that of the spiritual man, whom in consequence of this ignorance they have made to be the same as the celestial man, notwithstanding the great difference that exists between them.

As regards the seventh day, and as regards the celestial man being the "seventh day" or "Sabbath" this is evident from the fact that the Lord Himself is the Sabbath; and therefore He says:

The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath (Mark 2:27)

which words imply that the Lord is Man himself, and the Sabbath itself. His kingdom in the heavens and on the earth is called, from Him, a Sabbath, or eternal peace and rest.

THE MOST ANCIENT CHURCH WAS THE SABBATH OF THE LORD

The Most Ancient Church, which is here treated of, was the Sabbath of the Lord above all that succeeded it.

Every subsequent inmost church of the Lord is also a Sabbath; and so is every regenerate person when he becomes celestial, because he is a likeness of the Lord.

The six days of combat or labor precede.

These things were represented in the Jewish church by the days of labor, and by the seventh day, which was the Sabbath; for in that church there was nothing instituted which was not representative of the Lord and of His kingdom. The like was also represented by the ark when it went forward, and when it rested, for by its journeyings in the wilderness were represented combats and temptations, and by its rest a state of peace; and therefore, when it set forward, Moses said:

Rise up, Jehovah, and let Thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee before Thy faces. And when it rested, he said, Return, Jehovah, unto the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel (Num. 10:35-36).

It is there said of the ark that it went from the Mount of Jehovah "to search out a rest for them" (Num. 10:33).

The rest of the celestial man is described by the Sabbath in Isaiah:

If thou bring back thy foot from the Sabbath, so that thou doest not thy desire in the day of My holiness, and callest the things of the Sabbath delights to the holy of Jehovah, honorable; and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own desire, nor speaking a word; then shalt thou be delightful to Jehovah, and I will cause thee to be borne over the lofty things of the earth, and will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob (Isa. 58:13-14).

Such is the quality of the celestial man that he acts not according to his own desire, but according to the good pleasure of the Lord, which is his "desire." Thus he enjoys internal peace and happiness — here expressed by "being uplifted over the lofty things of the earth" — and at the same time external tranquility and delight, which is signified by "being fed with the heritage of Jacob."

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.

COMBAT CEASES WHEN HE BECOMES CELESTIAL

Another reason 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."

WHEN THE SPIRITUAL MAN BECOMES CELESTIAL

When the spiritual man becomes celestial, he is called the "work of God" because the Lord alone has fought for him, and has created, formed, and made him; and therefore it is here said, "God finished His work on the seventh day;" and twice, that "He rested from all His work."

By the Prophets man is repeatedly called the "work of the hands and of the fingers of Jehovah;" as in Isaiah, speaking of the regenerate man:

Thus hath said Jehovah the Holy One of Israel, and his Former, Seek ye signs of Me, signs concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands command ye Me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even My hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their army have I commanded. For thus hath said Jehovah that createth the heavens, God Himself that formeth the earth and maketh it; He establisheth it, He created it not a void, He formed it to be inhabited; I am Jehovah and there is no God else besides Me (Isa. 45:11-12, 18, 21).

THE WORK OF THE LORD ALONE

Hence it is evident that 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, both in the above passage — "creating the heavens, forming the earth, and making it" — and in other places in the same Prophet, as:

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 Genesis chapters one and two: "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."

(from Arcana Coelestia 83 - 88)

The Creation of a Church

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

• The celestial man is delighted with celestial things alone, which being in agreement with his life are called celestial food.

• The spiritual man is delighted with spiritual things, and as these are in agreement with his life they are called spiritual food.

• The natural man in like manner is delighted with natural things, which, being of his life, are called food, and consist chiefly of memory-knowledges.

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• All things relating to the knowledges of faith are called spiritual.

• All things that are of love to the Lord and our neighbor are called celestial.

The spiritual belong to man's understanding; the celestial to his will.

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THE WORK OF THE FINGERS OF GOD

The times and states of man's regeneration in general and in particular are divided into six, and are called the days of his creation; for, by degrees, from being not a man at all, he becomes at first something of one, and so by little and little attains to the sixth day, in which he becomes an image of God.

Meanwhile the Lord continually fights for him against evils and falsities, and by combats confirms him in truth and good. The time of combat is the time of the Lord's working; and therefore in the Prophets the regenerate man is called the work of the fingers of God.

Nor does He rest —

until love acts as principal

then the combat ceases.

When the work has so far advanced that faith is conjoined with love, it is called "very good;" because the Lord then actuates him, as His likeness. At the end of the sixth day the evil spirits depart, and good spirits take their place, and the man is introduced into heaven, or into the celestial paradise. (from Arcana Coelestia 62 -63)

FROM BEING A DEAD MAN, HE BECOME SPIRITUAL, THEN FROM SPIRITUAL, HE BECOMES CELESTIAL

• Genesis chapter one addresses the spiritual man — who was formed out of a dead man.
• Genesis chapter two addresses the celestial man — the seventh day, on which the Lord rests.

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THE NATURE OF THE CELESTIAL MAN — THE SPIRITUAL MAN — THE DEAD MAN

First,
•  A dead man acknowledges nothing to be true and good but what belongs to the body and the world, and this he adores.
• A spiritual man acknowledges spiritual and celestial truth and good; but he does so from a principle of faith, which is likewise the ground of his actions, and not so much from love.
• A celestial man believes and perceives spiritual and celestial truth and good, acknowledging no other faith than that which is from love, from which also he acts.

Secondly:
• The ends which influence a dead man regard only corporeal and worldly life, nor does he know what eternal life is, or what the Lord is; or should he know, he does not believe.
• The ends which influence a spiritual man regard eternal life, and thereby the Lord.
• The ends which influence a celestial man regard the Lord, and thereby His kingdom and eternal life.

Thirdly:
• A dead man, when in combat almost always yields, and when not in combat, evils and falsities have dominion over him, and he is a slave. His bonds are external, such as the fear of the law, of the loss of life, of wealth, of gain, and of the reputation which he values for their sake.
• The spiritual man is in combat, but is always victorious; the bonds by which he is restrained are internal, and are called the bonds of conscience.
• The celestial man is not in combat, and when assaulted by evils and falsities, he despises them, and is therefore called a conqueror. He is apparently restrained by no bonds, but is free. His bonds, which are not apparent, are perceptions of good and truth.  (from Arcana Coelestia 81)