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Luke 2:8-20 : The Shepherds Visit Jesus in Bethlehem

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8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

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Arcana Coelestia #1676

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1676. 'As far as El-paran which is over into the wilderness' means the range of their extension. This becomes clear from the fact that the Horites were smitten and made to flee as far as that place. The wilderness of Paran is mentioned in Genesis 21:21; Numbers 10:12; 12:16; 13:3, 26; Deuteronomy 1:1. What 'El-paran which is in the wilderness' means here cannot be easily explained beyond this, that the Lord's first victory over the hells meant by those nations did not as yet extend any further. But how far it did extend is meant by 'El-paran which is over into the wilderness'.

[2] Anyone who has not been given to know heavenly arcana may imagine that there was no necessity for the Lord's Coming into the world to fight with the hells, and by means of the temptations He suffered to war successfully against them and overcome them, since Divine Omnipotence could at any point have subdued them and confined them to their own particular hells. That it was nevertheless necessary stands as an unchanging truth. To disclose merely the most general aspects of those arcana however would take up a whole work, and would also provide opportunities for reasonings about Divine mysteries which, though disclosed, people's minds would not grasp. Nor would the majority wish to grasp them.

[3] It is enough therefore if people know and, since it is so, believe it to be an eternal truth that unless the Lord had come into the world and by means of the temptations which He suffered had overcome and conquered the hells, the human race would have perished, and that if He had not done so none who have lived on this planet even from the time of the Most Ancient Church could have been saved.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.