At face value, the Ten Commandments can seem intense and unforgiving. But Emanuel Swedenborg’s understanding of the internal sense of the Bible—spiritual meanings that lie beneath the literal words—can give us a new perspective on these familiar rules.

In this episode of their Swedenborg and Life web series, hosts Curtis Childs and Jonathan Rose study the inner meaning of the first commandment.

(Notae: Apocalypse Revealed 950; Arcana Coelestia 8864, 8865, 8868, 8869, 8875, 8878, 8879, 8880, 8881)

101. (Verse 3) And hast borne and hast endurance. That this signifies resistance against those who assault the truths of faith, and zeal in instructing, is evident from the signification of bearing, when said of those who are instructed in the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth and good, as being resistance against those who assault the truths of faith; for those who are in possession of such knowledges (cognitiones) defend them, and resist those who are against them; and from the signification of having endurance or patience, as being zeal in instructing.