The Bible

 

Exodus 20:1-6 : The First Commandment: No False Gods

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1 And God spake all these words, saying,

2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Commentary

 

False Gods: Mysteries of the 10 Commandments Explained

By Jonathan S. Rose, Curtis Childs

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.

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

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This video is a product of the Swedenborg Foundation. Follow these links for further information and other videos: www.youtube.com/user/offTheLeftEye and www.swedenborg.com

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #950

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950. Clothed in linen pure and glistening white. That this signifies by means of Divine truth, or the Word from the spiritual sense, is evident from the signification of linen, as denoting truth; and when said of the Lord or of the Word, as denoting Divine truth. This is called pure because of its being genuine; and glistening white from the light in heaven, which light is glistening; for all things that are there are glistening white from it.

The Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is that which appears before the eyes of the angels as light, because the Divine truth enlightens their understanding, and that which does this is light before their eyes. Such is the Divine truth in heaven, and such is the Word in its spiritual sense. Whereas the Divine truth on earth is such as the Word is in the sense of the letter. In this there are but few genuine truths, such as are those in heaven, but there are appearances of truth. The natural man cannot receive any others. But still genuine truths, such as are those in heaven, lie stored up in the appearances of truth there; for they are those that are contained in the spiritual sense of the Word. From these things it is evident that by the angels going out of the temple, clothed in linen pure and glistening white, is signified that the evils and falsities that have devastated the church were made manifest by means of Divine truth, or the Word from its spiritual sense.

[2] There are many reasons why the spiritual sense of the Word is now disclosed. One is, that the churches in the Christian world have falsified all the sense of the letter of the Word, and this even to the destruction of the Divine truth in heaven, whereby heaven is closed. Therefore, in order that heaven may be opened, it has pleased the Lord to reveal the spiritual sense of the Word, wherein is Divine truth such as it is in heaven. For by means of the Word there, conjunction of man with the Lord, and thence with heaven, takes place. When the Word is so far falsified as to destroy its genuine truth, then conjunction perishes, and man is separated from heaven. Therefore, in order that he may again be conjoined with heaven, Divine truth such as it is in heaven has been revealed; and this is confirmed by the spiritual sense of the Word wherein is that Divine truth.

A second reason is, that the falsities that have inundated the church, and devastated it, cannot be dissipated except by genuine truth in the Word opened. Falsities and the evils therefrom, and evils and the falsities therefrom, can by no means be seen except from truths themselves. For falsities and evils, so long as genuine truths are not present, appear as in a kind of light.

They have light from what they confirm by reasonings from the natural man, and the sense of the letter, explained and applied according to appearances before that man. But when genuine truths are present, then falsities and evils first appear; for the light of heaven, which is in genuine truths, dissipates the delusive light of falsities, and turns it into darkness.

A third reason is, that the New Church, meant by the holy Jerusalem in the Apocalypse, is conjoined with heaven by means of the Divine truths of the Word contained in its spiritual sense. For the Word is conjunction, but it is then conjunction, when a man perceives the Word in the same way as the angels do.

That linen signifies truth will be seen in the following article.

Continuation concerning the First Precept:-

[3] Thou shalt not make to thyself other gods, involves also that men should not love themselves and the world above all things; for what a man loves above all things is his god.

There are two entirely opposite loves, the love of self and love to God, also the love of the world and the love of heaven. He who loves himself loves his proprium; and a man's proprium is nothing but evil. Hence also he loves evil in its whole extent; and he who loves evil hates good, and thence also God. He who loves himself above all things immerses his affections and thoughts in the body, and, consequently, in his proprium, from which he cannot be raised by the Lord. And he who is immersed in the body and in his proprium is in bodily ideas, and in merely bodily pleasures, and, consequently, in thick darkness as to higher things. Whereas, he who is raised up by the Lord is in light. And he who is not in the light of heaven, but in thick darkness, since he sees nothing of God, he denies God, and acknowledges as God either nature, or some man, or idol, and also affects to be worshipped himself as a god. Consequently, it follows that he who loves himself above all things worships other gods. It is similar with him who loves the world, but in a less degree; for the world cannot be loved to such an extent as the proprium; therefore the world is loved from proprium and for the sake of proprium, because it is serviceable to it.

By the love of self is especially meant the love of ruling over others from the sole delight in ruling, and for the sake of position, and not from the delight of uses, and for the sake of the public good. And by the love of the world is especially meant the love of possessing worldly goods from the mere pleasure of possession, and for the sake of riches, and not from delight in the uses arising from them, and for the sake of good therefrom. Neither of these loves has any limit, and as far as scope is given, each rushes on endlessly.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.