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Arcana Coelestia #6873

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6873. Verses 13-15 And Moses said to God, Behold, I am coming to the children of Israel and saying to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to your and they may say to me, What is His name? What am I to say to them? And God said to Moses, I Am Who I Am. And He said, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: I Am has sent me to you. And God said further still to Moses, Thus you are to say to the children of Israel: Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham. the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you; this is My name forever, 1 and this is My memorial from one generation to another. 2

'And Moses said to God' means perception from the Divine. 'Behold, I am coming to the children of Israel' means regarding those belonging to the spiritual Church. 'And saying to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you' means that He who was the God of the Ancient Church will be with those belonging to the spiritual Church. 'And they may say to me, What is His name?' means, What is His essential nature? 'What am I to say to them?' means, What is the reply to be? 'And God said to Moses' means the instruction that is provided first. 'I Am Who I Am' means the Being and the Coming-into-Being of all things throughout creation. 'And He said, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel' means the instruction that is provided second. 'I Am has sent me to you' means that the Divine Coming-into-Being will be in that Church. 'And God said further still to Moses, Thus you are to say to the children of Israel' means the instruction that is provided third. 'The God of your fathers' means Him who was the God of the Ancient Church. 'The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' means the Divine itself and the Divine Human, thus the Lord. 'Has sent me to you' means that He will be in their Church. 'This is My name forever' means that the Divine Human has the essential nature of the Divine itself. 'And this is My memorial from one generation to another' means that It is to be worshipped perpetually.

Footnotes:

1. literally, into eternity

2. literally, into a generation, a generation

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

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Divine Love and Wisdom #115

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115. But how the Lord is in an angel, and an angel in the Lord, cannot be comprehended unless one knows the nature of their conjunction. It is a conjunction of the Lord with the angel, and of the angel with the Lord. Consequently it is a reciprocal conjunction.

This conjunction on the part of the angel is as follows. An angel has no other perception than that he possesses love and wisdom of himself, like any person, and thus he feels as though love and wisdom are his as qualities belonging to him. If he did not have that perception, there would be no conjunction; thus he would not have the Lord in him, and he would not be in the Lord. Nor is it possible for the Lord to be in any angel or person unless the one in whom He is present with His love and wisdom perceives and feels that presence as something his own. Because of this the Lord is not only received, but, having been received, is retained and also loved in return. Consequently it is because of this that an angel becomes wise and remains wise.

Who could possibly want to love the Lord and the neighbor, and who could possibly want to become wise, if he did not feel and perceive what he loves, learns and incorporates as being something his own? Who would otherwise retain it in himself? If the case were not as it is, any love and wisdom flowing in would have no seat, for it would flow on through a person without affecting him. Thus the angel would not be an angel, and the person would not be a person; indeed, the angel or person would be only like something inanimate.

It can be seen from this that there must be reciprocity for conjunction to exist.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.