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Exodus 31

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1 And the Lord said to Moses,

2 I have made selection of Bezalel, the son of Uri, by name, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:

3 And I have given him the spirit of God and made him wise and full of knowledge and expert in every sort of handwork,

4 To do all sorts of delicate work in gold and silver and brass;

5 In cutting stones for framing, and to do every form of woodwork.

6 And I have made selection of Oholiab with him, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are wise I have put the knowledge to make whatever I have given you orders to have made;

7 The Tent of meeting, and the ark of the law, and the cover which is on it, and all the things for the Tent,

8 And the table with its vessels, and the holy light-support with all its vessels, and the altar for the burning of spices,

9 And the altar of burned offerings with all its vessels, and the washing-vessel with its base,

10 And the robes of needlework, the holy robes for Aaron and for his sons, for their use when acting as priests,

11 And the holy oil, and the perfume of sweet spices for the holy place; they will do whatever I have given you orders to have done.

12 And the Lord said to Moses,

13 Say to the children of Israel that they are to keep my Sabbaths; for the Sabbath day is a sign between me and you through all your generations; so that you may see that I am the Lord who makes you holy.

14 So you are to keep the Sabbath as a holy day; and anyone not honouring it will certainly be put to death: whoever does any work on that day will be cut off from his people.

15 Six days may work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death.

16 And the children of Israel are to keep the Sabbath holy, from generation to generation, by an eternal agreement.

17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever; because in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he took his rest and had pleasure in it.

18 And when his talk with Moses on Mount Sinai was ended, he gave him the two stones of the law, two stones on which was the writing made by the finger of God.

   

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True Christian Religion # 156

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156. (vi) A PERSON'S SPIRIT IS HIS MIND, AND WHATEVER COMES FROM IT.

A person's spirit, regarded as an object, is nothing but his mind. It is this which lives on after death, and it is then called a spirit; if he is good, an angelic spirit and later an angel, if wicked, a satanic spirit and afterwards a Satan. Everyone's mind is his internal man, which is the real person and resides within the external man composed of his body. So when the body is cast off as the result of death, the internal man has a fully human form. Those, then, are in error who believe that a person's mind resides only in his head. There it is only in its beginnings, from which first emerge everything a person's understanding allows him to think and his will induces him to do. But in the body the mind is present in derivatives from those beginnings, and these have been so constructed as to permit sensation and action. Since it is inwardly attached to the bodily structures, it imparts to them sensation and movement, together with a feeling that the body thinks and acts of itself. Yet every intelligent person knows that this is a fallacy. Now since a person's spirit is allowed by his understanding to think and is induced by his will to act, and the body does not do so of itself but from the spirit, it follows that a person's spirit means his intelligence and the affection of his love, and everything which comes from it and acts.

[2] There are numerous passages in the Word to prove that a person's spirit means such things as are to do with the mind; their mere quotation will show anyone that this is so. The following are a few among many:

Bezaleel was filled with the spirit of wisdom, intelligence and knowledge, Exodus 31:3.

Nebuchadnezzar said of Daniel that an outstanding spirit of knowledge, intelligence and wisdom was in him, Daniel 5:12, 14.

Joshua was filled with the spirit of wisdom, Deuteronomy 34:9.

Make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit, Ezekiel 18:31.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for of such is the kingdom of the heavens, Matthew 5:3.

I dwell in a broken and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, Isaiah 57:15.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, Psalms 51:17.

I will give a cloak of praise in place of a depressed spirit, Isaiah 61:3.

Spirit also stands for the products of a wrong and unjust mind, as these passages prove:

He said to the foolish prophets, who run after their own spirit, Ezekiel 13:3.

Conceive chaff, bring forth stubble; as to your spirit, fire shall devour you, Isaiah 33:11.

A man who is in spirit a vagabond and utters a lie, Micah 2:11.

A generation whose spirit is not steadfast with God, Psalms 78:8.

A spirit of whoring, Hosea 4:12; 5:4.

That every heart may melt and every spirit be depressed, Ezekiel 21:7.

That which rises upon your spirit shall never be, Ezekiel 20:32.

Provided there is no deceit in his spirit, Psalms 32:2.

The spirit of Pharaoh was troubled, Genesis 41:8.

Likewise that of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 2:3.

These and very many other passages plainly establish that spirit means a person's mind and what is to do with it.

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