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Leviticus 20

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1 And the Lord said to Moses,

2 Again, say to the children of Israel, If any man of the children of Israel, or any other man living in Israel, gives his offspring to Molech, he is certainly to be put to death: he is to be stoned by the people of the land;

3 And my face will be turned against that man, and he will be cut off from his people; because he has given his offspring to Molech, making my holy place unclean, and making my holy name common.

4 And if the people of the land do not take note of that man when he gives his offspring to Molech, and do not put him to death,

5 Then my face will be turned against him and his family, and he and all those who do evil with him will be cut off from among their people.

6 And whoever goes after those who make use of spirits and wonder-workers, doing evil with them, against him will my face be turned, and he will be cut off from among his people.

7 So make and keep yourselves holy, for I am the Lord your God.

8 And keep my rules and do them: I am the Lord, who make you holy.

9 Every man cursing his father or his mother is certainly to be put to death; because of his curse on his father or his mother, his blood will be on him.

10 And if a man has sex relations with another man's wife, even the wife of his neighbour, he and she are certainly to be put to death.

11 And the man who has sex relations with his father's wife has put shame on his father: the two of them are to be put to death; their blood will be on them.

12 And if a man has sex relations with his son's wife, the two of them are to be put to death: it is unnatural; their blood will be on them.

13 And if a man has sex relations with a man, the two of them have done a disgusting thing: let them be put to death; their blood will be on them.

14 And if a man takes as wife a woman and her mother, it is an act of shame; let them be burned with fire, all three of them, so that there may be no shame among you.

15 And if a man has sex relations with a beast, let him be put to death, and let the beast be put to destruction.

16 And if a woman goes near a beast and has sex relations with it, you will put an end to the woman and the beast: their blood will be on them.

17 And if a man takes his sister, daughter of his father or his mother, and has sex relations with her and she with him, it is an act of shame: they are to be cut off before the children of their people; he has had sex relations with his sister, and his sin will be on him.

18 And if a man has sex relations with a woman at the time when she is unwell, he has seen her fountain and she has let the fountain of her blood be uncovered, and the two of them are to be cut off from among their people.

19 And you may not have sex connection with your mother's sister or your father's sister, for they are his near relations: their sin will be on them.

20 And if a man has sex relations with the wife of his father's brother, he has put shame on his father's brother: their sin will be on them; till the day of their death they will have no children.

21 And if a man takes his brother's wife, it is an unclean act; he has put shame on his brother; they will have no children.

22 So then, keep my rules and my decisions and do them, so that the land which I am giving you as your resting-place may not violently send you out again.

23 And do not keep the rules of the nations which I am driving out before you; for they did all these things, and for that reason my soul was turned against them.

24 But I have said to you, You will take their land and I will give it to you for your heritage, a land flowing with milk and honey: I am the Lord your God who have made you separate from all other peoples.

25 So then, make division between the clean beast and the unclean, and between the clean bird and the unclean: do not make yourselves disgusting by any beast or bird or anything which goes flat on the earth, which has been marked by me as unclean for you.

26 And you are to be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy and have made you separate from the nations, so that you may be my people.

27 Any man or woman who makes use of spirits, or who is a wonder-worker, is to be put to death: they are to be stoned with stones: their blood will be on them.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 946

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946. Because thy judgments have been made manifest. That this signifies that Divine truths are revealed to them, is evident from the signification of judgments, as denoting Divine truths, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of being manifested, as denoting to be revealed. That Divine truths are revealed at the end of the church, and that they have been revealed, will be shown in what follows in this chapter, because the subject there treated of is concerning them.

The reason why judgments signify Divine truths is, that the laws of government in the Lord's spiritual kingdom are called judgments; but the laws of government in the Lord's celestial kingdom are called justice. For the laws of government in the Lord's spiritual kingdom are laws from Divine truth, whereas the laws of government in the Lord's celestial kingdom are laws from Divine Good. This is why judgment and justice are mentioned in the following passages in the Word.

In Isaiah:

"There shall be no end to peace upon the throne of David, to establish it, and to uphold it in judgment and justice from now and for ever" (9:7).

This speaks of the Lord and His kingdom. His spiritual kingdom is signified by the throne of David; and because this kingdom is in Divine truths from the Divine Good, it is said, in "judgment and justice."

In Jeremiah:

"I will raise up to David a just shoot, and he shall reign a king, and he shall act intelligently, and shall execute judgment and justice" (23:5).

These words also are spoken of the Lord, and of His spiritual kingdom. And since this kingdom is in Divine truths from the Divine Good, it is said that He shall reign a King, and shall act intelligently, and that He shall execute judgment and justice. The Lord is called King from Divine truth. And whereas Divine truth is also Divine intelligence, it is said that He shall act intelligently. And because Divine truth is from the Divine Good, it is said that He shall execute judgment and justice.

[2] In Isaiah:

"Jehovah shall be exalted; for he dwelleth on high; he hath filled Zion with judgment and justice" (33:5).

By Zion is meant heaven and the church, where the Lord reigns by Divine truth. And because all Divine truth is from Divine Good, it is said, "He hath filled Zion with judgment and justice."

In Jeremiah:

"I Jehovah, doing justice and judgment in the earth; for in these I am well pleased" (9:24).

Here also by judgment and justice is signified Divine truth from the Divine Good.

In Isaiah:

"They shall ask of me the judgments of justice; they shall desire to draw near unto God" (58:2).

The judgments of justice are Divine truths from the Divine Good. Similarly judgment and justice; for the spiritual sense conjoins those things the sense of the letter separates.

In Hosea:

"I will betroth thee to me for ever; and I will betroth thee to me in justice and judgment, and in mercy and in truth" (2:19, 20).

The subject there treated of is the celestial kingdom of the Lord, which consists of those who are in love to the Lord. And because the Lord's conjunction with them is comparatively like the conjunction of a husband with a wife - for the good of love so conjoins - therefore it is said, I will betroth thee to me in justice and judgment. And justice is mentioned in the first place, and judgment in the second, because those who are in the good of love to the Lord are also in truths; for they see them from good. Because justice is said of good, and judgment of truth, therefore it is also said, in mercy and in truth; mercy being also said of good, because it is of love.

[3] In David:

"Jehovah is in the heavens; thy justice as the mountains of God, and thy judgments as a great abyss" (Psalm 36:5, 6).

Justice is said of Divine Good, therefore it is compared to the mountains of God; for by mountains of God are signified the goods of love; see above (n. 405, 510, 850). And judgments are said of Divine truths, therefore they are compared to a great abyss; for by a great abyss is signified Divine truth. From these things it is now evident that by judgments are signified Divine truths.

[4] In many passages in the Word, judgments, precepts, and statutes are mentioned. And by judgments are there signified civil laws; by precepts the laws of spiritual life; and by statutes the laws of worship. That by judgments are signified civil laws, is clear from Exodus (Exodus 21, 22, 23), where the things that are there commanded are called judgments; because from them judgments were given by judges in the gates of the city. But still they signify Divine truths, such as are in the Lord's spiritual kingdom in the heavens, for they contain them in the spiritual sense, as is evident from the explanation in Arcana Coelestia (n. 8971-9103, 9124-9231, 9247-9348).

That the laws with the sons of Israel were called judgments, precepts, and statutes, is clear from the following passages:-

In Moses:

"I will speak unto thee all the precepts, the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them" (Deuteronomy 5:31).

In the same:

"These are the precepts, the statutes, and the judgments, which Jehovah your God commanded to teach you" (Deuteronomy 6:1).

In the same:

"Therefore, thou shalt keep the precepts, the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them" (Deuteronomy 7:11).

In David:

"If his sons forsake my law and walk not in my judgments; if they profane my statutes, and keep not my precepts, I will visit their prevarication with a rod" (Psalm 89:30-32),

besides frequently elsewhere:

As Leviticus 18:5; 19:37; 20:22; 25:18; 26:15; Deuteronomy 4:1; 5:1, 6, 7; 17:19; 26:17; Ezekiel 5:6, 7; 11:12, 20; 18:9; 20:11, 13, 25; 37:24.

By precepts in these passages are meant the laws of life, especially those in the Decalogue, which are therefore called the Ten Precepts. But by the statutes are meant the laws of worship, which principally related to sacrifices, and the ministry of holy things. And by judgments are meant civil laws, which, because representative of spiritual laws, were therefore significative of Divine truths, such as those in the Lord's spiritual kingdom in the heavens.

Continuation:-

[5] When, therefore, a man shuns and turns away from evils as sins, and is raised into heaven by the Lord, it follows that he is no longer in his proprium, but in the Lord, and that consequently he thinks and wills goods. Now because a man thinks and wills, so also does he act; for every action of a man proceeds from the thought of his will, therefore again it follows, that when a man shuns and turns away from evils, he does goods, not from himself, but from the Lord. Therefore to shun evils is to do goods. The goods which a man then does are meant by good works; and good works in their whole extent are meant by charity.

Because a man cannot be reformed unless he thinks, wills, and acts as of himself, that which he does as of himself is conjoined to him, and remains with him. Because that which a man does as of himself receives no life, but flows through like ether, therefore the Lord wills that a man should not only shun and turn away from evils as of himself, but should also think, will, and act as of himself, yet still acknowledge in heart, that all these things are from the Lord. This he will acknowledge because it is the truth.

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