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出埃及記 26:35

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35 桌子安在幔子外帳幕的面;把臺安在帳幕的南面,彼此相對。

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Arcana Coelestia # 9674

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9674. 'And you shall hang it upon four pillars of shittim [wood]' means the good of merit, which is the Lord's alone, linking them together and providing support. This is clear from the meaning of 'four' as a joining or linking together, dealt with in 1686, 8877 ('four' means a joining together because this number is the product of two multiplied by itself, and multiple numbers have the same meaning as the simple ones that produce them, 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973, 'two' meaning a joining together, see 5194, 8423); from the meaning of 'pillars' as support, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'shittim wood' as the good of merit, which is the Lord's alone, dealt with in 9472, 9486, this good being the one and only good that reigns in heaven, see 9486, and so also that lends support to heaven. Support is meant by 'the pillars' because these supported the veil, just as the boards also made from shittim wood supported the curtains of the dwelling-place, 9634.

[2] 'Pillars' in the spiritual sense means those things that support heaven and the Church, which are forms of the good of love and forms of the good of faith from the Lord. These forms of good are meant by 'pillars' in David,

I will judge uprightly. 1 The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolving; I will set its pillars firm. Psalms 75:2-3.

In Job,

God shakes the earth out of its place, to the extent that its pillars tremble. Job 9:6.

'The pillars of the earth' stands for the forms of good and the truths that support the Church; for 'the earth' in the Word is the Church, 9325. Plainly they are not pillars supporting this planet that are going to tremble. In John,

He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go outside any more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. Revelation 3:12.

'A pillar in the temple' stands for the Church's forms of good and its truths, which are also 'the name of God' and 'the name of the city, new Jerusalem'. 'The name of God' is everything good and true in the Church, or everything in its entirety through which the Lord is worshipped, see 2724, 3006, 6674, 9310.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, with uprightnesses

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 8740

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8740. To become warm the same people seem to themselves to be cutting pieces of wood. While they are cutting there appears underneath the wood something that looks like a human being, whom they try to strike at the same time. This happens because they claim merit for themselves; and since they also impute righteousness to themselves they claim holiness. Those who do this in the world seem to themselves in the next life to be cutting pieces of wood, as also do some from our planet, whom I have spoken about from experience before. To shed light on the subject let that experience recorded in 4943 be repeated here:

On the lower earth beneath the soles of the feet there are also those who have regarded good deeds and works to be meritorious. Many of these appear to themselves to be cutting pieces of wood. The place where they are is quite a cold one, but they seem to themselves to find warmth in the work they do. I talked to these people too and was allowed to ask them whether they wished to leave that place. Their replies were that they had not done enough meritorious work. But once this stage is completed they are released from there. These people likewise are natural, for the desire to earn salvation through merit is not a spiritual desire, since it begins in self, not in the Lord. What is more, they regard themselves to be those who are superior to others, and some of them are also contemptuous of others. If in the next life they do not receive greater joy than all others, they are angry with the Lord, which explains why [sometimes] when they are cutting pieces of wood, it appears as though something of the Lord is underneath their pile of wood - their anger being that which produces this appearance. But because they have led a devout life and have acted in the ways they did out of ignorance that had some degree of innocence within it, angels are therefore sent to them periodically to console them. Sometimes, in addition, something that looks like a sheep appears from above on the left, and from this too they receive consolation when they see it.

See also 1110.

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