Arcana Coelestia # 85
85. That the celestial man is the seventh day, and that the seventh day was for that reason made holy and called the Sabbath from a word for 'rest', are as yet undisclosed arcana. This is because people have not known what the celestial man is, and few what the spiritual man is. In their ignorance they could not avoid making the latter the same as the celestial, when in fact there is a vast difference between them; see 81. As regards the seventh day and the celestial man's being the seventh day or Sabbath, this is clear from the fact that the Lord Himself is the Sabbath, for which reason He also says,
The Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath. Mark 2:28.
These words embody the concept that the Lord is Man himself, and the Sabbath itself. He gives the name Sabbath, or eternal peace and rest, to His kingdom in heaven and on earth. The Most Ancient Church, which is the subject here, was the Lord's Sabbath more than any subsequent Church.
[2] Every subsequent inmost Church has been a Sabbath of the Lord, and so is every regenerate person when he becomes celestial, since he is a likeness of the Lord. Six days of conflict or labour precede this. In the Jewish Church these things were represented by the work days, and by the seventh which was the Sabbath; for in that Church, everything that had been ordained was representative of the Lord and His kingdom. The Ark too had a similar representation when it was travelling and when it came to rest. Its travels through the wilderness represented conflicts and temptations, and its resting represented states of peace. This is why when it travelled Moses said,
Arise, O Jehovah, and let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee from Your face. 1 And when it came to rest he said, Return, O Jehovah, to the myriads of the thousands of Israel. Numbers 10:35-36.
The same portion of Scripture speaks of the Ark 'travelling from the mountain of Jehovah to search out rest for them'. ibid. Verse 33.
[3] The Sabbath is used to describe the celestial man's rest in Isaiah,
If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, so that you do not your desire on My holy day, and you call the things which belong to the Sabbath delights honourable to the Holiness of Jehovah, and you honour it so that you do not your own ways, nor find your own desire and speak your own words, then you will be delightful to Jehovah, and I will have you carried over the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob. Isaiah 58:13-14.
The celestial man is such that he does not base his actions on his own desires but on what pleases the Lord; this is his desire. In this way he enjoys inward peace and happiness, here expressed by 'being carried up over the high places of the earth'. At the same time he enjoys outward contentment and joy, meant by 'being fed with the heritage of Jacob'.
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. literally, faces
Amos 5
1
Listen to this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.
2
"The virgin of Israel has fallen; She shall rise no more. She is cast down on her land; there is no one to raise her up."
3
For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth one hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel."
4
For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel: "Seek me, and you will live;
5
but don't seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and don't pass to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nothing.
6
Seek Yahweh, and you will live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.
7
You who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth:
8
seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh is his name,
9
who brings sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the fortress.
10
They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks blamelessly.
11
Forasmuch therefore as you trample on the poor, and take taxes from him of wheat: You have built houses of cut stone, but you will not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.
12
For I know how many your offenses, and how great are your sins-- you who afflict the just, who take a bribe, and who turn aside the needy in the courts.
13
Therefore a prudent person keeps silent in such a time, for it is an evil time.
14
Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be with you, as you say.
15
Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the courts. It may be that Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph."
16
Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Armies, the Lord: "Wailing will be in all the broad ways; and they will say in all the streets, 'Alas! Alas!' and they will call the farmer to mourning, and those who are skillful in lamentation to wailing.
17
In all vineyards there will be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of you," says Yahweh.
18
"Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It is darkness, and not light.
19
As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; Or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him.
20
Won't the day of Yahweh be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?
21
I hate, I despise your feasts, and I can't stand your solemn assemblies.
22
Yes, though you offer me your burnt offerings and meal offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals.
23
Take away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24
But let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like a mighty stream.
25
"Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, house of Israel?
26
You also carried the tent of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.
27
Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus," says Yahweh, whose name is the God of Armies.
