Arcana Coelestia # 10182
10182. 'Its horns shall be of one piece with it' means the powers of truth derived from the good of love and charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'horns' as the powers of truth, dealt with in 2832, 9719-9721. The reason why derived from the good of love and charity is meant is that all the power which truth possesses comes from that good. Therefore also the horns continued from the altar itself or were of one piece with it; for this altar was representative of the Lord, of His hearing and receiving everything of worship that springs from love and charity, 10177.
[2] The statement that all the power which truth possesses comes from the good of love is unintelligible to those who have only a material idea of power, and therefore the nature of that power must be described. In the heavens all power is derived from Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good. This is the source of the power angels possess, for angels are recipients of Divine Truth from the Lord, 1752, 4295, 8192. By means of the power which they receive from that source they protect a person by removing the hells from him; for a single angel is stronger than a thousand who come from hell. This power is what Peter's keys serve to mean, though Peter, who in the same place is referred to as a rock, means the Lord in respect of the truth of faith springing from the good of love, see Preface to Genesis 22, and 3750, 4738, 6000, 6073(end), 6344(end), 10087, 'the Rock' being the Lord in respect of the truth of faith, 8581.
[3] The power that Divine Truth possesses is also meant by 'the voice of Jehovah' in David,
The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters; the voice of Jehovah is powerful; the voice of Jehovah breaks the cedars; the voice of Jehovah strikes a flame of fire; the voice of Jehovah causes the wilderness to shake; the voice of Jehovah strips the forests bare; Jehovah gives strength to His people. Psalms 29:3-5, 7-9, 11.
'The voice of Jehovah' is the Divine Truth emanating from His Divine Good, see 9926.
[4] The power that Divine Truth possesses is also meant by 'the Word' in John,
All things were made through the Word, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John 1:3.
'The Word' is the Divine Truth emanating from Divine Good, see 9987. Therefore also the Lord, when He was in the world, first made Himself Divine Truth, which is also meant in John 1:14 by the Word became flesh. The Lord made Himself Divine Truth then to the end that He might fight against all the hells and overcome them, and in so doing might restore all things to order there, and at the same time in the heavens, 9715, 9809, 10019, 10152.
[5] The fact that truths springing from good possess all power, while on the other hand falsities arising from evil have no power, is very well known in the next life. For this reason the evil who come there from the world have their belief, which is no more than persuasion, and also their knowledge of any truth, taken away from them. This then leaves them with the falsities belonging to their evil.
[6] The statement that truths springing from good possess such power is unintelligible to those who have the idea that truth or a belief in truth is no more than mental activity, when yet a person's mental activity, under the control of his will, constitutes all the strength which the body has; and if the Lord were to instill it through His Divine Truth into that body the person would possess the strength of Samson. But yet it is the Lord's good pleasure to impart strength to a person through faith springing from love in the things that belong to his spirit and that contribute to eternal life.
[7] From all this one may see what should be understood by the power of truth springing from good, the power meant by 'the horns' of both the altar of burnt offering and the altar of incense. That this power is meant by 'the horns' is clear from places in the Word where 'horns' are mentioned, as in Ezekiel,
On that day I will make a horn grow up for the house of Israel. Ezekiel 29:21.
In Amos,
Have we not by our own strength taken horns for ourselves? Amos 6:13.
In the first Book of Samuel,
Jehovah will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed. 1 Samuel 2:10.
In David,
Jehovah has exalted the horn of His people. Psalms 148:14.
In the same author,
All the horns of the wicked I will cut off; the horns of the righteous will be exalted. Psalms 75:10.
In Jeremiah,
The Lord has cut down in His very fierce anger 1 the whole horn of Israel. And He has exalted the horn of your foes. Lamentations 2:3, 17.
In Ezekiel,
You push with side and shoulder, and butt with your horns all the weak sheep, until you have scattered them abroad. Ezekiel 34:21.
In Zechariah,
I saw four horns. The angel said, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. The smiths have come to cast down the horns of the nations lifting up their horn against the land of Judah. Zechariah 1:18-21.
In Moses,
His horns are unicorn horns 2 . With these he will strike the peoples together to the ends of the earth. Deuteronomy 33:17.
In these places it is self-evident that power is meant by 'horns', and indeed power in both senses, that is to say, of truth directed against falsity and of falsity directed against truth; for the state of the Church is the subject in the internal sense of every one of these places.
[8] Something similar occurs in Amos,
On that day I will visit the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar will be cut away and fall to the ground. Amos 3:14.
'The altars of Bethel' and 'the horns of the altar' mean the evils and falsities destroying the Church's goodness and truth, regarding which it says that they 'will be cut away'.
[9] From all this one may see what should be understood by 'the horns' mentioned so frequently by Daniel, and by John in the Book of Revelation. Daniel describes the beast which had ten horns and also a horn speaking, Daniel 7:8, 11, 20; and he says that the horn was making war with the saints and prevailing, until the Ancient of Days 3 came, Daniel 7:11, 21-22, 24. He also speaks about the horns of the ram and the horns of the he-goat, which they used to make war against each other, Daniel 8:3-21. And John mentions that the dragon had ten horns, Revelation 12:3, as did the beast coming up out of the sea, Revelation 13:1, and also the scarlet beast, Revelation 17:12. In this verse it is also stated that the ten horns are ten kings; and the same words occur in Daniel 7:24. By 'kings' in the Word truths are meant, and in the contrary sense falsities, see 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148.
[10] It is because 'horn' means truth in its power, or in the contrary sense falsity destroying truth, that speech is attributed to a horn in Revelation 9:13; Daniel 7:8; Psalms 22:21.
[11] The anointing of kings with oil from a horn, 1 Samuel 16:1, 13; 1 Kings 1:39, represented truth springing from good, in its power; for truths in their power are meant by 'horns', good by 'oil', and those who are guided by truths springing from good by 'kings'. For the meaning of 'oil' as good, see 886, 9780; and for that of 'kings' as those who are guided by truths springing from good, thus - in the abstract sense - as truths springing from good, 6148. So it is also that in Psalms 132:17 a horn is said to bud, because all spiritual budding is that of truth springing from good. Therefore also in former times they made [imitations of] budding horns.
All power belongs to good and is exercised through truth, or what amounts to the same thing, belongs to truth springing from good, see the places referred to in 10019.
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. literally, in the fierceness of His anger
2. i.e. horns that are high and powerful, like the horn of a unicorn
3. The Latin means the Son of Man but the original Aramaic means the Ancient of Days, which Swedenborg has in another place where he quotes these verses.
Johannes 3
1
Es war aber ein Mensch aus den Pharisäern, sein Name Nikodemus, ein Oberster der Juden.
2
Dieser kam zu ihm bei Nacht und sprach zu ihm: Rabbi, wir wissen, daß du ein Lehrer bist, von Gott gekommen, denn niemand kann diese Zeichen tun, die du tust, es sei denn Gott mit ihm.
3
Jesus antwortete und sprach zu ihm: Wahrlich, Wahrlich, ich sage dir: Es sei denn, daß jemand von neuem geboren werde, so kann er das Reich Gottes nicht sehen.
4
Nikodemus spricht zu ihm: Wie kann ein Mensch geboren werden, wenn er alt ist? Kann er etwa zum zweiten Male in den Leib seiner Mutter eingehen und geboren werden?
5
Jesus antwortete: Wahrlich, Wahrlich, ich sage dir: Es sei denn, daß jemand aus Wasser und Geist geboren werde, so kann er nicht in das Reich Gottes eingehen.
6
Was aus dem Fleische geboren ist, ist Fleisch, und was aus dem Geiste geboren ist, ist Geist.
7
Verwundere dich nicht, daß ich dir sagte: Ihr müsset von neuem geboren werden.
8
Der Wind weht, wo er will, und du hörst sein Sausen, aber du weißt nicht, woher er kommt, und wohin er geht; also ist jeder, der aus dem Geiste geboren ist.
9
Nikodemus antwortete und sprach zu ihm: Wie kann dies geschehen?
10
Jesus antwortete und sprach zu ihm: Du bist der Lehrer Israels und weißt dieses nicht?
11
Wahrlich, Wahrlich, ich sage dir: Wir reden, was wir wissen, und bezeugen, was wir gesehen haben, und unser Zeugnis nehmet ihr nicht an.
12
Wenn ich euch das Irdische gesagt habe, und ihr glaubet nicht, wie werdet ihr glauben, wenn ich euch das Himmlische sage?
13
Und niemand ist hinaufgestiegen in den Himmel, als nur der aus dem Himmel herabgestiegen ist, der Sohn des Menschen, der im Himmel ist.
14
Und gleichwie Moses in der Wüste die Schlange erhöhte, also muß der Sohn des Menschen erhöht werden,
15
auf daß jeder, der an ihn glaubt, nicht verloren gehe, sondern ewiges Leben habe.
16
Denn also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, daß er seinen eingeborenen Sohn gab, auf daß jeder, der an ihn glaubt, nicht verloren gehe, sondern ewiges Leben habe.
17
Denn Gott hat seinen Sohn nicht in die Welt gesandt, auf daß er die Welt richte, sondern auf daß die Welt durch ihn errettet werde.
18
Wer an ihn glaubt, wird nicht gerichtet; wer aber nicht glaubt, ist schon gerichtet, weil er nicht geglaubt hat an den Namen des eingeborenen Sohnes Gottes.
19
Dies aber ist das Gericht, daß das Licht in die Welt gekommen ist, und die Menschen haben die Finsternis mehr geliebt als das Licht, denn ihre Werke waren böse.
20
Denn jeder, der Arges tut, haßt das Licht und kommt nicht zu dem Lichte, auf daß seine Werke nicht bloßgestellt werden;
21
wer aber die Wahrheit tut, kommt zu dem Lichte, auf daß seine Werke offenbar werden, daß sie in Gott gewirkt sind.
22
Nach diesem kam Jesus und seine Jünger in das Land Judäa, und daselbst verweilte er mit ihnen und taufte.
23
Aber auch Johannes taufte zu Änon, nahe bei Salim, weil viel Wasser daselbst war; und sie kamen hin und wurden getauft.
24
Denn Johannes war noch nicht ins Gefängnis geworfen.
25
Es entstand nun eine Streitfrage unter den Jüngern Johannes' mit einem Juden über die Reinigung.
26
Und sie kamen zu Johannes und sprachen zu ihm: Rabbi, der jenseit des Jordan bei dir war, dem du Zeugnis gegeben hast, siehe, der tauft, und alle kommen zu ihm.
27
Johannes antwortete und sprach: Ein Mensch kann nichts empfangen, es sei ihm denn aus dem Himmel gegeben.
28
Ihr selbst gebet mir Zeugnis, daß ich sagte: Ich bin nicht der Christus, sondern daß ich vor ihm hergesandt bin.
29
Der die Braut hat, ist der Bräutigam; der Freund des Bräutigams aber, der dasteht und ihn hört, ist hoch erfreut über die Stimme des Bräutigams; diese meine Freude nun ist erfüllt.
30
Er muß wachsen, ich aber abnehmen.
31
Der von ober kommt, ist über allen; der von der Erde ist, ist von der Erde und redet von der Erde. Der vom Himmel kommt, ist über allen,
32
und was er gesehen und gehört hat, dieses bezeugt er; und sein Zeugnis nimmt niemand an.
33
Wer sein Zeugnis angenommen hat, hat besiegelt, daß Gott wahrhaftig ist.
34
Denn der, welchen Gott gesandt hat, redet die Worte Gottes; denn Gott gibt den Geist nicht nach Maß.
35
Der Vater liebt den Sohn und hat alles in seine Hand gegeben.
36
Wer an den Sohn glaubt, hat ewiges Leben; wer aber dem Sohne nicht glaubt, wird das Leben nicht sehen, sondern der Zorn Gottes bleibt auf ihm.
