Arcana Coelestia # 6674
6674. Of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah. That this signifies the quality and state of the natural where memory-knowledges are, is evident from the signification of “name,” as being quality (see n. 144, 145, 1896, 2009), and also state (n. 1946, 2643, 3422, 4298); for all names in the Word signify things, and comprise in sum total all things that belong to the subject that is being treated of, thus its quality and state; here therefore the names “Shiphrah and Puah” signify the quality and state of the natural where true memory-knowledges are, because this is the subject treated of, as is plain from what precedes (n. 6673).
[2] He who does not know that a name denotes the quality and state of the subject being treated of, can believe that where a name is mentioned, the name merely is meant; thus when the Lord speaks of His “name,” that it is merely the name, when yet it is the quality of the worship, that is, everything of faith and charity by which He is to be worshiped, as in these passages:
Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20);
here the “name” is not meant, but worship from faith and charity.
As many as received, to them gave He power to be the sons of God, to them that believe in His name (John 1:12);
here also by “name” is meant faith and charity, whereby the Lord is worshiped.
These things have been written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye may have life in His name (John 20:31); where the sense is the same.
[3] Again:
If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it (John 14:13-14);
Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you (John 15:16; 16:23-24).
Here it is not meant that they should ask the Father in the Lord’s name, but that they should ask the Lord Himself; for there is no way open to the Divine Good which is the “Father” (see n. 3704), except through the Lord’s Divine Human, as is also known in the churches; and therefore to ask the Lord Himself is to ask according to the truths of faith, and whatever is asked in accordance with these truths is granted, as the Lord Himself says in the previous passage from John:
If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it (John 14:14).
This can be seen further from the fact that the Lord is the “name” of Jehovah, of which thus in Moses:
I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way; beware of His faces, and hear His voice, and do not provoke Him, because My name is in the midst of Him (Exodus 23:20-21).
[4] In John:
Father, glorify Thy name: there came forth a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again (John 12:28).
I have manifested Thy name to the men whom thou hast given Me out of the world. I have made known unto them Thy name, and I will make it known; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:6, 26).
From these passages it is plain that the Lord as to the Divine Human is the “name” of Jehovah, or His whole quality; hence all Divine worship is from the Divine Human, and it is this which is to be worshiped; for thus is worshiped the Divine Itself, to which no thought reaches in any other way, and if no thought, no conjunction.
[5] That the “name” of the Lord is everything of faith and love by which the Lord is to be worshiped is still more plain from the following passages, in Matthew:
Ye shall be hated of all for My name’s sake (Matthew 10:22).
Whoso shall receive one such little child in My name receiveth me (Matthew 18:5).
Everyone that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields, for My name’s sake; shall receive a hundredfold (Matthew 19:29).
They cried, Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord (Matthew 21:9).
Verily I say to you, For ye shall not see Me until the time shall come when ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord (Luke 13:35).
Whosoever shall give you to drink a cup of water in My name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward (Mark 9:41).
The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons obey us in Thy name. Jesus said to them, In this rejoice not, that the spirits obey you, but rather rejoice that your names have been written in heaven (Luke 10:17, 20);
“names written in heaven” are not names, but the quality of their faith and charity.
[6] So it is with “names written in the book of life” in the Apocalypse:
Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments. He that overcometh shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before the Father and before His angels (Revelation 3:4-5).
He that entereth in by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep. He calleth His own sheep by name (John 10:2-3).
Jehovah said unto Moses, I know thee by name (Exodus 33:12, 17).
Many believed in His name, when they saw His signs which He did (John 2:23).
He that believeth in Him is not judged, but he that believeth not is judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the Only-begotten Son of God (John 3:18).
They shall fear the name of Jehovah from the west (Isaiah 59:19).
All people walk everyone in the name of his God, and we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God (Micah 4:5).
[7] In Moses:
They were to worship Jehovah God in the place which He should choose, and should put His name (Deuteronomy 21:5, 11, 14).
Also in Isaiah 18:7; Jeremiah 7:12; and in many other passages; as Isaiah 26:8, 13; 41:25; 43:7; 49:1; 50:10; 5 2:5; 62:2; Jeremiah 23:27; 26:16; Ezekiel 20:14, 44; 36:21-23; Micah 5:4; Malachi 1:11; Deuteronomy 10:8; Revelation 2:17; 3:12 13:8 14:11; 15:2; 17:8; 19:12-13, 16; 22:3-4.
[8] That the “name of Jehovah” denotes everything by which He is worshiped, thus in the supreme sense everything that proceeds from the Lord, is evident from the benediction:
Jehovah bless thee and keep thee, Jehovah make His faces to shine upon thee, and have mercy on thee; Jehovah lift up His faces upon thee, and give thee peace. So shall they put My name upon the sons of Israel (Numbers 6:23-27).
From all this it is now clear what is meant by this commandment of the Decalogue:
Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him innocent that taketh His name in vain (Exodus 20:7);
also by Hallowed be Thy name, in the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9).
Ezekiel 20
1
It happened in the seventh year, in the fifth [month], the tenth [day] of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh, and sat before me.
2
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
3
Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you.
4
Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers;
5
and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am Yahweh your God;
6
in that day I swore to them, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.
7
I said to them, Cast away every man the abominations of his eyes, and don't defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.
8
But they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me; they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
9
But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.
10
So I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.
11
I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them.
12
Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.
13
But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they didn't walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.
14
But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.
15
Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;
16
because they rejected my ordinances, and didn't walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
17
Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn't destroy them, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness.
18
I said to their children in the wilderness, Don't walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
19
I am Yahweh your God: walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them;
20
and make my Sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God.
21
But the children rebelled against me; they didn't walk in my statutes, neither kept my ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them; they profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
22
Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth.
23
Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries;
24
because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.
25
Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live;
26
and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through [the fire] all that opens the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am Yahweh.
27
Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.
28
For when I had brought them into the land, which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there also they made their pleasant aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings.
29
Then I said to them, What does the high place where you go mean? So its name is called Bamah to this day.
30
Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Do you pollute yourselves in the way of your fathers? and do you play the prostitute after their abominations?
31
and when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, do you pollute yourselves with all your idols to this day? and shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you;
32
and that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, in that you say, We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.
33
As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you:
34
and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out;
35
and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.
36
Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, says the Lord Yahweh.
37
I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;
38
and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who disobey against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they live, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
39
As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Go, serve everyone his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols.
40
For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things.
41
As a pleasant aroma will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.
42
You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers.
43
There you shall remember your ways, and all your doings, in which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed.
44
You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have dealt with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, you house of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh.
45
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
46
Son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop [your word] toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the south;
47
and tell the forest of the South, Hear the word of Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby.
48
All flesh shall see that I, Yahweh, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.
49
Then I said, Ah Lord Yahweh! they say of me, Isn't he a speaker of parables?
