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2 Mózes 25:16

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16 És a bizonyságot, a melyet néked adok, tedd a ládába.

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Arcana Coelestia # 10276

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10276. 'And you shall sanctify them, and they shall be the holy of holies' means consequently the inflow and presence of the Lord within the worship of the representative Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'being sanctified' as representing the Lord in respect of the Divine Human, and the reception of Divine Good and Divine Truth from Him, for the Lord alone is holy and therefore that alone is holy which emanates from Him, from which it is evident that 'being sanctified' also means the inflow and presence of the Lord within the worship of the representative Church;

'Being sanctified' means representing the Lord in respect of the Divine Human, see 9956, 9988, 10069.

It also means the reception of Divine Good and Divine Truth from Him, 8806, 9820, 10128.

The Lord alone is holy, and that alone is holy which emanates from Him, 9229, 9479, 9680, 9818.

Thus holy things among the Israelite and Jewish nation were holy in a representative fashion, 10149, and from the meaning of 'the holy of holies' as celestial Divine Good, dealt with in 10129.

[2] From all this it is evident that all those things which had been anointed were called 'the holy of holies' by virtue of the inflow and presence of the Lord's Divine Human. And whenever the Lord flows in and becomes present He does so by a path that is direct, and also in the lower heavens by one that is indirect, through celestial good, which is the inmost heaven's good. Therefore to the extent that the levels of good in the lower heavens contain and store celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord, they are indeed good. This is why things which had been anointed were called 'the holy of holies'. Regarding the Lord's flowing in directly and indirectly, see in the places referred to in 9682, 9683.

[3] To have any knowledge of the nature of these things a person must know what a representation is and what a representative Church is. What they are has been shown extensively in the places referred to in 9229, 9280, 10030; but since few at the present day know what they are, let something more be said to shed further light on the subject. In the inmost heavens there exist among the angels affections for goodness and truth derived from the Lord, which compose those angels' life and bliss. These affections manifest themselves in the lowest heaven within outward forms, which are countless and infinitely various; whatever the eyes of those in that heaven behold there springs from them. These forms are representative of more internal things, which are affections for goodness and truth and are called celestial and spiritual things.

[4] Good spirits, who perceive the holy things of heaven within those representative forms existing as subjects 1 , have their inner feelings stirred by them. They see, for example, parks or gardens with countless species of trees and fruits, also rose gardens, lawns, fields with crops, houses, palaces, and very many other sights. All these correspond to the affections for goodness and truth which, derived from the Lord, exist in higher heavens. Representative forms also exist in these higher heavens, but they are immeasurably superior in perfection, delightfulness, and rapture to such forms in the lowest heaven. These representative forms are what the saying that no eye has ever seen such things refers to; and if any description of them were given it would surpass human belief.

[5] From all this it may be recognized what representative forms are. All those which had been established among the Israelite nation were similar to the ones in the lowest heaven, but had less perfection because they existed in the natural world. Such forms comprised the tent of meeting together with the ark, the table on which the loaves of the Presence were laid, the lampstand and its lamps, and the altar of incense; the garments of Aaron and his sons; at a later time, the temple together with the sanctuary in it, where the ark with the mercy-seat and cherubs above it was; the bronze sea, the lavers, and similar objects. More however, beyond numbering, appear in the lowest heaven; but these have greater excellence and perfection. That heaven was where the Lord showed Moses on Mount Sinai the things to be established among the Israelite nation, as is evident in Exodus 25:40; 26:30; 27:8, though Moses did not see them there with his bodily eyes but with those of his spirit.

[6] Further proof of the nature of representative forms lies in those things which were seen by prophets - by Daniel, by John in the Book of Revelation, and by all the rest. All the things which they saw conceal Divine spiritual and celestial realities within them. Without the internal sense to explain them those visions are unintelligible, as anyone may recognize.

[7] From all this it is again evident what a representative Church is.

This Church was established in the land of Canaan especially on account of the Word, in order that representative forms and objects carrying a spiritual meaning might be used in the writing of it, thus such things as existed among that nation, in their Church and in their land. For since most ancient times all places in the land of Canaan, all the mountains and rivers there, represented such things as existed in heaven, 3686, 4240, 4447, 4454, 5136, 6516; and so at a later time did the inheritances, tribes, and everything else. The literal sense of the Old Testament Word was composed of such things, to the end that it might be a kind of base in which more internal things terminated and on which they stood, like a building on its foundations, see 9360, 9824, 10044.

[8] Anyone who is intelligent may see from all this that the Word is most holy, that its literal sense is holy by virtue of its internal sense, and that when separated from this it is not holy. For the literal sense separated from the internal is like a person's outward [body] separated from his inward [soul], which is a lifeless statue; and it is like the outer covering of a tree, flower, fruit, or seed without their inward parts, and like the foundation without the house. Those therefore who adhere strictly to the sense of the letter of the Word and do not have or acquire for themselves from the Word teachings in keeping with its internal sense may be drawn into all kinds of heresy. This is why such people refer to the Word as a book of heresies. Sound doctrine drawn from the Word must absolutely shine before people and show them the way to go; those teachings are provided by the internal sense, and the person who is acquainted with them has the internal sense of the Word.

[9] Because the Jewish nation did not acknowledge the presence of any holiness in the Word except in its literal sense alone, which they separated completely from its internal sense, they sank into such darkness that they did not know the Lord when He came into the world. That nation is just the same at the present day; therefore although they live among Christians, they still do not as yet from the Word acknowledge the Lord. Right from the start that nation was interested in outward things but not their inner substance, see what has been shown in the places referred to in 9320(end), 9380. Unless therefore the Lord had come into the world and disclosed its inner contents, contact with the heavens through the Word would have been broken; and if that had been broken the human race on this planet would have perished. For no one can think anything at all that is true or do anything at all that is good except in heaven's strength, that is, the Lord's coming through heaven. The Word is what opens heaven.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. Subject is used here to mean something which really exists yet depends for its existence on something prior to itself.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 4652

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4652. CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE GRAND MAN, WHICH IS HEAVEN - continued

IN THIS SECTION THE CORRESPONDENCE OF HEARING AND OF THE EARS WITH HEAVEN

The nature of the correspondence that exists between the soul and the body - that is, between the things constituting a person's inward spirit and those constituting his outward body - may be clearly recognized from the correspondence, influx, and communication of thought and discernment, which are functions of the spirit, with speech and hearing, which are functions of the body. When a person is speaking, his thought is nothing else than the power of speech which his spirit possesses, while his discernment of speech is nothing else than the power of hearing which his spirit possesses. When a person speaks, his thought does not, it is true, present itself to him as speech because it links itself to and is present within the power of speech that his body possesses. And when he hears something his discernment of it seems to him to be simply a hearing within his ear. For this reason the majority of people who have not stopped to reflect on the matter do not know that all five senses are located somewhere else than within organs belonging to the body; so they think that when these organs cease to function through death no sensory perception remains, when in actual fact a person, that is, his spirit, then passes into a life of perfect sensory perception.

[2] The fact that it is the spirit which has the powers of speech and hearing has become quite clear to me from my conversations with spirits. Their speech was communicated to my spirit; it entered my own interior power of speech, and from there into the organs corresponding to it. What they communicated ended as an endeavour in me, which I have perceived clearly on several occasions. Consequently I have heard what they said in tones as clear as anything spoken by someone on earth. Sometimes spirits have spoken to me while I was among a group of people, and some of those spirits have imagined that, because I could hear so clearly what they - the spirits - said, those people present with me could hear them too. But I have told them that their speech was flowing into my ear by the internal route, whereas human speech comes in by the external route. From this one may see how a spirit spoke to one of the prophets - not as a man speaks to another man but as a spirit speaks to a man, that is to say, within him - as in Zechariah 1:9, 13, 19; 2:3; 4:1, 4-5; 5:5, 10; 6:4; and elsewhere. But I realize that these matters are unintelligible to people who do not believe that man is a spirit, the body serving him solely for functions to be performed in the world. Those who have become quite convinced that man is not a spirit refuse even to listen to talk about any kind of correspondence; and if they do listen they reject what they hear because they have a negative attitude Indeed they are unhappy if anything is said not to belong to the body.

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