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Exodo 29:41

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41 At ang isang kordero ay iyong ihahandog sa hapon, at iyong gagawin ayon sa handog na harina sa umaga, at ayon sa inuming handog niyaon, na pinaka masarap na amoy, na handog nga sa Panginoon na pinaraan sa apoy.

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Arcana Coelestia # 10149

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10149. 'And it will be sanctified in My glory' means reception of Divine Truth from the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'being sanctified' as the reception of what is Divine from the Lord, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'glory' as Divine Truth, dealt with in 4809, 5922, 8267, 9429. 'Being sanctified' means reception of what is Divine from the Lord because the Lord alone is holy, and therefore everything holy comes from Him, 9229, and also because Divine Truth emanating from Him is what is meant by 'holy' in the Word, 9818. But at this point, where the children of Israel, burnt offerings and sacrifices, the tent of meeting, and the altar are the subject, that which is representative of it is meant by 'holy' and 'being sanctified'. The reason for this is that among the Israelite and Jewish nation all things were representative of the inner realities of the Church, which are matters of faith and love received from and offered back to the Lord. For the Church established among that nation was a representative Church.

[2] This being so, all outward objects served to mean and represent such things as the internal sense teaches about; and it is on account of this that those objects were called holy, such as the altar, fire on it, burnt offering, fat, and blood; the tent of meeting, the table there on which the loaves of the presence were placed, table of incense, lampstand, and all their vessels; in particular the ark with the Testimony in it; and in addition the loaves, cakes, and wafers - which were called minchahs - oil, and frankincense; as well as Aaron's garments, such as the ephod, robe, tunic, turban, and in particular the breastplate. Aaron himself was called holy, and so too were the children of Israel. But none of those objects or people were holy, other than for the reason that they served to represent and so to mean holy things, that is, Divine things which come from the Lord; for these alone are holy.

[3] People who do not look beyond outward forms to inward realities suppose that such objects were holy not by virtue of what they represented but because they were intrinsically holy after they had been dedicated. But those people are completely mistaken. If they venerate those objects as being intrinsically holy, they venerate earthly things, and are not far off being like those who venerate pieces of stone or wood, as idolaters do. But people who venerate the realities that are represented or meant, that is, holy and Divine things, are the ones who engage in true worship; for to them outward objects are merely mediate causes 1 enabling them to think about and desire such realities as constitute the essentials of the Church, which, as has been stated above, are matters of faith and love received from and offered back to the Lord.

[4] The situation is similar at the present day with the Holy Supper. When those attending do not think, as a consequence of their belief, about the Lord and His love towards the human race, and about renewal of life in keeping with His commandments, they venerate simply the bread and wine there, and not the Lord. They think that the outward objects of bread and wine are holy; but they are holy not in themselves, only by virtue of what they are the signs of. For the bread there is a sign of the Lord in respect of the good of love, and the wine a sign of the Lord in respect of the truth of faith, and at the same time of a person's reception of Him, those two entities being the essential elements of the Church, thus the essential elements of worship, see 4211, 4217, 4735, 6135, 6789, 7850, 8682, 9003, 9127, 10040.

From all this it may now be seen what 'holy' and 'being sanctified' mean in the Word.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. A philosophical term denoting means to an end

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 9003

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9003. 'He shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and [her] marital rights' means no deprivation of inner life meant by 'food', nor of outer life meant by 'clothing', thus no deprivation of the joining together meant by 'marital rights'. This is clear from the meaning of 'food' as the sustaining of inner life, for in the spiritual sense 'food', both solid and liquid, is cognitions or the knowledge of good and truth, solid food being cognitions of good, 5147, and 'drink' cognitions of truth, 3168, 3772, so that 'food' is the things that nourish a person's spiritual life, 5293, 5576, 5579, 5915, 8562; from the meaning of 'clothing' as the sustaining of outer life, for in the spiritual sense 'clothing' or garments are inferior factual knowledge, this knowledge being that which spiritually sustains a person's outer life, 5248, 6918; from the meaning of 'marital rights' as a joining together; and from the meaning of 'not diminishing' as not depriving.

[2] The situation here is that a natural affection joined to a spiritual truth, which is meant by 'a female slave betrothed to a son', unceasingly needs to be sustained with life from the spiritual truth to which it has been joined; if the affection is not sustained from there it perishes. The situation with a person's affection is just the same as with the person himself; if he is not sustained by food he dies. Interiorly furthermore a person is nothing other than affection, one who is good being interiorly an affection for good and consequently for truth, and one who is evil being an affection for evil and consequently for falsity. This is especially evident in a person when he becomes a spirit; the sphere of life which then wells out of him is either one of affection for good or one of affection for evil. Now he is nourished or sustained not with natural food and drink but with spiritual, which for an evil spirit is falsity arising from evil, but for a good spirit is truth springing from good. The nourishment that people's minds receive in the world during their life in the body is nothing other. So it is that all kinds of food - bread, flesh, wine, water and many others - mean in the spiritual sense within the Word the kinds of food that constitute spiritual nourishment.

[3] All this also shows what one is to understand by the Lord's words in Matthew,

Man does not live by bread only but by every word that goes out of the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4.

Also what one should understand by His words in Luke,

You will eat and drink at My table in My kingdom. Luke 22:30.

And in Matthew,

I tell you that I shall not drink from now on of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom. Matthew 26:29.

The Lord spoke these words after He had instituted the Holy Supper, in which the bread and wine are elements which denote love and faith, in the same way as flesh and blood do. From this it can be clearly seen what the Lord's flesh and blood mean in John 6:49-58, especially in these words there,

My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. John 6:55.

In the Word 'flesh' means the good of love, see 3813, 7850, 'blood' the good of faith, 4735, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7846, 7850, 7877; and 'bread' and 'wine' have the same meanings, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 5915, 6118, 6377.

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