Title: A Way Forward, Part 1

Topic: Second Coming

Summary: The events depicted in the biblical exodus are a picture of how we as individuals and as a world culture can move forward spiritually.

References:
Genesis 37:36; 42:1-3; 47:27
Exodus 1:1-14; 3:1-8; 14:26-31; 19:1
Numbers 9:1-5; 10:11-12; 13; 14:1-4, 34
Deuteronomy 34:1-5, 9-10
Judges 1:1; 2:7-11

This video is a part of the Spirit and Life Bible Study series, whose purpose is to look at the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible through a Swedenborgian lens.

5472. 'And Reuben answered them, saying' means that a perception nevertheless existed, springing from faith in doctrine and in the understanding. This is clear from the meaning of 'answering' or 'saying to his brothers' as perception, for 'saying' is perception, see above in 5468; and from the representation of 'Reuben' as faith in doctrine and in the understanding, which is the truth of doctrine by means of which one can arrive at the good of life, dealt with in 3861, 3866. Since the subject here is the entreaty made by good, or the Divine within good, to be accepted, reference is made to faith - to the kinds of things taught by this regarding the acceptance of good. For if a person departing from good feels at all disturbed, this is not due to an inner voice speaking to him but to the faith acquired by him since early childhood. This is what speaks to him at such times and gives rise to the disturbance felt by him. This explains why Reuben, who represents that faith, is the speaker here. The expression faith in doctrine and in the understanding is used to distinguish that faith from faith in life and in the will, which 'Simeon' represents.