10360. 'And you shall keep the sabbath' means that the Lord's Divine Human is to be worshipped. This is clear from the meaning of 'keeping', when it refers to what is Divine, as worshipping; and from the meaning of 'the sabbath' in the highest sense as the union of the Divine, called the Father, and the Divine Human, called the Son, thus the Divine Human in which that union exists. The reason why 'the sabbath' means this union is that by the six days of labour which come before the seventh every state of conflict is meant; for in the spiritual sense 'labour' does not mean the kind of labour that people go out to in the world but the kind that those in the Church experience before they enter and become the Church, that is, labour that involves them in conflict with evils and the falsities of evil. Labour such as this that is meant in the spiritual sense was experienced by the Lord when He was in the world; for He engaged in conflict then against the hells, and restored them, and the heavens as well, to a state of order. At the same time He glorified His Human, that is, united it to the Divine itself that was His from conception, see 9715, 9809.

[2] The time and state when the Lord was engaged in conflicts is meant by the six days of labour; but the state when the union had been accomplished is meant by the seventh day, which is called the sabbath on account of the rest it brings, because then the Lord had rest. Consequently 'the sabbath' also means the joining together of the Lord with heaven, with the Church, with the angels of heaven, and with members of the Church. The reason for this is that all who will come into heaven must first engage in conflicts against evils and the falsities of evil; and when these have been separated those people enter heaven and are joined to the Lord, and then they have rest. The like applies to people in the world. It is well known that they must engage in conflicts or undergo temptations before they become the Church, that is, before the goodness and truth which constitute the Church have been implanted in them, thus before they have been joined to the Lord, consequently before they have rest. From all this it is evident why it is that a state of conflict is meant by six days of labour, and rest as well as a joining together by the seventh day or the sabbath.

[3] The reason why the joining together of goodness and truth is also meant by 'the sabbath' is that while a person is engaged in conflicts truths play the leading role within him; but when the truths have been joined to good, thus when good plays the leading role within that person, he has rest. This is similar to how it was with the Lord. While He was in the world and was engaged in conflict with the hells He was, in respect of His Human, Divine Truth; but when He had united His Human to the Divine itself He became also, in respect of His Human, Divine Good or Jehovah.

[4] The six days which come before the sabbath mean the conflicts that come before and are preparatory to the heavenly marriage, which is the joining together of goodness and truth, see 8510, 8888, 9431.

Regarding the former state - when truths play the leading role within a person and he is engaged in conflicts against evils and the falsities of evil, that is, the state meant by six days of labour - and regarding the latter state, when good plays the leading role within him and he is led by the Lord, meant by 'the sabbath', see 7923, 7992, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8539, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701, 8772, 9139, 9224, 9227, 9230, 9274, 9832.

First of all the Lord made His Human, when He was in the world, Divine Truth, and afterwards Divine Good, see in the places referred to in 9199(end), 9315(end).

He achieved this through conflicts brought about by temptations, see in the places referred to in 9528(end).

[5] A person therefore who knows that 'the sabbath' serves in the highest sense to mean the union of the Divine itself within the Lord's Divine Human can recognize the meaning of statements made so many times in the Word regarding the sabbath, such as the following in Isaiah,

If you turn your foot away from the sabbath, so that you do not do your own will on My holy day, but call the sabbath delights honourable to the Holiness of Jehovah, and honour it, so that you do not do your own ways, nor find your own desire or speak [your own] words, then you will take delight in Jehovah, and I will convey you into the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. Isaiah 58:13-14.

Anyone who is acquainted with the internal sense of the Word can see plainly that 'the sabbath' here is used to mean a state in which a person is joined to the Lord, thus a state when the person is led by the Lord and not by self, that is, a state which exists when good resides in him. For being led by the Lord and not by self is meant by 'turning one's foot away from the sabbath', 'not doing one's own will', 'not doing one's own ways', 'not finding one's own desire', and 'not speaking [one's own] words'. The presence of the Church and of heaven in that person is meant by the promise that he will be conveyed into the high places of the earth and will be fed with the heritage of Jacob. And the truth that the sabbath denotes the Divine Human in which there was a union is meant by the sabbath being called 'My holy day' and 'delights [honourable] to the Holiness of Jehovah'.

[6] And in Jeremiah,

If you keep the sabbath day holy, kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city, sitting on the throne of David, riding in a chariot and on horses. Jeremiah 17:24-25.

A person who has no knowledge of the internal sense of the Word will suppose that these words must be understood according to their literal meaning, which is that if people kept the sabbath holy kings and princes would enter through the gates of the city Jerusalem, riding in a chariot and on horses. But this is not how they should be understood. Rather they mean that those who worship the Lord's Divine Human in a holy manner must be governed by the Divine Truths of heaven and the Church. For 'Jerusalem' is used to mean the Church, 'kings and princes' its Divine Truths, 'the throne of David' heaven where the Lord is, 'a chariot' teachings that convey what is good and true, and 'horses' an enlightened power of understanding.

'Jerusalem' means the Church, see 2117, 3654.

'Kings' means Divine Truths, 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148.

'Princes' means primary truths, 1482, 2089, 5044.

'David' means the Lord, 1888, 9954.

'The throne' means heaven, 5313.

'A chariot' means teachings conveying what is good and true, 5321, 8215.

'Horses' means a power of understanding that receives enlightenment, 2760-2762, 3217, 5321, 6534.

[7] Because 'the sabbath' meant the Lord in respect of the Divine Human, in which there was a union, it was decreed that the loaves of the Presence should be set in order on the table every sabbath, Leviticus 24:8. (It is well known in the Church that the Lord's Divine Human should be understood by 'bread'.) For the same reason the Lord, when in the world, calls Himself the Lord of the sabbath, Matthew 12:7, 8; Mark 2:27-28; Luke 6:1-5.

[8] For the same reason also the Lord, when He was in the world and united His Human to the Divine itself, did away with the sabbath as an occasion on which representative worship or the kind of worship established among the Israelite people took place, and made the sabbath day a day for instruction in teachings about faith and love. This is what the following words in John imply,

Jesus healing a certain man on the sabbath day said to him, Take up your bed and walk. And he took up the bed and walked. The Jews said that he ought not to carry a bed on the sabbath day. And they sought to kill the Lord, because He broke the sabbath. John 5:8-11, 18.

'The healing of one who is sick' means the purification of a person from evils and the falsities of evil; his 'bed' means religious teachings; and 'walking' means 'life'.

[9] Every healing from sickness carried out by the Lord implies purification from evils and falsities, or restoration of spiritual life, see 8364(end), 9031(end), 9086.

'Walking' means life, 519, 1794, 8417, 8420.

The fact that 'bed' means religious teachings is clear from places in the Word where a bed is mentioned, and also from representatives in the next life. When a bed is seen there and someone is lying on it, the teachings on which that person relies are meant. Consequently beds which are most highly adorned are seen there; these belong to those who rely on truths springing from good. Yet the fact that things such as these are meant by the Lord's words no one can know without the aid of the internal sense; for when the Lord spoke He used correspondences and so images carrying a spiritual meaning, since the Divine was the Source of the things He said.

5605. 'And we will rise up and go, and we will live and not die' means spiritual life entered into by degrees. This is clear from the meaning of 'rising up' as a raising up to higher or more internal things, and therefore to those that constitute spiritual life, dealt with in 2401, 2785, 2912, 2927, 3171, 4103, 4881; from the meaning of 'going' as living, dealt with in 3335, 3690, 4882, 5493 (and since 'and we will live' follows, 'going' means the earliest stage of spiritual life); from the meaning of 'living' as spiritual life, for no other kind of life is meant in the internal sense of the Word; and from the meaning of 'not dying' as standing condemned no longer, that is, standing outside a state of condemnation, for no other kind of death is meant in the internal sense of the Word than spiritual death, which is condemnation. From all this it is evident that 'we will rise up and go, and we will live and not die' means life entered into by degrees. That is to say, an introductory phase leading into life is meant by 'rising up', the earliest stage of that life by 'going', that life fully under way by 'living', and guidance away from everything alien to that life by 'not dying'.

[2] The idea that living is meant in the internal sense by 'going' will seem strange to one who does not know anything about spiritual life. But much the same is involved here as with the expression 'travelling on', namely an ordered life and a further stage of life, 1293, 4375, 4554, 4585; receiving instruction and leading a life in keeping with it, 1463, 2025, 3672. The reason why 'going', 'travelling on', and 'sojourning' have these meanings can, it is true, be stated; yet it is the kind of reason that makes little sense to those who have no knowledge of the exact nature of people's movements in the next life. Moving about and advancements made by people there are nothing else, since they have no other origin, than changes in their states of life. Such changes present themselves in outward actions as nothing other than advances from one place to another. The truth of this has been proved to me from many an experience I have had in the next life. In my spirit I have walked with and among those there, and have moved through their many dwelling-places; and I have done so even though my body remained all the time in the same place. I have talked to them about how this could be so and have learned that changes in their states of life are what constitute the advances people make in the spiritual world.

[3] The same has also been proved to me by the fact that spirits are able, through changes of state that are effected, to be somewhere high up and then in an instant somewhere deep down, or to be far away in the west and then in an instant in the east, and so on. But, as stated, this is bound to seem strange to someone who does not know anything about life in the spiritual world. For in that world no intervals of space or of time exist, but states of life instead of these. Such states produce externally a visible scene with all the appearance of life involving advances and movement. The scene that appears is so vivid and real that it is an appearance of life itself; that is to say, the appearance is that life exists inherently within us, and so is essentially our own, when in actual fact life flows into us from the Lord, the source from which all life involves much the same, namely and the expression 'sojourning springs, see 2021, 2658, 2706, 2886-2888, 3001, 3318, 3337, 3338, 3484, 3619, 3741-3743, 4151, 4249, 4318-4320, 4417, 4523, 4524, 4882. Because 'going' and 'moving' mean living, the ancients had the saying, In God we move, and live, and have our being. By 'moving' they meant the external degree of life, by 'living' the internal degree, and by 'having one's being' the inmost degree.