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Jeremiah 30:22

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22 And ye have been to Me for a people, And I am to you for God.

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Arcana Coelestia # 10287

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10287. 'And he who puts any of it on a foreigner' means a joining together for those who do not acknowledge the Lord, and so who are subject to evils and to the falsities of evil. This is clear from the meaning of 'putting it on someone' - when the subject is Divine Truths, meant by the sweet-smelling ointment - as a joining together; and from the meaning of 'a foreigner' as those who do not belong to the Church, thus those who do not acknowledge the Lord, consequently who are subject to evils and falsities. Anyone who does not acknowledge the Lord does not belong to the Church; and anyone who rejects the Lord is subject to evils and falsities. For goodness and truth come from no other source than Him. The fact that such people are meant by 'foreigners' will be clear from the places in the Word which will follow below. But first something must be stated regarding the joining of Divine Truth among those who do not acknowledge the Lord. Such a joining together constitutes profanation, for profanation is a joining of Divine Truth to falsities arising from evil. The joining together that constitutes profanation is something which cannot happen with any at all except those who have first acknowledged the things which are the Church's, and especially the Lord, but subsequently reject them. For acknowledgement of the Church's truths and of the Lord leads to contact with the heavens, and consequently to an opening of a person's interiors towards heaven; and a subsequent rejection of them leads to a joining of the same truths to falsities arising from evil. For everything a person acknowledges remains implanted in him; nothing present with a person which has entered through acknowledgement is destroyed.

[2] The state of a person with whom profanation exists is one in which he is in contact with the heavens and at the same time with the hells, through truths with the heavens and through the falsities of evil with the hells. As a result of this, in the next life a tearing apart takes place with such people, which destroys the whole of their inner life. After the tearing apart they hardly look like human beings any longer; they look like bones that have been scorched and have little life in them. See what has been stated and shown previously regarding profanation in the following places,

Profaners are those who have first acknowledged God's truths but subsequently reject them, 1001, 1010, 1059, 2051, 3398, 4289, 4601, 6348, 6959, 6963, 6971, 8394.

People who have rejected them since early childhood, such as Jews and others, are not profaners, 593, 1001, 1010, 1059, 3398, 3489, 6963.

The Lord takes the greatest care to guard against the occurrence of profanation with a person, 301-303, 1327, 1328, 2426, 3398, 3402, 3489, 6595.

[3] But it should be realized that the genera of profanation are very many, and the species composing those genera are very many. For there are those who profane the Church's forms of good and those who profane its truths; there are those who profane greatly and those who profane slightly; there are those who profane on a more internal level and those who profane on increasingly external levels; there are those who profane through belief contrary to the Church's truths and forms of good, there are those who profane through the life they lead, and those who profane through their worship. Consequently there exist very many hells of profaners, which are distinct and separate from one another, in accord with their different kinds of profanation. The hells of those who profane good are behind one's back, whereas the hells of profanation of truth are underfoot and to the sides. They are deeper than the hells of all other evils and are rarely opened.

[4] Those who do not acknowledge the Lord and refuse to do so, whether they are outside the Church or inside it, thus those who are subject to evils and to the falsities of evil, are meant by 'foreigners'; and in the abstract sense, without reference to actual persons, evils and the falsities of evil are meant. This is clear from very many places in the Word. The reason for saying 'those who do not acknowledge the Lord, thus those who are subject to evils and the falsities of evil' is that people who do not acknowledge the Lord are inevitably subject to evils and the falsities of evil; for the Lord is the source of all good and of all the truth of good. Those therefore who reject the Lord are subject to evils and the falsities of evil, as accords with the Lord's words in John,

Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins. John 8:24.

[5] The fact that such people are meant by 'foreigners' is clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

Your land will be a lonely place, your cities have been burned with fire; foreigners will devour your ground before you, and it will be a lonely place, as if overturned by foreigners 1 . Isaiah 1:7.

Here land should not be understood by 'land', nor cities and ground by 'cities' and 'ground'. Instead the Church should be understood by 'land' and likewise by 'ground', and by 'cities' the Church's truths, called its doctrinal teachings, which are said to have been 'burned with fire' when they have been destroyed by the evils of self-love and love of the world. From this it is evident what is meant by 'foreigners will devour your ground', namely evils and the falsities of evil destroying the Church, and by 'your land will be a lonely place' and 'your cities have been burned with fire'.

'Land' or earth means the Church, see in the places referred to in 9325, and 'ground' likewise, 566, 1068.

'Cities' are the Church's doctrinal teachings, thus its truths, 2268, 2451, 2712, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493.

'Fire' means the evil of self-love and love of the world, 1297, 1861, 2446, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7575, 9141.

[6] In Jeremiah,

Shame covered our faces when foreigners came against the sanctuaries of Jehovah's house. Jeremiah 51:51.

'Foreigners coming against the sanctuaries of Jehovah's house' are evils and the falsities of evil that go against the Church's truths and forms of good. The word 'foreigners' was used to mean members of the gentile nations who were slaves in the Jewish Church, and the gentile nations of that land also mean evil and falsities, 9320. In the same prophet,

You say, There is no hope, no; but I will love foreigners, and after them I will go. Jeremiah 2:25.

'Loving foreigners and going after them' means loving evils and the falsities of evil, and worshipping them.

[7] In Ezekiel,

I will bring a sword upon you, and will give you into the hand of foreigners. Ezekiel 11:8-9.

'Bringing a sword upon' means falsities arising from evil set in conflict against truths springing from good. 'Giving into the hand of foreigners' means to the end that they may believe and serve those falsities. For the meaning of 'a sword' as truth engaged in conflict against falsities, and in the contrary sense falsity engaged in conflict against truths, see 2799, 6353, 7102, 8294.

[8] In the same prophet,

You will die the deaths of the uncircumcised in the hand of foreigners. Ezekiel 28:10.

'The uncircumcised' are those who, for all the religious teachings they know, lead lives steeped in foul loves and the desires that go with them, 2049, 3412, 3413, 4462, 7045, 7225, the death they die being spiritual death. 'In the hand of foreigners' means subject to evils themselves and the falsities of evil.

[9] In the same prophet,

Jerusalem, an adulterous woman, takes foreigners instead of her husband. Ezekiel 16:32.

'Jerusalem, an adulterous woman' stands for the Church in which good has been adulterated; 'taking foreigners' stands for its acceptance, in life and doctrine, of evils and the falsities of evil. In Joel,

Jerusalem will be holy, and foreigners will not pass through her any longer. Joel 3:17.

Here also 'Jerusalem' stands for the Church, but one in which people acknowledge the Lord, lead good lives, and believe truths coming from the Lord. 'Foreigners will not pass through her any longer' means that evils and the falsities of evil coming from hell will not enter it.

[10] In David,

Foreigners have risen up against me, and violent ones have sought my soul. Psalms 54:3.

Here also 'foreigners' stands for evils and the falsities of evil, and 'violent ones' for these same evils and falsities acting violently against forms of good and truths. Those who see solely the literal sense of the Word take 'foreigners' to mean nothing more than those outside the Church who were rising up against David. But no ideas of actual persons enter the thinking of those in heaven, only the realities meant by them, 8343, 8985, 9007, so that they think not of people but things that are foreign or alien, that is, those which are alienated from the Church, thus evils and the falsities of evil which destroy the Church. And by 'David', against whom the foreigners were rising up, those in heaven understand the Lord, 1888, 9954.

[11] In Moses,

He forsook the God who made him, and despised the Rock of his salvation. They provoked Him to jealousy through foreign [gods]. Deuteronomy 32:15-16.

'Forsaking God' and 'despising the Rock of salvation' stand for rejecting the Lord, 'provoking through foreign [gods]' for doing so through evils and the falsities of evil, 'the Rock of salvation' being the Lord in respect of the truths of faith, see 8581. In addition to all this there are other places in which 'foreigners' stands for evils and falsities, such as Isaiah 25:2, 4-5; Jeremiah 30:8; Ezekiel 31:11-12.

[12] Since 'foreigners' meant those who are subject to evils and the falsities of evil, and consequently in the abstract sense meant evils and the falsities of evil, it was forbidden for a foreigner to eat that which was holy, Leviticus 22:10; no foreigner was permitted to come near and perform the priestly function or guard the sanctuary; and any who did come near was to be put to death, Numbers 1:51; 3:10, 38; 18:7;

[13] furthermore no incense was to be offered on foreign 2 fire, and because Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu did offer incense on it they were devoured by fire from heaven, Leviticus 10:1-2. For holy fire which was taken from the altar was a sign of love derived from God, whereas foreign fire was a sign of love coming from hell, and therefore also of evils and the desires that go with them, see 1297, 1861, 2446, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7575, 9141.

[14] Mention is also made in the Word of those who are foreign-born, a different word being used in the original language from that rendered 'foreigners', and by them falsities themselves are meant, as in Lamentations,

O Jehovah, look upon our shame. Our inheritance has been turned over to foreigners, and our houses to the foreign-born. Lamentations 5:1-2.

In Obadiah,

Foreigners led his strength 3 captive, and the foreign-born entered his gates and cast 4 lots for Jerusalem. Obad. verse 11.

'Casting lots for Jerusalem' stands for destroying the Church and scattering its truths.

[15] In Zephaniah,

I will punish 5 the princes and the king's sons, and all clothed with the clothing of him who is foreign-born. Zephaniah 1:8.

Those 'clothed with the clothing of him who is foreign-born' stand for people subject to falsities; for 'the princes' and 'the king's sons' who are to undergo punishment mean leading truths and in the contrary sense leading falsities. For this meaning of 'princes', see 1482, 2089, 5044, and for that of 'kings' as truths themselves and in the contrary sense falsities themselves, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148, so that 'the king's sons' means things derived from those truths or falsities.

[16] In David,

Deliver me, and rescue me from the hands of the sons of him who is foreign-born, whose mouths speak vanity, and whose right hands are the right hands of falsehood. Psalms 144:7-8, 11.

'The sons of him who is foreign-born', it is plainly evident, means those subject to falsities, and so means falsities themselves, for it says, 'Whose mouths speak vanity, and whose right hands are right hands of falsehood', 'vanity' meaning false ideas composing doctrine, and 'falsehood' false ways of life, 9248.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 8988

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8988. '[His] master shall bring him to God' means the state he then enters in keeping with Divine order. This is clear from the meaning of 'bringing to God', when the subject is those who are imbued with truths and cannot be imbued with good, as causing them to enter a state in keeping with Divine order; for 'bringing to' means entering, and 'God' means Divine order, which is dealt with below. The fact that these things are meant is evident from the details contained in the rest of this verse. These describe the state of those imbued with truths and not with complementary good, that is to say, a state of everlasting obedience. For those living in this condition are in servitude compared with those imbued with good complementing truths. For being governed by good the latter's actions spring from affection; and those who act from affection do so from the will, thus from themselves since whatever forms part of a person's will is part of his true self; for indeed the essence (esse) of a person's life is his will. But those whose actions spring from obedience act not from their own will, but from their master's, thus not from themselves, but from another; therefore in comparison they are in servitude. Actions that spring from truths and not from good spring solely from the understanding, for truths have connection with the understanding and forms of good with the will; and actions that spring from the understanding and not from the will spring from that which stands outside and serves. The understanding has been given to a person in order that he may receive truths and introduce them into his will to become forms of good; for when truths become part of the will they are called forms of good.

[2] The condition however of one who serves the Lord by doing according to His commandments, and by being obedient in that kind of way, is not that of a slave; rather, it is that of one who is free. For perfect freedom consists for a person in being led by the Lord, 892, 905, 2870, 2872. The Lord breathes the good into the person's will from which his actions spring; and although that good comes from the Lord, the person nevertheless has the feeling that his actions are from himself, that is, he does them in freedom. This freedom exists with all who abide in the Lord; and coupled with it there is indescribable happiness.

[3] The reason why 'God' here means Divine order is that in the Word the name 'God' is used where truth is referred to, and 'Jehovah' where good is referred to, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921 (end), 4402, 7010, 7268, 8867. Therefore Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good is meant in the highest sense by 'God', and His Divine Good from which Divine Truth emanates is meant by 'Jehovah'. The reason for this is that Divine Good is Essential Being (Esse), and Divine Truth is the Coming-into-Being (Existere) from it, since what emanates from something comes into being from it. The situation with good and truth in heaven or among angels is similar, and that in the Church among men is similar. Good there is the essential being, and truth is the coming-into-being from it. Or what amounts to the same thing love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour is the essential being of heaven and the Church, while faith is the coming-into-being from it. All this makes plain why it is that 'God' can also mean Divine order; for Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is what constitutes order in heaven, so completely that it is order itself. For more about Divine Truth's being order, see 1728, 1919, 7995, 8700.

Therefore when man or angel receives Divine Truth from the Lord within good, there resides with him that order which exists in the heavens. As a consequence he is a heaven or kingdom of the Lord in particular; he is such in the measure that he is imbued with good from truths, and after this in the measure that he is endowed with truths from good. And - what is an arcanum - angels themselves appear in heaven in a human form that accords exactly with the truths present with them within good, together with beauty and brilliance which accord with the character of the good from truths. The souls of members of the Church present a similar appearance in heaven. The Divine Truth itself emanating from the Lord brings this about, as may be recognized from what has been shown at the ends of a number of chapters regarding heaven as the Grand Man, and its correspondence with individual aspects of a human being.

[4] This arcanum is what the following words are used to mean in John, in the Book of Revelation,

He measured the wall of the holy Jerusalem, a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man (homo), that is, of an angel. Revelation 21:17.

Will anyone ever understand these words if he does not know what the holy Jerusalem, its wall, measure, the number 144, and so 'a man, that is, an angel' all mean? By the new or holy Jerusalem is meant the Lord's New Church, which is going to take the place of the Christian Church existing at the present time, 2117; by 'the wall' is meant the truths of faith which will defend that Church, 6419; by 'measuring' and 'the measure' is meant its state in respect of truth, 3104; by the number 144 is meant much the same as by 12, since 144 is the number that is the product of 12 multiplied by itself, and by these numbers all truths in their entirety are meant, see 7973. These meanings make plain what is meant by 'the measure of a man, that is, of an angel', namely actual truth emanating from the Lord in the form it assumes, which is that of a man-angel in heaven, as stated above. All this reveals the arcanum which the words quoted above embody; it reveals that they describe the truths of that Church which is going to take the place of the Christian Church existing at the present time.

[5] The fact that they are truths from good is described in the very next verse, in these words,

The construction of its wall was jasper, but the city was pure gold, like pure glass. Revelation 21:18.

'Jasper' means truth such as that Church's will be, for truths are meant by 'stones' generally, 1298, 3720, 6426, and truths that come from the Lord by 'precious stones', 643; and 'gold' means the good of love and wisdom, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658. Would anyone ever discern that such meanings are embodied in those words? Yet who can fail to see from them that countless arcana lie concealed in the Word, which are not at all made apparent to anyone except by means of the internal sense, and that this sense, like a key, is the means of opening up God's truths as they exist in heaven, and therefore heaven and the Lord Himself, who is the All in all of the Word in its inmost sense?

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