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Apocalypse Explained # 102

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102. And for My name's sake hast toiled, is the acknowledgment of the Lord and of the knowledges of truth that have respect to Him. This is evident from the signification of "the name" of Jehovah, or of the Lord, as being, in the highest sense, His Divine Human (See Arcana Coelestia 2628, 6887), and in a relative sense, all things of love and faith by which the Lord is worshiped, because these are things Divine that proceed from His Divine Human (n. 2724, 3006, 6674, 9310). This is evident also from the signification of "toiling," as being to strive with mind and zeal that these things may be known and acknowledged; for this is signified by "toiling" when it is said of those who apply themselves to the knowledges of truth and good. From this it follows that "for My name's sake hast toiled" signifies the acknowledgment of the Lord, and of the knowledges that have respect to Him. The knowledges that have respect to the Lord are all things that are of love and faith. In many passages of the Word it is said, "for the sake of Jehovah's name," "for the sake of the Lord's name," "for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ," that "the name of God should be sanctified," and the like. Those whose thoughts do not go beyond the sense of the letter suppose that the name alone is meant; but what is meant is not the name, but everything whereby the Lord is worshiped; and all of this has relation to love and faith. Therefore by "the Lord's name" in the Word all things of love and of faith by which He is worshiped are meant; here the acknowledgment of the Lord and of the knowledges of truth that have respect to Him, because this is said to those who are only zealous about knowledges.

[2] That "Jehovah's name" or the "Lord's name" does not mean the name itself, but all things of love and faith, is from the spiritual world. There the names used on the earth are not uttered; but the names of the persons who are spoken of are formed from the idea of all things known about them combined into a single word. In this way names in the spiritual world are expressed; consequently names there, like all the other things, are spiritual The names "Lord" and "Jesus Christ," even, are not uttered there as on the earth, but in place of those names a name is formed from the idea of all things known and believed respecting Him; and this idea is made up of all things of love to Him and faith in Him. This is because these in the complex are the Lord in them; for the Lord is in everyone in the goods of love and of faith that are from Him. As this is so, the quality of everyone there, in respect to love to the Lord and faith in the Lord, is immediately known if he only utters "Lord" or "Jesus Christ" by a spiritual expression or spiritual name; and for the same reason also, those who are not in any love to Him or faith in Him are unable to speak His name, that is, to form any spiritual name of Him. From this it is now clear why by the "name" of Jehovah, of the Lord, or of Jesus Christ, name is not meant in the Word, but everything of love and of faith whereby He is worshiped.

[3] Lest, therefore, the opinion that is entertained by many should prevail, that the mere name Jesus Christ, without love to Him or faith in Him, thus without the knowledges by which love and faith exist, contributes something to salvation, I will introduce some passages from the Word in which the expressions "for His name's sake" and "in His name" are used, from which those who think more deeply may see that name alone is not meant:

Jesus said, Ye shall be hated of all for My name's sake (Matthew 10:22, 24:9, 10).

Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20).

As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become sons of God; even to them that believe in His name (John 1:12).

When Jesus was in Jerusalem many believed in His name (John 2:23).

He that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God (John 3:17, 18).

These are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in His name (John 20:31).

Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord (Matthew 21:9; 23:39; Luke 13:35; 19:35).

Everyone that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundred-fold, and eternal life (Matthew 19:29).

(What is here signified by "houses, brethren, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, and fields," which are to be left for the name of the Lord, see Arcana Coelestia 10490.)

Jesus said, Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that I will do (John 14:13, 14);

"to ask in My name" is to ask from love and faith.

Many shall come in My name, saying, I am He; go ye not therefore after them (Luke 21:8; Mark 13:6);

"to come in My name" and "to say that I am He" is to proclaim falsities and to say that they are truths, and thus to lead astray. The like is signified by saying that they are the Christ, when they are not, in Matthew:

Many shall come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and shall lead many astray (Matthew 24:5, 11, 23-27);

for by "Jesus" is meant the Lord in respect to Divine good; and by "Christ" the Lord in respect to Divine truth (Arcana Coelestia 3004-3005, 3009, 5502), and by not being Christ, truth not Divine, but falsity.

[4] The "name of the Lord," in the New Testament means the like as the "name of Jehovah" in the Old, because the Lord there is Jehovah.

Thus in Isaiah:

And in that day shall ye say, Confess ye to Jehovah, call upon His name (Isaiah 12:4).

In the same:

O Jehovah, we have waited for Thee; to Thy name and to Thy memorial is the desire of our soul. By Thee will we make mention of Thy name (Isaiah 26:8, 13).

In the same:

From the rising of the sun shall My name be called upon (Isaiah 41:25).

In Malachi:

From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same My name is great among the nations; and in every place incense is offered unto My name; for My name is great among the nations (Malachi 1:11).

In Isaiah:

Everyone that is called by My name I have created for My glory, I have formed him (Isaiah 43:7).

In Micah:

All peoples walk in the name of their god, and we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God (Micah 4:5).

In Moses:

Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that hath taken His name in vain (Deuteronomy 5:11).

In the same:

Jehovah separated the tribe of Levi, that they should minister and bless in the name of Jehovah (Deuteronomy 10:8).

In the same:

They shall worship Jehovah in one place, where He shall place His name (Deuteronomy 12:5, 11, 13, 14, 18, 26; 16:2, 6, 11, 15, 16).

"Where He shall place His name" means where there shall be worship from the good of love and the truths of faith. This was done at Jerusalem; and therefore by "Jerusalem" the church in respect to doctrine and worship is signified (See in the small work on The New Jerusalem and its Doctrine 6).

[5] Since by the "name of Jehovah" or the "name of the Lord" is signified in the spiritual sense all worship from the good of love and the truths of faith, therefore in the highest sense by "name of Jehovah" is meant the Lord in respect to the Divine Human, for the reason that from His Divine Human everything of love and of faith proceeds. That by "name of Jehovah," in the highest sense, the Lord is meant, is evident in John:

Jesus said, Father, glorify Thy name. There came a voice out of heaven, saying, I have both glorified and will glorify again (John 12:28).

In Isaiah:

I will give thee for a covenant to the people, for a light of the nations. I am Jehovah, this is My name, and My glory will I not give to another (Isaiah 42:6, 8);

the coming of the Lord is here treated of.

In Jeremiah:

Behold the days come that I will raise unto David a righteous shoot, and He shall reign as King, and this is His name, by which they shall call Him, Jehovah, our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5, 6).

From this it is clear what is meant in the Lord's prayer by the words:

Hallowed be Thy name (Matthew 6:9);

namely, that the Divine Human of the Lord is to be accounted holy, and to be worshiped.

[6] As this is meant by "the name of the Lord," the meaning of the following passages can be seen.

In John:

The shepherd of the sheep calleth his own sheep by their name (John 10:3).

In Luke:

Rejoice that your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20).

And in Revelation:

Thou hast a few names in Sardis (Revelation 3:4).

He who does not know what "name" signifies in the Word cannot possibly know how these words are to be understood, in Matthew:

He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous one in the name of a righteous one shall receive a righteous one's reward; and whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold [water] in the name of a disciple only, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward (Matthew 10:41, 42).

"To receive a prophet in the name of a prophet," "a righteous one in the name of a righteous one," and "to give drink in the name of a disciple," signifies to love truth for the sake of truth, good for the sake of good, and to exercise charity from the faith of truth; for by "prophet" is signified truth, by "righteous one" is signified good, and by "disciple" good from truth; and "to give to drink of cold [water]" is to exercise charity from obedience; "in the name" of these is for the sake of what they are, thus for their sake. Who could ever understand these things unless he knew what "name" signifies?

[7] To love and to do truth for the sake of truth, and good for the sake of good, is to have affection for truth and good for their sake, and not for the sake of one's own reputation, honor, or gain. Such affection of truth and good is a truly spiritual affection; but the affection of truth and good for the sake of one's own reputation, honor, or gain, is a merely natural affection. And as those who love truth and good for the sake of truth and good, or because they are truth and good, are in the spiritual affection of truth and good, therefore it is said that they shall receive "a prophet's reward" and "a righteous one's reward;" which means that they are in the spiritual affection of truth and good, and this affection has reward in itself, because it has heaven in itself. (That the happiness of heaven is in the affection of loving and doing truth and good, without regard to reward as an end, thus for the sake of truth and good, see Arcana Coelestia 6388, 6478, 9174, 9984. That "prophet" signifies one who teaches truth, thus also, in the abstract, truth that is taught, see n. 2534, 7269. That a "righteous one" signifies the good of love to the Lord, n. 2235, 9857. That "disciple" signifies good from truth, which is the good of charity, n. 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397. That "to give drink" is to instruct in the goods and truths of faith, and thus to exercise charity, n. Arcana Coelestia 3069, 3772, 4017, 4018, 8562, 9412; and that "name" signifies the quality of a thing, n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 3237; hence "the name of Jehovah," or "the name of the Lord," signifies every quality by which He is worshiped, n. Arcana Coelestia 2724[1-3], 3006, 6674, 9310).

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.

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Arcana Coelestia # 6396

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6396. 'Dan' means those who are guided by truth but not as yet by good. This is clear from the representation of 'Dan' as the good of life, dealt with in 3921, 3923, but here those who have some goodness of life, which is engendered by truth but not as yet by good. For the situation with a person who is being regenerated by the Lord is that at first truth resides with him but no goodness of life engendered by that truth. Then such goodness of life engendered by truth, though not as yet by good, does reside with him; and after that, once he has been regenerated, goodness of life engendered by good comes to reside with him, at which stage he discerns truth from the vantage point of good and multiplies that truth residing with him. These are the degrees of regeneration, and 'Dan' is used to mean those with whom goodness of life resides which is engendered by truth but not as yet by good. The good that resides with them still lies deeply concealed within that truth; yet it provides them with an affection for truth and impels them to lead a life in accordance with the truth. Such people are in the Lord's kingdom, but because they are led to do good not by good but by truth, that is, not by anything of a new will but by the understanding - thus not by love but by obedience because they are commanded so to act - they are among those in the Lord's kingdom who inhabit the first or lowest heaven. These are the people whom 'Dan' represents, for in the internal sense of the prophetic declarations made here by Israel his twelve sons serve to describe in general the essential natures of all who are in the Lord's kingdom.

[2] The habitation by those meant by 'Dan' of the lowest heaven or lowest level of the Lord's kingdom because they are guided by truth but not as yet by good was represented by the falling of the lot last for Dan when the land of Canaan was shared out as an inheritance among the tribes, Joshua 19:40-48, and by the allotment at that time of an inheritance to them in the remotest part of the land, Judges 18. For the lot was cast before Jehovah, Joshua 18:6, and therefore fell for each tribe in accordance with its representation. The land of Canaan represented the Lord's kingdom, see 1607, 3038, 3481, 3705, 3686, 4447, 4454, and all its boundaries were therefore representative, 1607, 1866, 4116, so that the outermost parts of that land represented the lowest parts of the Lord's kingdom, 4240. 'Dan' consequently represented the inhabitants of those lowest parts, for before truth has become joined to good it resides on the lowest level of that kingdom. But if truth has become entirely separated from good it does not reside within any boundary of the Lord's kingdom but is outside it.

[3] The fact that Dan's inheritance was the outermost part of the land of Canaan is clear from the fact that whenever the full extent of that land was described the expression from Beersheba even to Dan was used, 2 Samuel 3:10; 17:11; 24:15; 1 Kings 4:25. In this expression Beersheba means the inmost part of the land, for the reason that it was the place where Abraham and Isaac lived, that is, before Jerusalem and Zion had become the inmost parts of the land.

[4] The essential nature of those guided by truth but not as yet by good was also represented by the Danites who were to spy out the land in which they were to live, Judges 18. It was represented by their removal of the Levite from Micah's house and their making off with the ephod, teraphim, and carved image, by which objects is meant the worship of those guided by truth but not as yet by good. For those people venerate things of an external nature but have no interest in those of an internal nature; for things of an internal nature are discerned by none but those who are guided by good. This is what the Danites under consideration here represented, as becomes clear from the consideration that all the historical incidents in the Word, both those in the Books of Moses and those in the Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, are representative of the celestial and spiritual realities of the Lord's kingdom, including therefore this incident in the Book of Judges involving the Danites. As regards anything further concerning the essential nature of those guided by truth but not as yet by good, this is described in the internal sense of the things said about Dan that come next.

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