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Interaction of the Soul and Body # 8

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8. VI. Those two, heat and light, or love and wisdom, flow conjointly from God into the soul of man; and through this into his mind, its affections and thoughts; and from these into the senses, speech, and actions of the body.

The spiritual influx hitherto treated of by inspired men is that from the soul into the body, but no one has treated of influx into the soul, and through this into the body; although it is known that all the good of love and all the truth of faith flow from God into man, and nothing of them from man; and those things which flow from God flow first into his soul, and through his soul into the rational mind, and through this into those things which constitute the body. If any one investigates spiritual influx in any other manner, he is like one who stops up the course of a fountain and still seeks there perennial streams; or like one who deduces the origin of a tree from the root and not from the seed; or like one who examines derivations apart from their source.

[2] For the soul is not life in itself, but is a recipient of life from God, who is life in Himself; and all influx is of life, thus from God. This is meant by the statement: “Jehovah God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of lives, and man was made a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). To breathe into the nostrils the breath of lives signifies to implant the perception of good and truth. The Lord also says of Himself, “As the Father hath life in Himself so hath He also given to the Son to have life in Himself” (John 5:26): life in Himself is God; and the life of the soul is life flowing in from God.

[3] Now inasmuch as all influx is of life, and life operates by means of its receptacles, and the inmost or first of the receptacles in man is his soul, therefore in order that influx may be rightly apprehended it is necessary to begin from God, and not from an intermediate station. Were we to begin from an intermediate station, our doctrine of influx would be like a chariot without wheels, or like a ship without sails. This being the case, therefore, in the preceding articles we have treated of the sun of the spiritual world, in the midst of which is Jehovah God (5); and of the influx thence of love and wisdom, thus of life (6, 7).

[4] That life flows from God into man through the soul, and through this into his mind, that is, into its affections and thoughts, and from these into the senses, speech, and actions of the body, is because these are the things pertaining to life in successive order. For the mind is subordinate to the soul, and the body is subordinate to the mind. The mind, also, has two lives, the one of the will and the other of the understanding. The life of its will is the good of love, the derivations of which are called affections; and the life of the understanding there is the truth of wisdom, the derivations of which are called thoughts: by means of the latter and the former the mind lives. The life of the body, on the other hand, are the senses, speech, and actions: that these are derived from the soul through the mind follows from the order in which they stand, and from this they manifest themselves to a wise man without examination.

[5] The human soul, being a superior spiritual substance, receives influx directly from God; but the human mind, being an inferior spiritual substance, receives influx from God indirectly through the spiritual world; and the body, being composed of the substances of nature which are called matter, receives influx from God indirectly through the natural world.

That the good of love and the truth of wisdom flow from God into the soul of a man conjointly, that is, united into one, but that they are divided by the man in their progress, and are conjoined only with those who suffer themselves to be led by God, will be seen in the following articles.

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

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The Soul and its Truths

Napsal(a) Peter M. Buss, Sr.

THE SOUL AND ITS TRUTHS

An address by the Rt. Rev. Peter M. Buss, to the General Church Education Council, June 23, 2004

How do you prove religious truths? There is no proof. You cannot see God, visit the after-life, prove that married love is eternal, that the souls of men and women are eternally different and perfectly complementary.

How do adults know that these are true? The deepest answer is that there is a message from within, from our souls, that lets us see that truth is true.

How do we choose what is good? What power can cause us to choose the inconvenient good over the much more convenient evil? What causes a mother to waken out of exhausted sleep at the cry of a child and go to its help? What causes a normally selfish man to put himself to great inconvenience for a distressed friend? The deepest answer is that the soul gives us the freedom to make these choices, and it inspires a desire to make the right choice.

How do little children respond to truths and see that they are good? Well, we might say, they tend to believe what trusted adults tell them. True. Or, we may say, the angels give them a delight in truths. Very true. But the deepest secret lies in their own souls. The thing the Writings call intellectual truth or celestial truth is speaking to them when they hear the truth their teachers speak. Perception is teaching them.

What do we mean by the soul?

In general, the Latin word refers to what is living, and thus often to the spirit that lives after death (Divine Love and Wisdom 394; cf 379; 383). In one passage the Writings say that the soul of something is just whatever gives it life. Thus, the soul of the body is its spirit, for from this the body lives. But the soul of the spirit is still more internal life, from which it has wisdom and understanding (Arcana Coelestia 2930).

The way I plan to use this term is that the soul is the inmost part of us, that unpervertable entrance of the Lord into us. This is the way the term is used very often, as for example in the following passage. Every person consists of three components which follow in order in him: soul, mind, and body. The inmost one is his soul. The intermediate one is his mind. And the outmost one is his body. Everything that flows into a person from the Lord flows first into his inmost component, which is the soul, and descends from there into his intermediate component, which is the mind, and through this into his outmost component, which is the body (Conjugial Love 101; cf. 158, 206, et al).

The degrees of creation

There are three amazing passages in The Arcana Coelestia which speak of the way in which the Lord creates human life on different levels, and how He accommodates Himself to them. The following diagram is an interpretation of Arcana Coelestia 1999, 7270, 8443.

THE SIX DEGREES OF TRUTH DIVINE IN CREATION: WHAT DEGREE OF THE MIND IS IN EACH

FIRST: In the first radiant belt, above the heavens | The human internal, or soul

SECOND: In the second radiant belt, above the heavens | The truth from the internal, or intellectual truth. Not conscious

THIRD: In the celestial heaven | The celestial or inmost rational

FOURTH: In the spiritual heaven | The spiritual or interior rational

FIFTH: In the natural heaven | The genuine natural rational or the external rational

SIXTH: On earth - specifically in the Word and thus in the church | The natural, divided into three degrees or planes:

A. The merely natural rational

B. The middle natural

C. The sensual

The Writings teach that the Divine flowing from the Lord is at first too full of love and wisdom to be received by any conscious thought and feeling. Therefore, in the heaven of human internals (Arcana Coelestia 1999) or the two radiant belts around the spiritual sun (Arcana Coelestia 7270) there are degrees of life which are not conscious, but through which the Lord acts into us. These are the realms of the soul.

The soul is the inmost dwelling place of the Lord in us. It is made of superior spiritual substances, and thus receives influx directly from God (Interaction of the Soul and Body 8). It is above consciousness. It is into the soul that the conjugial of love and wisdom or good and truth from the Lord first flows. They are imperceptible and hence ineffable, being delights of peace and at the same time of innocence. In their descent they become more and more perceptible - in the higher regions of the minds as blessings, in the lower as happiness, and in the bosom as the delights from these (Conjugial Love 69. See also Conjugial Love 16, 46, 69, 183, 203, 236, 302).

The important thing is that there is this hallowed place where the Lord can touch us, and we can't spoil it. The soul is in the image and likeness of God. The Divine truth flowing in from Him enters the soul and causes the soul to be what it is (Arcana Coelestia 6115:3). It is the love and wisdom from the Lord in us (Divine Love and Wisdom 395).

It is the soul that makes the body. Think of the incredible way in which the body operates - almost as if it is wise from itself. The Writings describe it thus: Unless the soul in universal and in singular flowed into the viscera of the body, nothing could take place in the body with order and regularity; but when the soul flows in singularly and thus universally then all things are set in order as if of themselves (Arcana Coelestia 6338:2; cf Arcana Coelestia 3570:4; 4727:2; Divine Love and Wisdom 269). Thus, conjugial love is implanted in the soul (Conjugial Love 46, 69, 183, 203, 236, 302). If fact there it is in its spiritual holiness and purity longing to flow down into our minds and bodies (Conjugial Love 482). For the genesis of conjugial love is the marriage of good and truth, and these are one in the soul. They are only separated as they descend lower into the mind, and are reintegrated in those who follow the Lord (Interaction of the Soul and Body 8e).

The soul is not life itself, but the first receptacle (Arcana Coelestia 1999, 1940; 2004; 2019; 2025:4). He gives life to us as if it were our own (Arcana Coelestia 1594:5). The soul is a form of all things pertaining to love, and all things pertaining to wisdom. Being the inmost human, it is the person himself, and therefore its form is the human form in all fullness and perfection. Yet it is not life but the nearest receptacle of life from God, and thus the dwelling-place of God (Conjugial Love 315).

All the love and all the wisdom....

Therefore, the soul is most loving and most wise. All the love of which we are capable has been written on our souls. That love has truth within it, married to it. It is called celestial truth, and is represented by Sarah in the Word, while Abraham represents celestial good. Celestial truth is said to be beauty itself (Arcana Coelestia 1470; cf 1598).

This love wisdom - though separated as they flow on down (See Interaction of the Soul and Body 8) - unceasingly look for an opportunity to be received in the mind. For until we willingly receive it, a love from the soul is not ours, but is in potential.

So, what do we receive from the soul? The Writings make it clear that the ability to be human comes from there, and the twin faculties that make humanity - freedom and rationality - flow from it. In addition, all delights spring from the soul, for the Lord through the soul activates them (Conjugial Love 461). Otherwise there would be no delight in the mind and body.

And what about our reception of truth? Well, living truth is from the soul. Knowledges and memories are not truths, the Writings say, they are receptacles of the living truth that flows from within (Arcana Coelestia 1469). And especially does the soul rejoice in the deepest truths - about the Lord and His kingdom, about love to Him and mutual love. These truths, the Lord says, become happy in the internal man, and delightful in the external man (Arcana Coelestia 1470; cf also 1495).

In summary, the soul is constantly seeking for a home for its loves and insights in the mind. To that end it inflows into true affections and vivifies them, and into knowledges which are genuine and gives them life. This is the meaning of the strong statement in the Writings that all instruction is simply an opening of the way for heavenly things to inflow. When the receptacles are there in the mind, the soul flows down and gives them life (Arcana Coelestia 1495) That is an essential principle of our educational philosophy. We don't teach. We open the way for the Lord to teach through the souls of our students.

Poor education

When there is disorder in the mind, the soul won't support it, and separates itself from it. One passage simply points out that all external loves, if considered to be paramount, try then to dominate higher ones, and the higher ones won't allow it. They withdraw (Conjugial Love 235). The soul won't be ruled by the mind, so it cannot send down its messages, and this - a frightening, and inevitable consequence - produces separation from the Lord (Arcana Coelestia 1999:3). The soul can look down on disorder in the mind and dissents and disagrees with it (Arcana Coelestia 1999).

What happens then? Two things. First, when the soul as it were withdraws, then true delight is no longer felt. The pleasure we then feel is from some outside source - not from the true source of all love and joy but from some ancillary or collateral source. When the Lord gives us the power to love and we choose to love ourselves above others, then we are cut off from the purpose of that gift. The result is coldness - an absence of the internal warmth of life. As the Writings put it with regard to married love, the striving seated in souls for that love cant affect the person, and coldness results (Conjugial Love 238; 240, 236).

There is a second result. Because the soul is still trying to send its messages into the mind, there is a conflict between its activity and what a person has chosen. Evil is contrary to order, and the soul is trying all the time to produce order. So, the soul keeps sending its message of discontent into the mind, and that produces a state of unrest, and eventually of undelight in the evil one has chosen.

An ancient Jewish poet said, Evil shall wax old with them that glory therein (Ecclesiasticus: Book of Sirach 11:16). Swedenborg reflected in his work "The Rational Psychology" that the soul (or pure intellect) opposes disorder or evil in the mind and produces a loathing for that evil. This is reflected in the fact that evil delights lose their charm, and people plunge into deeper and deeper perversions.

An illustration of this is that the devils of hell cannot enjoy their evils for long. The misers close to hell pretend that they possess all the wealth of the kingdom, but after a while they lose the ability to enjoy this phantasy, and they have to return to work. Through use of some kind, the soul sends new power into their minds, which they immediately pervert and now they can enjoy their evils again - for a short time. Then it grows cold again, and they have to go back to work once again. For it is only in use that the soul can continue to send messages to their minds (See Conjugial Love 268).

Two things separate the soul from the mind. The first is ignorance or unbelief. Far more important is the choice to follow the loves of self and the world, which when we get them out of order stand against the very pulse of heaven - that we should love the Lord and our neighbor (Arcana Coelestia 1594:1-3; cf. Conjugial Love 236, 238, 240).

Perhaps one may also say that the soul leads from without when there is disorder. The world that the Lord created is generally in order, and the Word itself is perfectly in order, and when these come into the mind, especially through sight and hearing (Arcana Coelestia 2557), the soul recognizes them. Then the person sees that his life and his feelings are discordant with what he is learning, and there is a feeling of fear or anxiety or perhaps depression - which spur him to reflect and perhaps repent (see Arcana Coelestia 5470).

The important thing to realize is that the soul is always seeking to express itself in the mind and body. A person's soul, being in the marriage of good and truth, is not only in a perpetual striving for union but also in a perpetual striving to be fruitful and produce a likeness of itself (Conjugial Love 355). When it can, there is peace. If it can't, then there cannot be peace.

Application to education

The love of the soul is turned into the natural delight in learning with a little child (Arcana Coelestia 1472; 1480). This is because learning is a means to the end of charity. Or, as the Writings say, learning produces first the ability to think, then the power to see the use of a truth, and finally the power to use it (Arcana Coelestia 1487).

So a little child feels a delight in sensing things. She or he didn't make that delight. That is the first touch of the soul. As a baby grows it finds an innocent joy in reaching out towards the world, feeling, touching, tasting, seeing, hearing. His joy in his senses is from his soul. He is learning. He is recognizing things - and it is the wisdom of the soul that recognizes them!

As he grows older he begins to want to know things. He enjoys learning to read and write, he delights in stories that tell him of lands he has never seen, events that he has not heard before. He imagines things, and often lives in a world of make-believe. He plays, and develops a kind of knowledge - or skill.

Why do children develop as they do? We take it for granted. It is because his soul is causing him to delight in learning. It is so very wise! It knows what things he cannot yet understand or appreciate, so it does not yet inspire a delight in those things. Have you wondered why all children show no interest in certain moral issues, or in reasoning or politics, or indeed in working eight hours a day when they are eight, but develop some of these things later? Well, it is partly because the child does not have the background to comprehend much of these things, but also because the soul takes care that first delights come first, and it is most sensitive to the ability of the mind to respond to it. With incredible wisdom it inspires the right affections in each age for the mind to grow.

So gently does the Lord allow the child's mind to grow. Working through the soul, He causes it to develop in an orderly way. As knowledges fill the mind the young boy or girl begins to be ready to bring various facts together, to reflect on them and to begin to reason about them. Before that he doesn't reflect. Now he begins to be able to do so, and to draw conclusions for himself. Does he always use that power wisely? Of course not, but the Lord works through the soul, and through angels and good spirits even in negative states. The soul works with the young man's pride and even his obstinacy to make him hone his reasoning skills and to seek for excellence in whatever field he is good at. Then it bends him, ever so slowly, towards wisdom and humility and the service of others.

There are many things that obstruct the work of the soul. If what a child is being taught is not true or what he is experiencing is not good, then there is a barrier to its work, and it labors to get its message through to the mind. On the other hand, when the child is learning good and true things in life, there is a beautiful harmony between the soul and the mind. The child's mind is growing in harmony with his own soul. It has truths in it which the soul can touch.

As we look at certain truths or falsities, think of the fact that the soul itself already knows the truth. It is wise; the Lord has implanted both love and its wisdom there. It does not teach directly, but it senses falsity in the mind and there is a lack of harmony with the soul whenever falsity is taught.

You can go to school in this world and learn all about Geography and nature and biology and these studies can illustrate how God made the earth. If so, the soul is delighted as a child learns these knowledges. It senses the truth in them, it supports them, it gives the child a deep delight in learning them.

You can go to school and learn the same things, yet they exclude the idea of God. They make the child feel that the universe happened by accident, that the original form of nature was chaotic, unplanned, that the disorders of nature point of harshness in creation, not to a loving God. If a child is taught this, his soul grieves. It can't work together with the mind as it wishes. How can the soul, which is the Lord's first gift to us, rejoice in knowledges which deny Him?

Take another kind of falsity. People are sometimes taught that if they do something wrong God is looking for a way to punish them. Therefore, if they get sick or if a loved one dies they assume it is because God was angry with them for some evil and this is their punishment. That's not true. The Lord doesn't dream up cruel ways to punish His children. But if a loved one dies in an accident, and a person believes this was Gods way of punishing her, there is a barrier to the deepest healing powers from within.

Wherever there is grief the soul labors to heal. Its work is so much harder when people are oppressed by false notions. It doesn't have the corresponding truth in the lower mind with which to work. But if a person loses a loved one, and knows the true God as a loving, merciful One who works every second to bring good, even despite evil; if she knows that the Lord provides true and everlasting happiness to His faithful children and that tragedy is only for a period of time, she can be healed. Her soul can find these truths, truths that harmonize with its own wisdom, and slowly bring peace back to the mind.

We can teach a student the Golden Rule - Do unto others as you would that they do to you. But we can teach it backwards. We can make him think that being nice to others is a good plan because others will be nice back to him. The soul cannot rejoice in teaching like that; but it does rejoice if he learns that it is good to treat others in a way that he would like to be treated.

When the teaching is true, there is a harmony between the soul and the mind. The person has a peace with him, peace between his deepest sensitivities and those things he is being taught. That doesn't mean he won't have to fight battles in life, or that everything will be plain sailing. But what it does mean is that those who teach him on earth are doing the same kind of work that the heavens and his own soul are doing. They are making it easier for him to find the path to heaven and to choose it himself.

And, of course, the wonder of the Lord's glorification is that the truth of the Word He made flesh is perfectly attuned to that life that inflows through the soul. It is that truth which the soul recognizes as its God, and it worships it.

That is why in the New Church we feel so very deeply about the proper education of our children. We want to work together with the Lord Himself in guiding our children's minds, so that He and the child's soul, and the truths of the Word and the truths of nature may be in harmony.

What more precious gift can we give to our children than truths which the soul can reach down and touch? It can make them live, make them delightful, cause them to grow strong. What better way can we show our love for them than by allowing them to learn things which delight their deepest beings, and induce a harmony on the mind?

We are told that the truths which the soul loves above all are those which teach mutual love and charity (Arcana Coelestia 1999). That should be the goal in all that we introduce them to - for all knowledge looks to love and to use. It is a momentous challenge, for we are very ordinary people, prone to all the uncharitable failings there are. We are bound to look at our efforts and at the many times we don't come anywhere close to such an ideal, and get discouraged. We know that our goal should be that mutual love is taught in all we say and do: that is a large challenge.

What we don't see is the secret, the deep success of our teaching if we are sincere. It must often seem that all we do is teach and instruct, and maybe the children do get these deep messages and maybe they don't. But we wonder what we've done to affect the outcome.

To encourage us the Lord has told us of the incredible effect on the mind if it is the truth that is taught, with charity. It does matter. It matters very much, for when we teach the truth, from a love of truth and the goodness it produces, the result far exceeds anything we did. We communicate an idea and a feeling about it. But the heavens and the soul and the Lord Himself take over. They take that truth and store it up safe and sound. They give it a delight. They arrange it in the proper place of the mind so that it is there, ready for use at the appropriate time.

So, when the child becomes a young man or woman and decides to follow the Lord there are riches beyond compare present to speed her or him on the way. That is what we are a part of doing.

The education of our children in the truth - any truth, whether natural or spiritual - if done with gentleness and the sphere of mutual love, bears fruit beyond our wildest dreams. There are forces mightier by far than we are which ensure that. And we do have a power - to let our children drift through the world, learning values sometimes true, sometimes false, learning about the world without any connection to Him who made the world - or to dedicate ourselves to providing them with the truths which the soul can touch and quicken to all eternity. It makes a difference!

This is our dream. And in seeing the effect on the minds of those we teach we find our reward. Whoever gives to one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward (Matthew 10:42).

(Odkazy: The Interaction of the Soul and Body 8)

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Arcana Coelestia # 6752

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6752. 'And she called his name Moses' means the essential nature of the state then. This is clear from the meaning of 'name' and 'calling the name as the essential nature, dealt with in 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2714, 3006, 3421, 6674, at this point the essential nature of a state because when someone's name is mentioned, that particular name used then means the state, 1946, 2643, 3422, 4298. This essential nature of a state that is meant is the nature of the state of the law of God as it was in the beginning with the Lord, and the nature of the state of God's truth as it is in the beginning with a person who is being regenerated. There are two people primarily who represent the Lord with respect to the Word, namely Moses and Elijah. Moses represents the Lord with respect to the historical books, Elijah with respect to the Prophets. In addition to those two there is Elisha, and lastly John the Baptist, who is therefore the one who is meant by 'the Elijah who is to come', Matthew 17:10-13; Luke 1:17. But before one can show that Moses represents the law of God, one must say what the law of God is. In a broad sense God's law means the whole Word; in a narrower sense it means the historical section of the Word; in a restricted sense it means what was written through Moses; and in a very restricted sense it means the Ten Commandments written upon Mount Sinai on tablets of stone. Moses represents the law in the narrower sense as well as in the restricted sense and also in the very restricted.

[2] In a broad sense the Law is the whole Word, both the historical section and the prophetical part. This is clear in John,

We have heard from the Law that the Christ (the Messiah) remains forever. John 12:34.

The fact that 'the Law' here is used to mean the prophetical part as well is self-evident, for this is a reference to what is written in Isaiah 9:6-7; in David, Psalms 110:4; and in Daniel 7:13-14. In the same gospel,

In order that the Word written in the Law might be fulfilled, They hated Me without a cause. John 15:25.

Much the same applies here, for it is a reference to what is written in David, Psalms 35:19. In Matthew,

Truly I say to you, Even until heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one small part of a letter will not pass from the Law till all things are done. Matthew 5:18.

Here 'the Law' in a broad sense stands for the whole Word.

[3] The Law in a narrower sense is the historical section of the Word. This is clear in Matthew,

All things whatever you wish people to do to you, do also to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12.

Here the Word is divided into 'the Law' and 'the Prophets'; and as the Word has been divided into the historical section and the prophetical part, it follows that 'the Law' is used to mean the historical section of the Word, and 'the Prophets' to mean the prophetical part. A similar example occurs in the same gospel,

On these two commandments hang the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 22:40.

And in Luke,

The Law and the Prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God is proclaimed. Luke 16:16; Matthew 11:13.

[4] In a restricted sense the Law is the Word that was written through Moses. This is clear in Moses,

When Moses had finished writing the words of this Law in a book, even until he had completed them, Moses commanded the Levites carrying the ark of Jehovah, saying, Take the book of this Law, and put it at the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God. Deuteronomy 31:14-26.

'The book of the Law' stands for the Books of Moses. In the same book,

If you do not take care to do all the words of this Law which are written in this book, Jehovah will send 1 upon you every sickness and every plague that is not written in the book of this Law, until you are destroyed. Deuteronomy 28:58, 61.

The meaning is similar here. In David,

In the Law of Jehovah is his delight, and in His Law he meditates day and night. Psalms 1:2.

'The Law of Jehovah' stands for the Books of Moses, for the prophetical books had not yet been written; nor had the historical books apart from the Book of Joshua and the Book of Judges. In addition this restricted meaning of 'the Law' occurs in places containing the expression 'the Law of Moses', which are dealt with immediately below.

[5] In a very restricted sense the Law is the Ten Commandments written upon Mount Sinai on the tablets of stone, as is well known, see Joshua 8:32. This Law is also called the Testimony, Exodus 25:16, 21.

[6] Moses represents the Law in the narrower sense, which is the historical section of the Word, also the Law in the restricted sense, and in the very restricted sense too. This is clear from those places in the Word in which the name Moses is used instead of the Law, and those in which the Law is called the Law of Moses, as in Luke,

Abraham said to him, They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them. If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead. Luke 16:29, 31.

Here 'Moses and the Prophets' has the same meaning as 'the Law and the Prophets', which is the historical section and the prophetical part of the Word. From this it is evident that 'Moses' is the Law or historical section of the Word. In the same gospel,

Jesus beginning at Moses and all the prophets explained in all the scriptures the things that concerned Himself. Luke 24:27.

In the same chapter,

All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me. Luke 24:44.

In John,

Philip said, We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the Law - Jesus. John 1:45.

In the same gospel,

In the Law Moses commanded us. John 8:5.

In Daniel,

The curse and the oath which was written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has come down onto us, because we have sinned against Him. As it is written in the Law of Moses, All this evil has come upon us. Daniel 9:11, 13.

In Joshua,

Joshua wrote on the stone of the altar a copy of the Law of Moses. Joshua 8:32.

[7] The expression 'the Law of Moses' is used because Moses represents the Lord with respect to the Law, that is, the Word, and in a narrower sense the historical section of the Word. This explains why what is the Lord's is ascribed to Moses, as in John,

Moses gave you the Law, Moses gave you circumcision. If a man (homo) receives circumcision on the sabbath, so that the Law of Moses may not be broken... John 7:19, 22-23.

In Mark,

Moses said, Honour your father and your mother. Mark 7:10.

In the same gospel,

Jesus answering said to them, What did Moses command you? They said, Moses permitted him to write a certificate of divorce, and to put her away. Mark 10:3-4.

And because what is the Lord's is ascribed to Moses on account of his representation, both 'the Law of Moses' and 'the Law of the Lord' are used in Luke,

When the days of their purification according to the Law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it has been written in the Law of the Lord, that every male opening the womb is to be called holy to the Lord) and to offer a sacrifice according to what has been stated in the Law of the Lord, A pair of turtle doves and two young pigeons. Luke 2:22-24, 39.

[8] Because Moses represented the Law he was allowed to go in to the Lord on Mount Sinai, not only to receive there the tablets containing the Law but also to hear the statutes and judgements belonging to the Law, and to enjoin these commands on the people. It is also said that the people should therefore believe in Moses forever,

Jehovah said to Moses, Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak to you, and also may believe in you forever. Exodus 19:9.

The expression 'in a thick cloud' is used because 'cloud' means the letter of the Word. Here also is the reason why it says, when Moses went in to the Lord on Mount Sinai, that he went 'into the cloud', Exodus 20:21; 14:2, 18; 34:2-5. For the meaning of 'the cloud' as the literal sense of the Word, see the Preface to Genesis 18, and also 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343 (end).

[9] And since Moses represented the Law or the Word, it also says that when he came down from Mount Sinai the skin on his face shone whenever he spoke, and so he would put a veil over his face, Exodus 34:28-end. 'The shining of his face' meant the inner spirit of the Law, for this dwells in the light of heaven and is therefore called the glory, 5922. While 'the veil' meant the outward form of the Law. The reason why he veiled his face whenever he spoke to the people was that the inner spirit was concealed from them, and had become so obscure to that people that they could not bear any light from it. For the meaning of 'the face' as that which is internal, see 1999, 2434, 3527, 7577, 4066, 4796-4805, 5102, 5695. Since 'Moses' represented the Lord with respect to the historical section of the Word and 'Elijah' represented the Lord with respect to the prophetical part, Moses and Elijah were therefore seen talking to the Lord at His transfiguration, Matthew 17:3. No others except those who represented the Word could have talked to the Lord when He manifested His Divinity in the world; for talking to the Lord is done through the Word. Regarding Elijah's representation of the Lord with respect to the Word, see 1762, 5247 (end).

[10] And since these two together, both Moses and Elijah, represented the whole Word, both are mentioned in Malachi where the sending of Elijah before the Lord is referred to,

Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel - the statutes and judgements. Lo, I am sending you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrifying day of Jehovah comes. Malachi 4:4-6.

These words imply that one was to go before who was to announce the [Lord's] Coming, in accordance with the Word.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. Following the Latin version of Sebastian Schmidt Swedenborg adds a word meaning secretly, which does not represent any word in the Hebrew.

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