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Postanak 24:66

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66 I pripovedi sluga Isaku sve što je svršio.

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Arcana Coelestia #3094

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3094. 'And said, I will draw for your camels also until they have finished drinking' means the affirmative response as regards the enlightenment of all facts within the natural man. This is clear from the meaning of 'camels' as general facts in the natural man, dealt with in 3048, 3071, and from the meaning of 'drawing', that is to say, drawing water, as giving instruction and also enlightening, dealt with in 3058, 3071. It is evident that an affirmative response is meant from the consideration that she said what she intended to do and then did it, that is to say, she drew water for the camels. The enlightenment which is the subject here comes from the part where truth is, though in fact it comes from good by way of truth. As regards the enlightenment of facts in the natural man, the source of all that enlightenment is good, for good which is fired by love may be compared to the flame of the sun, from which flame warmth and light are received, while truth may be compared to an object through which the flame shines as light, and from that light comes enlightenment. But as is the light from that source, so is the enlightenment.

[2] Nothing else exists to receive good except truth; but as is the truth so is the reception, and so consequently the enlightenment. When therefore enlightenment comes by way of truth, the enlightenment from truth in that case appears to be attributable to truth, though in fact it is attributable to the good which is shining, as described, through the truth. Enlightenment from good by way of truth also penetrates further and affects more deeply, and it produces that lower affection for truth to be dealt with shortly. The light of heaven flows from the Lord's Divine Good by way of His Divine Truth. And because it comes by way of the Divine Truth in His Human it reaches not only celestial people but also spiritual, and enlightens all who are in heaven with wisdom and intelligence. This being the source of these, the internal sense of the Word therefore deals so much with Divine Good and Divine Truth within the Lord's Human. In the present context it deals with the initial enlightenment of truth from good and of good by means of truth.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #2284

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2284. 'Perhaps ten will be found there' means if remnants were still present. This is clear from the meaning of the number 'ten' as remnants, dealt with in Volume One, in 576, 1738. What remnants are however has been stated and shown in various places already, as in 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 661, 1050, 1738, 1906, namely that they are all the good and all the truth with a person which lie stored away in his two memories and in his life.

[2] It is well known that there is nothing good nor anything true except that from the Lord; also that what is good and true is flowing in constantly from the Lord into man, but it is received in varying ways, and that in fact it is received according to the life of evil and according to the false assumptions in which the person has confirmed himself. These are what either annihilate, or stifle, or pervert the goods and truths flowing in constantly from the Lord. To prevent goods being mixed with evils therefore, and truths with falsities - for if they were mixed a person would perish for ever - the Lord separates them, and stores away within his interior man the goods and truths he receives. From there the Lord will never allow them to come forth as long as that person is governed by evil and falsity, except at those times when the person has entered some state that is a holy state, or when deeply and anxiously concerned about something, or in times of sickness, or other similar circumstances. These things which the Lord has so stored away in the person are what are called remnants, and of which very much mention is made in the Word, though nobody as yet knows that this is what they mean.

[3] It is according to the nature and the amount of the remnants, that is, of the good and truth residing with him, that a person experiences blessedness and happiness in the next life, for, as has been stated, such remnants are stored away in his interior man and are laid bare when he leaves things of a bodily and worldly nature behind him. The Lord alone knows the nature and the amount of remnants a person has. The person himself cannot possibly know this, for at the present day man is such that he is able to counterfeit what is good while within there is nothing but evil. A person can also appear to be evil and yet may have good within. For these reasons one is never allowed to judge the nature of another person's spiritual life; for the Lord alone, as has been stated, knows this. But one is allowed to judge the nature of another person's life, private and public, since this is of importance to society.

[4] It is very common for those who have adopted an opinion regarding any truth of faith to sit in judgement on others and to say that they cannot be saved unless their beliefs coincide with their own - a judgement which the Lord has forbidden, in Matthew 7:1-2. Yet from much experience I have been led to know that members of every religion are saved provided that they have received through a life of charity remnants of good and appearances of truth. This is what was meant by 'if ten were found [there] they would not be destroyed for the sake of the ten', that is, that if remnants were present they would be saved.

[5] The life of charity consists in thinking what is good in regard to another, and in willing for him that which is good, and in feeling joy within oneself that others as well are saved. But those people do not possess the life of charity whose will is that no others should be saved than those whose beliefs coincide with theirs, especially those who are indignant that the situation is otherwise. This becomes clear solely from the fact that more gentiles are saved than Christians. For people who have thought what is good in regard to their neighbour and have willed for him that which is good accept the truths of faith in the next life more readily than those who called themselves Christians; and they acknowledge the Lord more than Christians do. Indeed nothing gives angels greater delight and happiness than to be teaching those who pass from the world into the next life.

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