Nel libro di Amos, il capitolo due inizia con il Signore che dichiara la sua ira contro il popolo di Moab, Giudea e Israele. Essi hanno commesso vari torti contro il Signore e la chiesa, nonostante i Suoi sforzi per guidarli, e il capitolo prosegue suggerendo che il Signore sta perdendo fiducia nel Suo popolo.

I versetti 1-8 di questo capitolo descrivono i modi specifici in cui le persone possono distruggere o usare male il bene e la verità della Parola.

I versetti 1-3 parlano specificamente dei Moabiti. Essi rappresentano persone che corrompono il bene e la verità della chiesa, vale a dire che distorcerebbero ciò che hanno imparato dalla Parola per soddisfare i loro scopi egoistici. Le ossa rappresentano le verità naturali che possiamo usare come struttura per sostenere tutta la conoscenza superiore che impariamo, quindi il fatto che le persone stavano 'bruciando le ossa' significa che hanno distrutto le loro stesse fondamenta per ottenere la conoscenza spirituale. Nel verso 3, il Signore dice che taglierà via il giudice e il principe, il che significa che l'incapacità dei Moabiti di determinare ciò che è buono (come il giudice), e di condurre una vita basata sulla verità (come il principe) non si opporrà ai veri principi spirituali del Signore.

I versetti 4-5 riguardano le persone che distruggono le cose celesti dalla Parola, allontanando il loro cuore dal Signore. Il popolo di Giudea aveva creduto di essere il popolo eletto dal Signore per così tante generazioni a questo punto che si era compiaciuto, e non sentiva più di dover obbedire ai comandamenti del Signore.

I versetti 6-8 dicono cosa può succedere quando le persone pervertono le verità spirituali della chiesa e le trasformano in falsità. Swedenborg scrive che la maggior parte delle immagini di questi versi - argento, scarpe, polvere, vino - possono tutte rappresentare o la falsità, o solo il tipo più esteriore di verità. Gli israeliti si stavano rivolgendo a queste falsità e alla propria avidità, invece di usare le verità del Signore per aiutare i poveri e i miti.

Nei versi 9-11, il Signore ricorda ai figli d'Israele tutto ciò che ha fatto per prepararli alla salvezza. Ha combattuto per loro e li ha liberati dall'Egitto, ha innalzato i loro capi e profeti, e ha fornito loro le verità di cui avrebbero avuto bisogno per essere rigenerati.

Mostra anche che ha la forza di punirli, perché ha già vinto gli Amoriti, che simboleggiano il male in generale (Arcana Coelestia 6306).

I versetti 12-16 descrivono come gli israeliti pervertirono la conoscenza che il Signore cercò di dare loro. Invece di fidarsi di ciò che il Signore aveva insegnato loro, si rivolsero alla loro auto-giustizia per essere guidati. Poiché pensavano di avere tutte le risposte, corruppero i nazareni e misero a tacere i profeti. Senza una corretta comprensione degli insegnamenti del Signore, il popolo non era più attrezzato per combattere i mali o per crescere spiritualmente.

Al valore nominale, questo capitolo raffigura il Signore come un dio arrabbiato che punirà coloro che gli disobbediscono. Quella che sembra essere rabbia è in realtà il Signore che ci protegge ferocemente e ci chiama a seguirlo. Questo capitolo ci ricorda di rivolgere i nostri cuori verso il Signore e di vivere secondo le verità della Parola.

9642. 'The boards for the south side, southwards' means even to the more internal and the inmost parts [of it], where truth dwells in light. This is clear from the meaning of 'the boards of the dwelling-place' as the good supporting heaven, dealt with in 9634; from the meaning of 'the side (or corner)', when the term is used in reference to the four quarters, as the specific state meant by that quarter, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the south, southwards' ¹ as the more internal and the inmost parts, where truth dwells in light. 'The south' or 'midday' means a state of light, which is a state of intelligence produced by truths, thus also an interior state; for in the heavens the light, and the intelligence and wisdom that accompany the light, increases towards the more internal parts. Further away from those parts truth dwells in shade; and this state of truth is meant by 'the north'. This then is why 'the south side, southwards' means even to the more internal and the inmost parts, where truth dwells in light.

[2] The same things are meant by 'the south' in Isaiah,

I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Do not withhold. Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the end of the earth. Isaiah 43:6.

This refers to a new Church. 'Saying to the north' means speaking to those who are in darkness or have no knowledge of the truths of faith, who are gentiles outside the Church. 'Saying to the south' means speaking to those who dwell in the light provided by cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, who are people within the Church. This explains why the latter are told not to 'withhold' [those sons and daughters], but the former 'to give them up'.

[3] In Ezekiel,

Set your face the way of the south, and drop [your words] towards the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field to the south, and say to the forest of the south, Behold, I am kindling in you a fire, which will devour in you every green tree; and all faces from south to north will be scorched. Set your face towards Jerusalem, and drop [your words] against the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel. Ezekiel 20:46-21:2.

'The south' here stands for those who have the light of truth provided by the Word, thus those who belong to the Church, yet who are influenced by falsities which they substantiate from the sense of the letter of the Word wrongly explained. This is why the expressions 'the forest of the field towards the south' and 'the forest of the south' are used. 'A forest' is a state in which factual knowledge is predominant, whereas 'a garden' is one in which truth is predominant. From this it is evident what the meaning is of 'setting one's face the way of the south, and dropping [one's words] towards the south, and prophesying against the forest of the field to the south', and then of 'set your face towards Jerusalem, and drop [your words] against the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel'. 'Jerusalem' and 'the land of Israel' mean the Church, and 'the sanctuaries' there things of the Church.

[4] In Isaiah,

If you bring out for the hungry your soul ² and satisfy the afflicted soul, your light will rise in the darkness, and your thick darkness will be as at midday. Isaiah 58:10.

'Darkness' and 'thick darkness' stand for lack of knowledge of truth and good, 'light' and 'midday' for an understanding of them. In the same prophet, Give counsel, execute judgement, set your shade like the night in the middle of the day; ³ hide the outcasts, do not reveal the wanderer. Isaiah 16:3.

'In the middle of the day' stands for in the midst of the light of truth. In Jeremiah,

Prepare for ⁴ battle against the daughter of Zion; arise, and let us go up into the south, ⁵ for the day goes away, for the shadows of evening are set at an angle. Jeremiah 6:4.

'Going up into the south' stands for going up against the Church, where truth dwells in light from the Word. In Amos,

I will make the sun go down in the south, ⁵ and I will darken the land in broad daylight. Amos 8:9.

This stands for blotting out all the light of truth which is provided by the Word.

[5] In David,

You will not be afraid of the terror of the night, of the arrow that flies by day, of the pestilence in thick darkness, of death that lays waste at noonday. Psalms 91:5-6.

'The terror of the night' stands for falsities arising from evil that come from hell; 'the arrow that flies by day' stands for falsity which is taught openly; 'death that lays waste at noonday' stands for evil that is openly present in people's lives, and that destroys truth wherever it is able to dwell in its own light from the Word.

[6] And in Isaiah,

The prophecy of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south sweep through, ⁶ it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land. Isaiah 21:1.

In Daniel,

The he-goat of the she-goats made himself exceedingly great, and his horn grew exceedingly towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the glorious [land]. And it grew even towards the host of heaven, and cast down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them. Daniel 8:8-10.

This refers to the state of the future Church. It foretells that the Church will be ruined by teachings about faith separated from the good of charity, 'the he-goat of the she-goats' being this kind of faith, 4169 (end), 4769. 'The horn's growing towards the south' stands for the power of falsity from this faith directed against truths, 'towards the east' for directing it against forms of good, and 'towards the glorious [land]' for directing it against the Church. 'Towards the host of heaven' stands for directing that power against all the forms of good and the truths belonging to heaven, and 'casting down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars' stands for destroying these, and also even the cognitions or knowledge of good and truth, 4697.

[7] The whole of Chapter 11 in the same prophet describes a war between the king of the south and the king of the north. 'The king of the south' means the light of truth derived from the Word, and 'the king of the north' reasoning about truths which is based on factual knowledge. The shifting fortunes which the Church will experience until it ceases to exist are described by the different phases in the course of that war.

[8] Because 'the south' meant truth dwelling in light it was decreed that the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad should camp towards the south, Numbers 2:10-15. Encampments represented the arrangement of all things in heaven as determined by the truths and forms of the good of faith and love, 4236, 8103 (end), 8193, 8196, and 'the twelve tribes' which formed the camp meant all the truths and forms of good in their entirety, 3858, 3862, 3926, 3939, 4060, 6335, 6337, 6397, 6640, 7836, 7891, 7996, 7997. 'The tribe of Reuben' meant the truth of faith present in doctrine, 3861, 3866, 5542, 'the tribe of Simeon' the truth of faith subsequently present in life, 3869-3872, 4497, 4502, 4503, 5482, and 'the tribe of Gad' works motivated by that truth in doctrine and life, 6404, 6405. From these meanings it is evident why these three camped towards the south; for all things on the side of truth or faith belong in the south because they are in light.

[9] From all this it is now clear what 'the south side' means, namely where the state of truth dwelling in light is to be found. For all states of the good of love and the truth of faith are meant by the four corners of the earth, states of the good of love being meant by the east and west sides, and states of the truth of faith by the south and north ones. Much the same is meant by 'the four winds', as in the Book of Revelation,

... angels standing over the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, in order that the wind should not blow onto the earth. Revelation 7:1.

And elsewhere,

Satan will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth. Revelation 20:7-8.

In Matthew,

He will send angels, and gather the elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. ⁷ Matthew 24:31.

And in Ezekiel,

Come from the four winds, O spirit, and breathe into these killed, that they may live. Ezekiel 37:9.

[10] Because those winds, that is, those four quarters, meant all aspects of good and truth, thus all aspects of heaven and the Church, and 'a temple' meant heaven or the Church, it had been the custom since ancient times to site temples in an east-west direction. This was because the east meant the good of love on the rise, and the west the good of love on the decline. This custom had its origin in representative signs, which were well known to the ancients who belonged to the Church.

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