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Arcana Coelestia #2803

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2803. That the Divine Truth is the “son,” and the Divine Good the “father,” is evident from the signification of a “son,” as being truth (see n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2633); and of a “father,” as being good; and also from the conception and birth of truth, which is from good. Truth cannot be and come forth [existere] from any other source than good, as has been shown many times. That the “son” here is the Divine Truth, and the “father” the Divine Good, is because the union of the Divine Essence with the Human, and of the Human Essence with the Divine, is the Divine marriage of Good with Truth, and of Truth with Good, from which comes the heavenly marriage; for in Jehovah or the Lord there is nothing but what is infinite; and because infinite, it cannot be apprehended by any idea, except that it is the being and the coming forth [esse et existere] of all good and truth, or is Good itself and Truth itself. Good itself is the “Father,” and Truth itself is the “Son.” But because as before said there is a Divine marriage of Good and Truth, and of Truth and Good, the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father, as the Lord Himself teaches in John:

Jesus saith unto Philip, Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in Me ? Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in me (John 14:10-11).

And again in the same Evangelist:

Jesus said to the Jews, Though ye believe not Me, believe the works; that ye may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father (John 10:36, 38).

And again:

I pray for them; for all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and that they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee (John 17:9-10, 21).

And again:

Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself. Father, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee (John 13:31-32; 17:1).

[2] From this may be seen the nature of the union of the Divine and the Human in the Lord; namely, that it is mutual and alternate, or reciprocal; which union is that which is called the Divine Marriage, from which descends the heavenly marriage, which is the Lord’s kingdom itself in the heavens—thus spoken of in John:

In that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you (John 14:20).

And again:

I pray for them, that they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us, I in them and Thou in Me; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:21-23, 26).

That this heavenly marriage is that of good and truth, and of truth and good, may be seen above (n. 2508, 2618, 2728, 2729 and following numbers).

[3] And because the Divine Good cannot be and come forth without the Divine Truth, nor the Divine Truth without the Divine Good, but the one in the other mutually and reciprocally, it is therefore manifest that the Divine Marriage was from eternity; that is, the Son in the Father, and the Father in the Son, as the Lord Himself teaches in John:

And now O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thyself, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was (John 17:5, 24).

But the Divine Human which was born from eternity was also born in time; and what was born in time, and glorified, is the same. Hence it is that the Lord so often said that He was going to the Father who sent Him; that is, that He was returning to the Father. And in John:

In the beginning was the Word (the “Word” is the Divine Truth itself), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1-3, 14; see also John 3:13; 6:62).

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

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Arcana Coelestia #3755

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3755. But woe to those who are with child or giving suck in those days! means those who have been endowed with the good that flows from love to the Lord and with the good that goes with innocence. 'Woe!' is an expression meaning the danger of eternal condemnation. 'Being with child' means conceiving good that stems from heavenly love. 'Giving suck' is also a state of innocence, 'those days' the state which the Church is passing through at that time.

[2] Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath means removal from those things to prevent it happening rapidly during a state of excessive cold or a state of excessive heat. 'Flight' is removal from a state of good stemming from love and from innocence, dealt with just above. 'Flight in winter' is a removal from these during a state of excessive cold - cold being a time when there is an aversion to those things, which is caused by all kinds of self-love. 'Flight on a sabbath' is removal from them during a state of excessive heat - heat being external holiness when self-love and love of the world exist inwardly.

[3] For then there will be great affliction, unlike any from the beginning of the world until now, or any in the future means the furthest degree of the perversion and vastation of the good and truth of the Church, which is profanation. For the profanation of that which is holy leads to eternal death, a death far more serious than that to which any other states of evil lead, and which is all the more serious insofar as they are interior goods and truths which are made profane. And since they are interior goods and truths that have been disclosed and made known in the Christian Church and have then been made profane it is said that 'then there will be great affliction, unlike any from the beginning of the world until now, or any in the future'.

[4] And unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short means the removal of those who belong to the Church from interior goods and truths to exterior in order that those who lead lives that are good and true may nevertheless be saved. 'Cutting days short' means a state of such removal; 'no flesh being saved' means that otherwise nobody could be saved; 'the elect' means those who lead lives that are good and true.

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