81. DE INNERLIJKE ZIN.

In dit hoofdstuk wordt over de hemelse mens gehandeld, in het voorgaande is gesproken over de geestelijke mens, die uit de dode mens gemaakt is; omdat echter heden ten dage niemand weet wat een hemels mens is, en nauwelijks wat een geestelijk mens is, evenmin wat een dood mens is, mag ik, opdat men zal weten wat het verschil is, in het kort uiteenzetten, hoe de een is en hoe de andere. Ten eerste: de dode mens erkent geen andere waarheid en goedheid, dan hetgeen tot het lichaam en de wereld behoort, en dit aanbidt hij ook. De geestelijke mens erkent het geestelijke en het hemelse ware en goede, maar dit vanuit het geloof waaruit hij ook handelt, maar niet zozeer uit liefde. De hemelse mens gelooft en voelt het geestelijke en hemelse ware en goede en hij erkent geen ander geloof dan hetgeen uit de liefde is, waaruit hij ook handelt. Ten tweede: de doeleinden van de dode mens beogen alleen het lichamelijke en wereldse leven, en hij weet niet wat het eeuwige leven is en wat de Heer, en als hij het weet, gelooft hij het niet. De doeleinden van de geestelijke mens beogen het eeuwige leven, en dus de Heer. De doeleinden van de hemelse mens zijn gericht op de Heer, en zo op Zijn koninkrijk en op het eeuwige leven. Ten derde: wanneer de dode mens in strijd is, bezwijkt hij bijna altijd; wanneer hij niet in strijd is, heersen bij hem het kwade en het valse en hij is een slaaf. Zijn banden zijn uiterlijke, zoals vrees voor de wet, voor het verlies van het leven, van rijkdommen, weelde en goede naam. De geestelijke mens is in strijd, maar overwint altijd; de banden die over hem heersen, zijn innerlijke en worden banden van het geweten genoemd. De hemelse mens is niet in strijd; als het kwade en het valse hem belagen, veracht hij ze, waarom hij ook overwinnaar wordt genoemd; hij heeft geen waarneembare banden, waardoor hij in toom gehouden wordt, maar hij is vrij. Zijn banden, die zich niet vertonen, zijn de innerlijke gewaarwordingen van het goede en ware.

85. That the celestial man is the seventh day, and that the seventh day was for that reason made holy and called the Sabbath from a word for 'rest', are as yet undisclosed arcana. This is because people have not known what the celestial man is, and few what the spiritual man is. In their ignorance they could not avoid making the latter the same as the celestial, when in fact there is a vast difference between them; see 81. As regards the seventh day and the celestial man's being the seventh day or Sabbath, this is clear from the fact that the Lord Himself is the Sabbath, for which reason He also says,

The Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath. Mark 2:28.

These words embody the concept that the Lord is Man himself, and the Sabbath itself. He gives the name Sabbath, or eternal peace and rest, to His kingdom in heaven and on earth. The Most Ancient Church, which is the subject here, was the Lord's Sabbath more than any subsequent Church.

[2] Every subsequent inmost Church has been a Sabbath of the Lord, and so is every regenerate person when he becomes celestial, since he is a likeness of the Lord. Six days of conflict or labour precede this. In the Jewish Church these things were represented by the work days, and by the seventh which was the Sabbath; for in that Church, everything that had been ordained was representative of the Lord and His kingdom. The Ark too had a similar representation when it was travelling and when it came to rest. Its travels through the wilderness represented conflicts and temptations, and its resting represented states of peace. This is why when it travelled Moses said,

Arise, O Jehovah, and let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee from Your face. ¹ And when it came to rest he said, Return, O Jehovah, to the myriads of the thousands of Israel. Numbers 10:35-36.

The same portion of Scripture speaks of the Ark 'travelling from the mountain of Jehovah to search out rest for them'. ibid. Verse 33.

[3] The Sabbath is used to describe the celestial man's rest in Isaiah,

If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, so that you do not your desire on My holy day, and you call the things which belong to the Sabbath delights honourable to the Holiness of Jehovah, and you honour it so that you do not your own ways, nor find your own desire and speak your own words, then you will be delightful to Jehovah, and I will have you carried over the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob. Isaiah 58:13-14.

The celestial man is such that he does not base his actions on his own desires but on what pleases the Lord; this is his desire. In this way he enjoys inward peace and happiness, here expressed by 'being carried up over the high places of the earth'. At the same time he enjoys outward contentment and joy, meant by 'being fed with the heritage of Jacob'.

Notes de bas de page:

81. THE INTERNAL SENSE

The subject in this chapter is the celestial man; in the previous chapter it was the spiritual man who progressed to being spiritual from having been a dead man. But since people nowadays do not know what the celestial man is, and scarcely know what the spiritual man is or what the dead man is, let the nature of each one be presented briefly, in order that it may be known how they differ.

First. The dead man acknowledges no other truth or good than that belonging to the body and the world. This he also worships. The spiritual man acknowledges spiritual and celestial truth and good. But he does so not so much from love as from faith, which is also the basis of his actions. The celestial man believes and perceives spiritual and celestial truth and good, and does not acknowledge any other faith than that which stems from love, which is also the basis of his actions.

Second. The dead man has solely the life of the body and of the world as his ends in view. He does not know what eternal life is, or what the Lord is. Or if he does know, he does not believe. The spiritual man has eternal life, and therefore the Lord, as his ends in view. The celestial man has the Lord and therefore His kingdom and eternal life as his ends in view.

Third. The dead man when involved in conflict nearly always gives in. And when there is no conflict evils and falsities reign supreme within him, making him their slave. His bonds are external ones, such as fear of the law, loss of life, wealth, profits, and reputation on account of these. The spiritual man is involved in conflict, but he always conquers. The bonds which restrain him are internal, and are called the bonds of conscience. The celestial man is not involved in conflict. If evils and falsities assail him, he treats them with contempt, and is therefore called a conqueror. No visible bonds restrict him, for he is a free man. His bonds, which are not visible, are perceptions of good and truth.