True Christian Religion #33
33. (vi) EVERY CREATED OBJECT IS FINITE, AND THE INFINITE IS CONTAINED IN FINITE OBJECTS AS IN RECEIVERS, AND IN HUMAN BEINGS AS IMAGES OF IT.
Every created object is finite, because it is from Jehovah God that all things exist by means of the sun of the spiritual world, which most nearly surrounds Him; and that sun is composed of a substance which has emanated from Him, the essence of which is love. From that sun by means of its heat and light the universe, from first to last, was created; but this is not the place to expound the order of creation. A sketch of this will be given later. Here it is only important to know that one was formed from another, and that thus the three degrees were established: three in the spiritual world, and three corresponding to these in the natural world, and three more in the inert substances of which the terrestrial globe is composed. The origin and nature of those degrees have been fully expounded in my ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE LOVE AND THE DIVINE WISDOM (Amsterdam, 1763) and the booklet ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE SOUL AND THE BODY (London, 1769). It was these degrees which made all subsequent things receivers of earlier ones, and these of yet earlier ones, and so eventually a receiver of the primordial substances which compose the sun of the heaven of angels; thus they are finite receivers of the infinite. This too is in agreement with the wisdom of the ancients, who held that everything is infinitely divisible. It is generally thought that because the finite cannot contain the infinite, finite things cannot be receivers of the infinite. But it has been established by what I have written about creation in my books that God first limited His infinity by means of substances emanating from Him, and this was the origin of the circuit most nearly surrounding Him which constitutes the sun of the spiritual world, and that by means of that sun He made the remaining circuits down to the last, which is composed of inert matter; and thus by degrees He made the world more and more limited. These remarks are made so as to satisfy the human reason, which is not happy unless it sees the cause.
Exodus 20
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God spoke all these words, saying,
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"I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
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"You shall have no other gods before me.
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"You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
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you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,
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and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
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"You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
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"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
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You shall labor six days, and do all your work,
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but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates;
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for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
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"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
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"You shall not murder.
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"You shall not commit adultery.
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"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
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"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."
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All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance.
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They said to Moses, "Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don't let God Speak with us, lest we die."
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Moses said to the people, "Don't be afraid, for God has come to test you, and that his fear may be before you, that you won't sin."
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The people stayed at a distance, and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
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Yahweh said to Moses, "This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
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You shall most certainly not make alongside of me gods of silver, or gods of gold for yourselves.
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You shall make an altar of earth for me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I record my name I will come to you and I will bless you.
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If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of cut stones; for if you lift up your tool on it, you have polluted it.
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Neither shall you go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed to it.'
