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Arcana Coelestia #9093

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9093. And they shall divide the silver of it. That this signifies that the truth thereof shall be dissipated, is evident from the signification of “dividing,” as being to banish and dissipate (see n. 6360, 6361); and from the signification of “silver,” as being truth (n. 1551, 2048, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 7999). That “to divide” denotes to dissipate, is because if those things which have been associated together are divided, they are also scattered, as he who divides his mind destroys it. For the mind of man is an association of two parts, one part being called the understanding, the other the will. He who divides these two parts scatters the things which belong to one part, for one part must live from the other; consequently the other also perishes. It is the same with him who divides truth from good, or what is the same, faith from charity. He who does this destroys both. In a word, all things which ought to be united in a one, if divided perish.

[2] This division is meant by the Lord’s words in Luke:

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will prefer the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Luke 16:13).

That is, by faith serve the Lord, and by love the world; thus acknowledge truth, and do evil. He who does this has a divided mind, from which comes its destruction. From all this it is evident whence it is that “to divide” denotes to dissipate; as is also evident in Matthew:

The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall divide him, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites (Matthew 24:50-51); where “to divide” denotes to separate and remove from goods and truths (n. 4424), thus to dissipate.

[3] In Moses:

Cursed be their anger, for it was vehement; and their wrath, for it was hard. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel (Genesis 49:7); where Israel speaks prophetically of Simeon and Levi. By Simeon and Leviticus are there represented those who are in faith separate from charity (n. 6352), by Jacob and Israel the church external and internal, and also the external and internal man (n. 4286, 4598, 5973, 6360, 6361). “To divide them in Jacob” denotes to expel them from the external church; and “to scatter them in Israel” denotes from the internal church; thus to dissipate the goods and the truths of the church appertaining to them.

[4] That “dividing” has this signification is also plain from the words written on the wall when Belshazzar king of Babel, together with his lords, his wives, and his concubines, drank wine from the vessels of gold and of silver which belonged to the temple that was at Jerusalem. The writing was:

Numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided (Daniel 5:2-4, 25-28); where “divided” means separated from the kingdom. In this passage it is plain how all things were at that time representative. In it is described the profanation of good and truth, which is signified by “Babel” (that Babel” denotes profanation, see n. 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326); “vessels of gold and of silver” denote the goods of love and the truths of faith from the the Lord, (n. 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917). Profanation is signified by “drinking therefrom, and at the same time praising the gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone,” as we read in the fourth verse of the chapter, which denote evils and falsities in a series (n. 4402, 4544, 7873, 8941). By the “temple at Jerusalem” from which the vessels came, is signified in the supreme sense the Lord, in the representative sense His kingdom and church (n. 3720). The kingdom of Belshazzar being “divided” signified the dissipation of good and truth, and he himself being “slain that night” signified the loss of the life of truth and good, thus damnation; for “to be divided” denotes to be dissipated; “a king” denotes the truth of good (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148); the like is signified by “kingdom” (n. 1672, 2547, 4691); “to be slain” denotes to be deprived of the life of truth and good (n. 3607, 6767, 8902); and the “night” in which he was slain denotes a state of evil and falsity (n. 2353, 7776, 7851, 7870, 7947). From this it is plain that all things there were representative.

[5] It says in David:

They divided My garments among them, and upon My vesture did they cast a lot (Psalms 22:18).

They divided His garments, casting a lot; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet (Matthew 27:35).

The soldiers took His garments, and made four parts; and the tunic, the tunic was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore, Let us not divide it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 19:23-24).

He who reads these words and knows nothing of the internal sense of the Word, is not aware that anything secret lies hidden in them, when yet in each word there is a Divine secret. The secret was that Divine truths had been dissipated by the Jews, for the Lord was the Divine truth; and hence He is called “the Word” (John 1). “The Word” denotes Divine truth; His garments represented truths in the external form; and His tunic, truths in the internal form; the division of the garments represented the dissipation of the truths of faith by the Jews. (That “garments” denote truths in the external form, see n. 2576, 5248, 5954, 6918; also that “a tunic” denotes truth in the internal form, n. 4677.) Truths in the external form are such as are those of the Word in the literal sense; but truths in the internal form are such as are those of the Word in the spiritual sense. The division of the garments into four parts signified total dissipation, in like manner as the division in Zechariah 14:4, and in other passages; likewise the division into two parts, as we read of the veil of the temple (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38). The rending of the rocks also at that time (Matthew 27:51) represented the dissipation of all things of faith, for a “rock” denotes the Lord as to faith, consequently it denotes faith from the Lord.

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

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Apocalypse Explained #235

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235. I will spue thee out of my mouth. That this signifies separation from knowledges derived from the Word is evident from the signification of spuing, when by the Lord, as being separation; not that the Lord separates them from Himself, but that they separate themselves from the Lord. The expression to spue is used, because the subject treated of is the lukewarm; and in the world what is lukewarm causes vomiting. This is also from correspondence; for the food which man takes corresponds to knowledges, and consequently, in the Word, signifies knowledges; therefore separation from them signifies non-admission; but because those who are here treated of do admit something from the Word, it signifies casting out, or vomiting (that food, from correspondence, signifies knowledges and intelligence therefrom, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 3114, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5576, 5582, 5588, 5655, 8562; for knowledges nourish the internal man, or spirit, as food nourishes the external man, or body, n. 4459, 5293, 5576, 6277, 8418); and from the signification of out of the mouth, when said of the Lord, as being out of the Word. The reason why out of the mouth, when said of the Lord, signifies the Word is, that the Word is Divine truth, and this proceeds from the Lord, and what proceeds from Him and flows into man is said to be out of the mouth, although it is not out of the mouth, but is as light from the sun. For the Lord above the heavens, where the angels are, appears as a Sun; and the light therefrom is Divine truth, from which angels and men have all their intelligence and wisdom (as may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 116-125, and 126-140). It is therefore evident that by I will spue thee out of my mouth, is signified to separate from Divine truth, or, what amounts to the same, from knowledges derived from the Word.

[2] That those who are lukewarm, that is, neither cold nor hot, as those are who live from the doctrine of faith alone and justification thereby, of which we have spoken just above, are separated from knowledges derived from the Word, is not known to themselves, for they believe that they possess knowledges more than all others; but still they do not, indeed, they have scarcely any knowledge. The reason of this is, that the principles of their doctrine and religion are false; and from false principles nothing but falsities follow; therefore, when reading the Word, they keep the mind fixed in their falsities; consequently they either do not see truths, or if they do, they pass by or falsify them. The false principles referred to are, that salvation is by faith alone, and that man is justified by that faith. Such persons might know, if they would, that they are separated from knowledges derived from the Word, and that they do not see truths. For what is more frequently said by the Lord than that they ought to keep His words, His commandments, and do His will; and that every one shall be rewarded according to his deeds; as also that the whole Word is founded upon two commandments, which are, to love God, and to love the neighbour, and that to love God is to do His precept (John 14:21, 23, 24)? That these must be done in order to salvation, is said a thousand times in both Testaments; also that to hear and to know them is to no purpose unless they are done. But do those who have confirmed themselves in faith alone, and justification thereby, see those things? and if they do see them, do they not falsify them? This is why such persons have no doctrine of life, but a doctrine of faith alone; when nevertheless it is the life that forms the man of the church, and those things become his faith which enter into his life.

[3] That such persons are separated from knowledges derived from the Word is evident also from this, that they do not know that they will live as men after the death of the body; that it is the spirit in them which lives; that heaven and also hell are from the human race; that they know nothing at all of heaven and heavenly joy; neither of hell and infernal fire; thus nothing about the spiritual world; nothing about the internal or spiritual sense of the Word; about the glorification of the Lord's Human; about regeneration; about temptation, and about Baptism and what it involves; nothing about the Holy Supper, and about what flesh and blood, or bread and wine, therein signify; nothing about free-will; nothing about the internal man; nothing about charity, the neighbour, good, and love; neither do they know what remission of sins is; besides many other things contained in the Word. I have also heard the angels say that, when they are permitted to look into the church and see those who believe themselves to be intelligent from doctrine, they see mere thick darkness, and such intelligent ones, as it were, deep under waves.

[4] There are two reasons why they are separated from knowledges derived from the Word. The first is that they cannot be enlightened from the Lord; for the Lord flows into the good of man, and from that good enlightens him in truths, that is, He flows into man's love, and thence into his faith. The other reason is that they profane truths by falsifications; and those who do this are separated from truths themselves while they live in the world, so that they do not know them; but in the other life they reject all the things which, during their abode in the world, they had known from the Word. Both these separations are meant by being vomited out of the mouth. Similar things are meant by vomiting elsewhere in the Word; as in the following passages; in Isaiah:

"Jehovah hath mingled in the midst of Egypt a spirit of perversities; whence they have caused Egypt to go astray in every work thereof, even as a drunkard goeth astray in his vomit " (19:14).

Egypt signifies the knowledge (scientia) of things, both spiritual and natural; by mingling in the midst thereof a spirit of perversities is signified to pervert and falsify those things; by a drunkard are signified those who are insane in spiritual things; and, inasmuch as truths mingled with falsities are cast out, it is therefore said, "as a drunkard goeth astray in his vomit." (That Egypt signifies knowledge (scientia), may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 5700, 5702, 6015, 6651, 6679, 6683, 6692, 7296, and also the scientifics of the church, n. 7296, 9340, 9391; that the drunken signify those who are insane in spiritual things, n. 1072.)

[5] In Jeremiah:

"Drink ye, and be drunken, and spew and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword" (25:27).

To drink and be drunken is to imbibe falsities and mingle them with truths, and hence to be insane; to spew and fall, is altogether to cast out things falsified; the sword because of which they shall rise no more, signifies falsity destroying and vastating truth (see Arcana Coelestia 2799, 4499, 7102). It is therefore evident what is meant by spewing and falling.

Again:

"Make Moab drunken, because he hath lifted himself up against Jehovah, that he may wallow in his vomit" (48:26).

Moab signifies those who adulterate the goods of the church wherefore vomiting is said of them.

[6] Also in Habakkuk:

"Woe unto him that maketh a companion to drink even in being drunken, that thou mayest look upon their nakednesses. Thou shalt be satiated with shame more than glory; drink thou, also, and let thy foreskin be discovered; the cup of Jehovah shall go about unto thee, so that shameful spewing shall be upon glory " (2:15, 16).

To drink in being drunken, also signifies to imbibe truths and mingle them with falsities; the nakednesses upon which they look signifies the deprivation of truth and of intelligence therefrom (see Arcana Coelestia 1073, 5433, 9960); the foreskin which shall be discovered, signifies the defilement of good (see Arcana Coelestia 2056, 3412, 3413, 4462, 7225, 7245); glory signifies Divine truth, consequently the Word (see Arcana Coelestia 4809, 5922, 8267, 8427, 9429). It is therefore evident what is signified by shameful spewing upon glory.

[7] In Isaiah:

"These err through wine; through strong drink they wander out of the way; the priest and the prophet err through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they err among the seeing, they stumble in judgment. Nay! all tables are full of the vomit of filthiness; there is no place. Whom shall he teach knowledge?" (28:7-9).

Here wine and strong drink, through which they are said to err, signify truths mingled with falsities; the priest and the prophet signify those who teach goods and truths, and, in the abstract, the goods and truths of the church; those who err among the seeing signify those who were about to see truths; to stumble in judgment signifies insanity; tables signify all those things which should nourish the spiritual life, for by tables are meant the food which is upon them, and food signifies all truths and goods, because these nourish spiritual life. Here, therefore, by tables being full of vomit and filthiness are signified the same things falsified and adulterated.

[8] In Moses:

"Defile not yourselves in any of these things; for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you. And the land is defiled; therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants; that the land spew not you out also when ye defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you" (Leviticus 18:24, 25, 28).

By the subject here treated of is meant all kinds of adulteries, by which, in the spiritual sense, are meant all kinds of adulterations of good and falsifications of truth, or profanations; and because evils and goods, as also falsities of evil and truths of good, cannot be together, but are cast out, therefore it is said that the land, that is the church, has vomited them out. From these things it is now evident what is signified by vomiting, I will vomit thee out of my mouth.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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Arcana Coelestia #6148

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6148. Only the ground of the priests bought he not. That this signifies that the internal procured for itself from the natural, capacities to receive good, because these are from itself, is evident from the representation of Joseph, of whom these things are said, as being the internal (of which above); from the signification of the “ground,” as being the receptacle of truth (of which also above, n. 6135-6137), here the capacity to receive good, for capacity is receptibility, and this must be within it, in order that a receptacle may be a receptacle. This capacity comes from good, that is, through good from the Lord; for unless the good of love flowed in from the Lord, no man would have the capacity to receive either truth or good. It is the influx of good of love from the Lord which causes all things within man to be disposed for reception. That the capacity to receive good is from the natural, is signified by the ground being in Egypt, for by “Egypt” is signified the natural in respect to memory-knowledges (n. 6142). The internal sense as given above is further evident from the signification of “priests,” as being good (of which in what follows); and from the signification of “not buying,” as being not to appropriate to himself these capacities as he had appropriated to himself truths and the goods of truth with their receptacles (which was done by means of desolations and sustainings), for the reason that these capacities were from himself, that is, from the internal. Thus it is that by these words, “Only the ground of the priests bought he not” is signified that the internal procured for itself from the natural, capacities to receive good, because these are from itself.

[2] The case herein is this. The capacities in man to receive truth and good are immediately from the Lord, nor does man render any aid in the procuring of them. For man is always kept in the capacity to receive good and truth, and from this capacity he has understanding and will; but a man’s not receiving them is the result of his turning to evil: the capacity does indeed then remain, but the approach to the thought and feeling of them is closed against him; and therefore the capacity to see truth and feel good perishes in proportion as a man turns himself to evil and confirms himself therein in life and faith. That man contributes nothing whatever to the capacity to receive truth and good, is known from the doctrine of the church, that nothing of the truth of faith and nothing of the good of charity comes from man, but that all comes from the Lord. Nevertheless a man can destroy this capacity in himself. From this it may now be seen how it is to be understood that the internal procured for itself from the natural, capacities to receive good, because these are from itself. It is said “from the natural,” because the influx of good from the Lord is effected by the Lord through the internal into the natural. When a capacity to receive has been acquired in the natural, then there is influx, for then there is reception (as may be seen above, n. 5828).

[3] In regard to goods being signified by “priests,” be it known that there are two things which proceed from the Lord, namely, good and truth. The Divine good was represented by priests, and the Divine truth by kings. Hence it is that by “priests” are signified goods, and by “kings” truths. (Concerning the priesthood and royalty which are predicated of the Lord, see n. 1728, 2015, 3670.) In the Ancient Representative Church the priesthood and the royalty were joined together in one person, because the good and truth which proceed from the Lord are united, and in heaven with the angels are also joined together.

[4] The person in whom these two things in the Ancient Church were joined together was called “Melchizedek,” or “King of Righteousness,” as may be seen from the Melchizedek who came to Abraham, of whom it is thus written:

Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was priest to God Most High; and he blessed Abraham (Genesis 14:18-19).

That he represented the Lord as to both is manifest from the fact that he was king and at the same time priest, and that he was allowed to bless Abraham and to offer him bread and wine, which at that time also were symbols of the good of love and the truth of faith. That Melchizedek represented the Lord as to both is further manifest from David:

Jehovah hath sworn and He will not repent, Thou art a priest eternally after the manner of Melchizedek (Psalms 110:4);

which was said of the Lord; “after the manner of Melchizedek” means that he was both king and priest, that is, in the supreme sense, that from Him proceed the Divine good and the Divine truth together.

[5] Moreover as a representative church was instituted with the posterity of Jacob, therefore in one person conjointly was represented the Divine good and the Divine truth which proceed united from the Lord. But on account of the wars and of the idolatry of that people, these two offices were at first divided, and they who ruled over the people were called “leaders,” and afterward “judges;” while they who officiated in holy things were called “priests,” and were of the seed of Aaron, and Levites. Yet afterward these two offices were joined together in one person, as in Eli and in Samuel. But because the people were of such a character that a representative church could not be instituted among them, but only the representative of a church, by reason of the idolatrous disposition which prevailed among them, therefore it was permitted that the two offices should be separated, and that the Lord as to Divine truth should be represented by kings, and as to Divine good by priests. That this was done at the will of the people, and not of the Lord’s good pleasure, is manifest from the word of Jehovah unto Samuel:

Obey the voice of the people in all that they shall say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them; and thou shalt show them the king’s right (1 Samuel 8:7 to the end, and 12:19-20).

[6] The reason why these two offices were not to be separated, was that the Divine truth separated from the Divine good condemns everyone; whereas the Divine truth united to the Divine good saves. For from the Divine truth man is condemned to hell, but by the Divine good he is taken out therefrom, and is elevated into heaven. Salvation is of mercy, thus from the Divine good; but damnation is when man refuses mercy, and thus rejects from himself the Divine good; wherefore he is left to judgment from truth. (That kings represented the Divine truth may be seen, n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068.)

[7] That priests represented the Lord as to Divine good, and that from this they signify good, may be seen from all those things in the internal sense which were instituted with respect to the priesthood when Aaron was chosen, and afterward the Levites; as that the high priest alone should enter into the Holy of holies and there minister; that the holy things of Jehovah should be for the priest (Leviticus 23:20; 27:21); that they should not have a portion and inheritance in the land, but that Jehovah should be their portion and inheritance (Numbers 18:20; Deuteronomy 10:9; 18:1); that the Levites were given to Jehovah instead of the firstborn, and that by Jehovah they were given to Aaron (Numbers 3:9, 12-13, 40 to the end; 8:16-19); that the high priest with the Levites should be in the midst of the camp when they pitched and when they set forward (Numbers 1:50-54; 2:17; 3:23-38; 4:1 to the end); that no one of the seed of Aaron in whom was any blemish should come near to offer burnt-offerings and sacrifices (Leviticus 21:17-21); besides many other things (see Leviticus 21:9-13, and elsewhere).

[8] All these things represented in the supreme sense the Divine good of the Lord, and thus in the relative sense the good which is of love and of charity. But the garments of Aaron, which were called the “garments of holiness,” represented the Divine truth from the Divine good; concerning which garments of the Lord’s Divine mercy more shall be said in the explications of what is written in Exodus.

[9] As truth is signified by “kings,” and good by “priests,” therefore in the Word “kings and priests” are frequently mentioned together; as in Revelation:

Jesus Christ hath made us kings and priests to God and His Father (Revelation 1:5-6; 5:10);

“kings” are said to be “made” from the truth which is of faith, and “priests” from the good which is of charity. Thus with those who are in the Lord truth and good are joined together, as they are in heaven (as was said above), and this is meant by “being made kings and priests.”

[10] In Jeremiah:

It shall come to pass in that day that the heart of the king and of the princes shall perish; and the priests shall be amazed; and the prophets shall wonder (Jeremiah 4:9).

Again:

The house of Israel are ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets (Jeremiah 2:26).

Again:

The kings of Judah, the princes, the priests, and the prophets, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 8:1).

In these passages “kings” denote truths; “princes,” primary truths (n. 1482, 2089, 5044); “priests,” goods; and “prophets,” those who teach (n. 2534).

[11] Be it known further that the fact of Joseph’s not buying the ground of the priests was a representative that all capacity to receive truth and good is from the Lord, is evident from a similar law concerning the fields of the Levites in Moses:

The field of the suburbs of the cities of the Levites may not be sold; for it is their eternal possession (Leviticus 25:34);

by this is meant in the internal sense that no man ought to claim for himself anything of the good of the church, which is the good of love and of charity, because this is from the Lord alone.

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