3200. In deze beide verzen wordt de staat van het redelijk goede beschreven, wanneer het in de verwachting van het ware is, dat daarmee verbonden moet worden als een bruid met een echtgenoot. In de twee onmiddellijk erna volgende verzen, wordt de staat van het ware beschreven, wanneer het nabij is en het goede waarneemt, waarmee het verbonden moet worden. Maar men moet weten, dat deze staten niet in één keer ontstonden, maar voortdurend, het gehele leven van de Heer in de wereld door, totdat Hij verheerlijkt was.

Bij de wederverwekten is het evenzo gesteld, want zij worden niet opeens, in één keer wederverwekt, maar voortdurend, het gehele leven door, ook in het andere leven; want de mens kan nooit volmaakt worden.

25. All good and truth is from the Lord. The Lord is good itself and truth itself (n. 2011, 4151, 10336, 10619).

The Lord, as to both the Divine and the Human, is the Divine good of the Divine love; and from Him proceeds Divine truth (n. 3704, 3712, 4180, 4577). The Divine truth proceeds from the Divine good of the Lord, comparatively as light from the sun (n. 3704, 3712, 4180, 4577). The Divine truth proceeding from the Lord appears in the heavens as light, and forms all the light of heaven (n. 3195, 3223, 5400, 8694, 9399,9548, 9684). The light of heaven, which is the Divine truth united to the Divine good, enlightens both the sight and the understanding of angels and spirits (n. 2776, 3138). Heaven is in light and heat, because it is in truth and good, for the Divine truth is light there, and the Divine good is heat there (n. 3643, 9399-9400); and in the work on Heaven and Hell (n. 126-140). The Divine truth proceeding from the Divine good of the Lord, forms the angelic heaven and arranges it in order (n. 3038, 9408, 9613, 10716-10717). The Divine good united to the Divine truth, which is in the heavens, is called the Divine truth (n. 10196).

The Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is the only reality (n. 6880, 7004, 8200). By Divine truth all things were made and created (n. 2803, 2894, 5272, 7678). All power belongs to the Divine truth (n. 8200[1-2]).

Man from himself can do nothing of good, and think nothing of truth (n. 874-876). The rational of man cannot perceive Divine truth from itself (n. 2196, 2203, 2209). Truths which are not from the Lord, are from the proprium of man, and they are not truths, but only appear as truths (n. 8868).

All good and truth is from the Lord, and nothing from man (n. 1614, 2016, 2904, 4151, 9981). Goods and truths are so far goods and truths, as they have the Lord in them (n. 2904, 3061, 8480). Of the Divine truth proceeding immediately from the Lord, and of the Divine truth proceeding mediately through the angels, and of their influx with man (n. 7055-7056, 7058). The Lord flows into good with man, and by good into truths (n. 10153). He flows in by good into truths of every kind, and particularly into genuine truths (n. 2531, 2554). The Lord does not flow into truths separate from good, and no parallelism exists between the Lord and man, with respect to them, but with respect to good (n. 1831-1832, 3514, 3564).

To do good and truth for the sake of good and truth is to love the Lord, and to love the neighbor (n. 10336). They who are in the internal of the Word, of the church, and of worship, love to do good and truth for the sake of good and truth; but they who are in the external of these, without the internal, love to do good and truth for the sake of themselves and the world (n. 10683). What it is to do good and truth for the sake of good and truth, illustrated by examples (n. 10683).

1888. To illustrate that the sense of the letter of the Word is representative of Divine arcana and is the receptacle of, and thus the storehouse containing, celestial and spiritual things which are the Lord's, let two examples be taken, which will consequently reveal the position with all else The first example shows that David is not used to mean David but the Lord, the second that names mean nothing other than real things. Of David the following is said in Ezekiel,

My servant David will be King over them, and they will all have one Shepherd. They will dwell in the land, they, and their sons, and their sons' sons even for ever. And David my servant will be their Prince for ever. Ezekiel 37:24-25.

And in Hosea,

The children of Israel will return and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king. Hosea 3:5.

These promises were written by prophets who lived later than David, yet it is explicitly stated by them that he 'will be' their king and prince. From this it may become clear to anyone that in the internal sense David means the Lord. The same applies in all other places, including the historical descriptions, where David is referred to by name.

[2] As regards the names of kingdoms, regions, cities, and men meaning real things, this becomes quite clear in the Prophets. Take this single example in Isaiah,

Thus said the Lord, Jehovih Zebaoth, Do not be afraid - O My people, inhabitant of Zion - of Asshur; he will smite you with a rod, and he will lift up the staff over you in the way of Egypt. Jehovah Zebaoth will lift up the scourge over him, as when Midian was smitten in the rock of Horeb, and his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it up in the way of Egypt. He will come against Aiath; he will pass over into Migron; he will command his arms towards Michmash. They will cross the Mabarah. Geba will be a lodging-place for us. Hormah ¹ will tremble. Gibeah of Saul will flee. Make a noise with your voice, O daughter of Gallim. Hearken, O Laish. Wail, O Anathoth. Madmenah will wander about. The inhabitants of Gebim will gather themselves together. This very day he is in Nob to stay. The mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem, will shake her fist. He will cut down the entangled boughs of the wood with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by a majestic one. Isaiah 10:24, 26-34.

[3] These verses include little more than mere names, which would not make any sense at all if, without exception, those names did not mean real things; and if the mind remained fixed on those names, no acknowledgement that it was the Word of the Lord would ever be made. But who is going to believe that all those names in the internal sense contain arcana of heaven? Or that through them the state of people is described who endeavour by means of reasonings based on facts to penetrate the mysteries of faith? Or that by means of each name some particular aspect of that state is described? Or that those reasonings are dispersed by the Lord by means of the celestial things of love and the spiritual things of faith? That 'Asshur' means reasoning, which is the subject in these verses from Isaiah, becomes quite clear from what has been shown regarding 'Asshur' in 119, 1186; and that 'Egypt' means factual knowledge, from what has been shown in 1164, 1165, 1462. See these paragraphs and consider whether or not this is true. It is the same with all other names, and with individual expressions.

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