At face value, the Ten Commandments can seem intense and unforgiving. But Emanuel Swedenborg’s understanding of the internal sense of the Bible—spiritual meanings that lie beneath the literal words—can give us a new perspective on these familiar rules.

In this episode of their Swedenborg and Life web series, hosts Curtis Childs and Jonathan Rose study the inner meaning of the first commandment.

(Reference: Apocalypse Revealed 950; Arcana Coelestia 8864, 8865, 8868, 8869, 8875, 8878, 8879, 8880, 8881)

8284. 'You send out Your wrath' means the furious desires of the evil and their attempt to do violence. This is clear from the meaning of 'wrath', when attributed to Jehovah or the Lord, as the suppression and punishment of the attempts of those who, being opposed to the Divine, wish to do violence to those whom the Divine protects. This is seemingly anger and wrath on the side of the Divine, but in reality the anger and wrath reside with those opposed to Him, see 5798, 6071, 6997. Not only the anger and wrath but also every bad thing that happens is attributed to the Divine, when in reality those people themselves are responsible for it, 2447, 6071, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7643, 7679, 7710, 7877, 7926, 8223, 8227, 8228. A sphere of endeavours to do what is bad issues constantly from hell, but a sphere of endeavours to do what is good emanates constantly from heaven, 8209.