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Arcana Coelestia #3302

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3302. And they called his name Esau. That this signifies its quality, namely, the quality of the natural as to good, is evident from the signification of “calling a name,” or of “calling by name,” as being to know what the thing is, thus its quality (see n. 144, 145, 440, 768, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3237); and from the fact that all names whatever in the Word in the internal sense denote actual things (n. 1224, 1888); and such is the case with the name Esau. That “Esau” signifies the Lord’s Divine natural as to Divine good when first conceived, is evident from what has been already said, and from what follows concerning Esau, as also from other parts of the Word; but as Esau and Edom have nearly the same signification, with the difference that “Edom” is the Divine natural as to good to which are adjoined the doctrinal things of truth, therefore at verse 30, where Esau is called “Edom,” of the Lord’s Divine mercy this will be confirmed by passages from the Word.

  
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Heaven and Hell #17

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17. All experience in heaven testifies to the Divine going forth from the Lord, which affects the angels and makes heaven, being love. For all who are there are forms of love and charity, and appear in ineffable beauty with love shining forth from their faces, their speech and every particular of their life. 1 Moreover, there are, emanating from and surrounding every angel and every spirit, spiritual spheres of life by which their qualities, in respect of the affections of love, are known, sometimes at a considerable distance. For those spheres flow forth from the life of any one's affection and consequent thought, or from the life of his love and consequent faith. The spheres that go forth from angels are so full of love as to affect the inmost things of life of those with whom they are. They have frequently been perceived by me and they have so affected me. 2 That it is from love that angels have their life was further evident from the fact that, in the other life, everyone turns himself in accordance with his love. Those who are in love to the Lord and in love towards the neighbour constantly turn themselves to the Lord, while those who are in the love of self turn themselves constantly away from the Lord. This takes place in every turning of their body. For, in the other life, spaces conform to the states of their interiors, and so do the quarters, which are not determined as in the world but are determined according to which way they are looking. Yet it is not the angels who turn themselves to the Lord, but the Lord Who turns to Him those who love to do the things that are from Him. 3 But more will be written on these matters in the following pages where the quarters in the other life [are described].

Bilješke:

1. [Swedenborg's footnote] Angels are forms of love and charity (Arcana Coelestia 3804, 4735, 4797, 4985, 5199, 5530, 9879, 10177).

2. [Swedenborg's footnote] A spiritual sphere, which is a sphere of life, pours forth and overflows from every man, spirit, and angel, and encompasses him (Arcana Coelestia 4464, 5179, 7454, 8630). This sphere flows forth from the life of the affection and consequent thought (Arcana Coelestia 2489, 4464, 6206).

Spirits and angels turn themselves constantly to their loves, and those in the heavens turn themselves constantly to the Lord (Arcana Coelestia 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702).

3. [Swedenborg's footnote] The quarters in the other life are to each one in accordance with the direction of his face, and are thereby determined, otherwise than in the world (Arcana Coelestia 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702).

  
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Arcana Coelestia #9481

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9481. 'In accordance with all that I show you, the pattern of the dwelling-place' means a representative of heaven where the Lord is. This is clear from the meaning of 'the pattern of the dwelling-place' as a representative of heaven; for 'the pattern' means a representative, and 'the dwelling-place' means heaven. The reason why 'the pattern' means a representative is that Divine realities in heaven are also manifested in visible shapes, which are representatives. For the meaning of 'the dwelling-place' as heaven where the Lord is, see 8269, 8309. What the representatives that appear in heaven are like is clear in the prophets, for example in John's Book of Revelation, in which he describes lampstands, Chapter 1:12ff; a throne with twenty-four thrones around it, and four living creatures before the throne, Chapter 4:2ff; a book sealed with seven seals, Chapter 5; horses going out when the seals were opened, Chapter 6; angels who are clothed in various ways and have bowls, Chapters 9, 10, 15, 16; a white horse, Chapter 19; and at length a new Jerusalem, its walls, gates, foundations, height, breadth, and length, Chapters 21, 22. Similar sights are also described by other prophets.

[2] All those sights are representatives such as appear unceasingly in heaven before angels' eyes, manifesting in visible shapes the Divine celestial realities that belong to the good of love and the Divine spiritual realities that belong to the good of faith. Such realities taken all together were represented by the tabernacle and its contents, that is, the ark itself, the table on which loaves were laid, the altar of incense, the lampstand, and everything else. Therefore when these objects, being outward forms of Divine celestial and spiritual realities, were beheld by the people while they were engaged in holy acts of worship, such realities as were represented by those objects were brought to notice in heaven. These, as stated above, were the Divine celestial realities that belong to the good of love to the Lord and the Divine spiritual realities that belong to the good of faith in the Lord. All the representatives of that Church had that kind of effect in heaven. It should be realized that a person always has spirits and angels present with him and that a person cannot live without them. It should likewise be realized that through them the person is linked to the Lord, and that in this way the human race, and heaven too, is kept in being. From this one can see what purpose was served by the representatives and also the ritual observances of the Church established among the Israelite nation. One can also see what purpose is served by the Word, in which all things mentioned in the sense of the letter correspond to Divine realities that exist in heaven, thus in which all the objects mentioned are representative and all the words used carry a spiritual meaning. This is what brings about the linking of a person to heaven, and through heaven to the Lord. Without that link the person would have no life whatever, for without being linked to the actual Essential Being (Esse) of life, from which the Coming-into-Being (Existere) of life emanates, no one has life.

[3] But these considerations are unintelligible to those who think that life exists essentially in a person himself and that a person lives without spirits or angels, thus without influx from the Divine by way of heaven. But in actual fact anything that is not linked to the Divine perishes and ceases to exist. Indeed nothing can ever come into being without that which is prior to itself, thus without the Divine, who is the First and is self-existent Being (Esse) or Jehovah; nor consequently can it remain in being, for remaining in being is constant coming-into-being. Because 'the dwelling-place' means heaven where the Lord is, it also means the good of love and faith, since these compose heaven; and because all good comes from the Lord, and heaven is called heaven by virtue of its love to and faith in the Lord, 'the dwelling-place' also means in the highest sense the Lord, as is evident in Isaiah 63:15; Jeremiah 25:30; Ezekiel 37:26-27; Psalms 26:8; 43:3; 90:1; 91:9; Exodus 15:13; Deuteronomy 12:5, 11; and other places. From this it is clear that the tabernacle was called Jehovah's sanctuary and dwelling-place for the reason that it represented the realities mentioned above.

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