The Bible

 

Genesis 3:16

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16 To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband's power, and he shall have dominion over thee.

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Arcana Coelestia #9509

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9509. 'And you shall make two cherubs' means that there is no admission or access to the Lord except through the good of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'cherubs' as watchfulness and providence, guarding against access to the Lord except through the good of love. Since this was meant by the cherubs, they were placed over the mercy-seat that was over the ark; and they were for the same reason made from solid gold. For 'the ark' means heaven where the Lord is, 9485, and 'gold' means the good of love, 9490. The reason why there is no access to the Lord except through the good of love is that love is spiritual togetherness, and all good belongs to love. Those therefore who are governed by the good of love to the Lord are brought to Him in heaven, because they have been joined together with Him. So too are those who are governed by the good of love towards the neighbour; for the neighbour is the good of a fellow-citizen, the good of one's country, the good of the Church, the good of the whole of the Lord's kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord Himself since He is the source of that good present with a person.

[2] There are two states that a person passes through while being regenerated, one of which follows the other. The first is a state during which he is led by means of the truths of faith to the good of love; the other is one in which he is governed by the good of love, and when governed by it he is in heaven with the Lord. From this it is evident that this good is heaven itself present with the person, that good being the Lord present with him because its source is the Lord. Regarding these two states that a person who is being regenerated passes through, one of which follows the other, see 7923, 7992, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701, 9224, 9227, 9230, 9274; and the fact that a person comes into heaven when governed by good, that is, when led by the Lord by means of good, 8516, 8539, 8722, 8772, 9139.

[3] It is clear from places in the Word where 'cherubs' are mentioned that they mean watchfulness and providence, guarding against access to the Lord or to heaven except through the good of love, that is, except by those governed by the good of love, and also guarding against any harm being done to the good from the Lord which is present in heaven and with a person, as for instance in Genesis,

And He expelled the man, and away from the east towards the garden of Eden He caused the cherubs to dwell, and the flame of a sword turning itself this way and that to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:24.

Here it is self-evident that things which serve as guards are meant by 'the cherubs', since it says 'to guard the way to the tree of life'. 'The tree of life' is the good of love, which comes from the Lord and for that reason is the Lord; and it is guarded by the prevention of any access except through the good of love.

[4] It is thought that the Lord is accessible through the truths of faith. But there can be no access to Him, nor even to heaven, through those truths if they have been separated from the good of love. As soon as separated truths wish to enter, heaven, which is the way to the Lord, is closed. And since truth cannot enter by itself unless it has good within it, and by virtue of this has come to consist of good, neither can understanding do so, still less factual knowledge, if separated from good desired by the will.

[5] Because watchfulness and providence guarding against access to the Lord, or for that reason to heaven, except through the good of love is meant by 'the cherubs', the Word says that Jehovah is seated on the cherubs, also rides and dwells upon the cherubs, as in David,

Turn Your ears, O Shepherd of Israel; You who are seated upon the cherubs, shine forth. Psalms 80:1.

In the same author,

Jehovah will reign, the peoples will be shaken. He is seated on the cherubs. Psalms 99:1.

In the same author,

Jehovah rode on a cherub, and flew. Psalms 18:10.

And in Isaiah,

Jehovah Zebaoth is dwelling on the cherubs. Isaiah 37:16.

For the same reasons there were cherubs upon the curtains of the dwelling-place, and upon the veil, Exodus 26:1, 31; 36:35; they were also upon the walls of the temple round about and upon the doors there, 1 Kings 6:23-29, 31-35, and similarly in the new temple, as described in Ezekiel 41:18-20. The presence of the cherubs on the curtains of the dwelling-place, on the veil, on the walls of the temple, and on the doors there, was a sign of the Lord's watchfulness, guarding against access to Divine Holiness except through the good of love; and the presence of the cherubs over the ark was a sign that no one should gain access to the Lord Himself except through that good. This also explains why the cherubs were made from solid gold, and in the Jerusalem temple from olive wood; for 'gold' and 'olive oil' mean the good of love.

[6] That watchfulness and providence of the Lord is described in Ezekiel by 'the four living creatures', each of which had four faces, under the throne where the Lord was, Ezekiel 1:1-end; 10:1-end, and also in John by 'four living creatures' around the throne where the Lord was, 10:Revelation 4:6-10; 5:6, 8-9, 14. By 'the four living creatures' is meant the good, varying in appearance, which emanates from the Lord, and which watches and guards against the letting in of anything other than the good of love to the Lord and the good of love towards the neighbour. By 'the throne' on which the Lord was seated heaven is meant, 5313.

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

The Bible

 

1 Kings 7

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1 Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.

2 For he built the house of the forest of Lebanon; its length was one hundred cubits, and its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars.

3 It was covered with cedar above over the forty-five beams, that were on the pillars; fifteen in a row.

4 There were beams in three rows, and window was over against window in three ranks.

5 All the doors and posts were made square with beams: and window was over against window in three ranks.

6 He made the porch of pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits; and a porch before them; and pillars and a threshold before them.

7 He made the porch of the throne where he was to judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from floor to floor.

8 His house where he was to dwell, the other court within the porch, was of the like work. He made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter (whom Solomon had taken as wife), like this porch.

9 All these were of costly stones, even of cut stone, according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside, even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside to the great court.

10 The foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.

11 Above were costly stones, even cut stone, according to measure, and cedar wood.

12 The great court around had three courses of cut stone, and a course of cedar beams; like as the inner court of the house of Yahweh, and the porch of the house.

13 King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.

14 He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill, to work all works in brass. He came to king Solomon, and performed all his work.

15 For he fashioned the two pillars of brass, eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits encircled either of them about.

16 He made two capitals of molten brass, to set on the tops of the pillars: the height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits.

17 There were nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital.

18 So he made the pillars; and there were two rows around on the one network, to cover the capitals that were on the top of the pillars: and so did he for the other capital.

19 The capitals that were on the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work, four cubits.

20 There were capitals above also on the two pillars, close by the belly which was beside the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows around on the other capital.

21 He set up the pillars at the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called its name Jachin; and he set up the left pillar, and called its name Boaz.

22 On the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished.

23 He made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it.

24 Under its brim around there were buds which encircled it, for ten cubits, encircling the sea: the buds were in two rows, cast when it was cast.

25 It stood on twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; and the sea was set on them above, and all their hinder parts were inward.

26 It was a handbreadth thick: and its brim was worked like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it held two thousand baths.

27 He made the ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height.

28 The work of the bases was like this: they had panels; and there were panels between the ledges;

29 and on the panels that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the ledges there was a pedestal above; and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work.

30 Every base had four bronze wheels, and axles of brass; and the four feet of it had supports: beneath the basin were the supports molten, with wreaths at the side of each.

31 The mouth of it within the capital and above was a cubit: and its mouth was round after the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and also on its mouth were engravings, and their panels were foursquare, not round.

32 The four wheels were underneath the panels; and the axles of the wheels were in the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit.

33 The work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axles, and their rims, and their spokes, and their naves, were all molten.

34 There were four supports at the four corners of each base: its supports were of the base itself.

35 In the top of the base was there a round compass half a cubit high; and on the top of the base its stays and its panels were of the same.

36 On the plates of its stays, and on its panels, he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths all around.

37 In this way, he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one form.

38 He made ten basins of brass: one basin contained forty baths; and every basin was four cubits; and on every one of the ten bases one basin.

39 He set the bases, five on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south.

40 Hiram made the basins, and the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he worked for king Solomon in the house of Yahweh:

41 the two pillars, and the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars;

42 and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars;

43 and the ten bases, and the ten basins on the bases;

44 and the one sea, and the twelve oxen under the sea;

45 and the pots, and the shovels, and the basins: even all these vessels, which Hiram made for king Solomon, in the house of Yahweh, were of burnished brass.

46 In the plain of the Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.

47 Solomon left all the vessels [unweighed], because they were exceeding many: the weight of the brass could not be found out.

48 Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of Yahweh: the golden altar, and the table whereupon the show bread was, of gold;

49 and the lampstands, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, of pure gold; and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold;

50 and the cups, and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold; and the hinges, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, [to wit], of the temple, of gold.

51 Thus all the work that king Solomon worked in the house of Yahweh was finished. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated, [even] the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the house of Yahweh.