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Exodus 20

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1 Toen sprak God al deze woorden, zeggende:

2 Ik ben de HEERE uw God, Die u uit Egypteland, uit het diensthuis, uitgeleid heb.

3 Gij zult geen andere goden voor Mijn aangezicht hebben.

4 Gij zult u geen gesneden beeld, noch enige gelijkenis maken, van hetgeen boven in den hemel is, noch van hetgeen onder op de aarde is, noch van hetgeen in de wateren onder de aarde is.

5 Gij zult u voor die niet buigen, noch hen dienen; want Ik, de HEERE uw God, ben een ijverig God, Die de misdaad der vaderen bezoek aan de kinderen, aan het derde, en aan het vierde lid dergenen, die Mij haten;

6 En doe barmhartigheid aan duizenden dergenen, die Mij liefhebben, en Mijn geboden onderhouden.

7 Gij zult den Naam des HEEREN uws Gods niet ijdellijk gebruiken; want de HEERE zal niet onschuldig houden, die Zijn Naam ijdellijk gebruikt.

8 Gedenkt den sabbatdag, dat gij dien heiligt.

9 Zes dagen zult gij arbeiden en al uw werk doen;

10 Maar de zevende dag is de sabbat des HEEREN uws Gods; dan zult gij geen werk doen, gij, noch uw zoon, noch uw dochter, noch uw dienstknecht, noch uw dienstmaagd, noch uw vee, noch uw vreemdeling, die in uw poorten is;

11 Want in zes dagen heeft de HEERE den hemel en de aarde gemaakt, de zee en al wat daarin is, en Hij rustte ten zevenden dage; daarom zegende de HEERE den sabbatdag, en heiligde denzelven.

12 Eert uw vader en uw moeder, opdat uw dagen verlengd worden in het land, dat u de HEERE uw God geeft.

13 Gij zult niet doodslaan.

14 Gij zult niet echtbreken.

15 Gij zult niet stelen.

16 Gij zult geen valse getuigenis spreken tegen uw naaste.

17 Gij zult niet begeren uws naasten huis; gij zult niet begeren uws naasten vrouw, noch zijn dienstknecht, noch zijn dienstmaagd, noch zijn os, noch zijn ezel, noch iets, dat uws naasten is.

18 En al het volk zag de donderen, en de bliksemen, en het geluid der bazuin, en den rokenden berg; toen het volk zulks zag, weken zij af, en stonden van verre.

19 En zij zeiden tot Mozes: Spreek gij met ons, en wij zullen horen; en dat God met ons niet spreke, opdat wij niet sterven!

20 En Mozes zeide tot het volk: Vreest niet, want God is gekomen, opdat Hij u verzocht, en opdat Zijn vreze voor uw aangezicht zou zijn, dat gij niet zondigdet.

21 En het volk stond van verre; maar Mozes naderde tot de donkerheid, alwaar God was.

22 Toen zeide de HEERE tot Mozes: Aldus zult gij tot de kinderen Israels zeggen: Gij hebt gezien, dat Ik met ulieden van den hemel gesproken heb.

23 Gij zult nevens Mij niet maken zilveren goden, en gouden goden zult gij u niet maken.

24 Maakt Mij een altaar van aarde, en offert daarop uw brandofferen, en uw dankofferen, uw schapen, en uw runderen; aan alle plaats, waar Ik Mijns Naams gedachtenis stichten zal, zal Ik tot u komen, en zal u zegenen.

25 Maar indien gij Mij een stenen altaar zult maken, zo zult gij dit niet bouwen van gehouwen steen; zo gij uw houwijzer daarover verheft, zo zult gij het ontheiligen.

26 Gij zult ook niet met trappen tot Mijn altaar opklimmen, opdat uw schaamte voor hetzelve niet ontdekt worde.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #966

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966. And it became blood as of one dead, signifies that these have all been falsified. This is evident from the signification of "blood," as being the Divine truth, and in the contrary sense Divine truth falsified (See n. 30, 328, 329, 476, 748); so here that all knowledges of truth from the Word have been falsified. Knowledges of truth from the Word are the truths of the sense of its letter, that is, the truths in the Word that are for the natural man, and these, too, are Divine truths. These wholly falsified are signified by the words, "the sea became blood as of one dead." The Divine truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are said to be falsified when they are perverted even to the destruction of interior Divine truth, that is, Divine truth in the heavens. In the heavens they then appear with man as the blood of one dead. It has been frequently shown above that those who separate faith from the goods of life falsify the Word; and it is of such that these things are said, as is evident from the second verse of this chapter.

(Continuation: The Fourth Commandment)

[2] The fourth commandment of the Decalogue is that parents must be honored.

This commandment was given because honor to parents represented and thus signified love to the Lord and love towards the church, for "father" in the heavenly sense, that is, the Heavenly Father, is the Lord; and "mother" in the heavenly sense, that is, the heavenly mother, is the church; "honor" signifies the good of love; and "length of days," which they will have, signifies the happiness of eternal life. So is this commandment understood in heaven, where no other father but the Lord is known, and no other mother but the kingdom of the Lord, which is also the church. For the Lord gives life from Himself, and through the church He gives nourishment. That in the heavenly sense no father in the world can be meant, and indeed, when man is in a heavenly idea, can be mentioned, the Lord teaches in Matthew:

Call no man your father on earth; for one is your Father who is in the heavens (Matthew 23:9).

That "Father" signifies the Lord as to the Divine good may be seen above (n. 32, 200, 254, 297).

That "mother" signifies the Lord's kingdom, the church, and the Divine truth, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 289, 2691, 2717, 3703, 5581, 8897.

That "length of days" signifies the happiness of eternal life (n. 8898); and that "honor" signifies the good of love (n. 8897, and above, n. 288, 345). All this makes clear that the third and fourth commandments involve arcana relating to the Lord, namely, the acknowledgment and confession of His Divine, and the worship of Him from the good of love.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #748

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748. Verse 11. And they overcame him through the blood of the Lamb, signifies resistance and victory by Divine truth proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human. This is evident from the signification of "blood," as being, in reference to the Lord, Divine truth proceeding (See above, n. 328, 329); also from the signification of "the Lamb," as being the Lord in respect to the Divine Human (See above, n. 314); from which it can be seen that "to overcome the dragon by the blood of the Lamb" signifies to conquer him, that is, those who are signified by "the dragon and his angels," by means of Divine truth proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human. It is said, Divine truth proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human, since all Divine truth which fills the heavens and constitutes the wisdom of the angels in the heavens proceeds from the Lord's Divine Human; for the Lord's Divine Human is united to the Divine Itself which was in Him from conception, so that they are one; the Divine Itself that was in Him from conception is what He called "Father;" this is united to His Human as the soul is united with the body; this is why the Lord says that:

He is one with the Father (John 10:30, 10:38).

And that He is in the Father and the Father in Him (John 14:7-11).

Because there is such a union, Divine truth, after the glorification of His Human, proceeds from His Divine Human. The Divine truth proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human is what is called "the Holy Spirit." That this proceeds from the glorified Human of the Lord, He Himself teaches in John:

The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:39).

The Human glorified is the Divine Human. (But on this more may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem,n. 280-310; also in Heaven and Hell, from beginning to end. That "the blood of the Lamb" means the Divine proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human, may be seen above, n. 476.)

[2] From this it can be seen how much the sense of the letter of the Word differs from its spiritual sense; also how the Word is falsified when it is regarded in a merely exterior way, and not at the same time interiorly. How great the difference is can be seen from this, that "the blood of the Lamb" in the sense of the letter means the Lord's passion of the cross, but in the spiritual sense Divine truth proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human. If, then, that Michael conquered the dragon by the Lord's passion of the cross is taken as the real truth, it follows thence that by this the Lord took away all the sins of the world, and also by this moved His Father to mercy towards the human race; and yet these ideas are not in harmony with Divine truth which the angels in heaven have, nor with the genuine understanding of truth. How can it be understood that the Lord by the passion of the cross took away all the sins of the world, when yet every man after death becomes such as his life has been in the world, those who do evil coming into hell, and those who do good into heaven? And how can it be understood that God the Father was moved to mercy by the blood of the Son on the cross, and that He had need of such means, when yet He is in Himself mercy itself, love itself, and good itself? From this it is evident that the Word, here and in a thousand other places is falsified if it is looked at in a mere exterior way, and not at the same time interiorly. To look at it exteriorly is to look at it from the letter, but to look at it interiorly is to look at it from the doctrine of genuine truth. When it is believed from doctrine that the Lord subjugated the hells and at the same time glorified His Human by means of temptations, and that the passion of the cross was the last temptation and complete victory by which He subjugated the hells and glorified His Human, this can be understood and consequently believed; and that Michael conquered by the passion of the cross becomes an apparent truth, while that He conquered by the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human becomes the real truth. But when the apparent truth is taken for the real truth, and is confirmed, then the Word is falsified, according to what has been set forth above (n. 719) in the way of illustration.

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