The Bible

 

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 #967

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967. And every living soul in the sea died, signifies that there was no longer anything from the Word from the spiritual man in the natural man. This is evident from the signification of "living soul in the sea," as being what has in itself spiritual life (of which presently); also from the signification of "sea," as being the generals of truth in the natural man, and thus also the knowledges of truth from the Word (of which just above, n. 965. When these have no life from the spiritual world or from heaven they are called dead. "Living soul in the sea" means fishes of various kinds, and these signify knowledges [scientifica] of the natural man (See above, n. 531); they also signify the knowledges of truth from the Word with natural men, for with natural men the knowledges [cognitiones] of truth from the Word do not differ from the knowledges [scientifica] of the world, and for the reason that with such these knowledges have in them no life from the spiritual, and unless the spiritual flows in out of heaven into the knowledges from the Word they are not living but dead.

[2] Knowledges of truth from the Word are not living with man until the internal spiritual man has been opened; and this is opened by the Lord while man is being regenerated; and then through the opened spiritual man the spiritual out of heaven flows into the knowledges of truth and good that are from the Word in the natural man and vivifies them. It vivifies them in such a way that the knowledges of truth and good in the natural man become correspondences of the spiritual things that are in the internal spiritual man; and when they are correspondences they are living, for then the spiritual is enclosed in the particular knowledges or truths as the soul is in its body. For this reason man after death comes into these spiritual things, and the knowledges to which they corresponded serve them for a basis. But it is otherwise with those in whom the knowledges from the Word have not been vivified. The spiritual that flows into the knowledges out of heaven is the affection of truth, the affection of good, and the affection of bearing fruit; for it is spiritual heat which is the love or the affection of good, and spiritual light which is the affection of truth. These are the spiritual things that flow in and vivify the knowledges of truth from the Word with those who are in the life of charity and in faith therefrom. But these same knowledges with those who are in faith separated from a life of charity are dead. This, therefore, is what is signified by the words "every living soul in the sea died."

[3] The fifth commandment is, "Thou shalt not steal." By "thefts" are meant thefts that are manifest and those not manifest, such as unlawful usury and gains, which are effected by fraud and craft under various pretenses to make them appear lawful, or so done clandestinely as not to appear at all. Such gains are commonly made by higher and lower managers of the goods of others, by merchants, also by judges who sell judgments and thus make justice purchasable. These and many other things are thefts that must be abstained from and shunned, and finally renounced as sins against God, because they are against the Divine laws that are in the Word and against this law, which is one among the fundamental laws of all religions in the whole globe. For these ten commandments are universals, given to the end that in living from these a man may live from religion, since by a life from religion man is conjoined with heaven, while a life according to these from obedience to civil and moral law conjoins man with the world and not with heaven, and to be conjoined with the world and not with heaven is to be conjoined with hell.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #876

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876. And adore Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of water, signifies the acknowledgment and confession of Him from whom is the all of heaven and the church, and from whom is the Divine truth or the Word. This is evident from the signification of "adoring," as being to acknowledge in heart, thus to confess and worship (See above, n. 790, 805, 821); also from the signification of "the heaven and the earth," as being the internal and the external of the church (See above, n. 304, 752); it also signifies heaven and the church, because with man the internal of the church is heaven, for it is in conjunction with the angels, even so as to make one with them; for, as has been said above, man's internal is formed to the idea and image of heaven, but his external to the idea and image of the world. So long, however, as man lives in the world the church in him is in his natural, which is his external. Yet the church is in man's natural or external only when the internal has been opened; for the church cannot exist with anyone unless he has heaven within, from which enlightenment and influx from the Lord may pass into the natural or external which is beneath. The above is evident also from the signification of "sea" as being the Divine truth in ultimate things, thus the Word in the letter, for this is Divine truth in ultimates. This is the signification of the "sea" because in the lowest parts of heaven there appear to be seas; for it is the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord that forms the heavens and all things in them; and the higher heavens appear to be in an ethereal atmosphere, the lower in an aerial atmosphere, and the lowest in a misty atmosphere; and this atmosphere appears to the eyes of those who stand afar off like a sea, but not to those who dwell in it. Those who dwell in it are in the ultimates of Divine truth, and that Divine truth is such as the Word is in the sense of the letter. It is from this that the "sea" has this signification. But on this see above (n. 275, 342, 511, 600). The "sea" here signifies the Word in the letter, because it is said "sea and fountains of waters;" and "fountains of waters" signify interior Divine truth such as the Word is in its spiritual sense. That this is the signification of a "fountain of water" can be seen from passages from the Word and their explanation above (n. 483). That "fountains of waters" here signify Divine truths that are from the Word can be seen from this, that "the heaven and the earth" signify the internal and the external of the church; and both are formed by the Divine truth or the Word, as it is said in John (John 1:1, 2, 14), the internal of the church by spiritual Divine truth, and the external by natural Divine truth; and this is why "fountains of waters" are here mentioned among the things made by the Lord.

[2] It can be seen from all this and from many other things how spiritual ideas, which are the ideas of angels, differ from natural ideas which are the ideas of men. To the angels, whose ideas are spiritual, "to adore Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters" means nothing else than the acknowledgment and confession of the Lord, from whom is the all of heaven and the church, and from whom is the Divine truth, or the Word in its natural and spiritual sense. The angels so understand these words because the heavens in which they are, and which appear to the sight altogether like our lands, but full of paradises, flower beds, and shrubberies, are not permanent like the lands on our globe, but come into existence in a moment, in the exact measure of the reception of the Divine truth by the angels; consequently the aspects of all things there change as the state of reception and therefore of their intelligence and wisdom, changes, thus according to the states of the church with them, and this even to the extent that all things spring forth correspondently before their sight according as the church is in them. So when "the heavens and the earth" are mentioned they can have no other idea than an idea of the church, because to them all things are from that. But men, when "the heaven and the earth" are mentioned, can have no such spiritual idea, because they are ignorant of such things; but they have a natural idea, which is according to what they see; for they see a heaven and an earth that are permanent, and that are not changed according to reception of the Divine truth, and thus of the church, as in the angelic heavens; consequently they mean by "heaven" nothing else than the visible heaven, and by "earth" nothing else than the earth inhabited by men.

[3] The state of heaven and earth in accord with the state of the church was represented with the sons of Israel by changes in the aspect of the land of Canaan, where they dwelt, according to the states of the church with them, but only in respect to the products, namely, of the harvest, the oil, the vine, the fruits, and as to the rains. This took place because all things with them were representative of things celestial. This is why it is so often said in the Word that "the land should yield its increase" if they would keep the statutes and do them. But it is otherwise at this day, when the interior things of the church have been laid open by the Lord; and the external things that were representative of the interior things have ceased. All this makes clear what a difference there is between the ideas of the angels and the ideas of men respecting the new heaven and the new earth. For the angels from their ideas understand the destruction of the heavens and the earths in the spiritual world, but men the destruction of the heavens and the earths in the natural world. Moreover, according to the predictions, there has been a destruction of those heavens and earths in the spiritual world upon which were those who had lived a moral life in externals but not at the same time a spiritual life from internals. But of this more may be seen in the small work on The Last Judgment.

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