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Deuteronomy 8

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1 All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.

2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.

5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.

6 Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;

8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;

9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.

10 When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.

11 Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:

12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;

13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;

14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;

16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.

18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.

20 As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1846

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1846. 'And these will afflict them' means their grievous temptations. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'afflicting' or affliction as persecution and therefore as temptation. In the Word of the Lord nothing else is meant by 'affliction', as in Isaiah,

I will refine you, but not with silver; I will single you out in the furnace of affliction. Isaiah 48:10.

'Affliction' stands for temptation.

In Moses,

You shall remember all the way in which Jehovah your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness to afflict you and to tempt you. Jehovah fed you with manna in the wilderness, which your fathers did not know, to afflict you and to tempt you, to do good to you in [your] latter end. Deuteronomy 8:2, 16.

'To afflict' plainly means to tempt.

[2] In the same author,

And the Egyptians ill-treated us and afflicted us, and imposed hard service upon us, and we cried out to Jehovah the God of our fathers, and Jehovah heard our voice and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression. Deuteronomy 26:6-7.

Here the same things are mentioned as in the present verse, that they served as slaves and were afflicted, by which - as also by their afflictions in the wilderness, which in addition represented the Lord's temptations - the temptations of believers were meant.

[3] As in Isaiah,

He was despised, a man of sorrows, on account of which as it were men hid their faces from Him. He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He has borne our sicknesses and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Isaiah 53:3-4.

These words mean the Lord's temptations. The words 'He has borne our sicknesses and carried our sorrows' are not used to mean that believers will not undergo any temptation, nor that He transferred their sins on to Himself and so bore them Himself. Rather, they mean that He who overcame the hells through the conflicts brought about by temptations and through victories would in the same manner - all by Himself, even as to His Human Essence - endure the temptations experienced by believers.

[4] The Lord too calls temptations afflictions: in Mark,

These are the ones sown upon rocky ground. When they have heard the word they have no root in themselves but endure for a while. Then, when affliction and persecution arise because of the word they immediately stumble. Mark 4:16-17.

'Affliction' clearly stands for temptation. 'Having no root in themselves' is having no charity, for it is in charity that faith is rooted, and those who are not endowed with that root give way in temptations. In John,

In the world you have affliction; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. John 16:33.

'Affliction' stands for temptation.

[5] In Matthew,

Nation will be roused against nation and kingdom against kingdom. All these are the start of sorrows. At that time they will deliver you up to affliction. There will be great affliction then such as has not been from the beginning of the world. Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened. Matthew 24:7-9, 21, 29.

This refers to the close of the age, or last times of a Church. 'Affliction' stands for temptations, external and internal, external temptations being persecutions by the world, internal by the devil. The non-existence of charity is meant by 'nation against nation' and 'kingdom against kingdom', and by 'the sun' - that is, the Lord, love and charity - being 'darkened'.

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