The Bible

 

Isaiah 62

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1 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.

3 Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.

4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.

5 For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,

7 And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

8 The LORD hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured:

9 But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness.

10 Go through, Go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.

11 Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

12 And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.

   

Commentary

 

Drink

  
"Boy Drinking" by Annibale Carracci

Food in the Bible represents the desire for good, and water and other drinks represent the understanding and true ideas we need to recognize what good is and how to bring it into being – or simple "truth," as Swedenborg puts it. When people (or animals) in the Bible drink, then, it represents learning true things and internalizing them so they can be used. In the contrary sense it can mean taking in false ideas instead, and allowing them to pollute the mind. When a person drinks clean water, it represents getting simple, external ideas from the Bible. Drinking good wine represents learning the deeper spiritual ideas that lie within the stories of the Bible. This is why Jesus said to the Samaritan woman that the water He gave would be a "well springing up to everlasting life" (John 4:14). The details of the instruction can also vary depending on who or what is drinking. When Rebekah gives water to the camels of Abraham's servant (Genesis 24) this means instruction about known facts from the Bible to the external part of the mind. When Jacob waters Laban's flock of sheep (Genesis 29), this means instruction from doctrine about loving what is good.