The Bible

 

Jeremia 51:22

Study

       

22 Med dig krossade jag man och kvinna; med dig krossade jag gammal och ung; med dig krossade jag yngling och jungfru.

Commentary

 

Weary

  

On the surface, it appears that Swedenborg gives two different representations for “weariness.” In discussing Genesis - where Esau and later Jacob are described as “weary” - he says it represents a state of temptation, an interior spiritual conflict. In discussing passages from several other places, however, he says “weariness” represents a lack of truth, having no concept of how to be good. But these two ideas are not as disconnected as they seem. Temptation arises when the interior, rational parts of our minds - which can be elevated to grasp deeper truths about life and the Lord - come into conflict with the exterior, natural parts of our minds, where we are driven by bodily desires and cling to false ideas that support those desires. Part of the process is clearing those falsities out of the lower parts of our minds so that the deeper truths can enter in. In that in-between stage, when the falsities are being driven away but we have not embraced the deeper truth yet, we can feel pretty empty. people who have been through serious temptations will likely relate to this - at some point along the way you feel like you have no idea what is right and what is wrong. If at those moments we can give up trying to figure it out and trust in the Lord, we'll be OK - but we will likely be pretty tired, too.