The Bible

 

Amos 6

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1 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!

2 Go to Calneh, and see; and from there Go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. are they better than these kingdoms? or is their border greater than your border?

3 Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;

4 Who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;

5 who strum on the strings of a harp; who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;

6 who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

7 Therefore they will now go captive with the first who go captive; and the feasting and lounging will end.

8 "The Lord Yahweh has sworn by himself," says Yahweh, the God of Armies: "I abhor the pride of Jacob, and detest his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.

9 It will happen, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.

10 "When a man's relative carries him, even he who burns him, to bring bodies out of the house, and asks him who is in the innermost parts of the house, 'Is there yet any with you?' And he says, 'No;' then he will say, 'Hush! Indeed we must not mention the name of Yahweh.'

11 "For, behold, Yahweh commands, and the great house will be smashed to pieces, and the little house into bits.

12 Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness;

13 you who rejoice in a thing of nothing, who say, 'Haven't we taken for ourselves horns by our own strength?'

14 For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, house of Israel," says Yahweh, the God of Armies; "and they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of the Arabah."

   

Commentary

 

Gath

  

Gath, a city of the Philistines, signifies the spiritual principle of the church.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 700)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Teachings #169

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169. After we have examined ourselves, acknowledged our sins, and repented of them, we must for the rest of our lives remain constant in our devotion to doing what is good. If instead we backslide into our former evil life and embrace it again, then we commit profanation because we are then joining evil and goodness together. 1 This makes our latter state worse than our former one, according to the Lord's words:

When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it wanders through dry places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, "I will go back to my house, the house I left. " When the spirit comes and finds the house empty, swept, and decorated for it, then it goes and recruits seven other spirits worse than itself, and they come in and live there, and the latter times of that person become worse than the first. (Matthew 12:43, 44, 45)

For what profanation is, see below [§172].

Footnotes:

1. Profanation, as Swedenborg defines it, is taking the good and true things of the church, which are holy in themselves, and distorting them for selfish and materialistic ends, such as gaining personal wealth and power. It necessarily involves denying truths previously known, though those who do profane them may think of themselves as believing the truth; those who are simply ignorant of spiritual truth cannot profane it. In Swedenborg's theology, those who commit profanation are in the lowest and harshest hells because they have mixed good and truth with evil and falsity, and the fundamental conflict between these opposites tears people apart from the inside out, destroying much of their life in the process. This concept of profanation has echoes in Bible passages such as 2 Peter 2:21, which reads: "It would have been better for them [the evil] never to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment that was passed on to them" (New Revised Standard Version). See also John 5:14; 12:40, which are mentioned in New Jerusalem 172[2], as well as Matthew 12:43-45; 13:13; Luke 8:10. Given this biblical underpinning, it is not surprising that the concept is not unique to Swedenborgian theology. Compare, for example, Aquinas Summa Theologiae 2:2:10:6 (= Aquinas 2012, 17:100-101). For an extensive list of references to Secrets of Heaven on profaners and profanation, see New Jerusalem 172. Particularly useful passages include Secrets of Heaven 1008, 1327, 2357, 3398; and see also Divine Providence 221-233. For more on the condition of profaners in hell after death, see Secrets of Heaven 6348[3], 6959, 10287; Divine Providence 226; Revelation Explained (= Swedenborg 1994-1997a) §§1047:3, 1050:2, 1055:4, 1059:2, 1063:3. [LSW, SS]

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