Arcana Coelestia #7051
7051. People who know nothing at all about the internal sense of the Word cannot help thinking that the Israelite and Jewish nation was chosen in preference to every other nation and was therefore of superior quality to all the rest, as those who belonged to that nation also thought. And what is so astonishing, this is not only what that nation itself thinks but also what Christians think, no matter how well they know that this nation is eaten up by filthy kinds of love, by foul avarice, hatred, and pride, and in addition to this belittles and also loathes things of an internal nature that belong to charity and faith and are the Lord's. The reason why Christians also think that this nation was chosen in preference to others is that they think a person is chosen and saved as a result of mercy, irrespective of the life he leads, so that those who are criminal can be received into heaven just as well as the godly and upright. They give no consideration to the idea that choice or election is all-embracing, that is to say, that it includes all who lead a good life. Nor do they consider that the Lord's mercy is shown to every person who refrains from evil and wishes to lead a good life, and so who allows himself to be led by the Lord and to be regenerated, a process which is being effected throughout the course of his life.
[2] This goes to explain too why the majority of people in the Christian world also believe that that nation will again be chosen, and that when this happens they will be led back into the land of Canaan. And this belief is also in keeping with the sense of the letter, for example in the following places:
Isaiah 10:20-23; 11:11-12; Isaiah 29:14-end; 43:5, 6; 49:6-26; 56:8; 60:4; 61:3-10; 62;
Jeremiah 3:14-19; 15:4, 14; 16:13, 15; 23:7-8; 24:9-10; 31:31, 33; 25:29; 29:14, 18; 30:3, 8-11; 31:8-10, 17; 33:16, 20, 26;
Ezekiel 5:10, 12, 15; 16:60; 20:41; 22:15-16; 34:12-13; 37:21-22; 38:12; 39:23, 27-28;
Hosea 3:4-5; Joel 2:32; 3; Amos 9:8-9 and following verses; Micah 5:7-8.
It is on the basis of these as well as other places that even Christians think that nation will again be chosen and led into the land of Canaan. They think this even though they know that nation is waiting for the Messiah who will then lead the nation in, and are at the same time aware that its waiting for Him is in vain, and that the Messiah's or Christ's kingdom is not of this world, which means that the land of Canaan into which the Messiah will lead them is heaven.
[3] Such people give no thought to the idea that the Word has a spiritual sense within it and that in that sense Israel is not meant by Israel, Jacob by Jacob, or Judah by Judah, but that the things which they represent are meant by them. Nor do they give any thought to what the historical sections record regarding that nation - what it was like in the wilderness and what it was like after that in the land of Canaan, namely that it was at heart idolatrous - or to what the Prophets say about it and about its spiritual whoredom and its abominations. What that nation is like is described in the following words contained in the Song in Moses,
I will conceal My face from them; I will see what their future will be, for they are a perverse generation, sons in whom there is no faithfulness. I would have said, I will expel them to the remotest corners, I will make the memory of them cease from mankind, except that enemies might say, Our hand is high, and not Jehovah has done all this. For they are a nation from whom counsel has perished, nor is there intelligence in them. From the vine of Sodom comes their vine, and from the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of poison, they have clusters of bitterness. The poison of snakes (draco) is their wine, and the cruel poison of asps. Is this not hidden away with Me, sealed up in My treasuries? Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; in time their foot will slip, for near is the day of their destruction, and the things to come upon them hasten on. Deuteronomy 32:20, 26-28, 32-35.
Jehovah gave Moses the words of this song, see Deuteronomy 31:19, 21. The Lord too spoke about what that nation was like, in John,
You are from your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth. John 8:44.
And many other places besides these show what that nation was like.
[4] The reason why, although they know these things, Christians believe that that nation will at length be converted to the Lord and at that time led into the land where they lived before is, as has been stated, that they have no knowledge of the internal sense of the Word. Another reason is their supposition that it makes no difference what kind of life a person leads, and that even evil which has become deeply rooted through repeated actions in no way prevents a person - through faith, even if it has existed for only one part of an hour - from being made spiritual, being regenerated, and so being accepted by the Lord. They also suppose that admission into heaven is solely a matter of mercy, and that this is shown towards one particular nation, thus not towards all in the whole world who receive the Lord's mercy. Those who think in that way do not know that it is altogether contrary to the Divine that some should be chosen and born to salvation and heaven, and others should not be chosen but born to damnation and hell. To think about the Divine in that kind of way would be shocking, for making such choices would show a complete lack of mercy, when in fact the Divine is Mercy itself. From all this it may now be recognized that the Israelite and Jewish nation was not and never will be the chosen nation; also that not a trace of the Church existed or could exist with that nation, only a representative of the Church; and that it was preserved right up to the present day because of the Old Testament Word, regarding which see 3479.
John 8
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but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2
Now very early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. He sat down, and taught them.
3
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery. Having set her in the midst,
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they told him, "Teacher, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act.
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Now in our law, Moses commanded us to stone such. What then do you say about her?"
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They said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of. But Jesus stooped down, and wrote on the ground with his finger.
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But when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her."
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Again he stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground.
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They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. Jesus was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle.
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Jesus, standing up, saw her and said, "Woman, where are your accusers? Did no one condemn you?"
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She said, "No one, Lord." Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more."
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Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life."
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The Pharisees therefore said to him, "You testify about yourself. Your testimony is not valid."
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Jesus answered them, "Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you don't know where I came from, or where I am going.
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You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one.
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Even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me.
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It's also written in your law that the testimony of two people is valid.
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I am one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me."
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They said therefore to him, "Where is your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither me, nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also."
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Jesus spoke these words in the treasury, as he taught in the temple. Yet no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
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Jesus said therefore again to them, "I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins. Where I go, you can't come."
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The Jews therefore said, "Will he kill himself, that he says, 'Where I am going, you can't come?'"
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He said to them, "You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world.
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I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins."
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They said therefore to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.
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I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. However he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world."
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They didn't understand that he spoke to them about the Father.
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Jesus therefore said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I say these things.
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He who sent me is with me. The Father hasn't left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him."
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As he spoke these things, many believed in him.
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Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, "If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples.
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You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
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They answered him, "We are Abraham's seed, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, 'You will be made free?'"
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Jesus answered them, "Most certainly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin.
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A bondservant doesn't live in the house forever. A son remains forever.
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If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
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I know that you are Abraham's seed, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you.
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I say the things which I have seen with my Father; and you also do the things which you have seen with your father."
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They answered him, "Our father is Abraham." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.
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But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham didn't do this.
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You do the works of your father." They said to him, "We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, God."
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Therefore Jesus said to them, "If God were your father, you would love me, for I came out and have come from God. For I haven't come of myself, but he sent me.
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Why don't you understand my speech? Because you can't hear my word.
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You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn't stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and its father.
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But because I tell the truth, you don't believe me.
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Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?
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He who is of God hears the words of God. For this cause you don't hear, because you are not of God."
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Then the Jews answered him, "Don't we say well that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon?"
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Jesus answered, "I don't have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.
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But I don't seek my own glory. There is one who seeks and judges.
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Most certainly, I tell you, if a person keeps my word, he will never see death."
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Then the Jews said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets; and you say, 'If a man keeps my word, he will never taste of death.'
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Are you greater than our father, Abraham, who died? The prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?"
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Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is our God.
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You have not known him, but I know him. If I said, 'I don't know him,' I would be like you, a liar. But I know him, and keep his word.
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Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it, and was glad."
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The Jews therefore said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?"
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Jesus said to them, "Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM."
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Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hidden, and went out of the temple, having gone through the midst of them, and so passed by.
