These verses, the opening phrases of the Sermon on the Mount, hold some of the Bible’s most beautiful and best-loved poetry. Part of its beauty, though, lies in the fact that the meaning is not quite clear. What does it mean to be “poor in spirit”? What does it mean to “inherit the earth” or to be called “the children of God.” The fact that there are many possibilities causes us to linger over the phrases, pondering them.

Understood in the internal sense, these blessings show the spiritual states of the various people who could be receptive of the Lord and the new church he was launching. On a deeper level it shows that states within ourselves that can lead each of us to the Lord and to a deeper understanding of His truth today.

The “poor in spirit” are those who know little about spiritual things, but want to learn. Those that “mourn” are those who want to be good, but see no desire for good in their church. The “meek” are those who love to care for and serve others. To “hunger and thirst after righteousness” shows a desire to rise up, to learn about what’s good and to come to desire it.

The “merciful” are those who love their fellow people. The “pure in heart” are those who love only what is good. “Peacemakers” are those who are in harmony with the Lord, gaining knowledge from Him and wanting what He wants. And to be “persecuted for righteousness’ sake” means acting out of love and care for others, even though you are condemned by others for it.

There’s something of a progression there, from those who simply want to learn to those who actively want to be good people to those who actually are good and acting out of love for others. None of it, though, describes those who are learned in the Jewish traditions, or even necessarily observant in terms of ritual; they are, rather, those who sense that it is possible to be a good person and are willing to make the effort.

And they are promised their rewards! The “kingdom of heaven” is the understanding the angels have of the Lord; “comfort” represents ideas that lead to the good of life; “inheriting the earth” is a state of loving others and being loved by them in return. The overall message is simple: If we truly wish to be good people, and are willing to let the Lord teach us how to be good people, we will end up filled with love and wisdom from Him. And that’s what we need to focus on: The desire to be good, and openness to ideas from the Lord. It’s not about ritual and intellectual “correctness”; it’s about ideas that lead us to be good.

But what of being reviled and persecuted? This depicts temptation, when the hells attack our newborn good desires and true understanding. They cause us to doubt our ability to be truly good and question the ideas that are leading us. And they can do it in many ways, reminding us of the fun we’ll be missing or reminding us of all the bad things we’ve ever done to render us hopeless. They will even attack the Bible and the ideas that come to us through it from the Lord; that’s represented by the idea that people also attacked the prophets.

These states, however, are blessed in their own way; only by battling these evils, which are rooted inside us, can we finally fully embrace the good life we have been striving for. That’s why it is pictured last, and that's why it leads to the “great reward” in heaven.

1012. Verse 17. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air, signifies the state of the church manifested in regard to all things of thought. This is evident from the signification of "the angel pouring out the vial," as being the state of the church manifested (as above); also from the signification of the "air," as being thought, here everything of thought, because the last state of the church is here described; therefore when this state has been manifested it is said, "It is done," that is, it is consummated. The "air" signifies thought because respiration, which is effected by means of the air, corresponds to thought, which is of the understanding, as the motion of the heart corresponds to affection, which is of the will. That the respiration of the lungs corresponds to thought is clearly evident from the fact that they operate simultaneously and harmoniously, for as man thinks so he breathes. If he thinks quietly he breathes quietly, and reversely if forcibly. If he thinks intensely and interiorly in himself, respiration is gradually arrested and withdrawn. Thus man varies the state of his respiration in accommodation to every state of his thought. The reason of this is that man has two lives, namely, the life of the understanding and the life of the will; and all things of the body correspond to these two lives of the mind. Thus in general the life of the respiration corresponds to the life of the understanding and consequent thought; and the life of the motion of the heart corresponds to the life of the will and the consequent love. These two lives are meant by "soul" and "heart" in the Word, where it is said "with the whole soul and with the whole heart," which signifies with the whole understanding and the whole will, or with every thought which is of faith and with every affection which is of love. This is said to make known that the "air," since respiration is effected by it, signifies thought.

[2] "The last vial was poured out into the air," because all things of man close into his thoughts. For such as a man is as to the church and as to the goods and truths of the church, also as to love, in a word, such as he is as to his spiritual, moral, and civil life, such is he as to thought. This can be perceived especially in the spiritual world. When any angel goes out of his own society into a society not his own his breathing labors, because he is not thinking from a like affection. So, too, when an infernal spirit ascends into an angelic society he comes into distress of breathing, and thus into anguish, or into fantasy, or into blindness of thought; which makes clear that such as a man is such is his thought.

(The Seventh Commandment) ¹

[3] In what now follows something shall be said about the seventh commandment, which is, "Thou shalt not kill." In all the commandments of the Decalogue, as in all things of the Word, two internal senses are involved (besides the highest which is a third), one that is next to the letter and is called the spiritual moral sense, another that is more remote and is called the spiritual celestial sense. The nearest sense of this commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," which is the spiritual moral sense, is that one must not hate his brother or neighbor, and thus not defame or slander him; for thus he would injure or kill his reputation and honor, which is the source of his life among his brethren, which is called his civil life, and afterwards he would live in society as one dead, for he would be numbered among the vile and wicked, with whom no one would associate. When this is done from enmity, from hatred, or from revenge, it is murder. Moreover, by many in the world this life is counted and esteemed in equal measure with the life of the body. And before the angels in the heavens he that destroys this life is held to be as guilty as if he had destroyed the bodily life of his brother. For enmity, hatred, and revenge, breathe murder and will it; but they are restrained and curbed by fear of the law, of resistance, and of loss of reputation. And yet these three are endeavors towards murder; and every endeavor is like an act, for it goes forth into act when fear is removed. This is what the Lord teaches in Matthew:

Ye have heard that it was said to them of old, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be liable to the judgment. But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother rashly shall be liable to the judgment; whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be liable to the Gehenna of fire (Matthew 5:21-26).

This may be seen explained above (n. 693, 746).

[4] But the more remote sense of this commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," which is called the celestial spiritual sense, is that one shall not take away from man the faith and love of God, and thus his spiritual life. This is murder itself, because from this life man is a man, the life of the body serving this life as the instrumental cause serves its principal cause. Moreover, from this spiritual murder moral murder is derived; consequently one who is in the one is also in the other; for he who wills to take away a man's spiritual life is in hatred against him if he cannot take it away, for he hates the faith and love with him, and thus the man himself. These three, namely, spiritual murder, which pertains to faith and love, moral murder, which pertains to reputation and honor, and natural murder, which pertains to the body, follow in a series one from the other, like cause and effect.

Footnotes: