The Bible

 

Exodus 23:14-19 : The Three Annual Festivals

Study

14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.

15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)

16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

Commentary

 

Harvest

  

The 'Harvest,' as mentioned in Mark 4:29, signifies the increase of the church in general and particular.

In Joel 3:13, it signifies the last state of the church before it has been devastated from all good and truth.

'A harvest' symbolizes the state of the church with respect to Divine truth. The reason is that a harvest yields the grain used to make bread, and grain and bread symbolize the church's goodness, which is achieved through truths.

(References: Apocalypse Revealed 645; Joel 3; Mark 4)


From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8250

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8250. As long as sincerity and uprightness existed with people, so also did that kind of speech remain in existence. But as soon as the mind began to think one thing and say another, which happened when a person loved self and not the neighbour, speech consisting of spoken words was used more and more. The face then remained still or else at the same time had expressions on it that were counterfeit. As a result the face's inward form was altered, in that it shrank, hardened, and started to become virtually devoid of life; but its outward form, heated by the fire of self-love, began to appear full of life. But being devoid of life, what lies beneath and inwardly serves as a groundwork is not visible to men's eyes, only to angels' eyes since they see interior things. This is what the faces of people who think one thing and say another are like; for presence, hypocrisy, trickery, and deceit, which constitute prudence at the present day, produce such effects.

[2] But the situation is different in the next life; no one is allowed there to speak in one way and think in another. That lack of agreement is also clearly perceived there in every word, and in every tone of the voice. And when it is perceived the spirit in whom such lack of agreement exists is forcibly removed from association with others and punished. After that he is compelled by various means to speak as he thinks, and to think as he wills, until his mind is single and not divided. This is done in order that, if he is a good spirit, he may will what is good and may be moved by good to think and speak what is true, or, if he is evil, he may will what is evil and may be moved by evil to think and speak what is false. Till then the good spirit cannot be raised to heaven or the evil one cast into hell. This is done to the end that in hell there may be nothing except evil, and that falsity there may be the falsity of evil, and that in heaven there may be nothing except good, and that truth there may be the truth of good.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.