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

 

House

  
White House at Night by Vincent van Gogh

A "house" is essentially a container -- for a person, a family, several families or even a large group with shared interests (think of the term "houses of worship.") In the Bible, a "house" is also a container, but for spiritual things rather than natural things. In various uses a "house" can represent part of the mind, the whole mind, a whole person or even a church. The other nuance to the word "house" is that it is generally used in regards to our affections and desires rather than our thoughts and principles. This makes sense; we tend to engage our thoughts and rationality when we are out in the world doing our work, but when we are inside our houses we are driven most by love for our families and the desire to be good to those we love. So "house" tends to represent the things we want and care about -- which are ultimately the things that define us.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9417

Study this Passage

  
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9417. 'And the law and the commandment' means truth in general and in particular. This is clear from the meaning of 'the law' as truth in general; and from the meaning of 'the commandment' as truth in particular. In the Word laws are divided up into commandments, judgements, and statutes, 'commandments' being used to mean laws of life, 'judgements' to mean laws of the civic state, and 'statutes' to mean laws of worship, 8972. However, all these together are called by the general term 'the law', and the individual requirements of the law are called 'commandments', as is clear from a large number of places in the Word. So it is that when the expression 'the law and the commandment' is used, truth in general and in particular is meant.

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