Title: Daily and Yearly Preparation for Heaven
Topic: Salvation
Summary: The daily sacrifices, weekly sabbaths, and three annual feasts prescribed in the Old Testament are a picture of how to prepare for heaven.
Use the reference links below to follow along in the Bible as you watch.
References:
2 Peter 2:22, 10
Numbers 28:1
Exodus 23:14, 17
Leviticus 23:1, 5, 10, 33
Deuteronomy 16:1, 9, 13-14
Luke 6:1
Acts of the Apostles 2:1; 20:16
Nehemiah 8:13-14
Ezekiel 45:21, 25
Zechariah 14:16
John 7:2, 37
261 - Daily and Yearly Preparation for Heaven
By Jonathan S. Rose
Spirit and Life Bible Study broadcast from 5/4/2016. The complete series is available at: www.spiritandlifebiblestudy.com
2 Peter 2
1
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2
And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
4
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
5
And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6
And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
7
And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
8
(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
9
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
10
But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
11
Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
12
But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
13
And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
14
Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
15
Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
16
But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
17
These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
18
For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
19
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
20
For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
21
For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
22
But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
Arcana Coelestia #1038
1038. That 'this is the sign of the covenant' means a token of the Lord's presence in charity is clear from the meaning of 'a covenant' and of 'the sign of a covenant'. That the covenant means the Lord's presence in charity has been shown already at Chapter 6:18, and above at verse 9 of the present chapter; and that a covenant is the Lord's presence in love and charity is clear from the very nature of a covenant. The purpose of any covenant is conjunction, that is to say, its purpose is that people may live together in friendship or in love. This also is why marriage is called a covenant. The Lord's conjunction with man does not exist except in love and charity, for the Lord is love itself and mercy. He wills to save everyone and by His mighty power to draw them towards heaven, that is, towards Himself. From this anyone may know and conclude that it is impossible for anybody to be joined to the Lord except by means of that which He Himself is, that is, except by acting like Him, or becoming one with Him - that is to say, by loving the Lord in return, and loving the neighbour as oneself. In this way alone is conjunction brought about; this constitutes the very essence of a covenant. When conjunction results from this, it quite plainly follows that the Lord is present. The Lord is indeed present with each individual, but that presence is closer or more remote, all depending on how near the person is to love or distant from it.
[2] Since 'the covenant' is the conjunction of the Lord with man by means of love, or what amounts to the same, the Lord's presence with man in love and charity, the covenant itself is called in the Word 'a covenant of peace', for 'peace' means the Lord's kingdom, and the Lord's kingdom consists in mutual love, in which alone peace resides, as is said in Isaiah,
The mountains will depart and the hills be removed, but My mercy will not depart from you, and the covenant of My peace will not be removed, said Jehovah, the One who takes pity on you. Isaiah 54:10.
Here mercy, which is an attribute of love, is called 'a covenant of peace'.
In Ezekiel,
I will raise up over them one shepherd, and He will pasture them - My servant David. He will pasture them and He will be a shepherd to them. And I will make with them a covenant of peace. Ezekiel 34:23, 25.
Here 'David' is plainly used to mean the Lord, and His presence with a regenerate person is described by the words 'He will pasture them'.
[3] In the same prophet,
My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. And I will make with them a covenant of peace; it will be an eternal covenant with them. And I will bless 1 them and cause them to multiply, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst for evermore. And I will be their God and they will be My people. Ezekiel 37:14, 16-17.
Here similarly the Lord is meant by David. Love is meant by the 'sanctuary in their midst', the Lord's presence and conjunction in love by the promise that 'He will be their God, and they will be His people', which is called 'a covenant of peace' and 'an eternal covenant'.
In Malachi,
You will know that I have sent this command to you, that it may be My covenant with Levi, said Jehovah Zebaoth. My covenant was with him, [a covenant] of life 2 and peace, and I have given them to him in fear, and he will fear Me. Malachi 2:4-5.
In the highest sense 'Levi' means the Lord, and from this the person who has love and charity; and this being so 'a covenant of life' and peace with Levi' means in love and charity.
[4] In Moses, in reference to Phinehas,
Behold, I am giving to him My covenant of peace, and it will be to him and his seed after him a covenant of eternal priesthood. Numbers 25:12-13.
Here 'Phinehas' is not used to mean Phinehas but the priesthood which he represented and which means love and what belongs to love, as does the entire priesthood of that Church. Everyone knows that the priesthood did not remain with Phinehas for ever.
In the same author,
Jehovah your God is God Himself, a faithful God who keeps a covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and who keep His commandments, to the thousandth generation. Deuteronomy 7:9, 12.
Here the Lord's presence with man in love is clearly meant by 'the covenant', for it is said to be 'with those who love Him and keep His commandments'.
[5] Because the covenant is the conjunction of the Lord with man by means of love, it follows that it is also achieved by means of all the things allied to love, which are the truths of faith and are called commandments. For all the commandments, indeed the Law and the Prophets, are based on that single law that men ought to love the Lord above all things and the neighbour as themselves. This is clear from the Lord's words in Matthew 22:35-40; Mark 12:28-34. This is also why the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written are called 'the tablets of the covenant'. Since a covenant or conjunction is achieved by means of the laws or commandments of love it was also achieved by means of the social laws introduced by the Lord into the Jewish Church, which are called 'testimonies', as well as by the religious observances commanded by the Lord, which are called 'statutes'. All of these are called [laws] of the covenant because they have regard to love and charity.
As is said of King Josiah,
The king stood upon the pillar, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart, and all his soul, to establish the words of the covenant. 2 Kings 23:3.
[6] From these references it is now clear what a covenant is, and that the covenant is internal, for the conjunction of the Lord with man is achieved by means of internal things, and never by means of external things separated from internal. External things are merely images and representatives of those that are internal, as the action of a person is an image representative of his thought and will, and as a charitable act is an image representative of charity present within, in intention and mind. Thus all the religious observances of the Jewish Church were images representative of the Lord, and so of love and charity, and of all things deriving from these. It is by means of the internal things of a person therefore that the covenant or conjunction is achieved. External things are no more than signs of the covenant, which also is what they are called. That internal things are the means by which the covenant or conjunction is achieved is quite clear, as in Jeremiah,
Behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, when I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers, for they rendered My covenant invalid. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days: I will put My law in the midst of them and will write it on their hearts. Jeremiah 31:31-33.
This refers to a new Church. It is plainly stated that the covenant itself is achieved by means of internal things, and indeed within conscience on which the Law is written, the whole of which Law, as stated, is that of love.
[7] That external things do not constitute the covenant unless internal things are joined to them and so through that union act as one and the same cause, but are merely 'signs of the covenant' by means of which, as by representative images, the Lord might be called to mind, is clear from the fact that the sabbath and circumcision are called 'signs' of the covenant. That the sabbath is so called is clear in Moses,
The children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout their generations, an eternal covenant. Between Me and the children of Israel this is a sign eternally. Exodus 31:16-17.
And that circumcision is called 'a sign of the covenant' is clear in the same author,
This is My covenant which you shall keep between Me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you is to be circumcised. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. Genesis 17:10-11.
For the same reason also blood is called 'the blood of the covenant', Exodus 24:7-8.
[8] The chief reason why external religious ceremonies were called signs of the covenant was so that from them people might call interior things to mind, that is, the things meant by them. All the religious observances of the Jewish Church were nothing else. For this reason they were also called signs that would serve to remind the people of interior things - for example, the practice of binding the chief commandment on the hand and of wearing frontlets, as stated in Moses,
You shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. And you shall bind these words as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. Deuteronomy 6:5, 8; 11:13, 18.
Because it means power 'the hand' here means the will, for power is an attribute of the will; while 'frontlets between the eyes' means the understanding. Thus 'a sign' means calling to mind the chief commandment, or epitome of the Law, that it may be constantly in the will and constantly in the thought, that is, that the Lord and love may be present within the whole will and the whole thought. Such is the presence of the Lord and from Him of mutual love existing with angels. That constant presence and the nature of it will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed later on. And in like manner here the statement, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I give between Me and you; I have given My bow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of the covenant', means no other sign than a token of the Lord's presence in charity, and so man's remembrance of Him. But in what way the bow in the cloud provides that token and so remembrance will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed later on.
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