Commentary

 

261 - Daily and Yearly Preparation for Heaven

By Jonathan S. Rose

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

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The Bible

 

Deuteronomy 16

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1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.

2 Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.

3 Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.

4 And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there anything of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.

5 Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee:

6 But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.

7 And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents.

8 Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work therein.

9 Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the Seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.

10 And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:

11 And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there.

12 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.

13 Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine:

14 And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.

15 Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.

16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

17 Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.

18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

19 Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.

20 That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

21 Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee.

22 Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the LORD thy God hateth.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1510

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1510. Every spirit has his own sphere, and every community of spirits even more so, which emanates from the assumptions and the persuasions he has adopted. This sphere is that of his assumptions and persuasions. Evil genii possess a sphere of evil desires. The sphere of assumptions and persuasions is such that when it acts on another person it causes truths to be as falsities, and stirs up all things which are of a confirmatory nature, so as to induce a belief that falsities are truths, and that evils are goods.

[2] This has made clear to me how easily a person can be confirmed in falsities and evils if he does not believe in the truths which come from the Lord. The density of such spheres depends on the nature of the falsities that are present; and those spheres cannot possibly coexist with the spheres of spirits who abide by truths. If those spheres draw near, a repugnance arises; and if, because it is permitted to do so, the sphere of falsity prevails, the good enter into temptation and into distress. I have also perceived the sphere of disbelief, which is such that those to whom it belongs do not believe anything they are told, and scarcely believe that which they are given to see with their eyes. There is also the sphere of those who believe nothing apart from what they apprehend with the senses.

[3] I also once saw a certain spirit dressed in black who was sitting at a mill and, it seemed, was grinding flour. To the side of him I saw little mirrors. Subsequently I saw some things which were the product of delusion but which were airy. I wondered who he was, but he came to me and said that it was he who had been seated at the mill, and that he possessed such ideas as that every single thing was the product merely of delusion and that nothing was real, on account of which, he added, he had become what he was.

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