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
Deuteronomy 16
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.
Arcana Coelestia #1925
1925. 'The angel of Jehovah found her' means thought in the interior man, that is to say, thought residing with the Lord. This becomes clear from the representation and meaning of 'the angel of Jehovah'. Mention is made several times in the Word of 'the angel of Jehovah', and in every case when used in the good sense it represents and means some essential quality with the Lord and from the Lord. Which one it represents and means however becomes clear from the train of thought. They were indeed angels who were sent to men and women, and who also spoke through the prophets. Yet what they spoke did not originate in those angels but was something imparted through them. In fact their state at the time was such that they knew no other than that they were Jehovah, that is, the Lord. But as soon as they had finished speaking they returned to their previous state and spoke as they normally did from themselves.
[2] This was the case with the angels who uttered the Word of the Lord, as I have been given to know from much similar experience in the next life, experience that will be presented in the Lord's Divine mercy further on. This is the reason why angels were sometimes called Jehovah, as is quite clear from the angel that appeared in the bramble-bush to Moses, concerning whom the following is recorded,
The angel of Jehovah appeared to Moses in a flame of fire from the middle of the bramble-bush. Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, and God called to him from the middle of the bramble-bush God said to Moses, I am who I am. And God said again to Moses, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, Jehovah the God of your fathers has sent me to you. Exodus 3:2, 4, 14-15.
From these verses it is evident that it was an angel who appeared to Moses as a flame in the bramble-bush and that he spoke as Jehovah, because the Lord or Jehovah was speaking through him.
[3] So that man may be spoken to by means of articulated sounds heard in the natural world, the Lord employs angels as His ministers by filling them with the Divine and by rendering unconscious all that is their own, so that for the time being they know no other than that they themselves are Jehovah. In this way the Divine of Jehovah which belongs in highest things comes down into the lowest constituting the natural world in which man sees and hears. It was similar in the case of the angel who spoke to Gideon, of whom the following is said in the Book of Judges,
The angel of Jehovah appeared to Gideon and said to him, Jehovah is with you, O mighty man of strength. And Gideon said to him, Forgive me for asking, 1 O my Lord; why has all this befallen us? And Jehovah looked on him and said, Go in this might of yours. And Jehovah said to him, Surely I will be with you. Judges 6:12-14, 16.
And further on,
Gideon saw that he was the angel of Jehovah, and Gideon said, Alas, Lord Jehovih! Inasmuch as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. 2 And Jehovah said to him, Peace be to you; do not fear. Judges 6:22-23.
Here similarly it was an angel, but his state was such at that time that he knew no other than that he was Jehovah, or the Lord. Elsewhere in the Book of Judges,
The angel of Jehovah went up from Gilgal to Bochim, and he said, I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I swore to give to your fathers. I said, I will not break my covenant with you, even for ever. Judges 2:1.
Here similarly the angel speaks in the name of Jehovah, declaring that he brought them out of the land of Egypt, though in fact it was not the angel who led them out but Jehovah, as is stated many times elsewhere.
[4] From this it may become clear how angels spoke through the prophets - that it was the Lord Himself who spoke, yet through angels, and that the angels spoke nothing at all from themselves. That the Word comes from the Lord is clear from many places, as also in Matthew,
To fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin will be with child and give birth to a son. Matthew 1:22-23.
And there are other places besides this. It is because the Lord speaks through angels when He speaks to man that the Lord is also called an angel in various places in the Word. In these instances 'angel' means, as stated, some essential quality residing with the Lord and deriving from Him, as is the case here where it is the Lord's interior thought. This also is the reason why in this chapter the angel is named Jehovah and also God, as in verse 13, 'And Hagar called the name of Jehovah who was speaking to her, You are a God who sees me'.
[5] In other places 'angels' is used in a similar way to mean some specific attribute that is the Lord's, as in John,
The seven stars are the angels of the seven Churches. Revelation 1:20.
There are no angels of Churches, but by 'angels' is meant that which constitutes the Church, and thus which is the Lord's in regard to the Churches. In the same book,
I saw the wall of the Holy Jerusalem, great and high, having twelve gates, and above the gates twelve angels, and names written which are those of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. Revelation 21:12.
Here 'twelve angels' has the same meaning as 'the twelve tribes', namely all things of faith, and so the Lord from whom faith and all that belongs to it is derived. In the same book,
I saw an angel flying in mid-heaven, having an eternal gospel. Revelation 14:6.
Here 'an angel' means the gospel that is the Lord's alone.
[6] In Isaiah,
The angel of His presence 3 saved them; 4 in His love and in His pity He redeemed them, and lifted them up and carried them all the days of eternity. Isaiah 63:9.
Here 'the angel of His presence" is used to mean the Lord's mercy towards the entire human race in redeeming it. Similarly in Jacob's blessing of the sons of Joseph,
May the angel who has redeemed me from every evil bless the boys. Genesis 48:16.
Here also the redemption, which is the Lord's, is meant by 'the angel'. In Malachi,
Suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you are seeking, and the angel of the covenant in whom you delight. Malachi 3:1.
Here it is plainly evident that the Lord is meant by 'the angel'. The expression 'the angel of the covenant' is used here because of His Coming into the world. In Exodus it is plainer still that 'an angel' means the Lord,
Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way, and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. He will not tolerate your transgression, for My name is within him. Exodus 23:20-21.
From this it is now clear that 'an angel' in the Word is used to mean the Lord; but just what aspect of the Lord is evident from the train of thought in the internal sense.
Footnotes:
1. literally, In me or On me
2. literally, faces to faces
3. literally, faces
4. The Latin means us but the Hebrew means them which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse.
