The Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles

The Lord left his apostles with instructions and with great gifts. The instructions are listed in several distinct places, but the the gifts are more scattered, both in the four gospels and in the book of Acts later, being given as the apostles needed them.

First, about the apostles... just to clarify, here I'm referring to "the disciples" as including anyone who has followed along to hear the Lord, and "the apostles" to mean the twelve men that the Lord recruited specifically, as listed in Matthew 10, Mark 3, and Luke 6.

Who were the apostles? From the lists in Matthew and Mark, which are the same, we have: Simon (Peter), James and John the sons of Zebedee, Andrew (Peter’s brother), Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew (the publican), Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, (as is Matthew, so they are brothers, too), Thaddeus, (also known as Libbeus), Simon the Canaanite (also called Simon the Zealot), and Judas Iscariot. Bartholomew is almost undoubtedly another name for Nathaniel, see John 1. The list in Luke includes another Judas, "Judas the brother of James" and doesn’t have Thaddeus.

The stories of how they were individually chosen differ, especially in the gospel of John, but that these twelve were appointed by the Lord is clear. A point of interest is that - other than Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot they are all from towns around the sea of Galilee - and perhaps those two are as well. These twelve have their names inscribed on the twelve foundations of the walls of the holy city New Jerusalem, in Revelation 21:14 in which there are also the twelve gates. These men were chosen to represent all the different states of the natural human being that can be receptive of the Lord. They are from Galilee because Galilee represents that natural state of the human mind. The number twelve in the Word represents all possible states of mankind.

What is indicated here is that all people, everywhere, can be saved or regenerated if they repent and turn to the Lord in their lives. No one is "outside" of His reach. We are born natural, everyone is, but we are so formed that our minds can be raised to what is higher, called spiritual for our conceptions of Divine truth, or Celestial for our perceptions of Divine good. But we all start in a natural state and can only move upward by listening to the Lord’s teachings in His Word, and following Him as those Apostles did.

Not all of our natural states are states of good; they can be selfish, domineering, and cruel. But the Lord said that He came "not to save the just but to call sinners to repentance". Perhaps this is why Simon the Canaanite and Judas were two that He called. Simon is little known, but in some places in the Word, "Canaan signifies an external worship without a true internal worship". (See Arcana Coelestia 1060). Can the Lord work with that - with external worship that's internally barren? Yes, as a starting point. And, even Judas, who betrayed the Lord so terribly, we are told, repented of his betrayal of the Lord. (Matthew 27:3-5)

The Lord's Instructions to the Apostles

The two most comprehensive sets of instructions are in Luke 10:1-17 where seventy Disciples are sent out two by two, apparently to a specified list of cities that Jesus intends to visit, and then in Matthew 20:1-19 where the chosen twelve Apostles are sent out to all Israel. Later, as recorded in different epistles, the Apostles go out further, through a wide region.

The basic instructions were to preach that the kingdom of heaven is near, that all should be led to repent of their sins, and that all who wish should be baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Apostles should not take any money or extra clothing along, and they were to depend entirely on the Lord’s providence with no doubt that they shall be welcomed, fed, and sheltered. If they were welcomed, they should stay and preach the good news about the risen Lord and His teachings, and if they were not, they should shake from their feet the dust of that place and go on to a place where they were welcome. See Matthew 10, 28, Mark 13, 16, Luke 9, 10:24.

There are several assurances for the twelve. The Lord has told them to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit is sent to strengthen them, and in John 20 where the ten are gathered it is said that He breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit". Also, in his long talk with them in John 14, 15, 16) He assures them that his crucifixion and death are necessary to his mission and they should even rejoice that it is coming. He shows them from scripture that it has all been prophesied from long ago, (see Mark 4:34) and that what seems to them a tragedy, is truly His glorification and the end of the work He came to do. They, His twelve, are in the same steam of providence and will be protected. "Don’t be anxious," He tells them, "I will put into your mouths what you are to say, I will bring into your memories the incidents to tell to the people".

Here is a listing of the chapters and verses in John where such things are said: John 14:1-3, 10, 16-18, 26-28, 15:11, 16, 26-27, 16:7, 13-15, 22, 26-27, 33. Or simply read the three chapters and pick out your favorites.

A marvelous gift is mentioned in Matthew 10:13, "But blessed are your eyes for they see and blessed are your ears, for they hear…".

In the book of Acts, the Lord vividly shows the apostles that when they speak in their Galileen dialect every listener will hear their words as his own language in his ears; not gibberish, but Arabic to the Arabs, Greek to the Greeks, and Latin to the Romans.

When Peter starts to preach to a gathering of sympathetic Jews he speaks clearly and unafraid, saying that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God and that people should worship Him openly and repent of how they might have felt earlier. Peter’s talk in Acts 3 and 4 is a bold and powerful one. No more hiding behind locked doors.

The early history of the Christian church shows just how well all this worked out. You know what? The Apostles preached to the peoples in the Near East 2000 years ago, and their preaching is just as relevant today as it was then: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Being at hand has nothing to do with the date or the state of political history in the world, it has to do with the inside of your mind. The Lord is just as close to you now as He was then, and He never turns away, though we might turn away from him. Remember that He said "behold I stand at the door and knock and if anyone hears and opens the door He will come right in." This hasn’t changed nor will it ever change, but He leaves us in freedom to ignore His knocking, if that is what we want. We have to make the choice, but He is always ready if we choose to open the door.

642. Fire shall go forth out of their mouth and shall devour their enemies, signifies that those who would do them harm fall into evils and falsities which are from hell, and these destroy them. This is evident from the signification of "fire," as being love in both senses, here the love of self and of the world, and thus the love of evil and falsity of every kind (of which above, n. 68, 504, 539). From this it follows that "fire shall go forth out of their mouth" signifies that those who desire to hurt them or do them harm fall into evils and falsities of every kind, which are from hell. Also from the signification of "devouring their enemies," as being that such will be destroyed by the falsities of evil; for "enemies" in the Word signify the falsities of evil, and "adversaries" evils, and the love of evil and falsity is what destroys.

[2] It is said that "fire shall go forth out of their mouth;" but this is said according to appearance, and it is according to this that it is also said that "fire and a flame go forth out of the mouth of God," and that "anger and wrath go forth from His nostril," and yet nothing of the fire of anger and wrath goes forth from Him, for He is good itself, love itself, and mercy itself, from which nothing of fire, of anger, or of wrath, can go forth, yet it is so said, because it so appears. It so appears, because when an evil and infernal spirit assails anything Divine with intent of hurting it, as when he blasphemes the Lord or the Word, or any good and truth of doctrine, or any good spirit or angel whom the Lord protects, that evil spirit immediately deprives himself of the Lord's protection; for every spirit, the evil as well as the good, is under the Lord's protection, and when that is taken away, he falls into evils and falsities of every kind which are from hell, and at the same time he falls into the hands of those that are from hell, who are called punishers, and these then punish and torment him according to the evil that he has done or has attempted to do. From this it can be seen that the Lord does no evil to such, but that the evil spirit himself brings evil upon himself, that is, the evil itself which is in him does it.

[3] This makes clear the meaning of the words, "If anyone desires to hurt the two witnesses, fire shall go forth out of their mouth and shall devour them;" the two witnesses are the good of love and charity, and the truth of doctrine and faith; and these are Divine, because they are from the Lord with angel and man; the meaning is, not that fire will go forth from these, but from the evil itself, which endeavors to do them harm, as has just been said; and that this is to be understood in a similar way as when it was said that fire, anger, and wrath go forth from Jehovah. (But these things are more fully set forth in the work on Heaven and Hell 545-550, under the head, The Lord Casts no one down into Hell, but the Spirit Casts himself down. )

539. And there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace, signifies dense falsities therefrom out of the evils of earthly and corporeal loves. This is evident from the signification of "smoke," as being the falsity of evil (of which presently); from the signification of "the pit of the abyss," as being the hell where those are who have falsified the Word (respecting which see above, n. 537; and from the signification of "a great furnace," as being the evils of earthly and corporeal loves out of which such falsities break forth (of which in the following article). "Smoke" signifies the falsity of evil, because it proceeds from fire, and "fire" signifies the loves of self and the world and thence all evils; consequently the hells that are in falsities from the evils of those loves, and still more the hells where those are who have falsified the Word by adapting it to favor those loves, appear in a fire like that of a great furnace, from which a dense smoke mingled with fire goes up. I have also seen those hells, and it was evident that it was the loves with those who were in them that presented the appearance of such a fire, and the falsities flowing forth from those loves that presented the appearance of the fiery smoke. But there is no such appearance to those who are therein, for they are in these loves and in the falsities therefrom, their life is in them, and it is by these that they are tormented in many ways, and not by such fire and smoke as are in our natural world. (This can be seen better in the chapter in the work on Heaven and Hell 566-575, which treats of Infernal Fire and the Gnashing of Teeth.)

[2] That "smoke" signifies the dense falsity that flows forth from evil can be seen from the following passages. In Moses:

Abraham looked upon the faces of Sodom and Gomorrah, and upon all the faces of the land of the plain, and he saw, and lo, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace (Genesis 19:28).

"Sodom and Gomorrah" in the spiritual sense mean those who are altogether in the loves of self; therefore the smoke that Abraham saw rising from their land after the burning, signifies the dense falsity pertaining to those who are altogether in the love of self; for those who love themselves supremely are in the thickest darkness in respect to things spiritual and celestial, for they are merely natural and sensual, and are wholly separated from heaven; and then they not only deny Divine things, but they think out falsities by which to destroy them. These falsities are what are signified by the "smoke" seen rising from Sodom and Gomorrah.

[3] In the same:

And the sun went down, and there was dense darkness, and behold a furnace of smoke, and a torch of fire that passed through between those pieces (Genesis 15:17).

This was said of Abraham's posterity from Jacob, as can be seen from what precedes in that chapter; "the sun went down" signifies the last time, when consummation takes place; "and there was dense darkness" signifies when evil takes the place of good and falsity the place of truth; "behold a furnace of smoke" signifies the densest falsity from evils; "a torch of fire" signifies the heat of cupidities; "it passed through between the pieces" signifies that these separated them from the Lord. (But this may be seen more fully explained in Arcana Coelestia 1858-1862.)

[4] In the same:

Moses made the people to go forth from the camp to meet God; and they stood in the lower parts of the mount. And Mount Sinai smoked, the whole of it, because Jehovah descended upon it in fire; and the smoke ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked exceedingly (Exodus 19:17, 18);

And all the people saw the voices and the torches, and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and the people saw, and they were moved and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with us lest we die (Exodus 20:18, 19).

This represented the quality of that people; for Jehovah, that is, the Lord, appears to everyone according to his quality; to those who are in truths from good He appears as a serene light, but to those who are in falsities from evil as smoke from fire. And because that people was in earthly and corporeal loves, and in falsities of evil therefrom, the Lord appeared to them from Mount Sinai as a devouring fire, and as the smoke of a furnace. (That the sons of Jacob were such has been shown in many places in the Arcana Coelestia, as may be seen from what is brought together in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248; and that the Lord appears to everyone according to his quality, as a vivifying and recreating fire to those who are in good, and as a consuming fire to those who are in evil, see Arcana Coelestia 934, 1861, 6832, 8814, 8819, 9434, 10551; what the other particulars in the passages cited signify may be seen in the same work where the book of Exodus is explained.)

[5] "Smoke and fire" have a like signification in David:

Because He was wroth there went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured, coals burned from Him; He bowed heaven also and came down; and gross darkness was under His feet (Psalms 18:7-9; 2 Samuel 22:8, 9).

This does not mean that smoke and a devouring fire went up from Jehovah, for there is no anger in Him; but it is so said because the Lord so appears to those who are in falsities and evils, for they regard Him from their falsities and evils.

[6] The like is signified by the following in the same:

He looketh on the earth and it trembleth; He toucheth the mountains and they smoke (Psalms 104:32).

In the same:

Bow Thy heavens, O Jehovah, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke (Psalms 144:5).

In Isaiah:

Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou whole Philistia art dissolved; for from the north cometh a smoke (14 Isaiah 14:31).

"Gate" signifies truth introducing into the church, "city" doctrine, "Philistia" faith; therefore "Howl, O gate, cry, O city, thou whole Philistia art dissolved," signifies the vastation of the church in respect to the truth of doctrine, and thence in respect to faith. The "north" signifies the hell where and from which are the falsities of doctrine and the falsities of faith, and "smoke" such falsities; therefore "from the north cometh smoke" signifies devastating falsity out of the hells.

[7] In Nahum:

Behold, I will burn her chariot with smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions (Nahum 2:13).

This, too, treats of the devastation of the church; and "to burn a chariot with smoke" signifies to pervert all truths of doctrine into falsities, "smoke" meaning falsities, and "chariot" doctrine; and "the sword shall devour thy young lions" signifies that falsities will destroy the chief truths of the church, "young lions" meaning the chief and protecting truths of the church, and "sword" meaning falsity destroying truth.

[8] In Joel:

I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth; blood and fire and columns of smoke (Joel 2:30).

This is said of the Last Judgment; and "blood, fire, and columns of smoke," signify the truth of the Word falsified, its good adulterated, and mere falsities resulting therefrom, "blood" meaning the truth of the Word falsified, "fire" its good adulterated, and "columns of smoke" mere and dense falsities therefrom.

[9] In David:

The wicked shall perish, and the enemies of Jehovah as the glory of lambs shall be consumed, in smoke shall they be consumed (Psalms 37:20).

"The wicked and the enemies of Jehovah shall be consumed in smoke" signifies that they shall be destroyed by the falsities of evil; those are called "wicked" who are in falsities, and "enemies" who are in evils, and "smoke" means the falsity of evil.

[10] In the same:

As smoke is driven away Thou wilt drive away; as wax melteth before the fire the wicked shall perish before God (Psalms 68:2).

The destruction of the wicked is compared to smoke driven away by the wind, and to wax that melts before the fire, because "smoke" signifies falsities, and "fire" evils.

[11] In Isaiah:

The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment (Isaiah 51:6).

"Smoke" here signifies falsity, by which those who were in the former heaven would be destroyed; and "the garment waxing old" signifies truth destroyed by the falsities of evil. Comparison is made with smoke vanishing away, and with a garment waxing old, because comparisons in the Word are also correspondences, and in like manner significative.

[12] In Hosea:

They sin more and more, and make them a molten image of their silver, idols in their understanding, all of it the work of the artificers; therefore they shall be as a morning cloud, and as the dew falling early and going away, it is driven by a whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and like smoke out of a chimney (Hosea 13:2, 3).

This describes the doctrinals that are from self-intelligence, in which are the evils of falsity and the falsities of evil. Such doctrinals are signified by "molten images of silver," and by "idols;" their "silver" signifies what is from self-intelligence, and the "work of the artificers" that intelligence; it is therefore added "in their understanding they have made them idols, all of it the work of the artificers." That such doctrinals, being falsities, would pass away, is signified by "they shall pass away like smoke out of a chimney." It is also said "as a morning cloud, and as the dew falling early, and as [chaff] out of the threshing-floor," because the church in its beginning is like a morning cloud, like dew falling early, and like corn in the threshing-floor, by which are signified the truths of good and the goods of truths, which nevertheless successively pass away and are changed into the falsities of evil and into the evils of falsity.

[13] "Smoke" also signifies falsity in other passages in Revelation, as in the following:

Out of the mouth of the horses went forth fire and smoke and brimstone; and by these was the third part of men slain, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone (Revelation 9:17, 18).

The smoke of their torment goeth up unto the ages of the ages (Revelation 14:11).

And again:

The smoke of Babylon goeth up unto the ages of the ages (Revelation 19:3).

[14] Because "fire" signifies love in both senses, both celestial love and infernal love, and therefore "smoke" signifies that which flows forth from love-falsity, which is from infernal love, and truth, which is from heavenly love-therefore "smoke" signifies in a good sense holy truth. This is what "smoke from the fire of the incense-offerings" signifies, as may be seen above (n. 494), as also in the following passages. In Isaiah:

Jehovah will create over every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and over her convocations, a cloud by day and a smoke and the brightness of a flame of fire by night; for over all the glory shall be a veiling (Isaiah 4:5).

(This may be seen explained above, n. 294, 504.) In the same:

The posts of the thresholds were moved at the voice of the crying seraphim, and the house was filled with smoke (Isaiah 6:4).

In Revelation:

The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power (Revelation 15:8).

And again:

The smoke of the incense-offerings with the prayers of the saints ascended out of the angel's hand before God (Revelation 8:4).