Title: What to Think and Do During Temptations
Topic: Salvation
Summary: This bible study outlines five things to think and five things to do during the suffering of spiritual temptations.
Use the reference links below to follow along in the Bible as you watch.
References:
Exodus 14
James 1:13-14
Matthew 4:1-11
Psalms 107
Isaiah 24
Jeremiah 5:14-18
Nahum 2:1-2
Psalms 34:15; 37:24; 118:17-18; 119:71
#44 What to Think and Do during Temptations
By Jonathan S. Rose
Spirit and Life Bible Study broadcast from 6/8/2011. The complete series is available at: www.spiritandlifebiblestudy.com
Exodus 14
1
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
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Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.
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For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.
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And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.
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And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?
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And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him:
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And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.
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And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.
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But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.
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And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.
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And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
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Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.
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And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
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The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
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And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
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But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
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And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
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And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
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And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:
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And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.
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And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
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And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
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And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
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And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,
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And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.
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And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.
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And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
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And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.
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But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
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Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.
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And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.
Arcana Coelestia #6854
6854. 'And I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians' means that He would stoop down to them to release them from the power of false factual knowledge, which tries to destroy the truths of the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming down' as stooping down, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'to deliver' as to release, for one who releases people from falsities delivers or sets them free; from the meaning of 'the hand' as the power, dealt with in 878, 3387, 3563, 4931-4937, 5544; and from the meaning of 'the Egyptians' as false factual knowledge, which is opposed to the Church's truths, dealt with in 6651, 6679, 6683, and so which tries to destroy them. As regards the Lord's coming down, the situation is that the Lord is said to come or stoop down when He comes to judgement, 1311, and also when He comes down to lower things, in this instance to those belonging to the spiritual Church, who are meant by 'the children of Israel'. For the subject in the internal sense is the way in which those people are molested by falsities, at which time they undergo temptations, and the way in which after that they are set free in order that they may be led into heaven.
[2] But the contents of the internal sense of this verse and of those that follow hold an even deeper mystery which the Church does not yet know about and which must therefore be disclosed. Those who are termed spiritual are people for whom only the understanding part of their mind, not the will part, can be regenerated. In the understanding part of their mind the Lord therefore implants a new will, a will which conforms to the teachings that compose the faith of their Church. These people, that is to say, spiritual ones such as these, were saved solely by the Lord's Coming into the world. The reason why is that the Divine passing through heaven, which was the Divine Human before the Lord's Coming, could not reach them; for to be sure the teachings of their Church were for the most part not truths, and consequently the good in their will was not good either, 6427. Since those people could be saved solely by the Lord's Coming, they could not be raised into heaven before then. They were therefore kept in the meantime on the lower earth, in places there which in the Word are called 'pits'. This lower earth was besieged on every side by the hells where there were falsities, by which they were molested greatly during that time. In spite of this however the Lord protected them. But after the Lord came into the world and made the Human within Himself Divine, He set free those who were in the pits there and raised them to heaven. From these He also formed the spiritual heaven which is the second heaven. This is what is meant by the Lord's descent into the lower parts 1 and by His deliverance of those who had been bound.
[3] This is the even deeper mystery that is described in the internal sense of this verse and of those that follow. See what has been shown already regarding those who are spiritual,
The spiritual are in obscurity so far as the truth and good of faith are concerned, 2708, 2715, 2718, 2831, 2849, 2935, 2937, 3241, 3833, 6289.
Their obscurity is lightened by the Lord's Divine Human, 2716, 4402.
Because they are in obscurity so far as the truth and good of faith are concerned they are under strong attack from the hells; but the Lord is constantly protecting them, 6419.
Those who are spiritual cannot have the will part of their mind regenerated, only the understanding part; and there the Lord forms a new will, 863, 875, 895, 927, 918, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2156, 4328, 4493, 5113.
The spiritual were saved by the Lord's Coming into the world, 2833, 2834, 3969.
[4] Various places in the prophetical part of the Word mention 'the bound' or 'the bound in the pit' and the fact that the Lord delivered them. The bound' should be taken to mean specifically those spoken of just above, as in Isaiah,
I Jehovah have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, because I will guard you, and give you to be a covenant of the people, 2 a light of the nations, to open the blind eyes, to bring the bound out of prison, out of the dungeon-house those who sit in darkness. Isaiah 42:6-7.
In the same prophet,
I have guarded you, and I have given you as covenant of the people - to restore the land; to share out the devastated inheritances; to say to the bound, Go out; to those who are in darkness, Reveal yourselves. They will feed along the ways, and on all slopes will their pasture be. Isaiah 49:8-9.
This plainly refers to the Lord. 'The bound' stands in particular for those who were held back on the lower earth until the Lord's Coming, when they were raised up to heaven, and in general for all who are governed by good, yet are held back as though bound by falsities, from which however they wish to break away.
[5] In Zechariah,
Through the blood of your covenant I will let out your bound ones from the pit. Zechariah 9:11.
In Isaiah,
They will surely be gathered together, the bound ones in the pit, and they will be shut up in the dungeon; after a multitude of days they will be visited. Isaiah 24:21.
'The bound ones in the pit' stands for the same people. And in addition to these places the same meaning can be seen from the following words in Isaiah,
Jehovah has anointed Me to bring good tidings to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the broken in heart; to preach liberty to captives, to those who are bound, to him who is blind; to proclaim the year of Jehovah's good pleasure. Isaiah 61:1-2.
And elsewhere,
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; those dwelling in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shone out. Isaiah 9:2.
Footnotes:
1. i.e. hell
2. 'The Latin means for the people but the Hebrew means of the people, which Swedenborg has in some other places where he quotes this verse.
