Commentary

 

#44 What to Think and Do during Temptations

By Jonathan S. Rose

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

Play Video
Spirit and Life Bible Study broadcast from 6/8/2011. The complete series is available at: www.spiritandlifebiblestudy.com

The Bible

 

Isaiah 23

Study

   

1 The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.

2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.

3 And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.

4 Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins.

5 As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.

6 Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.

7 Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.

8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?

9 The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.

10 Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.

11 He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.

12 And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.

13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.

14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.

15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.

16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.

17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9669

Study this Passage

  
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9669. Verses 31-33 And you shall make a veil from violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet and fine twined linen; with the work of a designer it shall be made, 1 with cherubs. And you shall hang it upon four pillars of shittim [wood] overlaid with gold, and their hooks [shall be made] from gold; [they shall stand] on four bases of silver. And you shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, within the veil; and let the veil be for you a divider between the holy place and the holy of holies.

'And you shall make a veil' means the intermediary uniting this heaven and the inmost heaven, thus spiritual good to celestial good. 'From violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet and fine twined linen' means the forms of the good of love and faith that are joined together there. 'With the work of a designer it shall be made' means the power of understanding. 'With cherubs' means watchfulness, guarding against the intermingling of the two. 'And you shall hang it upon four pillars of shittim [wood]' means the good of merit, which is the Lord's alone, linking them together and providing support. 'Overlaid with gold' means a representative sign there [of good]. 'And their hooks [shall be made] from gold' means the modes by which they are linked together through good. '[They shall stand] on four bases of silver' means the power by which they are linked together through truth. 'And you shall hang up the veil under the clasps' means the ability to link them together and the consequent accomplishment of this. 'And you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, within the veil' means the coming-into-being of the inmost heaven within that uniting intermediary. 'And let the veil be for you a divider between the holy place and the holy of holies' means between spiritual good - which is the good of charity towards the neighbour and the good of faith in the Lord - and celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord and the good of mutual love.

Footnotes:

1. literally, he shall make it

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