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
Isaiah 24
1
Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
2
And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
3
The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
4
The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
5
The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
6
Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
7
The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh.
8
The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.
9
They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
10
The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
11
There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.
12
In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.
13
When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.
14
They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea.
15
Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
16
From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.
17
Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18
And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19
The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22
And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23
Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
Arcana Coelestia #2069
2069. 'Kings of peoples will be from her' means truths that are the product of truths and goods joined together, meant by 'kings of peoples'. This is clear from the meaning of 'kings' as all truths in general, dealt with above in 2015, and from the meaning of 'peoples' also as truths, in general all things that are spiritual. For 'kings' are spoken of in reference to peoples, and not so much in reference to nations except when the nations mean evils, dealt with in 1259, 1260. In the prophetical part of the Word kings and peoples are mentioned many times, but nowhere are they used to mean kings and peoples, for at no point are kings and peoples the subject in the Word proper, which is the internal sense, but the celestial and spiritual things comprising the Lord's kingdom, and so goods and truths. The sense of the letter expresses itself by means of perceivable objects, as anyone does with words, merely to enable understanding.
[2] Since the subject here is Sarah and the promise that 'kings of peoples will be from her', and since 'Sarah' means Divine Truth which was the Lord's, 'kings of peoples' clearly means truths that are the product of truths and goods joined together, which are all the truths of the internal Church, that is, the interior truths of faith. Because these truths come from the Lord, they are frequently called 'kings' in the Word, and also 'a king's sons', as shown above in 2015.
[3] Anyone may see that some internal Divine matter lies concealed in the words that 'kings of peoples will be from her'. For the subject in this verse is Isaac, of whom it is said, 'I will bless him, and he will become nations', but of Sarah that 'kings of peoples will be from her'. Almost the same was also said of Abraham in verse 6 above, that 'kings will go out of him'; but it did not say as it does of Sarah, 'kings of peoples'. The arcanum within this lies too deep to allow it to be uncovered and described in a few words. From the representation and meaning of 'Abraham' as Divine Good and from the representation and meaning of 'Sarah' as Divine Truth the arcanum is to some extent evident, namely that from the Lord's Divine Good meant by 'Abraham' all celestial truth will come forth and have its being, and from the Lord's Divine Truth meant by 'Sarah' all spiritual truth will do so. Celestial truth is the truth which exists with celestial angels, and spiritual truth that which exists with spiritual angels. Or what amounts to the same, celestial truth was the truth which existed with members of the Most Ancient Church which came before the Flood and which was a celestial Church, spiritual truth that which existed with members of the Ancient Church which came after the Flood and was a spiritual Church. For angels, as also members of the Church, are distinguished into celestial and spiritual. That which distinguishes the celestial from the spiritual is love to the Lord, and that which distinguishes spiritual from celestial is love towards the neighbour.
[4] No more can be said about celestial truth and spiritual truth however until the difference between the celestial and the spiritual is known, or what amounts to the same, the difference between the celestial Church and the spiritual. For this see Volume One, in 202, 337, 1577; then concerning the nature of the Most Ancient Church and the nature of the Ancient Church, in 597, 607, 640, 765, 1114-1125, and in many other places. On the point that possessing love to the Lord constitutes the celestial, and possessing love towards the neighbour the spiritual, see 2023.
[5] These considerations now show what the arcanum is, namely that 'the kings who will go out of Abraham', referred to in verse 6, mean celestial truths that flow in from the Lord's Divine Good, while 'the kings of peoples who will be from Sarah', referred to in the present verse, mean spiritual truths that flow in from the Lord's Divine Truth. For the Lord's Divine Good is unable to flow in except with the celestial man since it is an influx into the will part of his mind, as was the case with the Most Ancient Church, whereas with the spiritual man the Lord's Divine Truth is flowing in since the influx is solely into the understanding part, which in him has been separated from the will part, 2053 (end). Or what amounts to the same, celestial good is flowing in with the celestial man, and spiritual good with the spiritual man. As a consequence the Lord is seen by celestial angels as the Sun, but by spiritual angels as the Moon, 1529, 1530.
