From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #10325

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

10325. The books of the Word are all those which have the internal sense; books which do not have it are not the Word. The books of the Word in the Old Testament are: The five Books of Moses; the Book of Joshua; the Book of Judges; the two Books of Samuel; the two Books of Kings; the Psalms of David; and the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. And in the New Testament they are: The four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; and the Book of Revelation.

  
/ 10837  
  

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

The Bible

 

Exodus 31

Study

   

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2 See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:

3 And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,

4 To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,

5 And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.

6 And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;

7 The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle,

8 And the table and his furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense,

9 And the altar of burnt offering with all his furniture, and the laver and his foot,

10 And the cloths of service, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office,

11 And the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.

12 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.

14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.

17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #846

Study this Passage

  
/ 962  
  

846. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God. This symbolically means, who had been rejected by those caught up in falsities hatched out of their own intelligence, because they worshiped the Lord and lived in accordance with the truths in His Word.

The souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God mean people after death, who are then called spirits, people clothed in a spiritual body, who were hidden away by the Lord in the lower earth until the evil had been removed by the Last Judgment. They are said to have been beheaded because they were rejected by people caught up in falsities hatched out of their own intelligence, who are all those caught up in evils and so in falsities, or in falsities and as a result of these in evils, and yet in outward appearances are worshipers of God.

That an axe symbolizes such falsity will be seen in the following number. The testimony of Jesus and the Word of God symbolize an acknowledgment of the Lord's Divinity in His humanity, the same as these words earlier:

(John) bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ... (Revelation 1:2)

(Michael and his angels) overcame (the dragon) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony... (Revelation 12:11)

(The dragon) went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:17)

I am your fellow servant and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus... ...the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Revelation 19:10)

That these declarations symbolize an acknowledgment of the Lord's Divinity in His humanity and a life in accordance with the truths in His Word, especially the Ten Commandments, may be seen in the earlier explanations of those verses.

These souls are the same ones of whom the following is said above:

...I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, who are holy and true, will You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" Then white robes were given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until the number of both their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was complete. (Revelation 6:9-11)

These verses may be seen explained in nos. 325-329.

  
/ 962  
  

Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.