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.
Exodus 31
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.
Arcana Coelestia #9031
9031. 'And thoroughly cure him' means restoration, that is to say, through explanation; for if statements in the literal sense of the Word are looked at on a more internal level, all are in agreement. The situation here is as it is with statements in the Word which speak of the sun's rising or setting, though in reality it neither rises nor sets. However, it presents the appearance of doing so to inhabitants on earth, because of the earth's daily rotation on its axis. This natural truth lies hidden within the former, which accords with the appearance presented to the eyes. If the truth had been stated in the Word contrary to that appearance, the common people would not have understood it; and what the common people do not understand they do not believe either. It is similar with the Sun of heaven, which is the Lord; this too is said to rise. But it is said to rise in the heart when a person is being regenerated, and also when he is governed by the good of love and faith; and it is said to set when a person is immersed in evil and in falsity arising from it. But in reality the Lord is always where the sun is rising, for which reason also He is called the Sunrise or the East, and never where it is setting. Nor does He turn away from anyone; rather a person turns away from Him, which is the reason for the appearance that the Lord turns His face away, and even brings about what is ill. Therefore also such a thing is said of Him in the Word; and that too is a truth, though it is an apparent truth, and so does not conflict with the former. From all this one may now see what 'thoroughly curing' means in the internal sense, namely the restoration of spiritual truth, which is brought about by correct explanation of factual truth, or truth belonging to the literal sense of the Word.
[2] The situation is just the same with every truth that belongs to the literal sense. In natural light, which a person who perceives things on a sensory level possesses, that truth is seen as it is actually stated in the Word. For the literal sense is natural and is for those who perceive things on a sensory level. But when the same truth is presented in the light of heaven it is seen according to the internal sense; for this sense is spiritual and is for those whose perception lies on a heavenly level, because the things that belong to natural light vanish in the light of heaven. Natural light is like gloom or like a cloud, but heavenly light is like the glory and brightness after the cloud has been removed. Therefore also the literal sense of the Word is called 'a cloud' and the internal sense 'the glory', see Preface to Genesis 18, and 4391, 5922, 6343, 8106, 8443, 8781.
[3] The reason why 'thoroughly curing' means restoring in the spiritual sense is that 'sickness' and 'illness' mean poor health of the internal man. The internal man is in poor health when its life, which is spiritual life, is sick, that is, when the person turns aside from truth to falsity and from good to evil. When this happens that life is sick; and when the person turns away completely from truth and good that life dies. But its death is called spiritual death, which is damnation. This being the situation with the life of the internal man, such things as constitute sicknesses and death in the natural world refer, when spoken of in the Word, to sicknesses of spiritual life and to the death of that life. So too with curings or healings from sickness, as in Isaiah,
Jehovah strikes Egypt striking and curing, as a consequence of which they turn themselves towards Jehovah; and He will be entreated by them, and He will cure them. Isaiah 19:22.
In the same prophet,
But He was pierced because of our transgressions, bruised because of our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are cured. 1 Isaiah 53:5.
These words refer to the Lord.
[4] In Jeremiah,
Return, O perverse children, I will cure you of backsliding. 2 Jeremiah 3:22.
In the same prophet,
Behold, I will bring curing and remedy to it; 3 and I will cure them and reveal to them the abundance of peace, and truth. Jeremiah 33:6.
In the same prophet,
Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you have multiplied medicaments; there is no curing for you. Jeremiah 46:11.
And in Ezekiel,
Beside the river there is rising up upon its bank, on this side and on that, [every] tree for food, whose leaf does not fall, and whose fruit does not fail it is reborn monthly, for its waters flow out from the sanctuary, wherefore its fruit is for food, and its leaf for medicaments. Ezekiel 47:12.
'Fruit for food' stands for the good of love and charity, which serves to nourish spiritual life, and 'leaf for medicaments' for the truths of faith which serve to refresh and restore that life. For the meaning of 'fruit' as the good of love and charity, see 3146, 7690; and for the meaning of 'leaf' as the truth of faith, 885.
[5] Since sicknesses and illnesses, also curings and medicaments, mentioned in the Word do not refer to natural life but to another kind of life distinct and separate from natural life, it is evident to anyone who ponders on the matter for a while that a person possesses another kind of life, which belongs to his internal man. Those who think materialistically of the life a person has do not believe that he has any life other than that of the body which is the life of the external or natural man. They wonder what the life of the internal man may be, indeed what the internal man may be. If they are told that this life is the life of faith and charity, and that the internal man is the person's spirit which lives after death, and which in essence is the real person, they wonder all the more. And those of them who live solely for the body and not for the soul, thus who are altogether natural people, understand nothing of what they are told about the life of faith and charity or about the internal man. For when they think, they see things altogether in natural light and not at all in spiritual light, on account of which also after death their thought remains materialistic. They live then 'in the shadow of death', that is, steeped in falsities arising from evil; they are in utter darkness and are blind to the light of heaven.
Footnotes:
1. literally, and in His wound curing has been given to us
2. literally, cure your turnings away
3. literally, I will cause curing and remedy to go up to it
