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Arcana Coelestia #8857

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8857. It is similar with love to the Lord. When that love is dominant it is present in every aspect of his life, as when he loves his monarch or loves his parent. While he is in their presence love towards them shines from every part of his face, is heard in every syllable of his speech, and is apparent in every one of his gestures. This is how to understand the command 1 to have the Lord unceasingly before one's eyes and to love Him above all, with all one's soul and all one's heart.

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From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9395

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9395. 'And half of the blood he sprinkled over the altar' means Divine Truth from the Lord's Divine Human. This is clear from the meaning of 'the blood' as Divine Truth, dealt with just above in 9393; and from the meaning of 'the altar' as a representative of the Lord's Divine Human, dealt with in 921, 2777, 2811, 4489, consequently the chief representative of worship of the Lord, 4541, 8935, 8940. The reason why this 'half of the blood', which was sprinkled over the altar, means Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human and the other 'half of the blood', which was sprinkled over the people, verse 8 below, means this Divine Truth when accepted by a member of the Church, is this: A covenant was being established, and by 'a covenant' is meant being joined together, 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778, and the Lord comes to be joined to a member of the Church when Divine Truth which emanates from the Lord is accepted by a person. From this it is evident why blood was used, and when sprinkled over the altar and over the people was called the blood of the covenant, verse 8.

  
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From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #6481

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6481. Spirits entering the next life bring with them the opinion that Divine Providence acts in an overall manner but not in specific ways. The reason they were of this opinion [in the world] was that they saw wicked people being promoted to important positions and made rich, and meeting with success, which they attributed to such people's own prudence. Those spirits did not know that Divine Providence has as its end in view a person's eternal salvation, thus not his great happiness in the world, not - that is to say - wealthiness and eminence which people during their lifetime think real happiness consists in. But such thinking is not correct, for eminence gives rise for the most part to self-love, and wealthiness to love of the world, thus to what are the opposites of love to God and charity towards the neighbour. Thus it is that things such as eminence and wealthiness are granted to the wicked, and to the good too provided that those things are not disadvantageous to them and lead them away from heaven.

[2] What is more, the Lord employs the wicked as much as the good to accomplish His ends; for the Lord spurs the wicked by means of their own actual loves to do good to neighbour, country, and Church. For the wicked wish to be eminent, wish to profit, and therefore wish to be seen as upright and zealous; and more forcefully than the upright they are aroused by that desire, as if by fire, to perform such deeds. The wicked are also allowed to think that everything can be attributed to their own prudence, and that Divine Providence has no existence or else operates only in an overall manner; for they have no wish to perceive anything different from this. And so that they may perform the kinds of deeds that are beneficial to society, successes in the things they think to do are granted them, successes which arouse them all the more since they attribute them to themselves.

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