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Arcana Coelestia #9373

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9373. Come up unto Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction with the Lord, is evident from the signification of “coming up,” as being to be raised toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 4969, 5406, 5817, 6007), consequently also to be conjoined (n. 8760). That it denotes conjunction with the Lord, is because by “Jehovah” in the Word is meant the the Lord, (n. 1343, 1736, 1793, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6280, 6303, 6905, 8274, 8864, 9315). A secret which also lies hidden in the internal sense of these words, is that the sons of Jacob, over whom Moses was the head, were not called and chosen; but they themselves insisted that Divine worship should be instituted among them (according to wh at has been said in n. 4290, 4293); and therefore it is here said, “and He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah,” as if not Jehovah, but another, had said that he should come up. For the same reason in what follows it is said that “the people should not go up” (verse 2); and that “Jehovah sent not His hand unto the sons of Israel who were set apart” (verse 11); and that “the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel” (verse 17); and lastly that Moses, being called the seventh day, “entered into the midst of the cloud.” For by “the cloud” is meant the Word in the letter (n. 5922, 6343, 6752, 6832, 8106, 8443, 8781); and with the sons of Jacob the Word was separated from its internal sense, because they were in external worship without internal, as can be clearly seen from the fact that now, as before, they said, “all the words which Jehovah hath spoken we will do” (verse 3); and yet scarcely forty days afterward they worshiped a golden calf instead of Jehovah; which shows that this was hidden in their hearts while they were saying with their lips that they would serve Jehovah alone. But nevertheless those who are meant by “the called and the chosen” are those who are in internal worship, and who from internal worship are in external; that is, those who are in love to and faith in the Lord, and from this in love toward the neighbor.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #2803

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2803. That the Divine Truth is the “son,” and the Divine Good the “father,” is evident from the signification of a “son,” as being truth (see n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2633); and of a “father,” as being good; and also from the conception and birth of truth, which is from good. Truth cannot be and come forth [existere] from any other source than good, as has been shown many times. That the “son” here is the Divine Truth, and the “father” the Divine Good, is because the union of the Divine Essence with the Human, and of the Human Essence with the Divine, is the Divine marriage of Good with Truth, and of Truth with Good, from which comes the heavenly marriage; for in Jehovah or the Lord there is nothing but what is infinite; and because infinite, it cannot be apprehended by any idea, except that it is the being and the coming forth [esse et existere] of all good and truth, or is Good itself and Truth itself. Good itself is the “Father,” and Truth itself is the “Son.” But because as before said there is a Divine marriage of Good and Truth, and of Truth and Good, the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father, as the Lord Himself teaches in John:

Jesus saith unto Philip, Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in Me ? Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in me (John 14:10-11).

And again in the same Evangelist:

Jesus said to the Jews, Though ye believe not Me, believe the works; that ye may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father (John 10:36, 38).

And again:

I pray for them; for all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and that they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee (John 17:9-10, 21).

And again:

Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself. Father, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee (John 13:31-32; 17:1).

[2] From this may be seen the nature of the union of the Divine and the Human in the Lord; namely, that it is mutual and alternate, or reciprocal; which union is that which is called the Divine Marriage, from which descends the heavenly marriage, which is the Lord’s kingdom itself in the heavens—thus spoken of in John:

In that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you (John 14:20).

And again:

I pray for them, that they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us, I in them and Thou in Me; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:21-23, 26).

That this heavenly marriage is that of good and truth, and of truth and good, may be seen above (n. 2508, 2618, 2728, 2729 and following numbers).

[3] And because the Divine Good cannot be and come forth without the Divine Truth, nor the Divine Truth without the Divine Good, but the one in the other mutually and reciprocally, it is therefore manifest that the Divine Marriage was from eternity; that is, the Son in the Father, and the Father in the Son, as the Lord Himself teaches in John:

And now O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thyself, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was (John 17:5, 24).

But the Divine Human which was born from eternity was also born in time; and what was born in time, and glorified, is the same. Hence it is that the Lord so often said that He was going to the Father who sent Him; that is, that He was returning to the Father. And in John:

In the beginning was the Word (the “Word” is the Divine Truth itself), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1-3, 14; see also John 3:13; 6:62).

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

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Apocalypse Explained #254

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254. As I also overcame, and sit with my Father in his throne. That this signifies comparatively as the Divine good is united with the Divine truth in heaven, is evident from the signification of overcoming, when said of the Lord Himself, as being to unite Divine good with Divine truth. And as this was effected by temptations and victories, therefore it is said, "as I overcame." (That the Lord united Divine good with Divine truth by temptations admitted into His Human, and by continual victories then, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 201, 293, 302). The reason why sitting with my Father in his throne, signifies Divine good united with Divine truth in heaven, is that by Father, when mentioned by the Lord, is meant the Divine good which was in Him from conception, and by Son, the Divine truth, each in heaven; and by throne is meant heaven, as above. This Divine of the Lord in the heavens is called the Divine truth, but it is the Divine good united to the Divine truth. (That this is the case may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 13, 133, 139, 140).

[2] The reason why a comparison is made of the members of the church with the Lord himself, when it is said, "He that overcometh, to him will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and sit with my Father in his throne" is, that the life of the Lord upon earth was an example according to which the members of the church were to live, as the Lord Himself also teaches in John:

"I have given unto you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (13:15, 17).

This is why the Lord Himself, in places, makes a comparison between Himself and His disciples, as in John:

Jesus said, "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in my love, as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love" (15:9, 10).

Again:

"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world" (17:16, 18).

Again:

"As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you" (20:21).

Again:

"The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them, and thou in me. Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me. I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them" (17:22-24, 26).

The reason why the Lord spoke of His conjunction with men as of His conjunction with the Father, that is, of His Human with the Divine which was in Himself, is that the Lord is not conjoined with man's proprium, but with what is His own. The Lord removes man's proprium, and gives from His own, and in that He dwells. That this is the case is also known in the church, as is clear from the prayer used by, and the exhortation addressed to, those who approach the Sacrament of the Supper, in which are these words: "If with a true penitent heart and lively faith we receive that holy Sacrament, for then we spiritually eat the flesh of Christ, and drink his blood, then we dwell in Christ, and Christ in us: we are one with Christ, and Christ with us." And in John 6:56. (But these things may be better comprehended from what is shown in the work, Heaven and Hell, n. 11, 12).

Hence, then, because the Divine of the Lord received by angels and men constitutes heaven and the church in them, they are one with the Lord, as He and the Father are one.

[3] In order that it may be yet more fully known how is to be understood what the Lord says, that He sits with His Father in His throne, it is to be noted that the throne of God denotes heaven, as was shown in the preceding article, also that heaven is heaven from the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which is called Divine truth, as was said above. The Lord Himself is not in heaven, but is above the heavens, and appears to those who are in the heavens as a Sun. The reason why the Lord appears as a Sun is because He is Divine love, and Divine love appears to the angels as solar fire; whence also sacred fire in the Word signifies Love Divine. From the Lord as a Sun proceed light and heat: the light which proceeds, because it is spiritual light, is Divine truth; and the heat, because it is spiritual heat, is Divine good. The latter, namely, the Divine good, is meant by the Father in heaven. (That the Lord is the Sun of heaven, and that the light and heat proceeding therefrom are the Divine truth united with the Divine good, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 116-125, also n. 126-140: and that heaven is heaven from the Divine which proceeds from the Lord, n. 7-12). It is therefore evident what is meant by Father in the heavens, and heavenly Father, as in Matthew:

Do good to your enemies, "that ye may be the sons of your Father which is in the heavens" (5:44, 45).

Again:

"Be ye perfect, as your Father in the heavens is perfect" (verse 48).

Again:

"You who are evil, know to give good gifts to your children; how much more shall your Father who is in the heavens give good things to them that ask him" (7:11).

Again:

"He that doeth the will of my Father who is in the heavens, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens" (7:21).

Again:

"Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up" (15:13).

Also in many other passages, in Matthew 5:16:6:1, 6, 8; 12:50; 16:17; 18:14, 19, 35; Mark 9:25, 26; Luke 11:13.

[4] That the Divine good is meant by the Father is also evident from this passage in Matthew:

"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for their angels do always behold the face of my Father who is in the heavens" (18:10).

By their beholding the face of their Father who is in the heavens is signified that they receive Divine good from the Lord. That they do not actually see His face is evident from the words of the Lord in John:

"No one hath seen the Father at any time" (1:18; 5:37; 6:46).

The same is evident from this passage in Matthew:

"Call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your Father who is in the heavens" (23:9).

That no man is forbidden to call his father upon earth "father" is evident, nor is it here forbidden by the Lord; but this was said because by Father is meant the Divine good, and there is none good except the one God (19:17). The reason why the Lord spoke thus is that by the Father in the Word of both Testaments is meant, in the spiritual sense, the Divine good, as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3703, 5902, 6050, 7833, 7834; and also heaven and the church as to good, Arcana Coelestia 2691, 2717, 3703, 5581, 8897; and by Father, when mentioned by the Lord, the Divine good of His Divine love, Arcana Coelestia 2803, 3704, 7499, 8328, 8897).

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.