Das Obras de Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia # 2015

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2015. Kings shall go forth from thee. That this signifies that all truth is from Him, is evident from the signification of a “king,” in both the historical and the prophetic Word, as being truth (stated above, n. 1672, but not yet fully shown). From the signification of “nations” as being goods, and from the signification of “kings” as being truths, we can see the nature of the internal sense of the Word, and also how remote it is from the sense of the letter. He who reads the Word, especially the historical portion, has no other belief than that the nations there are nations, and kings, and thus that nations and kings are treated of in the very Word itself. But the idea of nations, as well as that of kings, altogether perishes when it is received by the angels, and in their place there succeed good and truth. This cannot but appear as strange and indeed as a paradox, but still it is really so, and the truth of it may appear to everyone from considering that if, in the Word, nations were signified by “nations,” and kings by “kings,” then the Word of the Lord would involve scarcely anything more than any other history, or any other writing, and thus would be a merely worldly affair, when yet there is nothing in the Word that is not Divine, and therefore celestial and spiritual.

[2] Take as a single instance what is said in this verse, that Abraham should be made fruitful and should be made nations, and that kings should go forth from him-what is this but a merely worldly matter, and in no respect heavenly? For in these things there is only the glory of the world, which is nothing at all in heaven; but if this is the Word of the Lord, there must be in it the glory of heaven, and none of the world’s glory. Therefore the sense of the letter is altogether obliterated and vanishes when it passes into heaven; and it is so purified that nothing that is worldly is intermingled. For by “Abraham” is not meant Abraham, but the Lord; by his being “made fruitful” is not meant that his posterity should increase exceedingly, but that the good of the Lord’s Human Essence should increase to infinitude; by the “nations” are not meant nations, but goods; and by the “kings,” not kings but truths. Still the history according to the sense of the letter remains true; for it is true that it was so said to Abraham; also that he was made fruitful, and that nations and kings came from him.

[3] That “kings” signify truths, may be seen from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

The sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee; thou shalt suck the milk of the nations, and the breast of kings shalt thou suck (Isaiah 60:10, 16);

what it is to “suck the milk of nations” and “the breast of kings,” is by no means plain from the letter, but it is from the internal sense, in which it signifies to be gifted with goods, and instructed in truths.

In Jeremiah:

There shall enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses (Jeremiah 17:25; 22:4);

to “ride in chariots and on horses” is a prophetical saying which signifies an abundance of intellectual things, as may appear from very many passages in the Prophets; and thus by “kings entering in by the gates of the city” is signified in the internal sense that they should be imbued with truths of faith. This is the heavenly sense of the Word, into which the worldly literal sense passes.

[4] Again, in the same Prophet:

Jehovah hath despised in the indignation of His anger the king and the priest; the gates of Zion have sunk into the earth; He hath destroyed and broken her bars; her king and her princes are among the nations; the law is not (Lamentations 2:6, 9);

“the king” here denotes the truth of faith; “the priest” the good of charity; “Zion” the church which is being destroyed, and whose bars are being broken; hence “the king and the princes are among the nations,” that is, truth and the things which are of truth will be banished to such an extent that there will be no “law,” that is, nothing of the doctrine of faith.

In Isaiah:

Before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the ground shall be forsaken, which thou loathest in the presence of her two kings (Isaiah 7:16); where the Lord’s coming is treated of; the “ground which shall be forsaken” denotes faith, of which there would then be none, and the truths of which are the “kings that would be loathed.”

[5] In the same Prophet:

I will lift up My hand to the nations, and raise up My ensign to the peoples; and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy daughters shall be carried upon the shoulder; and kings shall be thy nourishers, and their queens those that give thee suck (Isaiah 49:22-23);

“the nations” and “the daughters” denote goods; and “the peoples” and “the sons” truths (as shown in Part First, where it may be seen that “nations” denote goods, n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849; and that “daughters” have a similar signification, n. 489-491; also that “peoples” denote truths, n. 1259, 1260; and “sons” likewise, n. 489, 491, 533, 1147). “Kings” therefore denote truths in general, by which they will be nourished, and their “queens” the goods from which they will be “suckled.” Whether you say goods and truths, or those who are in goods and truths, it is the same.

[6] Again in the same Prophet:

He shall sprinkle many nations, upon him kings shall shut their mouth-for that which was [not] told them have they seen; and that which they did not hear have they understood (Isaiah 52:15),

where the Lord’s coming is spoken of; the “nations” denote those who are affected by goods, and “kings” those who are affected by truths.

In David:

Now, O ye kings, be intelligent; be instructed, ye judges of the earth; serve Jehovah with fear, and exult with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish in the way (Psalms 2:10-12).

“Kings” denote those who are in truths; who also from their truths are often called “king’s sons;” “the Son” here denotes the Lord, who is here called “the Son” because He is the truth itself, and because all truth is from Him.

[7] In John:

They shall sing a new song, Worthy art Thou who takest the book, and openest the seals thereof; Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests, that we may reign upon the earth (Revelation 5:9-10); where they who are in truths are called “kings.”

The Lord also calls such persons “the sons of the kingdom,” in Matthew:

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the seed is the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one (Matthew 13:37-38).

In John:

The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the Kings that are from the sun rising might be prepared (Revelation 16:12).

That by the “Euphrates” is not meant the Euphrates, nor by “the kings from the sun-rising” any kings therefrom, is evident (what is meant by the “Euphrates” may be seen above, n. 120, 1585, 1866); so that “the way of the kings that are from the sun-rising” means the truths of faith that are from the goods of love.

[8] In the same:

The nations that are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it (Revelation 21:24); where “the nations” denote those who are in goods, and “the kings of the earth” those who are in truths, as may be inferred from the fact that these words are prophetic, and not historical.

In the same:

With the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters the kings of the earth have committed whoredom, and have been made drunken with the wine of her whoredom (Revelation 17:1-2).

And again:

Babylon hath made all the nations drink of the wine of her whoredom, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her (Revelation 18:3, 9); where in like manner it is evident that kings are not meant by “the kings of the earth;” for the falsification and adulteration of the doctrine of faith, that is, of truth, is treated of, and this is the “whoredom;” “the kings of the earth” denote the truths that are falsified and adulterated.

[9] In the same:

The ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, that have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority [potestas] as kings with the beast for one hour. These shall have one mind, and shall give their power and authority to the beast (Revelation 17:12-13).

That these “kings” are not kings, is evident to everyone; for if so it would be wholly unintelligible that the ten kings should receive authority as kings one hour. So too in another passage:

I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war with him that sat upon the horse, and with his army (Revelation 19:19).

That “he that sat upon the horse” is “the Word of God,” is openly stated in verse 13; and it is against this that the kings of the earth are said to have been gathered together. “The beast” denotes the goods of love, profaned; and “the kings” denote the truths of faith, adulterated; these are called “the kings of the earth,” because they are within the church. (That “the earth” is the church may be seen above, n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262.) The “white horse” denotes the understanding of truth; and “he that sat upon the horse,” the Word. This meaning is still more manifest in Daniel (chapter 11), where the war between “the king of the south” and “the king of the north” is treated of; by which terms are signified the truths and falsities that had fought, the combats being described here also in an historical manner by this “war.”

[10] As “a king” signifies truth, it may be seen what is meant in the internal sense when the Lord is called a King and also a Priest; and also what it was in the Lord that was represented by kings, and what by priests. Kings represented His Divine truth, and priests His Divine good. All the laws of order by which the Lord governs the universe as King, are truths; but all the laws by which He governs the universe as Priest, and by which also He rules truths themselves, are goods; for government from truths alone would condemn everyone to hell; but government from goods lifts everyone out thence and uplifts him into heaven (see n. 1728). Because in the Lord’s case these two are conjoined, they were anciently represented by kingship conjoined with priesthood; as with Melchizedek, who was king of Salem and at the same time priest to God Most High (Genesis 14:18); and afterwards with the Jews, among whom the representative church was instituted in its own form, by judges and priests, and afterwards by kings.

[11] But as the kings represented truths, which ought not to have command, for the reason, as before said, that they condemn, therefore the desire to have kings was so displeasing as to call for rebuke, and the nature of truth as regarded in itself was described by the rights [jus] of the king (1 Samuel 8:11-18); and at an earlier day it was commanded by Moses (Deuteronomy 17:14-18) that they should choose genuine truth which is from good, and not spurious; and that they should not defile it by reasonings and memory-knowledges [scientifica]. This is what is involved in the directions concerning a king, given in Moses in the place just cited; which no one can possibly see from the sense of the letter, but yet is evident from the several points contained in the internal sense; so that “king” and “kingship” evidently represented and signified nothing else than truth.

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

Das Obras de Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia # 9296

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9296. And the feast of ingathering, in the going out of the year, when thou gatherest in thy works out of the field. That this signifies worship from a grateful mind on account of the implantation of good therefrom, thus on account of regeneration and complete liberation from damnation, is evident from the signification of “a feast,” as being the worship of the Lord and thanksgiving (of which above, n. 9286, 9287, 9294), thus worship from a grateful mind; from the signification of “ingathering,” when said of the implantation of truth in good, as being the implantation of good itself; from the signification of “the going out of the year,” as being the end of the works; and from the signification of “when thou gatherest in thy works out of the field,” as being the enjoyment and use of all things that have been implanted in good. For, by “the works” are signified not only the things of the field, but also those of the vineyard and the oliveyard, consequently those of the fruit of the earth; as is evident from the description of this feast in Moses:

Thou shalt make for thee the feast of tabernacles seven days, after thou hast gathered in from thy threshing-floor and from thy winepress. And Jehovah thy God shall bless thee in all thy produce, and in every work of thy hands (Deuteronomy 16:13, 15).

On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep the feast of Jehovah seven days (Leviticus 23:39).

[2] As by this feast is signified the worship of the Lord from a grateful mind on account of the implantation of good, and thus on account of complete liberation from damnation, it shall first be explained what the implantation of good is. It has already been everywhere shown that man has two faculties of life, namely, the understanding and the will; and that the understanding is allotted to the reception of truth, and the will to the reception of good; for there are two things to which all things in the universe, both in heaven and in the world, bear relation, namely, truth and good. From this it is also evident that these two make the life of man, and that the truth of faith and the good of charity make his new life, and that unless both of these have been implanted in man he has no new life. In what way the truth which is of faith is sown and implanted in man, is known in the church; but it is not as yet so well known in what way the good which is of charity is implanted. When he is a little child, man receives good from the Lord, and this good is the good of innocence, such as little children have. This good makes the beginning of the new will in man, and in the succeeding age it grows in accordance with his life of innocence with his companions and in accordance with his life of goodness and obedience toward his parents and masters, but still more with those who afterward suffer themselves to be regenerated. This the Lord foresees, and provides according to the state of life that follows; for in every present moment the Lord foresees evil, and provides good; and this He does from the first thread of life even to eternity. Afterward, when the man grows up and begins to think from himself, so far as he is then carried away by the delights of the loves of self and of the world, so far this new willing, or beginning of a new will, is closed; and so far as he is not carried away by these delights, so far it is opened, and is also perfected.

[3] But how it is perfected by the implantation of truth, shall now be told. This new will, which is from the good of innocence, is the dwelling place through which the Lord enters into man and excites him to will what is good, and from willing to do it. This influx works in the man in proportion as he desists from evils. From this he has the faculty of knowing, of perceiving, reflecting upon, and understanding moral and civil truths and goods in accordance with the delight of use. Afterward the Lord flows in through this good into the truths of doctrine of the church with the man, and calls forth from the memory such as are of service to the use of life, and implants these in the good, and so perfects the good. It is from this that the good with a man is wholly in accordance with the use of life. If the use of life is for the neighbor (that is, for the good of our fellow citizen, of our country, of the church, of heaven), and for the Lord, then this good is the good of charity. But if the use of life is only for self and the world, then this beginning of the new will is closed, and beneath it is formed a will from the evils of the loves of self and of the world, and from this an understanding is formed of falsities. This latter will is closed above and open beneath, that is, closed to heaven and open to the world. From all this it is evident how truths are planted in good, and form it; and also that when a man is good he is in heaven with the Lord; for as before said, the new will, in which is the good of charity, is the dwelling place of the Lord, and consequently is heaven in man; and the new understanding thence derived is as it were the tabernacle through which He comes in and goes out.

[4] Such are the things in general and in particular that were represented by the feast, which was called “the feast of the ingathering of the fruits of the earth,” and “the feast of tabernacles.” That this is the case, is evident from the institution of this feast, of which in Moses:

On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the earth, ye shall keep the feast of Jehovah seven days; on the first day is a Sabbath, and on the eighth day a Sabbath. And ye shall take you on the first day the fruit of the tree of honor, branches of palm trees, and a bough of the dense tree, and willows of the torrent; and ye shall be glad before Jehovah your God seven days. All the homeborn of Israel shall dwell in tabernacles, that your generations may know that I made the sons of Israel to dwell in tabernacles when I led them forth out of the land of Egypt. (Leviticus 23:39-43).

Thou shalt make for thee the feast of tabernacles seven days, after thou hast gathered in from thy threshing-floor and from thy winepress; thou shalt be glad in that feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, and the sojourner, and the orphan, and the widow, that are within thy gates. Thou shalt be wholly glad (Deuteronomy 16:13-15).

[5] That a state of good implanted by means of truth by the Lord, thus a state of heaven in man, was represented by this feast, is plain from the internal sense of all the things here mentioned. For in this sense by “the fifteenth day of the seventh month” is signified the end of a former state and the beginning of a new state (that “fifteenth” has this signification, see, n. 8400; as also “seventh,” n. 728, 6508, 8976, 9228); by “the fruit of the earth which had been gathered in” is signified the good of charity (n. 43, 55, 913, 983, 2846, 2847, 3146, 7690, 7692). The like is signified by “the gathering in from the threshing-floor and from the winepress," for the grain of the threshing-floor denotes the good of truth (n. 5295, 5410); the wine of the winepress denotes truth from good (n. 6377); and the oil which is also of the press denotes the good from which is truth (n. 886, 3728, 4582, 4638). By “a Sabbath on the first day, and a Sabbath on the eighth day” is signified the conjunction of truth with good, and reciprocally of good with truth (that “the Sabbath” denotes the conjunction of truth and good, see n. 8495, 8510, 8890, 8893, 9274); that the eighth day was also called “a Sabbath” is because by “the eighth” was signified the beginning of a new state (n. 2044, 8400).

[6] By “the fruit of the tree of honor,” which they were to take on the first day, was signified festivity and joy on account of good implanted, wherefore the words follow, “that ye may be glad before Jehovah;” by “the branches of palm-trees” are signified the internal truths of this good (n. 8369); by “the bough of the dense (or interwoven) tree” are signified the external truths of good, that is, memory-knowledges (n. 2831, 8133); and by “the willows of the torrent,” truths still more external, which are those of the bodily senses. By “the tabernacles in which they were to dwell seven days” is signified the holiness of love from the Lord and reciprocally to the Lord (see n. 414, 1102, 2145, 2152, 3312, 3391, 4391, 4599; and that it denotes the holiness of union, n. 8666). By “the homeborn of Israel” are signified those who are in the good of charity, thus abstractedly this good (n. 3654, 4598, 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833, 6426, 7957); by the “gladness” of all then was signified joy such as those have who are in good from the Lord, thus such as those have who are in heaven; for he who is in the good of charity from the Lord is in heaven with the Lord. These are the things for the sake of which this feast was instituted.

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