119. And the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews, and are not. That this signifies vituperation from those who think themselves to be in the knowledges of good and truth because they have the Word, and yet it is not so, is evident from the signification of blasphemy, as being scandalous reproach and vituperation; and from the signification of Jews, as being those who are in the knowledges of good and truth from the Word; for Judah, in the highest sense of the Word, signifies the Lord as to celestial love, in the internal sense, the celestial kingdom of the Lord, and the Word, and in the external sense doctrine from the Word, which is of the celestial church (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3881, 6363). It is therefore evident by the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not is signified scandalous reproach and vituperation from those who say that they acknowledge the Lord, and are in His kingdom, and in true doctrine because they have the Word, and yet are not; and, in general, those who say they are in the knowledges of good and truth from the Word, and nevertheless are in falsities and evils.

[2] Those who are ignorant of the internal sense of the Word, cannot but suppose that, in the prophetic parts of the Word, by Judah and the Jews are meant Judah and the Jews; but these are not there meant by these names, but all those who are in the true doctrine of the church, thus those who are in the knowledges of good and truth from the Word; and, in the opposite sense, those who are in false doctrine, thus who adulterate the truths and goods of the Word. That Judah and the Jews are not meant is evident from this consideration alone, that there is an internal sense in all the details of the Word, and also in the names of persons and places. This sense treats solely of the things of heaven and the church, therefore such things are also signified by the names Judah and Israel. And whereas a church was instituted with them in which all things were representative and significative of celestial things, therefore by their names was signified that which essentially constitutes the church, namely, in the highest sense, the Lord Himself; in the internal sense, His Word; and, in the external sense, doctrine from the Word, as said above.

It is therefore evident how much those are mistaken who believe, according to the letter, that the Jews are to be brought back into the land of Canaan, and that they are elected and destined for heaven in preference to others; whereas few from that nation are saved, because none are saved but those who believe in the Lord; and he who believes in the Lord in the world, believes in Him after his departure out of the world; but that nation altogether casts Him out from its belief.

[3] That by Judah is meant the Lord as to His kingdom and as to the Word, may be seen from the prophecy of Israel concerning his sons, which, when it is unfolded by the internal sense, shows what each tribe represented in the church. That the tribe of Judah represented the Lord's kingdom, or the church where the Word is, is quite clear from what is said concerning Judah:

"Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be; who shall bind to the vine the foal of his ass, and to the noble vine the son of his she-ass; whilst he washeth his garment in wine, and his covering in the blood of grapes" (Genesis 49:9, 10, 11).

That the particulars mentioned signify the Lord's kingdom, or the church, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia, where they are explained.

[4] He who knows that by Judah, in the highest sense, is meant the Lord, and, in the internal sense, His kingdom and Word, and in the external sense doctrine from the Word, also, in an opposite sense, those who deny the Lord and adulterate the Word, may know what is signified by Judah in many other places of the Word; as in these following:

"Hear ye, O house of Jacob, called by the name of Israel, and they have gone forth from the waters of Judah" (Isaiah 48:1).

The house of Jacob, and Israel, is the church; to go forth from the waters of Judah signifies from doctrine out of the Word, for the church is thence. (That waters denote truths of doctrine from the Word, may be seen above, n. 71.)

"The sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the sons of the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their borders. It shall come to pass in that day, that all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall go forth out of the house of Jehovah, and Judah shall sit to eternity" (Joel 3:6, 18, 20).

To sell the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem to the sons of the Grecians, is to falsify the goods and truths of the church; in that day, denotes when that church is at its end and a new one established among the Gentiles; all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, signifies abundance of truths and goods from the Word, to those who are in the New Church; that these are from the Word is signified by the fountain going forth out of the house of Jehovah. It is therefore clear that by Judah who shall sit to eternity, is not meant Judah, or the Jewish nation, but all those who are in good by means of truths from the Word.

[5] Similar things are meant by Judah in the following passages:

"I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them. Then shall the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land; for great is the day of Jezreel" (Hosea 1:7, 11).

"Then many nations shall adhere to Jehovah in that day; they shall be to me for a people, for I will dwell in thee; then Jehovah shall make Judah a heritage to himself, his portion upon the land of holiness, and shall again choose Jerusalem" (Zech. 2:11, 12).

"Jehovah Zebaoth shall visit his flock, the house of Judah, and shall make them [as] a horse of glory in the war: I will render the house of Judah powerful" (Zech. 10:3, 6).

"God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah; and they shall dwell there, and inherit it. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they who love the name of Jehovah shall dwell therein" (Psalms 69:35, 36).

"And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains, that mine elect may, possess it" (Isaiah 65:9);

besides in many other places. (That the Jewish nation is not meant in the Word in these and other places where they are called elect and heirs, may be further seen from what is adduced concerning that nation from Arcana Coelestia, in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248.) From these considerations it is now evident what is signified by "The blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and are not."

248. The Jewish church and Jews. ¹ The statutes, judgments, and laws that were commanded in the Jewish church were somewhat like those of the ancient church: 4449, 4834. How the symbolic rites of the Jewish church differed from the symbolic rites of the ancient church: 4288, 10149. A symbolic church was established for the people of that nation, but there was no real church among them: 4899, 4912, 6304. So they had something that symbolized a church but not an actual church: 4281, 4288, 4311, 4500, 6304, 7048, 9320, 10396, 10526, 10531, 10698. Because of the stubborn insistence of their ancestors and Moses, the Israelite and Jewish people were accepted as a church, not because they actually were a chosen people but rather so that they would symbolize a church: 4290, 4293, 7051, 7439, 10430, 10535, 10632. Their worship was solely external, without any inner worship: 1200, 3147, 3479, 8871. They knew absolutely nothing about inner worship and did not want to know: 301, 302, 303, 3479, 4429, 4433, 4680, 4844, 4847, 10396, 10401, 10407, 10694, 10701, 10707. What they thought of the inner aspects of worship, the church, and the Word: 4865. Their inner natures were foul, full of their love for themselves and the world and of avarice: 3480, 9962, 10454-10457, 10462-10466, 10575. Therefore the inner teachings of the church were not disclosed to them, because otherwise they would have defiled them: 2520, 3398, 3480, 4289. The Word was completely closed to them: 3769. They saw the Word from the outside and not from the inside (10549, 10550, 10551), so their inner self was closed when they were engaged in worship (8788, 8806, 9320, 9377, 9380, 9962, 10396, 10401, 10407, 10492, 10498, 10500, 10575, 10629, 10692). All the same, this people was more capable than any other of being outwardly holy despite the fact that their inner self was closed: 4293, 4311, 4903, 9373, 9377, 9380. Their state at such times: 4311. That is also why they have been preserved to this day: 3479. Their holy outward behavior was miraculously raised up and exhibited to heaven by the Lord, and as a result deeper levels of worship, the church, and the Word were perceived there: 3480, 4307, 4311, 6304, 8588, 10499, 10500, 10602. So that this could happen, they were driven by external pressures to a strict observance of their rituals in outward form: 3147, 4281, 8006. Because they could be outwardly holy without inner holiness, they were able to represent what is truly holy in the church and heaven: 3479, 3881, 4208, 6304, 8588, 9377, 10430, 10500, 10570. Nevertheless, they were not interested in what is truly holy: 3479. It does not matter what a person who symbolizes something is like, because symbolism focuses on the issue and not on the person: 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806.

[2] Those people were worse than other peoples; a description of what they were like, including material from the Word of both Testaments: 4314, 4316, 4317, 4444, 4503, 4750, 4751, 4815, 4820, 4832, 5057, 5998, 7248, 8819, 9320, 10454-10457, 10462-10466. The tribe of Judah strayed more than the other tribes: 4815. How they took pleasure in cruelly treating other peoples: 5057, 7248, 9320. That people was idolatrous at heart and worshiped other gods more than other peoples did: 3732, 4208, 4281, 4825, 5998, 6877, 7401, 8301, 8871, 8882. Even their worship, seen in the context of that people, was idolatrous, since it was superficial, with no inner substance: 4281, 4825, 8871, 8882. They worshiped Jehovah in name only (6877, 10559, 10560, 10561, 10566), and only because of the miracles he did (4299). It is incorrect to think that the Jews are going to be converted at the end of the church ² and brought back into the land of Canaan: 4847, 7051, 8301. A copious selection of passages from the Word on this subject-passages that are, however, to be understood in their inner meaning and therefore not taken literally: 7051. The Word was changed in its outer meaning because of that people, but not in its inner meaning: 10453, 10461, 10603, 10604. The way Jehovah appeared to them on Mount Sinai was shaped by their own nature, so he appeared in devouring fire, thick cloud, and smoke like that of a furnace: 1861, 6832, 8814, 8819, 9434. The way the Lord appears to each of us depends on what we ourselves are really like-as a life-giving and creative fire if we are devoted to doing good, but as a devouring fire if we are bent on doing evil: 934, 1861, 6832, 8814, 8819, 9434, 10551. One lineage of that people was of Canaanite ancestry and two others were the result of fornication with a daughter-in-law: 1167, 4818, 4820, 4874, 4899, 4913. Those stories represent the nature of their relationship with the inner truth of the church, namely, that it was like that of union with a Canaanite or fornication with a daughter-in-law: 4868, 4874, 4899, 4913. Their state in the other life: 939, 940, 5057.

[3] Because despite all this that people symbolized the church, and because the Word was composed among and about them, their names-for example, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Ephraim, Joseph, and the rest-have divine and heavenly meanings. In its inner meaning, "Judah" means the Lord in respect to his heavenly love and his heavenly kingdom: 3654, 3881, 5583, 5603, 5782, 6363. An explanation of Israel's prophecy concerning Judah in Genesis 49:8-12, which is about the Lord: 6362-6381. Both the tribe of Judah and Judea mean the heavenly church: 3654, 6364. The twelve tribes represented and meant all the aspects of love and faith taken together (3858, 3926, 4060, 6335), and therefore heaven and the church as well (6337, 6637, 7836, 7891). Their meanings depend on the order in which they are named: 3862, 3926, 3939, 4603 and following, 6337, 6640. The twelve tribes were divided into two kingdoms so that the Judeans could represent the heavenly kingdom and the Israelites could represent the spiritual kingdom: 3654, 8770. The seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob means the goodness and truth that belong to the church: 3373, 10445.

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