Heaven and Hell #287
287. Because these are the origins of peace, the Lord is called the Prince of Peace and says that peace comes from him and that peace is in him. So too angels are called angels of peace and heaven the dwelling place of peace, as in the following passages:
A child is born to us, a son is given to us, on whose shoulder the government [shall rest], and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, Hero, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace; of the increase of government and peace there shall be no end. (Isaiah 9:5-6 9:6-7)
Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you, not as the world gives do I give to you." (John 14:27)
I have told you these things so that you might have peace in me. (John 16:33)
May Jehovah lift his face to you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:26)
The angels of peace weep bitterly, the highways are ruined. (Isaiah 33:7-8)
The work of justice will be peace, and my people will live in a dwelling place of peace. (Isaiah 32:17-18)
[2] We may also gather that "peace" in the Word means divine and heavenly peace from other passages where it is mentioned, as for example in Isaiah 52:7; 54:10; 59:8; Jeremiah 16:5; 25:37; 29:11; Haggai 2:9; Zechariah 8:12; Psalms 37:37; and elsewhere.
Because peace means the Lord and heaven and also heavenly joy and the delight of good, greetings in ancient times were - and consequently still are-"Peace be with you." The Lord confirmed this, too, when he sent out his disciples and told them, "When you enter a house, first say 'Peace be upon this house'; and if a child of peace is there, let your peace rest upon it" (Luke 10:5-6). Further, the Lord himself said "Peace be with you" when he appeared to the apostles (John 20:19, 21, 26).
[3] A state of peace is also meant in the Word when it says that "Jehovah smelled an odor of quietness," as in Exodus 29:18, 25, 41; Leviticus 1:9, 13, 17, 2:2, 9, 6:8, 14 6:15, 21?; Leviticus 23:12-13, 18; Numbers 15:3, 7, 13, 28:6, 8, 13, 29:2, 6, 8, 13, 36. "An odor of quietness," in the heavenly sense, means a perception of peace. 1
Since peace means the oneness of the Divine itself and the divine human in the Lord and the union of the Lord with heaven and with the church and with everyone in heaven, and also with everyone in the church who accepts him, the Sabbath was instituted as a reminder of these matters and was named for quietness and peace. It became the holiest symbol of the church, which is why the Lord called himself the Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:27-28; Luke 6:5). 2
Fotnoter:
1. [Swedenborg's footnote] An odor in the Word means a perception of something pleasant or unpleasant, depending on the quality of the love and faith of the entity described: 3577, 4626, 4628, 4748, 5021 [5621?], 10292. An odor of quietness, in relation to Jehovah, means a perception of peace: 925, 10054. So frankincense, various kinds of incense, and the fragrances in oils and salves came to be representative: 925, 4748, 5621, 10177.
2. [Swedenborg's footnote] In the highest sense, the Sabbath means the oneness of the Divine itself with the divine human in the Lord; and in the inner sense the union of the Lord's divine human with heaven and the church. In a general sense it means the union of the good and the true and therefore the heavenly marriage: 8495, 10356, 10730. So the rest on the Sabbath day meant the state of that oneness, because then the Lord has rest, through which peace and salvation come to the heavens and to earth; and in a relative sense it means the union of the Lord with us, because then we have peace and salvation: 8494, 8510, 10360, 10367, 10370, 10374, 10668, 10730.
Jeremiah 18
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The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
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Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear my words.
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Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was making a work on the wheels.
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When the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
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Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
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House of Israel, can't I do with you as this potter? says Yahweh. Behold, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, House of Israel.
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At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it;
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if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them.
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At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
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if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they not obey my voice, then I will repent of the good, with which I said I would benefit them.
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Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return you now everyone from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.
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But they say, It is in vain; for we will walk after our own devices, and we will do everyone after the stubbornness of his evil heart.
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Therefore thus says Yahweh: Ask now among the nations, who has heard such things; the virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing.
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Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? [or] shall the cold waters that flow down from afar be dried up?
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For my people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to false [gods]; and they have been made to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in byways, in a way not built up;
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to make their land an astonishment, and a perpetual hissing; everyone who passes thereby shall be astonished, and shake his head.
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I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
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Then they said, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
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Give heed to me, Yahweh, and listen to the voice of those who contend with me.
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Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.
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Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death, [and] their young men struck of the sword in battle.
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Let a cry be heard from their houses, when you shall bring a troop suddenly on them; for they have dug a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.
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Yet, Yahweh, you know all their counsel against me to kill me; don't forgive their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from your sight; but let them be overthrown before you; deal you with them in the time of your anger.
