10370. 'And the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath [throughout] their generations' means that the truly essential thing of the Church is the acknowledgement of the union of the Divine itself within the Lord's Human, and that this acknowledgement must be present in every single part of worship. This is clear from the meaning of 'keeping the sabbath' as thought which is holy and goes on unceasingly regarding the union of Divinity itself to the Lord's Human, dealt with above in 10356, and so also acknowledging it, for thinking without acknowledging and believing is not spiritual thinking; from the representation of 'the children of Israel' as the Church, dealt with in the places referred to in 9340; from the meaning of 'observing the sabbath' as worshipping that union in a holy way and so worshipping the Lord's Divine Human, since that union resides within His Human; and from the meaning of 'the generations of the children of Israel' as in every single thing of the Church, dealt with in 10282. From all this it is evident that 'the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath [throughout] your generations' means maintaining the acknowledgement of Divinity itself within the Lord's Human in every single part of worship. The reason why this is the essential thing of the Church and consequently of its worship is that the salvation of the human race depends solely on that union. For the sake also of this union the Lord came into the world; and therefore also that is what the whole Word in its inmost sense deals with and what the religious observances of the Church established among the children of Israel represented and meant spiritually.

[2] The Lord Himself teaches in a number of places that the salvation of the human race depends on that union, consequently that the acknowledgement of it is the essential thing of the Church and of its worship, for example in John,

He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not believe in the Son will not see life. John 3:36.

See also John 3:15-16; 6:40; 11:25-26; 20:31. 'The Son' is the Lord's Divine Human. The reason why those who do not in faith acknowledge the Lord do not have eternal life is that this acknowledgement is made by the whole of heaven; for the Lord is Lord of heaven and earth, as He Himself teaches in Matthew,

All power in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Matthew 28:18.

Therefore heaven is closed to those who do not acknowledge Him; and those who do not acknowledge Him in the world - that is, those within the Church - do not acknowledge Him in the next life. Such is a person's condition after death.