Arcana Coelestia#10249
10249. 'For him and his seed, [throughout] their generations' means all who receive the things which emanate from the Lord, thus who are being regenerated by Him. This is clear from the representation of 'Aaron' as the Lord in respect of Divine Good, dealt with in 9806, 9946; from the meaning of 'seed' as those who are being born from the Lord, thus who are being regenerated (for those who are being regenerated are called those who have been born from God, and also His children), though in the abstract sense, in which actual persons are not envisaged, 'Aaron's seed' means those things which emanate from the Lord, thus by which a person is being regenerated, namely forms of the good of love, and truths of faith; and from the meaning of 'generations' as other forms of good and truths which emanate from them as their parents, and descendants of these other ones. For in the internal sense of the Word 'generations' is used to mean spiritual generations, which are those of love and faith, see the places referred to in 10204.
[2] Since the Lord is meant in the representative sense by Aaron, 'Aaron's seed' is used to mean in particular those who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom, and 'generations' those who are in His spiritual kingdom; for the forms of good and the truths of love and faith in the heavens arise and emanate from the Lord as those generations from Aaron did. The fact that 'seed', 'those who have been born', and 'generations' are used to mean those who love the Lord and believe in Him, and in the abstract sense forms of the good of love and the truths of faith, is clear from very many places in the Word, of which let just the following be quoted: In Isaiah,
From the east I will bring your seed, and from the west I will gather you. Isaiah 43:5.
These words refer to Jacob and Israel, by whom in the internal sense is meant the Church, external and internal, whose seed is the truth of faith and the good of charity.
[3] In the same prophet,
I will pour out My Spirit upon your seed, and My blessing upon those who have been born from you 1 . Isaiah 44:3.
'Upon the seed' and 'upon those who have been born' mean upon those who belong to the Church, thus upon those things which are the Church's, namely forms of good and truths, or charity and faith, since these constitute the Church with a person. In the same prophet,
In Jehovah all the seed of Israel will glory. Isaiah 45:25.
Here the meaning is similar. In the same prophet,
If He makes His soul guilt, He will see His seed. Isaiah 53:10.
This refers to the Lord, whose seed is what those who have been born from Him, thus who have been regenerated, are called. In the same prophet,
You will break out to the right and to the left, and your seed will inherit the nations. Isaiah 54:3.
Here the meaning is similar.
[4] In Jeremiah,
Behold, the days are coming in which I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. Jeremiah 31:27.
This verse will be unintelligible to people unless they know what 'the house of Israel and the house of Judah' means, and also what 'the seed of man and the seed of beast' means. Those whose thought does not go beyond the sense of the letter will suppose the meaning to be that man and beast were going to be multiplied in Israel and Judah; but such a meaning implies nothing at all that is holy and the Church's. Rather, 'the house of Israel' is used in that verse to mean the spiritual Church, and 'the house of Judah' to mean the celestial Church, 'the seed of man' being those Churches' internal good, and 'the seed of beast' their external good. 'Beast' means the affection for good, see in the places referred to in 9280; and when the expression 'man and beast' is used, internal and external good is meant, 7523.
[5] In Jeremiah,
As the host of heaven will be unnumbered, and the sand of the sea is immeasurable, so I will multiply the seed of David. Jeremiah 33:22.
And in David,
I have made a covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David, Forever 2 I will establish your seed, and build your throne from generation to generation. Psalms 89:3-4.
It is not persons descended from David as their father who should be understood by 'the seed of David', for they were not multiplied to so great an extent, nor were they of such great importance that they should be multiplied as the host of heaven or the sand of the sea. On the contrary in these places as in others elsewhere the Lord in respect of Divine Truth should be understood by 'David'. So 'his seed' means those who have been regenerated by or born from the Lord, and in the abstract sense the things which those people have from the Lord, namely the truths of faith and forms of the good of charity. As regards the Lord's being meant by 'David', see 1888, 9954.
[6] In David,
A seed which will serve Jehovah will be recounted 3 to the Lord to the [next] generation. Psalms 22:30.
In Isaiah,
Their seed will become known among the nations, and those born from them 4 in the midst of the peoples. Isaiah 61:9.
'Seed' stands for those who have been regenerated, thus for those belonging to the Church who have the Church within them. Thus in the abstract sense, in which actual persons are not envisaged, those things which compose one who has been regenerated, or which compose the Church as it exists with the person, are meant, namely faith and charity from the Lord.
[7] And in John,
The dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her seed, who kept the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus Christ. Revelation 12:17.
'The dragon' is used to mean those who are about to try to destroy the Lord's Church, which is to be established after this, 'the woman' to mean that Church, and those who belong to 'her seed' to mean those who have a love of and belief in the Lord, which they have received from Him.
In the contrary sense however 'seed' means those who are set against the things which the Church possesses, thus who are immersed in evil and consequent falsities, and in the abstract sense it means evils and falsities, as in Isaiah,
Woe to a sinful nation, a seed of evil ones! Isaiah 1:4.
In the same prophet,
Sons of the sorceress, seed of the adulterer, are you not those born of transgression, the seed of deceit? Isaiah 57:3-4.
And in the same prophet,
The seed of evil-doers will never be named. Isaiah 14:20.
脚注:
1. literally, upon your born ones
2. literally, For an age
3. literally, will be numbered
4. literally, and their born ones
10249a. Verses 22-33 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, And you, take for yourself the chief spices - the best myrrh, five hundred [shekels]; and sweet-smelling cinnamon, half of that, two hundred and fifty; and sweet-smelling calamus, two hundred and fifty; and cassia, five hundred, according to the shekel of holiness; and olive oil, a hin. And you shall make it a holy anointing oil 1
, a compounded ointment 2
, the work of an ointment-maker; it shall be the holy anointing oil 1
. And with it you shall anoint the tent of meeting, and the ark of the Testimony, and the table and all its vessels, and the lampstand and its vessels, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering and all its vessels, and the laver and its pedestal. And you shall sanctify them, and they shall be the holy of holies 3
; everyone touching them will be sanctified. And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them to serve Me in the priestly office. And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, This shall be a holy anointing oil 4
to Me throughout 5
your generations. It shall not be poured onto the flesh of a person, and as to the composition of it, you shall not make any other like it 6
. It is holy; it shall be holy to you. The man who makes an ointment like it, and he who puts any of it on a foreigner, shall be cut off from his people.
'And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying' means further perception as a result of enlightenment from the Lord through the Word. 'And you, take for yourself the chief spices' means truths together with forms of good from the Word, which are perceived with pleasure. 'The best myrrh' means the perception of truth on the level of the senses. 'Five hundred [shekels]' means what is complete. 'And sweet-smelling cinnamon' means the perception of and affection for natural truth. 'Half of that, two hundred and fifty' means the corresponding amount. 'And sweet-smelling calamus' means the perception of and affection for interior truth. 'Two hundred and fifty' means the corresponding amount and quality. 'And cassia' means truth even more interior, springing from good. 'Five hundred' means that which is complete. 'According to the shekel of holiness' means the valuation of truth and good. 'And olive oil' means the Lord's celestial Divine Good. 'A hin' means how far things are joined together. 'And you shall make it an anointing oil' means a representative sign of the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Love. 'A compounded ointment' means present within every single part of His Human. 'The work of an ointment-maker' means as a result of the influx and operation of Divinity itself, who was within the Lord from conception. 'It shall be the holy anointing oil' means a representative sign of the Lord as regards His Divine Human. 'And with it you shall anoint the tent of meeting' means in order to represent what is Divine and the Lord's in the heavens. 'And the ark of the Testimony' means within celestial good belonging to the inmost heaven. 'And the table and all its vessels' means within spiritual good springing from celestial, which belongs to the second heaven, and within the forms of good and the truths which are of service to that spiritual good. 'And the lampstand and its vessels' means within spiritual truth belonging to the second heaven, and within the truths which are of service to that truth. 'And the altar of incense' means within all things belonging to worship that spring from those forms of good and those truths. 'And the altar of burnt offering' means in order to represent the Lord's Divine Human, and the worship of Him in general. 'And all its vessels' means forms of Divine Good and Divine Truths. 'And the laver and its pedestal' means everything connected with purification from evils and falsities, and with regeneration by the Lord. 'And you shall sanctify them, and they shall be the holy of holies' means consequently the inflow and presence of the Lord within the worship of the representative Church. 'Everyone touching them will be sanctified' means an imparting [of what is His] to all who receive [Him] in love and faith. 'And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons' means consecration to represent the Lord's presence in both kingdoms. 'And sanctify them to serve Me in the priestly office' means to represent the Lord's whole work of salvation. 'And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying' means instruction given to those who belong to the Church. 'This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me' means a representative sign of the Lord as regards His Divine Human. 'Throughout your generations' means within all things of the Church. 'It shall not be poured onto the flesh of a person' means no imparting [of what is the Lord's] to a person's proprium or self. 'And as to the composition of it, you shall not make any other like it' means no imitations produced by human endeavour. 'It is holy; it shall be holy to you' means because it is Divine and the Lord's. 'The man who makes an ointment like it' means imitations of Divine things produced by [human] cunning. 'And he who puts any of it on a foreigner' means a joining together for those who do not acknowledge the Lord, and so who are subject to evils and to the falsities of evil. 'Shall be cut off from his people' means separation and spiritual death.
1. literally, the oil of anointing of holiness
2. literally, ointment of ointment
3. i.e. they shall be most holy
4. literally, the oil of anointing of holiness
5. literally, into
6. literally, and in its quality you shall not make other like it
Arcana Coelestia#8944
8944. In the world it is thought that the human being can recognize from the light of natural evidence alone, that is, without revelation, most of what religion involves, such as the beliefs that there is a God, that He is to be worshipped, and also that He is to be loved, and in addition that a person will be alive after death. and many other beliefs dependent on these. However, those beliefs are the products of self-intelligence. Much experience has taught me that of himself a person knows nothing whatever about Divine realities, or about things belonging to celestial and spiritual life; without revelation he knows nothing about them. For a person is born into the evils of self-love and love of the world, and the nature of these is such that they seal off influx from the heavens and let through influx from the hells. This being so, they blind a person and place him in a negative frame of mind about the reality of the Divine, of heaven and hell, and of life after death. This is plainly evident from the learned people of the world, who through study of different branches of knowledge have developed the inferior light of this natural evidence of theirs to a higher degree than others. As is well known, these more than others deny the Divine, acknowledging natural forces instead. Also, when they speak from what is in their heart and not just from doctrine they deny life after death, also heaven and hell, consequently all things that are matters of faith, which they call bonds for the common people. This makes plain what light received from natural evidence without revelation is like. I have also been shown that in the next life many of those who have written books about natural theology, and from the inferior light of their natural evidence have skillfully substantiated the teachings of their Church, deny those same things at heart more than any others, and also deny the Word itself, which they try to destroy completely. For in the next life people's hearts speak. I have also been shown that those same people are unable to receive anything of the influx from heaven, only that from the hells. All this makes plain what light received from natural evidence, without revelation, is like, and therefore what anything that is a product of self-intelligence is like.
[2] But there are two phenomena that might have placed the mind in doubt so far as this matter is concerned. The first is that people in ancient times who were gentiles nevertheless knew that there is a God, that He is to be worshipped, and that a person as to his soul is immortal. The second is that those things are also known by a large number of nations at the present day among whom no revelation exists. But in the case of the ancients, they did not know those things from the inferior light they received from natural evidence but from revelation that spread from the Church even to them. For the Lord's Church had existed since most ancient times in the land of Canaan, 3686, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517, 5136, 6516. From there such things as belonged to the worship of God spread to the nations round about and also to the neighbouring Greeks, and from the Greeks to the Italians or Romans. From the Church all these nations received the things they knew about a supreme deity, and about the immortality of the soul, which their learned men wrote about.
[3] As regards the nations at the present day who also know of God's existence and of life after death, they have not come to possess that knowledge from the inferior light they receive from natural evidence. They possess it from their religion which has come down to them from ancient times and which was founded on such things as had spread in various ways from the Church, where revelation existed. This happened in the Lord's Divine Providence. Furthermore those among them who from their religion acknowledge God above all things, and from their religion do what charity requires them to do for their neighbour, on receiving instruction in the next life accept the truths of faith and are saved, 258-2604.
