Logopraxis

Arcana Coelestia 6806. [3] “To know” involves conjunction, and man is said to be “known” by the Lord insofar as he is conjoined with Him. The Lord also knows those who are not conjoined, nay, the very smallest particulars in every such man (John 2:24-25); but these men, being in evil, are in a different kind of presence, which is as it were absence; although the Lord is not absent, but the man and the spirit who is in evil is he who is absent; and then it is said that the Lord “does not know” them. An image of this condition appears among angels and spirits; they who are alike as to states of life appear near each other, and thus mutually know each other; but they who are unlike as to states of life, appear to each other to be far away, nor do they know each other in the same way. In a word, in the other life likeness of state causes people to appear present, and to be known; and unlikeness of state causes them to appear absent, and not to be known.

Divine Providence 218. (3) Temporal things and eternal things are separated by man, but are conjoined by the Lord. This is true because all things pertaining to man are temporal, and for this reason man may be called temporal; while all things pertaining to the Lord are eternal, and for this reason the Lord is called Eternal. Temporal things are those that have an end and perish; while eternal things are those that have no end and do not perish. Any one can see that the two can be conjoined only through the Lord's infinite wisdom, and thus can be conjoined by the Lord, but not by man. But to make known that the two are separated by man and are conjoined by the Lord it must be shown in this order:

(1) What temporal things are, and what eternal things are.

(2) Man is in himself temporal and the Lord is in Himself eternal; and therefore only what is temporal can proceed from man, and only what is eternal from the Lord.

(3) Temporal things separate eternal things from themselves, and eternal things conjoin temporal things to themselves.

(4) The Lord conjoins man with Himself by means of appearances.

(5) Also by means of correspondences.

Divine Providence 220. (4) The conjoining of temporal and eternal ends in a person is the Lord's Divine providence. As it is not possible, however, for this to fall within the immediate perception of the intellect unless the subject is first reduced into an organized form and developed and demonstrated accordingly, therefore it must be organized as follows:

1. It is of Divine providence that a person by death puts off natural and temporal things and puts on spiritual and eternal ones.

2. Through His Divine providence the Lord conjoins Himself with natural things by means of spiritual ones, and with temporal things by means of eternal ones, in accordance with their applications.

3. The Lord conjoins Himself with their applications through correspondences, and so through appearances according to a person's affirmations of those appearances.

4. This conjunction of temporal and eternal things is Divine providence.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

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6889. Verses 16-20. Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, Jehovah the God of your fathers hath been seen of me, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, saying, Visiting I have visited you, and that which is done to you in Egypt; and I say, I will make you come up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. And they shall hear thy voice, and thou shalt go in, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, Jehovah God of the Hebrews hath met with us; and now let us go we pray a way of three days into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God. And I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, and not by a strong hand. And I will put forth My hand, and smite Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in the midst thereof and afterward he will send you away. Go and gather the elders of Israel together, signifies the intelligent in the spiritual church; and say unto them, signifies instruction; Jehovah the God of your fathers, signifies the Divine of the Ancient Church; hath been seen of me, signifies His presence; the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, signifies the Divine Itself, and the Divine Human of the Lord; saying, Visiting I have visited you, signifies His coming to those who are of the church; and that which is done to you in Egypt, signifies the endeavor to subjugate; and I say, I will make you come up out of the affliction of Egypt, signifies a raising and liberation from false memory-knowledges; unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, signifies the region of heaven occupied by those who are in evils and falsities; unto a land flowing with milk and honey, signifies where are pleasantness and delight; and they shall hear thy voice, signifies obedience; and thou shalt go in, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, signifies communication with those who are in falsities and who have infested; and ye shall say unto him signifies influx; Jehovah God of the Hebrews hath met with us, signifies the Divine of the Lord in the church, and His command; and now let us go we pray a way of three days into the wilderness, signifies the life of truth in a state altogether removed from falsities, although in obscurity; that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God, signifies thus the worship of the Lord; and I know, signifies foresight; that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, signifies that falsity would oppose itself; and not by a strong hand, signifies that the power of those who are of the spiritual church will not prevail against them; and I will put forth My hand, signifies power from the Divine; and smite Egypt with all My wonders, signifies the means of Divine power against falsities; which I will do in the midst thereof, signifies which shall touch them directly; and afterward he will send you away, signifies their being driven away, and liberation.

6890. Go and gather the elders of Israel together. That this signifies the intelligent in the spiritual church, is evident from the signification of elders, as being the chief things of wisdom and intelligence (see n. 6524, 6525), thus the intelligent; and from the representation of Israel, as being the spiritual church (n. 4286, 6426).

6891. And say unto them. That this signifies instruction, is evident from the signification of saying unto them, when this is done by Moses, by whom is represented the law from the Divine, as being instruction (as above, n. 6879, 6881, 6883).

6892. Jehovah the God of your fathers. That this signifies the Divine of the Ancient Church, is evident from what has been unfolded above (n. 6884), where are the same words.

6893. Hath been seen of me. That this signifies presence, is evident from the signification of being seen of anyone as being presence; for by being seen, in the internal sense, is not signified being seen by the eyes, but by the thought. Thought itself also causes presence, for the person thought of appears as if present before the internal sight. In the other life this is actually the case, for when anyone is there thought of intently, he becomes present; hence it is that in the other life friends meet together, and also foes, and from the latter they suffer severely.

6894. The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. That this signifies the Divine Itself, and the Divine Human of the Lord, is evident from what was shown above (n. 6847).

6895. Saying, Visiting I have visited you. That this signifies His coming to those who are of the spiritual church, is evident from the signification of visiting, as being the coming of the Lord, which precedes the last time of the church, which time in the Word is called the Last Judgment. (That this is meant by visitation, see n. 2242, 6588.) That this is called the Lord's coming, is plain from these words in Matthew:

The disciples said unto Jesus, Tell us when shall these things shall be? and what is the sign of Thy coming, and of the consummation of the age? (Matt. 24:3);

and then the Lord instructed the disciples about the last time of the church, as can be seen from what has been unfolded above (n. 3353-3356, 3486-3489, 3897-3901, 4056-4060, 4229-4231, 4422-4424); and He said that when all these things should come to pass, then shall appear the sign of the Son of man, and then shall all the tribes of the earth wail, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory (Matt. 24:30).

[2] That by the coming of the Lord is not meant His appearing with angels in the clouds, but acknowledgment in hearts by love and faith (see n. 3353, 3900); also His appearing from the Word, the inmost or supreme sense of which treats of the Lord alone (n. 4060). This coming is meant by the coming of the Lord which takes place when an old church is rejected, and a new church is set up again by the Lord. And as newness of the church was now to be restored with the posterity of Jacob, it is said, Visiting I have visited you, as was also said by Joseph when he died:

Joseph said unto his brethren, I die; and visiting God will visit you, and will make you come up out of this land unto the land which He sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob (Gen. 50:24);

by visiting to visit you, in the sense of the letter, is here signified liberation from slavery in Egypt, and introduction into the land of Canaan; but this is not the spiritual content of the Word, but the natural. The spiritual of the Word treats of the Lord, of His kingdom and church, and of love and faith; and therefore by visiting to visit in the spiritual sense is meant liberation from falsities, and thus initiation into what is of the Lord's church and kingdom, thus the coming of the Lord in love and faith with those who will be of the new church.

6896. And that which is done to you in Egypt. That this signifies the endeavor to subjugate, is evident from what goes before, in regard to the affliction and oppression of the sons of Israel, that is, of those who are of the spiritual church; this is what is meant by that which was done to you in Egypt. (That those afflictions and oppression signify infestations and endeavors to subjugate, see n. 6633, 6666, 6668, 6670, 6671, 6851, 6852, 6863.)

6897. And I say, I will make you come up out of the affliction of Egypt. That this signifies a raising and liberation from infestation by false memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of making to come up, as being a raising toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 5406, 5817, 6007), a raising toward interior things is a raising from infestation by falsities to the truths and goods of faith, hence also to make to come up denotes liberation; from the signification of affliction, as being infestation (n. 6663, 6851); and from the signification of Egypt, as being false memory-knowledge (n. 6651, 6679, 6683).

6898. Unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. That this signifies the region of heaven occupied by those who are in evils and falsities, is evident from what was shown above (n. 6854, 6858). (That the Canaanites and the Hittites denote those who are in evils from falsities, see n. 6858; that the Amorites and the Perizzites denote those who are in evils and the derivative falsities, n. 6859; and that the Hivites and the Jebusites denote those who are in idolatry in which there is somewhat of good and truth, n. 6860.)

6899. Unto a land flowing with milk and honey. That this signifies where are pleasantness and delight, is evident from the signification of milk and honey, as being pleasantness and delight (of which above, n. 6857).

6900. And they shall hear thy voice. That this signifies obedience, is evident from the signification of hearing, as being obedience (see n. 2542, 3869, 4652-4660).

6901. And thou shalt go in, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt. That this signifies communication with those who are in falsities and who have infested, is evident from the signification of going in, as being communication, for to go in, in the spiritual sense, is to communicate to another one's thought; from the representation of Moses, as being the law from the Divine (see n. 6827); from the signification of elders, as being the intelligent (n. 6523, 6525, 6890); and from the representation of Pharaoh, or the king of Egypt, as being falsity infesting the truths of the church (n. 6651, 6679, 6683). From all this it is evident that by go in, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt is signified the communication of such thin

And Jehovah saw that he went aside to see, and God called unto him out of the midst of the bramble, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Behold me! And He said, Draw not nigh hither; pull off thy shoes from upon thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest a ground of holiness is this. And He said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses covered his faces, because he was afraid to look upon God. And Jehovah said, Seeing I have seen the affliction of My people, which is in Egypt, and I have heard their cry from before their taskmasters; for I have known their sorrows; and I am come down to liberate them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to make them come up out of that land unto a land good and broad, unto a land flowing with milk and honey, unto the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

Exodus 3: 4-8

The saving of the spiritual states in us...

Arcana Coelestia 6858... Before the coming of the Lord into the world, evil genii and spirits occupied all that region of heaven to which the spiritual were afterward taken up; for before the coming of the Lord many such roamed at large and infested the good, especially the spiritual who were in the lower earth; but after the coming of the Lord they were all thrust down into their hells, and that region was set free, and was given for an inheritance to those who were of the spiritual church. It has been frequently observed that as soon as any place is left by good spirits it is occupied by evil ones; and that the evil are driven out of it, and as soon as this is done it again passes to those who are in good.

AC 6854(2)...They who are called “the spiritual” (who are such as can be regenerated only as to the intellectual part, but not as to the will part, and in whose intellectual part therefore a new will is implanted by the Lord, which will is according to the doctrinal things of faith pertaining to their church); these, namely such spiritual men, were saved only by the Lord’s coming into the world. The reason is that the Divine passing through heaven, which was the Divine Human before the Lord’s coming, could not reach them, because the doctrinal things of their church were for the most part not true, and consequently the good which is of the will was not good (see n. 6427). As these could be saved only by the coming of the Lord, and thus could not before be raised into heaven, therefore they were meanwhile kept in the lower earth, in places there which in the Word are called “pits;” which earth was beset about by the hells where are falsities, by which they were then much infested, and yet were guarded by the Lord. But after the Lord came into the world, and made the Human in Himself Divine, then He delivered those who were there in “pits,” and raised them to heaven; and out of them He also formed the spiritual heaven, which is the second heaven. This is meant by the descent of the Lord to the lower regions, and by the deliverance of those who were bound.

AC 6826... “and the angel of Jehovah was seen by him,” signifies the Lord as to the Divine Human; “in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bramble,” signifies love Divine in the truth of memory-knowledge; “and he saw, and behold the bramble burned with fire,” signifies a noticing that the truth of memory-knowledge was full of the good of love Divine; “and the bramble was in no wise consumed,” signifies Divine truth united to Divine good in the natural

6816. The spirits of Mercury are quite different from the spirits of our earth, for the spirits of our earth care not so much for real things as for material, worldly, bodily, and earthly things. Therefore the spirits of Mercury cannot be together with the spirits of our earth, and so whenever they meet them they flee away; for the spiritual spheres which exhale from the two are almost opposite. The spirits of Mercury have a saying, that they love what is drawn out from things material, and that they do not desire to look at the sheath, but at things stripped of their sheath, thus at interior things.

 

Which are caught in sensuous things...

AC 6845. For the place whereon thou standest a ground of holiness is this. That this signifies that otherwise the Divine cannot enter, is evident from the signification of “place,” as being state (n. 2625, 2837, 3356, 3387, 4321, 4882, 5605), whence “the place whereon thou standest” denotes the state in which he as yet is; and from the signification of “ground of holiness,” as being the holy which proceeds from the Lord. Thus it is a state of the holy proceeding from the Lord’s Divine Human which is meant by these words. That it signifies that otherwise the Divine cannot enter, follows from what goes before, namely, that if man were not removed from sensuous things, which are the externals of the Natural, that is, if he were not elevated from these to things interior, the Divine could not flow in. The reason why the Divine cannot flow in with man so long as he is in these sensuous things, is that the influx from the Divine passes on even to those things which are last in order, thus down to the sensuous things which are the externals of the Natural with man; and if the things therein be merely bodily and earthly, the Divine things which flow in are there dissipated, because they are not in agreement. Therefore when man is about to receive the Divine, that is, the things which are of faith and love, he is elevated from sensuous things; and when he has been elevated from them, the Divine no longer flows in thither, namely, into the external Sensuous, but into the interior plane into which the man has been elevated. That this is the case it has been given me to know from much experience.

AC 6844 (2) That sensuous things, which are the externals of the Natural, are of such a nature that they cannot receive the Divine, is because they are in things worldly, bodily, and even earthly, for they proximately receive these things; hence the things that are in the memory from sensuous things derive from the light and heat of the world all that belongs to them, and but little from the light and heat of heaven, and therefore they are the last things that can be regenerated, that is, receive anything of the light of heaven. Hence it is that when a man is in these sensuous things, and is thinking from them, he thinks no otherwise of the Divine than as he thinks about earthly things, and if he is in evil he thinks from these sensuous things quite against the Divine. Therefore if when a man is thinking about such things as are of faith and love to God he is in good, he is elevated from the sensuous things which are the externals of the Natural, toward interior things, consequently from earthly and worldly things nearer to heavenly and spiritual things.

... From all this is now plain what is meant by “putting off the shoes from upon the feet.” That the Natural with man is external, middle, and internal, see n. 4570, 5118, 5126, 5497, 5649. The internal Natural is signified by the “feet,” the middle Natural by the “soles of the feet,” and the external Natural by the “shoes.”

Apocalypse Explained 355(32)... These ultimates are what are called sensual impressions [sensualia], which are the ultimates of the Natural man (of which see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 50); from these, when separated from the spiritual man, stream forth all the evils and falsities that are in the church and in its doctrine.

AC 6839... He who is in sensuous things, and is engrossed by worldly ones, in no wise apprehends interior things. He desires to see the things he must believe; those which he does not see are as it were foreign, and when he is thinking from himself about them, he rejects them as matters worthy of denial, or at any rate as worthy of doubt.

 

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

Arcana Coelestia 6804. And God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. That this signifies by reason of conjunction with the church through the Lord’s Divine Human, is evident from the signification of “covenant,” as being conjunction (of which in what follows); and from the representation of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with whom a covenant was made, as being the Lord’s Divine Human. (.. Abraham represents the Lord as to the Divine Itself, Isaac as to the Divine rational, and Jacob as to the Divine natural.

Divine Providence 218-220 (PDF)

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

They love real things

Arcana Coelestia 6809... I wondered at this character of the spirits of Mercury, and I therefore asked why they passed by the magnificent features of the places, and only searched out the facts and doings there? They said they have no delight in looking at material, bodily, and earthly things, but only at real ones. From this it at once appeared that the spirits of that earth relate in the Grand Man to the memory of real things when abstracted from things material and earthly.

The husk or sheath

AC 6816. The spirits of Mercury are quite different from the spirits of our earth, for the spirits of our earth care not so much for real things as for material, worldly, bodily, and earthly things. Therefore the spirits of Mercury cannot be together with the spirits of our earth, and so whenever they meet them they flee away; for the spiritual spheres which exhale from the two are almost opposite. The spirits of Mercury have a saying, that they love what is drawn out from things material, and that they do not desire to look at the sheath, but at things stripped of their sheath, thus at interior things.

What are real things?

AC 1025. The material, worldly, and bodily ideas man has when reading the Word become with angels spiritual and celestial ideas. While man is reading about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for example, the angels do not have Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob in mind at all but those real things which are represented and so meant by them.

AC 3485. The representations that come forth in the other life are appearances, but living ones, because they are from the light of life. The light of life is the Divine wisdom, which is from the Lord alone. Hence all things that come forth from this light are real; and are not like those things that come forth from the light of the world. Wherefore they who are in the other life have sometimes said that the things they see there are real things, and the things which man sees are in comparison not real; because the former things live, and thus immediately affect their life, while the latter things do not live, thus do not immediately affect the life, except insofar and in such a manner as the things in their minds which are of this world’s light conjoin themselves fitly and correspondently with the things of the light of heaven.

AC 5075. That nothing in the universe is anything, that is, a real thing, unless it is from Divine good by Divine truth, that is, by the “Word,” is plain in John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made (John 1:1, 3).

Tendency to love their own intelligence and not apply their knowledge

AC 6813...By reason of their knowledges the spirits of Mercury are more conceited than others, and they were therefore told that although they know innumerable things, still there are infinite things which they do not know; and that if their knowledges should increase to eternity, they would not attain even to a knowledge of generals. They were told also of their conceit and elation of mind, and how unbecoming this is; but they answered that it is not conceit, but only a glorying in their faculty of memory. In this way they can excuse their faults.

AC 6815. I was allowed to insinuate the question whether they did not desire to perform some use by virtue of their knowledges; because it is not sufficient to be delighted with knowledges, seeing that knowledges look to uses, and uses must be the ends. From knowledges alone, I told them, there is no use to them, but only to others to whom they may desire to communicate their knowledges; and it is by no means proper for a man who desires to be wise, to halt in knowledges alone, because these are only instrumental causes, intended to serve in the search for uses, which must be of the life. But they answered that they are delighted with knowledges, and that to them knowledges are uses.

Swedenborg's own experience

Earths in the Universe 27. The spirits of Mercury, who were with me whilst I was writing and explaining the Word as to its internal sense, and who perceived what I wrote: said that the things which I wrote were in a manner gross, and that almost all the expressions appeared as material; but it was given to reply, that to the men of our earth what was written seemed subtle and elevated, and many things incomprehensible. I added, that many on this earth do not know that it is the internal man which acts into the external, and causes the external to live; and that they persuade themselves from the fallacies of the senses that the body has life, and that in consequence thereof, such as are evil and unbelieving entertain doubt respecting the life after death; also, that the part of man which is to live after death is not by them called spirit, but soul; and that they dispute what soul is, and where is its abode, and believe that the material body, although dispersed to all the winds, is to be joined again to it, in order that man may live as man; with many other things of a like nature. The spirits of Mercury, on hearing these things, asked, whether such men could become angels; and it was given to answer, that those become angels who have lived in the good of faith and charity, and that then they are no longer in external and material things, but in internal and spiritual; and then they come into that state, that they are in a light superior to that in which the spirits from mercury are. That they might know that it was so, an angel was allowed to discourse with them, who had come into heaven from our earth, who had been such when he lived in the world, concerning whom more will be said presently.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

Conjugal Love 145 ... spiritual purification can be compared with the purification of natural spirits practised by chemists, what they call defecation, rectification, castigation, distillation, refining, decantation and sublimation. Purified wisdom can be compared with alcohol, which is the highest degree of rectified spirit. [3] (c) Spiritual wisdom then has the essential quality of growing warmer the more wisdom is loved, so that it goes on increasing for ever. This happens by the processes of defecation, castigation, rectification, refining, decantation and sublimation; and these take place by means of the process of refining and distancing the intellect from the fallacies of the senses, and the will from the snares of the body.

True Christian Religion 11[3] Everyone can see that a man's knowledge of God is his mirror of God, and that those who know nothing about God do not see God in a mirror with its face toward them, but in a mirror with its back toward them; and as this is covered with quicksilver, or some dark paste, it does not reflect the image but extinguishes it. Faith in God enters into man through a prior way, which is from the soul into the higher parts of the understanding; while knowledges about God enter through a posterior way, because they are drawn from the revealed Word by the understanding, through the bodily senses; and these inflowings meet midway in the understanding; and there natural faith, which is merely persuasion, becomes spiritual, which is real acknowledgment. Thus the human understanding is like a refining vessel, in which this transmutation is effected.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

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6861. Verses 9-12. And now behold the cry of the sons of Israel is come unto Me, and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. And now go, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, and do thou bring forth My people the sons of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the sons of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Because I will be with thee; and this shall be the sign to thee that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall worship God near this mountain. And now behold the cry of the sons of Israel is come unto Me, signifies pity for those who are of the spiritual church; and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them, signifies by reason of the endeavor of subjugation by those who were in falsities; and now go, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, signifies the holy proceeding from the Lord's Human, by which the infesting falsities would be dispersed; and do thou bring forth My people the sons of Israel out of Egypt, signifies the consequent liberation of those who were of the spiritual church from infesting falsities; and Moses said unto God, signifies perception from the Divine and humiliation; who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh? signifies not being yet in such a state as to seem to himself to be able to go to and remove the infesting falsities; and that I should bring forth the sons of Israel? signifies and thus to liberate those of the spiritual church; and He said, Because I will be with thee, signifies that the Divine will be in the Human; and this shall be the sign to thee that I have sent thee, signifies the knowledge that the Divine proceeded from Himself; when thou has brought forth the people out of Egypt, signifies when the spiritual are liberated from infestation by falsities; ye shall worship God near this mountain, signifies then perception and acknowledgment of the Divine from love.

6862. And now, behold the cry of the sons of Israel is come unto Me. That this signifies pity for those who are of the spiritual church, is evident from the signification of a cry, as being entreaty for aid (see n. 6801), and therefore when it is said that a cry comes unto Jehovah, or the Lord, it involves the same as hearing, and hearing denotes to bring the aid of mercy, or compassion (n. 6852); and from the signification of the sons of Israel, as being those who are of the spiritual church (n. 6637).

6863. And I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. That this signifies by reason of the endeavor to subjugate by those who are in falsities, is evident from the signification of the oppression wherewith they oppress, as being an endeavor to subjugate (that it denotes an endeavor to subjugate, and not subjugation itself, is because they who are of the Lord's spiritual church cannot be subjugated by those who are in falsities, because the Lord protects them); and from the signification of the Egyptians, as being falsities (see n. 6692).

6864. And now go, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh. That this signifies the holy proceeding from the Lord's Human, by which infesting falsities would be dispersed, is evident from the representation of Moses, who was to go, and who was sent, as being the Lord as to the law Divine (see n. 6723, 6752, 6771, 6827), thus as to the Human; for when the Lord was in the world, He first made His Human Divine truth, which is the same as the law Divine; and afterward He completely glorified His Human, and made it Divine good (between Divine truth and Divine good there is a difference such as there is between the light from the sun and the fire in the sun); and from the signification of to be sent as being to proceed (n. 2397, 4710, 6831), here holy truth (that holy is predicated of truth see n. 6788); and from the representation of Pharaoh, as being falsity (n. 6651, 6679, 6683, 6692). It is added that infesting falsities would be dispersed, namely, by the holy proceeding from the Lord's Human, because in what follows the subject treated of is the liberation of the sons of Israel, that is, of those who were of the Lord's spiritual church, from falsities; from which they can in no wise be liberated except by the holy which proceeds from the Lord. For the holy proceeding from the Lord not only disperses infesting falsities, but also reduces all things into Divine order, both those which are in the heavens, and those which are in the hells; and causes the heavens to be most distinct according to goods and the derivative truths, and the hells also to be most distinct according to evils and the derivative falsities; and likewise causes evils to be opposite to goods, and falsities to truths, in order that a spiritual equilibrium may exist, and everything be in a free state.

6865. And do thou bring forth My people the sons of Israel out of Egypt. That this signifies the consequent liberation of those who are of the spiritual church from infesting falsities is evident from the signification of bringing forth as being liberation; from the signification of the sons of Israel as being those of the spiritual church (see n. 6637); and from the signification of Egypt as being the false memory-knowledge which is against the truths of the church; thus infesting falsity (see n. 6692).

[2] It is false memory-knowledge which chiefly infests those of the spiritual church; because they have no perception of truth from good, but only the memory-knowledge of truth from doctrine; they who are such are very much infested by memory-knowledges. For memory-knowledges are the most general vessels, which sometimes appear contrary to truths, until truths being let into them make them transparent, and thus not to be noticed. Moreover, memory-knowledges are full of the fallacies of the senses, which cannot be dispelled by those who are in mere knowledges from doctrine, and not in the perception of truth from good; mainly because the light of the world predominates with them, which light appears clear so long as the light of heaven does not flow into it, but as soon as the light of heaven flows in, instead of light it becomes obscurity. Hence it is that these persons are enlightened and clever in the things of the world, but obscured and dull in the things of heaven.

[3] These believe themselves enlightened when they have confirmed in themselves the doctrinal things of the church, but it is a sensuous light from the light of the world which then deceives them; for doctrinal things of every kind can be confirmed, as Jewish doctrinal things by the Jews, enthusiastic ones by enthusiasts, Socinian ones by the Socinians, and heresies by heretics of every sort; and when they have been confirmed, they appear to them in the sensuous light as very truths. But they who are in the light of heaven are in enlightenment from the Lord; and before confirmations, by looking into the memory-knowledges which are beneath and are there arranged in order, they discern whether it is a truth that may be confirmed or not. Hence it is evident that these latter have an interior view, which is above the memory-knowledges, and thus is distinct; whereas the former have a lower view, which is within the memory-knowledges, and thus is an entangled one (see n. 2831).

6866. And Moses said unto God. That this signifies perception from the Divine and humiliation, is evident from the signification of saying, as being perception (of which frequently above); and from the representation of Moses, as being the Lord as to the law Divine (see n. 6723, 6752, 6771, 6827). The Divine is signified by God. That these words also involve humiliation is plain from what follows, for Moses says, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring forth the sons of Israel? As by Moses is represented the Lord, and mention is here made of humiliation, something must be said about the state of the Lord's humiliation when He was in the world. So far as the Lord was in the human not yet made Divine, so far He was in humiliation; but so far as He was in the Human made Divine, so far He could not be in humiliation, for so far He was God and Jehovah. The reason why He was in humiliation when in the human not yet made Divine, was that the human which He took from the mother was by heredity evil, and this could not come near to the Divine without humiliation; for in genuine humiliation a man divests himself of all ability to think and do anything from himself, and wholly leaves himself to the Divine, and thus draws near to the Divine. The Divine was indeed in the Lord, because He was conceived of Jehovah, but this appeared remote insofar as His human was in the heredity from the mother; for in spiritual and heavenly things it is unlikeness of state that causes removal and absence, and it is likeness of state that causes approach and presence; and it is love that makes likeness and unlikeness. All this shows whence came the state of humiliation with the Lord when He was in the world; but afterward, when He put off all the human which He took from the mother, insomuch that He was no longer her son, and put on the Divine, then the state of humiliation ceased, for then He was one with Jehovah.

6867. Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh? That this signifies not being yet in such a state as to seem to himself to be able to go and remove the infesting falsities, is evident from the signification of Who am I? as being that he was not yet in such a state; and from the signification of going to Pharaoh, as being to go to the infesting falsities, for by Pharaoh is signified falsity which infests (see n. 6651, 6679, 6683). That it also denotes to remove, is because the holy proceeding from the Lord's Human (of which above, n. 6864) removes falsities and evils, because these are quite unable to endure its presence....

And Moses was feeding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock behind the wilderness, and came into the mountain of God, to Horeb. And the angel of Jehovah was seen by him in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bramble; and he saw, and behold the bramble burned with fire, and the bramble was in no wise consumed. And Moses said, I will therefore go aside, and see this great vision, why the bramble is not burnt.

Exodus 3: 1-4

Arcana Coelestia 6819. But not only is man in the singular the neighbour, but also man in the plural. For a society, smaller or greater, is the neighbour; our country is the neighbour; the church is the neighbour; the Lord’s kingdom is the neighbour; and so above all is the Lord. All these are the neighbour who is to be benefited from charity... These ascending degrees are like the steps of a ladder, at the top of which is the Lord.

AC 6823...Thus the whole, which is all good in the complex, is the neighbour in the first degree, and is that Grand Man which has been treated of at the end of many chapters, which Man is a representative image of the Lord Himself. This Man, that is, the Lord’s kingdom, is loved, when from inmost affection those are benefited who are men through that Man from the Lord, thus with whom is the Lord’s kingdom.

The Lord appears to the mind according to its reception of Him

AC 6832...for when the Lord appears, He appears according to the quality of the man, because a man receives the Divine no otherwise than according to his own quality. Therefore when the Lord appeared on Mount Sinai, He appeared to the people as fire burning even to the heart of heaven, and as darkness, clouds, and thick darkness (Deuteronomy 4:11; 5:22-25also Exodus 19:18). He would have appeared altogether otherwise if the people who were looking on beneath the mountain had not been of such a quality; and because that people was in mere externals...[2] That the Lord appears to everyone according to his quality, is evident from the fact that the Lord appears to those who are in the inmost or third heaven as a sun, from which proceeds ineffable light, because those who are there are in the good of love to the Lord; and that He appears to those who are in the middle or second heaven as a moon, because those who are there are more remotely and obscurely in love to the Lord, being in love toward the neighbor; but in the lowest or first heaven, the Lord does not appear as a sun nor yet as a moon, but only as a light which far surpasses the light of the world. And as the Lord appears to everyone according to his quality, therefore also He cannot appear to those who are in hell except as a dusky cloud and thick darkness; for as soon as the light of heaven which is from the Lord sinks down into any hell, shades and darkness are produced there. From all this it can now be seen that the Lord appears to everyone according to his quality, because according to his reception;

 

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

Arcana Coelestia 6789(2) Unless external truth is from internal truth, it cannot be conjoined with good. Take the Word as an illustration. Unless the internal of the Word flows in with those who read the Word and abide in the literal sense, no conjunction is effected of truth from the Word with good; and the internal of the Word flows in and is conjoined with good when the man esteems the Word holy; and he esteems it holy when he is in good.

Arcana Coelestia 6788. And he said unto his daughters. That this signifies thought concerning the holy things of the church, is evident from the signification of “saying,” as being thought (see n. 3395); and from the signification of “daughters,” as being the holy things of the church (n. 6775). The holy things which are here signified by “daughters” are truths. In the Word these are called “holy,” by reason that the truths which with man become truths of faith, are from good; and because that which proceeds from the Lord’s Divine Human is Divine truth from Divine good. Hence it is that the “Holy Spirit” is the holy which proceeds from the Lord; for the Spirit itself does not proceed, but the holy which the Spirit speaks, as everyone can understand who considers the matter. That the Holy Spirit, which is also called the “Paraclete,” is the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord’s Divine Human, and that the holy is predicated of the Divine truth, is evident from the Lord’s words in John:

I will ask the Father that He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him. The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and shall remind you of all things which I have said unto you (John 14:16-17, 26).

When the Paraclete is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who goeth out from the Father, He shall testify of Me (John 15:26).

When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He shall lead you into all truth; He shall not speak from Himself, but what things soever He shall hear, He shall speak. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you. All things whatsoever the Father hath are Mine; therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you (John 16:13-15).

If these passages are collated with many others, it can be understood that the Holy Spirit is the holy which proceeds from the Lord’s Divine Human; for the Lord says, “Whom the Father shall send in My name;” also, “Whom I will send unto you from the Father;” and further, “He shall take of Mine and declare it unto you; all things that the Father hath are Mine, therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you.” It is also evident that the holy is predicated of truth, for the Paraclete is called the “Spirit of truth.”

 

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

And Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor questioned Him, saying, Are You the King of the Jews? And Jesus said to him, You say it. And when He was accused by the chief priests and the elders, He answered nothing. Then Pilate said to Him, Do You not hear how many things they testify against You? And He did not answer him, not even to one word, so that the governor greatly marvelled. And at a feast, the governor customarily released one prisoner to the crowd, whom they wished. And they had then a notable prisoner, Barabbas. Then they, having been assembled, Pilate said to them, Whom do you wish I may release to you, Barabbas, or Jesus being called Christ? For he knew they delivered Him up through envy. But as he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, Let nothing be to you and that just one. For I have suffered many things today by a dream because of Him. But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds, that they should ask for Barabbas, and to destroy Jesus. And answering, the governor said to them, From the two, which do you wish that I release to you? And they said, Barabbas. Pilate said to them, What then should I do to Jesus being called Christ? They all say to him, Crucify Him! But the governor said, For what badness did He do? But they the more cried out, saying, Crucify! And seeing that nothing is gained, but rather an uproar occurs, taking water, Pilate washed his hands before the crowd, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this righteous one; you will see. And answering, all the people said, His blood be on us and on our children. Then he released Barabbas to them. But having flogged Jesus, he delivered Him up that He might be crucified. (Matthew 27:11-26)

The Lord had two purposes in coming into the world, redemption and the glorification of His Human; and by these He saved both men and angels. These two purposes are quite distinct, but still they are combined in effecting salvation. The nature of redemption was shown in the preceding paragraphs to be a battle against the hells, their subjugation and afterwards the ordering of the heavens. Glorification, however, is the uniting of the Lord’s Human with His Father’s Divine. This took place by stages and was completed by His passion on the cross. For every person ought for his own part to approach God, and the more nearly he does so, the more closely does God on His side enter into him. It is similar to the building of a church: its construction by human hands must come first, and then afterwards it must be consecrated, and finally prayers must be said for God to be present and unite Himself with its congregation. The reason why the actual union was fully achieved by the passion on the cross is that it was the last temptation which the Lord underwent in the world; and temptations create a link. In temptation it looks as if a person is left to himself, but he is not, since God is then most closely present in his inmost, and secretly gives him support. When therefore anyone is victorious over temptation, he is most inwardly linked with God, and in this case the Lord was most inwardly united with God His Father. (True Christian Religion 126)

I just wanted to draw on the events around Jesus interactions with Pilate in the Gospel of Matthew with a view to gaining a little more understanding about what these events leading up to the death of the Lord mean in terms of our own interaction with the Word or when we are confronted with truths about ourselves. In the story the Jewish authorities had taken and bound Jesus to be led to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea at that time. The Jewish religious leaders, in particular, had become increasingly uncomfortable with the presence and influence Jesus was having on the masses and saw this as going against their own interests, so much so that they were willing to falsely accuse him, and stage what was effectively a mock trial to condemn him to death. But there was a problem with this in that due to Roman rule they had no authority to enact capitol punishment, something left to the Roman authorities. So having bound Him they sent him off to Pilate with a view to getting Roman approval to put him to death.

These events, framed in a historical way, are understood from the perspective of Spiritual Christianity to represent internal spiritual realities and are a reminder of the Lord’s work in our own lives. There is a part of us that, like the religious authorities of Jesus’ time, is unwilling to face up to certain spiritual responsibilities that we are obligated to perform in the face of our understanding of truths and in how they relate to areas of our life that we need to deal with, if we are to grow into our full potential as spiritual beings.

We can so easily read of these events and wonder at the cruelty of those figures who could take an innocent man and subject him to such barbarity out of envy. Jesus’ activities were unsettling for the Jewish leaders because if he became too popular it could well undermine their power and influence as far as the people were concerned. This could then have a direct influence on their own lives and from their perspective that just would not do! The high priest actually said as much when he said, what of it if one man should die for the sake of many? He, of course, was unaware that these words amounted to a prophecy concerning the Lord. We may well look on all this and think that this is something we would never participate in. What we don’t so easily see is that every time we are confronted with truth and look to dismiss it as something we don’t need to apply to ourselves, we are in a sense looking to dismiss that truth. And if we feel its too confronting we may even look to raise arguments against it to justify our position in opposition to it.

These events, spiritually understood, confront us with this fact because they confront us with the nature of self interest or self love. It is self love that looks to dismiss the truth because the natural side of us, our ego or proprium, is a power that will not willingly submit itself to the authority of the Word. The Lord had to play this story out in the events of his own life in such a dramatic and forceful way because we just don’t get it. All the characters and events in the Word describe our own states and tendencies and if we think we don’t fall into the traps that involve dismissing truth in our life so that our world can remain the same and because we don’t like feeling uncomfortable, or like having the status quo upset – then we simply haven’t reflected on our life to any real depth.

When we do reflect on our lives with a view to working on them it becomes painfully obvious that the proprium, our love of ourselves, is capable of anything in the service of its own interests. Thankfully there is another side to us that the Lord has implanted within us. A side that desires what is higher and this is open to higher heavenly influences, which if we are open to, is able to give us the courage we need to find our way through those things we have to deal with if we are to have our attachments to what is lower in us broken and put into their proper place and order. In the Gospel story the side of self-interest is represented by those elements that are opposed to the Lord whilst the heavenly or spiritual side is represented by the Lord Himself and those men and women who follow Him. This higher side comes to the fore in the story of the resurrection, which we will look at some other time- but for now we have the opportunity to learn more about this lower side. We need to learn about it so we can come to recognise it in our own lives because if we are unable to see how it operates it will continue to bind truths as they enter our minds and prevent them from having an influence for real positive change in our lives.

Self interest is always looking to bind the influence of truth in our lives. Truth is always looking to move us towards being more loving and compassionate in our responses by giving us the ability to reflect on our motives, identify our evils and work with the Lord to have their influence removed. This self interest within us is represented by the actions of the Jewish religious authorities who bind Jesus. Jesus is the power of the Word to save us and it does this by a process that involves uncovering the true nature of our motives so that we can see where we miss the mark and so seek the Lord to have them purified so that good might flow more freely. But when we are unwilling to hear what the Word is saying and actively resist it because we prefer to remain in selfish states of life, we effectively look at truths that challenge us and judge them as having no authority in the areas of our life that are being exposed. In such instances we judge the truth or in the context of our reading today, we put the truth on trial, that is we make it subject to our own selfish interests and so bind its influence for good in our life.

The next thing that happens is that the truth bound by self interest is then exposed to Pontius Pilate to be judged. The meaning of his name is revealing from a spiritual perspective. Pontius means “belonging to the sea” and Pilate means “armed with a spear“. The office he held was that of governor. So he represents something in us that governs and is able to make judgements, assess things and deliver decisions. You will notice that all these abilities are abilities most associated with intellectual functions – the ability to weigh evidence, to question and probe and arrive at the “truth” of a case. These are functions commonly associated with reasoning and this, of course, is what Pontius Pilate represents within us, our lower reasoning faculties. When spiritual truths lose their ability to influence our mind its reasoning powers become dominated by lower lusts belonging to the self and from a spiritual perspective,...