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Arcana Coelestia #10360

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10360. And ye shall keep the Sabbath. That this signifies that the Divine Human of the Lord is to be worshiped, is evident from the signification of “keeping,” when said of the Divine, as being to worship; and from the signification of “the Sabbath,” as being in the supreme sense the union of the Divine which is called the “Father” and of the Divine Human which is called the “Son,” thus the Divine Human in which is this union. This union is signified by “the Sabbath,” because by the six days of labor which precede the seventh is signified every state of combat; for in the spiritual sense “labor” does not mean such labor as there is in the world, but such as those who are in the church endure before they enter the church and become the church, which labor is combat against evils and falsities of evil. A like “labor” (in the spiritual sense) was endured by the Lord when He was in the world; for He then fought against the hells, and reduced them and likewise the heavens into order, and at the same time He glorified His Human, that is, He united it to the Divine Itself which He had from conception (see n. 9715, 9809).

[2] The time and state when the Lord was in combats is signified by the six days of labor, but the state when the union had been effected is signified by the seventh day, which is called “the Sabbath,” from “rest,” because the Lord then had rest. Consequently by “the Sabbath” is signified also the conjunction of the Lord with heaven, with the church, with an angel of heaven, and with a man of the church. The reason is that all who are to come into heaven must first be in combats against evils and the falsities of evil, and when these have been separated they enter heaven and are conjoined with the Lord, and then they have rest. It is similar with men in the world. It is known that these must be in combats, that is, that they must undergo temptations, before the good and truth which make the church have been implanted in them; thus before they have been conjoined with the Lord, consequently before they have rest. From this it is evident whence it is that a state of combat is signified by the six days of labor, while rest and also conjunction are signified by the seventh day or the Sabbath.

[3] That the conjunction of good and truth also, is signified by “the Sabbath,” is because when a man is in combats he is in truths; but when truths have been conjoined with good, thus when the man is in good, he then has rest; in like manner as the Lord, when He was in the world, and fought with the hells, was in respect to His Human Divine truth; and when He had united His Human to the Divine Itself, He then, even in respect to His Human, became the Divine good, or Jehovah.

[4] (That the six days which precede the Sabbath denote the combats which precede and prepare for the heavenly marriage, which is the conjunction of good and truth, may be seen in n. 8510, 8888, 9431. As regards the former state, when man is in truths and at the same time in combats against evils and falsities of evils, which state is signified by “the six days of labor,” and as regards the latter state, when he is in good and is led by the Lord, which is signified by “the Sabbath,” see n. 7923, 7992, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8539, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701, 8772, 9139, 9224, 9227, 9230, 9274, 9832. That when the Lord was in the world He made His Human first Divine truth, and afterward Divine good, see the places cited in n. 9199, 9315; and that He did this by the combats of temptations, see the places cited in n. 9528.)

[5] Therefore he who knows that by “the Sabbath” in the supreme sense is meant the union of the Divine Itself in the Divine Human of the Lord, may know what those things signify which are so often said in the Word about the Sabbath, as in Isaiah:

If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, so that thou doest not thine inclinations on the day of My holiness; but shalt call the Sabbath honorable delights to the Holy One of Jehovah; and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own desire, nor speaking a word; then shalt thou delight thyself upon Jehovah; and I will exalt thee on the high places of the earth, and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father (Isaiah 58:13-14);

He who is acquainted with the internal sense of the Word can plainly see that in this passage by “the Sabbath” is signified the state of conjunction of man with the Lord, thus the state when man is led by the Lord and not by himself, which state is when he is in good. For to be led by the Lord, and not by self, is to “turn away the foot from the Sabbath, not to do one’s own inclinations, not to do one’s own ways, not to find one’s own desire, and not to speak a word.” That in this case the church is in him, and also heaven, is signified by that “he shall be exalted on the high places of the earth, and shall be fed with the heritage of Jacob.” Moreover, that “the Sabbath” denotes the Divine Human in which is union, is signified by the Sabbath being called “a day of holiness and of delight to the Holy One of Jehovah.”

[6] And in Jeremiah:

If ye will hallow the Sabbath day, then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in the chariot and on horses (Jeremiah 17:24-25);

He who is not acquainted with the internal sense of the Word will suppose that these things are to be understood according to the sense of the letter, namely, that if they would hallow the Sabbath, kings and princes would enter in by the gates of the city Jerusalem, and would ride in the chariot and on horses. This however is not the meaning; but that those who reverently worship the Divine Human of the Lord shall be in the Divine truths of heaven and of the church; for by “Jerusalem” is meant the church; by “kings and princes,” its Divine truths; by “the throne of David,” heaven where the Lord is; by “chariot,” the doctrine of good and truth; and by “horses,” an enlightened understanding. (That “Jerusalem” denotes the church, see n. 2117, 3654; that “kings” denote Divine truths, n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148; that “princes” denote primary truths, n. 1482, 2089, 9954; that a “throne” denotes heaven, n. 5313; that “a chariot” denotes the doctrine of good and truth, n. 5321, 8215; and that “horses” denote an understanding which is enlightened, n. 2760-2762, 3217, 5321, 6534)

[7] As by “the Sabbath” was signified the Lord as to the Divine Human in which there is union, it was therefore commanded that the breads of faces should be set in order upon the table every Sabbath (Leviticus 24:8). That the Lord as to the Divine Human is meant by “bread” is known in the church. For this reason also when the Lord was in the world He called Himself “the Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:27-28; Luke 6:1-5).

[8] And therefore when the Lord was in the world, and united His Human to the Divine Itself, He abrogated the Sabbath in respect to representative worship, or in respect to its worship such as was with the Israelitish people; and made the Sabbath day a day of instruction in the doctrine of faith and of love. This is involved in what is written in John:

Jesus healing a certain man on the Sabbath day said to him, Take up thy bed and walk; and he took up his bed and walked. But the Jews said that it was not allowable to carry a bed on the Sabbath day, and sought to kill the Lord, because He loosed the Sabbath (John 5:8-10, 18).

By the “healing of the sick” is signified the purifying of man from evils and the falsities of evil; by a “bed” is signified doctrine; and by “walking” is signified life.

[9] (That all the healings of diseases which were performed by the Lord involve purification from evils and falsities, or restorations to spiritual life, see n. 8364, 9031, 9086; and that “to walk” denotes life, n. 519, 1794, 8417, 8420.) That a “bed” denotes doctrine is evident from the passages in the Word where a “bed” is mentioned, and also from the representatives in the other life, where when a bed appears and one lying on it, there is signified the doctrine in which he is; consequently beds appear there most highly adorned for those who are in truths from good. But no one can know that such things are signified by the above words of the Lord except by the internal sense, for the Lord spoke by correspondences, thus by significatives, because from the Divine.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.

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Arcana Coelestia #1906

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1906. After ten years of Abram’s dwelling in the land of Canaan. That this signifies the remains of good and of the derivative truth which the Lord procured to Himself, and by means of which that rational was conceived, is evident from the signification of “ten,” as being remains, spoken of before (n. 576). What remains are, has been stated and shown above (n. 468, 530, 560, 561, 661, 798, 1050), namely, that they are all the states of the affection of good and truth with which a man is gifted by the Lord, from earliest infancy even to the end of life; which states are stored up for him for the use of his life after death; for in the other life all the states of his life return in succession, and are then tempered by the states of good and truth with which he has been gifted by the Lord. The more remains therefore that a man has received in the life of the body, that is, the more of good and truth, the more delightful and beautiful do the rest of his states appear when they return. That this is really so may be evident to everyone, if he will consider. When a man is born he has not a particle of good of himself, but is wholly defiled throughout with hereditary evil, and all that is good flows in, such as his love for his parents, his nurses, his companions; and this from innocence. Such are the things that flow in from the Lord through the heaven of innocence and peace, which is the inmost heaven, and thus is man imbued with them in his infancy.

[2] Afterwards, when he grows up, this good, innocent, and peaceful state of infancy recedes little by little; and so far as he is introduced into the world, he comes into its pleasures, and into cupidities, and thus into evils; and so far the celestial or good things of the age of infancy begin to disappear; but still they remain, and the states which the man afterwards puts on or acquires are tempered by them. Without them a man can never be a man, for the states of the cupidities, or of evil, if not tempered by states of the affection of good, would be more atrocious than those of any animal. These states of good are what are called remains, given by the Lord and implanted in one’s natural disposition, and this when the man is not aware of it.

[3] In after life he is also gifted with new states; but these are not so much states of good as states of truth, for as he is growing up he is imbued with truths, and these are in like manner stored up in him in his interior man. By these remains, which are those of truth, born of the influx of spiritual things from the Lord, man has the ability to think, and also to understand what the good and the truth of civic and moral life are, and also to receive spiritual truth or faith; but he cannot do this except by means of the remains of good that he had received in infancy. That there are remains, and that they are stored up in a man in his interior rational, is wholly unknown to man; and this because he supposes that nothing flows in, but that everything is natural to him, and born with him, thus that it is all in him when an infant, when yet the real case is altogether different. Remains are treated of in many parts of the Word, and by them are signified those states by which man becomes a man, and this from the Lord alone.

[4] But the remains that appertained to the Lord were all the Divine states which He procured for Himself, and by which He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence. These cannot be compared to the remains that pertain to man, for the latter are not Divine, but human. It is the remains appertaining to the Lord that are signified by the “ten years in which Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan.” When angels hear the Word, they do not know what the number ten is, but as soon as it is named by man the idea of remains occurs to them; for by “ten” and “tenths” in the Word are signified remains, as is evident from what was shown above (n. 576, 1738); and when a perception comes to them based on the idea of the end of the ten years that Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, the idea of the Lord comes to them, and at the same time innumerable things that are signified by the remains in the Lord during the time that He was in the world.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.