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The multiplication of truths and the infestations of falsities

Arcana Coelestia 6634. EXODUS 1: 1-7 1. And these are the names of the sons of Israel that came into Egypt with Jacob; a man and his house they came. 2. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; . Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4. Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5. And all the souls that came out of the thigh of Jacob were seventy souls: and Joseph was in Egypt. 6. And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. 7. And the sons of Israel were fruitful, and were productive, and multiplied, and become very exceeding numerous; and the land was filled with them.

6639… As in those chapters in Genesis which treat of the coming of the sons of Jacob, and of Jacob himself, into Egypt to Joseph, the subject treated of in the internal sense was the initiation of the truths of the church into memory-knowledges, and as the church has not been set up anew until this initiation has taken place, here therefore, according to the series of things in the internal sense, the renewed church is treated of, and how it is continually infested by memory-knowledges and falsities. For however well truths have been initiated and the church set up with a man, still such knowledges and falsities are continually rising up and assaulting what is of the church in him. It is this which is represented by Pharaoh and the Egyptians afflicting the sons of Israel, and being desirous to kill their infant boys.

[2] He who does not know how the case is with the assailing of the truth of the church by such knowledges and falsities with those who are of the church in the other life, can in no wise believe that it is so. The man of the church who comes into the other life must be purified from such things as infest truths and goods; otherwise he cannot be uplifted into heaven, and be there in a society which has been purified from such things. If he were to be uplifted thither sooner, he would be like a dense earthly vapor in a serene aura, or like a black mass in a bright light. In order therefore that a man of the church who has recently come from the world may be purified, he is kept in a state to be assailed by memory-knowledges which disagree with truths, and also by falsities, and this until these knowledges become of no account, and are removed. This seldom takes place with man during his life in the body, but in the other life it takes place with those who are to be uplifted into heaven, and this with much variety.

The daughters may live

AC 6634…Exodus 1:15-16. 15. And the king of Egypt said to the midwives of the Hebrew women, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah; 16. And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; and if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

Self compulsion is required

AC 1937 [3] But they who have compelled themselves to resist what is evil and false-although at first they supposed that this was from themselves or from their own power, but were afterwards enlightened to see that their effort was from the Lord, even to the least of all the particulars of the effort-these in the other life cannot be led by evil spirits, but are among the happy. Thus we may see that a man ought to compel himself to do what is good and to speak what is true. The arcanum herein contained is that a man is thus gifted by the Lord with a heavenly Own(proprium), for this heavenly Own(proprium) of man is formed in the effort of his thought; and if he does not maintain this effort by compelling himself (as the appearance is), he certainly does not maintain it by not compelling himself.

The heavenly proprium(own) is the Lord’s proprium(Own)

AC 8497 The reason why life appears as man’s own is that the Lord from Divine love wills to give and to conjoin all His own to man, and as far as it can be effected, does conjoin it. This “own” which is given by the Lord, is called the heavenly own.

AC 3813. As regards “flesh,” in the supreme sense it signifies the own of the Lord’s Divine Human, which is Divine good, and in the relative sense it signifies the own of man’s will made alive by the own of the Divine Human, that is, by His Divine good. This own is what is called the heavenly own, which in itself is the Lord’s alone appropriated to those who are in good, and thence in truth. Such an own have the angels who are in the heavens, and men who as to their interiors or as to the spirit are in the Lord’s kingdom. But in the opposite sense, “flesh” signifies the own of man’s will, which in itself is nothing but evil, and not being vivified by the Lord is called “dead,” and thus the man himself is said to be dead.

8409. As regards ‘flesh’ and its meaning the proprium in both the genuine and contrary senses, in the highest sense it is the Lord‘s Divine proprium, which is His Divine Human, and so is the good of His love towards the entire human race. From this in the sense that relates to man ‘flesh’ means a proprium made alive by the Lord‘s Proprium; that is, it is the Lord‘s Proprium present with the person, and so is the good of love to Him. Regarding the meaning of ‘flesh’ in this sense, see 3813, 7850. But in the contrary sense ‘flesh’ is the proprium that is man’s own, thus the evil of self-love, and consequently the desires of that love, which are cravings, 999, 3813. The proprium that is man’s own is nothing but evil, see 210, 215, 694, 874-876, 987, 1023, 1044, 1047, 3812 (end), 5660, 5786.

DLW 114. The Lord not only is in heaven, but also is heaven itself; for love and wisdom are what make the angel, and these two are the Lord‘s in the angels; from which it follows that the Lord is heaven. For angels are not angels from what is their own; what is their own is altogether like what is man’s own, which is evil. An angel’s own is such because all angels were once men, and this own clings to the angels from their birth. It is only put aside, and so far as it is put aside the angels receive love and wisdom, that is, the Lord, in themselves. Any one, if he will only elevate his understanding a little, can see that the Lord can dwell in angels, only in what is His, that is, in what is His very own, which is love and wisdom, and not at all in the selfhood of angels, which is evil. From this it is, that so far as evil is put away so far the Lord is in them, and so far they are angels. The very angelic of heaven is Love Divine and Wisdom Divine. This Divine is called the angelic when it is in angels. From this, again, it is evident that angels are angels from the Lord, and not from themselves; consequently, the same is true of heaven.

Arcana Coelestia 149 [2] Man’s proprium when viewed from heaven looks just like something bony, lifeless, and utterly misshapen, and so in itself something dead. But once it has received life from the Lord it appears as something having flesh. For man’s proprium is something altogether dead, though it has the appearance to him of being something; indeed it appears to be everything. Whatever is living within him comes from the Lord‘s life; and if this were to leave him, he would fall down dead as a stone. For he is purely an organ of life, though the nature of the organ determines that of the life-affection. The Lord alone possesses Proprium. By His Proprium He has redeemed man and by His Proprium saves him. The Lord‘s Proprium is Life, and from His Proprium man’s proprium, which in itself is dead, is given life.

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.