A STUDY

OF THE

DEUTERONOMY

JAMES SPEIRS

36 BLOOMSBURY STREET, LONDON

1881

PREFACE.

The Author's first intention was merely to collect together in a convenient form the scattered passages referring to Deuteronomy in the theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg; but it has been found necessary, for the sake of unity and completeness, to add much that is original. In this the Author has endeavoured, on the principles laid down by Swedenborg, to translate the text concisely from the language of historical narrative into that of the inner sense dealing with man's regeneration, and the translation is of course open to criticism and correction by all who are acquainted with the correspondence between the things in the natural material world and those in the inner or mental and spiritual world as unfolded in the New Church. The Indexes of Swedenborg's two great theological works—the "Arcana Coelestia" and the "Apocalypse Explained"—have been used as a glossary in making the translation, and frequent references are given to these works under their initial letters, A. C. and A. E.

It is well known from the New Church writings that besides the inner sense, dealing with the regeneration of the individual soul, there is in the inspired Word another sense which treats of the regeneration of the human race as a whole, and an inmost sense describing the conflict between Divine perfection and human frailty in the Humanity of the Lord. In the following pages the endeavour is made to gain some insight into the first alone.

Those readers who are unacquainted with the doctrines of the New Church and desire the fullest information are referred to Swedenborg's work entitled the "True Christian Religion." It may be useful here to mention, however, that the cardinal doctrine of the New Church is—That there is but One God in one Divine Person, whose character is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ; and only one road to eternal happiness, namely, the reformation of the character according to His pattern and commandments.

Deuteronomy Chapter 1

Verses 1-8. A General Summary.
Verses 9-18. The selection of right principles in the mind.
Verses 19-21. Invitation to enter upon the heavenly life.
Verses 22-25. A search into what constitutes the heavenly life.
Verses 26-40. The unwillingness of the unregenerate heart to enter upon it.
Verses 41-46. The attempt to do so from selfhood and defeat in temptation.

Deuteronomy Chapter 2

Verses 1-7. Hereditary good nature will not avail for regeneration.
Verses 8-15. The character is not made spiritual by external worship.
Verses 14, 15. The loss of self-confidence.
Verses 16-23. The soul must not remain in a state of falsified truths, but pass beyond them.
Verses 24-37. The destruction of the domination of self-love in the external mind.
 

Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD spoke to me: and we compassed mount Seir many days.	And the state of the soul is then changed, and regeneration is continued in states of desolation and of assaults from evil spirits, as the soul had been warned by Divine truth; and it is led through a series of experiences under the influence of the apparent good in the will part of the natural mind.
And the LORD spoke to me, saying,	And the soul has a fresh perception from the Lord through Divine truth.
You have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward.	That these states under the influence of the natural will are advanced to the full, and that it is time for the soul to advance to knowledges of truth from a celestial origin (AE 405); that is, to truths derived from the genuine love of what is good.
And command you the people, saying, You are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take you good heed to yourselves therefore:	And the soul perceives from the Lord through the Word that it is to pass by and leave on one side the external states of charity derived from the apparent natural good which is in the will before regeneration, which also reverences and fears to offend against the holy truths of faith. Great care must be taken, therefore, by the regenerating soul,
Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir to Esau for a possession.	Not to confound this good with spiritual good, for the Church will not be formed in such states, not even as to its lowest natural things; for the Lord has so ordered it that this voluntary part of the natural mind receives influx from Him without the intervention of truths by an internal way.
You shall buy meat of them for money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water of them for money, that you may drink.	The regenerating soul shall draw forth good from this principle by means of its knowledges of good derived from the Word to nourish it, and it shall acquire truths from it by means of its knowledges of truth derived from the Word that the understanding may be replenished therewith.
For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the works of your hand: he knows your walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.	For the goodness and wisdom of the Lord have been with the soul, blessing it with the means of obtaining these things. All its progress through states of apparent loss of goodness and truth have been under the Lord's providence. His love and wisdom have been with it in all its temptations, and it has lost no really good thing. [Note (verses 1-7).—This somewhat obscure passage seems to describe how the soul in the earlier stages of regeneration is brought into contact with the apparent integrity and benevolence which exist in the world from such motives as the fear of the law, love of approbation, etc. The soul cannot be regenerated in such states which are not spiritual; but the goods and maxims practised from such states may be added to the spiritual character, and may finally become celestial by being practised from the genuine love of goodness infused into the soul by the Lord.]
And when we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath, and from Eziongaber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.	And after the mind has passed from under the influence of the apparent love of good and charity, which is in the natural mind from motives which are not spiritual, and from the influence of the doctrines and maxims belonging thereto which are really worldly [N.B.—Elath and Ezion-gaber were places by the Red Sea where Solomon had a navy of ships. (See 1 Kings ix. 26.)], a new state is reached in the soul, and it is brought into the defect of good and truth, such as exists with those who are in mere external worship, by which the genuine good of worship is adulterated. [Note.—The genuine good of worship is the sincere love of the Lord (that is, of His character as revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ) above all things and the earnest desire to carry out His will in every thought and action of life. When worship is made to consist in anything else as its chief characteristic, such as in ceremonial or in doctrinals, or when external worship is the result of other motives, as from custom, habit, or for the sake of respectability, it is adulterated with evil.]
And the LORD said to me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give you of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession.	And the soul is commanded by the Lord through the Word not to be hostile to what proceeds from imperfect external worship, nor to contend with it by fighting against it from spiritual truths; for genuine spiritual truth will not be formed in the soul by dispossessing the states derived from external worship, for the Lord has provided the love of external worship for the benefit of those faculties in the soul which can only receive a religious principle derived from external things.
The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims;	This region of the mind was occupied in former states by false persuasions derived from hereditary evil, of a character that perverted all the goods and truths in the soul, and deeply rooted in the mind, like all the ideas derived from self-love.
Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites called them Emims.	Which also filled the mind with the idea of its own super-eminence, as all principles derived from love of self, and are very powerful on account of their proceeding from hereditary evil in the will; but those who are in external worship consider only the outward results of these things. [Note (verses 10, 11).—Some idea may be formed of the power of persuasions derived from hereditary evil and the desires of the natural mind by reflecting how self-interest twists and imperceptibly warps one's thoughts, and how difficult it is to form a clear and impartial judgement in any matter in which one's interests are involved; also how any passion or desire of the natural mind when it obtains any power over the soul obliterates all the rational considerations that would check it.]
The Horims also dwelt in Seir beforetime; but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did to the land of his possession, which the LORD gave to them.	The persuasions of falsity arising from self-love and other unbridled passions also occupied the will part of the mind originally, but were succeeded by the natural good proceeding from external motives when it had destroyed those evils and taken their place in the mind, as spiritual influences from heaven are finally enabled to drive out evils from the interiors of the soul, in which the Lord has ordained they should have dominion, if the regenerating soul will open the mind to receive them.
Now rise up, said I, and get you over the brook Zered. And we went over the brook Zered.	The soul can now be raised from its state of desolations into one of external goodness and order, and, led by Divine truth, it passes the boundary which introduces it into the life of good. [Note (verses 10-13).—In this passage is described how the regenerating soul is led through imperfect to better states. Any motive that will assist in driving out sin is at first adopted till the soul is fully prepared to receive truly spiritual life from heaven.]
And the space in which we came from Kadeshbarnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the LORD swore to them.	And the state in which the soul comes from the affection of interior or rational truth into the commencement of the life of good is one in which truths are in fullness, and a new state is commencing in which the self-will of the evil proprium is becoming subdued, and the soul is convinced of its insufficiency to contend in its own strength against evil as declared by the Lord.
For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from among the host, until they were consumed.	For indeed the providence of the Lord had been directed to destroy these thoughts and affections derived from the evil proprium throughout the soul till they were consumed.
So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people,	So it came to pass that when all self-derived power and confidence were consumed and destroyed from among the new spiritual principles received into the soul,
That the LORD spoke to me, saying,	That the soul perceived by Divine truth
You are to pass over through Ar, the coast of Moab, this day:	That it was now prepared to pass over through the good of external and imperfect worship and the things derived from it.
And when you comest near over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give you of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.	And the soul comes into contact with those principles in the mind which are derived from falsified truth; these are not to be attacked or meddled with, for the Lord will not found the Church in the regenerating soul upon doctrines derived from falsified truths; for these can only exist with those who are of the perverted external Church (or form a state of falsified external religion in the soul).
(That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims;	This region of the mind was also full of ideas of conceit derived from self-love; and falsities derived from the love of pre-eminence dwelt there in previous states of the soul, and their outward results are perceived to be evil by those who are in external truth.
A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead:	These false persuasions are derived from hereditary evil and pervert all the goods and truths of the soul, and are deeply rooted, as all those derived from self-love; but the Lord destroyed them by means of the doctrines of external truth, and they succeeded them and dwelt in that region of the mind:
As he did to the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, when he destroyed the Horims from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even to this day:	As He did to the external affections of good which dwelt in the will part of the mind when He destroyed the persuasions of self-love from before them, and they succeeded them and dwelt in their stead even to the present condition of the soul.
And the Avims which dwelt in Hazerim, even to Azzah, the Caphtorims, which came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.)	And the falsities which were in the intellect to its utmost boundaries, the truths which were by the science of truth from the Word, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead. [Note (verses 16-23).—This passage appears to describe the progress of regeneration in the truths believed, as verses 1-15 had described the regeneration of motives in the will, and shows how merely apparent truths, and even falsities, are turned to good account. Thus, for example, the falsity may exist in the mind from the letter of the Divine Word misunderstood, or from the doctrines of old and perverted Churches, that the Lord is a severe and arbitrary God of vengeance, who must by all means avenge sin even if the innocent suffer in the place of the guilty; and this false idea may be useful at first to hold sin in check by sheer terror, till the soul is prepared to receive the perception that nothing can exist with the Lord inconsistent with pure love and mercy towards both the good and the evil, which is the only conclusion the soul can arrive at when it grasps the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is the revelation of the character of God.]
Rise you up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.	The regenerating soul must rise above these external motives and fallacies, and continue its heavenward journey, and pass into a state which will bring it into conflict with its more interior evils; and it perceives that the Lord will give it power to overcome the evils of self-love, the chief evil of the soul that opposes regeneration, and that the regenerate will will be supreme in the external mind now occupied by the love of self, and that it is the duty of those regenerating to drive out these evils and strive against them strenuously.
This day will I begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of you, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of you.	And in this state the Lord begins to put the dread of committing sin and the fear of resisting good impulses from heaven upon all the principles of action in the whole mind, and they hear the Divine will as given in the conscience, and are in great fear and anxiety lest it should be transgressed.
And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,	And the soul explores by means of Divine truth from the state of defect of good in which it is into those principles of the mind which are under the dominion of selfish loves, to see if there is any agreement to be made with them by the regenerating soul.
Let me pass through your land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn to the right hand nor to the left.	The regenerate will is desirous to continue its progress through these motives of action derived from self-respect and esteem. Using them only so far as is necessary, it would go straight forward towards higher things, being guided by the clear truths of the Word, and would not swerve either into evil or falsity.
You shall sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet;	It is willing to acquire from those principles and motives such conformity with custom as is necessary for life in the world by means of its perception of what is good from the Word that it may be sustained; and such worldly maxims as are essential, by means of its knowledge of truth, that the mind may be well stored with worldly information, only these things will only be used by the regenerate as transitory and comparatively inferior things.
(As the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did to me;) until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the LORD our God gives us.	(As the principles of good which were in the soul before regeneration, and the external goods which were in the inferior things of worship, were used by the soul), until it shall become fully regenerated and enter into those holy states which the Divine Love and Wisdom are preparing for it.
But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD your God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as appears this day.	But self-love, which reigns supreme in the natural mind before regeneration, will not suffer the regenerate thus to proceed unmolested on their heavenly journey; for it is diametrically opposed both in will and opinion to all good and truth from the Lord, and refuses all agreement with spiritual things, and must therefore be entirely overcome and conquered in the state to which the soul has now arrived.
And the LORD said to me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before you: begin to possess, that you may inherit his land.	And it is perceived by the Divine truth of the Word that the soul now has power from the Lord to obtain victory over self-love and all things derived from it; and that it should begin to practise from spiritual principles the goods formerly done from this motive that they may be conjoined to the soul as genuine good.
Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz.	Then self-love comes out to oppose the religious progress of the soul, together with all the arguments that are derived from it in the state to which the soul has now progressed.
And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.	And the goodness and wisdom of the Lord deliver the regenerate from the domination of this principle, and enable them to overcome it with all the apparent truths and opinions which are derived from it.
And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:	And all the doctrines hitherto subservient to this motive come now under the influence of the regenerate will; and all the falses, affections of evil, and evil intentions in such doctrines are entirely rooted out, and none suffered to remain:
Only the cattle we took for a prey to ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took.	But such natural subservient affections of this old principle as are innocent in themselves are adopted by the regenerate will, and whatever is of use in its principles is appropriated to the regenerate.
From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even to Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the LORD our God delivered all to us:	From its tenets, which are proximate to truths, but falsified, and from those derived from the fallacies of the senses even to natural good, which is closely allied to genuine good received from the Word, there is no principle of action derived from the love of self which is not to be under the dominion of the regenerate will: the goodness and wisdom of the Lord will place them all under its control:
Only to the land of the children of Ammon you came not, nor to any place of the river Jabbok, nor to the cities in the mountains, nor to whatever the LORD our God forbad us.	Only the soul must not adopt the principles of external worship derived from falses, nor any of their falsified truths, nor any of its doctrines which were joined with evils, nor anything that it perceives to be inimical to the Divine goodness and wisdom of the Lord. [Note (verses 24-37) — This passage appears to describe how the Lord reduces the selfishness of the heart in the external mind, and how the external morality arising from the love of reputation in the world cannot be adjoined to the Christian character without temptation-combats against the selfish motives which induce it in the unregenerate state, and how it is finally made spiritual by adoption from higher motives. The love of self reigns in man when he only regards himself and his own in what he thinks and does, and places this before the public good. (See AC 7366-7377.)]

 

Deuteronomy Chapter 3

Verses 1-17. The subjugation of the love of the world in the external mind.
Verses 18-20. The principles acquired in the regeneration of the external mind must assist in the perfecting of the internal domain of motives and thoughts.
Verses 21-29. After the conquest of evil in externals the soul desires at once to attain heavenly happiness; but this is not yet possible.
 

Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.	Then the state of the soul is again changed, and it progresses to a state in which it may be endowed with natural good in externals (see AE 405); and the love of the world, which reigns in the natural mind, comes out to oppose the soul with all the allurements and pleasures of the senses, and all its confirmatory arguments to combat the soul in the state to which it has now arrived.
And the LORD said to me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into your hand; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.	And it is perceived by means of Divine truth that this principle is not to be feared; for the Lord will reduce it, and all the arguments and persuasions by which it is supported, and all the region of the mind heretofore occupied by it under the power of the regenerate will; and the soul will be enabled to do the same with them as was done in former temptations to self-love, the chief of the evils of the soul which dwelt hereditarily in the natural mind.
So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining.	3. So the goodness and wisdom of the Lord delivered into the power of the regenerate will also the love of the world and sensual things which dominated in the natural mind, with all the theories and persuasions supporting it, which will be destroyed in the mind as far as they oppose the regenerate life until none of them are left.
And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.	4. And all the doctrines and fallacies favouring a life lived for this world only will be taken possession of in that state by the regenerate will, there will not be one left to support it; for it is perceived that they are completely deceptive and false, even the whole of the theories and arguments which promised happiness from a worldly life and pleasure, which the love of this world had hitherto caused to dominate in the natural mind.
All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many.	All these doctrines and opinions had barred up the mind against spiritual truths by plausible arguments drawn from the fallacies of the senses with specious proofs and confirmations; and were supported by many other considerations drawn from the natural inclination of man's heart.
And we utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city.	All these are to be utterly destroyed as far as they oppose the regenerate life, as was done to the false principles arising from the love of self in the natural mind. The absolute fallacy of such arguments and opinions is made manifest, and all affection for them and ideas derived
But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves.	But all affections which are harmless, and everything of real spiritual use in these false conceptions, is appropriated by the new regenerate will.
And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side Jordan, from the river of Arnon to mount Hermon;	Thus in that state the externals of the mind are no longer occupied by falses derived from the loves of self and the world, but are occupied by real truths from a spiritual origin, from the first endeavours to lead a truly spiritual life even to the complete knowledge of good.
(Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion; and the Amorites call it Shenir;)	(Knowledges of what constitutes the genuine good of love and charity are considered real good with those who are in the love of genuine truths from the Lord; but those who are in evils consider what favours the loves of self and the world with them to be real good.)
All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, to Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.	All the doctrines accepted in the mind about external things, and the delights of them, and all the natural mind to its utmost boundaries, and the things derived from the pleasures of the senses formerly under the dominion of the love of the world and pleasure dominating in the natural mind, were now possessed by the regenerate principle.
For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.	For the love of the world and its pleasures dominating over the whole natural mind to the exclusion of things spiritual is a gigantic power of falsity in the human soul derived from hereditary evil, resting in a state of torpor as to spiritual things on the study of natural sciences to the exclusion of all else, and supported by perverted truths drawn from the letter of the Word, by which truth is utterly falsified both as to knowledges of good and evil and knowledges of what is true or false when measured by the real standard of Divine truth drawn from the Lord's Divine Humanity, which is the real man.
And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I to the Reubenites and to the Gadites.	And in the new state to which the soul has now progressed, all these faculties and all the exteriors of the natural mind, from the first conceptions of truth derived from a rational study of the Word to the state in which spiritual things are received in the mind with delight, and the doctrines of truth with which the soul is stored from this source, are occupied by true faith in the Lord (Reuben) and good works thence resulting (Gad).
And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I to the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants.	And all the rest of the external mind, with its pleasures formerly dominated by the love of this world, is now conjoined to the new regenerate will received from the Lord, with all the natural life in the world and the externals of the soul in which the lusts and desires of the unregenerate soul had hitherto been all-powerful.
Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob to the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, to this day.	Thus the new principle derived from the regenerate will possesses all the faculties of the natural mind even to external sensual things, and stamps upon them its new regenerate character in this state.
And I gave Gilead to Machir.	And the Lord gives to the soul a feeling of pleasure in doing good from the union of good motives with sound doctrines.
And to the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the river Arnon half the valley, and the border even to the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;	And the natural mind from the pleasure in doing good, into which man is first initiated when he becomes regenerate (Gilead), to the first perceptions of spiritual truth conjoined thereto in external things, comes under the dominion of true faith in the Lord and works thence derived, even to the first insinuation of spiritual truth into good (Jabbok), which is the boundary between external and internal religion.
The plain also, and Jordan, and the coast thereof, from Chinnereth even to the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, under Ashdothpisgah eastward.	The external mind also as to doctrine and truth to its utmost boundaries, from the sources and origins whence they flow (Chinnereth or Gennesaret) even to where they are stored in the memory of the sensual man and conjoined to its desires, now comes under the control of things derived from the spiritual man (Ashdoth-pisgah or the springs of the hill). [Note (verses 1-17)—By the conquest of Og seems to be described the change which comes over the soul when the immense importance of the future life is fully realized and acted upon as compared with this. When his kingdom is fully conquered and occupied by Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh (true faith, life thence resulting, and the regenerate will), the primary object in life is no more worldly success and prosperity, but security from temptation, avoidance of sin, and everything that would imperil eternal life. In the present day (emphatically the iron age) it behoves each member of the Church to consider whether his primary thoughts and endeavours in life are directed to ensure his eternal welfare, or whether he is tainted by the spirit of the age, and passes the greater part of his time on his iron bed of worldly pursuits and science, with the spiritual aspirations of his mind fast asleep.]
And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God has given you this land to possess it: you shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are meet for the war.	And the soul has a clear perception from Divine truth in that state, that the Divine goodness and wisdom have gifted it with power to attain spiritual life in the natural mind, and that these newly-acquired powers should advance to combat with evil with all their might as far as they are enabled, and so go before the other faculties of the mind and prepare the soul for the reception of true love and charity in the internal mind.
But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (for I know that you have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I have given you;	And the affections of truth with the good principles derived from the enlightened understanding, and all the knowledges of good and truth in the natural mind (for the Lord has gifted the soul with abundant knowledges in the natural mind), shall repose secure in the doctrines and principles with which the soul is endowed by the conquest of the loves of self and of the world in the natural mind.
Until the LORD have given rest to your brethren, as well as to you, and until they also possess the land which the LORD your God has given them beyond Jordan: and then shall you return every man to his possession, which I have given you.	Until the Lord shall have reduced all the principles within man to order as well as those things which are in the external mind; and when the soul shall possess those interior states of love and charity which the Lord has prepared for it in the inner mind, then shall the external mind and all things derived from it also have rest and repose in the soul. [Note (verses 18-20).—In these verses would seem to be described how the soul perceives that it must work out its own salvation by combating the evils of the outer life; and by warring against these exterior evils the way is prepared for the Lord to gift the soul with real charity in interiors, after which right principles will be carried out in externals as from habit without struggle. (See AC 4353.)]
And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Yours eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings: so shall the LORD do to all the kingdoms whither you passest.	And the soul, being in a state of truth warring against evil, and zealous for good, has a fresh perception from the Divine truth of the Word; it is made evident to the understanding what the Lord by His Divine goodness and truth has done to the false principles derived from the love of self and the love of the world in the externals of the soul; and confidence is now given that the Lord will reduce under the power of the regenerate will all opposition from evil and falses in the more interior states towards which the regenerate are progressing.
You shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you.	The soul must not fear them, for the Divine goodness and omnipotent wisdom of the Lord are co-operating with the regenerate.
And I besought the LORD at that time, saying,	And the mind while under the dominion of truth has an earnest desire in that state, and beseeches the Lord—
O Lord GOD, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to your works, and according to your might?	That now the real character of the Lord is manifest, and the regenerating soul has gained a perception of His goodness, wisdom, and power, and that everything in spiritual and natural things is under the governance of His Providence—
I pray you, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.	That it may at once advance to a more interior state, and enjoy the blessings of internal religion, celestial peace, and a life of good.
But the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said to me, Let it suffice you; speak no more to me of this matter.	But this cannot be owing to the forwardness of the other principles of the mind not yet regenerated; and it is perceived that the soul is asking for what is impossible while it is merely in a state of knowledge of truth.
Get you up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with your eyes: for you shall not go over this Jordan.	It is given, however, to the mind in that state to elevate itself by the intellect, and to perceive the states to which the soul will afterwards come, from its imperfect affections and its obscure perceptions of truth to a full and clear light, and a perfect state of love; this is perceived with the understanding, but the soul cannot at present enter into these more interior states.
But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you shall see.	But it must first war against evils, and all the energies and strength of the mind must be employed in the combat; for this warring against evil will prepare the mind for the reception of good and truth, and will cause it to inherit all these holy states which are perceived in the intellect by illustration from Divine truth.
So we abode in the valley over against Bethpeor.	And the soul remains in an external state till the truths received in the first stage of regeneration are fully implanted.

 

Deuteronomy Chapter 4

Verses 1-13. The absolute necessity of obeying the Divine commands.
Verses 14-24. That nothing from selfhood is to be put in the place of Divine truth, and that truth alone, unless worked out in the life, cannot save.
Verses 25-31. If the soul acts from itself it must perish, but if it seeks Divine Wisdom it will be saved.
Verses 32-40. That Providence continually assists regeneration, as may be manifest from the past; that the soul should therefore trust in the Lord and none else, and their sole duty is to carry out His laws.
Verses 41-43. Evils committed through ignorance or errors of doctrine do not condemn.
Verses 44-49. Reiteration of the Divine Law in the state to which the soul has arrived.
 

Now therefore hearken, O Israel, to the statutes and to the judgements, which I teach you, for to do them, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers gives you.	The principal duty, therefore, of those regenerating is to obey and implicitly carry out all the commands which they receive through the Divine Word, both as to general principles and as to the perception given about each particular case, that they may acquire spiritual life, and enter into and enjoy those more interior states to which the Divine Goodness and Wisdom of the Lord (which have led the regenerate by Divine Providence in all ages) are seeking to guide them.
You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish ought from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.	Nothing shall be added to the perception from Divine truth within the soul as to what is right to do, neither shall any part of it be disregarded, that the whole may be carried out in the life as directed by the Divine Goodness and Wisdom revealed in the Word.
Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD your God has destroyed them from among you.	It has been evident to the understanding what are the pernicious results of false worship conjoined with a life of evil. For all the false opinions which favour a life of evil in one who pretends to religion are destroyed in the soul by the truths that are perceived by those regenerating from the Divine Goodness and Wisdom.
But you that did cleave to the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.	But all those thoughts and affections that uphold a life of good derived from the Divine Goodness and Wisdom as revealed in the Word and in the Lord Jesus Christ are preserved every one and confirmed in the soul.
Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgements, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do so in the land whither you go to possess it.	It is now evident to the regenerating soul that the Word illustrated by influx from Divine Goodness and Wisdom instructs the soul in all things, both in general principles and in particular cases, and points out the things which are necessary to be done in order to attain to heavenly life.
Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.	Attend to these, therefore, and work them out patiently in the life; for this is the true wisdom and intelligence of the regenerate, and will be perceived to be such by all things in the soul that desire genuine good, which will receive these principles, and will acknowledge that a life in accordance with them is real wisdom and intelligence.
For what nation is there so great, who has God so near to them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?	For what affections so tend towards good, and bring the soul to so Divine a state as those derived from the Lord as perfect Divine Love and Wisdom (as displayed in the Lord Jesus Christ)?
And what nation is there so great, that has statutes and judgements so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?	And what affections so lead towards good, or are in accordance with such just directions for the general conduct of life and for each particular case, as the new perceptions of the Divine Word which are given to the soul in this state?
Only take heed to yourself, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life: but teach them your sons, and your sons' sons;	Only let the regenerating watch and keep their souls diligently, lest they forget the directions which have been given them in their states of illustration, and lest the will should not act from them in any state they may be passing through, but let them impress them upon all their thoughts and principles of action.
Specially the day that you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD said to me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.	Specially that state in which they manifestly perceived the absolute necessity of obeying the commands proceeding from the Divine Goodness and Wisdom, and when by the Lord's Providence the whole attention of the soul was brought to bear upon eternal things, and made to perceive the Divine instructions given in the Word, that it might learn to regard the Lord's will in every state of natural life, and that all their thoughts and actions might bear the impress of it.
And you came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.	These are the states in which the soul approaches the state of love to the Lord and comes under its influence, and perceives the Divine Love, and the defilement of the love of self burning within the soul even to the centre, and all the darkness in spiritual things, and obscurity and dense evils thence resulting.
And the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only you heard a voice.	Then it is that the soul has a perception from the Divine Love, and of its own evils; it perceives the Lord's will revealed in the truths of the Word, and it perceives that no external or simulated goodness in natural things will avail for salvation, but that the perception given of the Lord's will must be carried out in the life.
And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.	And understands the definite conditions of salvation, which it is absolutely necessary for those who would be saved to carry out, namely, to work out the whole law of the Lord as far as they are able in the life; and the Word of the Lord is thus to be impressed upon the memory and upon the life.
And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgements, that you might do them in the land whither you go over to possess it.	And the soul receives illustration from the Lord through the Word in that state of the things relating to the general principles of action which form the true worship of Him, and to conduct of life in the world, that are to be carried out in the regenerate state upon which the soul is now entering, and the quality of which it must acquire.
Take you therefore good heed to yourselves; for you saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:	It is necessary, therefore, to watch what passes in the soul with jealous care, for it was perceived that nothing from self which simulates good in externals is to be worshiped in the place of the pure goodness and truth which proceeds from the Lord's Humanity in that state in which the soul received illustration from the Lord, proceeding from the Divine Love, as to what is necessary for salvation.
Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,	Lest the soul should turn away from the Divine and worship what proceeds from its own evil proprium, and make a god of it, and imagine the desires and thoughts that proceed therefrom, and which are from the loves of self and the world, and merely put on a semblance of good in externals, to be genuine good and truth.
The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air,	The affections proceeding from the evils of the proprium, which put on the appearance of good in the natural mind, and the false intelligence, which seems to be rational externally, and to lift the mind to real truth, but really proceeds from the loves of self and the world, and is infatuation.
The likeness of any thing that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:	Or worship as the chief good the mere pleasures of the senses separate from spiritual life, and believe as the only truths the appearances which are derived from the fallacies of the senses apart from revelation.
And lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, should be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD your God has divided to all nations under the whole heaven.	And lest the understanding be lifted up with pride, and when the delights are perceived of self-love, the love of the world, and all the falses derived from them which surround self-love, the soul should be compelled by the natural evil inclination of the heart to worship and love them supremely, though these things were intended by the goodness and wisdom of the Lord to be subservient to all the good thoughts and affections implanted by Him in the soul.
But the LORD has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as you are this day.	But the Lord has taken the regenerate and brought them forth out of the evil loves of the natural man, a state in which religion is made to consist in mere knowledges, and the mind is under the dominion of the evil proprium, to receive the life derived from Divine truth operating on the soul as is being developed in the present state.
Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land, which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance:	Furthermore, the soul has turned away and perverted even the Divine truth of the Word itself to the service of evil by the perversity of the natural man, so that it is not possible for truths alone to conduct the soul to interior religion, or for the soul, when in a state of believing truths only, to possess those heavenly states which the Divine Goodness and Wisdom desire to give it.
But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but you shall go over, and possess that good land.	But truth must be stored in the memory while the soul is in an external state, and cannot, while it is regarded as the chief thing, conduct the soul to the internal life of goodness; but when truths are carried out into the life, the soul shall enter into it and possess it. [Note (verse 21, etc.).—Even truths themselves are productive of evil if a man begins to imagine himself superior to others on account of them. The possession of truths, which are spiritual riches, is a serious responsibility, and the more truths a man thinks he has, the more is it necessary for him to examine if they are made use of in the life; for truths, like Moses, will die on this side of Jordan, and will not accompany the soul in the next world except so far as they have been worked but in the life (Matt 7:21-27).]
Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD your God has forbidden you.	Let the regenerate take great heed, therefore, of what passes in the soul, lest they forget the conditions on which alone it is possible for the Divine Goodness and Wisdom to conduct them to heaven, namely, by carrying out the Divine will in the life; and lest they worship as the supreme good the false imaginations proceeding from their own evil heart, or any appearance of good or truth in externals, which is contrary to the perception given them of the Divine Goodness and Wisdom.
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.	For thus all the influx from the Divine Love and Wisdom within the soul will be consumed by the lusts arising from the loves of self and the world, and become hatred against Divine good.
When you shall beget children, and children's children, and you shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD your God, to provoke him to anger:	As the mind develops fresh truths and principles derived from them in series, and after the soul has become fully initiated into the goods and truths of the Church, when it turns away from the Divine, and worships what proceeds from self-derived intelligence, and calls the evil desires of the proprium good, and shall thus sin against the perception given by the Divine Love and Wisdom so as to avert them from the soul.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go over Jordan to possess it; you shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.	The Divine Word shows clearly now to the soul, both in its internal and external senses, that in such case all that is of the Church with man and the internal good and truth now possessed by the soul will utterly perish, heavenly states will no more be experienced, and spiritual life will utterly die out.
And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and you shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.	And goods and truths will be lost amongst the hereditary evils of the soul, and will be obscured by the falses into which the Divine influx of truth into the soul will be turned.
And there you shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.	And in that state the soul will be under the dominion of the worship of what is false proceeding from its own corrupt hereditary nature, evil in its motive, untrue in its principles, without perception of real truth or desire to carry it out, without the power of appropriating spiritual nourishment from heaven, or true perception of things as they really are.
But if from there you shall seek the LORD your God, you shall find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.	But if even in that deplorable state the soul shall sincerely seek Divine Goodness and Wisdom, it shall find them if it really search for them with all the power of the will and understanding.
When you are in tribulation, and all these things are come upon you, even in the latter days, if you turn to the LORD your God, and shall be obedient to his voice;	When it is in temptations, and all these things come upon the soul, when the state comes in which nothing of good and truth seems left, if it then looks to Divine Goodness and Wisdom, and endeavours to carry out the dictates received therefrom
(For the LORD your God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.	(For the Lord arranges or permits all things by Divine Love and Wisdom in Providence out of pure love and mercy), He will not cease to help the soul in every possible way, nor will He permit it (if it desires good) to be destroyed by evil; nor will He be absent in its struggles, in which He Himself will take part, and thereby conjoin the soul with Himself, as He has declared in the Word that He becomes conjoined with those who strive after good.
For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven to the other, whether there has been any such thing as this great thing is, or has been heard like it?	For let the soul examine and ask now of the states that are past in its former experiences since the Lord first caused spiritual good and truth to appear in the natural mind by regeneration, and into all the perceptions which it has of spiritual and internal things, and see if there has ever been such a revelation of Divine goodness as what the Lord has done by assuming Humanity to effect man's regeneration, or if man could have conceived of anything greater.
Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?	Or could there be any other principles in which is revealed so clearly the will of the Lord proceeding from Divine Love as those (proceeding from that Humanity) which have been revealed to the soul, and which it is also enabled to live out?
Or has God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?	Or are there other truths which have been able to draw forth what is good and separate it from the evil in the soul by temptations, by clear revelations of truth, by the manifest operation of Divine Providence, by contest against evil, by the power of internal truth, and by Divine Omnipotence, and by protection from evils and falses, according to all that has been done by the Divine Goodness and Wisdom upon all the falsities which favoured evil in the natural mind, as has been evident to the perception of the understanding?
Unto you it was showed, that you might know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.	It has been given to the soul to perceive these things in order that it might know that the revelation of goodness and truth as manifested in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only true revelation of the Divine Being and His attributes. Besides this there is no just conception of what is good and true.
Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you: and upon earth he showed you his great fire; and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.	By illustration in the interiors of the mind He causes the regenerate to understand His will, that He may teach them to follow Him; and in their natural life He shows them the operation of His Divine Love, and it is perceived that all His commands proceed from that Love.
And because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought you out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;	It is because the Lord loves the desires of the regenerating soul to attain to genuine good from Himself that He endows it with abundance of truths, and brings it by means of His omnipotent power to a clear perception of truth, and from the dominion of the falsities which favour evil in the natural unregenerate heart.
To drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you are, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.	To enable it to overcome evils in the soul, which are far greater and more powerful than the soul's desires for good would be without continual help from heaven, and to bring the soul to heaven and plant therein goods and truths in the place of evil, as can be seen even in this present state.
Know therefore this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.	Let the mind, therefore, clearly perceive in this state and accept it in the will that the goodness and truth proceeding from the Lord as revealed in His Humanity are all-powerful, and alone to be worshiped both in the internal domain of motives and thoughts and the external domain of life and actions; there is nothing else of real power for good.
You shall keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days upon the earth, which the LORD your God gives you, for ever.	The whole duty of those who are regenerating, therefore, consists in regulating the life by His laws, and in everything obeying His will, as far as it is given to the soul to perceive it, in the state to which it has arrived, that it may go well with the man who is regenerating, and with all the desires and thoughts with which the soul shall be endowed, and that the fullness of his states of good and truth in the external mind may be amplified in the existence with which he will be endowed by the Divine Goodness and Wisdom in heaven for ever.
Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;	Then the soul is provided by means of Divine truth from the Word with complete doctrines in the external mind derived from love to the Lord.
That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:	That when the soul through error has destroyed anything of spiritual life, it may take refuge in them and be blameless if the destruction of what is spiritual takes place from ignorance and not from premeditated evil in the heart; and that by embracing these doctrines his spiritual life might be preserved.
Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.	There are doctrines adapted for those states in which goodness and truth are vastated in the mind in which the soul depends upon truths and faith as all-important, and for those in which the soul is endeavouring to carry out what it knows in the natural life, in which works are considered all-important. And for the more perfect states in the natural principle when the soul endeavours to act from spiritual motives and from the new regenerate will. [Note (verses 41-43).—These verses seem to indicate that doctrines are provided from the Word suited to the states and capacities of all, and even if a soul should act against and destroy what is of true charity, still if this is done from error and from mistaken religious tenets conscientiously believed, no guilt will be imputed to him. And if the soul is in doubt as to what are good and truth, let him take refuge in the doctrines of truth as far as they have been revealed to him in the Word, and abide therein, and his spiritual life will be preserved.]
And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:	And these are the rules of action which those who are regenerating receive from the Divine Word.
These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgements, which Moses spoke to the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt.	These are the things clearly perceived to be true by the illustration given from heaven, the instructions relating to general principles, and the laws for guiding the life in individual cases which those who are regenerating receive through the Word, after they have rejected the fallacies belonging to the natural man.
On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt:	Before they enter upon the internal state of good, whilst still in external principles and in the first stage of regeneration in that region of the mind formerly occupied by the love of self, the chief evil of the soul, which dominated over the natural mind, but which was conquered by Divine truth from the Word and the new regenerate principles of the mind derived therefrom after the soul was delivered from the bondage of its old fallacies,
And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;	And the natural mind became occupied by the new desires and truths given from heaven, where the love of self and the love of the world formerly reigned, the two chief ruling evils which were in the natural mind before regeneration, and obscured the influx of good from heaven;
From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even to mount Sion, which is Hermon,	From its first beginning, when the regenerating soul began to draw real truth from the Word, even to its inmost state, which is a rational perception of spiritual things,
And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.	And all the doctrinals of the external Church derived from good, even to the sciences of spiritual things now under the control of things derived from the spiritual man.

 

Deuteronomy Chapter 5

Verses 1-5. The keeping the commandments and obeying the Divine will as given in the Word is the covenant to conjoin the soul with heaven.
Verses 6-21. The Ten Commandments, which are a summary of the Divine Law
(For the full explanation of the Ten Commandments see AC 8863-8912. It is perhaps scarcely necessary to state here that the fact of the moral commands containing a spiritual sense does not mean any weakening of the literal sense.)
Verses 22-29. The perception of the perfections of the Divine Being; and the utter discordance of its desires and thoughts therewith, alarms the soul.
Verses 30-33. Instruction that if the soul leads a good life as far as it can, it receives a perception of truth accommodated to its state which leads it on by degrees.
 

And Moses called all Israel, and said to them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgements which I speak in your ears this day, that you may learn them, and keep, and do them.	And the Lord instructs the regenerating through the Word, and enforces upon them that it is essential they should be careful to obey the laws of Divine order and the decisions of Divine Wisdom in every step of life which are perceived to be right, that the Divine will may be impressed upon the memory, imbue the understanding, and be carried out in the life.
The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.	For the Divine Goodness and Wisdom become conjoined to the regenerating soul by means of revelations through the Word.
The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.	These revelations are different to those which were given to the soul in any former state, but they are now given to the regenerating who have been brought to receive true life from heaven.
The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,	The Divine Wisdom is perceived in the interior sense of the Word shining forth from the Divine Love towards the human race
(I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to show you the word of the LORD: for you were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,	(The Word in the letter mediates between the Lord and those who are in external states, and shows them the will of the Lord as far as they are able to bear it, for the desires and thoughts of those who are in externals are not in conformity with the Divine Love, so that they cannot ascend into more interior states), and reveals as follows:—
I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.	That the Divine Love and Wisdom, as displayed in the Lord Jesus Christ, should be the object of inmost adoration with the regenerate; it is this that has brought them out of their natural and unregenerate condition, and from the slavery of sin.
You shall have none other gods before me.	There is nothing to be worshiped as the supreme good but this.
You shall not make you any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:	That which proceeds from self-intelligence is not to be worshiped, nor any hypocritical resemblance of what is good, whether it be of religious or spiritual good, civil and moral good, or of those things which please the external senses.
You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,	You shall not debase the soul to those things nor serve them. For there is nothing good but what proceeds from the Lord Jesus Christ; the worship of aught else brings evil and falsity with all their evil progeny upon the soul in a long series, till all good and truth is obscured with those who reject the Divine influence that proceeds from the Lord.
And showing mercy to thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.	Whereas good and truth flow in for ever into the souls of those who will receive the good of love and the truths of faith that flow from the Lord's Divine Humanity by endeavouring to conform their lives to them.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.	Good and truth must not be profaned (by believing the truth and doing evil, or by doing good from a hypocritical or selfish motive), for thereby what is spiritual in the soul is hopelessly destroyed by being conjoined to its opposite, and a state induced that cannot be healed.
Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD your God has commanded you.	Those regenerating should ever have before them as the main object of life the conjunction of all things in the soul to the Lord, whereby they will be sanctified by conforming themselves to the pattern given in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Six days you shall labour, and do all your work:	It is necessary that the soul should pass through a complete period of temptation and combat against evils and falsities, and thus fully work out its salvation.
But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your ox, nor your ass, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates; that your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you.	But the holy state will then come in which the whole man is reduced to order by conjunction with the Lord; there will then be no more occasion to struggle against sin and falsity, either for the man's interior will or for his internal perception of what is good and true, or for his opinions of rectitude and wisdom in externals, or for his affection for these principles in natural things, or for his natural truths, or for any feeling or perception in the soul, or scientific in the understanding whereby the truths of the Church are introduced into the mind; that the subservient faculties of the soul may be at peace as well as the inner man himself. [Note.—When the soul is brought to the state signified by the Sabbath, every faculty will be at peace because all will work harmoniously in the Divine order.]
And remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.	It should be remembered that what is spiritual in the soul was oppressed in the natural unregenerate state of the mind, and that it has been liberated by the Divine Love and Wisdom leading the mind in all the operations of Providence with Divine Omnipotence; and the object of all these operations of Divine Love and Wisdom should be ever present in the mind, namely, the sanctification of the soul by conjunction with the Lord.
Honour your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the LORD your God gives you.	Prefer the Lord and His kingdom before all things, for the Divine Love and Wisdom have shown the soul that these are the fountains of life, that thus states of blessedness may be acquired in heaven, and that the soul may be led into the state of order and happiness which is designed for it by the Divine Love and Wisdom.
You shall not kill.	You shall not quench or destroy the spiritual life of love and wisdom which proceeds from the Lord, either in yourself or others, for this is spiritual murder.
Neither shall you commit adultery.	You shall flee from everything which destroys the sacred marriage of genuine good and truth, which is the union in the soul of the love of truth and the love of doing good, and you shall abominate the foul union of the love of what is evil with what is false.
Neither shall you steal.	You shall not attribute anything of good and truth to yourself, which is spiritual theft, for all genuine good and truth is from the Lord.
Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbour.	Neither is the perception given of what is really good and true in the smallest degree to be perverted or disregarded.
Neither shall you desire your neighbour's wife, neither shall you covet your neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is your neighbour's.	Great heed is to be taken of the loves of self and the world, lest they should induce the understanding to use the truths of the Church for selfish ends, or lest they should induce the will to appropriate its goods to self, or to turn to selfish or evil ends the doctrines of. the Church within the soul, or its rational truths, or the love of them, its natural good or natural truths, or any of those things which are given simply to enable the soul to live more unselfishly for the good of others.
These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them to me.	The perception from the Lord that these things must be done was given to the whole soul in a state of good from Divine Love, from the letter of the Word, and shining through the obscurity with which it had been veiled by false doctrines arising from evils; it was clear and unmistakable, separating what was good from what was evil in the soul; it showed that the duty of man was the keeping of the commandments from the Lord and nothing else. And that the Lord has given to man through the Word all those truths which are needful to conjoin him with Himself, and which make him receptive of Divine Love and Wisdom.
And it came to pass, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that you came near to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;	And when this clear revelation of Divine truth was perceived shining out of the midst of the obscurity in which the Word was before veiled (for it was then manifest that the