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The commandments of
the Decalogue are called the ten words or ten commandments, because
"ten" signifies all; consequently the ten words mean all things of
the Word, and thus all things of the church in a summary. All things
of the Word and all things of the church in a summary are meant,
because there are in each commandment three interior senses, each
sense for its own heaven, for there are three heavens. The first
sense is the spiritual moral sense; this is for the first or lowest
heaven; the second sense is the celestial spiritual sense, which is
for the second or middle heaven; and the third sense is the Divine
celestial, which is for the third or inmost heaven. There are thus
three internal senses in every least particular of the Word. For
from the Lord who is in things highest, the Word has been sent down
in succession through the three heavens even to the earth, and thus
has been accommodated to each heaven; and therefore the Word is with
each heaven and almost with each angel in its own sense, and is read
by them daily; and there are preachings from it, as on the earth.
For the Word is Divine
truth itself, thus the Divine wisdom, proceeding from the Lord as a
sun, and appearing in the heavens as light. Divine truth is the
Divine that is called the Holy Spirit, for it not only proceeds from
the Lord but it also enlightens man and teaches him, as is said of
the Holy Spirit. As the Word in its descent from the Lord has been
accommodated to the three heavens, and the three heavens are joined
together as inmosts are with ultimates through intermediates, so,
too, are the three senses of the Word; which shows that the Word is
given that by it there may be a conjunction of the heavens with each
other, and also a conjunction of the heavens with the human race,
for whom the sense of the letter is given, which is merely natural
and thus the basis of the other three senses. That the ten
commandments of the Decalogue are all things of the Word in a
summary can be seen only from the three senses of those
commandments, which are as above stated.
What these three
senses in the commandments of the Decalogue are can be seen from the
following summary explanation. The first commandment of the
Decalogue, "Thou shalt not worship other gods besides Me," involves
in the spiritual moral sense that nothing else nor anyone else is to
be worshipped as Divine; nothing else, that is, nature, by
attributing to it something Divine of Itself; nor anyone else, that
is, any vicar of the Lord or any saint. In the celestial spiritual
sense it involves that one God only is to be acknowledged, and not
several according to their qualities, as the ancients did, and as
some pagans do at this day, or according to their works, as
Christians do at this day, who make one God from creation, another
from redemption, and another from enlightenment.
This commandment in
the Divine celestial sense involves that the Lord alone is to be
acknowledged and worshiped, and a trinity in Him, namely, the Divine
Itself from eternity, which is meant by the Father, the Divine Human
born in time, which is meant by the Son of God, and the Divine that
proceeds from both, which is meant by the Holy Spirit. These are the
three senses of the first commandment in their order. From this
commandment viewed in its threefold sense it is clear that it
contains and includes in a summary all things that concern the
Divine as to essence.
The second
commandment, "Thou shalt not profane the name of God," contains and
includes in its three senses all things that concern the quality of
the Divine, since "the name of God" signifies His quality, which in
its first sense is the Word, doctrine from the Word, and worship of
the lips and of the life from doctrine; in its second sense it means
the Lord's kingdom on the earth and the Lord's kingdom in the
heavens; and in its third sense it means the Lord's Divine Human,
for this is the quality of the Divine Itself. (That the Lord's
Divine Human is "the name of God" in the highest sense n. 224.) In
the other commandments there are likewise three internal senses for
the three heavens; but these, the Lord willing, will be considered
elsewhere.
As Divine truth united to
Divine good proceeds from the Lord as a sun, and by this, heaven and
the world were made (John 1:1, 3, 10), it follows that it is from
this that all things in heaven and in the world have reference to
good and to truth and to their conjunction that they may be
anything. These ten commandments contain all things of Divine good
and all things of Divine truth, and there is also in them a
conjunction of these. But this conjunction is hidden; for it is like
the conjunction of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor;
Divine good belongs to love to the Lord, and Divine truth to love
towards the neighbor; for when a man lives according to Divine
truth, that is, loves his neighbor, the Lord flows in with Divine
good and conjoins Himself. For this reason there were two tables on
which these ten commandments were written, and they were called a
covenant, which signifies conjunction; and afterwards they were
placed in the ark, not one beside the other, but one above the
other, for a testimony of the conjunction between the Lord and man.
Upon one table the commandments of love to the Lord were written,
and upon the other table the commandments of love towards the
neighbor. The commandments of love to the Lord are the first three,
and the commandments of love towards the neighbor are the last six;
and the fourth commandment, which is "Honor thy father and thy
mother," is the mediating commandment, for in it "father" means the
Father in the heavens, and "mother" means the church, which is the
neighbor.
Something shall now be said
about how conjunction is effected by means of the commandments of
the Decalogue. Man does not conjoin himself to the Lord, but the
Lord alone conjoins man to Himself, and this He does by man's
knowing, understanding, willing, and doing these commandments; and
when man does them there is conjunction, but if he does not do them
he ceases to will them, and when he ceases to will them he ceases
also to understand and know them. For what does willing amount to if
man when he is able does not do? Is it not a figment of reason? From
this it follows that conjunction is effected when a man does the
commandments of the Decalogue.
But it has been said that man
does not conjoin himself to the Lord, but that the Lord alone
conjoins man to Himself, and that conjunction is effected by doing;
and from this it follows that it is the Lord with man that does
these commandments. But anyone can see that a covenant cannot be
entered into and conjunction be effected by it unless there is some
reciprocal on man's part, not only that he may consent but also that
he may receive. To this end the Lord has imparted to man a freedom
to will and act as if of himself, and such a freedom that man does
not know otherwise, when he is thinking truth and doing good, than
that the freedom is in himself and thus from himself. This
reciprocal is on man's part in order that conjunction may be
effected. But as this freedom is from the Lord, and continually from
Him, man must by all means acknowledge that to think and understand
truth and to will and do good are not from himself, but are from the
Lord, according to what has been said on this subject above (n. 946,
971, 973).
Consequently when man through
the last six commandments conjoins himself to the Lord as if of
himself, the Lord then conjoins Himself to man through the first
three commandments, which are that man must acknowledge God, must
believe in the Lord, and must keep His name holy. This man does not
believe, however much he may think that he does, unless the evils
forbidden in the other table, that is, in the last six commandments,
he abstains from as sins. These are the things pertaining to the
covenant on the part of the Lord and on the part of man, through
which there is reciprocal conjunction, which is that man may be in
the Lord and the Lord in man (John 14:20).
It is said by some that he who
sins against one commandment of the Decalogue sins also against the
rest, thus that he who is guilty of one is guilty of all. It shall
be told how far this is in harmony with the truth. When a man
transgresses one commandment, by confirming with himself that it is
not a sin, thus without fear of God, he commits it; because he has
thus rejected the fear of God he does not fear to transgress the
rest of the commandments, although he may not do this in act.
For example, when one does not
regard frauds and illicit gains, which in themselves are thefts, as
sins, neither does he regard as a sin adultery with the wife of
another, hating a man even to murder, lying about him, coveting his
house and other things belonging to him; for when he rejects from
his heart in any one commandment the fear of God he denies that
anything is a sin; consequently he is in communion with those who in
like manner transgress the other commandments. He is like an
infernal spirit who is in a hell of thieves; and although he is not
an adulterer, nor a murderer, nor a false witness, yet he is in
communion with such, and can be persuaded by them to believe that
such things are not evils, and can be led to do them. For he who has
become an infernal spirit through the transgression of one
commandment, no longer believes it to be a sin to do anything
against God or anything against the neighbor.
But the opposite is true of
those who abstain from the evil forbidden in one commandment, and
who shun and afterwards turn away from it as a sin against God.
Because such fear God, they come into communion with the angels of
heaven, and are led by the Lord to abstain from the evils forbidden
in the other commandments and to shun them, and finally to turn away
from them as sins; and if perchance they have sinned against them,
yet they repent and thus by degrees are withdrawn from them.
Apocalypse Explained 1024 - 1028
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