TEN LAWS OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE
Selections from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
[Interspersed Series Between Numbers 1135 - 1194 From The Apocalypse Explained]
Lesson 7
(7) The seventh law of the Divine providence is, That man is let into the truths of faith and into the goods of love by the Lord only so far as he can be kept in them until the end of life; for it is better that he should continue to be evil than that he should be good and afterwards evil, for he thus
becomes profane. The permission of evil is from this cause. To every man of sound reason the Lord can give the affection of truth and faith therefrom and the affection of good and love therefrom by withholding him from evil loves, which belong to his own [proprium] ; for so far as man is withheld from these he is in the understanding of truth and in
the will of good. I have seen the very devils brought back to such a state; and while they were in it they talked about truths from understanding and faith, and did good from will and love. They were brought into this state because they had denied that they were unable to understand truths and do good. But as soon as withholding from their own loves had
relaxed, and they had returned into the lusts of their loves, in place of faith in truth they had faith in falsity, and in place of love of good they had love of evil. This has often been witnessed, and in the presence of many. From this it is clear that everyone is capable of being reformed, and that being reformed is nothing else than being removed from
evil loves. How man is removed from those loves has been told above. The Lord does not thus withhold man from evils for the reason that those who come into the affection of truth and thence into faith, and into the affection of good and thence into love, and do not continue in these affections to the end of life, but fall back into the loves from which
they had abstained, profane holy things.
There are many kinds of profanation, but this kind is the most grievous of all. The lot of such after death is terrible. They are not in hell but beneath hell; and there they neither think nor will, but merely see and act. They see things that are not, and do not see the things that are. They act as if
they were doing everything, and yet they do nothing. They are nothing but deliriums of fantasy. And as they neither think nor will, they are no longer men, for the human is thinking and willing.
Consequently they are not called "he" nor "she," but in the neuter gender "it" or "that." When seen in any heavenly light they appear like skeletons covered over with a black skin. Such is the condition of those that have been reformed and do not remain so. Why their lot is so horrible shall be told. By
their reformation a communication is established between them and heaven, whereby goods and truths flow in; and by these the interiors of their minds are opened, and evils are removed to the sides. If they remain in this state till death they are happy, but if they do not they become unhappy, for the evils that have been removed then flow back and mingle
themselves with the truths and goods; thus hell is so mixed with heaven in them that the two cannot be separated; for if anything has once been impressed on the mind of man by love it can never be rooted out; since, therefore, after death the goods cannot be separated from the evils nor the truths from the falsities, the mind is wholly overthrown, and such
spirits no longer have any thought or will, but what remains is like a shell when the kernel is removed, or like the skin with the skeleton when the flesh is gone, for this is all that is left of the man. Let it be known, therefore, that the danger is not in passing from evil to good, but the danger is in passing from good to evil.
But such is not the lot of those who are permanently evil. All who are permanently evil are in hell according to the loves of their life; and there they think and speak from thought, although they speak falsities, and they will and from will do, although they do evils. Moreover, to one another they
appear like men, although in the light of heaven they have monstrous forms. From this it can be seen why it is according to a law of order relating to reformation, which is called a law of Divine providence, that man is not let into the truths of faith and the goods of love except so far as he can be withheld from evils and held in goods even to the end of
life, and that it is better for a man to be permanently evil than that he be good and afterwards evil, for thus he becomes profane. It is for this reason that the Lord, who provides all things and foresees all things, hides the operations of His providence, even to the extent that man scarcely knows whether there be any providence whatever, and man is
permitted to attribute what he does to prudence, and what happens to him to fortune, and even to ascribe many things to nature, rather than that he should, through conspicuous and clear indications of the Divine providence and presence, plunge unseasonably into sanctities in which he will not continue. The Lord also permits like things by other laws of His
providence, namely, by these, that man should have freedom, and that he should do whatever he does according to reason, thus wholly as if of himself, for it is better for a man to ascribe the workings of the Divine providence to prudence and fortune than to acknowledge them and still live as a devil. From this it is clear that the laws of permission, which
are many, proceed from the laws of providence.
One kind of profanation described above is meant by these words in Matthew:
When the unclean spirit goeth out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest and finding it not. Then he saith, I will return to the house whence I went forth. When he cometh he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then he goeth away, and taketh to himself seven
other spirits worse than himself, and entering in they dwell there; and the latter things of that man become worse than the first (Matt. 12:43-45).
This describes the conversion of a man by the departure of the unclean spirit from him; and his return to evils and the consequent profanation is described by the unclean spirit returning with seven spirits worse than himself.
Likewise by these words in John:
Jesus said to him who was healed at the pool of Bethesda, Behold thou art made whole, sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee (John 5:14).
Also by these words in the same:
He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and should convert themselves and I should heal them (John 12:40).
"Lest they should convert themselves and be healed" signifies lest they should become profane. Thus would it have been with the Jews (Matt. 12:45); and this is why they were forbidden to eat fat and blood (Lev. 3:17; 7:23, 25), for this signified their profanation of what is holy in consequence of their
being such. Moreover, the Lord by his Divine providence guards with the greatest care against this kind of profanation; and lest this exist, He separates the holy things with man from those that are not holy, and stores up the holy things in the interiors of his mind, and raises them up to Himself; while the things not holy He stores up in the exteriors,
and turns them to the world. Thus holy things can be separated from the unholy, and thus man can be saved. But this cannot be done when goods and evils are mixed together. That those who continue in faith and love even unto death will have the crown of life, the Lord teaches in Revelation (2:10, 26).
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