Spiritual Meaning of EXODUS 20:1
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AC 8860. Verse 1. And God spake all these words, saying, signifies truths Divine for those in the heavens, and for those on earth.

AC 8861. And God spake all these words, saying. That this signifies truths Divine for those in the heavens and for those on earth, is evident from the signification of "the words which God spake," as being truths Divine, for the things which God speaks are nothing else than truths. From this also truth Divine is called "the Word," and "the Word" is the Lord, according to (John 1:1), for the reason that when the Lord was in the world He was the Divine truth itself, and afterward when He was glorified He became the Divine good, and thenceforth all Divine truth proceeds from Him. This Divine truth is light to the angels, which light is also that which illuminates our internal sight, which is that of the understanding.

[2] As this sight does not see natural, but spiritual things, it has for its objects in the spiritual understanding the truths which are called the truths of faith; but in the natural understanding it has for its objects truths of the civil state which relate to what is just, and also truths of the moral state which relate to what is reputable, and lastly natural truths which are conclusions from the objects of the external senses, especially of the sight. From all this it can be seen in what order truths follow, and that all and each have their origin from truths Divine, which are the internal beginnings of all things. Moreover the forms in which they are have had their origin from the same source, for these were created to receive and contain. This shows what is meant in John by all things having been created through the Word (John 1:1-3); for truth Divine is the veriest essential, and is the only substantial through which all things are.

AC 8862. That by "the words which God spake" are meant truths Divine for those in the heavens and those on the earth, is because the ten commandments, which are called the decalogue, and the subsequent statutes promulgated and commanded from Mount Sinai, are such truths as are not only for those who are on the earth, but also for those who are in the heavens; for all the words, that is, all the truths which are from the Lord, are not only for men, but are also at the same time for the angels, since they come through heaven and thus pass over to earth. But in the heavens they do not sound as they do on the earth, for in the heavens they are in a spiritual form, but on the earth in a natural form. What is the nature of those things which are in a spiritual form as compared with those which are in a natural form, is evident from all the particulars of the Word in the internal sense and in the external sense. Those in the internal sense are spiritual, but those in the external sense, which is the sense of the letter, are natural. The latter have been accommodated to men on the earth, but the former to angels in the heavens.

[2] That such is the case can be seen from the fact that the Word has been sent, and thus has passed, from the Divine Itself through heaven to earth; and that when it comes to the earth it is truth accommodated to the human race, which is in earthly and bodily things; whereas in the heavens it is accommodated to angels, who are in spiritual and heavenly things. Such being the nature of the Word, it is holy in itself; for it contains in itself what is heavenly and Divine. This can be plainly seen from the ten commandments of the decalogue. Everyone can see that these commandments are such things as have been known everywhere on the earth; as that parents are to be honored, that murder, adultery, and theft are not to be committed, and that no one should bear false witness; consequently that the Israelitish nation might have known these laws from natural light alone; for what nation is there which does not know them? And yet for their promulgation Jehovah Himself came down and promulgated them out of fire which burned even to the heart of heaven. From this it can be seen that these commandments contain in their bosom more things than appear in the letter, namely, such things as are at the same time for the heavens and that fill the heavens. All things of the Word are of this nature, because they are from the Divine. From this it is plain whence it is that the Word is holy, and what is meant by the Word’s being inspired as to every jot and tittle, and as to every little horn (Matt. 5:18; Luke 16:17). The nature of the commandments of the decalogue in the spiritual sense, that is, their nature in the heavens, shall accordingly be seen in what follows.

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Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772). Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002. www.BibleMeanings.info