Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3454

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3454. 'You are now the blessed of Jehovah' means that it came from the Divine. This is clear from the meaning of 'the blessed of Jehovah', when said of the Lord - or what amounts to the same, of the internal sense of the Word, for the Lord is the Word - as Divine Truth, dealt with in 3140, and so as meaning that it came from the Divine. Accordingly, the meaning is that they had not done and would not do violence to the internal sense because it came from the Divine. Doing violence to the internal sense is refusing to recognize the first and foremost subjects of that sense, which are what make the Word holy, namely the Lord's Divine Human, love to Him, and love towards the neighbour. These three are the first and foremost subjects in the internal sense, which make the Word holy. They are also the inner reality and the holiness within all matters of doctrine drawn from the Word and within all forms of worship, for they hold the Lord's kingdom itself within them. A fourth subject is that the Word in every single detail, even to the smallest part of a letter, is Divine, and thus that the Lord is present in the Word, as is also confessed and acknowledged by all who possess matters of doctrine drawn from the Word. Yet all who in their hearts refuse to recognize this do not acknowledge anything holy in the Word except that which is seen in the letter. They are unable to discern anything holy at all in the historical sections, or in the prophetical parts, except some slight external holiness because people call it holy. Yet if it is indeed Divine even to the least part of a letter there must be an inner holiness to the Word.


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