Wednesday 17 June 2009

Ezekiel 31:13,16 Lower earth in the Spirit World

13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:

16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether [lower] parts of the earth. -Ezekiel 31:13,16 King James Version (KJV)

Arcana Coelestia, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1749-56], tr. by John F. Potts [1905-10], at sacred-texts.com

4728.

...men who have been in principles of falsity are after death kept awhile under the lower earth, until falsities have been removed from them... The lower earth is next under the feet [of heaven which is in the form of a Grand Man] and the region round about for a short distance. Here are most persons after death, before they are taken up into heaven. This [lower] earth is also frequently mentioned in the Word. Beneath it are the places of vastation, which are called "pits," and below them and round about for a considerable extent, are hells. [2] From this it is in some measure plain what is meant by "hell," what by the "lower earth," and what by a "pit," when mentioned in the Word, as in Isaiah: Thou hast been brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Thou hast been cast forth out of thy grave like an abominable shoot, the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit (Isa. 14:15, 19); speaking of the king of Babylon, by whom is represented the profanation of truth; for a "king" is truth (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4581), and "Babylon" profanation (n. 1182, 1326). "Hell" is where the damned are, and their damnation is compared to an abominable shoot, and to the raiment of those that are slain and thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit. The "raiment of those that are slain" is truth profaned; "those thrust through with the sword" are they in whom truth has been extinguished; the "pit" is falsity which must be vastated; "stones" are the borders, whence also they are called the "sides," for round about the pits are hells... From this it is also plain that without the internal sense it could not possibly be known what is here meant. [3] So too in Ezekiel: When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, to the people of an age, and shall make thee to dwell in the earth of the lower regions, in desolations from an age, that thou dwell not with them that go down into the pit; then will I set adornment in the land of the living (Ezek. 26:20); "they that descend into the pit" denote those who are sent into vastation; "not to dwell with them that go down into the pit" means to be delivered from falsities. [4] Again: That none of all the trees of the waters exalt themselves for their stature, neither send their branch among the tangled boughs, nor stand over them for their height, all that drink water; they shall all be delivered unto death, to the lower earth in the midst of the sons of men, to them that go down into the pit. I will make the nations to shake at the sound of his ruin, when I make him go down into hell with them that go down into the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and chief of Lebanon, all that drink waters, shall be comforted in the lower earth (Ezek. 31:14, 16); this is said of Egypt, by which is signified the knowledge that of itself enters into the mysteries of faith, that is, those who so enter (n. 1164, 1165, 1186). From what has been said above it is clear what is signified by "hell," by the "pit," and by the "lower earth," which are here mentioned by the prophet... [6] That a "pit" is the vastation of falsity, and in the abstract sense falsity, is still more evident in Isaiah: They shall be gathered with a gathering as the bound to the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison; yet after a multitude of days shall they be visited (Isa. 24:22)... As a "pit" signifies falsity, and the "blind" signify those who are in falsities (n. 2383), the Lord therefore says, Let them alone; they are blind leaders of the blind, for if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into a pit (Matt. 15:14; Luke 6:39)...



Spiritual Diary, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1758], tr. by Bush, Smithson and Buss [1883-9] at sacred-texts.com

1771
CONCERNING THOSE WHO ARE IN THE LOWER EARTH (There are in the lower earth many mansions or many places where those are detained who are undergoing preparation. [Their position is] nearly under the left foot, [of heaven which is in the form of a Grand Man] a little in front, and rising up to a very considerable altitude. Many are held in a kind of obscurity, especially such as are in almost a middle state between the life of the body and its sleep; and there they think scarcely at all, barely remembering at times what they had done in their lifetime from a rash and evil prompting, but still not so that they are tormented by conscience on account of it; for those in that region are not such as have done evil with a clear conscience and of set purpose, but yet they have perpetrated evil, although it has been from imprudence,) for they might have known in the life of the body that it was evil, as they were thus instructed from the Word of the Lord; but the Word of the Lord, after their principles were firmly adopted, could not penetrate, inasmuch as they persisted in the imprudence of their life...


(Those who are in the lower earth are not indeed within the Grand Man, [of heaven] but without, yet they live from the Lord's life.) Concerning these it was said that there are great numbers there, and that some are detained there through long periods of time, even for ages, until they are vastated. - 1748, March 29.





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