40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
-Luke 23:39-43 King James Version (KJV)
Apocalypse Explained, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1757-9], tr. by John Whitehead [1911], at sacred-texts.com
600
...[3]
As "right and left" are mentioned in many passages in the Word, and in
some places "right" alone, or "left" alone, I will explain in a few
words what is signified by each of them, and by the two together. This
can be known from the quarters in the spiritual world, where the south
is to the right, and the north to the left, and the east in front, and
the west behind. An angel perpetually faces the Lord as a sun, therefore
before him is the Lord as the east, and behind him the Lord as the
west, and at his right hand is the south, and at his left hand the
north. It is from this way of facing that the "right" signifies truth in
light, and the "left" truth in shade; or what is the same, that the
"right" signifies spiritual good which is truth in light, and the "left"
signifies spiritual truth which is truth in shade; so, too, the "right"
signifies good which is a source of truth, and the "left" truth from
good. Such is the signification of all the right and left parts of the
body, and also of the head; as the right and left eye, the right and
left hand, the right and left foot, and so on, the proper signification
of each member or part being preserved. From these few statements it can
be known what "right" and "left" signify, in general and in particular,
in the Word of both the New and the Old Testaments, as in the following
passages... [5] In the same: And the King shall set the sheep on His
right hand, but the goats on the left; and He shall say unto them on His
right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess as inheritance the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. And He shall
say unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into the
eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:33, 34,
41). He who does not know what is signified in the proper sense by
"sheep" and what by "goats," might suppose that "sheep" mean all who are
good, and "goats" all who are evil; but in the proper sense "sheep"
mean those who are in the good of charity towards the neighbor, and
thence in faith, and "goats" mean those who are in faith separated from
charity; thus all upon whom the judgment in the last time of the church
will come; for all who were in the good of love to the Lord, and thence
in the good of charity and faith, had been taken up into heaven before
the Last Judgment; while all who were in no good of charity, and in no
faith therefrom, consequently all who were inwardly and at the same time
outwardly evil, had been cast down into hell before the Last Judgment;
but those who were inwardly good and not equally so outwardly, also
those who were inwardly evil but outwardly in good, were all left until
the Last Judgment, when those who were inwardly good were taken up into
heaven, and those who were inwardly evil were cast into hell (respecting
this see what has been said from things seen and heard, in the little
work on The Last Judgment). From this it can be seen that "goats" mean
those who have been in faith separated from charity; as for instance:
The he-goat in Daniel (8:5-25), and in Ezekiel (34:17). This makes
evident that the "right hand," where the "sheep" are, means the good of
charity and of faith therefrom, and the "left hand," where the "goats"
are, means faith separated from charity. It was said to the sheep that
they should "possess as inheritance the kingdom prepared for them from
the foundation of the world," because in the heavens at the right is the
south, where all those are who are in truths from good; for in the
southern part the Divine proceeding itself is such as is meant by "the
kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world." So, too, they are
called "the blessed of My Father," the "Father" meaning the Divine good,
from which are all things of heaven. But respecting the "goats," that
are on the left hand, it is not said "prepared from the foundation of
the world," but "the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels," because the evil prepare their hell for themselves. They are
called "cursed" because by the "cursed" in the Word are meant all who
turn themselves away from the Lord, for such reject the charity and
faith of the church. What the "eternal fire" signifies may be seen in
the work on Heaven and Hell (n. 566-575). [6] The "two robbers who were
crucified one of them on the right hand and the other on the left hand
of the Lord" (Matt. 27:38; Mark 15:27; Luke 23:39-43), have a similar
signification as the "sheep" and the "goats;" therefore to the one who
acknowledged the Lord it was said that he should be with Him in
paradise...
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