Saturday, 1 October 2011

Matthew 25:34-35,41-42 Spiritual hunger and thirst

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
 - Matthew 25:34-35, 41-42 King James Version (KJV)

Apocalypse Explained, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1757-9], tr. by John Whitehead [1911], at sacred-texts.com

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[19] In Matthew: The king said to them on his right hand, I was an hungered and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty and ye gave me to drink. And to those on the left hand, I was an hungered and ye gave me not to eat; I was thirsty and ye gave me not to drink (25:34, 35, 41, 42). By these words also spiritual hunger and thirst and spiritual eating and drinking are signified; spiritual hunger and thirst are the affection and desire for good and truth, and spiritual eating and drinking are instruction, reception, and appropriation. It is said here that the Lord hungered and thirsted, because from His Divine love He desires the salvation of all; and it is said that men gave Him to eat and to drink; which is done when from affection they receive and perceive good and truth from the Lord, and by means of the life appropriate them to themselves. The like may be said of a man who from his heart loves to instruct man and desires his salvation; therefore it is charity, or the spiritual affection of truth, that is described by these words and those that follow.

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