Bible Mistranslation: Confession vs. Thanksgiving

After realizing there is most probably a missing line in Psalms 145 in the Masoretic Hebrew text, which is found not only in the Greek Septuagint but also the Dead Sea scrolls (see Is the Masoretic Text of the Bible the Most Reliable?) I decided to check to see what else, if anything, could possibly be missing. I would say the Masoretic is probably 98% accurate, but I have found other cases where the Septuagint is correct. The odd thing is, the Masoretic and Septuagint tend to diverge (for that small 2% or so) when there is a New Testament quote involved. But I am finding something more disturbing: all English translations of the Bible are inaccurate in their translation. In every single Psalm I am finding mistranslations. Most of the time one may say it makes no difference in meaning, but this comes from an ignorance that each Hebrew word has a significant spiritual meaning different from other Hebrew words (for example, "adversary" has a different spiritual meaning from "enemy.") As such, many of the deeper hidden spiritual meanings of scripture is lost to the modern reader. I am trying to stay as close as possible to the KJV, and when I see an error, I correct and hyperlink it, which some versions have inconsistently noted in marginal notes. This way one can judge the other translations easily.

I wish I never saw that missing line, because this is taking up my spare time, so I have to decide whether to add a blog or proceed through this translation. Its a slippery slope:  I decided to incorporate Swedenborg's comments on the Psalms which helps explain the corrections, and the notes are now more than 400 pages. Swedenborg was a bit more careful, going with a very literal translation from the Hebrew into Latin by Schmidius, but even he makes occasional errors as he did not use a correct translation of scripture.

As I have been translating the Psalms I have found a significant mistranslation in the Bible.  It never says "thanksgiving" or "give thanks."  Yes, quite a shocker. It never says THANKSGIVING or GIVE THANKS in the Bible.

This word that is translated as "give thanks" or "thanksgiving" appears most often in the Psalms.  The Hebrew word is yadah, from which we get the name Judah. In some cases it is mistranslated as "praise," for which there is another Hebrew word.  The word yadah, in a very literal sense means to hold out the hand, and be extension worship with extended hands. It originates from the Hebrew word yad which means hand. We can see this kind of worship in ancient Egypt:

Worship of the Sun god

Worship of Hapi  by Rameses III

Worship of the Sun god

Worship of Osirus

In most ancient times Egypt did worship the one God, and portrayed different aspects of God in different ways. In process of time, it degenerated into polytheism.  When this ancient religion degenerated to such a point where nothing of truth was left, a new revelation was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. But many of the Jewish rituals one can see has a more ancient origin. So notice, in worship, one lifted up one's hands, showing the palms of one's hands. The emphasis here, in the more ancient religion, was in what you did, not what you said. The hands signify the deeds that you have done, and showing the palms symbolized to reveal what you have done.

So what is the proper translation of Hebrew yadah?  In most cases, the proper translation is CONFESSION. In one sense, it is confession of one's sins, which is seen in this passage:

And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to Jehovah God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. (Josh. 7:19)

The same word translated as confession here is translated as thanksgiving in other cases. To show the palms of one's hands means to not hide what one has done. This is a small example, but it shows how in process of time religion degenerates: instead of placing emphasis on how one lives, it degenerates into how one believes or what one says, regardless of life (thus the Protestant concept of faith alone is a big mistake). Does God actually need thanks? No he does not. Do we need to confess? Yes we do. When we confess our specific sins, our sinful nature, that opens our heart for God to come in and dwell inside of us. To confess a sin is much harder then paying lip service to offer thanks. So one does confess, it is much more valuable than offering thanks. Confession is simply not popular among the masses, everyone wants a feel good prosperity spirituality. It is easy to hide, hard to confess, but confession releases one from the power of darkness.

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL

As said before, the name Judah is derived from this word meaning confession.  In Biblical history, one can see that eventually the Jews were divided into two kingdoms: Judah in the south, and the kingdom of Israel in the north. Although this is truly historical and did happen in ancient times, there is a hidden spiritual meaning behind this. Everything historical in the Bible has some significance in the spiritual world. The kingdoms of Judah and Israel represent two different levels or planes of heaven: Judah represents the higher heaven, the celestial, in which love predominates. Emphasis is placed on internal confession, which is an internal acknowledgment of the Lord. Israel represents the second or lower spiritual heaven, in which emphasis is placed on truth or praise. This is explained in detail in Swedenborg's work, Heavenly Arcana (aka Arcana Coelestia or Heavenly Secrets.) Thus when commentaries say that Judah means "praise," yet again a mistranslation is hiding a spiritual meaning.

As confession can mean confession of sin, it can also mean an internal confession of the Lord, for an acknowledgment of one's sin is also an acknowledgment that all good that one does originates not from self, but from God:

Whoso offers confession glorifies Me, 

And to him who sets his way, I will show the salvation of God. (Ps. 50:23)

In most translations confession is mistranslated as praise and set's one way is mistranslated by the KJV as conversation for some reason. This shows some Hebrew parallelism: the second line repeats what the first line already said. However different words are used: offering and confession relate to the will of the heart.  To set one's way is related to living by the truth, for removing falsity is ordering one's way. Without truth one will go the wrong way. This shows up consistently in scripture.  It is by truth one achieves salvation, for truth liberates one from falsity. Thus "God" is mentioned in the second line, and "God" (or Elohim) is always used in reference to Divine truth, and the name Jehovah is always used in referent to Divine love. The Divine love is to Divine truth as a father is to a son, for truth flows from love. Love and truth must always be conjoined together, thus one has the phrase "Jehovah God" (or LORD God) throughout the Old Testament.

Confession is thus a higher order of spirituality than just knowing or living by the truth: it is a deeper acknowledgment of one's sin, and opens one up one's will to God's will. Here is one passage from Swedenborg which describes it well, for many do not distinguish between one's internal will and one's internal thought:

"In David: I will confess to Jehovah according to His justice, and I will sing praise to the name of Jehovah Most High (Ps. vii. 17). Again: When I shall go . . . to the house of God, with the voice of joy and of confession, with a multitude who keep a festival (Ps. xlii. 4). Again: I will confess unto Thee O Lord among the nations, I will sing praises unto Thee among the peoples, for Thy mercy is great, even to heaven (lvii. 9, 10).
"From these passages it is manifest that confession has reference to the celestial of love, and is distinguished from what relates to the spiritual of love; for it is said confession and the voice of joy, confession and the voice of them who make merry, I will confess unto Thee among the nations, and I will sing praises unto Thee among the peoples — confession and confessing being what is celestial, and the voice of joy, the voice of them who make merry and sing praises, being what is spiritual. It is also said, confess among the nations, and sing praises among the peoples, because nations signify those who are in good, and peoples those who are in truth (see n. 1416, 1849, 2928) — that is, those who are in celestial love, and those who are in spiritual love. In the Word, with the Prophets, two expressions for the most part occur, one having reference to the celestial or good, and the other to the spiritual or truth, in order that there may be a Divine marriage in every part of the Word, thus a marriage of good and truth (n. 683, 793, 801, 2173, 2516, 2712, 3132). From this it is also manifest that confession involves the celestial of love, and that genuine confession, or that which is from the heart, can only be from good, the confession which is from truth being called the voice of joy, the voice of them who make merry, and that sing praises." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 3880.3-4)

Here is a song Confess by a new band The Wanted. Note the hand postures, closed fist, or hands in pocket, as opposed to an open hand seen in ancient Egyptian murals, popularizing "bad" behaviour as opposed to opposing it with humility. From a popular song one can determine what is popular in society. One must subdue one's own pride, not elevate it. It shows you can often observe someone's internal attitude or values from the external postures of the body (see A Visitation of Jesus and Prophecies of Russia and America for a visitation of Jesus on hand postures, where it is important to have an open hand and not a closed fist in all that one does):

Telepathy, Synchronous Dreams, Prayer, and Extraterrestrials

In a round about way I discovered one of the readers of this blog claimed to have been in close contact with extraterrestrials, under a setting involving the U.S. military.  However this person is not allowed to discuss details as there were certain security oaths signed. This person mentioned something strange: when one comes close to an extraterrestrial, communication can begin to take place through telepathy. For them, non-verbal communication through telepathy is the norm. So I thought I would discuss the matter of telepathy and related phenomenon, such as synchronous dreaming and prayer. For thoughts are not just thoughts, they have a spiritual reality and the thoughts we accept as truth has the power to change one's life. For without exception, we all act according to the truth that we know and accept. You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

If this sounds unlikely, this is the age of the internet, and it now becomes possible to get in touch with people from across the world, and one or two people who have had a face to face encounter have gotten in touch with me through this blog.

Another related phenomenon to telepathy, perhaps the same, is synchronous dreaming. People have found who share their dreams, that often in the same night they would have the same dream on the same subject.  As in dreams we shutdown our external senses, it is more likely that telepathy would occur more often during this time of sleep. It sounds bizarre, but if you remember your dreams, and share them with friends and family who do the same, you will find this is quite common.

At this time I thought I would share a synchronous dream experience: after I published the article The Extraterrestrial Christianity of UMMO, I had this very strange dream. I saw a man, who looked human. He looked at me, and began to rapidly shift between different forms of communication, first telepathic, then he opened his mouth, and the noises were very strange. He was speaking in languages I never heard of, some were in very high pitched noises and it was very strange. It was when he opened his mouth to speak I then realized he was not from this earth. The thought in his mind was that he was trying to determine if I myself was just an ordinary human, or extraterrestrial. He seemed to lose interest at the end of the dream when I did not understand or respond.

A strange dream, and would have forgotten about it, but that very day another person told me her dream: a voice came to her as the dream was showing various people in American neighborhoods. The voice said, or thought, "Do not be upset with them, for they are not human." And by that the voice meant that many people in the U.S. have lost their humanity, they have lost any love or interest they have in other people. Their entire thought was self absorbed interest. They only interact or show interest in others if they have self-gain from the relationship. The thought came to her that these people were just superficial flat images, all they do is eat and poof, eat and poof. They were not truly human.

So, not exactly about human and extraterrestrials, but both dreams concerned trying to determine if someone was human or not. What is humanity anyway? It is said that God created man in his own likeness and image. When Swedenborg read this passage, he was shown that in the spiritual sense it meant we are God's image and likeness insomuch as we do good according to His will, from the thoughts according to the truth. Inasmuch as we act according to His will, we become His image. It has nothing to do with someone's external appearance.

So, a synchronous dream. Coincidence? My thoughts coming into her thoughts or vice versa? Ot telepathy perhaps?

PROOF OF TELEPATHY

So is there any proof that telepathy exists? I had earlier written about a Scientific Proof of Biological Precognition. Also, there is a remarkable case of a subject retrieving information written on a paper by having an out of body experience during sleep - see Astral Projection and Out of the Body Experiences (OOBE).  A friend of mine, who often teaches classes on ancient symbolism and dream interpretation, decided to do an experiment of his own. He had a person step out of the class, go somewhere, and stare at an object intensely to communicate it back to the class. Then he told the entire class to write down on a piece of paper the first thing that popped into their mind. After 10 seconds, he said STOP. The amazing thing, each student was able to describe a different aspect of what this other student saw. Not only that, but each pair of students sitting next to each other seemed to have almost exactly the same information - for one pair it was color, for another pair it was shape, etc. It was as if some hidden angel was controlling what each pair of student received in their head.

So what about a scientific controlled experiment? One in fact took place on the psychic Uri Geller. From Physicists Test Telepathy In a 'Cheat-Proof' Setting:

Scientists at the Stanford research Institute who conducted experiments with a number of persons, including Uri Geller, the magician and purported psychic, report that Mr. Geller, and probably most people. have an ability to send and receive information by some "as yet unidentified perceptual modality."
Despite the publicity that as been given to Mr. Geller's contention that he has the ability to bend metal or move objects by mental power alone, the researchers said in the generally conservative journal Nature that they were unable to confirm the authenticity of such feats under conditions that eliminated the possibility of deception.
Although several professional magicians have duplicated many of Mr. Geller's feats by using sleight-of-hand techniques, the S.R.I. scientists said in a telephone interview that their current report was based on experiments in which trickery would seem to be unlikely.
The scientists said they had consulted professional magicians in designing their experiments to be as "cheat proof" as possible.
Mr. Geller was seated in a room with metal walls capable of insulating it from external sights, sounds and radio waves, the scientists said.
Random Selection.
Outside that room, the researchers opened a dictionary at random, looked down the list of entries for the first word that could be depicted graphically and then drew a picture corresponding to the word.
Mr. Geller's task was to draw a similar picture. The researchers said he was never told who would select the picture or how it would be done.
In nine such experiments, Mr. Geller produced seven drawings or sets of drawings. All of Mr. Geller's responses, which were published in the Nature article alongside the researchers' drawings showed some degree of correspondence to the target pictures. Most showed remarkable similarity.
In the two instances in which Mr. Geller did not produce a drawing, he had been fitted with brain wave recording electrodes that, he said, interfered with his ability.
In a 10th experiment, the drawing was placed in the sealed room before Mr. Geller's arrival. Later, when asked to reproduce the drawing he was unable to do so.
In three additional experiments, images that could be displayed by computer were stored in the machine's memory, known only to the programer. Mr. Geller, in the sealed room during the selection and programing of the image, produced drawings that all bore some degree of similarity.
From these experiments, among others, the scientists, Russell Targ and Dr Harold Puthoff, concluded that Mr. Geller did indeed possess telepathic ability.

Here is a copy of some of the target and response drawings by Uri Geller:

TELEPATHY BY DREAMING

In another experiment, scientists attempted to test the existence of telepathy during the dream state while people were sleeping. From Scientists Demonstrate Remarkable Evidence Of Dream Telepathy Between People:

In the mid 1960’s, Montague Ullman, MD, began a number of experiments at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York to test the hypothesis that sleeping people could dream about randomly selected material that they were targeting to dream about. In other words, they could choose what they wanted to dream about, some examples include artwork, movies, photographs and more. Shortly after these experiments began, she was joined by Stanley Krippner. Krippner is a PhD., and professor of psychology at Saybrook University, he has a very impressive background when it comes to the scientific study of dreams, psychology and parapsychology.
The experiments they conducted lasted a span of more than 10 years, and “yielded statistically significant results.”
During the experiments, there was usually a “telepathic sender” and a “telepathic receiver.” They met in the laboratory for a short period of time before being placed in completely separate rooms just before they went to sleep. The “telepathic” sender had an envelope waiting for them in the room in which they’d sleep. The envelope would contain something like a picture or a drawing. The “receivers” were then purposely awakened shortly after Rapid Eye Movement sleep (REM) and the researchers took a dream report.

So how "statistically significant" is significant?  The results go beyond coincidence. In one session, the target was the picture School of Dance by Degas:

The "receivers" - the people dreaming in the session reported this:

According to Krippner, the “receivers” dream reports included such phrases as “I was in a class made up of maybe half a dozen people, it felt like a school,” and “There was one little girl that was trying to dance with me.” These results are extremely fascinating, the idea that one can influence another’s dream is quite remarkable. Although we might not understand the process behind the transfer of information, and we can’t see this transfer take place from mind to mind, the phenomenon was well documented and real, yet void of any scientific understanding or explanation. This is quite common when we examine scientific studies that have evaluated parapsychological phenomena. It’s real, observed, yet we don’t quite understand ‘how.’

Now I am beginning to wonder about that synchronous dream that I had. I was completely unaware of this experiment.

EXTRATERRESTRIAL CONTACTEE TELEPATHY

If we look at reports of extraterrestrial contacts, especially some in the early 1950s, it becomes apparent that not only are they far advanced in technology but also at the mental and spiritual level. For them, communication via telepathy is the norm, and verbal communication may be awkward. For us, the thought of someone reading our thoughts may be a bit uncomfortable. Not only for us, but probably for them as well.  One group had said something like, "If you come into contact with us, think good thoughts."  It may get to the point where it could become unbearable for them, for so many have negative and jealous thoughts.  Dannion Brinkley had a Near Death Experience after he survived from being struck by lightning, and found that for a period of time after he realized he had picked up an ability to read people's thoughts. And so many thoughts were thoughts of negativity and depression.

In report after report of contactees, the concept of telepathy as a form of communication comes up. And this is just bound to make government officials who wish to keep state secretes a bit uncomfortable. Bob Dean, retired from the U.S. military, mentions one meeting where U.S. Generals were shocked to discover that among the UFOs there were four races who had been observing us, one of them was human just like us. They even thought of scenarios where they could be walking up and down the halls of the Pentagon or even the White House and no one would no it. I will mention one account of an encounter with a high level British official, from Eisenhower and His Alien Contacts: Part 2:

The reported UK alien contact was made with Air Marshall Sir Peter Horsley who had been Deputy Commander-in-Chief, RAF Strike Command. In this key position Horsley would have had a key control role related to the nuclear weapons held by the British. At the time of the alien contact he was in the employ of Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, as equerry.Part of Horsley’s job was to receive UFO reports at the main operations center at the Department of Defense. He reported that gave some of these reports to the Prince Philip who had developed an interest in the subject.It was late in his life that Horsley related that his involvement with UFOs involved much more than reports. He told researchers about what he believed to be a 1954 direct alien encounter. He recounted the experience in his autobiography Sounds from Another Room.The meeting was set up by a mysterious General Martin who told Horsley he believed “the aliens were here to warn us of the perils of nuclear war.” The General told him that a Mr. Janus had a “message of the utmost importance” that needed to be discussed with Horsley in person.When Horsley arrived at the appointed meeting spot General Martin was not there but there was a Mrs. Markham at the apartment who welcomed Horsley and introduced him to a Mr. Janus.Janus asked Horsley what he knew about UFOs and after many questions Horsley asked Janus what his interest was. “I would like to meet the Duke of Edinburgh,” came the reply.As Horsley began to tell Janus that this would not be easy he became convinced that the man seated across from him was able to read his mind which disturbed him.Asked why he wanted to meet with the Prince, Janus replied that the Prince “is a man of great vision…who believes strongly in the proper relationship between man and nature which will prove of great importance in future galactic harmony.”
Janus went on to tell Horsley that mankind was “now striving to break his earthly bonds and travel to the moon and the planets beyond…the earth is going through a Dark Age at the moment where material possessions count more than a Man’s soul…”Janus spoke of the “dreadful specter of (mankind) blowing up his world” which was the other thing that really disturbed Horsley. In conversations with Tim Good Horsley recalled that this extraordinary man “knew all Britain’s top-secret nuclear secrets,” and “by the end of the meeting, I was quit disturbed, really.”
Horsley prepared a verbatim report of the meeting and presented it to Buckingham Palace. Prince Philip’s private secretary thought it was a joke, but the prince had an open mind about the event. The fact that Janus knew all Britain’s nuclear secrets made the Palace consider the situation a security risk and Horsley was sent back to talk to Janus again. When he arrived at the flat where the meeting had been the flat was abandoned, which really disturbed Horsley. Horsley never saw General Martin, Mrs. Markham, or Janus again. It led Horsley to conclude the man he had met with was an alien.Although Horsley recorded the incident in his autobiography, the official file of the event remains classified and unavailable.

In many of these reported contacts, these extraterrestrials invent names for themselves. The name "Mr. Janus" is quite interesting.  Completely independent from this account a family with their children were abducted one night from their car by a flying saucer, which was piloted by humans like us. This also took place in Britain, but in the late 1970s. They reported that they came from a planet that had died, and the name of their planet was JANOS. See Stephen Hawking and the Extraterrestrial Janos Affair.

There is evidence that the U.S. military is quite aware of this telepathic communication, and have in their military people serving that are "telepathic sensitives." One of them was Sergeant Clifford Stone who served in the military until 1989. See the following clip, in which he reports of his encounters of extraterrestrials, among whom there is a group of extraterrestrials who look human like us. The only difference he could discern was that in a dark room they would be able to tell you the color of an object that could not be seen:

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG AND HIS EXTRATERRESTRIAL CONTACTS

Telepathy and extraterrestrials are topics that became well known only in the 20th century.  Yet in the 18th century, Swedenborg spoke freely about both topics, which were revealed to him in waking visions.  For extraterrestrials, contact was initiated by him in a manner similar to telepathy. The ones he came into touch with were human in form like us. But more often than not, communication with them was non-verbal. Swedenborg does not mention the word telepathy, but seems to describe something very close to it. Among the ones he contacted he thought they lived on Venus and Mars, which at first seems like false information. There is no way humans could have independently evolved on those planets. But that is a separate a long story, for which see Extraterrestrial Contact from Tau Ceti, Venus and Mars. In several contacts they have said human history goes back much longer than we think, and many civilizations have come and gone before this present one.

"Exterior speech is that of articulate sound finding its way to the external membrane of the ear, whence it is conveyed, by means of little organs, membranes, and fibres which are within the ear, into the brain. I was permitted to know from this, that the speech of the inhabitants of Mars was different from that of the inhabitants of our earth, that is to say, in being not sonorous, but almost tacit, insinuating itself into the interior hearing and sight by a shorter way; and being such, it was more perfect, and more full of the ideas of thought, thus approaching nearer to the speech of spirits and angels. The very affection of the speech is also represented with them in the face, and its thought in the eyes; for the thought and the speech, also the affection and the face, with them act as one. They regard it as wicked to think one thing and speak another, and to will one thing and show another in the face. They do not know what hypocrisy is, nor what fraudulent pretence and deceit are." (Earths in the Universe, n. 87, in The Final Judgment)

Hypocrisy and deceit, common on earth, is unknown to them. Thus it is perhaps due to sin that we have become separated from the spiritual world - according to Swedenborg this very form of tacit communication used to be common among ancient man before the fall of Adam and the flood (see The Hidden Meaning of Noah's Ark and the Flood, in which the same thing was said in another contact.)  But the above account is perhaps one of the earliest - from the 18th century - which associates telepathic communication with those of extraterrestrials.

HIGHER DIMENSIONS AND THE SPIRITUAL WORLD

So what is the explanation for such things as telepathy and clairvoyance? The answer to that is that there are higher dimensions than space-time, where space-time disappears and there is only similarity of state. In fact, in higher physics it almost becomes necessary to have higher dimensions to solve some intractable mathematical problems. For the beginning of the universe, it is now acknowledged by scientists that it began from a point of singularity, after which space and time were created. In Newtonian physics, space and time were absolutes, but now science recognizes that space and time are created things. If these higher dimensions exists, being physical beings, these higher dimensions are present inside of us.

In the 18th century, when Swedenborg's internal spiritual vision was opened, he saw that in the spiritual world there was no such thing as space and time - they did not exist.  Instead of space and time, there were states of love and thought. The closer you feel to a person, the closer you will appear to that person in the spiritual world. The more distant you feel to a person, the more distance would appear in the spiritual world. In other words, instead of space and time, it is all a matter of internal states of mind and feeling. This is what I guess is the origin of telepathy - interaction must be initiated by one's interest or love for the other person. If there is no love, one's mind will remain closed. For we are spiritual beings clothed in an external spiritual body, but for many of us, we have become so immersed in our external senses that our internal senses have become lost to us.

The other point Swedenborg saw is that the spiritual world itself originates from Divine consciousness, which is everywhere present.  Thus if telepathic contact is available between two people, it is available between each person and the Divine. This Divine is constantly flowing into our mind and manifests in us via good in the will and truth in the thoughts, but it is blocked by love for material things:

"This may also be known by every one, if he reflects, from his own experience; for, as far as he is removed from corporeal and worldly things, he is so far in a spiritual idea, that is, is elevated toward heaven; as is the case when he is in any holy worship, when in any temptation, also when in misfortune or in sickness. That corporeal and worldly things, that is, the loves of them, are then removed, is known. The reason is what has been stated, that what is heavenly and spiritual from the Lord continually flows in; but evil and thence falsity, and falsity and thence evil, which flow in from corporeal and worldly things, are what hinder its being received." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2411.2)

If one withdraws from outward material things, and start to pay attention to one's internal thoughts and intuitions, and dreams, withdrawing inward, away from self and love towards others, one will be surprised with the insights one may receive.

A Visitation of Jesus and Prophecies of Russia and America

It is better to see the truth in an internal spiritual light, then to see things manifest before our eyes. For when we see the truth internally and accept it, and live by it, it lives stronger in our life. Miraculous appearances do not have the same effect. Thus after Jesus rose from the dead, we have the story of doubting Thomas, who would not believe unless he had touched the wounds of Jesus in his hands and in his side. Later Jesus appeared again among Thomas and the disciples

And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:25-29)

So why is it, that it is better not to see with one's eyes and believe, than to first see and then believe? It is all due to free will: for what we do by free will remains with our life, more so than if we were compelled to believe:

"Faith merely natural is the faith which is introduced by an external and not an internal way, as sensuous faith, which consists in believing a thing to be so, because the eye hath seen, and the hand hath touched. This is the faith concerning which the Lord said to Thomas, Because thou hast seen [Me], thou hast believed: blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed (John xx. 29); also as the faith of miracles, which consists in believing a thing to be so merely from the miracles, concerning which faith see above (n. 7290), also as the faith of authority, which consists in believing a thing to be so, because another, to whom credence is given, has said it.
"But spiritual faith is faith which is introduced by an internal and at the same time an external way; the introduction by an internal way causes it to be believed, and then what is introduced by an external way causes it to be confirmed. The spiritual of faith is affection for charity, and from this affection for truth for the sake of good use and for the sake of life; these make faith to be spiritual. The introduction of faith by an internal way is effected by the reading of the Word, and by enlightenment at the time from the Lord, which is granted according to the quality of the affection, that is, according to the end sought in learning the truth." (Swedenborg, Heavenly Arcana, n. 8078.2-3)

Thus Swedenborg kept all clairvoyant experiences to himself and private, as it would be better for one to see the truth by examining the revelations contained in what he wrote. It is better to take the truth and put them into active use and service. Nevertheless, I thought I would share another story of an encounter with Jesus, because I was a bit struck with what was said. I had shared some other encounters in Muslim Encounters and Visions of Jesus, which I strongly recommend if one has not read that yet. What this encounter shows, is that God is a God of love, not one of anger. If we see God as "angry" - it is because of some sin we have committed, and the disaster that befalls us is to turn us away from our ways. Bad events not only happen to us on an individual level, but on a national level as well.

THE STORY OF LARRY RANDOLPH

This summary comes from an interview with Larry Randolph with Sid Roth, who has a prophetic ministry and has periodic prophetic visions. I checked up on his story - he had one vision in which he saw an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, which would become an ecological disaster. He told several people about this event before it happened. He even called Homeland Security in Washington D.C., and their response was they asked if it was going to be a terrorist event. His reply was no. This was fulfilled in April 2010 with the Gulf oil spill by the BP oil company.

There is also an online video given by Larry Randolph at the end of the year 2010, in which he received several visions in which America was in the middle of "the eye of the storm" and was about to enter the surrounding storm. When he has these visions he does not always know what they mean beforehand. No one has commented on that speech, but I think it is pretty clear he had received prophetic warnings concerning Hurricane Sandy, which hit the east coast in October of 2012. For another possible vision of Hurricane Sandy, see A Prophecy of September 11, Fanatical Terrorism (ISIS), Russia and America.

NOAA Satellite image, Oct 27, 2012

In the following encounters, there may be more, I am probably just enumerating some of them from what I have seen Larry Randolph talk about in some interviews. Similar to Emanuel Swedenborg, he has had his vision opened to the spiritual world while in a full waking state, but not to the extent and level of detail that Swedenborg experienced. 

FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS

Larry had a visitation with Jesus in his twenties, after he had decided to commit his life to the Lord and was wondering what he should do with his life. This was in Arkansas, where he was sleeping in a room next to an open window letting the fresh air come in. It was autumn, and then he heard the crunching of leaves of someone walking around the house. He was at first gripped with fear, thinking a robber was approaching the window. As the footsteps get closer, he feels an inner peace, and somehow knows he is about to have a visitation. Finally a figure approaches the window, and it is bathed in white light. He cannot see the figure as it is in a cloud, but he knows its Jesus. The the cloud turns red, and the red cloud envelopes him. Larry described it as "red agape love," or "liquid love," which emanated from his face and body. Everything not clean, not right with him just disappeared. He experienced the incomprehensible love of God. He felt unconditional love. This became a tipping point in his life. He was aware that he would make some mistakes, aware that no matter what he did Jesus loved him unconditionally. He then thinks to himself, "Jesus paid the price no matter what I have done."  Wow, unconditional love...

So at this point in the interview, it is clear that Larry has had a life altering experience.  What is also clear is that he has an idea of "vicarious atonement" in his head, where it does not matter what one does, Jesus paid the price. This comes primarily from a Protestant theology, and I have covered the error of vicarious atonement in previous blog posts (see for example The Fundamental Error of the Protestant Faith. And Jesus reads his thoughts, so what does Jesus say? What Jesus says next I thought was just absolutely brilliant, because it is so simple. And it was because of this, not the prophecies, that I immediately saw that this encounter that Larry Randolph reported was probably valid.

Jesus said, "Larry, look at your hands. Why do you think I put hands on your arms?"

Larry starts to think. To play guitar, to preach,..he's looking at his hands. Then he says, "Lord, I don't know."

Jesus then tells Larry, "I put hands on your arms because human hands are an extension of my heart. They are an extension of heaven." And then Jesus taught him how he should use his hands.

Then Jesus said, "Now I want to show you something about who you are. This is what you are to do with your hands. You are never to hit, never to smite. You are to have an open hand, not a closed fist. Live a life with an open hand. You are to affirm with your hands, love with your hands, touch with your hands, bless with your hands." Jesus then taught him how he healed people with his hands.

Jesus then said something interesting: "Now look at your fingertips." So Larry looked at his fingertips.

Then Jesus asked him, "Does anyone else have the fingerprint that you do?"

Larry then responded, "No, I am the only one." Then Larry remembered a passage from the Psalms stating, you are fiercely and awesomely made. Each person is a unique reflection of the craftsmanship of God. God is an artist of maximum diversity, and is incapable of repetition. Each person has a unique Divine destiny and purpose. The message here is: be yourself, and don't conform to others. If you conform to others, then the world will pass without seeing some unique reflection of God.

A SECOND ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS

In another encounter, Jesus appeared at the foot of his bed, and then sang a song, Have I told you lately that I love you? And then Larry wept at feeling God's love. He loved him because he was a unique reflection of God.

Then Jesus said, "Larry, I have to ask you a question. If you found out tomorrow from the doctor that you had a terminal disease, how would you live the rest of your life?" 

This was a hard question, and Larry said he would love people more, he would encourage people more, I would tell his wife that he loved her more, he would have a softer heart, he would forgive more easily, he would not live with a closed fist but an open hand... he went through a long list of things, including he would hold babies, and even at the end he said would dance more, he would dance with his wife.

Then Jesus said to him, in a very strong voice, "Larry, I want you to live the rest of your life like you were terminal, tomorrow." Then he realized we are in fact all terminal. We just do not know when.

A THIRD ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS

Jesus appeared again to Larry. And this time he said, "You are going to be seeing me pretty soon, and I want to ask something from you, a favor from you. I want you to live a zero regret lifestyle. When you come to see me, I want you to come to me with no regrets. Because I do not want to have to wipe tears from your eyes." Larry then thought, the tears we have in heaven are from not living the way God wanted us to be.

Then Larry asked, "What do you mean by that Lord?"

Jesus then said, "I want you to maximize every inch of creative space and talents I put in your life. I want you to forgive those who hurt you. I want you to live your life with zero regrets. When you come to me you can smile with no tears, and I can say to you, well done, good and faithful servant."

Larry then concludes with some other messages he received - gifts are given, and character is grown while we are in this life. Jesus had told him when one comes to see him, one cannot bring his or her gift with them. The only thing you can bring with you to heaven is your heart. You live in a world where your gift is bigger than your heart. In heaven your heart becomes bigger than your gift. To sum up:

LIVE YOUR LIFE TO ITS FULLEST POTENTIAL

YOU ARE IN INSTRUMENT OF GOD'S LOVE

YOU ARE A UNIQUE CREATION. BE YOUR SELF. 

LIVE A LIFE OF ZERO REGRETS.

BRING YOUR GIFT TO THE WORLD IN THE WAY YOU KNOW BEST.

So with that summary, lets take a step back, and see how this compares with the New Church teachings as given to Emanuel Swedenborg.

ASSESSMENT FROM A NEW CHURCH PERSPECTIVE

What this encounter with Jesus is teaching in a very simple way, has expressed in simplicity some of the doctrines of the New Church as revealed in the visions of Emanuel Swedenborg. For the primary doctrine of the New Church is that love is primary, faith and belief are secondary. The reason for religious divisions is everyone has put their attention on faith, and not on love, or a life of service. The truth of the matter: all are saved who do the good by the truth that they know.  This is expressed in the maxim, "Live your life to its fullest potential." Don't hold back because of some stupid fear.

Another point that is made very clear by Jesus: how you live your life is what matters, more so than your belief.  In the visions of the afterlife that Swedenborg received, he saw that we are all judged according to our life. We are not judged according to our beliefs, but according to our will. All our actions are judged by their intent.

Another point that Jesus makes in a very simple way: in heaven, all we can bring is our heart, more so than our gift.  In the afterlife, Swedenborg saw that it is our own will, our own desire, which will determine where we go.  In the afterlife we have a spiritual body, with the different that our external memory of the physical events that we have gone through in this life are withdrawn, until we reach a higher spiritual state of thought, one that is in accordance with our will.  If one's heart was full of hatred, one will go to a place of hatred. If one's heart had love, one will go to a place where there is love. There we will go to a place where our happiness can grow to eternity, and we will be with the ones we love the most.

Hands are a symbol of power. We are all given a unique responsibility over certain things in our life. Do your responsibility to the best of your ability. I thought this encounter with Jesus was interesting, because it contrasts with doubting Thomas. Instead of Thomas examining the hands of Jesus, here Jesus has us examining our own hands.

Another point here is that whereas most encounters of Jesus see him in a cloud of white light, this is somewhat unique in that the cloud turns red. According to Swedenborg, there are two primary colors in heaven: white, which is a symbol of truth, and red, which is a symbol of love. In this encounter Larry Randolph immediately understands the symbolism of red, and many of the teachings he received were concerning love. Divine Love and Divine Truth are at the core of all of the teachings of the New Church.

A PROPHETIC VISION OF RUSSIA, ISRAEL AND AMERICA

Given the above confirmations, I would say that the reported encounters of Jesus by Larry Randolph did indeed happen. The teachings are true, and offer good advice on how we should live our lives. Nevertheless, there is more by way of other prophetic visions.

In one vision, Larry Randolph was taken around the globe and saw what would happen in the future. For Russia, he saw a giant angel come down and plunge a sword into the heart of Russia.

As he sees the sword, he hears a voice say, "THE THOUGHTS AND PLANS OF MAN WILL COME TO NOTHING." As for what that meant, he did not know, but stated that one should distinguish between what he saw and his own interpretation of what he saw. He interpreted that as the plans that Russia would have for Ukraine would come to nothing. Ukraine would fall into a "stalemate."

So I am going to add my own comment to that vision. The plans of certain western nations over Ukraine will come to nothing. And this will happen by fighting against it by the truth, for a sword is a symbol of truth.  On this matter, see CIA Blowback in Ukraine, and Love your Neighbor and A Prophetic Dream of Flight MH17: Another False Flag? MH17 was shot down by Ukraine and western intelligence agencies know it, and there is plenty of direct and circumstantial evidence to back that up.

In the same vision, when Larry comes across the land of Israel, from the dust of the ground of Israel he sees a form rise up and become an image of king David with a sword. He sees this warring Davidic spirit then run to take the enemies of Israel down. The voice then said, "THE SAFETY OF ISRAEL SHALL NOT BE COMPROMISED."

This vision does not in any way absolve Israel from the racist crimes they have been performing against Palestinians (see The Suffering of Palestinians under Apartheid Israel).  Larry stated that the vision reminded him of David confronting Goliath, who ultimately cut his head off.  This is more of a vision against the Islamic State, or ISIS. Terrorism is not the answer, peaceful resistance is. Deal with Israel in the way apartheid was dealt with in South Africa: boycott and sanctions.

Next, for the United States, he saw that the very highest levels of government down to the bottom were due to be humbled. And this was no ordinary humbling, but a humbling beyond embarrassment. The Lord had decided to answer the blood of the forefathers of this nation, and the intercessors who pray for this nation. 

So how is the United States to be humbled? Larry did not give an answer, but I will give one. It is the direct result of American foreign policy that we now have ISIS, a radical terrorist organization.  That to me, is quite a shameful embarrassment to the U.S. Government.

The Meaning of Violent and Odd Sayings of the Bible (Psalms 137)

The Bible contains many odd sayings and violent laws and customs, and many who examine it closely then wonder and ask, how could such a book be Divinely inspired? How could this be the Word of God? I was posting some items in an online forum, and then someone out of the blue decided to quote this passage to me on one of my posts:

O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed,Happy the one who repays you as you have served us!9  Happy the one who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock! (Psalms 137:8-9)

So how does one take that?  (its explained below) If anyone reads this in the literal sense, it cannot be a commandment from God that we should kill the children of our enemies.  For such would be an enormous crime against humanity. Modern Christian churches will simply ignore this by saying, the entire Old Testament has been abrogated.  But the truth of the matter is different - even in these sayings, and those odd stories that don't make any sense, there are hidden levels of spiritual meaning. There is a hidden spiritual meaning behind the Hebrew words beyond the literal meaning.  The Jews knew there was something hidden behind the Hebrew scripture, but they only got so far as the Kabbalah from the 12th century which I regard as a failure. Before that we had Philo of Alexandria of the 1st century, but he did not get that far either. In the 18th century, Swedenborg's internal spiritual vision was opened, and was revealed the spiritual sense of scripture in full waking state over a period of 27 years.

So why is the Bible written in the way it is? First, the Jews of the time were not ready to receive internal spiritual truths, but only external laws and rituals:

"Because the human rational is such, the mode of speaking in the Word is according to man's comprehension, and also according to his genius. Therefore it is that the internal sense of the Word, is very different from its literal sense; which is very evident in the Word of the Old Testament, where most things were written according to the apprehension and genius of the people who then lived. On this account almost nothing is said concerning the life after death, salvation, and the internal man. For the Jewish and Israelitish people, with whom the church then was, were such that if these things had been disclosed, they would not only not have understood them, but would also have derided them. So, too, if it had been disclosed to them that the Messiah or Christ was to come to save their souls to eternity, they would have rejected this as nothing, as may also be evident from the same nation at this day; for if the internal or the spiritual is mentioned in their presence even now, and it is said that the Messiah will not be the greatest King on the earth, they deride it." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2580.5)

So, with the Jews, Jesus spoke in parables: an external superficial meaning was given to the public audience, but the internal spiritual meaning was explained only to the disciples. God is such, that the truth is adapted to the people receiving it:

"The simple in heart may be instructed from the appearances with man, for they scarcely go beyond knowledges from things of sense, and therefore the language of the Word is adapted to their apprehension" (Heavenly Arcana, n. 926)

Thus, in this adaptation of the Divine truth to our understanding, things appear in the literal sense that are just appearances of truth, even what is false:

"...things which are of the literal sense of the Word, and are representatives of truth and significatives of truth... are not in themselves truths; some of them, even, are falsities, which still can serve as vessels and recipients. But in the Lord there are none but essential truths, and therefore a parallelism and correspondence is not given; but they may still be so adapted as to serve as vessels for the celestial things which are of love and charity. These are what constitute the cloud of the intellectual part, spoken of before, into which the Lord insinuates charity, and so makes conscience.

"For example: with those who remain in the sense of the letter of the Word, and think that it is the Lord who leads into temptation and who then troubles man's conscience, and who think that because He permits evil He is the cause of evil, and that He casts the evil down into hell, with other similar things — these are apparent truths, but are not truths; and because they are not truths in themselves, there is not a parallelism and correspondence. Still the Lord leaves them intact in man, and miraculously adapts them by charity so that they can serve celestial things for vessels. So, too, with the worship, the religious teachings and morals, and even with the idols, of the well-disposed Gentiles: these likewise the Lord leaves intact, and still adapts them by charity so that they also serve as vessels. The case was the same in regard to the very many rites in the Ancient Church, and afterwards in the Jewish Church; which in themselves were nothing but rituals in which there was not truth, but which were tolerated and permitted, and indeed commanded, because they were held as sacred by parents, and so were implanted in the minds of children, and impressed upon them from infancy as truths." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 1832.2-3) 

The plain truth and nothing but the truth will just get you plain killed in certain situations. So we have appearances to bend us to what is good, in order to not harm the good - for a complete revelation of truth in its naked form could lead to outright rejection. We should recognize that each person has a different level of understanding of truth, and they can accept certain things due to their mindset, but no more.

So break you mindset. Question what you know to be true, and look deeper.

THE MEANING OF THE VIOLENCE OF PSALMS 137

So, given the above, what exactly is the meaning of Psalms 137? Should we treat it as a violent wish of vengeance upon one's enemies? As it turns out I translated the Psalms from the Hebrew, fixing the mistranslations found in the King James Version and other modern translations. Many sayings just do not make sense, and this is one of them, so I have been adding some comments from Swedenborg to the Psalms. So the quote from Psalm 137 I view as a synchronous event. Here is the spiritual meaning, which I posted as an answer:

Happy is he who shall seize and shatter thy babes against the cliff (Ps. cxxxvii. 9).
"Babes" mean here not babes but falsities springing up; for Babylon is here treated of, which signifies the falsities of evil destroying the truths of good of the church; the destruction of these is signified by "shattering them against the cliff;" "cliff" meaning the ruling falsity of evil, and "to shatter" meaning to destroy. He who abides in the mere sense of the letter of the Word and does not think beyond it, can easily be led to believe that he is called "happy" who does this with the babes of his enemies, when yet that would be an enormous crime; but he is called "happy" who disperses the falsities of evil springing up in the church, which are here signified by "the babes of Babylon." (Apocalypse Explained, n. 411.27)

This spiritual meaning is not randomly chosen - rather, it is based on a system of symbolic spiritual correspondences as found in the Bible.  To prove this, Swedenborg spent much of his time writing many volumes for those who desire to know.  Babylon is not just a symbol of falsity of evil destroying the church, but also those who destroyed the Christian church by adding their own doctrines for the sake of self-rule. Thus Babylon appears in the book of Revelation, and it has nothing to do with modern Iraq, but in the spiritual sense it deals with the Roman Catholic Church. A babe here is not a literal child, but a falsity which if allowed to grow can cause further damage. Thus to dash it on the rock means to destroy the falsity with the truth, before it causes more harm.

WHAT OF VIOLENT EXECUTIONS PRESCRIBED IN THE BIBLE?

There are some very violent forms of death penalties in the Old Testament, but these kinds of laws were the only ones which could be received by the Jews as the time.  Even today, not much has changed when one observes how the State of Israel treats Palestinians (which many Orthodox Jews have protested.)  And some of these practices continue to this today in other countries of the east. These external laws are meant for those who are stuck in the literal sense, and who are evil in themselves to such a point they cannot receive higher truths. Nevertheless, in these external laws there are also hidden spiritual truths:

"As to the signification of stoning, it is to be noted that there were two punishments of death with the Israelites and Jews, with whom the representative of a church had been instituted, of which the one was by stoning, the other was by hanging upon wood. Stoning was for any one who wished to destroy the truths of worship which were commanded, and hanging for any one who wished to destroy the good of life. That those were stoned who wished to destroy the truths of worship, was because a stone signified truth, and in the opposite sense falsity (n. 643, 1298, 3720, 6426); and that those were hanged upon wood who wished to destroy the good of life, was because wood signified good, and in the opposite sense the evil of lusts (n. 643, 2784, 2812, 3720).
"That the punishment of stoning was inflicted if any one destroyed the truths which are of worship, is plain from the following passages: And they shall bring up an assembly against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords (Ezek. xvi. 40). This is spoken of Jerusalem perverted, and of the destruction of the truth of faith by falsities; hence it is said that they shall stone with stones, and also thrust through with swords; for the sword signifies truth fighting and destroying falsity, and in the opposite sense falsity fighting and destroying truth (n. 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102)." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 7453.2-3)

When Jesus came and revealed Himself as the Word, these laws were abrogated. This is shown where he stopped the Jews from stoning an adulteress - for stones in the spiritual sense signify removing falsehoods by truth, thus He simply tells her, "Sin no more." The very word that Jesus spoke is the stone that was cast to remove the sin.

THE SPIRITUAL LAW OF REMOVING FALSEHOODS BY TRUTH

When the spiritual meanings of these odd literal sayings are disclosed, one can immediately apply them to life. Thus when it is said:

If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also (Matt. 5:40)

 - it has nothing to do with giving clothing, for clothing in the spiritual world signifies spiritual truth, if someone seeks to take away the truth with a falsehood (as with this quote of Psalm 137), still yet teach them more to correct the falsehood. When this is said:

What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? (Matt. 12:11)

- there is a literal meaning for the simple, but there is a spiritual meaning as well.  For a "pit" in scripture symbolizes those who are caught and trapped in their own falsehood, and cannot see further, a "sheep" is one who lives by faith; to take it out on the Sabbath means one should remove falsehoods to those who have truth of faith by instruction. For one of the things that Jesus did, was change the external ritual of the Sabbath from a day of no work, to a day of instruction. That this is the spiritual meaning, can be seen from other passages, for which I will quote another:

And if a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in it,  the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to their owner, but the dead animal shall be his. (Ex. 21:33-34)

How many of us have rescued an ox or a donkey from a pit?  Not many, and this would seem that of all the saying the Divine could give to Moses on Mt. Sinai, God would not be talking about animals falling into pits.  But it again has a spiritual meaning, this time concerning those who spread falsehoods to cause harm to the good:

"And when a man shall have opened a pit" signifies if any one shall have received falsity from another; "or when a man shall have dug a pit" signifies or if he himself have devised falsity; "and an ox or an ass shall have fallen into it" signifies which perverts good or truth in the natural; "the owner of the pit shall make it good" signifies that he to whom the falsity appertains shall make amends; "he shall give silver unto the owner of them" signifies by truth appertaining to him whose good or truth in the natural is perverted; "and the dead [beast] shall be his" signifies that the evil or the falsity shall remain to him. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 9064)

Unfortunately, these days, there are many who have fallen into their own falsehoods which they have devised for themselves. Thus Jesus said:

They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a pit (Matt. 15:14)

Meaning, those who teach and spread falsehoods will fall into the trap of their own falsehood. Its not just a figure of speech; each word in scripture has a spiritual meaning behind it....

AND THIS IS THE SECOND COMING....

And yes, this is the Second Coming as prophesied in the Bible, of which many are unaware. It will begin small among the few. Whereas before the Divine truth descended and became incarnate in a human being, in these days the Divine truth has descended again and revealed itself in scripture. The "clouds of heaven" is the literal sense of the Word, and the "Son of Man" appearing in glory is the internal Divine truth that remained hidden in scripture. For now the spiritual meaning of the entire Bible has been disclosed, using a system of symbols as revealed in visions. But for this to become known among more people, the older forms of religion must die out first. There is no room for literalists or fundamentalists here. And this fall and collapse of the older systems of religion is what is known as the "end of the age", or "end of the world":

The Symbolism of Communion and Salvation by Blood

THE MYSTERY OF COMMUNION

One basic problem in Christianity, is that it does not seem rational or logical that the human race should be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross. So what does it mean, to be saved by the blood of Jesus? The problem here is that in ancient times, there were symbolic rituals, and blood was symbolic of something. But what? Over time many could not figure it out, so eventually a theology known as "vicarious atonement" was conceived by theologians, which posited a wrathful God that desired to see satisfaction of punishment upon an innocent life for the sake of others who were guilty. This, still, makes no rational sense. In order for "vicarious atonement" to work, one must also conceive multiple persons of the Godhead, which again makes no sense. Unfortunately, that is where most people are in their thought with the Christian churches, but rarely do people question the religion they have grown up with. Questioning like this was not encouraged, so it was simply called "a mystery of faith," and so the priesthood of the church closed up the rational mind of the followers, and in so doing, for many centuries scientific knowledge was also suppressed. Even to this day, these are "mysteries" and we are just supposed to follow what is said without understanding.

Salvation by blood is actually mentioned once each in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. And they all refer to the same incident: the establishment of the ritual of communion by Jesus during the last supper:

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matt. 28:26-28)

So one question immediately comes to mind: was Jesus referring to his own blood, or to the wine of the cup which was a symbol for blood?  Certain theologians would argue endlessly over this, not recognizing any sort of symbolism here, and even state when the priest blesses it, the wine really does become the blood of Jesus. Such are caught in the literalism of scripture and do not see the spiritual symbolism behind the words. It does have something to do with the body and blood of Jesus, for in the gospel of John, Jesus mystically speaks of this:

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53-58)

Still, not very helpful in understanding. Obviously Jesus is not talking about cannibalism, but even in that day many who heard it thought Jesus was out of his mind and left from following him. This was the ancient way of teaching: by way of parable, by way of symbolic sayings and rituals. This is also the Sufi way of teaching. But why was Jesus putting the focus of salvation on his own flesh and blood? Redemption by blood is mentioned again several times in the letters of the apostles, but again no explanation for it is given, other than to say that the Jewish sacrifices of animals were a symbolic type of the sacrifice of Jesus, thus abolishing the ritual of animal sacrifices. One would think that among the Jews they understand the symbolism of the ritual, but they do not, most just follow the letter of scripture without understanding the spiritual meaning. Even to this day certain Jews want to rebuild the temple, and restore these ancient rituals, which long ago should have served their purpose.

THE SYMBOLISM OF FLESH AND BLOOD

There is a common saying, "You are my flesh and blood," said to those who were close relatives or friends. In a spiritual sense, "flesh and blood" signifies one's own self, what is derived from one's own will and thought. Thus what one loves most is said to be of one's "flesh and blood," for all are born into the love of their self and what pleases it. The self is called by Swedenborg the "human proprium," or what belongs to one self, as opposed to what is Divine. With Jesus, however, things were different, for as he was the Word of God in incarnate form, during his life he was in the process of subduing the body he inherited from his human mother and making it one with Himself - a Divine Human:

"With the ancients, flesh and blood signified the human proprium, because the human consists of flesh and blood; thus the Lord said to Simon, Blessed art thou . . . for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father Who is in the heavens (Matt. xvi. 17). The flesh and the blood, therefore, signified by the bread and the wine in the Holy Supper, are the Lord's Human proprium. The Lord's proprium itself, which He acquired to Himself by His own power, is Divine. His proprium from conception was what He had from Jehovah His Father, and was Jehovah Himself. Hence the proprium which He acquired to Himself in the Human, was Divine. This Divine proprium in the Human is what is called His flesh and blood; flesh is His Divine good (n. 3813), and blood is the Divine truth of Divine good." (Swedenborg, Heavenly Arcana, n. 4735.1)

This is the teaching that has been lost: flesh and blood, in their physical form, are physical manifestations of our will and thought. Our will pertains to what is good or evil in the actions of the body, and thought or soul is represented by blood. This is the ancient symbolism. In modern science we now now that it is blood which carries oxygen to the brain, and without oxygen there is no thought. Mystics understand this, and by slowing down the breath one can achieve higher states of thought.

The other lost teaching here is within the Christian Church itself: for many do not know that Jesus made his very body Divine with the resurrection. Some still hold onto the idea that he still has the body of a human, which is no longer true: he has the body of a Divine Human, and the process of making his human body Divine was the process by which the human race was saved.

In order to show that  eating flesh and blood in the spiritual sense does not literally mean eating flesh and blood, but rather that it signifies the appropriation of good and truth from the Divine, Swedenborg quotes the following passage from Ezekiel among many others:

"That blood signifies this holy, is evident from many passages in the Word, of which we may adduce the following: Son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovih: Say to every bird of the heaven, to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves and come; gather yourselves on every side to My sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, [of bullocks,] all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of My sacrifice which I will sacrifice for you. And ye shall be filled at My table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war. . . . And I will set My glory among the nations (Ezek. xxxix. 17-21). The subject here is the calling together of all to the Lord's kingdom, and in particular the establishment of the church among the Gentiles; and by their eating flesh and drinking blood is signified appropriating to themselves Divine good and Divine truth, thus the holy which proceeds from the Lord's Divine Human. Who cannot see that by flesh is not meant flesh, nor by blood, blood, where it is said that they should eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, and that they should be filled with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war?" (Swedenborg, Heavenly Arcana, n. 4735.5)

The "blood" of Jesus is what is holy that proceeds from his body, which is otherwise known as the Holy Spirit.  That this is so we know from the fact that the Holy Spirit is also called the "spirit of truth" (see John 14:17, 15:26). The Holy Spirit began to flow from his body once he had glorified it in the resurrection:

"The blood of Thy covenant is the Divine truth proceeding from His Divine Human, and is the holy itself which, after He was glorified, came forth from Him. This holy is also what is called the Holy Spirit, as is plain in John: Jesus said, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. Whosoever believeth in Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake He of the Spirit, which they who believed on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified (vii. 37-39). That the holy proceeding from the Lord is the spirit, may also be seen in John (vi. 63).
"Moreover, that blood is the holy proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human, is plain in David: He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence; and precious shall their blood be in His sight (Ps. lxxii. 14) — precious blood standing for the holy which they would receive. In the Apocalypse: These are they who come out of great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (vii. 14); and again: They overcame the dragon by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death (xii. 11).
"The church at this day does not know otherwise than that the blood of the Lamb here signifies the Lord's passion, because it is believed that they are saved solely by the Lord having suffered, and that it was for this that He was sent into the world; but let this view of it be for the simple, who cannot comprehend interior arcana. The Lord's passion was the last of His temptation, by which He fully glorified His Human (Luke xxiv. 26; John xii. 23, 27, 28; xiii. 31, 32; xvii. 1, 4, 5); but the blood of the Lamb is the same as the Divine truth, or the holy proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human" (Swedenborg, Heavenly Arcana, n. 4735.5)

Note that the literal sense of scripture, where people believe to be saved by the literal blood of Jesus, is meant for the simple. Religion comes by way of progressive revelation. For in ancient times, they began to degenerate to the point of sacrificing humans and animals to a wrathful God; Moses replaced these practices with just animal sacrifices. Eventually these animal sacrifices became isolated to the temple of Jerusalem. Finally, Jehovah became incarnate and suffered violence at the hands of the Jews, that through this the simple would understand.

With further revelation, one reaches the higher spiritual understanding that one must be saved by doing the good by the truth that one knows, and acknowledging that all good and truth originates not from one's self but from God. That one is saved by learning and acknowledging spiritual truth, is even said by Jesus:

"You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32)

Where freedom comes when one acts by the truth against the slavery of sin, and one is born again with a new will. Note how Jesus had to first sanctify himself by the truth, before others could:

"Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth." (John 17:17-19)

By "sanctifying himself" Jesus meant he had to conquer sin in his body before he could make his human Divine, which he had inherited from his mother Mary. And this is the other lost teaching of Christianity, for Catholics want to say that Mary was born without sin, thus Jesus was born without sin as well.  The truth of the matter is that Mary was an ordinary human woman, from whom was derived a human child that had inherited sinful tendencies. When Jehovah became incarnate in such a body, it was all out war between God and all the spirits of hell, as he used his power to conquer all temptations in the body. For Jesus was the Divine truth incarnate:

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

This is a lost teaching of Christianity, for in reality much of the theology of the Protestants have been inherited from the Catholics, though Protestants would be surprised to discover that. Strip away the external rituals of the Catholic church, and the two branches of Christianity are just about the same. Unfortunately, the Protestant branch has misinterpreted the writings of Paul, confusing works of charity with the external rituals of the Mosaic law, and creating a very complicated theology devoid of spiritual morality. When one reaches a true spiritual understanding, one understands that in most present day churches there is barely any remnant of the original truth. That this is so, was declared in the book of Revelation which mentions the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8). In the spiritual sense, the "Lamb" is the Divine Human, to be "slain" is to be utterly rejected, and the "foundation of the world" is the foundation of the present day Christian churches.

SO HOW DID JESUS SAVE HUMANITY?

So we come back to another basic question, why was it necessary for God to become incarnate in human form to save humanity? No one can understand this until one understands that we are all spiritual beings in an external physical body. We as humans are different from animals in that we have spiritual freedom. And what is spiritual freedom? It is the choice between good and evil. Where does this choice originate? Most scientists will simply say "the mind," but the mind is but a manifestation of spiritual thought. The truth of the matter, is that all thought originates from the spiritual world - good thoughts flow in from heaven, evil thoughts from hell. Evil and sin is repulsed by the truth. We are higher dimensional beings in three dimensional bodies, and these spiritual planes are something scientists cannot see.

By the time Jesus came, much spiritual truth had been lost, many fallen into idol worship, and hell had gained the ascendancy over mankind, even threatening the lower heavens. By becoming incarnate in human form, God could fight directly against all of hell by resisting sin and temptation in his human form. This happened gradually in stages, something that is spelled out in enormous detail in Swedenborg's massive work Heavenly Arcana (aka, Arcana Coelestia). And before someone screams, "hey this goes against vicarious atonement" - go look at the Orthodox church, for they hold to a similar belief, albeit more obscurely than how it is explained in the visions recorded by Emanuel Swedenborg. When Jesus rose from the dead, he had descended into hell and ascended into heaven, reordering these spiritual planes, for now mankind could have direct communion with Him through the Divine Human. The spirit which flows from this Divine human which relays to the truth to our minds, by which we are saved when we act according to the truth that we know.

For a similar blog post, see What is Blood Atonement or Vicarious Atonement?, or even better, Jesus the Shaman - Descent into the Underworld.