The Book of Jasher: a lost ancient book of the Bible, or a medieval forgery?

In the Bible, there is a reference to the book of Jasher:

So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge Upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day (Josh. 10:13) 

and he told them to teach the children of Judah the Song of the Bow; indeed it is written in the Book of Jasher (2 Sam. 1:18)

This work is assumed as lost by most scholars.  But in the visions of Emanuel Swedenborg, he saw that this work of scripture was still extant.  The book of Jasher covers the same period of time in the books of Moses, from Adam to entry into the land of Canaan. As Swedenborg recorded the spiritual meaning of Genesis and Exodus in his work Heavenly Arcana (Arcana Coelestia, or "Heavenly Secrets"), I decided to include a Hebrew work claiming to be the book of Jasher at the end when I published all the works of Emanuel Swedenborg, The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem and The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem: Expanded Edition. However in the preface, I warned while it contains portions of the original, there are late additions by Jewish writers, who probably assumed it was a late midrash.

I came across this website Sefer haYashar – The Book of Jasher – Book of the Upright, which calls the Hebrew work Sefer haYashar an outright late medieval forgery.  The main arguments that this is a late forgery are the following:

1. The text appeared in the 17th century (possibly earlier in 1552) in Italy, and there is no evidence it existed before that time.
2. It shares stories also found in the Jewish Talmud and the Targums.
3. It contains possible additions from cabbalistic literature (ca. 13th century A.D.).
4. The geneaology of Noah contains references to the Franks and Lombards who appeared after the fall of the Roman Empire, probably borrowed from Josippon, a rabbinic work of the 10th century A.D.

All of this I knew when I decided to include it in the Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem.  So why did I include it?  It is known that right before the first century A.D. some of the scriptures began to be corrupted - thus we find late additions in some works of the Bible as found in the Septuagint. So just because there are similar stories in the Jewish Talmud and Targums proves nothing. Actually it can work as evidence in favor: just where were these Jewish rabbis drawing upon for all of these traditions?  And before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest Hebrew text we had of the Bible dated to the 10th century A.D.  As for the other points, those could be later additions.

The reason why I included the book of Jasher is that some of this text is very, very ancient.  In fact, it can be proven that there is no way this work was composed in its entirety during the medieval era.  I discuss some of the points in detail in my earlier blog entry on the book of Jasher.  As it was seen in the visions of Swedenborg, it is evidence that these visions were not a product of the imagination. Separate from this, Swedenborg was able to see certain things clairvoyantly, one was confirmed by Immanuel Kant. Evidence that the book of Jasher is quite old are the following pieces of evidence:

1.  It mentions a rare astronomical alignment - a grand conjunction - for the birth of Abraham in 1953 B.C.  This could not have been known by a medieval forger.  For a more detailed analysis on this, see the blog entry on the astronomy during the birth of Abraham.
2.  Embedded in the chronology of the ancient patriarchs before the Flood there is some very detailed (and hidden) astronomical information.  One concerns a Venus transit that occurred in the year 3214 B.C. and another in 2971 B.C., and there is an implicit reference to the 243 years which separated these Venus transits in the book of Jasher (it is periodic, and always 243 years).  The explanation for this is a bit detailed, see the blog entry on the ancient astronomy of the Bible.  Last time we had a Venus transit was in 2012. Again, this could not have been known by a medieval forger.
3. In the story of Nimrod there is a reference to a Sumerian god name, which was not known until cuneiform tablets were recovered by archaeologists in the 19th century, and
4. The Apostle Paul mentions Jannes and Jambres as the names of the two magicians who opposed Moses. This is not in the Bible, but is present in the book of Jasher. This however is also mentioned in Jewish traditions.

However, there is more.  The book of Jasher contains some detailed information concerning Abraham and the king Nimrod of Babylon.  These stories are repeated by Josephus, a first century Jewish historian.  According to the Hebrew preface, the work was recovered from the destruction of the Jewish temple in 70 A.D., after which it made its way to Spain.

I have been reading an ancient Jewish work, the Book of Jubilees, written in the 2nd century B.C.  I had this work in my library, but then I discovered that more than any other work copies of this were discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Its a Jewish rework of Genesis and Exodus, which seeks to put an additional calendar and a 50 year cycle on all events recorded in scripture.  Unlike Jasher, we can see many pieces of evidence that the work of Jubilees is a work of the second century B.C., adding onto the stories of scripture, embellishing it with some very late Jewish traditions. In reading this, I found some notes by the translator on the book of Jasher, which he used to compare with the book of Jubilees.  I want to cover a few of these in detail, before people jump to the conclusion that Sefer haYashar is a later medieval forgery.

First off, we can see the book of Jubilees following the book of Enoch in declaring that before the flood, angelic like beings - (some say extraterrestrials), mated with the women and produced giants. It has got to be one of the strangest Jewish stories added onto scripture some time between the Old and the New Testaments.  Here is what the book of Jubilees states:

...and he called his name Jared; for in his days the angels of the Lord descended on the earth, those who are named the Watchers, that they should instruct the children of men, and that they should do judgment and uprightness on the earth (Jubilees 4:15)

This is based on the following scripture in Genesis:

There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. (Gen. 6:4)

This interpretation - that angels made a descent in ancient times and intermingled with women to produce giants - was very popular in the first century A.D.  In that time, or in the second century A.D., Jewish scholars protested against this interpretation.  Rabbi ben Jochai "cursed any one who translated Gen. vi. 2 by the phrase "sons of God," and not "sons of the judges"".  Why would the Jews indicate that not only is it a misinterpretation, but a mistranslation?  Here is the same passage from the book of Jasher:

And their judges and rulers went to the daughters of men and took their wives by force from their husbands according to their choice, and the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other (Jasher 4:18)

While this offers a very interesting story with no end to the amount of speculation at to what it means (giants from another planet with heavier gravity, genetic engineering), Jasher states it was the judges and rulers of men, not angels who descended from heaven. This was an issue of the first and second centuries A.D. Why would a medieval forger again bring up this very ancient controversy?

Another interesting point about the book of Jubilees is that at times it does not follow the Masoretic Hebrew text, but an alternate Hebrew text which was also used by the translators of the Septuagint.  In an alternate geneaology, after the Flood Arphaxad gives birth to one named Cainan - whereas the Masoretic text does not have this, and skips to one named Salah.  And here is what is said concerning Cainan in the book of Jubilees:

Arpachshad took to himself a wife and her name was Rasu'eja, the daughter of Susan, the daughter of Elam, and she bare him a son in the third year in this week, and he called his name Kainam. And the son grew, and his father taught him writing, and he went to seek for himself a place where he might seize for himself a city. And he found a writing which former (generations) had carved on the rock, and he read what was thereon, and he transcribed it and sinned owing to it; for it contained the teaching of the Watchers in accordance with which they used to observe the omens of the sun and moon and stars in all the signs of heaven. And he wrote it down and said nothing regarding it; for he was afraid to speak to Noah about it lest he should be angry with him on account of it. (Jubilees 8:1-5)

In the commentary, this extra generation is added in order to make 22 generations from Adam to Jacob instead of 21, as there are 22 books in the Hebrew Bible.  This extra generation was then copied into the Septuagint.  The story also contains an explanation as to "why" it may not be present in the Masoretic text.  But where did this story come from? Josephus describes a similar story for the sons of Seth before the Flood.  And where did he get that story?  It comes from Jasher, concerning Cainan, the son of Enosh the son of Seth, not Arphaxad:

And Cainan grew up and he was forty years old, and he became wise and had knowledge and skill in all wisdom, and he reigned over all the sons of men, and he led the sons of men to wisdom and knowledge; for Cainan was a very wise man and had understanding in all wisdom, and with his wisdom he ruled over spirits and demons;And Cainan knew by his wisdom that God would destroy the sons of men for having sinned upon earth, and that the Lord would in the latter days bring upon them the waters of the flood.And in those days Cainan wrote upon tablets of stone, what was to take place in time to come, and he put them in his treasures. (Jasher 2:11-13)

The book of Jasher contains the older, more simpler story, which got embellished and misplaced in the book of Jubilees.

And now, there is this other interesting example where the book of Jasher may be a source of early Jewish tradition.  Before the flood, after Enosh was born, Genesis states this:

Then men began to call on the name of the LORD. (Gen. 4:26)

However Jubilees has this:

He [Enosh] began to call on the name of the LORD on the earth (Jubilees 4:12)

Jubilees here agrees with the Septuagint and the Syriac in this verse.  In the time of Jerome, Jewish scholars stated that this refers to the rise of idolatry. This interpretation can be traced back to as early as the first century A.D., for it is found in the Targum Onkelos of that time.  So where does this come from?  From Jasher, where it has the following expanded story:

And it was in the days of Enosh that the sons of men continued to rebel and transgress against God, to increase the anger of the Lord against the sons of men.And the sons of men went and they served other gods, and they forgot the Lord who had created them in the earth: and in those days the sons of men made images of brass and iron, wood and stone, and they bowed down and served them.And every man made his god and they bowed down to them, and the sons of men forsook the Lord all the days of Enosh and his children (Jasher 2:3-5)

So these are minor pieces of evidence, and there is more I can gather but there is no need: the clincher is the astronomical information contained in this work.  The evidence shows, despite some late additions, that this manuscript does indeed contain the ancient lost work of the book of Jasher.

The Older Forgotten Branch of Christianity

Most people in the west are familiar with the Catholic and Protestant versions of Christianity, a little less the Orthodox Church...and fewer still the Oriental Orthodox Church. The point of confusion here is that the "Eastern Orthodox" Church is different than the Oriental Orthodox Church.  To simplify things, here is a nice chart of the main branches of Christianity:

Why do I show this chart?  Because, as explained earlier, the prophecies of Daniel which speak of the "abomination of desolation" concern the corruption of the Christian Church in the fifth century A.D.  And everything is beginning to point to the Council of Chalcedon of 451 A.D. - which divided Christ into two natures, the Divine and the human.  Ironically, this exact theology was condemned earlier in the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D.

So where does the prophesied future church of the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation lie on this chart?  Well, bits and pieces of its theology, as explained in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg as revealed in over 25 years of visions, are scattered across the branches of the tree.  To sum this up quickly, I will mention the major doctrines of the New Church, and indicate which churches adhere to similar doctrines:

1.  There is a Trinity in one person, Jesus Christ.  The trinity of three persons is a falsehood.  The one church that also adheres to a similar doctrine is the Pentecostal church, which began independently from the New Church in the 20th century.  I do need to read up on their exact opinion, however Swedenborg explains this in better detail, as a trine of the soul, body and operation (spirit) in one person - which happens to exist in every human being.  The problem I see with the Pentecostal church is that they take a very minor spiritual gift - speaking in tongues - and make it a "requirement" as a sign of baptism. In many cases, people are encouraged to profane what is holy by pretending to speak in a foreign language, or to confuse emotional enthusiasm with the Holy Spirit.
2.  Salvation of humanity occurred when Jesus made his human Divine. The churches that adhere to this doctrine, to some extent, are the Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox churches.  Except they don't see this as a gradual process that occurred over the lifetime of Jesus.  Other churches, especially the Catholic and Protestant, follow the doctrine of "vicarious atonement", where the death of Jesus satisfied the "penalty of sin".  This theology came late in the history of the church, first promoted by Anselm.  Swedenborg spoke strongly against this kind of theology, thus he concentrates mostly on the false theology of the Protestant and Catholic churches.
3.  Although born as a human, Jesus gradually shed this human nature until it was completely absorbed into His Divinity. He has one nature: the Divine.  The only other church that holds to any sort of Non-Chalcedonian theology is the Oriental Orthodox Church.  However there are some differences of understanding, as they do hold onto the false view of a trinity of three persons. I have been reading up on some of their opinions on this issue from a Coptic Church web site.  Similar to Swedenborg, the leader of the Coptic Church explains that the Divine and the human are united in one person in one nature, just as the soul and body are united in each and every person. This was the exact opinion of some very ancient theologians of the Christian church. Their main point: what was condemned in the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. was then reversed 20 years later in the Council of Chalcedon. According to tradition, this church was founded by the Apostle Mark.

I have simplified my above assessments. Most outsiders, when trying to understand the division, will state that it is over a difference in terminology.  That is not the case.  For the doctrine of the Divine Human is the very center of Christianity, it is the reason for the ritual of the Eucharist. For by making His human Divine, the Divine can now operate in every human who seeks to repent of his or her sins: if he or she tries, and implores the Lord for help. Without understanding that, there will be no understanding of how Jesus saved humanity.

As explained before, the reason for the Council of Chalcedon to divide the nature of Christ was so that the Papacy of the Catholic Church could claim to be the Vicar of Christ, which they could not do unless Jesus retained a human nature.  And when the Pope gained the support of the Byzantine Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church in the Middle East was persecuted by the Byzantine Empire from the fifth to the seventh centuries A.D. Persecution stopped only when the Oriental Orthodox church allied themselves to the Arab Muslims against the Byzantine Empire.

THE 1290 AND 1335 YEAR PROPHECY OF DANIEL

This background is necessary to understand the 1290 and 1335 year prophecy of the book of Daniel:

And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days (Dan. 12:11-12)

The "abomination of desolation" has nothing to do with a Jewish temple, it has to do with the true temple: the body of Jesus Christ.  It is the denial that Jesus made His human Divine. For in making His human Divine, He resisted all sin and temptation, and through that means He conquered the power of hell over humanity.

As explained before, these two time periods last from 455 - 1790 A.D., and 499 - 1789 A.D.  It is no coincidence: after the Pope was successful in obtaining a favorable decision in the Council of Chalcedon to divide Christ into two natures, Rome was attacked and plundered by the Vandals in 455 A.D. as punishment. The power of the Roman Catholic Church would not be destroyed until the French Revolution which began in 1789-90 A.D.

The Vandals, Visigoths and Ostrogoths which invaded the Roman Empire followed a particular heresy which the Catholic Church fought against vigorously: Arianism, which declared that Jesus was a created being.  With the collapse of the Roman Empire in 476 an finally in 493 A.D., Italy came under the control of the Ostrogoths.  The Papacy became the religious power which succeeded the Roman Empire.  Thus it allied itself with the Byzantine Empire in the East to help it to exterminate Arianism. Another ally the Catholic Church obtained: Clovis, king of the Franks, who converted to Catholicism in 497 A.D.  This brings us closer to the year 499 A.D., which seems to be the beginning of the 1290 year period of Daniel.

The 499 A.D. falls into the middle of a period known as the "Acacian Schism" which lasted from 484 to 519 A.D.  This was a period of time during which the Byzantine Empire sought to become reunited with its "Monophysite" (or "Miaphysite") subjects, now known as the Oriental Orthodox church, which held to the true doctrine that Jesus has one nature: the Divine.  The Catholic Church fought against this.  There was one point in time, however, where it seems that it came close where the Catholic Church could have turned against the Council of Chalcedon: that was when two Popes were elected in 498 A.D.: Pope Symmachus, and an "anti-Pope", Laurentius.  Ultimately a synod was held in 499 A.D. in which the fate of Laurentius was sealed, and would never seek the Papacy after that time.  Symmachus, as it turns out, had bribed voters with money in order to secure his election. It was Laurentius who favored reconciliation with the Byzantine Empire over the issue of the Council of Chalcedon, and the Monophysites of the Oriental Orthodox Church who held to the belief that Jesus had one nature, the Divine.

So, this is why 499 A.D. is the year selected as the beginning of the "abomination of desolation" in the prophecy of Daniel.  It was not a political event, but a spiritual event within the Church, in which the standard theology was decided for future generations of the Christian Church. The ones who were against it, and are still against it, belong to the forgotten branch of Christianity.  It is this forgotten theology of the Divine Human which was revealed again in the visions of Emanuel Swedenborg.  Thus the New Church, or the New Jerusalem, technically is not "new": it is a new revelation of a very old and forgotten truth of Christianity.

A RESTORATION OF TRUE CHRISTIANITY

Seeing this is a popular post, let this not be the "forgotten" branch of Christianity. We should seek to restore it.  And indeed, that is what God intends to do.  In the revelations given to Emanuel Swedenborg, True Christianity should be restored based on two simple principles:

1. There is one God who is one being, one person, who is Jesus Christ.
2. That would should repent of one's sins and live a life according to the 10 commandments.

From these two principles, all the other doctrines of a restored Christian Church can be derived. In fact, all principle doctrines of this restored Christianity can be found in The Doctrines of the New Jerusalem and True Christian Religion, published by Emanuel Swedenborg in the 18th century. And this came by way of revelation. Everything else is not important, in fact, God loves variety in worship. He did not tell us everything in the way we should worship Him, and has given us free will to discover him. Thus we have this passage:

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. (Prov. 25:2)

Yes, God hides things, and is waiting for us to discover it. This restoration of Christianity is prophesied in the book of Revelation: the letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea - is in fact a letter to all the Christian denominations of the present day. Jesus points out their errors - including those of the Protestant and Catholic churches.  Once the revelation is given, it will be opposed by established denominations who subscribe to faith alone and vicarious atonement: this is signified by the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet.  The beginning of the New Church, first established among the few, will be very hard, and initially rejected: this is the symbolism of the two witnesses. But in the end, a New Church is established on earth: this is the New Jerusalem that descends out of heaven. You do not need to look up in the sky and wait for it. It is here. Now.

The Spiritual Meaning of the Abomination of Desolation

I have been discussing the prophecy of the "abomination of desolation" - where Jesus describes the corruption of the Christian church at the end of its age.  Literalists assume that the Jewish temple will be rebuilt, which will be desecrated by a future Antichrist.  While this future event may indeed occur, in a more wider universal sense it refers to the corruption of the Christian Church, where an idol will be put at the center of worship, and regarded as "most holy" - for the idol will be worshiped in place of God. Here is the prophecy of Jesus again:

Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand),then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. (Matt. 24:15-18)

While some have interpreted the prophecies of Daniel as referring to the desecration of the Jewish temple by Antiochus Epiphanes IV of the Seleucid Empire in 167 B.C., Jesus speaks of a future event.  So the next popular interpretation is the destruction of the Jewish temple by the Romans. Again, this was an immediate, temporary fulfillment: for the Jewish nation was a symbolic example, or representation, of the Christian Church. Judaism was for the most part an external form of worship, where the rituals and ceremonies were symbolic of the spiritual Church. The corruption of worship, and the destruction of the Jewish temple, is a symbolic example of how towards the end of the age a church or religion will become corrupt, preceding a new revelation that is then given.  So in the above scripture, the literal sense contains a more spiritual meaning: those who flee to the mountains are those who are in love towards the Lord, those on the housetop are those who are in love towards the neighbor, and those who are in the field are in obedience from the truth that they know.  The warning here is: once you recognize that the established religion in which you were born is corrupt, do not depart from the Lord, and do not depart from a life of love and charity. The other warning is, once you are in a life of usefulness and charity towards others, beware of going backwards and just using religion for the sake of just learning truth.  Those who read this scripture literally will think that the reference to the mountain, housetop and field are just metaphors or figures of speech: not so, every word has a spiritual meaning. Many who see certain falsehoods in religion will leave the Lord entirely...I have seen this many, many times. I recognized the falsehoods very early on when I had questions...and there was no one who could answer them. I knew something was wrong with what was being taught, but could not put my finger on what was the exact truth. There are many who are disenchanted with the church in this way.

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF ANIMAL SACRIFICES

There is another reason why literalists will continue to think that the "abomination of desolation" refers to the desecration of a future Jewish temple.  One is, two prophecies in Daniel mention the desecration in conjunction with animal sacrifices, which will cease:

And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. (Dan. 11:31) 

And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. (Dan. 12:11)

So, some who read the previous blog posts might have noticed the reference to the animal sacrifices, and might have concluded that the abomination of desolation must refer to the desecration of a literal physical Jewish temple, or a future Jewish temple. But if Israel and Judaism was a symbolic representation of the spiritual Church, what is the spiritual meaning of animal sacrifices?  I remember when I first read the Old Testament, and once I came to Leviticus, I just skipped it. All of those details just simply bored me. At that point, I jumped to the book of Revelation. I now know that there is a hidden spiritual meaning hidden behind these rituals, which were revealed in visions to Emanuel Swedenborg. But there are two obvious clues from scripture itself:

...the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"But He was speaking of the temple of His body.Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said. (John 2:18-22)

So if Jesus spoke metaphorically then, He was probably speaking metaphorically concerning the last days: He is not speaking of the desecration of the Jewish temple, He is speaking of the desecration of the worship of the Lord, specifically, concerning the nature of His human body.  That the "abomination of desolation" will concern a false teaching concerning the Lord, is also shown by this passage:

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matt. 26:26-18)

This took place on the Passover, and instead of sacrificing a lamb, Jesus Himself became the sacrifice. The bread and wine are symbolic representations of His human body and blood, which in turn is a symbolic representation of Divine love and Divine truth. To prove that "bread" and "wine" are symbolic representations of love and truth is beyond the scope of this blog - but the point here is, Jesus is the sacrifice, and the other point that many miss: He made His very human body Divine, a part of the Divine nature. This is why communion is the absolute center and most holy thing of Christian worship.  But if you look at the theology of Catholics and Protestants, they declare that in Christ there is a Divine nature, and also a human nature.  They divide Christ into two natures.  This is the abomination of desolation, this is the desecration of the spiritual temple.

I remember one person who studied the history of the Christian church found the theological debates concerning the human nature of Christ which occurred for the most part in the fifth century A.D. unimportant.  But it is not unimportant, for it is important to realize that by making His human Divine, this is how Jesus saves all of humanity. To do this, He had to resist sin and temptation, which originated from all of the worst hells which attacked Him with such ferocity that no other human has ever experienced. Before the physical attack of the crucifixion, there was a very intense mental attack - thus Jesus sweated blood in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Thus when we make acts of repentance, turning away from evil - inasmuch as we try to remove these internal sins inside of us, so Jesus will act through us through His Holy Spirit.  This is how sins are removed.  There is no such thing as an "automatic transfer" of guilt to Jesus on the cross through mere belief or lip confession.  There is no "covering of evil" so that when God looks upon a person He sees the righteousness of Jesus. Scripture teaches over and over again: God will judge everyone according to their works.  The Protestant theology of salvation...is wrong at its very core.  Its an excuse to continue in ones sins...Paul recognized this problem, and thus said:

And why not say, "Let us do evil that good may come"? --- as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just. (Rom. 3:8)

Unfortunately, this theology is prevalent in Protestant churches. They say, oh, forget about it, your sins are transferred, just believe and offer lip confession. Then when communion comes, they say the opposite: examine yourselves, and take care of those faults and sins. It is in communion that a remnant of the truth remains. I attended a service and this is exactly what was taught.  Many, who grew up in Protestant churches, do not see the error. That is why it is important to recognize that Jesus made His human Divine. That is why His body is at the center of worship in communion. Sins are not removed until you resist and turn away from them. In Protestant churches in particular, belief alone is held to be more important than acts of repentance. At this one particular service, they even quoted Tullian Tchividjian the grandson of Billy Graham to make their point. So what. The point is false: it gives people a false sense of security concerning their salvation: for they do not examine their lives, and seek to remove those inner sins from within.

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF ANIMAL SACRIFICES

Back to the spiritual meaning of animal sacrifices...let's look at where in scripture the "daily sacrifice" is first mentioned: it first appears in Exodus chapter 29. I won't go into all the symbolic details that are explained in more detail by Swedenborg, but I will sum it up like this: the flesh that is offered and burned symbolizes purification by removing the evils in one's lower natural body.  The separation and the offering of the blood symbolizes the Divine truth received by the Holy Spirit: for when the truth is received, one then acknowledges one's sin and turns away from it through repentance. Its not an easy thing to do: and that is why it is a special offering to God when one does this of their own free will. Acts of repentance in each person is a simulation of the act that Jesus did to glorify His human and make it Divine:

From what has been said, some idea may be formed concerning the glorification of the Human of the Lord; for as the Lord glorified His Human, so He regenerates man, therefore, as has been many times already said, the regeneration of man is an image of the glorification of the Lord. Thus it is plain that the first state of His glorification was to make His Human Divine truth, and to unite it with the Divine good which was in Him; and that the second state was to act from Divine good by Divine truth. For by Divine truth proceeding from the Divine good of the Lord heaven and the church are established; and by it all who are in the church are regenerated. This it is which is described by the sacrifices and burnt offerings, and their ceremonials ordained in this chapter. (Heavenly Arcana, 10057.5)

And this is the hidden spiritual meaning behind all of those animal sacrifices. In themselves, the sacrifices did nothing. But it established a representative form of worship, and creates a symbol in the mind as to what happens in the spiritual world when one commits an act of repentance in this earthly life. It is through these symbolic representations in the mind that a link is formed with the angelic heaven, as it provides a means for spiritual communion. This type of representation has been abolished, and in its place, there is now the Eucharist or Communion.

So, it should be more clear what the "abomination of desolation" is, and it should be clear what the removal of the daily sacrifice means: it concerns a theology that divides God into three persons, and from that error, they then divide Christ into two natures, and from that error, make acts of repentance of no account, transfer sins away automatically, and put religion in its lowest most basest form, that of belief only and lip confession. Which in fact is no religion at all, for it allows one to continue in one's evil life without committing acts of repentance. This is the desecration of the spiritual temple, the spiritual crucifixion of the Lord.

So with that, in the next blog I will discuss in detail of how the Christian Church became corrupt in its theology, focusing on the controversies of the 5th century A.D.