Moths and rust, bats and moles: predicates of mind and heart in their classes

Matthew 6:19-20 - King James Version (KJV)

<19> Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: <20> But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

As we see, a flying creature and a red substance* have here been mentioned, moth and rust. 

"Be it known that all the flying things mentioned in the Word signify things of the intellect, and consequently truths, and in the opposite sense falsities (n. 40, 745, 776, 778, 866, 988, 3219, 5149); but flying things of the lowest sort, which are insects, signify truths and in the opposite sense falsities, which are more ignoble and obscure in proportion as they belong to the sensuous, for these things are in total obscurity and darkness, being next the body, and consequently near to earthly things, where heavenly things terminate, and are immersed in thick darkness (AC 7441).

*"red substance" -- red being love, context being in the reversed position (love of self and the world as opposed to love of God and the neighbor); 

When you see a flying creature in a negative context, this indicates falsity supportive of evil.

When you see a crawling creature in a negative context, this indicates evil supportive of falsity. The adulterous couple does not get along very well, but they support each other's evil well indeed.

Here we do not have a predicate of understanding as a flying creature alongside a predicate of will as a crawling creature but a splicing together of two predicate classes. The verse might have proceeded, for instance, "where moth and rodent cannot harm*; and while it did not, this would involve predicates of will and understanding of the same class.

Isaiah 2:20 - King James Version (KJV)

<20> In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;

Here we have a predicate of understanding as a flying creature alongside a predicate of will as a crawling creature in the chiastic pairing of moles and bats; and the gold of love and the silver of truth are likewise of the same predicate class; when yet the verse might have gone "his idols of linen, and his idols of gold", which would have involved the filling out of the chiastic rubric with predicates of different classes.

With all the above in mind, let us conclude with the same extract as began our excursion: 

Matthew 6:19-20 - King James Version (KJV)

<19> Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: <20> But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

We are to lay up for ourselves increases in love of God and the neighbor and its supportive ideation while shunning evil and falsity as sins and acknowledging that no good and no truth come from ourselves; which failure to acknowledge would involve stealing from our Creator, who takes this matter very seriously and wants us to understand how important it is to being content and neighborly to make this acknowledgement. 

This chiastic architecture of the inner meaning of God's Word performs reliably and has its counterpart in your own hearts and minds. Use it well.

John 15:11 - King James Version (KJV)

<11> These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hear, 21st century man, the inner meaning of the Word of God

  John 16:7 - King James Version (KJV) <7> Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. You put that alongside this: "That the veil of the temple was rent in twain when the Lord suffered the cross (Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45) signified His glorification; for when the Lord was in the world, He made His Human Divine truth; but when He departed out of the world, He made His Human Divine good, from which the Divine truth now proceeds" (Arcana Coelestia 9670). Mark 15:38 - King James Version (KJV) <38> And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. Luke 23:45 - King James Version (KJV) <45> And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And you put this alongside that:  Luke 23:44-45 - King James Version (KJV) <44> And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a ...
Read more

He suffered no one to accompany Him but Peter, James, and John

As we have covered root, branch, and fruit, it is appropriate now to touch on Peter, James, and John, the disciples who represent basically the same things: with Peter being faith, James being charity, and John being the works of charity which proceed from the marriage of faith and charity; just as fruit depends on the root and the branch.  We read in Mark, on the occasion of the Lord's raising a 12 year old girl from the dead, that "he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James" (Mark 5:37).  That the Word specifically mentions these three disciples in the context of someone's being raised from the dead is due to the fact that there is no resurrection from spiritual death to spiritual life without charity, faith, and good deeds. Many things are said to and about Peter, James, and John, and these all have something to do with what they represent. Since Peter represents faith, and faith can be either married to charity or separa...
Read more

Outreach for Muslims: Gardens Rivers Date Palms Grape Vines Two

"And We have placed in it gardens of palm trees and grapevines, and caused springs to gush forth in it" (Ya-Sin 36:34). In the Latin Testament, where correspondences built into the universe are taught, a garden is a human. Gardens of palm trees and grape vines are humans with divine truths, and the springs which gush forth in them are enlightenment concerning these by God; as by rivers of divine truth flowing through and nourishing the Eden of the inner human. "These quotations indicate that in comparing humans (or what humans have inside them) to a garden, the earliest people included the idea of the water or rivers that watered the garden. It is also apparent that they took the water and rivers to mean the things that would stimulate growth" (Arcana Coelestia 108). The water is to stimulate growth in the garden of palm trees and grape vines and divine truths and holy practices; as water is to clean the flesh in the rite of baptism and as the blood of the Lamb of H...
Read more