“Keeping” in the Bible generally has to do with controlling the actual actions of life, though in some cases it can mean holding something away from the activities of life to safeguard it.
By far the most common use of “keep” is connected with keeping the Lord’s commandments or keeping feast days or rituals. According to Swedenborg, these all mean putting true ideas from the Lord into action in life; simply knowing them or remembering them is not enough. In a deeper sense it means worshipping the Lord, since living life according to his leading is the ultimate act of worship.
When its not possible to act from the Lord’s commands, “keeping” represents remembering and safeguarding those true ideas so that they can be put into practice eventually.
Ultimately, of course, while “keeping” is centered on ideas and knowledge and following them, those ideas and knowledge are themselves centered on the desire to be good, to do what is good and to come into a state of love. So in the end, the goal is to keep love in our hearts, and to keep ourselves in a state in which we can receive love from the Lord.
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 372
- ‘To be a keeper’ means to serve, in the way that gate-keepers and door-keepers did in the Jewish Church. Faith is called the keeper of charity from the fact that it ought to be the servant. But it accorded with the basic assumptions of that doctrine to say that faith was to have dominion, as stated at verse 7.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8767
- ‘And keep My covenant’ means thus leading a good life, and as a consequence being joined [to the Lord]. This is clear from the meaning of ‘keeping the covenant’ as leading a life in accordance with the commandments, thus a life governed by good, and so being joined to the Lord. The reason why ‘keeping the covenant’ means leading a life in accordance with the commandments, thus leading a good life, is that the stipulations of the covenant were all the things that had been commanded, which were called testimonies, judgements, laws, and statutes, in particular the Ten Commandments. All these were also called the covenant because it was established through them. The fact that keeping them is leading a life in accordance with them is evident from the meaning of ‘keeping’ in the Word. Many times it speaks of hearing the commandments and keeping them, and in those places ‘hearing’ means accepting them in faith, and ‘keeping’ accepting them in life, that is, leading a life in accordance with them. The reason why ‘keeping the covenant’ also means being joined [to the Lord] is that in an overall sense ‘a covenant’ means being joined together, 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804. It has this further meaning because a person who leads a life in accordance with the commandments is joined to the Lord. For the commandments teach about life and also impart life, thereby opening the way to heaven and opening one’s eyes to see the Lord.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 7899
- ‘And you shall keep this day throughout your generations by an eternal statute’ means worship that springs from faith and charity in keeping with Divine order. This is clear from the meaning of ‘keeping’ as worship, for that day was kept when the Passover was celebrated on it; from the meaning of ‘generations’ as aspects of faith and charity, dealt with above in 7883; and from the meaning of ‘an eternal statute’ as in keeping with Divine order, also dealt with above, in 7884.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8363
- ‘And keep all His statutes’ means a life in keeping with the truths of faith, which are exterior aspects of the Church. This is clear from the meaning of ‘keeping’ too as leading a life; and from the meaning of ‘statutes’ as the outward truths of the Word, dealt with in 3382, 8357, thus the truths of faith that are exterior aspects of the Church. Quite a number of places in the Word mention statutes and commandments, and when one is spoken of along with the other, ‘statute’ means an outward aspect of the Church and ‘commandment’ an inward aspect of it.
Apocalypse Explained (Tansley) n. 769
- Who keep the commandments of God.- That this signifies with those who live the life of faith, which is charity, is evident from the signification of keeping the commandments of God, as denoting to live according to the commandments of the Word; and as that life is a life of faith, and a life of faith is charity, therefore to keep the commandments of God signifies to live a life of faith, which is charity. A life of faith denotes charity towards the neighbour, because faith means the faith of the Word, thus the faith of truth in the Word and from the Word, while charity signifies the love for good and truth, spiritual, moral, and civil; and as that which a man loves he also wills, and what he wills this he does, therefore to keep the commandments of God signifies to live the life of faith, which is charity.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9304
- ‘To keep you safe on the way’ means His providence and protection from falsities arising from evil. This is clear from the meaning of ‘keeping safe’, when it refers to the Lord, as providence, for providence consists in making provision for something and looking towards it, thus in leading towards good, and in protecting from evil (for the Lord provides what is good but foresees what is evil, 6489, and since He foresees what is evil He also protects a person from it, otherwise he could not be provided with good); and from the meaning of ‘the way’ as truth, dealt with in 627, 2333, 3477, in this instance falsity as well since the words ‘keep safe’ are used.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9072
- ‘And he does not keep it in’ means failure to restrain it. This is clear from the meaning of ‘keeping in’, when it refers to evil belonging to the will that has passed into the light of the understanding, as curbing or restraining. For a person has been given an understanding to enable him to see evil and so restrain it.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9149
- ‘When a man delivers to his companion silver or vessels for safe keeping’ means truths derived from good, and factual knowledge that accords with them, in the memory. This is clear from the meaning of ‘silver’ as truth derived from good, dealt with in 1551, 2954, 5658, 6914, 6917, 7999, 8932; from the meaning of ‘vessels’ as factual knowledge, dealt with in 3068, the reason why accordant factual knowledge is meant being that all spiritual truths are stored within known facts as their vessels, 3079, and all factual knowledge accords with the truths it contains; and from the meaning of ‘for safe keeping’ as for retention in the memory. For in the spiritual sense, in which truths and factual knowledge are the subject, ‘being placed in safe keeping’ means being held in the memory, since this is where they are placed in safe keeping. ‘A man’s delivery of something to his companion for safe keeping’ means storing it in his own memory; for when the sense of the letter speaks of two different persons, as it does here of a man and of a companion, one person is meant in the internal sense. For the two truths – or else truth and the factual knowledge that accords with it – can exist within a person as man and companion.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 7989
- ‘This was the night when Jehovah was keeping watch’ means the Lord’s presence with those governed by truth and good and with those ruled by evil and consequently by utter falsity. This is clear from the meaning of ‘night’ as a state of damnation, dealt with in 7851; and from the meaning of ‘Jehovah’s keeping watch’ as the Lord’s presence and consequent protection.