Generally speaking, those who are at lower levels of an organization serve those at higher levels. Bosses boss and their employees serve; coaches devise strategy and players do what the coach tells them to do; engineers design car parts and workers assemble them according to the engineers’ instructions. Ideally, of course, it’s a two-way street: A good boss knows he is really there to help his employees succeed; a good coach creates strategies based on his players’ strengths. And ultimately the boss and the employees know that they are really working in service of a higher goal, seeking organizational success.
The same, according to Swedenborg, is true in the spiritual sense of the Bible. When one person serves another (or serves a thing), it represents a lower spiritual state, serving a higher state (or a deeper evil, if it is describing people who are enslaved by those who represent evil). This can take many different forms, depending on the circumstances.
In many cases, this creates a connection between “service” and intellectual things. This is because who we are is determined by what we love; our loves are the deepest part of us. What we think, our reasoning and intellect and the things we learn about, come from those loves and serve those loves.
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3409
- ‘And he had many servants’ means truth derived from that good. This is clear from the meaning of ‘servants’ as everything that is beneath, that has been subordinated, and that is obedient, dealt with in 1713, 2541, 3019, 3020 – thus truth since truth originates in good and ministers to good, dealt with extensively already.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3581
- ‘Peoples will serve you’ means truths of the Church; ‘and peoples will bow down to you’ means truths grounded in good. This is clear from the use of ‘serving’ to refer to truths, dealt with in 2567, 3409, and from the meaning of ‘peoples’ as truths, dealt with in 1259, 1260, 2928, 3295. The word ‘peoples’ that occurs first means the truths of the Church, which are called spiritual truths, while the word ‘peoples’ that occurs secondly means truths grounded in good, which are spiritual goods, but in relation to other things are called truths. Goods stemming from charity are truths of this kind. Because there is this difference ‘peoples’ mentioned first is not in Hebrew the same word as ‘peoples’ mentioned second. They express different yet related matters.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3601
- ‘And by your sword you will live, and you will serve your brother’ means that all the time truth was joined to good, that good would to outward appearance occupy the lower position. This is clear from the meaning of ‘sword’ as truth engaged in conflict, dealt with in 2799, and therefore ‘living by the sword’ means the time when truth is joined to good – for conjunction is effected by means of conflicts, that is, temptations, since without them truth is hardly ever so joined; and from the meaning of ‘serving a brother’ as occupying the lower position. But as regards the occupation by good of the lower position being only the appearance, this is clear from what has been stated so many times above; see 3582.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3824
- ‘And said, I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter’ means a diligent effort, to be made during a holy state, to the end that it might be joined to internal truth. This is clear from the meaning of ‘serving’ as a diligent effort; from the meaning of ‘seven’ as that which is holy, dealt with in 395, 433, 716, 881; and from the meaning of ‘years’ as states, dealt with in 487, 488, 493, 893. And as anyone may see, such effort was so that the two might be joined together. From these meanings it is evident that ‘I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter’ means a diligent effort, to be made during a holy state, to the end that it might be joined to internal truth.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3975
- ‘For whom I have served you’ means from His own power. This is clear from the meaning of ‘serving’ as toil and endeavour, dealt with in 3824, 3846. When these terms are used in reference to the Lord, His own power is meant, for it was from His own power that the Lord obtained Divine Goods and Divine Truths for Himself and made His Human Divine, see 1616, 1749, 1755, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2083, 2500, 2523, 2632, 2816, 3382.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 7038
- ‘And let him serve Me’ means being raised into heaven to perform useful services from there. This is clear from the meaning of ‘serving Jehovah (or the Lord)’ as performing useful services; and being raised into heaven, to perform useful services from there is meant by ‘they shall serve Me’ for the following reason: Those who belong to the spiritual Church and have been saved by the Lord’s Coming are the subject, in particular those who were on the lower earth before the Lord’s Coming but were later raised into heaven, 6854, 6914, and therefore came into a state in which they performed useful services. The reason why performing useful services is meant by ‘serving the Lord’ is that true worship consists in the performance of such services, thus in the exercise of charity.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 7120
- ‘Let the service be made heavy on the men’ means that the assault should be enlarged. This is clear from the meaning of ‘being made heavy’ as being enlarged; from the meaning of ‘the service’, when the expression is used by those who molest by means of falsities, as the aim to bring under their control, dealt with in 6666, 6670, 6671, and so assault since it is through assaults that they aim to gain control; and from the meaning of ‘the men’ as those who belong to the spiritual Church.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8873
- ‘You shall not bow down to them, and you shall not serve them’ means that no Divine worship must be offered to them. This is clear from the meaning of ‘bowing down’ as humility, dealt with in 2153, 5682, 6266, 7068; and from the meaning of ‘serving’ as submissiveness, dealt with in 5164. The reason why Divine worship is meant is that humility and submissiveness are the essentials of worship; for without them worship is not worship, only bodily actions which are an imitation of those made by people engaged in true worship. Such actions have no life at all in them. Life from the Lord flows only into a humble and submissive heart, since it is fitted to receive. And it is fitted to receive because when a heart is truly humble no self-love or love of the world stands in the way. The reason why both expressions are used is that ‘bowing down’ means worship springing from the good of love, and ‘serving’ worship springing from the truth of faith.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9093
[2] This division is meant by the Lord’s words in Luke,
No one can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will prefer the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Luke 16:13.
That is, it is not possible to serve the Lord through belief in Him and at the same time serve the world by loving it, thus to acknowledge truth and at the same time to do evil. Anyone who behaves in this way has his mind divided, as a result of which it is destroyed. From all this it is evident why it is that ‘dividing’ means dispersing