When we eat, our bodies break down the food and get from it both energy and materials for building and repairing the body. Swedenborg says the process is much the same on a symbolic level in the Bible. Food represents the desire for good and the insight that comes from that desire for good – […]
Eat
When we eat, our bodies break down the food and get from it both energy and materials for building and repairing the body. Swedenborg says the process is much the same on a symbolic level in the Bible. Food represents the desire for good and the insight that comes from that desire for good – […]
Evening
Since the light and warmth of the sun represent the Lord’s wisdom and love, it makes sense that evening, a time when the light and heat are fading away, represents a state in which a person – or a community of people – is turning away from the Lord, with little desire left to be […]
Enemy
The Lord, according to Swedenborg, is infinite love described and shared with infinite wisdom. The enemy of this love — its opposite — would be evil and hatred, described and shared with all the cunning argument that hatred can muster. An enemy in the Bible, then, is a reference to people who are in the […]
Eve
It is interesting – and often overlooked – that Eve is not named in the Bible until after she and Adam eat of the tree of knowledge and are facing expulsion from the Garden of Eden. It’s common to think of “Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden,” but up until Genesis 3:20 she […]
End of Days
Swedenborg says that that days in the Bible – and other measurements of time – represent spiritual states, or specific phases in our spiritual development. So when it says “the end of days” it means the end of one spiritual state and a time of transition to a new one. This is also stated as “the […]
Earth
Considered as a planet, the Earth basks in the light and heat of the sun, the first and most general recipient of the energy that drives all the life on its surface. But not all parts of the Earth are fertile — there are stony mountains, arid deserts, lakes and seas that are sterile for various […]
Eden, Garden of Eden
According to Swedenborg, “Eden” by itself means love, in most cases the love that comes from the Lord and our love for the Lord, which is the highest human love of all. Of course, “Eden” is closely identified with “garden,” which represents a mind in its most fertile and receptive state, producing expressions of love from […]
East
The East has special significance in the Bible – Eden was described as being to the east, Moses and Aaron’s tribe camped to the east of the Tabernacle and wise men came from the east seeking the baby Messiah, to name a few examples. The reason for this is simple and beautiful: The east is […]
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