{"id":11208,"date":"2016-04-15T23:24:43","date_gmt":"2016-04-16T03:24:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordstudy.newchurch.org\/?page_id=11208"},"modified":"2016-04-15T23:24:43","modified_gmt":"2016-04-16T03:24:43","slug":"east","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/societies.newchurch.org\/wordstudy\/bible-keywords\/east\/","title":{"rendered":"East"},"content":{"rendered":"

The East has special significance in the Bible<\/a> \u2013 Eden was described as being to the east, Moses and Aaron\u2019s 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 where the sun rises, and the sun is the natural<\/a> expression of the Lord<\/a> himself, so the east represents the Lord, in all the warmth of his love<\/a> and light of his wisdom<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In fact, Swedenborg<\/a> says the Lord\u2019s presence in the east is so powerful that in heaven<\/a> \u2013 where space is a more relative thing that it is in the natural<\/a> world \u2013 angels<\/a> are always facing east, no matter how they might turn themselves. This is because their ruling loves<\/a> come from the Lord, and flow into them constantly. That might sound somewhat strange to our narrow minds, suffused as they are in time and space, but it\u2019s also rather beautiful if you can somewhat grasp it.<\/p>\n

In other references, \u201ceast\u201d can also represent attributes that flow from the Lord\u2019s love \u2013 especially the caring <\/a>love we can have toward each other<\/a>. And in some cases \u2013 especially in descriptions of an \u201ceast wind\u201d \u2013 it can depict the battered, bereft state of those who turn away from the Lord, away from the sun, and dwell in cold<\/a> and dimness<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Passages from Swedenborg<\/b><\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 101<\/b><\/p>\n

101. The Lord is ‘the\u00a0east’. This too is clear from several places in the Word, as in Ezekiel,<\/p>\n

He brought me to the gate, to the gate facing the way of the\u00a0east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the\u00a0east, and His voice was like the voice of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory. Ezek. 43:1, 2, 4.<\/p>\n

The Lord’s being ‘the\u00a0east’ was the reason for the sacred practice in the Jewish representative Church, before the Temple was built, of facing eastwards when praying.<\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1451<\/b><\/p>\n

1451. ‘Being removed to the mountain on the\u00a0east\u00a0of Bethel means an advance made in the celestial things of love. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘a mountain’ as that which is celestial, as shown in 795, 796; from the meaning of ‘the\u00a0east’ as Jehovah Himself as regards love, who is the\u00a0east\u00a0itself, as has also been shown in 101 and elsewhere; and also from the meaning of ‘Bethel’ as knowledge of celestial things. Celestial things are implanted both independently of cognitions and together with cognitions. The implantation independently of cognitions occurs during infancy to childhood, as stated just above, whereas the implantation of them together with cognitions occurs after that, from childhood into adult life. And since the Lord was to advance into cognitions of celestial things, which are meant by ‘Bethel’, it is said here that ‘he removed from there to the mountain on the\u00a0east\u00a0of Bethel’.<\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3249<\/b><\/p>\n

3249. ‘Eastwards to the land of the\u00a0east’ means towards the good of faith. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the\u00a0east’ and ‘the land of the\u00a0east’, to be dealt with below. The good of faith which is meant by ‘the land of the\u00a0east’ is nothing else but that which in the Word is called charity towards the neighbour. And charity towards the neighbour is nothing else than a life according to the Lord’s commandments. This is what ‘the land of the\u00a0east’ means, see 1250. Those therefore who possessed cognitions regarding the good of faith were called ‘the sons of the\u00a0east’. The land of the sons of the\u00a0eastwas Aram or Syria – Aram or Syria meaning cognitions of good, see 1232, 1234, and Aram Naharaim or Syria of the [Two] Rivers cognitions of truth, 3051. And because the Syrians, or ‘the sons of theeast’ means those who possessed cognitions of good and truth, they above all others were referred to as wise, as in 1 Kings where Solomon is referred to,<\/p>\n

The wisdom of Solomon surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the\u00a0east. 1 Kings 4:30.<\/p>\n

And in Matthew, in reference to those who came to Jesus at His birth,<\/p>\n

Wise men from the\u00a0east\u00a0came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the\u00a0east\u00a0and have come to worship Him. Matt. 2:1, 2.<\/p>\n

[2] Indeed in Syria there existed the final remnants of the Ancient Church, which is why cognitions of good and truth still remained there, as also becomes clear from Balaam who not only worshipped Jehovah but also prophesied concerning the Lord and called Him,<\/p>\n

A star out of Jacob and a sceptre out of Israel. Num. 24:17.<\/p>\n

The fact that he belonged to the sons of the\u00a0east\u00a0in Syria is self-evident, for he says of himself when delivering his discourse,<\/p>\n

From Syria Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the\u00a0east. Num. 23:7.<\/p>\n

The fact that Aram or Syria was where the sons of the\u00a0east\u00a0lived is made additionally clear from the consideration that when Jacob went to Syria he is said to have gone to the land of the sons of the\u00a0east, Gen. 29:1.<\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1250<\/b><\/p>\n

1250. That ‘the mountain of the\u00a0east’ means charity, indeed charity from the Lord, is clear from the meaning of ‘a mountain’ in the Word as love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, as shown already in 795. And that ‘the\u00a0east’ means the Lord, and consequently the celestial things of love and charity, see again what has appeared already in 101, and also in the following places: In Ezekiel,<\/p>\n

The cherubs lifted up their wings. The glory of Jehovah went up from over the midst of the city and stood upon the mountain, which is on the\u00a0east\u00a0of the city. Ezek. 11:22, 23.<\/p>\n

Here ‘the mountain which is on the\u00a0east’ means nothing other than the celestial manifestation of the love and the charity that is the Lord’s, for it is said that ‘the glory of Jehovah stood there’. In the same prophet,<\/p>\n

He brought me to the gate, to the gate facing the way of the\u00a0east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the\u00a0east. Ezek. 43:1, 2.<\/p>\n

Here ‘the\u00a0east’ has a similar meaning.<\/p>\n

Divine Love and Wisdom (Dole) n. 122<\/b><\/p>\n

122. Since the\u00a0east\u00a0is the basis on which all the regions in the spiritual world are laid out, and since theeast\u00a0in the highest sense means the Lord and divine love, we can see that the Lord and love for him is the source of everything. We can also see that to the extent that people do not share in that love, they are far from him and live either in the west or in the south or in the north, with the distance depending on their openness to love.<\/p>\n

Heaven and Hell (Dole) n. 143<\/b><\/p>\n

143. But that\u00a0east\u00a0is always in front of angels no matter which way they turn their faces and bodies-this is even harder to understand in our world, since for us, the direction that is in front of us depends on which way we are facing; so this too needs to be explained.
\nAngels turn and direct their faces and bodies in any direction just as we do, but still, the\u00a0east\u00a0is always before their eyes. The way angels turn is not the way we turn, since it comes from a different origin. The two modes of turning look the same, but they are not. The origin [for angels] is a ruling love. It is the basis of all delimitation for angels and spirits; for, as noted just above, their deeper levels are actually turned toward their common center. So in heaven they are turned toward the Lord as the sun; and since love is constantly in front of their deeper levels, and their faces are manifestations of these levels (being their outward form), the love that is predominant is always in front of their faces. In heaven, then, this is the Lord as the sun, since he is the source of all their love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The East has special significance in the Bible \u2013 Eden was described as being to the east, Moses and Aaron\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n

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