In modern life, fat is regarded as bad stuff, which will clog our arteries and make us obese. But in the ancient world, where calories were harder to come by and heart disease was not an issue, fat was considered the best of foods, delicious and rich with calories. Fat was also prized for another quality: It was flammable, making it crucial for lamps and cooking fires.<\/p>\n
Those qualities — heat, light and calories — are all reflective of the Lord\u2019s love<\/a>, which is the underlying energy source of reality itself. And according to Swedenborg<\/a>, fat represents the Lord<\/a>\u2019s love in us, and the desire for good<\/a> that springs from that love. This is the highest and most internal of human loves<\/a>, prized as fat was prized.<\/p>\n Some might wonder, then, why the Children of Israel<\/a> were forbidden to eat fat. Swedenborg says this is because their belief<\/a> was an external<\/a> one, grounded in obedience and ritual but lacking in love. Not until people came to more internal<\/a> forms of worship<\/a> would fat be permitted.<\/p>\n Passages from Swedenborg<\/b><\/p>\n Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 5943<\/b><\/p>\n 5943. ‘And you will eat the\u00a0fat\u00a0of the land’ means making the good there their own. This is clear from the meaning of ‘eating’ as being communicated, joined together, and made one’s own, dealt with in 2187, 2343, 3168, 3517 (end), 3832, 4745; and from the meaning of ‘the\u00a0fat\u00a0of the land’ – of Egypt – as the good within the natural. The meaning of ‘fat’ as that which is celestial or good is clear from many places in the Word, not only the\u00a0fat\u00a0found in an animal’s body but also\u00a0fat\u00a0obtained from other sources, such as butter and oil; and other products with any\u00a0fat\u00a0in them – such as milk, honeys, or resins – also mean good in the measure that they have it in them.<\/p>\n [2] ‘Fat’ was representative of celestial good, thus of love received from the Lord, as is clear from the burnt offerings and sacrifices in these all the\u00a0fat\u00a0had to be burned on the altar, thereby providing ‘an odour of rest to Jehovah’; and the children of Israel were forbidden because of this to eat\u00a0fat. From these regulations, as from all the rest, it may be plain to see that the observances established among the Israelites were representative of celestial and spiritual realities and thus held what was holy within them. If this had not been so there would have been no Divine purpose at all behind the requirements to sacrifice all the\u00a0fat\u00a0of an animal, making this ‘an odour of rest to Jehovah’, or behind the Prohibition that forbade the eating of\u00a0fat, and also of blood. It would surely be a stupid way of thinking about the Divine if one were to believe that He could take pleasure in\u00a0fat\u00a0or that Jehovah should make a requirement that did not conceal something deeper. Furthermore a person would be far too earthly – and bodily-minded if he had no interest at all in knowing the real meaning of such requirements; it would be a sign that he had no desire to know anything about the Word and eternal life.<\/p>\n Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 353<\/b><\/p>\n 353. ‘Fat’ means the celestial itself, which also is the Lord’s. The celestial consists in everything that is an aspect of love. Faith too is celestial when it has its origin in love. Charity is the celestial, and all good stemming from charity is celestial. All of these were represented by ‘the\u00a0fat’ in sacrifices, especially by the\u00a0fat\u00a0on the liver or omentum, by the\u00a0fat\u00a0on the kidneys, by the\u00a0fat\u00a0covering the entrails, and by that actually on the entrails. These were consecrated and burnt on the altar, Exod. 29:13, 22; Lev. 3:3, 4, 14; 4:8, 9, 19, 26, 31, 35; 8:16, 25, and were consequently called ‘the bread offered by fire for an odour of rest’ for Jehovah,* Lev. 3:15, 16.<\/p>\n Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6409<\/b><\/p>\n 6409. ‘Fat\u00a0will be his bread’ means the enjoyment that goodness gives. This is clear from the meaning of ‘fat’ as enjoyment, for ‘fatness’ means what is celestial or the good of love, see 353, 5943. But When the word ‘fat’ is used in association with ‘bread’, which means the good of love, ‘fat’ means the enjoyment that goes with that love.<\/p>\n AE 1159<\/b><\/p>\n [4] Since the Jews and Israelites were only in external worship, and not at the same time in internal worship, and not therefore in any good of love, or in any good of charity and faith, they were therefore prohibited from eating\u00a0fat\u00a0and blood, and it was a law that if they ate these, they should be cut off (Levit. iii. 17; vii. 23, 25). But to those who are in internal worship, and thence in external worship – as those will be who shall belong to the Lord’s New Church – it is said, that they shall eat\u00a0fat\u00a0to fulness, and drink blood to drunkenness (ebrietas) (Ezek. xxxix. 19).\u00a0Fatthere signifies all the good of heaven and of the church, and blood all the truth of these. In the opposite sense the\u00a0fat\u00a0ones signify those who loathe good and who utterly despise and reject it (Deut. xxxii. 15; Jer. v. 28; l. 11; Psalm xvii. 10; xx. 4; lxviii. 31; cxix. 70; and elsewhere).<\/p>\n Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 10033<\/b><\/p>\n 10033. Since the present chapter deals with the sacrifice and the burnt offering through which Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the priestly office a little more will be stated regarding the blood and the\u00a0fat. All the blood of a sacrifice or of a burnt offering had to be poured out at the altar and all the\u00a0fat\u00a0had to be burned on the altar, as the statutes and laws in Leviticus relating to burnt offerings and sacrifices make clear. The reason why this was done to the blood and\u00a0fat\u00a0was that the blood meant Divine Truth and the\u00a0fat\u00a0Divine Good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In modern life, fat is regarded as bad stuff, which will clog our arteries and make us obese. But in the ancient world, where calories were harder to come by and heart disease was not an issue, fat was considered the best of foods, delicious and rich with calories. Fat was also prized for another […]<\/p>\n
\n