{"id":12923,"date":"2018-05-01T15:09:37","date_gmt":"2018-05-01T19:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordstudy.newchurch.org\/?page_id=12923"},"modified":"2018-05-01T15:09:37","modified_gmt":"2018-05-01T19:09:37","slug":"ruler-governor","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/societies.newchurch.org\/wordstudy\/bible-keywords\/ruler-governor\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruler, Governor"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to Swedenborg<\/a>, \u201crulers\u201d or \u201cgovernors\u201d in the Bible<\/a> represent the most basic, most essential true ideas<\/a> that guide us in life, ideas that spring directly from the Lord<\/a>\u2019s desire for good<\/a>. These ideas \u2013 such as the 10 Commandments or the Two Great Commandments \u2013 are broken down into more detailed and specific ideas<\/a> regarding various aspects of life, just as rulers have officers handling specific questions and disputes. But they themselves are whole, springing directly from the underlying desire for good.<\/p>\n

This makes sense if we think about the nature of rules.<\/p>\n

If we were all perfectly good<\/a> people, filled with love<\/a> toward each other<\/a> and love for the Lord, there would be little need for rules or government. We would automatically do the right things from love, and everything would be peaceful, harmonious and efficient. But we\u2019re not all perfectly good people (in fact, none of us are); our desires are mixed at best, and removing all rules from society would result in a chaos of competing self-interests.<\/p>\n

In a sense, then, rules force us<\/a>\u00a0to behave in good, loving ways whether we want to or not. They exist so society can be to some degree good and loving despite the mixed motives of its members. To put this in terms Swwdwnborg uses, rules are actually truths \u2013 concepts that tell us how to be good, and which we can use to compel ourselves to be good.<\/p>\n

And how are rules structured? In most cases, groups will first establish their basic principles in the form of constitutions, by-laws or mission statements. These are fairly general, and spring directly from the good that the group is trying to do; the guiding questions are \u201cwhat are we trying to accomplish, and what kind of organization do we need to accomplish it?\u201d Once those principles are in place, they in turn give rise to a myriad of more detailed rules and sub-rules and sub-sub-rules dealing with specific questions, all of which hark back to the original principles for their authority.<\/p>\n

The spiritual<\/a> rules we have from the Lord are similar. We have basic statements of principle \u2013 like the Commandments mentioned above — which spring directly from the good life the Lord envisions for us. From them come many other detailed sub-truths and sub-sub-truths and sub-sub-sub truths which help us deal with specifics. But they all spring from those basic ruling principles, which in turn spring from the Lord’s love<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

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

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8712<\/b><\/p>\n

8712. ‘And you are to appoint them\u00a0rulers\u00a0of thousands’ means first and foremost truths in the first degree below truth coming directly from God. This is clear from the meaning of ‘rulers’ as first and foremost truths, dealt with in 1482, 2089, 5044,* at this point truths springing from good since those\u00a0rulers\u00a0were to serve under Moses, who represents God’s truth going forth from Divine Good, that is, from the Lord; and from the meaning of ‘thousands’ as those in the first degree. For ‘a thousand’ means many people or, in the abstract sense, many things; it also means where there are many things, or those who govern many and are consequently in a higher-ranking degree than those who govern few. Here therefore those in the first degree are meant, for those in a lower degree were\u00a0rulersof hundreds, fifties, and tens. The fact that ‘a thousand’ in the internal sense is not a thousand but many things, see 2575.<\/p>\n

Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 18<\/b><\/p>\n

18. And the\u00a0ruler\u00a0of the kings of the earth. This symbolically means, from whom originates all truth from good in the church.
\nThis follows from the preceding, because “a faithful witness” symbolizes the Lord in respect to Divine truth, and “the firstborn” the Lord in respect to Divine good. Thus “the\u00a0ruler\u00a0of the kings of the earth” means, symbolically, that from Him originates all truth from good in the church. This is symbolically meant by “the\u00a0ruler\u00a0of the kings of the earth” because in the spiritual sense of the Word, kings mean people who possess truths from good, and abstractly, truths from good themselves, and the earth means the church.<\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 5044<\/b><\/p>\n

5044. ‘And the\u00a0governor\u00a0of the prison-house gave’ means the truth governing in a state of temptations. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the\u00a0governor\u00a0(or the prince)’ as the primary and so governing truth, dealt with below; and from the meaning of ‘the prison-house’ as the laying waste of falsity, and therefore temptation, dealt with above in 5038, 5039, 5043.<\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9222<\/b><\/p>\n

9222. ‘And you shall not curse a\u00a0governor\u00a0of your people’ means that teachings presenting the truth are not to be, either – not to be blasphemed. This is clear from the meaning of ‘agovernor\u00a0(or prince)’ as the Church’s primary truths, dealt with in 5044; from the meaning of ‘people’ as those governed by truths taught by doctrine, dealt with in 1259, 1260, 2928, 3295, 3581, 7207; and from the meaning of ‘cursing’ as blaspheming. What connection these prohibitions have with each other is evident from the internal sense; for ‘not reviling God’ means not blaspheming God’s truth, and ‘not cursing a\u00a0governor’ means not blaspheming teachings that present the truth, God’s truth being the Word, and the Church’s teachings being truth drawn from the Word.<\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 5290<\/b><\/p>\n

5290. ‘And let him place\u00a0governors\u00a0in charge over the land’ means the ordering of general wholes within the natural. This is clear from the meaning of ‘placing in charge’ as setting in order; from the meaning of ‘governors’ as general wholes, dealt with below; and from the meaning of ‘the land’ – in this case the land of Egypt – as the natural mind, as just above in 5288. The reason ‘governors’ means general wholes is that particular aspects are contained within and subordinated to those wholes, see 917, 4269, 4325 (end), 4329, 4345, 4383, 5208, whereas ‘princes’ means things that come first and foremost, 1482, 2089, 5044.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to Swedenborg, \u201crulers\u201d or \u201cgovernors\u201d in the Bible represent the most basic, most essential true ideas that guide us in life, ideas that spring directly from the Lord\u2019s desire for good. These ideas \u2013 such as the 10 Commandments or the Two Great Commandments \u2013 are broken down into more detailed and specific ideas […]<\/p>\n

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