Apocalypse Explained, volume 1 - Swedenborg Foundation

APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 240In Isaiah:Thus saith Jehovah thy creator, O Jacob, and thy former, O Israel,Fear not; for I have redeemed thee, and have called thee by name; thouart mine (Isa. 43:1).That thou mayest know that I am Jehovah, who had called thee bythy name. For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel my chosen, I havecalled thee by thy name, when thou didst not know me (Isa. 45:3–4).“I have called thee by thy name” means that he knew the quality ofthe state of the church; for “Jacob” and “Israel” are the church,“Jacob” the external church, and “Israel” the internal.[3] In the same:Israel, if thou hadst hearkened to my commandments, his nameshould not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me (Isa.48:18–19).“The name being cut off and destroyed from before Jehovah”denotes the quality of the state by which conjunction is effected,which state is the spiritual state of him who is of the churchsignified by “Israel.” Again in the same prophet:Jehovah hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of mymother doth he make mention of my name (Isa. 49:1).here “making mention of the name” is knowing the quality. In thesame:For Zion’s sake I will not be still, and for Jerusalem’s sake I willnot be quiet. And the nations shall see thy righteousness, and all kingsthy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth ofJehovah shall utter (Isa. 62:1, 2).He shall call his servants by another name (Isa. 65:15).“To call by a new name,” and “by another name,” is to bestowanother state of life, namely, a state of spiritual life. In Ezekiel: