Doctrine of Holy Scripture - Swedenborg Foundation

DOCTRINE OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 164death; and as this can then be no longer procured, although theycame with their lamps and the oil they had bought to the doorwhere the wedding was, yet the bridegroom said to them “I knowyou not.” The reason is that after his life in this world a manremains such as he had lived in this world.[3] From all this it is evident that the Lord spoke exclusively bycorrespondences, and this because he spoke from the Divine thatwas in him, and was his. That the “bridegroom” signifies the Lord;the “kingdom of the heavens,” the church; a “wedding,” themarriage of the Lord with the church by means of the good of loveand of faith; “ten,” all; “five,” some; to “sleep,” a natural state; to“buy,” to procure for one’s self; a “door,” entrance into heaven; and“not to know them,” when spoken by the Lord, not to be in hislove, is evident from many passages in the prophetic Word wherethese expressions have a like signification. It is because “virgins”signify those who are of the church that the virgin and daughter ofZion, of Jerusalem, of Judah, and of Israel are so often mentionedin the prophetic Word. And it is because “oil” signifies the good oflove that all the holy things of the Israelitish church were anointedwith oil. It is the same with all the other parables, and with all thewords the Lord spoke, and that were written in the gospels. This iswhy the Lord says thatHis words are spirit and are life (John 6:63).[4] It is the same with all the Lord’s miracles, which were Divinebecause they signified the various states of those with whom thechurch was to be set up anew by the Lord. Thus when the blindreceived sight, it signified that they who had been in ignorance oftruth should receive intelligence; when the deaf received hearing, itsignified that they who had previously heard nothing about theLord and the Word should hearken and obey; when the dead wereraised, it signified that they who otherwise would spiritually perishwould become living; and so on. This is meant by the Lord’s replyto the disciples of John, who sent them to ask whether he was theone that should come: