1027. And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, signifies consequent falsification of the Word. This is evident from the signification of "blaspheming God," as being to falsify the Word (see above, n. 778, 991); also from the signification of "the plague of the hail," as being falsity in the greatest degree infernal (see just above), from which comes the falsification of the Word.
(Continuation: The Commandments in general)
[2] Something shall now be said about how conjunction is effected by means of the commandments of the Decalogue. Man does not conjoin himself to the Lord, but the Lord alone conjoins man to Himself, and this He does by man's knowing, understanding, willing, and doing these commandments; and when man does them there is conjunction, but if he does not do them he ceases to will them, and when he ceases to will them he ceases also to understand and know them. For what does willing amount to if man when he is able does not do? Is it not a figment of reason? From this it follows that conjunction is effected when a man does the commandments of the Decalogue. [3] But it has been said that man does not conjoin himself to the Lord, but that the Lord alone conjoins man to Himself, and that conjunction is effected by doing; and from this it follows that it is the Lord with man that does these commandments. But anyone can see that a covenant cannot be entered into and conjunction be effected by it unless there is some reciprocal on man's part, not only that he may consent but also that he may receive. To this end the Lord has imparted to man a freedom to will and act as if of himself, and such a freedom that man does not know otherwise, when he is thinking truth and doing good, than that the freedom is in himself and thus from himself. This reciprocal is on man's part in order that conjunction may be effected. But as this freedom is from the Lord, and continually from Him, man must by all means acknowledge that to think and understand truth and to will and do good are not from himself, but are from the Lord, according to what has been said on this subject above (n. 946, 971, 973). [4] Consequently when man through the last six commandments conjoins himself to the Lord as if of himself, the Lord then conjoins Himself to man through the first three commandments, which are that man must acknowledge God, must believe in the Lord, and must keep His name holy. This man does not believe, however much he may think that he does, unless the evils forbidden in the other table, that is, in the last six commandments, he abstains from as sins. These are the things pertaining to the covenant on the part of the Lord and on the part of man, through which there is reciprocal conjunction, which is that man may be in the Lord and the Lord in man (John 14:20).
This page is part of 
© 2000-2001 The Academy of the New Church