Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 7909

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7909. 'You shall eat nothing made with yeast' means being fully on their guard against making falsity their own. This is clear from the meaning of 'anything made with yeast' as falsity, dealt with above in 7906; and from the meaning of 'eating' as making one's own, also dealt with above, in 7907. The prohibition stated so frequently that what is made with yeast must not be eaten, as in verses 15,17-19, implies being fully on guard against falsity. The reason a person should be fully on his guard against falsity is in order that he may be governed by good. Falsity does not agree with good but destroys it, for falsity is wedded to evil, and truth is wedded to good. If falsity is made one's own, that is, if one firmly believes it, no reception of the good of innocence takes place, consequently no deliverance from damnation. It is one thing to make falsity one's own, another only to take hold of it. If governed by good, those who take hold of falsity cast it away when the truth appears to them. But those who make falsity their own hang on to it and stand opposed to the truth when it appears. This then is the reason for the prohibition stated so frequently that what is made with yeast must not be eaten.


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