MARY VISITS ELIZABETH

MARY VISITS ELIZABETH
LUKE 1:39-56

And Mary arose in those days,
and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;
And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.

And it came to pass, that,
when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary,
the babe leaped in her womb;
and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
And she spake out with a loud voice, and said,
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

And whence is this to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears,
the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

And blessed is she that believed:
for there shall be a performance of those things
which were told her from the Lord.

MARY'S SONG

And Mary said,

My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden:
for, behold, from henceforth
all generations shall call me blessed.
For He that is mighty hath done to me great things;
and holy is His name.

And His mercy is on them that fear Him
from generation to generation.
He hath shewed strength with His arm;
He hath scattered the proud
in the imagination of their hearts.

He hath put down the mighty from their seats,
and exalted them of low degree.
He hath filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He hath sent empty away.

He hath helped His servant Israel,
in remembrance of His mercy;
as He spake to our fathers,
to Abraham, and to His seed for ever.

And Mary abode with her about three months,
and returned to her own house.

THE ANNUNCIATION TO MARY

THE ANNUNCIATION TO MARY
LUKE 1:26-38

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel
was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph,
of the house of David;
and the virgin's name was Mary.

And the angel came in unto her, and said,
Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee:
blessed art thou among women.
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying,
and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

And the angel said unto her,
Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb,
and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name JESUS.

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest:
and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David:
And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of His kingdom there shall be no end.

Then said Mary unto the angel,
How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
And the angel answered and said unto her,
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:
therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of God.

And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth,
she hath also conceived a son in her old age:
and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
For with God nothing shall be impossible.

And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord;
be it unto me according to thy word.
And the angel departed from her.

PREFACE TO LUKE AND THE PROMISE OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

PREFACE TO LUKE
AND THE PROMISE OF JOHN THE BAPTIST
LUKE 1:1-25

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand
to set forth in order a declaration of those things
which are most surely believed among us,
even as they delivered them unto us,
which from the beginning were eyewitnesses,
and ministers of the word;

It seemed good to me also,
having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first,
to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
that thou mightest know the certainty of those things,
wherein thou hast been instructed.

THERE was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea,
a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia:
and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron,
and her name was Elisabeth.
And they were both righteous before God,
walking in all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren,
and they both were now well stricken in years.
And it came to pass,
that while he executed the priest's office
before God in the order of his course,

According to the custom of the priest's office,
his lot was to burn incense
when he went into the temple of the Lord.
And the whole multitude of the people were praying without
at the time of incense.

And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord
standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled,
and fear fell upon him.

But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias:
for thy prayer is heard;
and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son,
and thou shalt call his name John.
And thou shalt have joy and gladness;
and many shall rejoice at his birth.

For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord,
and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink;
and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost,
even from his mother's womb.
And many of the children of Israel
shall he turn to the Lord their God.

And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just;
to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
And Zacharias said unto the angel,
Whereby shall I know this?
for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

And the angel answering said unto him,
I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God;
and am sent to speak unto thee,
and to shew thee these glad tidings.
And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak,
until the day that these things shall be performed,
because thou believest not my words,
which shall be fulfilled in their season.

And the people waited for Zacharias,
and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.
And when he came out, he could not speak unto them:
and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple:
for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.

And it came to pass,
that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished,
he departed to his own house.
And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived,
and hid herself five months, saying,

Thus hath the Lord dealt with me
in the days wherein he looked on me,
to take away my reproach among men.

THE GENEALOGY IN MATTHEW

THE GENEALOGY IN MATTHEW
MATTHEW 1:1-17

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob;
and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
and Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar;
and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;

And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson;
and Naasson begat Salmon; and Salmon begat Booz of Rachab;
and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;

And Jesse begat David the king;
and David the king begat Solomon
of her that had been the wife of Urias;
and Solomon begat Roboam;
and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;

And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram;
and Joram begat Ozias; and Ozias begat Joatham;
and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;

And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon;
and Amon begat Josias;
and Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren,
about the time they were carried away to Babylon:

And after they were brought to Babylon,
Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;
and Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim;
and Eliakim begat Azor;

And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim;
and Achim begat Eliud; and Eliud begat Eleazar;
and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;

And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary,
of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
So all the generations
from Abraham to David are fourteen generations;
and from David until the carrying away into Babylon
are fourteen generations;
and from the carrying away into Babylon
unto Christ are fourteen generations.

AN ORACLE OF BALAAM

AN ORACLE OF BALAAM
NUMBERS 24:15-19

And he took up his parable, and said,
Balaam the son of Beor has said,
and the man whose eyes are open has said:
He has said, which heard the words of God,
and knew the knowledge of the most High,
which saw the vision of the Almighty,
falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:

I shall see him, but not now:
I shall behold him, but not nigh:
there shall come a Star out of Jacob,
and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel,
and shall smite the corners of Moab,
and destroy all the children of Sheth.
And Edom shall be a possession,
Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies;
and Israel shall do valiantly.

Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion,
and shall destroy him that remains of the city.

Arcana Coelestia 3322 [3]
…treats of the coming of the Lord into the world,
whose Human Essence is called a "star out of Jacob,"
and a "scepter out of Israel".

Arcana Coelestia 4240 [2]
Everyone can see that in these passages
"Seir" signifies something of the Lord,
for it is said that Jehovah "arose from Seir," … .
To "arise," and to "go forth out of Seir"
denote that He made even His natural Divine,
in order that from this also there might be light,
that is, intelligence and wisdom;
and that in this way He might become Jehovah,
not only as to His Human Rational,
but also as to His Human Natural;
and therefore it is said, "Jehovah arose from Seir,"
and "Jehovah went forth out of Seir."

THE FIRST PROPHECY OF THE LORD'S COMING

GENESIS 3:14-15

And the LORD God said unto the serpent,
Because thou hast done this,
thou art cursed above all cattle,
and above every beast of the field;
upon thy belly shalt thou go,
and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed;
it shall bruise thy head, 
and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Arcana Coelestia 250
Everyone is aware that this is the first prophecy
of the Lord's advent into the world;
it appears indeed clearly from the words themselves,
and therefore from them and from the prophets
even the Jews knew that a Messiah was to come.
Hitherto however no one has understood
what is specifically meant by the "serpent" the "woman"
the "serpent's seed" the "woman's seed"
the "head of the serpent which was to be trodden upon"
and the "heel which the serpent should bruise."
They must therefore be explained.

By the "serpent" is here meant all evil in general,
and specifically the love of self;
by the "woman" is meant the church;
by the "seed of the serpent" all infidelity;
by the "seed of the woman" faith in the Lord;
by "He" the Lord Himself;
by the "head of the serpent" the dominion of evil in general,
and specifically that of the love of self;
by to "trample upon" depression,
so that it should "go upon the belly and eat dust;"
and by the "heel" the lowest natural (as the corporeal),
which the serpent should "bruise."