“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.” - Revelation 22:12
Kempton New Church

December
7

Isaiah 60:6 (continued). “All of them from Sheba shall come; gold and frankincense they shall carry; and they shall bring tidings of the praises of Jehovah.”

For the children from Matthew 2

8. And [Herod] sending them to Bethlehem, he said, Go and search earnestly for the little Child; and when you have found [Him], report to me, that I also may come and worship Him.

9. And when they had heard the king they departed; and lo, the star which they saw in the east went before them, till it came and stood over where the little Child was.

10. And having seen the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.

11. And when they had come into the house, they found the little Child with Mary His mother, and fell [down] and worshipped Him; and when they had opened their treasures, they offered to Him gifts: gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

12. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed into their own country by another way.

Readings from the Heavenly Doctrine

AC 9293:3. By “gold, frankincense, and myrrh” are signified all things of the good of love and of faith in the Lord. By “gold” are meant those of the good of love; by “frankincense” those of the good of faith; and by “myrrh” those of both love and faith in external things.

The reason why the wise men from the East offered these things was that among some in the East there remained from ancient times the knowledge and wisdom of the men of old, which consisted in understanding and seeing heavenly and Divine things in those which are in the world and upon the earth. For it was known to the ancients that all things correspond and are representative, and consequently have a signification. This is also evident from the most ancient books and monuments of the Gentiles. Consequently they knew that gold, frankincense, and myrrh signify the goods which are to be offered to God. They also knew from their prophetic writings, which were of the Ancient Church, that the Lord was to come into the world, and that a star would then appear to them.

De Verbo 7:5. That the science of correspondences remained with many oriental nations until the coming of the Lord, may be evident from the wise men from the East, who came to the Lord when He was born. Therefore a star went before them, and they brought with them gold, frankincense, and myrrh…. “The star” which went before the wise men signified knowledge from heaven, for stars in the Word signify knowledges. “The gold” signified celestial good, “frankincense” spiritual good, and “myrrh” natural good, all worship being from these three.

AC 10296. That the inmost truth, which is signified by “frankincense,” is spiritual good, is because the good with those who are in the Lord’s spiritual kingdom is nothing else than truth. Truth is called good when the man wills and does it from conscience and affection. For with the spiritual all the will has been destroyed, but the understanding is preserved in integrity by the Lord, and in it there is implanted by the Lord a new will by means of regeneration. This will is the conscience with them, which is a conscience of truth. For whatever is implanted in the understanding and proceeds from the understanding is truth, because man’s understanding has been allotted to the reception of the truths of faith, but the will to the reception of the goods of love. From this it is evident that in its essence spiritual good is truth.…

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