December
10

The Hand of the Lord is with You

And to Elizabeth was fulfilled the time that she should bring forth; and she gave birth to a son. And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had magnified His mercy with her, and they rejoiced with her. And it came to pass that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the young child, and they called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. And his mother answered and said, Not so, but he shall be called John. And his mother answered and said, Not so, but he shall be called John. And they said to her, There is no one of thy kinsfolk who is called by this name. And they beckoned to his father, what he would have him called. And he asked for a tablet, and wrote, saying, John is his name; and they all marveled. And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were talked of in all the hill-country of Judea. And all who heard put them in their hearts, saying, Who then shall this little child be? And the hand of the Lord was with him. (Luke 1:57-59,66)

The signification of "giving birth," is to acknowledge in faith and act. (Arcana Coelestia 4919)

"To bring forth" signifying to make truths fruitful by doing them, from which comes reformation. (Apocalypse Explained 721.17, See also Arcana Coelestia 3856, 3919,)

"Coming forth from the womb" denotes to be reborn or regenerated (see n. 4904), that is, to be made a church, for whoever is reborn or regenerated is made a church. (Arcana Coelestia 4918)

And a son of eight days. That this signifies any beginning of purification whatever … "the eighth day" signified that this ought to be effected at all times, and thus always, as from a new beginning. (Arcana Coelestia 2044)

If at recurring seasons there is actual repentance, as often, for instance, as a man prepares for the communion of the holy supper, and if he afterward abstains from one or another sin which he then discovers in himself, this is sufficient to initiate him into the actuality [of the repentance], and when he is in that he is on the way to heaven, for he then from being natural begins to be spiritual, and to be born anew from the Lord. (True Christian Religion 530)

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