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Ezekiel 37:1-14 : The Dry Bones Revived

Lernen

1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.

4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.

5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,

14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

Kommentar

 

Unproductive Doctrine

Durch Rev. Edward Craig Mitchell

In its degenerate condition, the church among men on earth is dead, in evils, falsities, and sins, because it is no longer receptive of life from the Lord. But the Lord, in His merciful love, provides a new church, in which there is life, because men are instructed in spiritual truths, and are thus enabled to re-open their minds, and to receive spiritual life from the Lord.

THE LITERAL MEANING.

The text has long been supposed to refer to a general resurrection, at some distant time, when men should awake from death, and re-enter their old physical bodies. But the text carries its own evidence that it does not refer to any such physical resurrection, but that it is a prophetic vision, intended, literally, to encourage the Jews in their existing condition of distress, on earth.

Ezekiel, the prophet, was among the captive Jews, exiles in a foreign land, whose hopes of returning to their former home were fast dying out. And the text expressly declares that the Lord would cause them to return to their own land. Held in bondage, and their dead buried in a foreign land, they despaired of reaching their old home in Judea. And they were thinking of themselves, in this world, and not of any general resurrection at some future time. In fact, many of them, with the Sadducees, did not believe in any life after physical death. And none of them had any conception of a distinctively spiritual life, or of a spiritual world, apart from the life of the natural world. And even those of them who believed in a resurrection expected to return to life in the natural world.

THE RESURRECTION.

And, in the second place, no such general physical resurrection, or return to the material body, ever took place, or ever will occur. The physical body is formed of the material substances of the physical world; and it is adapted to use on the physical plane of life. And it cannot enter into any other world. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God," i.e., the spiritual kingdom. The death of the physical body is the end of the man's physical existence. And the material body then decays, and loses its organized form and identity.

The resurrection is not the rising of the dead body, but the rising of the living man, the spirit, from the dead body, and into the more advanced life of the spiritual world. The resurrection-body is not the old dead body revived, but it is the spiritual body, the body of the spirit of man, an inward body, in which the man was born, and which existed within his material body, while he lived on earth. But natural death takes away the outward and physical body, and allows the man to live in his inward and spiritual body, which is formed of spiritual substance, and adapted to his life and uses in the spiritual world.

But natural-minded men, who do not think spiritually, but only in the light of their natural senses, insist upon interpreting everything according to natural appearances, and from a natural-minded standpoint. And yet, even those who believe in a physical resurrection, often have a general understanding that our text refers, also, to the inward and mental resurrection from the spiritual death of evil and sin, to the new life of regeneration and righteousness.

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING.

But, in its spiritual meaning, our text illustrates the subject of regeneration. Natural death is the rejection of the lower nature of man, the external part, including the impurities of the body. And, in the resurrection of regeneration, there is a death and rejection of the impure and lower things of the natural mind.

THE VALLEY.

The prophet was given a vision of a valley full of dry bones. The earth, in its form, and in its conditions, is a symbol of the mind of man. On the earth's surface, mountains are the high places, representing the higher states of mind, higher levels of affection and of thought; while valleys are the low places, representing the lower states of mind, lower levels of mental life. Comparatively, the natural mind is like a low place, a valley, and the spiritual mind is elevated, as a mountain. Human life begins on its lowest level, its valley; and it needs to be opened upward and inward, into the higher things of more advanced manhood.

In the mental valley, our natural thought sees things as they appear before the natural senses; but, on the higher levels, things are seen as they are, in the light of spiritual truth. And so, in the progress of regeneration, our Lord is constantly calling to us, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of the God of Jacob. And He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For the law shall go forth from Zion, and the Word of Jehovah from Jerusalem" (Micah 4:2).

It requires constant and considerable work to climb from the valley up to the mountain-top. And the steady climbing represents the constant effort of the regenerating man to reach higher mental levels, And this climbing is done by rejecting, and leaving behind us the lower ways of the senses, and adopting a clean and orderly life, in feeling, thought, and action. "Who shall ascend into the mountain of Jehovah ? Or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart" (Psalm 24:3-4).

BONES.

In the physical body, the bones have the least life, as compared with the other parts, especially the vital organs, the heart, the brain, the lungs, etc. And so the bones represent those things in the mind which are least receptive of life, and furthest removed from the centers of life. The bones represent the external natural mind, as compared with the internal and spiritual mind. In a particular sense, the life of the intellect, as compared with the life of the will, is like the bones, necessary and useful, but not full of life, until made alive by the inflowing loves of the will, which act upon, and within, the intellect, to use it for the work and purposes of the heart.

A bone cannot do anything, in the way of action, but it is acted upon by the muscles and nerves. And yet the bony framework affords a means by which the muscles can do their work. So our intellectual life, of itself, is cold and dead, until it is warmed by our heart's love, and put to work for our heart.

At first, we hold the truths of the church intellectually, as doctrines, which may be put to use, when our heart feels the need of them, in our practical life. But, before they are put to use, the life in them, as our mind holds them, is such life as is in the bones, very remote from the centers of life. But, as our heart puts these doctrines to use, in learning how to love goodness and truth, and to practice them in our conduct, then representatively, these bones begin to live; they begin to be clothed with flesh and nerves, and covered with skin, and thus built into a complete mental body, ready for the uses of life. The building up of the body, on its bony framework, represents the building up of the mind, in the process of regeneration, beginning with the knowledge of doctrine, and gradually covering that mental framework with the living things which make up a full man.

DRY BONES.

In the prophet's vision, the bones were seen to be very dry, i.e., very dead, very far removed from life. And so, in the unregenerate mind, even the mere knowledge of truth is very dead, because it is not intimately connected with any living principle.

In the vision, the bones were separated, and scattered about, and not even associated as a skeleton; representing the condition in the unregenerate mind, in which truths are not associated and arranged as a complete system, but are merely detached and separate notions, not brought into actual use. And, in this case, the question properly arises, "Can these bones live?" Can there be any genuine spiritual life brought into these detached notions, lying dead in the natural memory? Can there be any spiritual life in the mere knowledge of doctrines, scattered about in the memory, but not brought into use in the hearts life?

We have seen young men and women who were brought up in the Sunday Schools, and instructed in the doctrines of their churches, and in the words of the Scriptures; and we have seen these young persons bury their knowledge in the dust of sensuous life, or scatter it, like dead bones, in the valley of a low and selfish life, without any spiritual thought or noble aspiration. "Can these bones live?" No, not in their present condition.

LIVING.

But our Lord, who is life, itself, can fill them with life, if they will turn to Him, seeking life. And the way in which the Lord gives life to the bones of dead doctrine, is represented in our text. He builds them up into a full body. The application is both general and individual. At the end of every general church, or dispensation, men sink into very external conditions of mind; and even their knowledge of truth lies in scattered and dead pieces. But the Lord then establishes a new church, a different condition of the church, with such persons as can be induced to be regenerated. The Divine Truth is brought to such persons, in a different form, so that it will reach their minds, and arouse their attention. And then the old knowledges of doctrine will serve, like bones, for a framework, on which the Lord can build up the full man, with spiritual flesh and nerves; and to whom He can give spiritual life.

The prophet, prophesying to the dead bones, represents the Word of the Lord, coming to the dead mind, i.e., the unregenerate mind, with new light and life. The Lord causes breath to enter into our dead minds, when He gives us a consciousness of the spiritual quality of regenerate life, in which we can spiritually breathe the atmosphere of Divine Truth.

In the Hebrew, the words for wind, breath, and spirit are all derived from the same root-word. Breathing is a sign of life. When a man dies, we say that he expires, or breathes. out. And thus, the coming of the breath represents the coming of spiritual life into the dead mind.

Sinews (or nerves) are then given to the skeleton; for the same Hebrew word (gid) covers both sinews and nerves. The nervous system is the means of extending the brain throughout the whole body, representing the means by which the truth is carried throughout the whole mind, from the interiors of the spiritual mind, through all degrees, and to the outward natural mind. In the natural body, when there is no nerve-force, there is paralysis and deadness. And so, in the mind, the living force of living truth must circulate through all parts, or they cannot have spiritual life.

THE FLESH, ETC.

And the flesh is given. The flesh here represents the good, which comes into the will, or heart. Thus, while the nerves represent the intellectual part, the flesh represents the affectional part of the mind. And these two are necessary to any spiritual life. Putting flesh upon the bones thus represents rebuilding the spiritually dead man, by revivifying his heart, so that it may receive the regenerate life.

This is the meaning of the bread used in the holy supper, which there represents the flesh of the Lord, which means the Divine Goodness, which is the Divine Love, adapted to our reception.

When the nerves and flesh are provided for the body, it still needs to be covered by the skin, which has very important uses, in protecting all the body. The skin is exceedingly sensitive to all kinds of impressions, of heat or of cold, of danger or of delight; while, at the same time, it acts as a cleanser of the body, in carrying away the accumulating impurities.

The skin, as the external covering of the whole body, represents the outward life of conduct, the practical doings of our daily life, in which all our inward principles are carried into action; and by means of which all our mental impurities may be recognized, and rendered harmless, by being cast out, and not allowed to become a part of our actual conduct. And, as the healthy skin completes the usefulness and the symmetry of the body, so a good and useful practical life completes the manhood, whose interior life is in a good heart and a clear understanding.

And, as the skin needs constant care and cleansing, in order to protect the whole body from disease, so the cleanliness and health of our outward life are absolutely necessary in order to protect our spiritual life.

And our text declares that the resuscitated men shall know the Lord, when they are revived; representing that the man who is spiritually made alive by the Lord, then first truly knows the Lord.

THE RESTORATION.

The text describes the bringing together of the different parts of the body. "There was a noise" and "a shaking." The noise is the mental sound of the disturbance of the old conditions of the mind, and the clashing of the old dead states against the influence of the new life now beginning to operate. The shaking, or trembling, is the agitation of the mind, when made to loosen its hold upon old things, and to receive the new life.

"And the bones came together, bone to his bones" i.e., the scattered ideas of doctrine, which were lying in the memory, without cohesion or system, began to come together, into a general system of truth, covering all parts of the mind and life, and applicable to all our action. The mind perceived that all things are related and associated. This was a necessary preliminary condition, before the nerves and flesh could be added to the skeleton; i.e., before spiritual wisdom and love could be given.

And yet, there was no breath in the body, until the Lord gave it; i.e., even with good and true principles, we have no spiritual life in these things, until we recognize that they are from our Lord, and that they are the Lord's presence in us; and that they are not inherent in ourselves, nor procured by any power of our own.

THE FOUR WINDS.

The breath, or spirit, was called to "come from the four winds," to give life to the dead bones. The four winds, literally, are winds from the four points of the compass, North, South, East, and West. But, spiritually, they represent the four general states of human life, the natural understanding and the natural will, and the spiritual understanding and the spiritual will. These different phases of life are the aspects of life from four different mental standpoints, differing in quality and in degree. And, to meet the wants of men on these four different standpoints, or mental conditions, there are four different gospels in the New Testament, each peculiarly adapted to men in one of the four mental conditions. A similar idea is conveyed by the fact that the holy city, the New Jerusalem, is to be built square; i.e., with four sides.

That the breath, or spirit, is to come from the four winds, means that it is to come from all the quarters of the spiritual world, from external truth and from external good, and from internal truth and from internal good; to bring spiritual life in all its aspects, to reach and supply all forms of mind; i.e., to bring all the good and true principles of heaven, for the use of the church.

And when they received life, the bodies "stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army;" i.e., the regenerate mind begins at once to stand upon its new principles, in practical life: and, doing so, it finds such principles applicable to all the multitude of human actions. And then the regenerated mind is seen to be "the whole house of Israel," a spiritual church, looking to the Lord. Thus our Lord restores Israel to his own land, spiritually, by restoring men to a regenerate state.

APPLICATION.

Set before you a human skeleton of dry bones. And set beside it a living human body, in full health and vigorous operation. And then consider the great contrast between the two objects. And recognize the fact that there is as great a parallel contrast between yourself if unregenerate, or regenerate; if, spiritually, a mere skeleton of a man, or a full and living man, in vigorous spiritual health, and in loving, intelligent, and orderly activity. And then we shall understand what the Lord means, when He says to us, individually, "He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25). For He will open the old graves of our dead hearts, and raise our souls into spiritual life. And, in this, our Lord will fulfil, spiritually, the promise of our text, "O My people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel."

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Apocalypse Explained #183

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183. These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God. That this signifies the Lord from whom come all the truths of heaven and of the church is evident from the fact that it is the Son of man who says these things, and also those which are addressed to the angels of the other churches; and the Son of man is the Lord as to the Divine Human (as may be seen above, n. 63, 151). By the seven spirits of God are meant all the truths of heaven and of the church, because the Spirit of God in the Word signifies the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord. In many passages in the Word mention is made of spirit, and this, when said of man, signifies Divine truth received in his life, thus his spiritual life; but when said of the Lord it signifies the Divine which proceeds from Him, which in general terms is called Divine truth. But because few at this day know what is meant by spirit in the Word, I desire first to show from quotations, that spirit, when said of man, signifies Divine truth received in the life, thus his spiritual life. Now as these two things, the good of love and the truth of faith, constitute the spiritual life of man, therefore, in several passages in the Word, mention is made of heart and spirit, and also of heart and soul; by heart is signified the good of love, and by spirit the truth of faith; the latter is also signified by soul, for by this term in the Word is meant man's spirit.

That by spirit, when said of man, is signified truth received in the life, is evident from the following passages.

[2] In Ezekiel:

"Make you a new heart and a new spirit; why will ye die, O house of Israel?" (18:31).

In the same:

"A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I give in the midst of you" (36:26).

In David:

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a firm spirit within me. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart God does not despise" (Psalms 51:10, 17).

In these passages heart signifies the good of love, and spirit the truth of faith, from which man has spiritual life; for there are two things that constitute man's life, good and truth; these two when united in man constitute his spiritual life.

[3] Because heart signifies good, and spirit truth, when both are received in the life, therefore heart, in the opposite sense, signifies evil, and spirit falsity; for most expressions in the Word have also an opposite sense. Heart and spirit are used in this sense in the following passages in David:

"A generation that sets not their heart aright, and whose spirit is not steadfast with God" (Psalms 78:8).

In Ezekiel:

"Every heart shall melt, and every spirit shall faint" (21:7).

In Moses:

"Jehovah hath made heavy the spirit of the king of Heshbon, and hath hardened his heart" (Deuteronomy 2:30).

In Isaiah:

"Conceive chaff, bring forth stubble; fire shall devour your spirit" (33:11).

In Ezekiel:

"Woe unto the foolish prophets, who go away after their own spirit" (13:3).

In the same:

"That which ascendeth upon your spirit shall never come to pass" (20:32).

[4] From these considerations it is evident, that the whole of man's life is meant by heart and spirit; and because his whole life has reference to these two, namely, to good and truth, and, in the spiritual sense, to love and faith, therefore, by heart and spirit those two lives are meant. This is also why heart and spirit signify man's will and understanding, because these two faculties constitute his life; for a man has no life but in those faculties; the reason is, that the will is the receptacle of good and its love, or of evil and its love, and the understanding is the receptacle of truth and its faith, or of falsity and its faith, and, as has been said, all things in man have reference to good and truth or to evil and falsity, and, in the spiritual sense, to love and faith (see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 28-35). The reason why by spirit, when said of man, is signified truth or falsity, and hence his life from the one or the other is, that by spirit is properly meant the spirit which is in man, and which thinks, and this it does either from truths or from falsities. But, as said above, the two things that constitute man's life are understanding and will. The life of the understanding is to think from either truths or falsities, and the life of the will is to affect, or inflame with love, those things which the understanding thinks. These two lives of a man's spirit correspond to the two lives of his body, which are the life of the respiration of the lungs and the life of the pulse of the heart; man's spirit is united to the body by this correspondence (as may be seen above, n. 167, and in the work, Heaven and Hell 446, 447).

[5] Because of this correspondence, the spirit is so named from a term which, in the original, and in several other languages, signifies wind; therefore to expire is frequently expressed in the Word by giving up the spirit. Thus in David:

"I have taken away their spirit, he has expired" (Psalms 104:29).

In Ezekiel:

The Lord Jehovih said to the dry bones, "Behold, I bring spirit into you, that ye may live: and the Lord Jehovih said, Come from the four winds, O spirit, and breathe into these slain; and the spirit came into them, and they lived again" (37:5, 9, 10).

In the Apocalypse:

"The two witnesses were slain by the beast that came up out of the abyss, but after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet" (11:7, 11).

In Luke:

Jesus, taking the hand of the dead maid, "cried, saying, Maid, arise; and her spirit came again, and she arose straightway" (8:54, 55).

[6] When these passages are understood it will be evident what is signified by spirit when said of man, in numerous places in the Word, from which the following only shall be adduced; as in John:

"Except anyone be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the spirit" (3:5, 8).

In the same:

The Lord breathed on the disciples, and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit" (20:21, 22).

In the Book of Genesis:

"Jehovah breathed into man's nostrils the breath of lives" (2:7);

besides other places.

[7] That spirit, in the spiritual sense, signifies truth, and man's life thence derived, which is intelligence, is quite clear from the following passages. In John:

"The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth" (4:23).

In Daniel:

"In him was an excellent spirit of knowledge and understanding. I have heard concerning thee that the spirit of God is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in thee" (5:12, 14).

In Moses:

"Thou shalt speak unto all the wise in heart, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom" (Exodus 28:3).

In Luke:

John "grew, and waxed strong in spirit" (1:80).

And concerning the Lord,

Jesus "the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was filled with wisdom" (2:40).

[8] When it is known what is signified by the term spirit when used in reference to man, its meaning may be known when said of Jehovah, or the Lord, to whom are attributed all the things which a man has, face, eyes, ears, arms, hands, as also heart and soul, thus also spirit, which in the Word is called the spirit of God, the spirit of Jehovah, the spirit of His nostrils, the spirit of His mouth, the spirit of truth, the spirit of holiness, and the Holy Spirit, by which is meant Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, as is evident from many passages in the Word.

The reason why Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is the spirit of God is, that all the life which men possess is therefrom, as also the heavenly life of those who receive that Divine truth in faith and life. That this is the spirit of God, the Lord himself teaches in John:

"The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (6:63).

In Isaiah:

"There shall go forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse: the spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might" (11:1, 2).

Again:

"I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the nations" (42:1).

Again:

"When [the enemy] shall come like a river, the spirit of Jehovah shall lift up a standard against him" (59:19).

Again:

"The spirit of the Lord Jehovih is upon me, therefore Jehovah hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor" (61:1).

And in John:

"He whom the Father hath sent, speaketh the words of God; for God hath not given the spirit by measure" (3:34);

this is said of the Lord. That the Holy Spirit is Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, is evident in John:

"I tell you the truth: it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. When he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself, he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you" (16:7, 13, 14).

[9] That the Comforter, here mentioned, is Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is quite clear; for it is said the Lord himself spoke "the truth" to them, and declared that, when He should go away, He would send the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, who should guide them into all truth, and that He would not speak from himself but from the Lord. It is here said, he shall receive of mine, because Divine truths proceed from the Lord; and mine is said of what proceeds; for the Lord himself is Divine love, and that which proceeds from Him is Divine truth, thus is His own (see what is said in the work, Heaven and Hell 139, 140, and the preceding numbers, and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 307). That to go forth and to proceed is meant by being sent and sending, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 2397, 4710, 6831, 10561; in like manner here by I will send Him unto you.

[10] That the Comforter is the Holy Spirit is evident in John:

"The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, he shall teach you all things" (14:26).

In the same:

Jesus stood and cried with a loud voice: "Saying, If anyone thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. This spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (7:37-39).

That the Holy Spirit is Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, which flows into man, both immediately from the Lord Himself and mediately by angels and spirits, is clear also from the above words. For the Lord declares that he who believes on Him, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water; and then it is added that He spake this concerning the Spirit which they should receive; for water, in the spiritual sense, signifies truth, and rivers of living water, Divine truth from the Lord in abundance; the same is therefore meant by the Spirit which they should receive. (That water signifies truth, and living water Divine truth, may be seen above, n. 71.) And because Divine truth proceeds from the Lord's Human glorified, and not immediately from His Divine itself, because this was glorified in itself from eternity, it is therefore here said,

"The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified."

(That to glorify is to make Divine, and that the Lord fully glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine by his last temptation and victory on the cross, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 293-295, 300-306.)

[11] In heaven they greatly wonder that those who form the church do not know that the Holy Spirit, which is Divine truth, proceeds from the Lord's Human, and not immediately from His Divine, when, notwithstanding, the doctrine received in the whole Christian world teaches that, - "As is the Father, so also is the Son, uncreate, infinite, eternal, omnipotent, God, Lord; neither of them is first or last, nor greatest or least. Christ is God and man: God from the nature of the Father, and man from the nature of the mother; but although He is God and man, yet nevertheless there are not two, but one Christ; He is one, not by changing the Divinity into the humanity, but by the Divinity receiving to itself the humanity. He is altogether one, not by a commixing of two natures, but one person alone, because as the body and soul are one man, so God and man is one Christ." This is from the creed of Athanasius.

Now because the Lord's Divine and Human are not two, but one Person alone, and are united as the soul and body, it can be known that the Divine which is called the Holy Spirit goes forth and proceeds from His Divine by means of the Human, thus from the Divine Human; for nothing whatever can proceed from the body except out of the soul by means of the body, because all the life of the body is from its soul. And because, as is the Father so is the Son, uncreate, infinite, eternal, omnipotent, God and Lord, and neither of them is first or last, nor greatest or least, it follows that the proceeding Divine, which is called the Holy Spirit, proceeds from the Divine itself of the Lord by means of His Human, and not from another Divine which is called the Father; for the Lord teaches that He and the Father are one, and that the Father is in Him and He in the Father (concerning which, see below, n. 200). But the reason why most of those in the Christian world think otherwise in their hearts, and consequently believe otherwise, the angels have said is from the fact that they think of the Human of the Lord as separate from His Divine; which nevertheless is contrary to the doctrine that teaches that the Divine and Human of the Lord are not two persons, but one Person alone, and united as soul and body.

That this is in the doctrine of the whole Christian world was provided by the Lord, because it is the essential of the church, and the essential of the salvation of all. But that they have divided the Divine and Human of the Lord into two natures, and have said that the Lord is God from the nature of the Father, and man from the nature of the mother, was because they did not know that when the Lord fully glorified His Human He put off the Human taken from the mother, and put on that from the Father (according to what is shown in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 295). That this distinction was also made in a certain council, on account of the Pope, by those who were then present, in order that he might be acknowledged as the Lord's vicar, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 4738.

[12] That the Spirit of God is Divine truth, and hence spiritual life to the man who receives it, is further evident from the following passages. In Micah:

"I am full of power with the Spirit of Jehovah, and of judgment" (3:8).

In Isaiah:

"I will pour out waters upon him that is thirsty, and rivulets upon the dry ground, and my spirit upon thy seed" (44:3).

Again:

"In that day shall Jehovah of hosts be for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them" (28:5, 6).

In Ezekiel:

"That ye may know that I will put my spirit in you that ye may live" (37:14).

In Joel:

"I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and also upon the men-servants, and upon the handmaids" (2:28).

In the Apocalypse:

"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (19:10).

Because the Spirit of God signifies Divine truth, it is therefore called

the Spirit of the mouth of Jehovah (Psalms 33:6)

"the spirit of his lips" (Isaiah 11:4);

"the breath of God," and "the spirit of his nostrils" (Lamentations 4:20; Psalms 18:15; Job. 4:9).

In Matthew:

John said, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (3:11).

To baptize, in the spiritual sense, signifies to regenerate; the Holy Spirit is Divine truth, and fire is Divine good. (That to baptize signifies to regenerate, may be see above, n. 71; and that fire is the good of love, n. 68.)

[13] From these considerations it is now evident what is meant by the words of the Lord to His disciples:

"Going . . . baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (28:19).

Here by the Father is meant the Divine itself, by the Son, the Divine Human, and by the Holy Spirit, the proceeding Divine which is Divine truth: thus one Divine, and yet a trinity. That this is the case, the Lord teaches in John:

"From these things ye know" the Father, "and have seen him. He that seeth me seeth the Father. I am in the Father, and the Father in me" (14:7, 9, 10).

[14] Because the proceeding Divine, which is Divine truth, flows into man both immediately and mediately by angels and spirits, it is therefore believed that the Holy Spirit is a third person, distinct from the two called Father and Son; but I can assert that no one in heaven knows any other Holy Divine Spirit but the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord. And because the Divine truth is communicated to men also mediately by means of angels, it is therefore said of Jehovah in David,

"Jehovah God maketh his angels spirits" (Psalms 104:1, 4).

These things are now adduced to show that by the seven spirits are signified all the truths of heaven and the church from the Lord. That the seven spirits denote all the truths of heaven and the church, becomes more evident from these passages in the Apocalypse:

"The seven lamps of fire burning before the throne are the seven spirits of God" (4:5).

And moreover,

"In the midst of the elders stood a lamb, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth" (5:6).

That the spirits there mentioned do not mean spirits, is clear from the fact that the lamps, and the eyes of the Lamb are called spirits; for lamps signify Divine truths and eyes the understanding of truth; and when these are said of the Lord, His Divine wisdom and intelligence are meant (concerning which see above, n. 152).

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.