10584. And I will remove the palm of My hand, and thou shalt see My back parts, and My faces shall not be seen. That this signifies that they should see the external things of the Word, of the church, and of worship, but not the internal things; is evident from the signification of the “back parts of Jehovah,” as being the external things of the Word, of the church, and of worship (of which in what follows); and from the signification of the “faces of Jehovah,” as being the internal things of these (of which above, n. 10578); consequently by “seeing the back parts and not the faces of Jehovah” is signified seeing the external things of the Word, of the church, and of worship, and not the internal things. That such was the Israelitish and Jewish nation, and that such it is at this day also, has been shown in all that precedes of this chapter, and of the preceding one.

[2] The reason why the “back parts of Jehovah” signify the external things of the Word, of the church, and of worship, is that the “faces” signify the internal things (see n. 10578). And those are said to “see the back parts of Jehovah and not the faces,” who believe and adore the Word; but only its external, which is the sense of the letter, and do not penetrate more interiorly, as do those who have been enlightened, and who make for themselves doctrine from the Word, by which they may see its genuine sense, thus its interior sense. (That the Word cannot be apprehended without doctrine, and that doctrine drawn from the Word by one who is enlightened must be for a lamp to the understanding, see n. 9382, 9409, 9410, 9424, 9430, 10105, 10324, 10400, 10431; and that the internal sense of the Word teaches this doctrine, n. 9430.) From all this it can be seen what it is to “see the back parts of Jehovah and not His faces.”

[3] But those who do not believe in the Word, do not even see the back parts of Jehovah; but turn themselves backward from Jehovah, and see only themselves and the world. These are they who are meant by those in the Word who are said to “turn their back parts to the temple, and to adore the sun,” of whom it is written in Ezekiel:

I was brought into the court of the house of Jehovah, and behold five and twenty men, whose back parts were toward the temple of Jehovah, and their faces toward the east; and the same bowed themselves toward the rising of the sun (Ezekiel 8:16);

by “the sun and its rising” is meant the sun of the world and its rising, and thereby is signified the love of self, which love is diametrically opposite to love to the Lord. From this it is that the sun of the world is presented in the idea of the angels as something at the back quite dark; whereas the Lord, who is the sun of heaven, appears before the face (n. 7078). Of such men it is said that they “turn their back parts to the temple,” and also that they “go backward,” in Jeremiah:

Thou hast forsaken Jehovah, thou art gone backward (Jeremiah 15:6).

They have gone away in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and have come backward, and not forward (Jeremiah 7:24).

9430. And the cloud covered it. That this signifies the ultimate of the Word which is thus relatively obscure, is evident from the signification of “the cloud,” as being the ultimate of the Word, or its literal sense (see the preface to Genesis 18, and n. 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752, 8106, 8443, 8781). This sense is called a “cloud,” because it is in obscurity relatively to the internal sense; for this is in the light of heaven. That it is in obscurity and like a cloud is because it is for man while he is in the world, whereas the internal sense is for man when he comes into heaven. But be it known that while a man is in the world, he is in the internal sense of the Word when he is in the genuine doctrine of the church as to faith and as to life; for through this doctrine the internal sense of the Word is then inscribed on both his understanding and his will; on his understanding through faith; and on his will through life. When such a man comes into heaven he apprehends the Word no otherwise than according to its internal sense; and knows nothing of its external sense, this then appearing to him like a cloud that absorbs the rays of its light.

[2] It is said that the man then apprehends the Word according to its internal sense, and not according to its external sense. That it is so is because all who are in heaven are instructed by the Lord from the truth Divine that is with man, thus from the Word. The reason is that man is in the ultimate of order, and that all interior things terminate in the ultimate, the ultimate being as it were a support for the interior things, on which they subsist and rest. The Word in the letter is Divine truth in the ultimate of order; in like manner the man of the church with whom is Divine truth, in respect to his natural and sensuous mind. In the one, as in the other, the interior things terminate and rest, like a house on its foundation. The house itself is heaven, and there Divine truth is such as is the Word in the internal sense; and the foundation is the world, and there Divine truth is such as is the Word in the external sense. As a house rests on its foundation, so also heaven rests on the church; and consequently the Divine truth in heaven upon the Divine truth in the earth; for there is a continuous connection from the Lord through heaven down to man by means of the Word. This is the reason why it is always provided by the Lord that there shall be a church on the earth, in which Divine truth may be in its ultimate. This is a secret as yet known to none, and which is meant by what was cited above (n. 9357, 9360). Let all therefore beware of injuring the Word in any way; for they who injure it, injure the Divine Itself.