10604. And I will write upon the tables the words that were upon the former tables, which thou brakest. That this signifies that the interior Divine celestial and spiritual things [of the Word, of the church, and of worship] are in these externals also, is evident from the signification of these “tables,” as being the externals of the Word, of the church, and of worship (see above, n. 10603); and from the signification of “the words that Jehovah wrote upon them,” as being the Divine interior things, thus the things which are of the internal sense (see n. 10453, 10461), which are called celestial and spiritual because they appear in heaven before the angels, and in light there. The celestial things there are those which are of love, and the spiritual are those which are of faith from love. From all this it is evident that by the words, “I will write upon the tables the words that were on the former tables which thou brakest,” is signified that the interior Divine celestial and spiritual things of the Word, of the church, and of worship are in these externals also. How the case herein is may be seen in the article immediately preceding.

[2] As at this day it is quite unknown that there is an internal sense in the Word, or even what the internal sense of the Word is, something further shall be told about it. The ideas of thought of the angels are not natural, as are the ideas of thought of men; but are spiritual. But the quality of their spiritual ideas can with difficulty be comprehended by man except by means of interior thought and reflection upon the first beginnings of his thoughts. That these are devoid of words of speech is known from the fact that they are of such a nature that a man can in a moment comprehend more things than he is able to express by speech within a considerable time. These ideas of thought belong to his spirit. But the ideas of thought which man comprehends, and which fall into words, are natural, and by the learned are called material; whereas the former, or interior ideas, are called spiritual, and by the learned, immaterial. Into these ideas man comes after death when he becomes a spirit, and by means of these ideas he engages in discourse with other spirits. There is a correspondence between these two classes of ideas; and by means of this correspondence the spiritual ideas are turned into natural ones when the man is speaking. This is not known to the man, because he does not reflect upon it, and none are able to reflect upon it except those who think interiorly, that is, who think in their spirit abstractedly from the body. Sensuous men are quite unable to do this.

[3] Now as there is a correspondence between spiritual thought and natural thought, and as the angels are in spiritual thought, they consequently perceive spiritually what man perceives naturally, and this in an instant, without any reflection upon the difference. This is chiefly done when a man is reading the Word, or when he is thinking from the Word; for the Word has been so written that there is a correspondence in the whole and in every detail; as for example when a man reads these words of the Lord in Matthew:

After the affliction of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man; and then shall all the tribes of the earth wail; and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory (Matthew 24:29-30).

[4] The angels perceive these words quite differently from man. By “the sun which shall be darkened” they do not perceive the sun, but love to the Lord; by “the moon” they do not perceive the moon, but faith in the Lord; by “the stars,” not stars, but the knowledges of good and truth; by “the Son of man” they perceive the Lord as to Divine truth; by “the tribes of the earth,” all the truths of the church; by “the clouds of heaven,” the Word in the sense of the letter; and by “power and glory,” the Word in the internal sense. When a man is reading these words, the angels come into the understanding of them in a moment by virtue of the correspondence; nor do they know that the man is thinking of the sun, the moon, the stars, the clouds of heaven, and all the other things. The reason is that the angels are in a spiritual idea; and a spiritual idea is of such a character that the things of nature are turned into things of heavenly light, which is Divine truth from the Lord.

[5] That the angels so perceive the Word, when a man is reading it, is also because the angels are with men, and dwell in their affections; and because as to his spirit a man is in society with spirits; and as to interior thought, which is spiritual, with the angels of heaven. It is also from this that man has the capability of thinking. These things have been said in order that it may be known what the internal sense of the Word is; or what are the interior things of the Word, of the church, and of worship which are called celestial and spiritual.