6239. “你在他们以后所生的后裔” 表以后所生的内层真理与良善。这从 “后裔” 和 “他们以后” 的含义清楚可知: “后裔” 是指属于信与仁的事物 (参看613, 2020, 2584节), 因而是指真理与良善; “他们以后” 是指以后所生的内层事物。之所以表示内层事物, 是因为以后从内在所生的事物更为内在。事实上, 以前所生的那些事物相继作为手段或方法而服务于内在, 以便产生以后所生的更为内在的事物, 因为内在逐渐将属世层提升到自己这里。

这一点从构成人里面理解力的一切的产生明显看出来; 因为人一开始是感官的, 或说在感官层面, 后来变得越来越内在, 直到他能充分利用自己的理解力。通过信与仁所实现的新一代或新生与此类似。正因如此, 人是逐渐得以完善的 (参看前面关于当人正在重生时, 逐渐提升到内层的说明, 6183节)。

在圣言中, “后裔 (经上或译为族类、后代、世代、代、出身、出世、出生）” 表示属于信与仁的事物, 这是因为就内义而言, 所指的是属灵的出生, 而非其它出生。在诗篇, 所表示的也是这种后裔:

他们必大大地害怕, 因为神在义人的族类中。(诗篇 14:5)

“义人的族类” 表示从良善流出的真理, 因为 “义人” 论及良善。以赛亚书:

他们必不徒然劳碌, 也不在惊恐中生产后代。因为他们都是蒙耶和华赐福的种。(以赛亚书 65:23)

又:

谁做成这事, 从起初宣召历代呢？就是我耶和华; 我是首先的, 也与末后的同在。(以赛亚书 41:4)

以西结书:

你的根源, 你的出身, 是在迦南地; 你父亲是亚摩利人, 你母亲是赫人。论到你出世的景况, 在你出生的日子没有为你断脐带, 也没有用水洗你, 好使我看见。(以西结书 16:3, 4)

这段经文论及耶路撒冷的可憎, 很明显, “出生” 或 “后代” 表示灵义上的出生或后代。

以赛亚书:

像永恒之日、不朽的世代兴起一样。(以赛亚书 51:9)

“永恒之日” 表示上古教会的状态和时间。之所以用 “永恒” 来论及上古教会, 是因为这个教会处于对主之爱的良善, 该良善因直接从主流出, 故被称为 “永恒”; “不朽的世代” 表示源于这良善的良善。

与此类似的事也出现在摩西五经中:

你当追想永恒之日, 思念代代之年。(申命记 32:7)

此处 “永恒之日” 表示大洪水之前的上古教会的状态和时间, 该教会是一个属天教会; “代代之年” 表示大洪水后古教会的状态和时间, 该教会是一个属灵教会; 此处论述的是这些教会。

约珥书:

犹大必存到永远, 耶路撒冷必存到代代。(约珥书 3:20)

“永远” 在此论及犹大, 是因为 “犹大” 代表属天教会 (3881节); “代代” 论及耶路撒冷, 是因为 “耶路撒冷” 表示属灵教会 (402节)。

以赛亚书:

惟有我的公义永远长存, 我的救恩直到代代。(以赛亚书 51:8)

此处 “永远” 论及爱之良善, 因为 “公义” 论及这良善 (612, 2235节); “代代” 论及信之良善。

诗篇:

你的国是万世永恒的国; 你的统治代代长存。(诗篇 145:13)

此处意思也一样; 因为除非 “永恒” 论及属天之物, “代代” 论及属灵之物, 否则只提及其中一个就行了; 用这二者只是一个毫无意义的重复。

属于信之状态的事物也由以下律法来表示: 私生子直到十代不可入耶和华的会 (申命记 23:2); 亚扪人或是摩押人甚至直到十代不可入耶和华的会 (申命记 23:3), 以东人和埃及人第三代可以入耶和华的会 (申命记 23:8)。在十诫中, 同样表示与信之状态有关的事物, 在那里, 经上说: 恨耶和华神的, 祂必追讨自父及子, 直到三四代的罪 (出埃及记 20:5)。

“后裔 (经上或译为族类、后代、世代、代、出身、出世、出生）” 之所以表示属于信与仁的事物, 是因为就灵义而言, 所指的是与重生有关的事物, 或已经重生的人, 而非别的出生。在圣言中, “生产”、“生育”、“怀孕” 也一样; 这些词表示信与仁的生产、生育和怀孕 (1145, 1255, 3860, 3868, 4668, 5160, 5598节)。

8988. '[His] master shall bring him to God' means the state he then enters in keeping with Divine order. This is clear from the meaning of 'bringing to God', when the subject is those who are imbued with truths and cannot be imbued with good, as causing them to enter a state in keeping with Divine order; for 'bringing to' means entering, and 'God' means Divine order, which is dealt with below. The fact that these things are meant is evident from the details contained in the rest of this verse. These describe the state of those imbued with truths and not with complementary good, that is to say, a state of everlasting obedience. For those living in this condition are in servitude compared with those imbued with good complementing truths. For being governed by good the latter's actions spring from affection; and those who act from affection do so from the will, thus from themselves since whatever forms part of a person's will is part of his true self; for indeed the essence (esse) of a person's life is his will. But those whose actions spring from obedience act not from their own will, but from their master's, thus not from themselves, but from another; therefore in comparison they are in servitude. Actions that spring from truths and not from good spring solely from the understanding, for truths have connection with the understanding and forms of good with the will; and actions that spring from the understanding and not from the will spring from that which stands outside and serves. The understanding has been given to a person in order that he may receive truths and introduce them into his will to become forms of good; for when truths become part of the will they are called forms of good.

[2] The condition however of one who serves the Lord by doing according to His commandments, and by being obedient in that kind of way, is not that of a slave; rather, it is that of one who is free. For perfect freedom consists for a person in being led by the Lord, 892, 905, 2870, 2872. The Lord breathes the good into the person's will from which his actions spring; and although that good comes from the Lord, the person nevertheless has the feeling that his actions are from himself, that is, he does them in freedom. This freedom exists with all who abide in the Lord; and coupled with it there is indescribable happiness.

[3] The reason why 'God' here means Divine order is that in the Word the name 'God' is used where truth is referred to, and 'Jehovah' where good is referred to, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921 (end), 4402, 7010, 7268, 8867. Therefore Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good is meant in the highest sense by 'God', and His Divine Good from which Divine Truth emanates is meant by 'Jehovah'. The reason for this is that Divine Good is Essential Being (Esse), and Divine Truth is the Coming-into-Being (Existere) from it, since what emanates from something comes into being from it. The situation with good and truth in heaven or among angels is similar, and that in the Church among men is similar. Good there is the essential being, and truth is the coming-into-being from it. Or what amounts to the same thing love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour is the essential being of heaven and the Church, while faith is the coming-into-being from it. All this makes plain why it is that 'God' can also mean Divine order; for Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is what constitutes order in heaven, so completely that it is order itself. For more about Divine Truth's being order, see 1728, 1919, 7995, 8700.

Therefore when man or angel receives Divine Truth from the Lord within good, there resides with him that order which exists in the heavens. As a consequence he is a heaven or kingdom of the Lord in particular; he is such in the measure that he is imbued with good from truths, and after this in the measure that he is endowed with truths from good. And - what is an arcanum - angels themselves appear in heaven in a human form that accords exactly with the truths present with them within good, together with beauty and brilliance which accord with the character of the good from truths. The souls of members of the Church present a similar appearance in heaven. The Divine Truth itself emanating from the Lord brings this about, as may be recognized from what has been shown at the ends of a number of chapters regarding heaven as the Grand Man, and its correspondence with individual aspects of a human being.

[4] This arcanum is what the following words are used to mean in John, in the Book of Revelation,

He measured the wall of the holy Jerusalem, a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man (homo), that is, of an angel. Revelation 21:17.

Will anyone ever understand these words if he does not know what the holy Jerusalem, its wall, measure, the number 144, and so 'a man, that is, an angel' all mean? By the new or holy Jerusalem is meant the Lord's New Church, which is going to take the place of the Christian Church existing at the present time, 2117; by 'the wall' is meant the truths of faith which will defend that Church, 6419; by 'measuring' and 'the measure' is meant its state in respect of truth, 3104; by the number 144 is meant much the same as by 12, since 144 is the number that is the product of 12 multiplied by itself, and by these numbers all truths in their entirety are meant, see 7973. These meanings make plain what is meant by 'the measure of a man, that is, of an angel', namely actual truth emanating from the Lord in the form it assumes, which is that of a man-angel in heaven, as stated above. All this reveals the arcanum which the words quoted above embody; it reveals that they describe the truths of that Church which is going to take the place of the Christian Church existing at the present time.

[5] The fact that they are truths from good is described in the very next verse, in these words,

The construction of its wall was jasper, but the city was pure gold, like pure glass. Revelation 21:18.

'Jasper' means truth such as that Church's will be, for truths are meant by 'stones' generally, 1298, 3720, 6426, and truths that come from the Lord by 'precious stones', 643; and 'gold' means the good of love and wisdom, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658. Would anyone ever discern that such meanings are embodied in those words? Yet who can fail to see from them that countless arcana lie concealed in the Word, which are not at all made apparent to anyone except by means of the internal sense, and that this sense, like a key, is the means of opening up God's truths as they exist in heaven, and therefore heaven and the Lord Himself, who is the All in all of the Word in its inmost sense?