4287. “因为作为君王, 你与神与人较力, 都得了胜” 表在针对真理与良善的争战中屡屡获胜. 这从 “作为君王较力” 和 “与神与人” 的含义清楚可知: “作为君王较力” 是指在争战中, 此处是指在试探的争战中得胜或获胜, 因为这些就是现在所论述的主题; “与神与人” 是指针对真理与良善的争战, 如下文所述.

就至高意义而言, 所论述的主题是主, “作为君王, 与神与人较力” 在这层意义上就是指祂; 因为祂凭自己的能力承受一切试探, 并通过它们征服地狱. 事实上, 祂允许所有地狱依次进入自己, 甚至允许天使进入, 这一点将在后面予以解释. 祂就这样将天堂和地狱的一切都归入次序, 最后荣耀祂自己, 也就是将祂自己里面的人身变成神性.

由此明显可知, 就至高意义而言, 主就是雅各的以色列, 如刚才所示 (4286节). 祂自己不仅 “作为君王较力”, 也就是承受一切试探的争战, 并在其中得胜, 还在每一个人里面承受它们. 不过, 可参看前面关于这些问题的论述, 即: 主承受了最为严厉的试探, 比任何人所承受的都要严厉 (1663, 1668, 1787, 2776, 2786, 2795, 2816节); 和所有人不同的是, 主出于神性之爱争战 (1690, 1691, 1789, 1812, 1813, 1820节); 主与来自母亲的遗传之恶作战, 以致祂最终不是她的儿子, 尽管祂没有实际的邪恶 (1444, 1573, 2025, 2574, 2649, 3318末尾节); 主通过试探的争战和不断的胜利将一切事物都排列成天堂所拥有的形式 (1928节); 通过试探争战中的不断胜利, 祂将神性本质联结到人身本质上 (1616, 1737, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2500, 2523, 2632, 2776节); 主在人里面承受试探, 并征服邪恶和地狱 (987, 1661, 1692末尾节).

“与神与人” 表示针对真理与良善而受试探, 这是一个没有显现在字面上的奥秘. 谁都能清楚看出, 也能从下面的解释明显可知, 与雅各较力的, 并不是神; 因为谁也不能说他与神较力并得胜. 不过, 内义教导此处 “神” 与 “人” 分别表示什么, 即: “神” 表示真理, “人” 表示良善. 其原因在于, 就内义而言, “神” 之名表示真理, 因此当论述真理时, 经上就用 “神” 这个名 (2586, 2769, 2807, 2822节); 而 “人” 这个术语表示良善. “人” 之所以表示良善, 是因为主是唯一的人, 人凭祂而称之为人 (参看49, 288, 565, 1894节); 还因为天堂凭祂而为一个人, 被称为大人 (684, 1276, 3624-3649, 3741-3751节).

由于这个原因, 处于属天良善的上古教会被称为 “人” (478节). 因此, 在圣言中, 每当论述良善时, 良善都由 “人” (man,vir homo) 来表示, 如以赛亚书:

我必使男人比精金还少, 使人比俄斐纯金更少! (以赛亚书 13:12)

地上的居民被焚烧, 剩下的男人稀少. (以赛亚书 24:6)

“男人” 表属灵良善或真理的良善; “人” 表良善.

同一先知书:

大路荒凉, 行人止息; 他违犯了约, 藐视城邑, 不顾男人. (以赛亚书 33:8)

耶利米书:

我观看地, 看哪, 地是空虚混沌; 我观看天, 天也无光. 我观看, 看哪, 无人, 空中的飞鸟也都躲避. (耶利米书 4:23, 25)

同一先知书:

耶和华说, 看哪, 日子将到, 我要把人的种和牲畜的种, 播种在以色列家和犹大家. (耶利米书 31:27)

以西结书:

他们用人口 (soul of man, 人的灵魂) 和铜器兑换你的货物. (以西结书 27:13)

同一先知书:

你们作我的羊, 我草场上的羊乃是人; 我也是你们的神. (以西结书 34:31)

又:

荒凉的城邑必被人群充满. (以西结书 36:38)

在这些经文中, “人” 表示那些处于良善的人, 因而表示良善, 因为人凭良善而为人. 然而, 在圣言中, 基于良善的真理被称为 “男人” (a male person), 以及 “人子”.

343. Holding back the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. This symbolizes the Lord's holding back and restraining a closer and thus stronger influx into the lower regions where good people were attached to evil ones.

It must be known that a last judgment takes place when evil people multiply below the heavens in the world of spirits, and this to such a degree that angels in the heavens cannot continue in the state of their love and wisdom, as they are then without a support and foundation. Since this results from a multiplication of evil people below, therefore in order to preserve the angels' state, the Lord flows in more and more strongly with His Divinity, and this continually until no influx can preserve them unless the evil people below are separated from the good. This is accomplished by a subsidence and closing in of the heavens, with a consequently stronger influx, until the evil cannot bear it. And at that point the evil flee away and cast themselves into hell.

This, too, is what is symbolized in the preceding chapter by the statement, "They said to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'" (Revelation 6:16-17)

[2] Now for the exposition:

The four winds symbolize an influx of the heavens. The earth, the sea, and every tree symbolize all the lower regions and all that they contain - the earth and sea symbolizing all the lower regions, and every tree all that they contain.

That a wind symbolizes influx - properly speaking, the influx of truth into the intellect - can be seen from the following passages:

Thus says the Lord Jehovih, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live." (Ezekiel 37:9-10)

(There appeared four chariots to which were harnessed four horses.) These are the four winds of the heavens... (Zechariah 6:1-5)

You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and... cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. (John 3:7-8)

The Maker of the earth... prepares the world by His wisdom... He brings the wind out of His treasuries. (Jeremiah 10:12-13; 51:15-16, cf. Psalms 135:7)

He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow. He declares His Word..., His statutes and His judgments... (Psalms 147:18-19)

It praises Jehovah..., the stormy wind, doing His Word... (Psalms 148:7-8)

(Jehovah) makes His angels winds... (Psalms 104:4)

(Jehovah) rode... upon the wings of the wind. (Psalms 18:10, cf. 104:3)

The wings of the wind are Divine truths that flow in. The Lord is therefore called "the breath of our nostrils" (Lamentations 4:20), and we are told that He "breathed into (Adam's) nostrils the breath of life" (Genesis 2:7); moreover, that "He breathed on (the Disciples) and said..., "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:21-22). The Holy Spirit is the Divine truth emanating from the Lord, the influx of which into the Disciples was represented and thus symbolized by the Lord's breathing on them.

[3] A wind and breathing symbolize the influx of Divine truth into the intellect, owing to the correspondence of the lungs with the intellect, a treatment of which may be seen in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 371-429.

Since a closer and stronger Divine influx through the heavens dispels truths in the case of evil people, therefore a wind symbolizes the dispersion of truth in them, and thus their conjunction with hell and perishing - as may be seen from the following passages:

I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four ends of heaven and scatter him. (Jeremiah 49:36)

You shall scatter them, that the wind may carry them away and the storm disperse them. (Isaiah 41:16)

The breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, sets them on fire. (Isaiah 30:33)

The workers of iniquity... perish by the breathing of God, and by the breath of His nostrils they are consumed. (Job 4:8-9)

...the foundations of the world were uncovered at the rebuke (of Jehovah), at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. (Psalms 18:15)

I saw in my vision..., and behold, the four winds... were rushing upon the Great Sea. And four beasts came up... (Daniel 7:2-3ff.)

...from a storm of Jehovah has gone forth fury... It will rush upon the head of the wicked. (Jeremiah 23:19; 30:23)

O my God..., ...pursue them with Your storm, ...frighten them with Your tempest. (Psalms 83:13, 15)

(Jehovah's) way in the storm and in the tempest... (Nahum 1:3)

And so also elsewhere, as in Jeremiah 25:32, Ezekiel 13:13, Hosea 8:7, Amos 1:14, Zechariah 9:14, Psalms 11:6; 50:3; 55:8, and Psalms 107, where we read:

...He commands the stormy wind to blow... (God) causes the storm to subside, so that its waves are still. (Psalms 107:25, 29)

[4] It is apparent from this what is symbolically meant in the spiritual sense by the following:

(Jesus in the boat) rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ."..be still!" And... there was a... calm. (Mark 4:39, cf. Luke 8:23-24)

The sea here symbolizes hell, and the wind an influx from it.

A strong influx, too, is symbolically meant by the east wind in Ezekiel 17:10, Jeremiah 18:17, Ezekiel 19:12, Hosea 13:15, Psalms 48:7. And by that same wind which dried up the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21), regarding which Moses said:

At the blast of Your nostrils the waters were heaped up... You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them. (Exodus 15:8, 10)

It can now be seen from this that holding back the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, symbolizes the holding back and restraining of a closer and thus stronger influx into the lower regions.