Apocalypse Explained # 97
97. He that walketh in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. That this signifies from whom is life to all in the New Heaven and the New Church, is evident from the signification of walking, as being to live; and when said of the Lord, as being life itself (concerning which more will be said in what follows); and from the signification of seven golden lampstands, as being all in the New Heaven and in the New Church (concerning which see above, n. 62). Hence it is clear that the reason why the Lord was seen in the midst of the lampstands, was, that the midst signifies the inmost; the lampstands signify heaven and the church, and walking signifies life, and to be in the midst, when said of the Lord, signifies to be in all things that are round about; therefore it was hereby represented that all the life of faith and of love in heaven and in the church is from Him (as may be seen above, n. 84. That the midst denotes the inmost and the centre from which is all influx, see Arcana Coelestia 1074, 2940, 2973, 7777. That the Lord is the common centre from whom is all direction and determination in heaven, see the work, Heaven and Hell 123, 124. That the propagation of the light of heaven, which is Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, from which the angels have intelligence and wisdom, takes place also from the midst into those who are round about, may be seen in the same, n. 43, 50, 189). That to walk signifies to live, and, when said of the Lord, life itself, is from appearances in the spiritual world, where all walk according to their life, the evil in those ways that lead to hell, but the good in those ways only that lead to heaven; therefore all spirits are known there from the ways wherein they walk. Ways are really seen, but by the evil only the ways that lead to hell, and by the good only the ways that lead to heaven; by this means every one is brought to his own society; it is from this circumstance that to walk signifies to live. (Concerning these ways, and concerning walking therein in the spiritual world, see what is said in the work, Heaven and Hell 195, 479, 534, 590; and in the small work, The Last Judgment 48.)
[2] That in the Word ways signify truths or falsities, and that to walk signifies to live, is evident from several passages therein: a few only shall here be adduced by way of confirmation. Thus in Isaiah:
We have sinned against Jehovah "nor would they walk in his ways, neither have they heard his law" (42:24).
And in Moses:
"If ye shall keep all these commandments, by loving Jehovah your God, by walking in all his ways" (Deuteronomy 11:22).
And again:
"Thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, by loving Jehovah thy God, and walking in his ways all the days" (Deuteronomy 19:9; 26:17).
Again:
"I will set my dwelling place in the midst of you, and I will walk in the midst of you, and I will be to you for a God" (Leviticus 26:11, 12).
Again:
"Jehovah thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, and therefore shall thy camp be holy" (Deuteronomy 23:14).
And in Isaiah:
"Remember now, Jehovah, that I have walked before thee in truth" (38:3).
Again:
"Entering into peace, walking in uprightness" (57:2).
And in Malachi:
"In peace and in uprightness hath he walked with me (2:6).
And in David:
"Thou hast delivered my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living" (Psalm 56:13).
And in John:
Jesus said, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (8:12).
In the same:
"Yet a little while the light is with you; walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you; for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have the light, believe in the light" (12:35, 36).
And in Mark:
"The Pharisees and Scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders?" (7:5.)
And in Moses:
"If ye walk contrary to me, and will not hearken unto me, I will also walk contrary to you" (Leviticus 26:21, 23, 24, 27).
And in Isaiah:
"The people that walk in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow [of death], upon them hath the light shined" (9:2).
And in Micah:
"All people walk in the name of their god, and we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God" (4:5).
And in Isaiah:
"Who among you feareth Jehovah? who walketh in darkness, and hath no light?" (50:10);
besides many other passages, as in Jeremiah 26:4; Ezekiel 5:6; 20:13, 16; Micah 4:5; Zechariah 10:12; Luke 1:6. From these passages it is evident that by walking, in the spiritual sense, is signified to live; and because it signifies to live, therefore, when said of the Lord, as in this passage, life itself is signified; for the Lord is life itself, and all others are recipients of life from Him (as may be seen above, n. 82, 84).
Deuteronomy 11
1
Therefore you shall love Yahweh your God, and keep his instructions, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments, always.
2
Know this day: for I don't speak with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Yahweh your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm,
3
and his signs, and his works, which he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to all his land;
4
and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how Yahweh has destroyed them to this day;
5
and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place;
6
and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben; how the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel:
7
but your eyes have seen all the great work of Yahweh which he did.
8
Therefore you shall keep all the commandment which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land, where you go over to possess it;
9
and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give to them and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10
For the land, where you go in to possess it, isn't as the land of Egypt, that you came out from, where you sowed your seed, and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs;
11
but the land, where you go over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, [and] drinks water of the rain of the sky,
12
a land which Yahweh your God cares for: the eyes of Yahweh your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.
13
It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you this day, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14
that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, and your new wine, and your oil.
15
I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.
16
Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
17
and the anger of Yahweh be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which Yahweh gives you.
18
Therefore you shall lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul; and you shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for symbols between your eyes.
19
You shall teach them your children, talking of them, when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
20
You shall write them on the door posts of your house, and on your gates;
21
that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.
22
For if you shall diligently keep all this commandment which I command you, to do it, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him;
23
then will Yahweh drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.
24
Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the hinder sea shall be your border.
25
No man shall be able to stand before you: Yahweh your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread on, as he has spoken to you.
26
Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:
27
the blessing, if you shall listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day;
28
and the curse, if you shall not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known.
29
It shall happen, when Yahweh your God shall bring you into the land where you go to possess it, that you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal.
30
Aren't they beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah, over against Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh?
31
For you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and you shall possess it, and dwell therein.
32
You shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you this day.
