222. (vi) THE WORD IN ITS GLORY WAS REPRESENTED IN THE LORD AT HIS TRANSFIGURATION.

We read about the Lord's transfiguration in the presence of Peter, James and John that His face shone like the sun, His clothes became like light, and Moses and Elijah were seen speaking with Him; a shining cloud overshadowed the disciples, and a voice was heard from the cloud saying, This is my beloved Son, listen to Him (Matthew 17:1-5).

I have been taught that the Lord then represented the Word. His face, which shone like the sun, represented the Divine good of His Divine love; His clothes, which became like light, the Divine truth of His Divine wisdom. Moses and Elijah represented the historical and prophetic sections of the Word; Moses the part of the Word written by his instrumentality and the historical parts as a whole, Elijah the whole of the prophetic part of the Word. The shining cloud which overshadowed the disciples represented the Word in its literal sense; that is why a voice was heard from it saying, 'This is my beloved Son, listen to Him'. For all statements and replies given from heaven are only given through the outermost forms, such as is the literal sense of the Word; they acquire their fulness from the Lord.