9926. 'And his voice will be heard' means the inflow of truth among those in heaven and those on earth. This is clear from the meaning of 'being heard' as reception and perception, dealt with in 5017, 5471, 5475, 7216, 8361, 9311, and therefore also an inflowing, since things that are received and perceived must flow in; and from the meaning of 'voice' - when Aaron, who represents the Lord, is the subject - as Divine Truth, dealt with in 8813. For 'voice' means the declaration of that truth; and because the declaration is meant, truth among those in heaven and those on earth is meant. Divine Truth fills all things of heaven, and composes all things of the Church. Such declaration was represented by the 'voice' or sound made by the bells of gold when Aaron 'went into the holy place before Jehovah, and when he came out', as stated by the words that immediately follow in the present verse.

[2] The fact that 'voice' in the Word means Divine Truth that is heard and perceived in heaven and on earth is clear from the following places: In David,

The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters; the voice of Jehovah is powerful; the voice of Jehovah is majestic; the voice of Jehovah breaks the cedars; the voice of Jehovah strikes as a flame of fire; the voice of Jehovah causes the wilderness to shake; the voice of Jehovah causes the hinds to calve. But in His temple everyone says, Glory! Psalms 29:3-9.

The subject in this Psalm is the Divine Truth which destroys falsities and evils. This Divine Truth is meant by 'the voice of Jehovah', but by 'Glory' that is uttered is meant Divine Truth present in heaven and in the Church. For the meaning of 'glory' as Divine Truth, see 9429; and for that of 'temple' as heaven and the Church, 3720.

[3] In John,

He who is the Shepherd of the sheep, to him the gate-keeper opens, and the sheep hear His voice. The sheep follow Him, because they know His voice. A stranger they do not follow, because they do not know the voice of strangers. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice. But you are not of My sheep, for My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. John 10:2-5, 16, 26-27.

Here it is plainly evident that 'voice' means Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, which is the Word, 'the voice of strangers' being falsity.

[4] In Isaiah,

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of Jehovah. For the glory of Jehovah will be revealed. The voice says, Cry! Get up on to the high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings. Lift it up; [say,] Behold, the Lord Jehovih comes with might. Isaiah 40:3, 5-6, 9-10; John 1:23.

'The voice' here means the declaration from the Word, telling about the Lord's Coming, and therefore also means Divine Truth, which the Word tells. 'The wilderness' is the state of the Church then, which is so to speak in the wilderness because the Word is no longer understood. 'The glory' which will be revealed is the Word on its more internal levels, for which meaning of 'glory' see 9429. 'Jehovah' for whom the way should be prepared, and 'the Lord Jehovih' who is to come in might, is plainly the Lord, for this is what it clearly says.

[5] In Isaiah,

The voice of your watchmen, they will lift up [their] voice, when they see eye to eye that Jehovah returns to Zion. Isaiah 52:8.

'Watchmen' stands for those who search the Scriptures regarding the Lord's Coming. Their 'voice' is the Word, which is Divine Truth, their source. In Jeremiah,

He who makes the earth, by His intelligence He spreads out the heavens; when He utters His voice, ¹ there is a multitude of waters in the heavens. Jeremiah 10:12-13; 51:15-16.

'Voice' stands for Divine Truth, 'waters' for truths which are in the heavens and come from the heavens (for the meaning of 'waters' in the Word as truths, see 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 8568, 9323), as also in the Book of Revelation,

[6] ... the voice of the Son of Man as the sound of many waters. Revelation 1:15. I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters. Revelation 14:2.

And in David,

The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters, Jehovah is upon great waters. Psalms 29:3.

In Joel,

Jehovah uttered His voice before His army; for those who execute His Word are uncountable. Joel 2:11.

Here also 'voice' stands for Divine Truth, as does 'the Word' which they execute. In the same prophet,

Jehovah from Jerusalem will give forth His voice, that the heavens and the earth may be shaken. Joel 3:16.

In David,

O kingdoms of the earth, make melody to the Lord who rides above the heaven of the heaven of old. Behold, He will utter His voice, a mighty voice. ² Psalms 68:32-33.

In John,

I say to you, that the hour will come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. John 5:25.

Here, it is evident, 'the voice' means Divine Truth and therefore the Word of the Lord.

[7] In Ezekiel,

The Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice ³ of a great earthquake, Blessed is the glory of Jehovah. And [I heard] the voice ³ of the wings of the living creatures, and the voice ³ of the wheels, and the voice ³ of the great earthquake. Ezekiel 3:12-13.

And after this,

The voice ³ of the wings of the cherubs was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Shaddai when He speaks. Ezekiel 10:5.

Here also 'the voice' is Divine Truth, for by 'the cherubs' is meant the Lord's providence and watchfulness, guarding against access to Himself, or into heaven, except through the good of love, 9277 (end), 9509. 'The voice of the wings' and 'the voice of the wheels' are spiritual truths.

[8] In the present verse, in which Aaron is the subject, the sound or ring from the bells is what 'the voice' refers to. There are also places in the Word in which the sounds or blasts from trumpets, or else the sounds or peals of thunder, are called 'voices', and by these in like manner Divine Truths are meant, see 7573. Furthermore the sounds made by different types of musical instruments have a similar meaning, though those producing separate vibrating notes mean Divine Truths that are spiritual, whereas those producing notes continuing one into the next mean Divine Truths that are celestial, 418-420, 4138, 8337. From this it is evident that by the sounds or 'the voices' of the bells Divine Truths that are spiritual are meant; for Aaron's garments, and in particular the robe, which had the bells on its hem round about, represented the Lord's spiritual kingdom or heaven, 9814, 9825.

Poznámky pod čarou:

9278. 'Six days you shall do your work' means a state of labour and conflict, when a person is governed by external delights that must be joined to things that are internal. This is clear from the meaning of 'six days' that come before the seventh, as states of labour and conflict, dealt with in 737, 900, 8510, 8888, 8975, the labour and conflict during them being meant by 'the work' that will be done on those days. 'The work' done during the six days and 'the rest' on the seventh day mean the things experienced by a person in his first state and in his second while being regenerated, and also those experienced by him after he has been regenerated. Regarding a person's first and second states while he is being regenerated, see above in 9274; and regarding the things experienced by him after he has been regenerated, 9213. The purpose of these experiences is that external things may be joined to internal ones; for there is an external man, which is also called natural, and there is an internal man, which is called spiritual. The external man is in contact with the world, and the internal with heaven.

[2] Divine order demands that heaven should rule the world with a person and not the world rule heaven with him; for when heaven rules a person, the Lord rules him, but when the world rules a person, the hells rule him. The natural disposition which a person is born with is such that he loves the world and self more than heaven and the Lord; and since this is the opposite of Divine order, an inversion must take place through regeneration. It takes place when the things that belong to heaven and the Lord are loved more than those which belong to the world and self. This is the reason why a person who has been regenerated, and also one who is in heaven, passes through two states that alternate with each other, in one of which external things prevail and in the other internal ones prevail; for by means of this alternation of states the external things are brought into agreement with the internal and at length made subordinate to them.

[3] When the external things prevail the person experiences labour and conflict; for he is immersed in the kind of life which savours of the world and into which the hells enter from every side, unceasingly endeavouring to engage in molestation, indeed to exercise control over the things of heaven with the person. But the Lord unceasingly protects and delivers him. This is the reason for the labour and conflict which are meant by the six days of the week in which work must be done. When however the internal things prevail, then - because the person is in heaven with the Lord - the labour and conflict come to an end, and he enjoys peace and serenity, in which also a joining together takes place. These blessings are what are meant by 'the seventh day'. The more internal aspects of the human being have been created in the image of heaven and the more external in the image of the world, so that the human being is a miniature form of heaven, also of the world, thus a microcosm, as the ancients called him, see 6057. So it is that Divine order demands that the Lord coming by way of heaven should rule the world with a person, and not at all vice versa.

[4] The nature of the labour and conflict experienced by the person when external things prevail may be recognized from this, that his state at that time is such that he is stirred by the world and indifferent towards heaven, unless it appears to him as the world does. But then the light by which he sees is so dim that he can only suppose that external things flow into internal ones, consequently that the eye sees or the ear hears by itself, that objects seen or heard by them are what produce thoughts and shape the understanding part of the mind, and that this gives him the ability to believe in and love God all by himself, and so to see heaven from the world. He cannot be easily led away from this illusion until he has been raised from external things to internal ones, and so to the light of heaven. Then he begins to perceive that things belonging to the world with him, thus those belonging to the body and its senses, see and act by means of influx from heaven, that is, from the Lord coming by way of heaven, and not at all by themselves. This goes to show why it is that a person thinking on the level of the senses supposes that his life is derived entirely from the world and the natural order, that there is no hell nor any heaven, and finally that there is no God. As a consequence he derides everything of the Church so far as he himself is concerned but is all in favour of it so far as the simple are concerned, as the means in addition to laws to keep them in check.

[5] From all this people may know what is meant by a situation in which external things prevail and not at the same time internal ones, and that when external things prevail a person feels indifferent towards what belongs to heaven or what belongs to the Lord and sees it in only dim light. They may also know who exactly in the world are the intelligent and wise, namely those who are governed by the Church's truth and good because they are recipients of wisdom from heaven, and who exactly are the stupid and foolish, namely those who are not governed by the Church's truth or good because the world is their only source of knowledge. And those among them who use worldly knowledge to set themselves firmly against the Church's truth and good are more foolish and stupid than the rest, no matter how much they suppose themselves to excel others in intelligence and wisdom and call people simple if they lead a good life based on the truths taught by doctrine. But such people's simplicity is wisdom in angels' eyes; and after death they are raised by the Lord into angelic wisdom.

[6] The Lord also teaches that this is so, in Matthew,

Therefore I speak in parables, because those who see do not see, and those who hear do not hear, nor do they understand. Matthew 13:13-14.

In John,

I will send the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. Yet a little while, the world will see Me no longer. John 14:17, 19.

The world's inability to receive the Spirit of truth 'because it neither sees Him nor knows Him' means that it will not acknowledge the Lord with faith in the heart, because external things belonging to the world will obscure [Him]. This being so, is there anyone at the present day who worships Him as the Lord of the whole of heaven and of earth, Matthew 28:18? Yet all who are in heaven, and so with whom internal things prevail, see the Lord as their only God.