137. It says in John,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word: all things were made by means of him, and without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of humankind. He was in the world, and the world was made by means of him. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory. (John 1:1, 3-4, 10, 14)

It is clear that the Lord is the one who is meant by "the Word," since it says that the Word was made flesh. Precisely what is meant by "the Word," though, is not yet known and must therefore be stated. The Word in this passage is the divine truth that is in the Lord and from the Lord, ¹ so here it is also called the light, which is divine truth, as has been shown earlier in this chapter. Now we need to explain the statement that all things were made and created by means of divine truth.

[2] In heaven, it is divine truth that possesses all power, and apart from it there is no power whatever. ² All angels are called "powers" because of divine truth, and are powers to the extent that they are recipients or vessels of it. Through it they prevail over the hells and over all who oppose them. A thousand enemies there cannot bear one ray of heavenly light, which is divine truth. Since angels are angels because of their acceptance of divine truth, it follows that all heaven is from this source and no other, since heaven is made up of angels.

[3] People cannot believe that this kind of power is inherent in divine truth if the only concept of truth they have has to do with thought or speech, which have no power in them except to the extent that other people concede it by being obedient. There is an intrinsic power within divine truth, though, power of such nature that by means of it heaven, the world, and everything in them was created.

We can illustrate the fact that this kind of power is inherent in divine truth by two comparisons - by the power of what is true and good in us, and by the power of light and warmth from the sun in our world.

By the power of what is true and good in us: Everything we do, we do out of our discernment and intent. Out of our intent, we act by means of what is good, and out of our discernment by means of what is true. In fact, all the elements of our volition are related to what is good, and all the elements of our discernment are related to what is true. ³ On this basis, then, we set our whole body in motion and a thousand things there rush to do our bidding of their own accord. We can see from this that our whole body is formed for obedience to what is good and true and therefore from what is good and true.

[4] By the power of light and warmth from the sun in our world: Everything that grows in our world - things like trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses, fruits, and seeds - arises only by means of the warmth and light of the sun. So we can see what kind of productive power is inherent in that warmth and light. What about the divine light that is divine truth, then, and the divine warmth that is divine good, the source from which heaven comes into being and consequently the world as well, since as we have shown above, it is through heaven that the world comes into being?

This enables us to determine how to understand the statement that all things were made by means of the Word, and that without him nothing was made that was made, and further that the world was made by means of him, namely that this was accomplished by means of divine truth from the Lord. ⁴

This is also why in the book of creation it first mentions light and then the things that arise from light (Genesis 1:3-4). It is also why everything in all heaven and earth has to do with what is good and true and to their union if it is to be anything at all. ⁵

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10121. Verses 36-46 And a young bull of sin [offering] you shall offer daily at ¹ propitiations. And you shall cleanse from sin on the altar when you make propitiation on it; and you shall anoint it to sanctify it. Seven days you shall make propitiation on the altar, and sanctify it. And the altar shall be the holy of holies ² ; everyone touching the altar will be sanctified. And this is what you shall offer on the altar: Two lambs, the sons of a year, ³ each day - a continual [offering]. You shall offer one lamb in the morning, and you shall offer the other lamb between the evenings, and a tenth [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with beaten oil, a quarter of a hin, and a drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine, for the first lamb. And you shall offer the second lamb between the evenings; according to the morning minchah and according to its drink offering you shall do for it, for an odour of rest, a fire offering to Jehovah, a continual burnt offering throughout ⁴ your generations at the door of the tent of meeting before Jehovah, where I will meet with you to speak to you there. And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and it will be sanctified in My glory. And I will sanctify the tent of meeting and the altar, and Aaron and his sons [I will sanctify], to serve Me in the priestly office. And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and I will be their God. And they will recognize that I am Jehovah their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell in their midst; I am Jehovah their God.

'And a young bull of sin [offering] you shall offer daily at propitiations' means the continuous removal of evils and consequently of falsities in the natural man by means of the good of innocence from the Lord. 'And you shall cleanse from sin on the altar' means purification from evils in heaven and in the Church. 'When you make propitiation on it' means the resulting ability to receive good from the Lord. 'And you shall anoint it' means consecration to represent the Divine Good of Love from the Lord as He exists in heaven and in the Church. 'To sanctify it' means thus the Lord there. 'Seven days you shall make propitiation on the altar' means the completeness of the influx into heaven and into the Church. 'And sanctify it' means in order to receive the Lord. 'And the altar shall be the holy of holies' means the celestial kingdom, where the Lord is present in the good of love. 'Everyone touching the altar will be sanctified' means whoever receives what is Divine and the Lord's. 'And this is what you shall offer on the altar' means that which has regard in general to reception of the Lord in heaven and in the Church. 'Lambs, the sons of a year, each day' means the good of innocence in every state. 'A continual [offering]' means within all Divine worship. 'You shall offer one lamb in the morning' means the removal of evils by means of the good of innocence from the Lord in a state of love and consequently of light in the internal man. 'And you shall offer the other lamb between the evenings' means a similar removal of evils in a state of light and love in the external man. 'And a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with beaten oil, a quarter of a hin' means spiritual good derived from celestial good, the amount needed for a joining together. 'And a drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine' means spiritual truth, the amount needed for a joining together. 'For the first lamb' means this [good and truth] in the internal man. 'And you shall offer the second ram between the evenings' means the removal of evils by means of the good of innocence from the Lord in a state of love and consequently of light in the external man. 'According to the morning minchah and according to its drink offering you shall do for it' means spiritual good derived from celestial good, and its truth, the amount needed for a joining together. 'For an odour of rest' means the perception of peace. 'A fire offering to Jehovah' means springing from the Lord's Divine Love. 'A continual burnt offering' means all Divine worship in general. 'Throughout your generations' means what is everlasting in the Church. 'At the door of the tent' means the joining together of good and truth. 'Before Jehovah' means from the Lord. 'Where I will meet with you to speak to you there' means His presence and influx. 'And there I will meet with the children of Israel' means the Lord's presence in the Church. 'And it will be sanctified in My glory' means reception of Divine Truth from the Lord. 'And I will sanctify the tent of meeting' means reception of the Lord in the lower heavens. 'And the altar' means reception of what is Divine from the Lord in the higher heavens. 'And Aaron and his sons [I will sanctify], to serve Me in the priestly office' means that which is representative of the Lord in both groups of heavens in respect of the work of salvation. 'And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel' means the Lord's presence and His influx through good in heaven and in the Church. 'And I will be their God' means the Lord's presence and His influx into truth in the Church. 'And they will recognize that I am Jehovah their God' means perception that the Lord is the source of all good and all truth. 'Who brought them out of the land of Egypt' means salvation from hell by the Lord. 'That I may dwell in their midst' means what is Divine and the Lord's, which is the All in all of heaven and of the Church. 'I am Jehovah their God' means the source of all the good of love and truth of faith.

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