9815. 'For glorious adornment' means in order to display Divine Truth as it exists in its inward form and its outward form in the spiritual kingdom lying adjacent to the celestial kingdom. This is clear from the meaning of 'glory' as Divine Truth, dealt with in the Preface to Genesis 18, and in 5922, 9429; and from the meaning of 'adornment' too as Divine Truth, but as it exists in its outward form. For the splendour and beauty of Divine Truth as they appear in outward things are meant by 'adornment'. So it is that the Word as to its internal sense is described as 'glory', but as to its external sense, in respect of the splendour and beauty which the internal imparts to it, is described as 'adornment'. Consequently the spiritual heaven, meant here by the holy garments that were 'for glorious adornment', is the glory, insofar as Divine Truth in its inward form is present there; and it is the adornment too, insofar as Divine Truth in its outward form is also present there.

[2] Something similar is meant by 'adornment' in the following places: In Jeremiah,

In His anger the Lord covers the daughter of Zion with a cloud. He has cast down from heaven to earth the adornment of Israel, and does not remember His footstool. Lamentations 2:1.

'The daughter of Zion' stands for the celestial Church, 'the adornment of Israel' for the spiritual Church, which is called 'the adornment' by virtue of the splendour and beauty of truth. Something similar occurs in Isaiah,

I have caused My righteousness to draw near, it is not far off, and My salvation will not delay. I will give salvation in Zion, My adornment to Israel. Isaiah 46:13.

In the same prophet,

Look out from heaven, from the dwelling-place of Your holiness and of Your adornment. Isaiah 63:15.

'The dwelling-place of holiness' stands for the celestial kingdom, and 'the dwelling-place of adornment' for the spiritual kingdom. In Daniel,

There came out one small-sized horn, and it grew exceedingly towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the adornment. ¹ Daniel 8:9.

And elsewhere in the same prophet,

The king of the north too will stand in the land of adornment ¹ with destruction in his hand; ² and when he comes into the land of adornment ¹ many will collapse. Daniel 11:16, 41.

'The land of adornment' stands for the Lord's Church where God's truth or the Word is.

Poznámky pod čarou:

2776. 'Offer him as a burnt offering' means that He was to sanctify Himself to the Divine. This is clear from the representation of 'a burnt offering' among the Hebrew nation, and in the Jewish Church, as the holiest act of their worship. There were burnt offerings and there were sacrifices, and as regards what these represented, see 922, 923, 1823, 2180. Sanctifications were effected by means of burnt offerings and sacrifices, and that is why in this verse 'offering a burnt offering' means being sanctified to the Divine. For the Lord sanctified Himself to the Divine, that is, He united the Human to the Divine by means of the conflicts brought about by temptations, and by means of the victories in these, see 1663, 1690, 1692 (end), 1692, 1737, 1787, 1812, 1813, 1820.

[2] It is generally believed at the present day that the burnt offerings and sacrifices were signs of the Lord's passion, and that by His passion the Lord atoned for the iniquities of all. Indeed it is believed that He drew away those iniquities on to Himself, and thus bore them Himself, so that those who believe are made righteous and are saved, if only they think, even in the last hour prior to death, that the Lord suffered on their behalf, no matter how they may have lived throughout the whole course of their lives. But such beliefs are mistaken. The passion of the Cross was the utmost degree of temptation endured by the Lord, by means of which He fully united the Human to the Divine and the Divine to the Human, and by doing this glorified Himself. That union itself is the means by which people possessing faith in Him that is grounded in charity are able to be saved. For the Supreme Divine Itself was no longer able to reach the human race which had removed itself so far away from the celestial things of love, and from the spiritual things of faith, that people did not even recognize them any more, let alone perceive them. Consequently to enable the Supreme Divine to come down to all such as this, the Lord came into the world and united the Human to the Divine within Himself. This union could not have been effected except by means of the very severe conflicts brought about by temptations and by means of victories in these, and at length by means of the final temptation, which was that of the Cross.

[3] As a result of this the Lord is able from the Divine Human to enlighten human minds, even those that are quite remote from the celestial things of love, provided that faith grounded in charity is present in them. For in the next life the Lord appears to celestial angels as the Sun, and to spiritual angels as the Moon, 1053, 1521, 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495 - all the light of heaven flowing from Him. The light of heaven is such that when it enlightens the eyes of spirits and angels it also at the same time enlightens their understanding. This ability to enlighten the understanding also exists inherently within that light, so that the amount of internal light, that is, of understanding, which anyone possesses in heaven is the same as the amount of external light he has. This shows the way in which the light of heaven is different from the light of the world. It is the Lord's Divine Human that enlightens both the eyes and the understanding of those who are spiritual, but this could never be done unless the Lord had united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence. And unless He had united them neither men in the world, nor indeed any spiritual angel in heaven, would any longer have possessed any ability to understand or to perceive that which is good or true. Nor thus would they have possessed any blessedness and happiness at all, nor consequently any salvation at all. From this it becomes clear that the human race could not have been saved unless the Lord had assumed the Human and glorified it.

[4] From what has now been stated anyone may decide for himself the truth or otherwise of the idea that people are saved, no matter how they may have lived, if only they think from some inner emotion that the Lord suffered on their behalf and bore their sins. But in reality the light of heaven received from the Lord's Divine Human is able to reach none except those with whom there exists the good that accompanies faith, that is, who lead charitable lives, or what amounts to the same, who possess conscience. The level itself into which that light can operate, that is, the receptacle for that light, is the good that accompanies faith, which is charity and thus conscience. That those who are spiritual have salvation from the Lord's Divine Human, see 1043, 2661, 2716, 2718.