49. Verse 26 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and they will have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, ¹ and over the beasts, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

To people in the Most Ancient Church with whom the Lord spoke face to face, the Lord appeared as Man. (Much can be told about those people, but this is not the time to do so.) For this reason they called nobody man except the Lord and whatever may have been His. They did not even call themselves man, but only the things which they perceived that they had from the Lord, such as every good stemming from love and every truth of faith. These things were said to be human because they were the Lord's.

[2] In the Prophets therefore, in the highest sense, 'man' and 'son of man' are used to mean the Lord. In the internal sense they are used to mean wisdom and intelligence, and so everyone who is regenerate, as in Jeremiah,

I looked to the earth, and behold, a void and an emptiness, and towards the heavens, and behold, they had no light. I looked, and behold there was no man; and all the birds of the air ¹ had fled. Jeremiah 4:23, 25.

In Isaiah where in the internal sense 'man' means a regenerate person, the Lord Himself as the One Man is meant in the highest sense,

Thus said Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and He who formed him, It was I that made the earth and it was I that created man upon it; My hands stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. Isaiah 45:11-13

[3] The Lord was therefore seen by the Prophets as Man, for example by Ezekiel,

Above the firmament in appearance like a sapphire stone there was the likeness of a throne, and above the likeness of a throne, there was a likeness, as the appearance of a Man upon it above. Ezekiel 1:26.

And the One whom Daniel saw was called 'a Son of Man', or what amounts to the same, Man,

I looked, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like the Son of Man was coming; and He came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and kingdom; and all peoples, nations, and languages will serve Him. His dominion is the dominion of an age, which will not pass away, and His kingdom one that will not perish. Daniel 7:13-14.

[4] Moreover the Lord quite often calls Himself the Son of Man or Man, and, as is done in Daniel, foretells His entry into glory,

They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and glory. Matthew 24:23, 30.

The literal sense of the Word is called 'the clouds of heaven', its internal sense 'power and glory'. The internal sense, in every single detail, focuses exclusively on the Lord and His kingdom. Consequently it is the spiritual sense which contains power and glory.

Poznámky pod čarou:

347. "Till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads." This symbolically means, before those people were separated who were governed by truths springing from goodness from the Lord, thus who were inwardly good.

Sealing them on the foreheads does not mean to seal them there actually, but to distinguish and separate people who are impelled by the goodness of love from the Lord; for the forehead symbolizes the goodness of love. They are people who are governed by truths springing from goodness from the Lord, because these are the kind of people meant by servants of God (no. 3).

The forehead symbolizes the goodness of love because the face images a person's affections, and the forehead is the highest part of the face. Just underneath the forehead is the brain, from which originates everything connected with the person's life.

Because the forehead symbolizes love - a good love in the case of good people, and an evil love in the case of evil people - therefore to seal them on the foreheads means, symbolically, to distinguish and separate one from the other according to their love.

The like is symbolically meant in Ezekiel:

Go through... the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men who groan... over... the abominations... (Ezekiel 9:4-6)

[2] Since the forehead symbolizes love, therefore regarding the plate on Aaron's turban which had "Holiness to Jehovah" engraved on it, we read that it was on the front of the turban, so as to be on Aaron's forehead, and to be always on Aaron's forehead, that the people might find favor before Jehovah (Exodus 28:36-38). And it was also commanded that the words, "You shall love your God with all your heart and with all your soul," be on the hand and on the forehead (Deuteronomy 6:5, 8; 11:18); that they have the name of the Father written on their foreheads (Revelation 14:1), and the name of God and of the Lamb on their foreheads (Revelation 22:4).

It should be known that the Lord views angels by looking upon their foreheads, and they in turn view the Lord with their eyes. The reason is that the Lord regards all in accordance with the goodness of their love, and wills that they in turn regard Him in accordance with the truths of wisdom, so as to bring about a conjunction.

[3] In an opposite sense the forehead in the following instances symbolizes an evil love: people who have the mark of the beast on their foreheads (Revelation 13:16; 14:9; 20:4); and also people with the name of Babylon on their foreheads (Revelation 17:5). The forehead of a woman who is a harlot (Jeremiah 3:3). People having an obstinate forehead and a hard heart (Ezekiel 3:7-8).

...you were obstinate..., and your forehead was bronze... (Isaiah 48:4)