937. That "Moses" signifies the Word of the Old Testament can be seen from certain passages in the Word in which he is mentioned. But in some passages "Moses" means the law in the strictest sense, which is the law given from Mount Sinai; in others, the law in a broader sense, which is the historical Word; while here the Word of the Old Testament, both historical and prophetical, is meant. "Moses" signifies the Word because the Ten Commandments, and afterwards the Five Books, which were the first part of the Word, were not from him but from the Lord through him. That Moses is mentioned instead of the law and the Word, is evident from the following passages. In Luke:
Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. If they hear not Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded if one should rise from the dead (Luke 16:29, 31).
Here "Moses and the prophets" have a like meaning as the "law and the prophets" elsewhere, namely, the historical and prophetical Word. In the same:
Jesus, beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, interpreted in all the Scriptures the things that pertained to Himself (Luke 24:27).
In the same:
All things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms concerning Me (Luke 24:44)
In John:
Philip said, We have found Jesus, of whom Moses in the law did write (John 1:45).
In the same:
In the law Moses commanded us (John 8:5).
In Daniel:
The curse hath flowed down upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us (Daniel 9:11, 13).
In Joshua:
Joshua wrote upon the stone of the altar a copy of the law of Moses (Joshua 8:32).
In John:
Moses gave to you the law. Moses gave you the circumcision. If a man receive circumcision on the sabbath, that the law of Moses might not be broken (John 7:19, 22, 33).
In Mark:
Moses hath said, Honor thy father and thy mother (Mark 7:10).
[2] That which was from the Lord through Moses was attributed to Moses because of the representation; therefore the terms "the law of Moses" and "the law of the Lord" are both used in Luke:
When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought Him up to Jerusalem, (as it is written in the law of the Lord, that every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord), that they might offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons (Luke 2:22-24, 39).
[3] Because Moses represented the law it was permitted him to come into the presence of the Lord on Mount Sinai, and not only to receive there the Tables of the Law, but also to hear the statutes and judgments of the law, and command them to the people; and it is added, that they might therefore believe in Moses forever:
Jehovah said unto Moses, Lo, I will come unto thee in the mist of a cloud, that the people may hear when I shall speak unto thee, and may also believe in thee forever (Exodus 19:9).
It is said "in the mist of a cloud," because a "cloud" signifies the Word in the letter. So when Moses came into the presence of the Lord on Mount Sinai:
He entered into the cloud (Exodus 20:21; 24:2, 18; 34:2-5).
(That "cloud" signifies the sense of the letter of the Word see above, n. 36, 594, 905, 906.)
[4] Because Moses represented the Lord as to the law or the Word, therefore:
When he came down from Mount Sinai the skin of his face shone; therefore when he spoke with the people he put a veil over his face (Exodus 34:28-35).
"The shining of the face" signified the internal of the law, for that is in the light of heaven. He veiled his face when he spoke with the people because the internal of the Word was covered and thus obscured to that people to protect them from anything of its light.
[5] Because Moses represented the Lord as to the historical Word, and Elijah the Lord as to the prophetical Word, when the Lord was transfigured Moses and Elijah were seen talking with Him (Matthew 17:3). When the Lord's Divine was manifested in the world, only those who signified the Word could talk with the Lord, because discourse with the Lord is by means of the Word. (That Elijah represented the Lord as to the Word, see n. 624.)
[6] Because Moses and Elijah taken together represented the Word, where Elijah is spoken of as the one sent before the Lord, both are mentioned, in Malachi:
Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, the statutes and the judgments. Lo, I send to you Elijah the prophet, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes (Malachi 4:4-6).
Elijah the prophet means John the Baptist; because he, like Elijah, represented the Word (See above, n. 624, 724).
