9820. 'To sanctify him' means that a representative sign of the Divine Truth in that kingdom will therefore exist. This is clear from the meaning of 'being sanctified' or 'being made holy' as being endowed with Divine Truth from the Lord. For in the Word Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is called 'Holy', because the Lord alone is Holy, as therefore is whatever emanates from Him, see 9680. So it is that the Holy [Influence] emanating from Him is called the Holy Spirit, as has been shown just above in 9818, regarding which see also the matters brought forward in the places referred to in 9229.

[2] From this it is evident what to understand when the adjective 'holy' is applied to the words 'angels', 'prophets', and 'apostles' - to 'angels' in Matthew 25:31; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; to 'prophets' in Revelation 16:6; 18:24; and to 'apostles' in Revelation 18:20. They were holy not by virtue of anything their own, only by virtue of what was the Lord's. Angels are called holy because they are recipients of Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, for which reason they mean in the Word God's truths, and in general something that is the Lord's, 1925, 2821, 4085, 4295. But prophets are called holy because the Word, which is Divine Truth, and in particular teachings drawn from the Word, is meant by them, 2534, 3652, 7269; and apostles because every truth of faith and good of love in their entirety are meant by them, 3488, 3858 (end), 6397.

[3] The fact that Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is Holiness itself, thus is the Lord who is its Source, is clear from a large number of places in the Word, of which for now let just the following words of the Lord in John be quoted,

Father, make them holy in Your truth; Your Word is truth. For their sakes I make Myself holy, that they also may be made holy in the truth. John 17:17, 19.

From this it is evident that the Lord is the One who makes man, spirit, and angel holy, for He alone is Holy, Revelation 15:4, and that they are holy in the measure that they receive the Lord, that is, in the measure that they receive from Him the power to believe in Him and to love Him.

3898. What these words embody no one can know except from the teaching of the internal sense - such as the prediction that false Christs will arise who will show great signs and wonders; the command that they should not go out if they were told that Christ was in the wilderness, and that they should not believe it if they were told that He was in the inner rooms; the declaration that the coming of the Son of Man will be like lightning which comes from the east and is seen as far as the west; and also the comment that where the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. These various statements - like those that come before and those that follow them in this chapter - do not seem, in the sense of the letter, to have any connection with one another. But in the internal sense there is a most wonderful flow of ideas, and this starts to be seen when one understands what is meant by 'false Christs', by 'great signs and wonders', by 'the wilderness' and 'the inner rooms', also by 'the coming of the Son of Man', and lastly by 'the carcass' and 'the eagles'.

[2] The Lord's reason for speaking in this manner was that people should not understand the Word in case they profaned it; for once the Church had been destroyed, as it had been at that time among the Jews, people would have profaned the Word if they had understood it. This was also why the Lord spoke in parables, as He himself teaches in Matthew 13:13-15; Mark 4:11-12; Luke 8:10. For the Word cannot be profaned by those who have no knowledge of its mysteries, only by those who do, see 301-303, 593, 1008, 1010, 1059, 1327, 1328, 2051, 3398, 3402; and more so by those who consider themselves learned than by those who consider themselves unlearned.

[3] But the reason why the interior contents of the Word are being disclosed at the present time is that the Church today has been so much vastated, that is, is so devoid of faith and love, that although people know and understand they still do not acknowledge, let alone believe, see 3398, 3399 - with the exception of a few who lead a good life and are called the elect. Among these few who are now able to be taught the new Church is to be established. But where those few are the Lord alone knows. Few of these will be inside the Church. In the past it has been the gentiles among whom new Churches have been established, see 2986.