THE EXPLANATION of Isaiah Chapter 64

(Note: Rev. Smithson's translation of the Isaiah text is appended below the explanation.)

1. O THAT You wouldst rend the heavens, that You wouldst come down, that the mountains might flow down before You!

2. As the fire kindles the stubble; as the fire causes the waters to boil: so make Your name known to Thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble before You!

3. When You didst terrible things which we did not expect; You didst come down, and the mountains flowed down before You!

4. For from eternity [men] have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen, O God, beside You, what He has done for such as hope in Him,

VERSE 1. To "rend the heavens", is to descend with power and strength: in this way "the mountains flow down", namely, those are dispersed who think that they have the victory. (Swedenborg's Notes on Isaiah, p. 154.)

That You wouldst come down. - To "come down" is predicated of Jehovah, because He is called "the Most High", or because He is said to be "on high"; but this is spoken according to appearance, since He is not in the highest parts, but in the inmost; wherefore " highest" and "inmost" have the same signification in the Word. Jehovah, or the Lord, is everywhere present, and knows all things from eternity; wherefore it cannot be said of Him that "He comes down to see", except in the literal sense only, the language of which is framed according to appearances with man; but in the internal sense it is not so, for in that sense things are exhibited, not as they are according to appearances, but as they are in themselves: wherefore, in the present case, to "come down" signifies judgment. Judgment is spoken of as taking place when evil is brought to its height; or, as it is expressed in the Word, when "it is come to its consummation", or when "iniquity is consummated." The case herein is this. All evil has its boundaries or limits as far as which it is permitted to go; but, when it is carried beyond these limits, the guilty party runs into the punishment of evil, and this both in general and in particular cases. The punishment of evil is what is then called "judgment"; and as it appears at first as if the Lord did not see or notice the existence of evil (for when man does evil with impunity, he supposes that the Lord does not regard it, but when he comes to suffer punishment, he then first thinks that the Lord sees him, yea, that the Lord punishes him), therefore it is said, according to such appearances, that "Jehovah came down to see."

Judgment, or the punishment of evil, is exhibited as taking place in the lower and lowest parts, and therefore Jehovah is said to "come down", as in David:

"Bow the heavens, O Jehovah, and come down; touch the mountains, and they shall smoke; cast forth Your lightning, and scatter them"; (Psalm 144:5, 6),

where also is described the punishment of evil, or judgment.

So in Isaiah:

"Jehovah of Hosts shall come down to fight upon Mount Zion, and upon the hill thereof." (Isaiah 31:4)

Again, in the same Prophet:

"O that You wouldst rend the heavens, that You wouldst come down that the mountains might flow down before You"; (Isaiah 64:1),

where to "come down", in like manner, denotes punishment or judgment upon evil. Arcana Coelestia 1311.

Verses 1, 3. That the mountains might flow down before You, etc. In Nahum we read similar words:

"The mountains tremble before Him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned up at His presence yea, the world and all that dwell therein." (Nahum 1:5)

"Mountains", in a good sense, signify the church where love to the Lord is, and "hills" the church in which love towards the neighbour is. The reason is, because the angels who are in love to the Lord dwell upon mountains and those who are in love to the neighbour upon hills.

When, in the place of love to the Lord, there prevails the love of self and in the place of love to the neighbour, there prevails the love of the world then these mountains are said to "tremble", and the hills to "melt"; for thus it happens in the spiritual world; not, however, with the angels who are in heaven, but with the spirits who had made to themselves [in the world of spirits] a semblance of heaven upon mountains and hills before the Last Judgment.

Since the love of self and of the world is here understood, therefore it is said that "they melt", and also that "the earth is burned up before Him, and the world and all that dwell therein", and that "His wrath is poured out like fire"; for "fire" signifies those loves, and to "melt" and to be "burned up" signifies to perish by them. Apocalypse Explained 400.

As to "mountains" and "hills", in a bad sense, and their destruction at the time of Judgment in the world of spirits, see Chapter 2:12-17, the Exposition; and what they signify, in a good sense, see in the same Chapter, verses 1-5, the Exposition.

5. You meet him that rejoices and works justice; [even those] who remember You in Your ways: behold, You art wroth, for we have sinned; the world is in sins; but we shall be saved.

Verse 5. [It does not appear that Swedenborg has quoted this verse, but from the internal sense in the margin the meaning may appear to be this - that at the period of Judgment "those who rejoice in doing justice, and who remember the Lord in His ways, will, as the "remnants", or those who escape or as the "sheep on the right hand", be saved; whereas those who notwithstanding the semblance of holiness in the external, are discovered, when the Internals are opened, to be in evils and sins will be condemned.]

6. But, we are all of us as an unclean thing, and all our, deeds of righteousness are as a menstruous cloth; and we are all withered away like a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Verse 6. [This verse is quoted by Swedenborg only in the Adversaria, or Notes; and it evidently involves, in the spiritual sense, the confession of those who at the period of Judgment in the world of spirits, can be saved, and who acknowledge that, in themselves, they are nothing but uncleanness and iniquity.]

A "menstruous cloth" signifies things unclean; specifically scientifics which do not as yet correspond to interior Truths. Arcana Coelestia 4161. See also Chapter 30:22, the Exposition.

These words, together with what is said at the end of the former verse, prove that in man [prior to regeneration] there is nothing but what is unclean and unjust, so that "all his deeds of justice [or righteousness]" are, as it were, a "menstruous cloth"; from which it is abundantly evident of what quality they are who wish to justify themselves, on which account "their sins carry them entirely away." (Swedenborg's Notes on Isaiah, p. 154.)

7. And there is none that calls upon Your name; that stirs up himself to take hold of You: wherefore You have hidden Your face from us, and You have melted us away by the hand of our iniquities.

8. But now, O Jehovah, You art our Father; we are the clay, and You our Potter; and we are all the work of Thine hands.

Verse. 7. Wherefore You have hidden Your face from us, etc. - What is meant by Jehovah "hiding His face", see Chapter live 8, the Exposition.

Verse18. That "clay" signifies the Good of which is formed the mind, or man of the church, appears also from the Word, as in Isaiah:

"But now, O Jehovah, You art our Father; we are the clay, and You our Potter; and we are all the work of Thine hands"; (Isaiah 64:8) where by "clay" is signified the man of the church himself, who is formed by the Lord; consequently, the Good of charity, which is the means of every man's formation, that is, reformation and regeneration."

So in Jeremiah:

"As the clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel"; (Jeremiah 18:6) where the signification of "clay" is similar to what it was in the preceding passage. Whether we speak of building by "clay", or of formation thereby, it amounts to the same. Arcana Coelestia 1300.

The ground and reason why the "vessel of a potter" or an "earthen vessel", signifies [in a bad sense] the false, is, because a potter is one who forms, and a vessel is what is formed; when man forms it, it is falsity; but when the Lord forms it with man, it is Truth. Hence it is that the "potter's vessel", in the Word, signifies either the false or the True, and a "potter" the former. The Lord Himself is, in the Word, called a "Potter", from the formation of man by Truths, as in the above words. Apocalypse Explained 177.

9. Be not, O Jehovah, so grievously angry, and remember not our iniquity for ever: behold! look, we beseech You; we are all of us Your people.

Verse 9. As to "anger", when it is predicated of Jehovah, see Chapter 9:12, 17, 21, the Exposition.

In the Word it is said of Jehovah that "He remembers", and that "He doth not remember", as in Isaiah 64:9, and by it is signified that in such case it is done from Mercy, whether it be preservation or deliverance; in like manner as that "He sees", "hears", "knows", that "He doth not see", ", doth not hear", and "doth not know", by which expressions also are signified compassions and non-compassions. The reason why it is so expressed is grounded in what passes in a similar way with man, and in appearance; for when man averts himself from the Lord from the Lord, as is the case when he does evil, then, because the Lord is to his back, it appears to him as if the Lord does not see him, does not hear and know him, neither remembers him, when yet this is what appertains to the man, and hence from appearance it is so expressed in the Word. But the case is changed when man turns himself to the Lord, as he does when he acts well; see the passages cited, Arcana Coelestia 9306. Everyone may know that "recollection " or "remembrance" cannot be predicated of the Lord, inasmuch as things past and future in Him are eternal, that is, are present from eternity to eternity. That to "remember", when predicated concerning the Lord, denotes to have compassion, and thus to preserve or deliver from a principle of Mercy, is manifest from the following passages:

"He has remembered His mercy and His truth toward the house of Israel." (Psalm 98:3) "Who remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endures for ever. (Psalm 136:23) Arcana Coelestia 9849.

10. The cities of Your holiness are a wilderness; Zion is a wilderness; Jerusalem a desolation.

Verse 10. These words imply that the doctrines of the church are reduced to a state in which there is no Truth, because there is no Good. What is meant by a "wilderness", see above, Chapter 35:6; 40:3, 4; 41:19 Exposition.

11. The house of our holiness and of our beauty, in which our fathers praised You, is become a burning of fire; and all our desirable things are a devastation.

12. For these things, O Jehovah, will You restrain Yourself? will You be silent? and will You so grievously afflict us?

Verse 11. The "house of holiness and of beauty", signifies the celestial and the spiritual church, - the "house of holiness" the celestial church, and of "beauty" the spiritual church; "in which our fathers praised You", signifies the worship of the ancient church; to "praise" denoting to worship, and "fathers" those who are of the ancient church. To become the "burning of fire", signifies that all the Goods of that church were turned into evil, by which the Goods were consumed, and perished; and "all our desirable things are a devastation", signifies all Truths being consumed in like manner, "desirable things", in the Word, denoting the Truths of the church. Apocalypse Explained 504.

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Isaiah Chapter 64

1. O THAT You wouldst rend the heavens, that You wouldst come down, that the mountains might flow down before You!

2. As the fire kindles the stubble; as the fire causes the waters to boil: so make Your name known to Thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble before You!

3. When You didst terrible things which we did not expect; You didst come down, and the mountains flowed down before You!

4. For from eternity [men] have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen, O God, beside You, what He has done for such as hope in Him,

5. You meet him that rejoices and works justice; [even those] who remember You in Your ways: behold, You art wroth, for we have sinned; the world is in sins; but we shall be saved.

6. But, we are all of us as an unclean thing, and all our, deeds of righteousness are as a menstruous cloth; and we are all withered away like a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

7. And there is none that calls upon Your name; that stirs up himself to take hold of You: wherefore You have hidden Your face from us, and You have melted us away by the hand of our iniquities.

8. But now, O Jehovah, You art our Father; we are the clay, and You our Potter; and we are all the work of Thine hands.

9. Be not, O Jehovah, so grievously angry, and remember not our iniquity for ever: behold! look, we beseech You; we are all of us Your people.

10. The cities of Your holiness are a wilderness; Zion is a wilderness; Jerusalem a desolation.

11. The house of our holiness and of our beauty, in which our fathers praised You, is become a burning of fire; and all our desirable things are a devastation.

12. For these things, O Jehovah, will You restrain Yourself? will You be silent? and will You so grievously afflict us?

177. As earthen vessels shall they be shivered, signifies the total dispersion of falsities. This is evident from the signification of "earthen vessels," as being such things in the natural man as are from self-intelligence; and all things in the natural man that have respect to the things of heaven and the church and which are from self-intelligence are falsities (of which presently). It is evident also from the signification of being "shivered," as being to be dispersed; "to disperse" is said of falsities, as "to shiver" is said of earthen vessels. That "earthen vessels" signify the things in the natural man that are from self-intelligence in matters of heaven and the church, and that these things are falsities, will be shown in what follows; something must first be said to show that the things that have respect to heaven and the church that gain entrance by self-intelligence are falsities.

Those who think from self-intelligence think from the world; for man, from his proprium [what is his own] loves only the things of the world and of self, and what he loves he also sees and perceives; the things he loves he calls goods, and the things he sees and perceives therefrom he calls truths; but these goods, which from love he so calls, are evils, and the truths which he sees from that love are falsities, since they spring forth from the loves of self and of the world, which loves are contrary to the loves of heaven, which are love to the Lord and love to the neighbor; and the things that pour forth from contraries are contraries.

[2] Those, therefore, who read the Word solely for repute of erudition, or to acquire fame that they may be exalted to honors or may gain wealth, never see and perceive truths, but falsities instead; and the truths that stand out before the eyes in the Word they either pass by as if not seen or they falsify them. The reason is, that to read the Word solely for the repute of erudition or for fame, that they may be exalted to honors and gain wealth, is to read it for the sake of self and the world as ends, thus from the loves of self and the world. And as these loves are of man's proprium [man's self] so the things that man sees and perceives from them are from self-intelligence.

[3] But those who read the Word from the spiritual affection of truth, which affection is a love of knowing truth because it is truth, see truths in the Word, and rejoice in heart when they see them; and this because they are in illustration from the Lord. Illustration descends from the Lord through heaven from the light there, which light is Divine truth. It is therefore given to them to see truths from the light of truth, and this in the Word, because the Word is Divine truth, and in it are stored up all the truths of heaven. But those only are in this illustration who are in the two loves of heaven, which are love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor; for these loves open the inner or higher mind, which is formed to receive the light of heaven, and through that mind in them the light of heaven flows in and illustrates. But so long as they live in the world they do not perceive truths in that mind, but they see them in the lower mind, the mind of the external or natural man. Such as these do not think from self-intelligence when they read the Word. The especial reason why these do not think from their self-intelligence when they read the Word is, that their interior or spiritual mind looks to the Lord, and the Lord then elevates it up to Himself, and with it the lower or natural mind, thus withdrawing it from man's proprium [man's self] which cannot be done with those who have regard first and foremost to themselves and the world.

[4] From this it can be seen that man from self-intelligence perceives nothing but evils and sees nothing but falsities; but that goods and truths that are of heaven and the church he perceives and sees from the Lord. When the internal or spiritual man, in which is the inner or higher mind of which we have just spoken, is opened, then the Lord subdues the evils and disperses the falsities which are in the external or natural man. These things, then, are what are meant in the spiritual sense by this, that the Son of man is to "give them power over the nations, and He shall rule them with an iron rod, and as earthen vessels they shall be shivered."

[5] That "earthen vessels" signify such things as are from self-intelligence, thus the falsities that are in the natural man, is evident from various passages in the Word, of which I will cite the following as confirmation. In David:

Thou shalt bruise the nations with an iron scepter; as a potter's vessel Thou shall dash them in pieces (Psalms 2:9).

In this passage also "to bruise the nations with an iron scepter" is to chastise and subdue the evils that are in the natural man. "Scepter" here has the same signification as "staff" or "rod." It is added "as a potter's vessel," because that signifies falsity from self-intelligence. In the sense of the letter this is a comparison, for it is said "as a potter's vessel," and "as earthen vessels;" but in the internal sense comparisons are not perceived as comparisons, since comparisons are equally from things significative (See Arcana Coelestia 3579, 8989.)

"A potter's vessel," or "earthen vessel," signifies what is false, because a potter is one who forms, and a vessel is what is formed; and when man forms the vessel it is a falsity, but when the Lord forms it with man it is a truth; consequently in the Word "a potter's vessel" signifies either what is false or what is true, and "a potter" signifies one who forms.

[6] The Lord Himself is called in the Word a "Potter," from His forming man by means of truths; as in Isaiah:

Jehovah our Father; we are the clay, and Thou art our Potter, and we all are the work of Thy hands (Isaiah 64:8).

In the same:

Woe unto him that striveth with the Former! a potsherd with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to its potter, What makest thou? (Isaiah 45:9).

In the same :

Shall the potter be counted as clay? Shall the work say to its Former, He made me not, and shall the thing formed say of its potter, He understandeth not? (Isaiah 29:16).

[7] As the Jews and Israelites falsified all the truths of the Word by applying them to themselves and to their own exaltation above all nations and peoples in the universal world, so their falsities are called "marred vessels" of a potter, as in Isaiah:

Who have said to the seers, See not; and to those that have vision, See not for us right things, speak unto us smooth things, see illusions; depart from the way; therefore iniquity shall break them as the breaking of the potter's bottle; in beating it shall not spare, so that there shall not be found in the fragment thereof a sherd to take fire from the hearth or to draw waters from the cistern (Isaiah 30:10-11, 13-14).

That they wholly deprived themselves of truths, and immersed themselves in falsities, is described by this, "They said to the seers, See not; and to those that have vision, See not for us right things, speak unto us smooth things, see illusions; depart from the way." That they had so immersed themselves in falsities that no more truth remained, is described by "the breaking of the potter's bottle, so that there should not be found in the fragment a sherd to take fire from the hearth or to draw waters out of the cistern." By this is signified that not enough of truth should be left to enable them to perceive any good and truth from the Word; for "fire" signifies good, and "water" truth; "hearth" the Word in respect to good; "cistern" and "fountain" the Word in respect to truth.

[8] In Jeremiah:

The word came to Jeremiah, Arise, and go down to the potter's house. Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold he wrought a work on the table. But the vessel that he was making was marred; and he turned back and made it another vessel as was right in the potter's eyes to make (Jeremiah 18:1-4).

This also means that with the Jewish nation there was nothing but falsity; and "the vessel that was marred in the potter's house" is that falsity; "the potter's house" is the state in which they were. That the truth of the church should be taken away from them and given to others, is meant by this, that "the potter turned back and made it another vessel, as was right in his eyes."

[9] In the same:

Jehovah said, Go buy a potter's earthen bottle of the elders of the people and of the elders of the priests; and go forth into the valley of the son of Hinnom. Then shalt thou break the bottle before the eyes of the men that go with thee; and shalt say, I will break this people, and this city as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury in Tophet, because there is no more a place to bury in (Jeremiah 19:1-2, 19:10-11).

"The potter's earthen bottle, or vessel, from the elders of the people and of the priests" is here also the falsity in which all of that nation were. That this falsity was such that it could not be dispersed by means of truths is described by this, that "he should break the vessel before the eyes of the men that went with him, that it could not be made whole again;" that they should "bury in Tophet, because there was no more a place," signifies where all truths and goods have been destroyed.

[10] In Nahum:

Draw thee waters for the siege; strengthen thy fortresses; go into the mire and tread the clay, repair the brick-kiln. There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off (Nahum 3:14-15).

"To draw waters for the siege and to strengthen the fortresses" is to fortify falsities by various means against truths; "to go into the mire and tread the clay" is to confirm falsities by fictions and fallacies; doctrine thence derived is called "a brick kiln," because infernal love is strengthened by falsifications; it is therefore said that "the fire shall devour, and the sword cut off;" "fire" is infernal love, and a "sword" is falsity combating and destroying truth. "A potter's vessel" or "earthen vessel" signifies falsity, because it corresponds to something fabricated, and what is fabricated is a product of man's self-intelligence; it was from this correspondence that the prophets were commanded to do such things as are mentioned above.