9433. 'From the middle of the cloud' means from the obscurity which existed before. This is clear from the meaning of 'the cloud' as the lowest level of the Word, which is obscure, comparatively so, dealt with above in 9430. 'The cloud' has this meaning because Divine Truth emanating from the Lord cannot possibly appear with the actual brightness it possesses. If it did a person would be destroyed; for his understanding would be completely blinded by the light of truth, and his will would be completely wiped out by the fire of good, so that everything composing his life would be annihilated. This explains why Divine Truth is adjusted to everyone's understanding and is covered as though by a cloud, even among angels, 6849. Among spirits that covering manifests itself as a cloud, the thick or thin texture of which is determined by the way each one receives that Truth.
[2] This is meant by the following in Isaiah,
Jehovah creates over every habitation of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a hut for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and hiding-place from deluge and rain. Isaiah 4:5-6.
'Habitation of Mount Zion' means heaven and the Church. 'Her assemblies' means forms of good and truths. 'A cloud by day', 'smoke by night', and 'a covering' mean the veiling of God's truth, thus the adjustment of it to the ability to understand it, 'the glory' over which the covering will lie meaning Divine Truth which comes from the Lord, see above in 9429. 'A hut' means the lowest level of God's truth which conceals more internal levels, the words 'will be for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge from deluge and rain' meaning in order that a person may be safe from harm.
[3] Another description of the veiling of Divine Truth occurs in David,
O Jehovah my God, You are very great! You have put on glory and honour - He who covers Himself with light, as if with a garment, who lays the beams for His upper chambers on the waters, who makes the clouds His chariot, who sets the earth on its bases in order that it may never be moved. 1
You have covered it with the deep as if with a garment. You have set a boundary in order that they may not pass over. Psalms 104:1-6, 9.
'Glory and honour' which Jehovah, that is, the Lord, has put on is Divine Truth, 9429. 'Light' with which He covers Himself, as if with a garment, is Divine Truth as it exists in heaven and in the Church; for in the Word Divine Truth is meant by 'light', see the places quoted above in 9429. 'Upper chambers' for which He lays beams on the waters are heavenly communities; and 'the waters' are truths, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 8568, 9323. 'The clouds' which He makes His chariot are the truths from which doctrinal teachings are formed, 'chariot' meaning doctrinal teachings, see 5321, 8215. 'The earth' which, it says, is set on its bases in order that it may never be moved is the Church; for 'the earth' in the Word means the Church, see the places quoted in 9325. 'The bases' on which it is set are truths on lowest levels, such as exist in the Word, in its literal sense; therefore it says 'in order that it may never be moved'. 'The deep' with which it is covered as if with a garment is factual knowledge of truth for the natural man, 6431, 8278; and from this it is evident what 'the boundary' set in order that they may not pass over is, namely the lowest level of God's truth in which interior things end and on which as their support and foundation they stand and rest, as has been stated.
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