270. Having seven horns. This symbolizes the Lord's omnipotence.

The Word often mentions horns, and a horn everywhere symbolizes power. Consequently, when a horn is mentioned in connection with the Lord, it symbolizes omnipotence. Seven horns are specified, because seven symbolizes all (no. 10), thus all power or omnipotence.

That a horn symbolizes power, and when mentioned in connection with the Lord, omnipotence, can be seen from the following passages:

You who rejoice over nothing, who say, "Have we not taken horns for ourselves by our own strength?" (Amos 6:13)

I said... to the wicked, "Do not lift up the horn. Do not lift up your horn on high...." All the horns of the wicked I will cut off; the horns of the righteous shall be exalted. (Psalms 75:4-5, 10)

Jehovah... has exalted the horn of your adversaries. (Lamentations 2:17)

The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken... (Jeremiah 48:25)

...you have pushed with side and shoulder, and struck all the weak sheep with your horns... (Ezekiel 34:21)

(Jehovah) has exalted the horn of His people... (Psalms 148:14)

(Jehovah God of hosts,) the glory of their strength..., He has exalted our horn. (Psalms 89:17)

The brightness (of Jehovah God) will be like the light; He will have horns ¹ coming from His hand, and the hiding of His power there. (Habakkuk 3:4)

...My arm shall strengthen (David)..., and in My name his horn shall be exalted. (Psalms 89:21, 24)

...Jehovah, my strength..., my rock...(my) horn... (Psalms 18:1-2, cf. 2 Samuel 22:3)

Arise..., O daughter of Zion; for I will make your horn iron..., that you may break in pieces many peoples. (Micah 4:13)

(The Lord) has destroyed in His wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah..., (and) He has cut off... every horn of Israel. (Lamentations 2:2-3)

Powers are also symbolized by the horns of the dragon in Revelation 12:3; by the horns of the beast rising up out of the sea in Revelation 13:1; by the horns of the scarlet beast upon which the woman sat in Revelation 17:3, 7, 12; by the horns of the ram and the goat in Daniel 8:3-12, 20-22. The last symbolized the power of Divine truth in the church. And conversely, that that power would perish, by the horns of the altars in Bethel, in Amos:

...I will visit punishment on the transgressions of Israel, I will visit destruction on the altars of Bethel, so that the horns of the altar are cut off and fall to the ground. (Amos 3:14)

Poznámky pod čarou:

10578. 'And He said, You cannot see My face' means that things which are interior and Divine in the Church, worship, and the Word cannot be revealed to the Israelite nation. This is clear from the meaning of 'Jehovah's face' as things that are interior and Divine in the Church, worship, and the Word, dealt with above in 10567, 10568; and from the meaning of 'seeing' them as the revelation of them. The impossibility of their being revealed to the Israelite nation is clear from the consideration that Jehovah's words are addressed to Moses, and Moses here represents the head of the Israelite nation, 10556. The meaning of 'Jehovah's face' as things that are interior and Divine in the Word, the Church, and worship is also evident from the consideration that 'Jehovah's face' has a similar meaning to 'Jehovah's glory', since Moses said, 'Cause me, I beg You, to see Your glory', and Jehovah replied, 'You cannot see My face'; and 'Jehovah's glory' means things that are interior and Divine in the Word, the Church, and worship, see above in 10574.

[2] The situation with all this may be recognized from what has often been stated before, to the effect that the Israelite nation was not at all able to see the interior things of worship, the Church, and the Word because their interest lay in external things separated from what was internal, and so they were incapable of seeing Jehovah's face, either. But all those whose interest in external things does not exclude what is internal see the interior things of the Word, the Church, and worship, and so see Jehovah's face. From this it follows that those governed by love to the Lord and also those governed by charity towards the neighbour see them; for love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour open the internal man, and when this has been opened a person is, on the level of his interiors, in heaven among angels where the Lord is.

[3] But a brief statement of what love to the Lord or loving the Lord is must be made here. Anyone who supposes that he can love the Lord without leading a life in keeping with His commandments is very much mistaken; for leading a life in keeping with them is what constitutes loving the Lord. Those commandments are truths received from the Lord, and so are such as have the Lord within them. To the extent therefore that those commandments are loved, that is, to the extent that a person is inspired by love to lead a life in keeping with them, the Lord is loved. The reason why this should be so is that the Lord loves the person and in His love desires him to be eternally blessed; and no one can become blessed except through a life led in keeping with His commandments. For by means of these the person is being regenerated and made spiritual, and can then be raised to heaven. But loving the Lord without leading a life in keeping with His commandments does not constitute loving Him, for then the person has nothing within him into which the Lord can flow and raise him to Himself. He is like an empty vessel, in that there is no life at all in his faith, nor any life at all in his love. The life of heaven, called eternal life, is not poured into anyone directly but through some agency. From all this it may be recognized what loving the Lord is, and also what seeing the Lord or His face is, namely seeing Him with that kind of faith and love.

[4] Leading a life in keeping with the Lord's commandments consists in leading a life in keeping with the teachings about charity and faith, which you can see in the preliminary sections to each of the chapters of the Book of Exodus. The Lord Himself also teaches in John that this is what it consists in,

He who has My commandments and does them, he it is who loves Me. But he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. If anyone loves Me he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words. John 14:21, 23-24.

What more is meant by 'Jehovah's face' will be stated in the paragraph immediately below.