79. There are many passages in the prophets about our understanding of the Word, passages about the church, where it tells us that the church exists only where the Word is properly understood, and that the quality of a church depends on the quality of the understanding of the Word among its members. There are also many passages in the prophets that describe the church among the Israelite and Jewish people, a church that was utterly destroyed and annihilated by the distortion of the Word’s meaning or message, for this is exactly what destroys a church.

[2] The name Ephraim in the prophets, especially in Hosea, symbolizes both true and false understandings of the Word, because Ephraim in the Word means the understanding of the Word in the church. It is because the understanding of the Word makes a church that Ephraim is called “a precious child, and one born of delights” (Jeremiah 31:20), “the firstborn” (Jeremiah 31:9), “the strength of Jehovah’s head” (Psalms 60:7; 108:8), “powerful” (Zechariah 10:7), and “filled with a bow” (Zechariah 9:13); and the children of Ephraim are called “armed” and “bow-shooters” (Psalms 78:9). The bow means a body of teaching from the Word fighting against what is false.

So too, Ephraim was transferred to the right of Israel and blessed, and accepted in place of Reuben (Genesis 48:5, 11, and following; [1 Chronicles 5:1]). And therefore Ephraim, together with his brother Manasseh, was exalted over all by Moses in his blessing of the children of Israel in the name of their father Joseph (Deuteronomy 33:13-17).

[3] The prophets, especially Hosea, also use “Ephraim” to describe what the church is like when its understanding of the Word has been lost, as we can see from the following:

Israel and Ephraim will stumble. Ephraim will be desolate. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment. I will be like a lion to Ephraim: I will tear them and leave; I will carry them off and no one will rescue them. (Hosea 5:5, 9, 11, 14)

What shall I do to you, Ephraim? Your holiness goes away like a cloud at dawn and like the morning dew that falls. (Hosea 6:4)

[4] They will not dwell in the land of Jehovah: Ephraim will go back to Egypt and will eat what is unclean in Assyria. (Hosea 9:3)

The land of Jehovah is the church, Egypt is the preoccupation of the earthly self with mere facts, and Assyria is rationalizing based on those facts; all of which lead to distortion of the Word in regard to the way it is understood. That is why it says that Ephraim will go back to Egypt and will eat what is unclean in Assyria.

[5] Ephraim feeds on the wind and chases the east wind. Every day he increases lies and devastation. He makes a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried down into Egypt. (Hosea 12:1)

To feed on the wind, chase the east wind, and increase lies and devastation is to distort what is true and in this way destroy the church.

[6] Much the same is also meant by Ephraim’s whoredom, since whoredom means distortion of the way the Word is understood - that is, distortion of its genuine truth. See the following passages:

I know Ephraim; he has committed whoredom in every way and Israel has been defiled. (Hosea 5:3)

I have seen something foul in the house of Israel: Ephraim has committed whoredom there, and Israel has been defiled. (Hosea 6:10)

Israel is the church itself and Ephraim is the understanding of the Word that is the source of the church and that determines its quality, so it says that Ephraim has committed whoredom and Israel has been defiled.

[7] Since the church among Jews had been completely destroyed because of its distortions, it says of Ephraim,

Am I to give you up, Ephraim? Am I to hand you over, Israel? Like Admah? Shall I make you like Zeboiim? (Hosea 11:8)

Since the book of the prophet Hosea, from the first chapter to the last, is about the distortion of the Word and the consequent destruction of the church, and since whoredom means the distortion of truth in the church, the prophet was commanded to represent that state of the church by taking a whore as his wife and fathering children by her (chapter 1); and also by forming a relationship with a woman who was committing adultery (chapter 3).

[8] These instances have been presented so that readers may know and be assured from the Word that the quality of a church depends on the quality of the understanding of the Word in it - outstanding and priceless if its understanding comes from genuine truths from the Word, but in ruins, actually filthy, if it comes from distortions.

For further evidence that Ephraim means the understanding of the Word, and in its opposite sense a distorted understanding leading to the destruction of the church, you may check some other passages that deal with Ephraim: Hosea 4:17-18; 7:1, 11; 8:9, 11; 9:11-13, 16; 10:11; 11:3; 12:1, 8, 14; 13:1, 8, 14; Isaiah 17:3; 28:1; Jeremiah 4:15; 31:6, 18; 50:19; Ezekiel 37:16; 48:5; Obadiah verse 19; Zechariah 9:10.

9926. 'And his voice will be heard' means the inflow of truth among those in heaven and those on earth. This is clear from the meaning of 'being heard' as reception and perception, dealt with in 5017, 5471, 5475, 7216, 8361, 9311, and therefore also an inflowing, since things that are received and perceived must flow in; and from the meaning of 'voice' - when Aaron, who represents the Lord, is the subject - as Divine Truth, dealt with in 8813. For 'voice' means the declaration of that truth; and because the declaration is meant, truth among those in heaven and those on earth is meant. Divine Truth fills all things of heaven, and composes all things of the Church. Such declaration was represented by the 'voice' or sound made by the bells of gold when Aaron 'went into the holy place before Jehovah, and when he came out', as stated by the words that immediately follow in the present verse.

[2] The fact that 'voice' in the Word means Divine Truth that is heard and perceived in heaven and on earth is clear from the following places: In David,

The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters; the voice of Jehovah is powerful; the voice of Jehovah is majestic; the voice of Jehovah breaks the cedars; the voice of Jehovah strikes as a flame of fire; the voice of Jehovah causes the wilderness to shake; the voice of Jehovah causes the hinds to calve. But in His temple everyone says, Glory! Psalms 29:3-9.

The subject in this Psalm is the Divine Truth which destroys falsities and evils. This Divine Truth is meant by 'the voice of Jehovah', but by 'Glory' that is uttered is meant Divine Truth present in heaven and in the Church. For the meaning of 'glory' as Divine Truth, see 9429; and for that of 'temple' as heaven and the Church, 3720.

[3] In John,

He who is the Shepherd of the sheep, to him the gate-keeper opens, and the sheep hear His voice. The sheep follow Him, because they know His voice. A stranger they do not follow, because they do not know the voice of strangers. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice. But you are not of My sheep, for My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. John 10:2-5, 16, 26-27.

Here it is plainly evident that 'voice' means Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, which is the Word, 'the voice of strangers' being falsity.

[4] In Isaiah,

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of Jehovah. For the glory of Jehovah will be revealed. The voice says, Cry! Get up on to the high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings. Lift it up; [say,] Behold, the Lord Jehovih comes with might. Isaiah 40:3, 5-6, 9-10; John 1:23.

'The voice' here means the declaration from the Word, telling about the Lord's Coming, and therefore also means Divine Truth, which the Word tells. 'The wilderness' is the state of the Church then, which is so to speak in the wilderness because the Word is no longer understood. 'The glory' which will be revealed is the Word on its more internal levels, for which meaning of 'glory' see 9429. 'Jehovah' for whom the way should be prepared, and 'the Lord Jehovih' who is to come in might, is plainly the Lord, for this is what it clearly says.

[5] In Isaiah,

The voice of your watchmen, they will lift up [their] voice, when they see eye to eye that Jehovah returns to Zion. Isaiah 52:8.

'Watchmen' stands for those who search the Scriptures regarding the Lord's Coming. Their 'voice' is the Word, which is Divine Truth, their source. In Jeremiah,

He who makes the earth, by His intelligence He spreads out the heavens; when He utters His voice, ¹ there is a multitude of waters in the heavens. Jeremiah 10:12-13; 51:15-16.

'Voice' stands for Divine Truth, 'waters' for truths which are in the heavens and come from the heavens (for the meaning of 'waters' in the Word as truths, see 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 8568, 9323), as also in the Book of Revelation,

[6] ... the voice of the Son of Man as the sound of many waters. Revelation 1:15. I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters. Revelation 14:2.

And in David,

The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters, Jehovah is upon great waters. Psalms 29:3.

In Joel,

Jehovah uttered His voice before His army; for those who execute His Word are uncountable. Joel 2:11.

Here also 'voice' stands for Divine Truth, as does 'the Word' which they execute. In the same prophet,

Jehovah from Jerusalem will give forth His voice, that the heavens and the earth may be shaken. Joel 3:16.

In David,

O kingdoms of the earth, make melody to the Lord who rides above the heaven of the heaven of old. Behold, He will utter His voice, a mighty voice. ² Psalms 68:32-33.

In John,

I say to you, that the hour will come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. John 5:25.

Here, it is evident, 'the voice' means Divine Truth and therefore the Word of the Lord.

[7] In Ezekiel,

The Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice ³ of a great earthquake, Blessed is the glory of Jehovah. And [I heard] the voice ³ of the wings of the living creatures, and the voice ³ of the wheels, and the voice ³ of the great earthquake. Ezekiel 3:12-13.

And after this,

The voice ³ of the wings of the cherubs was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Shaddai when He speaks. Ezekiel 10:5.

Here also 'the voice' is Divine Truth, for by 'the cherubs' is meant the Lord's providence and watchfulness, guarding against access to Himself, or into heaven, except through the good of love, 9277 (end), 9509. 'The voice of the wings' and 'the voice of the wheels' are spiritual truths.

[8] In the present verse, in which Aaron is the subject, the sound or ring from the bells is what 'the voice' refers to. There are also places in the Word in which the sounds or blasts from trumpets, or else the sounds or peals of thunder, are called 'voices', and by these in like manner Divine Truths are meant, see 7573. Furthermore the sounds made by different types of musical instruments have a similar meaning, though those producing separate vibrating notes mean Divine Truths that are spiritual, whereas those producing notes continuing one into the next mean Divine Truths that are celestial, 418-420, 4138, 8337. From this it is evident that by the sounds or 'the voices' of the bells Divine Truths that are spiritual are meant; for Aaron's garments, and in particular the robe, which had the bells on its hem round about, represented the Lord's spiritual kingdom or heaven, 9814, 9825.

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