9372. And He said unto Moses. That this signifies that which concerns the Word in general, is evident from the representation of Moses, as being the Word (of which below); and from the signification of “He said,” as involving those things which follow in this chapter, thus those which concern the Word (see n. 9370). (That Moses represents the Word, can be seen from what has been often shown before about Moses, as from the preface to Genesis 18; and n. 4859, 5922, 6723, 6752, 6771, 6827, 7010, 7014, 7089, 7382, 8601, 8760, 8787, 8805.) Here Moses represents the Word in general, because it is said of him in what follows, that he alone should come near unto Jehovah (verse 2); and also that, being called unto out of the midst of the cloud, he entered into it, and went up the mount (verses 16-18).

[2] In the Word there are many who represent the Lord in respect to truth Divine, or in respect to the Word; but chief among them are Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and John the Baptist. That Moses does so, can be seen in the explications just cited above; that so do Elijah and Elisha, can be seen in the preface to Genesis 18; and n. 2762, 5247; and that John the Baptist does so is evident from the fact that he was “Elias who was to come.” He who does not know that John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, cannot know what all those things infold and signify which are said about him in the New Testament; and therefore in order that this secret may stand open, and that at the same time it may appear that Elias, and also Moses, who were seen when the Lord was transfigured, signified the Word, some things may here be quoted which are spoken about John the Baptist; as in Matthew:

After the messengers of John had departed, Jesus began to speak concerning John, saying, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed shaken by the wind? But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft things are in kings’ houses. But what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, even more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, Behold I send Mine angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee. Verily I say unto you, Among those who are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist; nevertheless he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he. All the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye are willing to believe, he is Elias who was to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear (Matthew 11:7-15; and also Luke 7:24-28).

No one can know how these things are to be understood, unless he knows that this John represented the Lord as to the Word, and unless he also knows from the internal sense what is signified by “the wilderness” in which he was, also what by “a reed shaken by the wind,” and likewise by “soft raiment in kings’ houses;” and further what is signified by his being “more than a prophet,” and by “none among those who are born of women being greater than he, and nevertheless he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he,” and lastly by his being “Elias.” For without a deeper sense, all these words are uttered merely from some comparison, and not from anything of weight.

[3] But it is very different when by John is understood the Lord as to the Word, or the Word representatively. Then by “the wilderness of Judea in which John was” is signified the state in which the Word was at the time when the Lord came into the world, namely, that it was “in the wilderness,” that is, it was in obscurity so great that the Lord was not at all acknowledged, neither was anything known about His heavenly kingdom; when yet all the prophets prophesied about Him, and about His kingdom, that it was to endure forever. (That “a wilderness” denotes such obscurity, see n. 2708, 4736, 7313.) For this reason the Word is compared to “a reed shaken by the wind” when it is explained at pleasure; for in the internal sense “a reed” denotes truth in the ultimate, such as is the Word in the letter.

[4] That the Word in the ultimate, or in the letter, is crude and obscure in the sight of men; but that in the internal sense it is soft and shining, is signified by their “not seeing a man clothed in soft raiment, for behold those who wear soft things are in kings’ houses.” That such things are signified by these words, is plain from the signification of “raiment,” or “garments,” as being truths (n. 2132, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 6914, 6918, 9093); and for this reason the angels appear clothed in garments soft and shining according to the truths from good with them (n. 5248, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216). The same is evident from the signification of “kings’ houses,” as being the abodes of the angels, and in the universal sense, the heavens; for “houses” are so called from good (n. 2233, 2234, 3128, 3652, 3720, 4622, 4982, 7836, 7891, 7996, 7997); and “kings,” from truth (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 6148). Therefore by virtue of their reception of truth from the Lord, the angels are called “sons of the kingdom,” “sons of the king,” and also “kings.”

[5] That the Word is more than any doctrine in the world, and more than any truth in the world, is signified by “what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet;” and by, “there hath not arisen among those who are born of women a greater than John the Baptist;” for in the internal sense “a prophet” denotes doctrine (n. 2534, 7269); and “those who are born,” or are the sons, “of women” denote truths (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3704, 4257).

[6] That in the internal sense, or such as it is in heaven, the Word is in a degree above the Word in the external sense, or such as it is in the world, and such as John the Baptist taught, is signified by, “he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he;” for as perceived in heaven the Word is of wisdom so great that it transcends all human apprehension. That the prophecies about the Lord and His coming, and that the representatives of the Lord and of His kingdom, ceased when the Lord came into the world, is signified by, “all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” That the Word was represented by John, as by Elijah, is signified by his being “Elias who is to come.”

[7] The same is signified by these words in Matthew:

The disciples asked Jesus, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? He answered and said, Elias must needs first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, that Elias hath come already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they wished. Even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them. And they understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist (Matthew 17:10-13).

That “Elias hath come, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they wished” signifies that the Word has indeed taught them that the Lord is to come, but that still they did not wish to comprehend, interpreting it in favor of the rule of self, and thus extinguishing what is Divine in it. That they would do the same with the truth Divine itself, is signified by “even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them.” (That “the Son of man” denotes the Lord as to truth Divine, see n. 2803, 2813, 3704)

[8] From all this it is now evident what is meant by the prophecy about John in Malachi:

Behold I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh (Malachi 4:5).

Moreover, the Word in the ultimate, or such as it is in the external form in which it appears before man in the world, is described by the “clothing” and “food” of John the Baptist, in Matthew:

John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, had His clothing of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:1, 4).

In like manner it is described by Elijah in the second book of Kings:

He was a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins (2 Kings 1:8).

By “clothing,” or a “garment,” when said of the Word, is signified truth Divine there in the ultimate form; by “camel’s hair” are signified memory-truths such as appear there before a man in the world; by the “leathern girdle” is signified the external bond connecting and keeping in order all the interior things; by “food” is signified spiritual nourishment from the knowledges of truth and of good out of the Word; by “locusts” are signified ultimate or most general truths; and by “wild honey” their pleasantness.

[9] That such things are signified by “clothing” and “food” has its origin in the representatives of the other life, where all appear clothed according to truths from good, and where food also is represented according to the desires of acquiring knowledge and growing wise. From this it is that “clothing,” or a “garment,” denotes truth (as may be seen from the citations above; and that “food” or “meat” denotes spiritual nourishment, n. 3114, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5576, 5579, 5915, 8562, 9003; that “a girdle” denotes a bond which gathers up and holds together interior things, n. 9341; that “leather” denotes what is external, n. 3540; and thus “a leathern girdle” denotes an external bond; that “hairs” denote ultimate or most general truths, n. 3301, 5569-5573; that “a camel” denotes memory-knowledge in general, n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145, 4156; that “a locust” denotes nourishing truth in the extremes, n. 7643; and that “honey” denotes the pleasantness thereof, n. 5620, 6857, 8056). It is called “wild honey,” or “honey of the field,” because by “a field” is signified the church (n. 2971, 3317, 3766, 7502, 7571, 9139, 9295). He who does not know that such things are signified, cannot possibly know why Elijah and John were so clothed. And yet that these things signified something peculiar to these prophets, can be thought by everyone who thinks well about the Word.

[10] Because John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, therefore also when he spoke of the Lord, who was the Word itself, he said of himself that he was “not Elias, nor the prophet,” and that he was “not worthy to loose the latchet of the Lord’s shoe,” as in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The Jews from Jerusalem, priests and Levites, asked John who he was. And he confessed, and denied not, I am not the Christ. Therefore they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? But he said, I am not. Art thou the prophet? He answered, No. They said therefore unto him, Who art thou? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet. They said therefore, Why then baptizest thou, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet? He answered, I baptize with water; in the midst of you standeth one whom ye know not; He it is who is to come after me, who was before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose. When he saw Jesus, he said, Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, After me cometh a man who was before me; for he was before me (John 1:1, 14, 19-30).

From these words it is plain that when John spoke about the Lord Himself, who was Truth Divine itself, or the Word, he said that he himself was not anything, because the shadow disappears when the light itself appears, that is, the representative disappears when the original itself makes its appearance. (That the representatives had in view holy things, and the Lord Himself, and not at all the person that represented, see n. 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4307, 4444, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806.) One who does not know that representatives vanish like shadows at the presence of light, cannot know why John denied that he was Elias and the prophet.

[11] From all this it can now be seen what is signified by Moses and Elias, who were seen in glory, and who spoke with the Lord when transfigured, of His departure which He should accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:29-31); namely, that they signified the Word (“Moses” the historic Word, and “Elias” the prophetic Word), which in the internal sense throughout treats of the Lord, of His coming into the world, and of His departure out of the world; and therefore it is said that “Moses and Elias were seen in glory,” for “glory” denotes the internal sense of the Word, and the “cloud” its external sense (see the preface to Genesis 18, and n. 5922, 8427).

426. Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees. That this signifies lest the good everywhere perish with the evil, is evident from the signification of hurt not, as denoting lest they should perish, concerning which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of the earth, the sea, and the trees, which denote everywhere in the spiritual world, even to its ultimates, with those in whom there is any perception (see above, n. 420), consequently the good with the evil, wherever they are. That this is the meaning of these words, is evident from the series of things in the spiritual sense. For the separation of the good from the evil is the subject that now follows, and this separation is signified by the sealing of the servants of God on their foreheads, and by the twelve thousand of every tribe, and by those who appeared clothed in white robes; for the present chapter treats of all these. Both the latter and the former mean the good, who must first be separated from the evil, before the evil are cast down into hell. As the separation of the good from the evil, and the casting out of the evil into hell, is caused by the Divine influx from the Lord as the Sun, and as the separation of the good from the evil is effected by a gentle and modified influx, and the casting down of the evil into hell by a strong and powerful influx (as may be seen above, n. 413:2, 418:1, 419:1), therefore the former influx, by which the good are separated from the evil, is the subject of these three verses, while the good who are separated are treated of in the rest of the chapter, to the end.

[2] But something shall first be said here concerning the fact, that unless the good are separated from the evil, before the latter are cast down into hell, they would perish with them, because the good not having yet been taken, but being about to be taken to heaven, after the casting out of the evil, have been brought into a somewhat intimate communication with the evil by means of the external worship of the latter. For, as we have stated above, and shown in the small work on The Last Judgment 51, 70), the evil, who had been tolerated till the Last Judgment, were in external worship but not in any internal worship. By lip and gesture they had made a show and pretence of the holy things of the Church, but in soul and heart they were untouched; therefore they had communication by means of external worship with those who were also interiorly good. On account of this communication the evil could not be cast down until the good had been separated from them, for otherwise, the good, with whom the evil were conjoined by means of external worship, would have been injured, that is, they would have perished, because the evil would have drawn them away with them.

[3] This the Lord taught also in Matthew:

"The kingdom of the heavens is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares, and went his way. But when the blade sprang up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. And the servants of the householder came, and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares? He saith unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? but he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn" (Matthew 13:24-30).

By the man who sowed is meant the Lord; by the field are meant the church and the spiritual world, where both the good and the evil are; the good seed and the wheat mean the good, and the tares the evil. That they could not be separated until the time of the Last Judgment, on account of the conjunction referred to above, is meant by the answer given to the servants, who wished to gather up the tares beforehand, that is, to separate the evil from the good, "Lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest." The harvest is the Last Judgment. That this is the signification, the Lord Himself teaches, where He says, "He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom; the tares are the sons of the evil (mali) ¹ ; the harvest is the consummation of the age. As, therefore, the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be in the consummation of the age" (Matthew 13:37-40). It is evident, that the householder who sowed the good seed in his field means the Lord, who there calls Himself the Son of man; and that "the field is the world" means the church and the spiritual world, where both the evil and the good are. That the spiritual world is meant is evident from the words, "The kingdom of the heavens is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field." The kingdom of the heavens is the spiritual world and the church.

It is evident also from this fact that the words refer to the Last Judgment, and a last judgment takes place in the spiritual world, and not in ours, as shown in the small work on The Last Judgment. The good seed and the wheat are the good, called "the sons of the kingdom"; the tares are the evil there, called the sons of the evil [one]; and the harvest, the period when separation takes place, is the time of the Last Judgment, for it is said, "the harvest is the consummation of the age." The consummation of the age is the time of a last judgment, as may be seen above (n. 397). That the tares shall then be gathered into bundles and burned, and the wheat gathered into the barn, signifies, that the evil, according to the class and species of their evil, have to be gathered together, and cast into hell, which takes place with the evil when they are rejected, and is meant by their being gathered into bundles. That the good are to be preserved, is meant by the wheat being gathered into the barn, for where the good are gathered together is denoted by "the barn." From these things it is clear, that a complete separation of the good from the evil takes place at the time of a last judgment, and that it cannot take place before on account of the conjunction above mentioned, otherwise the good would perish with the evil; for it is said, "Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them"; and it is further said, "Let both grow together until the harvest," which is the consummation of the age. Now, since the separation of the good from the evil is effected by a gentle and modified influx of the Divine which proceeds from the Lord, and the casting out of the evil into hell by a strong and intense influx of the Divine, it is plain how all the particulars contained in the first three verses of this chapter are to be understood, when from the spiritual sense it is known what is signified by the winds which were to be restrained, lest the earth, the sea, or any tree, should be hurt, before the servants of God had been sealed on their foreheads.

[4] How this separation takes place shall also be explained, in a few words. When the good are being separated from the evil, which is effected by the Lord by means of a modified influx of His Divine, and by looking into those things which pertain to spiritual affection with angels and spirits, then the Lord causes those who are interiorly, and therefore also exteriorly good, to turn themselves to Him, and so away from the evil, and on turning themselves away they become invisible to the evil; for in the spiritual world it is a common experience for one to become invisible when one turns away from another. This being the case, the evil are separated [from the good], and at the same time also from that holiness which they had externally counterfeited, and then they look towards hell into which they are also soon cast. More may be seen upon this subject in Heaven and Hell 17, 123, 142, 144, 145, 151, 153, 251, 255, 272, 510, 548, 561). That the evil who possessed the power of being in external worship, or in external piety and holiness, although not so internally, were tolerated until the Last Judgment, and no longer, and the reason why, may be seen in the small work on The Last Judgment 59 70).

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