37. And I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet. This symbolizes a manifest perception of Divine truth revealed from heaven.

A loud voice, when heard from heaven, symbolizes Divine truth, as we will show next. It sounded like the voice of a trumpet for the reason that when Divine truth descends from heaven, it is sometimes heard as such by angels of the lowest heaven, and they then manifestly perceive it. That is why "a voice, as of a trumpet" symbolizes a manifest perception. More on the symbolism of a trumpet will be seen in nos. 397 and 519 below.

That a loud voice, when heard from heaven, symbolizes Divine truth, is apparent from the following passages:

The voice of Jehovah is over the waters... The voice of Jehovah is powerful; the voice of Jehovah is accompanied with honor. The voice of Jehovah breaks the cedars... The voice of Jehovah falls like a flame of fire. The voice of Jehovah shakes the wilderness... The voice of Jehovah makes the deer give birth... (Psalms 29:3-9)

You kingdoms of the earth..., sing praises to the Lord... Behold, He will send out His voice, a mighty voice. (Psalms 68:32-33)

Jehovah has given voice before His army...; for numerous is he who obeys His word. (Joel 2:2)

Jehovah... will utter His voice from Jerusalem. (Joel 3:16)

Moreover, because a voice symbolizes Divine truth from the Lord, therefore the Lord said that "the sheep hear His voice," that "they know His voice" (John 10:3-4). Also,

Other sheep I have...; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice... My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:16, 27)

And elsewhere:

The hour is coming... when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of Man, ¹ and those who hear will live. (John 5:25)

The voice here is the Lord's Divine truth emanating from His Word.

Notas a pie de página:

3342. Furthermore spirits and angels communicate everything to others by means of representatives. By means of wonderful variations of light and shade they bring their own thoughts in a vivid way before the internal sight and at the same time before the external sight of the one with whom they are communicating, and subtly introduce those thoughts by effecting appropriate changes in his affectional state. The representations manifested in their communications with others are not like those described already, but they are produced without delay and in an instant, together with the ideas conveyed in their communications. It is like a lengthy description of something, accompanied at the same time by the presentation before the eyes of a visual image of that thing. For amazing as it is, by means of varying kinds of images that are quite beyond man's comprehension any spiritual reality at all can be set forth in representative form in which inwardly there are things that go with the perception of truth, and still more inwardly those that go with the perception of good.

[2] Such things also exist within man - for man is a spirit clothed with the body - as becomes clear from the fact that when anything spoken that is perceived by the ear rises up towards the more interior parts, it passes into mental images not unlike those of visual objects, and from these into conceptual ideas, and in this way one comes to perceive the sense of the words. Anyone who reflects on these matters properly may recognize from them that within him there is his spirit, which is his internal man, and also that he has this kind of ability to communicate following his separation from the body, for the same ability exists with him though this is not evident to him in his lifetime because of the obscurity, indeed the thick darkness brought about by earthly, physical, and worldly things.