6371. 'The sceptre will not be removed from Judah' means that power and control will not depart from the celestial kingdom. This is clear from the meaning of 'being removed' as departing; from the meaning of 'the sceptre' as power and control, in particular the power and control of truth from good, dealt with in 4876 (end), for the sceptre is an emblem of royal power and control, and truth is meant by royal power, 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 6148; and from the representation of' Judah' as the celestial kingdom, dealt with above in 6363. From all this it is evident that 'the sceptre will not be removed from Judah' means that power and control will not depart from the celestial kingdom.

[2] Viewed from the sense of the letter the contents of this verse will be seen to mean that the kingdom was not going to be removed from the Jewish people before the Lord came. That understanding of the verse is quite correct; but even so, this historical consideration, like every other, has an inner meaning. For the removal of the kingdom from the Jewish people when the Lord came is a worldly matter; but the spiritual content that belongs to the inner meaning is evident when one understands power and control by 'the sceptre' and the celestial kingdom by 'Judah'. Yet the notion that power and control would depart from the celestial kingdom when the Lord came is an arcanum that no one can know unless it is revealed to him. And what that arcanum entails is this: Prior to the Lord's Coming into the world there was among men and among spirits an influx of life from Jehovah or the Lord which came by way of the celestial kingdom, that is, through the angels who were in that kingdom. This was the source of their power at that time. But when the Lord came into the world, and by so doing made the Human within Himself Divine, He took to Himself what had rested with angels of the celestial kingdom, namely that power and control. For what flowed from God and passed through that heaven had until then been the Divine human. ¹ That influx was also the Divine Person who presented Himself, when Jehovah revealed Himself in this way. But this Divine human came to an end when the Lord made the Human within Himself Divine. From this one may now see what this arcanum entails. Angels of that kingdom do, it is true, still exercise great power and control, but only in the measure that the Lord's Divine Human resides in them through their love for Him. See what has been stated and shown already on these matters in 1990, 2803, 3061, 4180, 4687, 5110, 6280.

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2803. As regards Divine Truth being meant by 'son' and Divine Good by 'father', this becomes clear from the meaning of 'son' as truth, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, and of 'father' as good, and also from the conception and birth of truth as taking place from good. As has been shown many times, truth cannot have being or manifest itself except from good. The reason 'son' here means Divine Truth, and 'father' Divine Good, is that the union of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence, and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence, is the Divine Marriage of Divine Good to Truth, and of Truth to Good; and from that marriage comes the heavenly marriage. For within Jehovah or the Lord there is nothing but that which is infinite, and this being so, no other idea can be conceived of Him than that He is the Being and Manifestation (Esse et Existere) of all good and truth, that is, He is Good itself and Truth itself. Good itself is the Father, and Truth itself the Son. Now because the Divine Marriage, as has been stated, is a marriage of Good and Truth, and of Truth and Good, the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father, as the Lord Himself teaches in John,

Jesus said to Philip, Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me. John 14:10-11.

And elsewhere in the same evangelist,

Jesus said to the Jews, Even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father. John 10:36, 38.

And elsewhere,

I pray for them - for all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine - that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You John 17:9-10, 21.

And elsewhere,

Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself. Father, glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You. John 13:31-32; 17:1.

[2] From these places one may see the nature of the union of the Divine and of the Human within the Lord - that each is linked mutually to the other and responds to the other - that is, it is a reciprocal union. This is the Union which is called the Divine Marriage, from which the heavenly marriage comes down, which is the Lord's kingdom itself in heaven and is referred to in John as follows,

On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. John 14:20.

And elsewhere,

I pray for these, that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, I in them and You in Me, that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:21-23, 26.

[3] As regards this heavenly marriage being a marriage of good and truth, and of truth and good, see 2508, 2618, 2728, 2729 and following paragraphs. And since Divine Good cannot possibly have being or manifest itself without Divine Truth, and Divine Truth cannot possibly do so without Divine Good, but one is always reaching out to and responding to the other, it is therefore plain that the Divine Marriage has existed from eternity, that is, the Father in the Son, and the Son in the Father, as the Lord Himself teaches in John,

Now, Father, glorify Me in Your Own Self with the glory I had with You before the world was. John 17:5, 24.

But the Divine Human that had been born from eternity was also born in time, and what was born in time is the same as that which was glorified. This is what accounts for the Lord's saying many times that He was going to the Father who sent Him, that is, He was returning to the Father. And in John,

In the beginning was the Word (the Word being Divine Truth itself), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. Furthermore the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-3, 14.

See also John 3:13; 6:62.