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).

2242. That 'I will go down now, and I will see' means visitation becomes clear from the meaning of 'going down to see' as judgement, dealt with in Volume One, in 1311, and consequently as visitation. The final period of the Church in general and of the individual in particular is called visitation in the Word. It occurs prior to judgement, so that visitation is nothing else than an investigation into what such are like, that is, into the nature of the Church in general or of the individual in particular. Such investigation is expressed in the sense of the letter as Jehovah coming down and seeing.

[2] From this the nature of the sense of the letter is made clear, for Jehovah does not go down; indeed one cannot speak of the Lord going down because He always dwells in highest things. Nor does Jehovah look and see whether a thing is so; for one cannot speak of the Lord looking to see whether a thing is so because every single thing is known to Him from eternity. Yet the sense of the letter speaks of Jehovah going down to see because to man that is what He does appear to do. For man dwells among lowest things and when anything presents itself there he does not think about, nor does he even know, what the situation is with higher things and so does not know about how these flow in. He has no knowledge of these things because his thought does not extend beyond what is immediately about him, and therefore he cannot perceive what the Lord does as anything other than some such going down to see; and that perception is even more limited when he imagines that no one knows what he himself is thinking. Besides this, he has no other idea than that an actual coming down from on high is meant, and when said of God, from the highest. But it is not in fact a coming down from the highest but from the inmost.

[3] From this one may see what the sense of the letter is like, namely that it is shaped according to appearances, and that if it were not, nobody would understand and acknowledge the Word, nor thus accept it. But angels are not limited by appearances in the way that man is, and therefore since the Word as to the letter is for man, it is as to the internal sense for angels, and also for those men who in the Lord's Divine mercy have been allowed during their lifetime in the world to be as the angels.

[4] Visitation is mentioned in various places in the Word, where it either means the vastation of the Church or of the individual, or else deliverance, and thus the investigation into the nature of persons or things. It stands for vastation in Isaiah,

What will you do on the day of visitation? It will come from afar. To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your glory? Isaiah 10:3.

In the same prophet,

The stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going out, and the moon will not shed its light. And I will visit the world for evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. Isaiah 13:10-11.

'The stars and the constellations which will not give their light, and the sun which will be darkened, and the moon which will not shed its light' means that no love and no charity will exist, see 2120. And since this is vastation it is 'the day of visitation'.

[5] In Jeremiah,

They will fall among those who fall, and in the time of their visitation they will stumble. Jeremiah 8:12.

This stands for the time when they have been vastated, that is, when no charity and faith exist. In Ezekiel,

The visitations of the city have drawn near, and each man has his weapon of destruction in his hand. Ezekiel 9:1.

This too is a reference to vastation; consequently 'each man has a weapon of destruction'. In Hosea,

The days of visitation have come, the days of recompense have come. Hosea 9:7.

Here the meaning is similar. In Micah,

The day of your watchmen, your visitation, has come; now will be their confusion. Micah 7:4.

Here also it stands for charity that has been laid waste. In Moses, On the day of My visiting, I will visit them with their sin. Exodus 32:34.

This refers to the people in the wilderness after they had made themselves the golden calf. That visitation also means deliverance is evident from the following places, Exodus 3:16; 4:31; Jeremiah 27:22; 29:10; Luke 1:68, 78; 19:41-42.

1071. And he drank of the wine. That this signifies that he desired to investigate the things which are of faith, is evident from the signification of “wine.” The “vineyard” or the “vine” as has been shown, is the spiritual church, or the man of the spiritual church; the “grape” “bunches” and “clusters” are its fruit, and signify charity and what is of charity. But “wine” signifies the faith thence derived, and all things that belong to it. Thus the “grape” is the celestial of that church, and the “wine” is the spiritual of that church. The former, or the celestial, is of the will, as has been said before; the latter, or the spiritual, is of the understanding. That his “drinking of the wine” signifies that he desired to investigate the things of faith, and this by reasonings, is evident from his becoming drunken, that is, fallen into errors. For the man of this church had no perception, as had the man of the Most Ancient Church, but had to learn what was good and true from the doctrinal things of faith collected and preserved from the perception of the Most Ancient Church, which doctrinal things were the Word of the Ancient Church. Like the Word, the doctrinal things of faith were in many cases such as without perception could not be believed; for spiritual and celestial things infinitely transcend human apprehension, and hence arises reasoning. But he who will not believe them until he apprehends them, can never believe, as has been often shown before. (See n. 128-130, 195, 196, 215, 232, 233.)

[2] That “grapes” in the Word signify charity and what is of charity, and that “wine” signifies the faith thence derived and the things that belong to it, is evident from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

My beloved had a vineyard in a horn of the son of oil, and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes (Isaiah 5:1-2, 4), where “grapes” denote charity and its fruits.

In Jeremiah:

Gathering I will gather them, saith Jehovah; there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree (Jeremiah 8:13), where the “vine” denotes the spiritual church; “grapes” charity.

In Hosea:

I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first-ripe in the fig-tree, at the beginning (Hosea 9:10).

“Israel” denotes the Ancient Church; “grapes” its being endued with charity. The sense is opposite when “Israel” denotes the sons of Jacob.

In Micah:

There is no cluster to eat; my soul desireth the first-ripe fig. The holy man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men (Micah 7:1).

“Cluster” denotes charity, or what is holy; “first-ripe fig” faith, or what is right.

[3] In Isaiah:

Thus saith Jehovah, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it (Isaiah 65:8); where “cluster” denotes charity, and “new wine” the goods of charity and the truths thence derived.

In Moses:

He washed His garment in wine, and His vesture in the blood of grapes (Genesis 49:11); a prophecy relating to the Lord. “Wine” denotes the spiritual from the celestial, the “blood of grapes” the celestial relatively to spiritual churches. Thus “grapes” denote charity itself, “wine” faith itself.

In John:

The angel said, Put forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe (Revelation 14:18).

Here the subject is the last times when there is no faith, that is, when there is no charity; for faith is no other than of charity, and essentially is charity itself; so that when it is said that there is no longer any faith, as in the last times, it is meant that there is no charity.

[4] As “grapes” signify charity, so “wine” signifies the faith thence derived, for wine is from grapes. This will be evident from the passages already cited about the vineyard and the vine, and also from the following.

In Isaiah:

Gladness is taken away, and exultation, from Carmel; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither joyful noise; no treader shall tread out wine in the presses; I have made the vintage shout to cease (Isaiah 16:10),

meaning that the spiritual church, which is “Carmel” is vastated; “not treading out wine in the presses” means that there are no longer any who are in faith. Again:

The inhabitants of the earth are burned, and man shall be left feeble; the new wine shall mourn, the vine shall languish; they shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it; there is a crying in the streets because of the wine (Isaiah 24:6-7, 9, 11).The subject here is the vastated church, and “wine” denotes the truths of faith, there held to be of no value.

In Jeremiah:

They will say to their mothers, where is the corn and the wine? when they faint as one wounded in the streets of the city (Lamentations 2:12).

“Where is the corn and the wine” signifies where is love and faith; the “streets of the city” signify here, as elsewhere in the Word, truths; “being wounded in them” signifies not to know what the truths of faith are.

[5] In Amos:

I will bring again the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof (Amos 9:14).

This is said of the spiritual church, or “Israel” of which planting vineyards and drinking the wine thereof is predicated, when it becomes such as to have faith from charity.

In Zephaniah:

They shall build houses, but shall not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but shall not drink the wine thereof (Zephaniah 1:13; Amos 5:11).

Here is described the opposite condition, when the spiritual church is vastated.

In Zechariah:

They shall be as the mighty Ephraim, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine; yea, their sons shall see it and be glad (Zechariah 10:7); said of the house of Judah, that it should be such from the goods and truths of faith.

In John:

That they were not to hurt the oil and the wine (Revelation 6:6), meant that no injury is to be done to the celestial and the spiritual, or to what is of love and faith.

[6] As “wine” signified faith in the Lord, in the Jewish Church faith was represented in the sacrifices by a libation of wine (Numbers 15:2-15; 28:11-15, 18-31; 29:7-39; Leviticus 23:12-13; Exodus 29:40). Wherefore it is said in Hosea: The threshing-floor and the wine-press shall not feed them, and the new wine shall deceive therein; they shall not dwell in the land of Jehovah; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat what is unclean in Assyria; they shall not pour out wine to Jehovah, neither shall [their libations] be pleasing to Him (Hosea 9:2-4).

Here the subject is Israel, or the spiritual church, and those in it who pervert and defile the holy and true things of faith by desiring to investigate them by means of knowledges and reasonings. “Egypt” is memory-knowledge, “Assyria” reasoning, “Ephraim” one who reasons.