4281. That by “the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint in his wrestling with him,” is signified that this conjunction was wholly injured and displaced in Jacob’s posterity, is evident from the signification of being “out of joint” in the sense in question, as being to be displaced, and thus to be injured. That the “hollow of the thigh” denotes conjunction, is manifest from what was said above (n. 4280); and because in the Word “Jacob” denotes not only Jacob, but also all his posterity, as is evident from many passages in the Word (Numbers 23:7, 10, 21, 2 23:23; 24:5, 1 24:17, 19; Deuteronomy 33:10; Isaiah 40:27; 43:1, 22; 44:1-2, 21; 48:12; 59:20; Jeremiah 10:16, 25; 30:7, 10, 18; 31:7, 11; 46:27-28; Hosea 10:11 Amos 7:2; Micah 2:12; 3:8; Psalms 14:7; 24:6; 59:13; 78:5; 99:4 and elsewhere).

[2] That Jacob and his posterity were of such a character that with them celestial and spiritual love could not be conjoined with natural good (that is, the internal or spiritual man with the external or natural man), is manifest from everything which is related of that nation in the Word; for they did not know, nor were they willing to know, what the internal or spiritual man is, and therefore this was not revealed to them; for they believed that nothing exists in man except that which is external and natural. In all their worship they had regard to nothing else, insomuch that Divine worship was to them no otherwise than idolatrous; for when internal worship is separated from external, it is merely idolatrous. The church that was instituted with them was not a church, but only the representative of a church; for which reason that church is called a representative church. That a representative of a church is possible with such people may be seen above (n. 1361, 3670, 4208).

[3] For in representations the person is not reflected upon, but the thing which is represented; and therefore Divine, celestial, and spiritual things were represented not only by persons, but also by inanimate things, as by Aaron’s garments, the ark, the altar, the oxen and sheep that were sacrificed, the lampstand with its lamps, the bread of arrangement upon the golden table, the oil with which they were anointed, the frankincense, and other like things. Hence it was that their kings, the evil as well as the good, represented the Lord’s royalty; and the high priests, the evil as well as the good, represented the things that belong to the Lord’s Divine priesthood, when they discharged their office in an outward form according to the statutes and precepts. In order therefore that the representative of a church might come forth among them, such statutes and laws were given them by manifest revelation as were altogether representative; and therefore so long as they were in them and observed them strictly, so long they were able to represent; but when they turned aside from them, as to the statutes and laws of other nations, and especially to the worship of another god, they then deprived themselves of the faculty of representing. For this reason they were driven by outward means, such as captivities, disasters, threats, and miracles, to laws and statutes truly representative; but not by internal means, as are those who have internal worship in external. These things are signified by the “hollow of Jacob’s thigh being out of joint,” taken in the internal historical sense, which regards Jacob and his posterity.

"And his name is called The Word of God." Revelation 19:13

Additional readings: Isaiah 44:21-28 Psalms 15, Psalm 16

If we believe in God, our Heavenly Father, Who created the world and placed us in it, then we must believe in a Word of God, a Bible, a message from God to tell us what we need to know about Himself and about our relation to Him and about how to live in order to fulfill the purpose of our creation.

A loving parent would tell his children what they needed to know. Still more would our heavenly Father tell his children of Himself and of His love for them and of their nature, in His image and likeness, born for a short life in this world and for eternal development in heaven. He would warn them of the dangers of selfish ness and tell them of the safety and bussing of keeping near to Him and living according to his precepts and commandments.

Consequently there must be a Word, instruction from the Lord to every age and to every people. This Word may be given by perceptions of wisdom from within, by visions, by instruction by angels, as in the early days of the creation of man. At a later date it was given through prophets and took the form of a written and printed Word, to suit the needs of the people. The form may change but there must always be a Word, some message from the Lord to show us the way to a safe and happy life.

In the Writings of the New Church, we are told of an Ancient Word existing and in use long before the days of Moses, written in symbol and parable, as was the custom of speaking and writing in that age. Parts of this Ancient Word are preserved in our scriptures, brief fragments in the books of numbers, Judges, and Samuel, and several chapters at the beginning of the book of Genesis, the first seven chapters verbatim, and the first eleven in substance. Confirmation of the fact of the existence of this Ancient Word is found in the stories of Eden and the flood so like our own which are found in the remains of several nations, especially in those parts of the Near East which were the home of the Church which possessed the Ancient Word.

There has in all ages and with all peoples been a Word of God. We need to note that there are other sacred literatures than the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. These come in part from the same source and bring divine precepts to peoples of a genius differing from our own, but they are mixed with much which is not divine. We should realize that the Old and the New Testaments are the Lord's Word to us. And as they treat of the Lord's life on earth, and as these scriptures are the Word which was made flesh, the Law and the Prophets which He came to fulfill, they are in a unique sense the Word for the whole world to which the command applies, "Go ye, and teach this Gospel to all nations” (Matthew 28:19).

It is indeed a marvel that men can hold in their hands a book which contains a message from God, the Creator of the universe. To some it seems incredible. But God has the power to reach down through all the degrees of the spiritual world and all degrees of the natural. He did reach down through these planes in creating them and still does so in sustaining them. The Word can follow wherever creation goes, for every created object on every plane is an expression of the Divine love and wisdom of the Creator.

Even objects of the lowest natural plane are symbols and types of the Divine spirit within. So comes the parable, heavenly truths clothed in natural terms. In these universal terms God speaks to man, and His Word contains a message for everyone from the highest angel to the lowest man. Everyone hears the message according to his ability to understand, and even in its lowest form, which is the literal meaning, there is Divine light and power, so that it is throbbing with inward life.

"He that hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Matthew 11:15, Mark 4:9). Here is another marvel; the Divine Word can be opened if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. That is why the Lord did not need to set aside the old law, but only to open it in order to reveal the heavenly and Christian message which it contains. He did not destroy the Law and the Prophets, but opened the ancient scriptures and brought forth from them a new light and power for a new age, to meet a new and upward step in the world's development.

And this is the method of His second Coming. For the Word holds at its center the very Divine love, wisdom, and power of God, and has within it love and life for every plane of human life in heaven and on earth, through which it passed to its expression in the language and symbols of this earth.

The New Church is the church of the opened Word, the new light for the new age, revealing the Hebrew and Christian scriptures as the Divine Word for the present day.

That the world has entered a new age we cannot doubt. And this age needs a Word, a message of guidance, protection, and instruction from the Lord. Never was such a message needed more. While those who recognize this need stand doubting, wondering whether to reject the old Word as having served its use—a Word for a crude, unscientific age—and to expect a new Word to fall from heaven or to evolve itself in human minds, the Lord Himself has acted and met the need. He has by a chosen servant showed us that the Word already given has within it Divine love and truth and a message from God to every plane and degree of human development in earth and heaven.

He has opened the Word, the Word which has so endeared itself to men and women in the past and which has proved its power to thousands of heavenward pilgrims of many races. He has opened the word to give what the world needs for its guidance in a new age, a new revealing of Himself, a new revealing of the Christian law in its application to individual life and to the larger social life, a new revealing of what He has done and is doing in heaven and in earth for the establishment of His kingdom.

Out of the old Word, the Word long tried and loved, the new light shines, opening before us the path of the New Age. In the march of progress One goes before us, and the host of heaven follow, and the host of heaven follow, and the host of men and women who work for the progress of the heavenly kingdom, who are ready to give themselves, head and heart and hand for the uplifting of humanity, who are willing to give their lives to make men better and the world happier. "And his name is called the Word of God."

4208. And Jacob sware by the Dread of his father Isaac. That this signifies confirmation from the Divine Human, which in this state is called “the Dread,” is evident from the signification of swearing,” as being confirmation (see n. 2842, 3375) and from the signification of the “Dread of Isaac,” as being the Lord’s Divine Human (n. 4180). (That oaths were made in the name of the Lord’s Divine Human may be seen above, n. 2842.)

[2] The reason why it is here said, “the God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, the God of their father” (that is, of Terah) and “the Dread of Isaac,” Jacob’s father, is that the sons of Terah acknowledged this number of gods, for they were idolaters (n. 1353, 1356, 1992, 3667). And it was a peculiarity in that house that each family worshiped its own god. This is the reason why it is here said, “the God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, the God of their father, and the Dread of Isaac.” Nevertheless it was enjoined upon the family of Abraham to acknowledge Jehovah as their God; and yet they did not acknowledge Him otherwise than as another god, by whom they might distinguish themselves from the Gentiles, thus they acknowledged Jehovah merely as to the name, and it was in consequence of this that they so often fell away to other gods, as may be seen from the historic parts of the Word. The reason of this merely nominal acknowledgment was that they were solely in externals, and what internal things were they knew not at all, and did not desire to know.

[3] Insofar as they were concerned the very rituals of their church were merely idolatrous, because they were separated from internal things; for when separated from its internal every ritual of the church is idolatrous. Nevertheless what is genuine of the church could be represented by them; for representations do not regard the person, but the thing (n. 665, 1097, 1361, 3147). Yet in order that a representative church might come into existence, and that there might thus be some communication of the Lord through heaven with man, it was of especial importance that they should be kept in the acknowledgment of Jehovah, if not in heart, still with the mouth; for with them the representatives did not issue from internal, but from external things; and it was in this way that they had communication with the Lord; quite otherwise than in the genuine church, in which the communication is effected by means of internal things. For this reason their Divine worship did not at all affect their souls, that is, did not make them blessed in the other life, but only prosperous in this world.

[4] Therefore in order that they might be kept in these external things, there were so many miracles performed among them, which would never have taken place if they had been in internal things; and for this reason they were so many times driven to their worship by punishments, captivities, and threats; whereas no one is driven by the Lord to internal worship, but this is implanted through freedom (n. 1937, 1947, 2874-2881, 3145, 3146, 3158, 4031). Their principal external was that they should confess Jehovah; for Jehovah was the Lord, who was represented in all things of that church. (That Jehovah was the Lord may be seen above, n. 1343, 1736, 2921, 3035)