1. 백마론

요한계시록에서는 영적 또는 내적 의미에 대한 말씀을 다음과 같이 기술하고 있다.

내가 하늘이 열린 것을 보니, 보라, 백마와 탄 자가 있으니, 그 이름이 충신과 진실이라. 그가 정의로 심판하며 싸우더라. 그의 눈은 불꽃같고, 머리에는 많은 면류관이 있고, 또 이름 쓴 것이 하나 있으니, 자기 밖에 아는 자가 없더라, 그는 또 피에 젖은 옷을 입었더라. 그의 이름을 일러 하나님의 말씀이라 칭하더라. 하늘에 있는 군대들이 희고 깨끗한 아마포로 만든 옷을 입고 백마를 타고 그의 뒤를 따르더라. 그의 옷과 다리에 적힌 이름이 있으니, 만왕(萬王)의 왕이요 만주(萬主)의 주라 하더라 (요한계시록19:11-14, 16)

위의 표현이 내포하고 있는 의미 하나 하나를 알아낼 수 있는 사람은 아무도 없다. 오직 이들 표현의 내적 의미를 이해하는 이만이 알 수 있을 뿐이다. 하나 하나의 표현이 모두 표징적이고 의미심장함이 분명하다. 말하자면, ”하늘이 열렸다”, “백마가 그 곳에 있었더라”, ”정의로 심판하여 싸우더라”, “그의 눈은 불꽃같고”, ”머리에 많은 면류관이 있고”, ”이름 쓴 것이 하나 있으니 자기 밖에 아는 자가 없더라”., ”그는 또 피에 젖은 옷을 입었더라”, “하늘에 있는 군대가 백마를 타고 그를 따르더라.”, ” 그들은 희고 깨끗한 아마포로 만든 옷을 입었더라”, ” 그의 옷과 다리에 적힌 이름이 있으니”라는 표현이 모두 그러하다는 것이다. 분명히 알 수 있는 것은 이러한 서술이 ”말씀”이요, 말씀이 곧 주(Lord)라는 것이다. ”그의 이름을 일러 하나님의 말씀이라”라고 언급되어 있고 뒤이어 “그의 옷과 다리에 이름 쓴 것이 있으니, 만왕의 왕이오, 만주의 주라 하였더라”라고 언급되어 있기 때문이다. 하나 하나의 표현을 해석해 보면 이 곳에 언급된 말씀이 모두 영적이고 내밀한 의미를 지니고 있음이 분명하다. .”하늘이 열렸다”라는 표현은, 말씀의 내밀한 의미는 천국에서만 이해될 수 있으며 이 세상에 있는 자라도 천국이 열린 자에게만 이해될 수 있다는 것을 표징하고 의미한다. 하얀 백마는 말씀의 내밀한 의미를 이해한다는 것을 표징적으로 나타내는 것이다. 이 점이 백마가 표징하는 것이라는 점은 곧 밝혀질 것이다. ”백마를 탄 자”라는 표현은 말씀과 관련된 주요, 그러므로 주는 말씀 그 자체임이 분명하다 .”그의 이름을 일러 하나님의 말씀이라 칭하더라”라는 언급이 나와있기 때문이다. 선(善)을 근본으로 삼을 때에는”신실하고 정의로 심판하는”이로 호칭되며, 진리를 근본으로 할 때에는”정의로 심판하여 싸우는” 이로 호칭된다. 왜냐하면 주님 자신이 정의이기 때문이다. “그의 눈은 불꽃같고”라는 표현은 주님의 신성한; (Divine)사랑에 속하는 신성한 선(善)을 근본으로 하는 신성한 진실을 의미한다. ”그의 머리에 많은 면류관이 있고” 라는 표현은 믿음에 속하는 모든 선과 진리를 의미한다. ”이름 쓴 것이 하나 있으니 자신 밖에 아는 자가 아무도 없고”라는 표현은 내밀한 의미에서의 말씀의 본질은 주님과 주님이 그 의미를 드러내어주신 자만이 이해할 수 있다는 것을 의미한다. ”피에 젖은 옷을 입었더라”라는 표현은 /불경스러움과 곡해가 개재된 문자로 된 말씀을 의미한다. ”하늘에 있는 군대가 백마를 타고 그를 따르더라”라는 표현은 말씀의 내면을 이해하고 있는 사람들을 의미한다. ”희고 깨끗한 아마포로 만든 옷을 입고”라는 표현은 선을 근본으로 하는 진리 속에 존재하는 같은 부류의 사람들을 의미한다 .”그의 옷과 다리에 이름 적힌 것이 있으니” 라는 표현은 진리와 선, 그리고 그런 것들의 본질을 의미한다. 이같은 세부적인 사항과 19장의 전, 후에 보이는 세부적인 사항을 근거로, 우리는 교회의 마지막 시대에 말씀의 영적 또는 내적인 의미가 열릴 것이며 그 시대에 무슨 일이 벌어질 것인지에 대해서도 그러한 세부적인 사항에 이미 예견되어 있음을 분명히 알 수 있다 (시편17-21). 이것이 언급된 말씀의 의미라는 것을 여기에서 새삼 증명할 필요는 없다. 왜냐하면 그 점은 “천국의 비밀”에 상세히 설명되어있고 또 주님이 신적 진리인 까닭에 주님이 말씀임을 .밝히고 있기 때문이다. (천국의 비밀 2533, 2803, 2884, 5272, 7835)

그러므로 말씀은 하나님의 신성한 진리이다. (천국의 비밀 4692, 5075, 9987)

주님은 정의이신 까닭에 ”그는 백마를 타고 정의로 심판하며 싸우더라” 라고 언급되어 있으며 , 이러한 이유 때문에 그리고 자신의 권세를 인류를 위해 비축해 두셨기 때문에 ”정의”로 호칭된다. (천국의 비밀 1813, 2025-2027, 9715, 9809, 10019, 10152).

그러므로 “정의”는 오로지 주님에게만 속하는 미덕이다 (천국의 비밀 9715, 9979).

“그의 눈은 불꽃같고”라는 표현이 신성한 하나님의 사랑에 속하는 신성한 선을 근본으로 삼는 신성한 진리를 의미한다는 것은 “눈”은 믿음에 속하는 진리와 이해를 의미하며 (천국의 비밀 2701, 4403-4421, 4523, 4534, 9023, 9051, 10519), ”불꽃”은 사랑에 속하는 선을 의미한다는 것이다. (천국의 비밀 934, 4906, 5215, 6314, 6832)

”그의 머리 위의 많은 면류관”은 믿음에 속하는 모든 선과 진리를 의미한다. (천국의 비밀 114, 3858, 6335, 6640, 9863, 9865, 9868, 9873, 9905)

”이름 쓴 것이 하나 있으니 자기 밖에 아는 자가 없더라”라는 표현이 내적 의미에서의 말씀의 의미의 본질은 주님 자신과 주님께서 말씀의 내적 의미를 드러내어 주신 자만이 이해할 수 있다는 것을 의미한다는 것은 ”이름”이 어떤 것의 본질을 의미한다는 것이다. (천국의 비밀 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, 3237, 3421, 4674, 9310)

”피에 젖은 옷을 입었더라”라는 표현이 곡해가 개재된 문자로 된 말씀을 의미한다는 것은 ”옷”이란 진리를 의미한다는 것이다. 진리는 선으로 나타나기 때문이라는 것이다. (천국의 비밀 1073, 2576, 5428, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10536)

특히 궁극에 있어서의 진리를 의미한다는 것이다. 그러므로 문자로 된 말씀을 의미한다는 것이다. (천국의 비밀 5428, 6918, 9158, 9212버). 그리고 “피”란 불경스러움이 개재된 그릇된 진리를 의미하기 때문이다.

”하늘에 있는 군대가 백마를 타고 그를 따르더라”라는 표현이 말씀의 내면을 이해하고 있는 자들을 의미한다는 것은 ”군대”란 천국과 교회의 진리와 선 속에 있는 자들을 의미한다는 것이다. (천국의 비밀 3448, 7326, 7988, 8019).

”말”은 이해를 의미한다. (천국의 비밀 3217, 5321, 6125, 6400, 6531, 6534, 7024, 8146, 8318)

그리고 “흰 색”은 천국의 빛 가운데에 있는 진리를, 그러므로 내면의 (interior) 진리를 의미한다 (천국의 비밀 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319).

“희고 깨끗한 아마포로 만든 옷을 입고”라는 표현이 선을 근본으로 하는 진리 속에서 살아가는 같은 부류의 사람들을 의미한다는 것은, ”깨끗한 아마포” 또는”아마포”는 선을 근본으로 하는 진리인 천적인 기원(celestial origin)을 근본으로 하는 진리를 의미한다는 것이다. (천국의 비밀 5319, 9469)

“옷과 다리에 이름 적힌 것이 있으니”라는 표현이 진리와 선, 그리고 그 본질을 의미한다는 것은 ”옷”은 진리를, ”이름”은 앞에서 언급한 바와 같이 본질을, 그리고 “다리”는 사랑으로 이루어진 선을 의미한다는 것이다. (천국의 비밀 3021, 4277, 4280, 9961, 10485).

”만왕의 왕이요, 만주의 주”는 신적 진리와 신적 선과 관련된 주이며 주는 신적 진리를 근본으로 삼는 ”왕”으로 호칭된다. (천국의 비밀 3009, 5068, 6148)

그러므로 그는 신적 선을 근본으로 삼는”주”로 호칭된다 (천국의 비밀 4973, 9169, 9174)

이러한 사실에서 영적 또는 내적 의미에서의 말씀의 본질이 무엇인지 분명해지며 또 말씀 속에는 어떤 영적인 것, 말하자면 천국과 교회에 대한 그 어떤 것을 의미하지 않는 표현은 하나도 없음이 분명하다.

9905. 'And you shall put into the breastplate of judgement the Urim and Thummim' means the radiance of Divine Truth from the Lord in last and lowest things. This is clear from the meaning of 'the breastplate of judgement' as Divine Truth shining forth from the Lord's Divine Good, dealt with in 9857; and from the meaning of 'the Urim and Thummim' as the light and radiance from there. The reason why light and radiance are meant by 'the Urim and Thummim' is that through the stones in the breastplate varying radiations of the light of heaven were emitted, these being determined by the answers given through them. This also explains why they assumed different colours. For the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good manifests itself to the angels as light; it is the source of all the light of heaven. The colours from it, which are modifications of that light among the angels, are variations of intelligence and wisdom among them; for all wisdom and intelligence is a product of that Divine Truth or light. From this it may be recognized that radiations of that light in various colours are the medium through which Divine Truths coming as answers present themselves in the heavens. A similar function was served by the Urim and Thummim when God was asked something. But it should be remembered that whenever a radiance was seen in them the answer was declared at the same time by an audible voice. This declaration was made through angels, to whom what they declared had been revealed by the Lord through such a radiance; for as has been stated, this is how Divine Truths coming as answers present themselves in heaven.

[2] The light of heaven is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, see 1053, 1521-1533, 1619-1632, 2776, 3094, 3138, 3167, 3190, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3337, 3339, 3341, 3636, 3643, 3862, 3993, 4060, 4180, 4302, 4408, 4414, 4415, 4419, 4527, 4598, 5400, 6032, 6313, 6315, 6608, 6907, 7174, 8644, 8707, 8861, 9399, 9407, 9570, 9571 (end).

Colours appear in heaven, being modifications of that light among the angels, and so variations of intelligence and wisdom among them, 3993, 4530, 4677, 4742, 4922, 9466, 9467, 9865.

[3] The meaning of the words 'Urim' and 'Thummim' also goes to show that all this is so; for 'Urim' means a shining fire, and 'Thummim' the radiance from it. A shining fire is the Divine Truth emanating from the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Love, and the radiance is that Truth on last and lowest levels, thus in effects. It should be recognized however that 'Thummim' in the Hebrew language means wholeness; it is in the angelic language that it means radiance. The expression 'in the angelic language' is used because when angels talk to one another they are thinking of the very essence of some matter as perceived deep within themselves, thus they speak in terms of its essential nature. What they express flows from those insights into appropriate sounds audible to the angels alone. The appropriate sound for the radiance of Divine Truth is Thummim. This then is the source of the term. Angels have a similar understanding of the word thum, meaning that which is whole or wholeness, whenever someone reads it in the Hebrew language. This explains why in the internal sense of the Word 'that which is whole' is used to mean Divine Truth on the level of effects, which is a life led in keeping with Divine commandments, as is made clear in a large number of places in the Word, such as Joshua 24:14; Judges 9:16, 19; Psalms 25:21; 37:37; 84:11; 101:2; 119:1.

[4] This also explains why the Urim and Thummim are called the judgement of the children of Israel, as well as the breastplate of judgement, and also the judgement of the Urim; for 'judgement' means Divine Truth in doctrine and life, see above in 9857. From all this it may now become clear that by means of the Urim and Thummim, that is, by means of the radiance produced by the light of heaven, the breastplate revealed Divine Truths in the natural sphere, thus on last and lowest levels. A like radiance also presents itself in the minds of those who are guided by truths springing from good. This radiance declares to them, so to speak provides the answers, when with heartfelt desire they seek to know what is true and love it as that which is good. That this kind of radiance is the means by which Divine Truth from heaven is revealed in the natural man of those who are enlightened by the Word is something which the world has no idea of, because the world does not know of any light from heaven that shines in the human understanding. But I have been allowed to realize and actually see that all this is so.

[5] In addition it should be recognized that this radiance appears on last and lowest levels because all forms of light from the Divine reach right down to the furthest ends; and since they reach down that far they also shine in them and from them. This now explains why the breastplate was placed over the ephod and above the girdle of it; for the ephod represented Divine Truth on last and lowest levels, 9824, while its girdle represented a common bond that existed to hold all things in connection, 9828, 9837. This is why verse 28 of the present chapter says, And they shall tie the breastplate from its rings to the rings of the ephod, so that it is above the girdle of the ephod and the breastplate will not come away from upon the ephod. The reason why the names of the sons of Israel were in addition engraved [on the stones] was that the twelve tribes also represented all aspects of Divine Good and Truth in the heavens, consequently heaven and all the communities there, though that representation varied according to the order in which they are mentioned in the Word, see 3858, 3862, 3926, 3939, 4060, 4603, 6335, 6337, 6397, 6640, 7836, 7891, 7973, 7996, 7997.

4527. I have talked to some just a few days after their decease, and being at that time recent arrivals they dwelt in a light which to them was little different from the light of the world. Because that light seemed little different to them they doubted whether it came from any source other than that of the world's light. They were for that reason taken to where heaven begins, to where the light was brighter still, and from there they talked to me. They said that they had never seen light like that, and yet this was long after the sun had set. They now wondered at the fact that spirits had eyes to see with, since during their lifetime they had believed that the life spirits had was pure thought, entirely separated indeed from any subject. The reason they had believed this was that they had been unable to think about any subject of thought because they had not seen it. This being so, they inevitably supposed that, being thought alone, the soul would be dissipated together with the body in which it existed, just like a puff of wind or fire, if the Lord did not in a miraculous way hold it together and keep it in being. Those spirits taken to where heaven begins also saw how easily the learned may fall into error concerning the life after death and that they more than any others do not believe anything apart from what they actually see. They were amazed therefore at their possessing not only thought but also sight, as well as each of the other senses. They were even more amazed that they looked to themselves entirely like people, that they saw, heard, and conversed with one another, and that they could touch and feel their own bodily parts, doing so more perfectly than during their lifetime. Consequently they were astounded that when living in the world man is totally ignorant of all this, and they felt pity for the human race's complete lack of knowledge about such things because of their utter lack of belief, most of all among those who dwell in greater light than others, namely those who are within the Church and possess the Word.

[2] Some of them had not believed anything other than that after death human beings would be like ghosts, an idea which they had become convinced was true because of the apparitions they had heard about. But from this they concluded that a ghost was no more than some gross principle of life which is initially released from the life of the body but then returns again to the corpse, and in so doing is snuffed out. Others had believed however that they would not rise again until the time of the Last Judgement when the world would be destroyed, at which time they would rise again with the body which, though it had crumbled to dust, would be reassembled and in this way they would rise again with their bones and flesh. And because they had in vain been awaiting that Last Judgement or destruction of the world for many centuries they had sunk into the error of thinking that they would not rise again at all. They had not thought about what they had learned from the Word, and had sometimes even quoted that when a person dies his soul is in the hand of God, ¹ and is among the happy or the unhappy depending on the life he had come to know; nor have they thought about what the Lord said concerning the rich man and Lazarus. But these recently arrived spirits were informed that everyone's last judgement takes place when he dies, at which time it seems to him that he is endowed with a body as when in the world, and has the use of every sense as he has done here, though that sense is now purer and more perfect because nothing bodily imposes any limitations on it, and things which belong to the light of the world no longer cloud over those that belong to the light of heaven. Thus he now lives in a body that so to speak has been purified. In that world he could not possibly carry around a body of bones and flesh like that he had in the world, for in this case he would once again be invested with earthly dust.

[3] I have talked on this subject to some on the very day that their bodies were being buried, and through my eyes they have seen their own dead body, bier, and interment. They then said that they were casting that body aside, and that it had served them for uses performed in the world in which they had been but that now they were living in a body which served them for the uses performed in that world in which they were now. They also wished me to tell these things to their mourning relatives, but I was led to reply that if I did they would laugh at it because they did not believe in the existence of anything which they were unable to see with their own eyes, and so they would include what I said among visions which were mere illusions. For people cannot be brought to believe that as men see one another with their eyes so spirits see one another with theirs, and that man is unable to see spirits except with the eyes of his spirit, and that he sees them when the Lord opens his sight, as happened to the prophets, who saw spirits and angels, and also many of the things in heaven. But whether people living today would have believed those things if they had seen them at that time is open to doubt.

각주: