1. CONCERNING THE WHITE HORSE as described in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 19.

In the writings of John, in the Book of Revelation, the following is a description of the Word in its spiritual sense, in other words the sense contained within it, or its 'inner meaning:'

I saw heaven standing open, and behold, a White Horse. And the one sitting on the White Horse was called faithful and true, judging and fighting in righteousness. His eyes were a flame of fire, and on His head were many jewels. He had a name inscribed that no one knew but He Himself. And He was dressed in a garment dyed with blood, and His name is called the Word of God. The armies that followed Him in heaven were on white horses, they themselves dressed in clean white linen. On His garment and on His thigh was written a name, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Revelation 19:11-14, 16.

No one can have a clear idea of what each of the details in this description entails except by way of its 'inner meaning." It is obvious that each particular detail must represent or signify something, as follows:

Heaven which was standing open; a horse which was white; the one seated on it was called faithful and true, ¹ judging and fighting in righteousness; His eyes a flame of fire; and many jewels ² on His head; having a name inscribed that no one knew but He Himself; and dressed in a garment dyed with blood; and the armies that followed Him in heaven were on white horses, they themselves dressed in clean white linen; ³ on His garment and on His thigh He has written a name.

It is stated plainly that the one seated on the White Horse is the Word, and He is the Lord who is the Word, for what is said is that His name is called The Word of God; and then, He has written on His garment and on His thigh the title King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

From the interpretation of each individual phrase or statement it is clear that all this serves to describe the spiritual sense or internal meaning of the Word. The phrase heaven which was standing open' represents and signifies that the inner meaning of the Word is seen by those in heaven, and consequently also by those on earth for whom heaven stands open. 'A horse which was white' represents and signifies an understanding of the Word as regards its inner meanings. ⁴ That the 'white horse' means what I have said will be clear from what follows.

It is clear that 'the one seated on it' means the Lord in His capacity as the Word, and thus means the Word itself, for it is stated that 'His name is called the Word of God;' and he is called 'faithful' and 'judging in righteousness' because of His goodness; and 'true' and 'fighting in righteousness' because of His truth, for the Lord Himself is righteousness. 'His eyes a flame of fire' signify divine truth radiating from the divine good flowing from His divine love. The 'many jewels on His head' signify all the good and true properties of faith. Having a 'name written which no one knew other than He Himself' signifies that no one sees what is the nature of the Word in its inner meaning except Himself, and one to whom He reveals it.

Dressed in a garment dyed with blood' signifies the violence done to the Word in its literal meaning. ⁵ 'The armies in heaven which followed Him on white horses' signifies those who understand the Word as regards its inner meanings.' 'Those dressed in clean white linen' signifies the same people who are endued with truth arising from what is good. 'On His garment and on His thigh a name written ⁶ ' signifies what is true and what is good and their specific qualities.

From all these verses, and from those which come before and after them, it is clear that they serve to foretell that the spiritual or internal sense of the Word will be laid open at around the final time of the Church; and what will happen at that time is also described there, Revelation 19:17-21. There is no need to show here the things which are signified by these words since they are individually shown in Arcana Caelestia. The Lord is the Word because He is the divine truth: 2533, 2803, 2894, 5272, 8535; ⁷ the Word is the divine truth: 4692, 5075, 9987; He is proclaimed to be sitting on a horse judging and fighting in righteousness because the Lord is righteousness. The Lord is proclaimed to be righteousness from the fact that by His own power He has saved the human race: 1813, 2025-2027, 9715, 9809, 10019, 10152. Righteousness is a merit belonging to the Lord alone: 9715, 9979. 'His eyes a flame of fire' signify divine truth radiating from the divine good flowing from His divine love, because 'eyes' signify the understanding and truth of faith: 2701, 4403-4421, 4523-4534, 6923, 9051, 10569; and 'a flame of fire' signifies the good of love: 934, 4906, 5215, 6314, 6832; the 'jewels on His head' ⁸ signify all the good and true properties of faith: 114, 3858, 6335, 6640, 9863, 9865, 9868, 9873, 9905.

Having a name written which no one knew other than He Himself' signifies that no one sees what is the nature of the Word in its inner meaning except Himself, and one to whom He reveals it, because a name signifies the nature of a thing: 144-145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, 3237, 3421, 6674, 9310. 'Dressed in a garment dyed with blood' signifies the violence done to the Word in its literal meaning because a garment' signifies truth, which clothes what is good: 1073, 2576, 5248, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10536; especially truth in its outermost form, and thus the Word in its literal meaning: 5248, 6918, 9158, 9212; and because 'blood' signifies violence done to truth by what is false: 374, 1005, 4735, 5476, 9127. 'The armies in heaven which followed Him on white horses' signify those who understand the Word as regards its inner meanings because 'armies' signify those who are equipped with the truth and goodness of heaven and the Church: 3448, 7236, 7988, 8019; and the horse' signifies understanding: 3217, 5321, 6125, 6400, 6534, 7024, 8146, 8381; and 'white' means the truth which the light of heaven has within itself thus, the inner truth: 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319.

Those dressed in clean white linen' signify the same people who are endued with truth arising from what is good because 'linen' or 'a garment of linen' signifies truth from a heavenly sourcewhich is truth from what is good: 5319, 9469. 'On His garment and on His thigh a name written' signifies what is true and what is good, and their specific qualities, because 'a garment' signifies truth, and 'a name' signifies its nature, as above, and 'thigh' signifies the good properties of love: 3021, 4277, 4280, 9961, 10488. 'King of Kings and Lord of Lords' is the Lord as regards divine truth and divine good; the Lord is called King by virtue of His divine truth: 3009, 5068, 6148, and He is called Lord by virtue of His divine good: 4973, 9167, 9194.

From all this it is clear what the nature of the Word is in its spiritual or inner sense, and that there is no single word within it which does not have some spiritual meaning relating to heaven and the Church.

각주:

3994. 'And every black one among the lambs' means a proprium of innocence, which belongs to the good meant by 'Laban'. This is clear from the meaning of 'black' as the proprium, dealt with immediately above in 3993, and from the meaning of 'a lamb' as innocence, dealt with below. With regard to a proprium of innocence meant by 'black one among the lambs' the position is that, to be good, all good must contain innocence. Charity devoid of innocence is not charity, and still less can love to the Lord exist without it. Innocence is therefore an absolutely essential element of love and charity, and consequently of good. A proprium of innocence consists in knowing, acknowledging, and believing, not with the lips but with the heart, that nothing but evil originates in oneself, and everything good in the Lord, and therefore that such a proprium is altogether black, that is to say, both the will side of the proprium, which is evil, and the understanding side, which is falsity. When a person confesses and believes that in his heart, the Lord flows in with good and truth and instills a heavenly proprium into him which is bright and shining. Nobody can possibly be truly humble unless that acknowledgement and belief are present in his heart; and when they are present he is self-effacing, indeed self-loathing, and so is not preoccupied with himself, in which case he is in a fit state to receive the Lord's Divine. These are the circumstances in which the Lord flows in with good into a humble and contrite heart.

[2] Such is the proprium of innocence meant here by 'the black one among the lambs' which Jacob chose for himself, whereas 'the white one among the iambs' means the merit that is placed in good deeds - 'white' meaning merit, as stated above in 3993. Jacob did not choose this because it goes against innocence. Indeed anyone who places merit in good deeds acknowledges and believes that all good originates in himself, for he regards himself, not the Lord, in the good deeds he does and as a consequence seeks reward on the basis of that merit. For the same reason he also despises others in comparison with himself, indeed he even condemns them, and therefore to the same extent departs from heavenly order, that is, from good and truth. From all this it may be seen that charity towards the neighbour and love to the Lord are by no means able to exist unless they have innocence within them, and consequently that no one can enter heaven unless he possesses some degree of innocence, according to the Lord's words,

Truly I say to you, Whoever has not received the kingdom of God like a young child will not enter into it. Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17.

Here and elsewhere in the Word 'a young child' means innocence - see what has been stated already on these matters in the following paragraphs,

Early childhood is not innocence, but innocence resides in wisdom, 2305, 3494.

The nature of the innocence of early childhood, and the nature of the innocence of wisdom, 2306, 3183; also the nature of the proprium when, with innocence and charity, the Lord gives it life, 154.

Innocence causes good to be good, 2526, 2780.

[3] The fact that innocence is meant by 'lambs' may be seen from many places in the Word, of which let the following be quoted to confirm the point,

The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the ox together; and a little child will lead them. Isaiah 11:6.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom and to the state of peace and of innocence there. 'The wolf' stands for those who are opposed to innocence, 'the lamb' for those in whom innocence is present. A similar example occurs elsewhere in the same prophet,

The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and for the serpent, dust will be his bread. They will not hurt and will not destroy on all My holy mountain. Isaiah 65:25.

As above, 'the wolf' stands for those who are opposed to innocence, and 'the lamb' for those in whom innocence is present. Because 'the wolf' and 'the lamb' are opposites, the Lord also said to the seventy whom He sent out, in Luke,

Behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Luke 10:3.

In Moses,

He causes him to suck honey out of the crag, and oil out of the stony rock - butter from the cattle, and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs and rams, the breed ¹ of Bashan. Deuteronomy 32:13-14.

This refers in the internal sense to the celestial qualities of the Ancient Church. 'The fat of lambs' stands for the charity that goes with innocence.

[4] In the original language various nouns exist for lambs, and each is used to mean a different degree of innocence, for as has been stated, all good, if it is to be good, must have innocence within it. And so also must truth. Here in Genesis 30:32 the word used for lambs is also used for sheep, as in Leviticus 1:10; 3:7; 5:6; 17:3; 22:19; Numbers 18:17; and by that word is meant the innocence belonging to faith grounded in charity. Different words are used elsewhere, as in Isaiah,

Send the lamb of the ruler of the land from the rock towards the wilderness, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion. Isaiah 16:1.

A different word again is used in the same prophet,

The Lord Jehovih is coming with strength, and His arm will exercise dominion for Him. He will pasture His flock like a shepherd, He will gather the lambs into His arm, He will carry them in His bosom, and will lead those that give suck. Isaiah 40:9-11.

'Gathering the lambs into the arm and carrying in the bosom' stands for people who are governed by charity that has innocence within it.

[5] In John,

When He appeared [to the disciples] Jesus said to Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these? He said to Him, Yes, Lord; You know that I love You. He said to him, Feed My lambs. He said to him again, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Feed My sheep. John 21:15-16.

Here as elsewhere 'Peter' means faith - see the Prefaces to Chapters 18 and 22, and 3750. And since faith is not faith if it does not arise out of charity towards the neighbour, and so out of love to the Lord, neither are charity and love charity and love if they do not arise out of innocence. This is why the Lord first asks whether he loves Him, that is, whether love is present within faith, and after that says, 'Feed My lambs', that is, feed those who are innocent. Then after putting the same question again, He says, 'Feed My sheep', that is, feed those who have charity.

[6] Because the Lord is the Innocence itself which exists in His kingdom, for He is the source of all innocence, the Lord is therefore called the Lamb, as in John,

The next day John Baptist saw Jesus coming towards him, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who bears away the sin of the world. John 1:29, 36.

And in Revelation,

They will fight with the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings, and those with Him have been called and chosen. Revelation 17:14.

There are other places in Revelation besides this - 5:6; 6:1, 16; 7:9, 14, 17; 12:11; 13:8; 14:1, 4; 19:7, 9; 21:22-23, 27; 22:1, 3. It is well known that in the highest sense the paschal lamb means the Lord - for the Passover meant the Lord's glorification, that is, His enduing the Human with the Divine - and in the representative sense means the regeneration of man. Indeed the paschal lamb means that which is the essential feature of regeneration, namely innocence; for nobody can be regenerated except by means of charity that has innocence within it.

[7] Because innocence is the first essential in the Lord's kingdom and is the celestial itself there, and because sacrifices and burnt offerings used to represent the spiritual and celestial things of the Lord's kingdom, the essential itself of the Lord's kingdom, which is innocence, was therefore represented by 'lambs'. This was why the continual or daily burnt offering was made from lambs, the first in the morning and the second 'between the evenings', Exodus 29:37-39; Numbers 28:3-4; and a double offering on the sabbath, Numbers 28:9-10; and many more lambs still at the appointed festivals, Leviticus 23:12; Numbers 28:11, 14, 19, 27; 28:1-end. After the days of her cleansing had been completed a woman who had given birth was required to offer a lamb as a burnt offering, also a young pigeon or else a turtledove, Leviticus 12:6. This was required in order that the sign of the fruit of conjugial love - a love which is innocence itself, see 2736 - might be represented, and because innocence is meant by 'babes'.

각주:

6674. 'Of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah' means the nature and state of the natural where that factual knowledge resided. This is clear from the meaning of 'the name' as the essential nature, dealt with in 144, 145, 1896, 2009, and also the state, 1946, 2643, 3422, 4298. For the names contained in the Word all serve to mean different realities, each name embodying in a nutshell all the characteristics, thus the nature and state of that reality to which it refers. Here therefore the names Shiphrah and Puah mean the nature and state of the natural where true factual knowledge resides since this is the reality to which those names refer, as is evident from what appears immediately before this in 6673. A person who is unaware of the fact that a name serves to mean the nature and state of the reality to which it refers can only think that no more than the name is meant when that name is mentioned.

[2] Thus he can only think that when the Lord speaks of His name no more than this is meant, when in fact what is meant is the essential nature of the worship of Him, that is to say, every aspect of faith and charity through which He is to be worshipped, as in Matthew,

Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20.

Not the name is meant here, but worship flowing from faith and charity. In John,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name. John 1:12.

Here also 'name' is used to mean faith and charity from which the Lord is worshipped. In the same gospel,

These things have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. John 20:31.

Here the meaning is similar.

[3] In the same gospel,

If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. John 14:13-14.

And elsewhere,

Whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give it to you. John 15:16-17; 16:23-24.

The real meaning here is not that they were to ask the Father in the Lord's name, but that they were to ask the Lord Himself. For no access lies open to Divine Good, which is the Father, 3704, except through the Lord's Divine Human, as the various Churches also well know. This being so, asking the Lord Himself is a request made in accordance with the truths of faith; and if the request is indeed made in accord with them it is granted, as He Himself also says in the place in John quoted immediately before - If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. This matter is made even clearer by the fact that the Lord is meant by Jehovah's 'name', when mentioned as follows in Moses,

I send an angel before you to guard you on the way. Take notice of His face, and hearken to His voice, and do not provoke Him, since My name is in the midst of Him. Exodus 23:20-21.

[4] In John,

Father, glorify Your name. A voice came from heaven, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. John 12:28.

In the same gospel,

I have manifested Your name to the men (homo) whom You gave to Me out of the world. I made known to them Your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:6, 26.

From these quotations it is evident that the Lord's Divine Human is Jehovah's name or whole essential nature. Consequently all Divine worship begins in the Divine Human; and the Divine Human is what one is to worship, for by worshipping this one worships the Divine Himself, no thought of whom can otherwise be formed. And if no such thought can be formed, there can be no communion with Him either.

[5] The truth that the Lord's 'name' is everything constituting the faith and love through which He is to be worshipped is still further evident from the following places: In Matthew,

You will be hated by everyone for My name's sake. Matthew 10:22.

In the same gospel,

He who receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. Matthew 18:5.

In the same gospel,

Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields, for My name's sake, will receive a hundredfold. Matthew 19:29.

In the same gospel,

They shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Matthew 21:9.

In Luke,

Truly I tell you; for you will not see Me until [the time] comes so that you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Luke 13:35.

In Mark,

Whoever gives you drink from a cup of water in My name because you are Christ's, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward. Mark 9:41.

In Luke,

The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are obedient to us in Your name. Jesus said to them, Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are obedient to you, but rejoice rather that your names have been written in heaven. Luke 10:17, 20.

'Names written in heaven' are not those people's their faith and charity.

[6] Much the same is meant by 'names written in the Apocalypse,

You have a few names also in Sardis, who have not soiled their garments. He who conquers will be clad in white garments and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; and I will confess his name before the Father and before His angels. Revelation 3:4-5.

Like wise in John,

The one entering by the door is the shepherd of the sheep; he calls his own sheep by name. John 10:2-3.

In Exodus,

Jehovah said to Moses, I know you by name. Exodus 33:12, 17.

In John,

Many believed in His name, seeing His signs which He did. John 2:13.

[7] In the same gospel,

He who believes in Him is not judged: but he who does not believe is judged already because he has not be lifted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:18.

In Isaiah,

They will fear the name of Jehovah from the west. Isaiah 59:19.

In Micah,

All the peoples walk in the name of their God and we will walk in the name of our God. Micah 4:5.

In Moses it says they were to worship Jehovah God in the place which He would choose and in which He would put His name. Deuteronomy 12:5, 11, 14. Similar phrases occur in Isaiah 18:7 and Jeremiah 7:12, and in many other places besides these, such as Isaiah 26:8, 13; 41:25; 43:7; 49:1; 50:10; 52:5; 26:16; Ezekiel 20:14, 44; 36:21-23; Micah 5:4; Malachi 1:11; Deuteronomy 10:8; Revelation 2:17; 3:12; 13:8; 14:11; 15:2; 17:8; 19:12-13, 16; 22:3-4.

[8] The fact that Jehovah's name means everything involved in the worship of Him, thus in the highest sense everything that goes out from the Lord, is clear in the Blessing,

Jehovah bless you and keep you;

Jehovah make His face shine upon you and be merciful to you;

Jehovah lift up His face upon you and give you peace.

So shall they put My name upon the sons of Israel. Numbers 6:23-27.

From all this one may now see what is meant by the following commandment in the Decalogue,

You shall not take the name of your God in vain, for Jehovah will not hold him innocent who has taken His name in vain. Exodus 20:7.

One may likewise see what is meant in the Lord's Prayer by hallowed be Your name, Matthew 6:9.