2. Maar dat het geheel zowel als het bijzondere, ja het meest bijzondere, tot de kleinste jota toe, geestelijke en hemelse dingen betekent en omhult, weet tot dusver de Christelijke wereld in de verste verte niet, om welke reden zij dan ook voor het Oude Testament weinig aandacht heeft Niettemin kan het hieruit alleen al blijken, dat het Woord – daar het van de Heer is en van de Heer komt - nooit zou kunnen bestaan, tenzij het innerlijk die dingen bevatte, welke van de hemel, de kerk en van het geloof zijn. Anders kon het niet het Woord van de Heer genoemd worden, evenmin zou gezegd kunnen worden, dat daarin enig leven is; want vanwaar zou het leven anders kunnen komen, dan uit de dingen die van het leven zijn, dat wil zeggen, daarvandaan dat het geheel zowel als elke bijzonderheid betrekking heeft op de Heer, Die het leven Zelf is. Iets dat innerlijk niet op Hem ziet, leeft dus niet, ja zelfs, een woord in het Woord, dat niet Hem onthult, of op haar wijze op Hem betrekking heeft, is niet goddelijk.

7396. 'Till when shall I plead for you, and for your servants, and for your people' means intercession made for those steeped in falsities who engage in molestation. This is clear from the meaning of 'pleading', since it is done on behalf of another, as intercession; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as those who are steeped in falsities and engage in molestation, dealt with in 7107, 7110, 7126, 7142, 7717. Since these are represented by Pharaoh, 'his servants' and 'his people', when mentioned in addition, mean each and every one of them; for 'servants' are those who belong to a lower rank and minister, while 'people' are the individual ones. Empires and kingdoms are represented in heaven as a person, and the communities within them are represented as the parts of that person's body, the monarch being so to speak its head. The reason why they are represented in that way traces back to this: The whole of heaven represents one human being, and the communities there represent the parts of his body, in accordance with the functions they perform. From this one may see how beautiful and delightful the representation in heaven of an empire, kingdom, or community would be if its citizens were linked to one another by charity and faith to form a body like that. Whenever possible the Lord also links communities together into that kind of body; for Divine Truth itself, which emanates from the Lord, introduces that state of order wherever that order is accepted. This is the origin of the state of order that exists in heaven. It exists on earth too, but the communities constituting it are scattered all over the earth and are made up of those who are governed by love to Him and charity towards the neighbour. But those scattered communities have been drawn together by the Lord in order that they too, like communities in heaven, may represent one human being. These communities exist not only within the Church but also outside it; and when taken all together they are called the Lord's Church, drawn together from the good scattered throughout all the earth. That Church is also called a communion. This communion or Church is the Lord's kingdom on earth linked to the Lord's kingdom in heaven, and so to the Lord Himself.