9310. Because My name is in the midst of him. That this signifies that from Him is all the good of love and truth of faith, is evident from the signification of the “name of Jehovah,” as being all in one complex by which God is worshiped (see n. 2724, 3006), thus all the good of love and truth of faith (n. 6674); and from the signification of “in the midst of him,” as being what is in Him, thus also what is from Him; for the good of love is of such a nature that what is in it, is also from it in others, because it has the power of communicating itself. For it is a characteristic of love that it wishes everything of its own to be out of itself in others; and as this is effected from the Divine Itself through and out of its Divine Human, therefore also the Lord as to the Divine Human is called “the name of Jehovah” (n. 6887, 8274).

[2] He who does not know what “name” signifies in the internal sense, may suppose that where the “name of Jehovah,” and the “name of the Lord,” are mentioned in the Word, the name alone is meant; when yet all the good of love and all the truth of faith which are from the Lord are meant thereby; as in Matthew:

If two of you shall agree in My name on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them. Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:19-20)

Everyone that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:29).

As many as received Him, to them gave He power to be sons of God, even to them that believe in His name (John 1:12).

He that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God (John 3:18).

These things are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in His name (John 20:31).

In these passages, and in very many others, by “the name of the Lord” is signified all the good of love and truth of faith in the complex by which He is worshiped.

[3] Again:

If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My name, He will give it you (John 15:7, 16);

“to ask of the Father in My name” denotes to ask the Lord, as He Himself teaches in the same Evangelist:

Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do. If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it (John 14:13-14);

“asking in the name of the Lord” denotes asking the Lord, because no one comes unto the Father except through the Lord (John 14:6); and because the Lord as to the Divine Human is Jehovah or the Father in a visible form (as was shown above (9303), n. 9303, 9306). Again:

The sheep hear His voice, and He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out (John 10:3);

“the sheep” denote those who are in the good of charity and of faith; “to hear His voice” denotes to obey His commandments; “to call by name, and lead them out” denotes to bestow heaven according to the good of love and of faith; for “the name, “when applied to persons, denotes their quality as to love and faith (n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 3421).

9303. Behold I send an angel before thee. That this signifies the Lord as to the Divine Human, is evident from the signification of “sending,” when said of the Lord, as being to proceed (see n. 6831), here to cause to proceed; and from the signification of “an angel,” as being one who proceeds; for in the original tongue “angel” means one who is sent, which is the derivation of the word; and by “sent” is signified proceeding, as can be seen from the passages cited from the Word in n. 6831. From this it is evident that by “the angel of Jehovah” is meant the Lord as to the Divine Human; for this proceeds from Jehovah as the Father. Jehovah as the Father denotes the Divine good of the Divine love, which is Being itself (n. 3704); and that which proceeds from the Father is the Divine truth from that Divine good, thus the Divine Coming-forth from the Divine Being. This is here signified by the “angel.” In like manner in Isaiah:

The angel of His faces delivered them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He took them up, and carried them all the days of eternity (Isaiah 63:9).

Behold the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple, even the angel of the covenant, whom ye desire (Malachi 3:1);

“to the Lord’s temple” denotes to His Human. That this is His “temple,” the Lord Himself teaches (Matthew 26:61; John 2:19, 21-22).

[2] It is said in the church that from the three who are called “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” there comes forth one Divine, which is also called “one God;” and that from the Father proceeds the Son, and from the Father through the Son proceeds the Holy Spirit; but what this proceeding or going forth means, is as yet unknown. The ideas of the angels on this subject are quite different from those of the men of the church who have thought about it, for the reason that the ideas of the men of the church are founded upon three, but those of the angels upon one. That the ideas of the men of the church are founded upon three, is because they distinguish the Divine into three persons, and attribute to each one special and particular offices. Hence they can indeed say that God is one, but they cannot possibly think otherwise than that there are three, who, by a union which they call mystical, are one. In this way they may indeed be able to think that there is one Divine, but not that there is one God; for in their thought the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. One Divine is one by agreement and thus unanimity; but one God is absolutely one.

[3] The kind of idea or thought a man of the church has about the one God, is clearly manifest in the other life, for everyone carries with him the ideas of his thought. The idea or thought of such people is that there are three gods; yet they dare not say “gods,” but “God.” A few also make one out of three by union; for they think in one way of the Father, in another way of the Son, and in another way of the Holy Spirit. From this has clearly appeared the nature of the faith the church has about the most essential thing of all, which is the Divine Itself; and as in the other life all are conjoined or separated by the thoughts which are of faith, and the affections which are of love, therefore those who have been born outside the church, and have believed in one God, flee from those who are within the church, saying of them that they do not believe in one God, but in three gods; and that those who do not believe in one God under a human form do not believe in any God, because their thought pours itself forth into the universe, without determination, and thus falls down into nature; which they thus acknowledge in the place of God. When asked what they mean by “proceeding,” in saying that the Son proceeds from the Father and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son, they answer that “proceeding” is a term of union, and that it wraps up this mystery within it. But their idea of thought about this, when examined, has been found to be that of a mere word, devoid of reality.

[4] But the ideas of the angels about the Divine, the Trinity, and Proceeding, are quite different from the ideas of the men of the church, for the reason, as said above, that the ideas of thought of the angels are founded upon one, whereas the ideas of thought of the men of the church are founded upon three. The angels think (and what they think they believe) that there is one God, and that He is the Lord; that His Human is the Divine Itself in a form; and that the holy proceeding from Him is the Holy Spirit; thus that there is a Trinity, but still it is One.

[5] A notion of this is obtained from the idea that exists about the angels in heaven. An angel appears there in the human form, but still there are three things in him that make a one. There is his internal, which does not appear before the eyes; there is the external, which does appear; and there is the sphere of life of his affections and thoughts, which pours out from him to a distance (see n. 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504-1519, 1695, 2489, 4464, 5179, 6206, 7454, 8063, 8630). These three make one angel. But the angels are finite and created, whereas the Lord is infinite and uncreated. And as no man, or even angel, can have any idea about the Infinite except from things finite, therefore such an example may be given in order to illustrate what the Trinity in One is; and that there is one God; and that He is the Lord, and no other. (See further what has been shown on this subject in the passages cited at n. 9194, 9199)