Arcana Coelestia #49
49. Verse 26 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and they will have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, 1 and over the beasts, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
To people in the Most Ancient Church with whom the Lord spoke face to face, the Lord appeared as Man. (Much can be told about those people, but this is not the time to do so.) For this reason they called nobody man except the Lord and whatever may have been His. They did not even call themselves man, but only the things which they perceived that they had from the Lord, such as every good stemming from love and every truth of faith. These things were said to be human because they were the Lord's.
[2] In the Prophets therefore, in the highest sense, 'man' and 'son of man' are used to mean the Lord. In the internal sense they are used to mean wisdom and intelligence, and so everyone who is regenerate, as in Jeremiah,
I looked to the earth, and behold, a void and an emptiness, and towards the heavens, and behold, they had no light. I looked, and behold there was no man; and all the birds of the air 1 had fled. Jeremiah 4:23, 25.
In Isaiah where in the internal sense 'man' means a regenerate person, the Lord Himself as the One Man is meant in the highest sense,
Thus said Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and He who formed him, It was I that made the earth and it was I that created man upon it; My hands stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. Isaiah 45:11-13
[3] The Lord was therefore seen by the Prophets as Man, for example by Ezekiel,
Above the firmament in appearance like a sapphire stone there was the likeness of a throne, and above the likeness of a throne, there was a likeness, as the appearance of a Man upon it above. Ezekiel 1:26.
And the One whom Daniel saw was called 'a Son of Man', or what amounts to the same, Man,
I looked, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like the Son of Man was coming; and He came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and kingdom; and all peoples, nations, and languages will serve Him. His dominion is the dominion of an age, which will not pass away, and His kingdom one that will not perish. Daniel 7:13-14.
[4] Moreover the Lord quite often calls Himself the Son of Man or Man, and, as is done in Daniel, foretells His entry into glory,
They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and glory. Matthew 24:23, 30.
The literal sense of the Word is called 'the clouds of heaven', its internal sense 'power and glory'. The internal sense, in every single detail, focuses exclusively on the Lord and His kingdom. Consequently it is the spiritual sense which contains power and glory.
Фусноти:
1. literally, bird of the heavens (or the skies)
Job 28
1
Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.
2
Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.
3
He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.
4
The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.
5
As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.
6
The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.
7
There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen:
8
The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.
9
He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.
10
He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.
11
He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.
12
But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?
13
Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.
14
The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.
15
It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
16
It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
17
The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.
18
No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.
19
The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
20
Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
21
Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.
22
Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
23
God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.
24
For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;
25
To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.
26
When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
27
Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.
28
And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
