36. Verse 7. Behold, He cometh with the clouds, signifies that the Lord is about to reveal Himself in the Word through the internal sense. This is evident from the signification of "coming," as being, in reference to the Lord, to reveal Himself; and from the signification of "clouds," as being Divine truths in ultimates, thus the Word in the letter; for the Word as to the sense of the letter is Divine truth in ultimates; and since each thing therein contains an internal or spiritual sense, "coming with clouds" means revealing Himself through that sense. That "clouds" signify Divine truths in ultimates is from appearances in the spiritual world. There clouds appear in various kinds of light; in the inmost or third heaven in a flaming light, in the middle or second heaven in a bright white light, and in the outmost or first heaven in a light more dense; and everyone there knows that they signify Divine truth from the Lord through the angels; for when Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, which is the very light of heaven, passes through the angels, it appears as a cloud, purer or denser according to their intelligence. Such clouds have oftentimes been seen by me, and what they signify has also been perceived. This is why "clouds," such as those that appear before the eyes of men in the world, signify Divine truth in ultimates; and as the Word in the letter is Divine truth in ultimates, that is what is meant by "clouds."

[2] He who does not know that "clouds" have this signification, may suppose that the Lord is about to come in clouds for the Last Judgment, and to appear in glory; according to His words in the Evangelists, where He says:

Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and much glory (Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27).

"The consummation of the age" which is there treated of is the last time of the church; and the Lord's coming at that time is the revelation of Himself, and of Divine truth which is from Him, in the Word, through the internal sense. Elsewhere than in the Word the Lord does not reveal Himself, nor does He reveal Himself there except through the internal sense. The Word in the internal sense is also signified by "power" and "glory." (That this is fulfilled at this day, namely that the age is consummated, and the Last Judgment accomplished; and also that the Lord has come in the clouds of heaven, that is, has revealed the internal sense of the Word, may be seen in the small work on The Last Judgment, from beginning to end; also in the work on Heaven and Hell 1; also in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n.249-266.

That "the consummation of the age" signifies the last time of the church, see Arcana Coelestia 4535, 10622; that "the coming of the Lord" signifies the revelation of Divine truth through the internal sense, n. 3900, 4060; that "clouds" signify the sense of the letter of the Word, n. 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752, 8106, 8781, 9430, 10551, 10574; that "glory" signifies Divine truth in heaven, thus the internal sense, for this is Divine truth in heaven, n. 5922, 9429[1-7], 10574. The Lord is said to be "about to come in power," because Divine truth, which is from the Lord has all power, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 228-233, 539.) The like is meant by the Lord's words to the high priest:

Jesus said to the high priest, Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62).

"The Son of man" is the Lord as to Divine truth; "sitting at the right hand of power" is His omnipotence; "coming in the clouds of heaven" is the revelation of Divine truth respecting Him in the Word, for He has revealed Himself and has also fulfilled all things contained in the internal sense, which treats especially of the glorification of His Human.

[3] The same is signified by "clouds" in the following passages. In Daniel:

I saw in the night visions, and behold there came with the clouds of heaven, one like unto the Son of man (Daniel 7:13);

in Revelation:

I saw, and behold a white cloud; and on the cloud one sat like unto a man, ¹ having on his head a crown (Revelation 14:14, 16);

in Isaiah:

Behold, Jehovah sitting upon a dense light cloud (Isaiah 19:1);

in David:

Sing unto God, sing praises to His name, extol Him that rideth upon the clouds (Psalms 68:4);

in the same:

Jehovah appointeth the clouds His chariot; He walketh upon the wings of the wind (Psalms 104:3).

Who cannot see that these things are not to be understood according to the sense of the letter, that is, that Jehovah sits upon a cloud, that He rides upon the clouds, and that He makes the clouds His chariot? He who thinks spiritually may know that Jehovah is present in His Divine truth, for this proceeds from Him, consequently that this is what is meant by "clouds there;" so it is also said that Jehovah "appointeth the clouds His chariot;" because by "chariot" is signified the doctrine of truth (See Arcana Coelestia 2762, 5321, 8215).

[4] Likewise in the following places. In Isaiah:

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the higher clouds [pour down] righteousness (Isaiah 45:8);

in Nahum:

The way of Jehovah is with cloud ² and storm, and clouds are the dust of His feet (Nahum 1:3);

in David:

Ascribe ye strength unto God; His excellency is over Israel, and His strength is in the higher clouds (Psalms 68:34);

A faithful witness in the clouds (Psalms 89:37);

in Moses:

There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in thy ³ magnificence upon the clouds (Deuteronomy 33:26).

From this it can be seen what is meant by:

The cloud filling the inner court (Ezekiel 10:3-4);

And the cloud resting upon the tent (repeatedly in Moses); also that:

Jesus when He was transfigured, was seen in glory, and a cloud overshadowed the three disciples, and it was said to them out of the cloud, This is my beloved son (Matthew 17:1-10; Mark 9:1-11; Luke 9:28-36).

(See also what is said about the Lord's being in a cloud in the midst of angels, in the little work on The Earths in the Universe 171.)

Фусноти:

"The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods." Psalm 24:1-2

Additional readings: Daniel 7:1, 15-28, John 10:1-17

Before the rise of modern science it was thought that the ocean was the basis of creation and that the world was literally founded on it, as some sort of large floating, yet stationary island. This concept, while not true literally, is a correspondential image of the truth that is conveyed in the internal sense by the words of our text.

"The word ‘earth’ or ‘land’ in the Word…denotes the people who are in it, and in fact the people of the church, thus the church itself" (Arcana Coelestia 1066). When we read, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1), a new church or spiritual development is what is meant. And when we read, "the fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon the earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, " not monarchical sovereignties but the states of the church are signified. So in our text the church is meant. The church is the Lord’s kingdom on earth, and it is founded upon the eternal truths of the Word in ultimates. Our text reads, "The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." Here we find the two words "earth" and "world." They are not used for literary effect, though the dual expressions that abound throughout the Word add much to its literary beauty. The earth refers to the church as to its truths and the fullness to their abundance, and the world refers to the church as to its goodness. "They that dwell therein" are the people in whom this truth and goodness dwell.

Thus we learn from these verses that the church is the Lord’s as to its good and truth. And the reason is given: "For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods." In the Hebrew the word translated floods is the term used for large rivers; so a more accurate translation would be "founded it upon the rivers."

The seas upon which the church is founded are the knowledges of truth that are contained in the Word. We recall that rivers watered the Garden of Eden. Rivers represent doctrines drawn from the Word that make these truths applicable to life, and because both are needed, it is said that He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

When we stand on the shore of the Atlantic, we cannot see its utmost limits; we can see but a small part of it, while rivers, which terminate in the sea, are those more particularly defined truths which terminate finally in general truths but have their source as it were in the mountains and hills of heaven. Thus these two verses with which the twenty-fourth Psalm opens in their spiritual meaning teach us that the church is founded upon the knowledge of truth and good rationally understood.

The church is founded upon the seas of the sense of the letter of the Word, or on Divine revelation, upon the whole vast, indefinable mass of knowledge expressed in the written statements of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, but it is established upon the doctrines through which it is rationally understood—the flowing, living truths that enter the mind of each individual from God out of heaven. And just as the earth is said to be founded, built up, and established, so the church is founded on revelation and established in the hearts and minds of men as that revelation is received and understood.

The Writings of the church put this very clearly in these words: "The church is from the Word, and it is such as its understanding of the Word is…The Word is the Word according to the understanding of it with man; that is, as it is understood. If it is not understood, the Word is indeed called the Word, but with man it is not." (Doctrine of Sacred Scripture 76-77). And again, "The Word is not understood without doctrine" (Doctrine of Sacred Scripture 50). The text has a very practical lesson for us. By the truths of the Word we are brought in touch with the Lord, who is the Word. Man does not live from himself. He was created by a power outside of himself. And this same power keeps him alive from day to day and gives him eternal life.

The importance to us of truths from the Word is emphasized throughout the Writings. We are living in a time of amazing increase in knowledge about the external world, knowledge that has made this and other nations immensely prosperous. Yet only obedience to the truths that the Lord has given us can make prosperity a safe blessing. Listen to what the Writings of our church say about the truths of the Word: "Faith is formed by truth. By truth is charity to the neighbor. By truth is conscience. By truth is innocence. By truth is purification from evil. By truths is intelligence and wisdom. By truths is the beauty of angels, and thus of men internally as to the spirit. By truths is the order of heaven. By truths man becomes truly man. Yet all these come through good, and not through truths without good, and all good is from the Lord." This is a magnificent, yet exactly just description of the office of truth revealed in its strength.

The church should be the gathering and distributing point of spiritual life. Her purpose is to proclaim the Lord’s words, "Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else" (Isaiah 45:22), and to draw men into a living relationship with the Lord. She is here to help us to a knowledge of what is right and just, that our hearts may be inspired with a desire to establish the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

This past year was one of the most prosperous in our nation’s history. At the beginning of every year people hope that it will be a highly prosperous one. The desire for prosperity seems to be the passion of the day. But is the world alive to the duty of self-conquest, to the duty of learning and doing the Lord’s will? What is all this abundance for? What is it worth unless well-dispositioned souls possess and administer it?

The Gospel teaches us, "A man’s life consisteth not in the things that he possesseth" (Luke 12:15). Possessions do not make the man. In these words, the Lord is trying to make us see that it is the quality of the possessor which is the important thing. Otherwise, his possessions, however great, are of no essential value to him. Even abundance of worldly learning without self-conquest cannot be a lasting blessing. Neither worldly possessions nor worldly knowledge can make a man rich.

"The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof." The earth with all its fullness was made for man. The Word was given that the way of life might be made known. The Lord came into the world to make life more abundant.

We need to know that He spoke the truth when He said, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18), and that He can say and He alone, "I have the keys of hell and of death" (Revelation 1:18).

The Lord cannot found and establish His church among people by whom He is not acknowledged to be the All in All. Those who claim His Divine things as their own are thieves and robbers who seek to climb up another way than the true one. But those who acknowledge that "the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein" and that without Him they can do nothing are those who enter through the door into the sheepfold, for the Lord is the Door, and it is He Who really enters and to Whom the porter opens. Those who come before Him, who put their own desires and ambitions first, do not hear the voice of the Shepherd and follow Him (John 10:1-17). But those who find their greatest strength and security in humility and in self-abnegation cannot want any good thing, for the Lord is their Shepherd and they know from the heart that "The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein: for He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods." Enlightened by the Lord, they see and follow the truths which are born in them of the Lord and the church, and they know, acknowledge, and believe that "there is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: god shall help her, and that right early" (Psalm 46:4).

4060. Therefore the words quoted above [in 4056] mean the state of the Church at that time as regards good, that is, as regards charity towards the neighbour and love to the Lord. This is clear from the internal sense of these words, which is as follows:

But immediately after the affliction of those days means the state of the Church as regards the truth of faith, which is dealt with in the verses immediately before this. In the Word desolation of truth is called 'affliction' in various places - 'days' being states, see 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785. From this it is evident that these words mean that once faith no longer exists neither will any charity exist. For faith leads to charity because it teaches what charity is, and charity acquires its particular character from the truths of faith. The truths of faith however receive their essence and life from charity, as has been shown many times in previous volumes.

[2] The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light means love to the Lord, which is 'the sun', and charity towards the neighbour, which is 'the moon'. 'Being darkened' and 'not giving light' mean that that love and charity will not be in evidence and so will disappear. For 'the sun' means the celestial kind of love and 'the moon' the spiritual kind; that is, 'the sun' means love to the Lord, and 'the moon' charity towards the neighbour which comes through faith, see 1053, 1529, 1530, 2120, 2441, 2495. The reason why the sun and the moon have these meanings is that the Lord is seen in the next life as a sun by those in heaven who are governed by love to Him and are called celestial, and as a moon by those who are governed by charity towards the neighbour and are referred to as spiritual, see 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643.

[3] The sun and the moon in heaven, or the Lord, are never darkened, nor do they lose their light but are shining unceasingly. Thus in heaven there is no darkening or loss of light in the love which celestial angels have for the Lord or in the charity which spiritual angels show towards the neighbour. Nor on earth is there any in people with whom angels are present, that is, in people who are governed by love and charity. But those who are not governed by any love or charity, only by self-love and love of the world, and consequently by feelings of hatred and revenge, bring that kind of obscurity to themselves. It is like the sun of this world which is shining constantly; yet when clouds intervene the sun is not visible, see 2441.

[4] And the stars will fall from heaven means that cognitions of good and truth will perish. When mentioned in the Word 'stars' have no other meaning than those cognitions, 1808, 2849.

And the powers of the heavens will be shaken means the foundations of the Church which are said to be shaken and jolted when those cognitions perish. This is because the Church on earth is heaven's foundation; for the influx of good and truth from the Lord through the heavens culminates ultimately in the goods and truths present with the member of the Church. Consequently when the state of the member of the Church is so perverse that he no longer allows good or truth to flow into him 'the powers of the heavens' are in that case said 'to be shaken'. That being so, the Lord always provides for some vestige of the Church to be left. And when the old Church perishes a new one is established.

[5] And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven means the manifestation of Divine truth - 'sign' meaning a manifestation, 'the Son of Man' the Lord as regards Divine truth, see 2803, 2813, 3704. This manifestation, or this 'sign', is what the disciples asked for when they said to the Lord,

Tell us, when will those things take place; what especially will be the sign of Your coming and of the close of the age? Matthew 24:3.

For they knew from the Word that when the age drew to a close the Lord would come, and they knew from the Lord that He would be coming again, by which they understood the Lord's coming a second time into the world since they were not yet aware of the fact that the Lord had come as often as the Church had been brought to ruin. Not that any of these comings had been a coming in person, as was the case when, through birth in the world, He took on the Human and made this Divine. Rather, those comings had been made through appearances or manifestations of Himself, such as when He appeared in Mamre to Abraham, in the bush to Moses, on Mount Sinai to the Israelites, and to Joshua when he entered the land of Canaan. There were other comings of a less visible nature, such as those at times when inspiration was received and the Word was given by means of it, and later on through the Word itself. For the Word has the Lord present within it; every detail there comes from Him and has reference to Him, as may be recognized from what has been shown many times up to now. This is the kind of appearance that is meant here by 'the sign of the Son of Man' and is the subject in the present verse under consideration.

[6] And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn means that all in whom the good of love and the truth of faith dwell will experience grief. This is what is meant by 'mourning', see Zechariah 12:10-14; and 'the tribes' means all aspects of good and truth, that is, of love and faith, 3858, 3926, and so consequently those in whom these things dwell. The phrase 'the tribes of the earth' is used because those inside the Church are meant - 'the earth' being the Church, see 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2928,

[7] And they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory means that at that time a revelation of the internal sense of the Word - the sense in which the Lord is present - will take place. 'The Son of Man' means Divine truth within the Word, 2803, 2813, 3704, 'the clouds' the literal sense. 'Power' has reference to the good and 'glory' to the truth present there. For this meaning of 'seeing the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven', see Preface to Genesis 18. This is the kind of coming of the Lord that is meant here, not a literal manifestation of Him in clouds. Next follows a reference to the establishment of a new Church, which takes place once the old has been brought to ruin and cast aside.

[8] He will send out His angels with a trumpet and a loud voice means election - not by visible angels, still less by trumpets and by loud voices, but by an influx of holy good and of holy truth from the Lord through angels, so that the expression 'angels' in the Word means something essentially the Lord's, 1925, 2821, 3039. In this instance it means things which come from the Lord and have reference to the Lord. 'A trumpet and a loud voice' means the proclamation of the Gospel, as in other places in the Word.

[9] And they will gather the elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other end of them means the establishment of a new Church, 'the elect' being people in whom the good of love and faith dwell, 3755 (end), 3900, 'the four winds' from which they will be gathered being all states of good and truth, 3708, and 'one end of the heavens to the other' the internal and the external features of the Church. These are the considerations that are meant by these words spoken by the Lord.