608. And sware by him that liveth unto the ages of the ages.- That this signifies truth from His own Divine, is evident from the signification of swearing, as denoting asseveration and confirmation, and when stated of the Lord, as denoting truth, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of, "him that liveth unto the ages of the ages," as denoting the Divine from eternity, which alone lives, and which is the source of life to all in the universe, both to angels and men. That this is the signification of him that liveth unto the ages of the ages, may be seen above (n.289, 291, 349). That to swear signifies asseveration and confirmation, but, in the present case, truth, because from the angel, by whom the Lord is meant, is evident from this fact, that to swear is to assert and confirm the truth of a statement, and when done by the Lord, means Divine verity. For oaths are taken only by those who are not interiorly in truth itself, that is, by those who are not interior but only exterior men; therefore they are never taken by angels, and much less therefore by the Lord. But the reason why He is said to swear in the Word, and why the sons of Israel were allowed to swear by God, is, that they were merely exterior men, and because when the asseveration and confirmation of the internal man, comes into the external, it takes the form of an oath. And in the Israelitish church all things were external, and these represented and signified things internal. The case is similar also in regard to the Word in the sense of the letter. It is therefore evident that by the angel swearing by Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages, is not meant that he thus sware, but that he said in himself that it was the truth, and that this falling into the natural sphere, became, according to correspondences, changed into the form of an oath.

[2] Now because to swear is only an external act corresponding to the confirmation of the mind of the internal man, and consequently signifies it, therefore in the Word of the Old Testament it is said to be lawful to swear by God, and even God Himself is said to take an oath. That this signifies confirmation, asseveration, and the absolute truth, or that a thing is true, is evident from the following passages.

Thus in Isaiah:

"Jehovah hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength" (62:8).

And in Jeremiah:

"Jehovah of hosts hath sworn by his soul" (51:14; Amos 6:8).

And again, in Amos:

"The Lord Jehovih hath sworn by his holiness" (4:2).

And again, in the same prophet:

"The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob" (8:7).

And in Jeremiah:

"Behold, I have sworn by my great name" (44:26).

Jehovah swearing by His right hand, by His soul, by His holiness, and by His name, signifies by the Divine Truth; for the right hand of Jehovah, the arm of His strength, His holiness, His name, and His soul, mean the Lord as to Divine Truth, thus Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord. The signification of the excellency of Jacob is similar, for the mighty one of Jacob means the Lord as to Divine Truth.

[3] That to swear, when stated of Jehovah, signifies confirmation from Himself, or from His Divine, is evident in Isaiah:

"By myself have I sworn, the word has gone out of my mouth, and shall not be recalled" (45:23).

And in Jeremiah:

"I swear by myself, saith Jehovah, that this house shall become a desolation" (22:5).

Because swearing, when stated of Jehovah, signifies Divine Truth, therefore it is said in David,

"Jehovah hath sworn in truth unto David; He will not turn from it" (Psalm 132:11).

[4] Jehovah God, or the Lord, never swears, for it does not belong to God Himself, or the Divine Truth, to swear; but when God, or the Divine Truth, wills to have anything confirmed before men, then that confirmation, passing into the natural sphere, becomes an oath or takes the solemn formula of an oath in the world. It is therefore evident, that although God never swears, yet in the sense of the letter of the Word, which is the natural sense, it may be said that He swears. This therefore is the signification of swearing when stated of Jehovah or the Lord in the preceding passages, and also in the following.

Thus in Isaiah:

"Jehovah of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass" (14:24).

And in David:

"I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant. O Lord, thou swearest unto David in truth" (Psalm 89:3, 35, 49).

And again:

"Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent" (Psalm 110:4).

And in Ezekiel:

"I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, and thou becamest mine" (16:8).

And in David:

"Unto whom I sware in my anger" (Psalm 95:11).

And in Isaiah:

"I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth" (54:9).

And in Luke:

"To remember his holy covenant; the oath which he sware to our father Abraham" (1:72, 73).

And in David:

"He was mindful of his covenant which he made with Abraham, and his oath with Isaac" (Psalm 105:8, 9).

And in Jeremiah:

"That I may establish the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers" (11:5 32:22).

"The land which I sware to give to your fathers" (Deuteronomy 1:35 10:11; 11:9, 21; 26:3, 15; 31:20; 34:4).

[5] From these things it is evident what is meant by the angel lifting up his hand to heaven, and swearing by Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages.

Similarly in Daniel:

"I heard the man (vir) clothed in linen, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto the heavens, and sware by him that liveth unto the ages of the ages" (12:7).

This signifies affirmation before the angels concerning the state of the church, that what follows is Divine Truth.

[6] Since the church instituted with the sons of Israel was a representative church, in which all things that were commanded were natural things, representing and consequently signifying spiritual things, therefore the sons of Israel, with whom the church was, were allowed to swear by Jehovah, and by His name, also by the holy things of the church, and this represented, and therefore signified, internal confirmation, and also truth. This will be evident from the following passages.

Thus in Isaiah:

"He who blesseth himself in the earth let him bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth let him swear by the God of truth" (65:16).

And in Jeremiah:

"Swear by the living Jehovah, in truth, in judgment, and in justice" (4:2).

And in Moses:

"Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear in his name" (Deuteronomy 6:13; 10:20).

And in Isaiah:

"In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt swear to Jehovah of hosts" (19:18).

And in Jeremiah:

"If in learning they will learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, Jehovah liveth" (12:16).

And in David:

"Every one that sweareth by" God "shall glory, but the mouth of them that speak a lie shall be stopped" (Psalm 63:11).

To swear by God, signifies to speak truth, for it follows, "but the mouth of them that speak a lie shall be stopped." That they swore by God, see also Genesis 21:23, 24, 31; Joshua 2:12; 9:20; Judges 21:7; 1 Kings 1:17.

[7] Since the ancients were allowed to swear by Jehovah God, it therefore follows that it is a most serious evil to swear falsely or to lie; as is evident from these passages.

Thus in Malachi:

"I will be a witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers" (3:5).

And in Moses:

"Thou shall not swear a lie by my name, so that thou profane the name of thy God," and "thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain" (Deuteronomy 5:11; Leviticus 19:12; Zech. 5:4).

And in Jeremiah:

"Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see if there be those that say, By the living Jehovah; surely they swear falsely. Thy sons have destroyed me, and sworn by no god" (5:1, 2, 7).

And in Hosea:

"Israel, swear not, Jehovah liveth" (4:15).

And in Zephaniah:

"And I will cut off them that swear by Jehovah, and that swear by their king; and them that are turned back from Jehovah" (1:4, 5, 6).

And in Zechariah:

"Love not the oath of a lie" (8:17).

And in Isaiah:

"Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which swear by the name of Jehovah, not in truth, nor in justice" (48:1).

And in David:

"He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully" (Psalm 24:4).

[8] From these passages it is clear, that the ancients, who were in the representatives and significatives of the church, were allowed to swear by Jehovah God, in order to testify truth, and by that oath it was signified that they thought what was true, and willed what was good. But it was more especially permitted to the sons of Jacob, since they were altogether natural and external men, and not internal and spiritual; and mere external or natural men desire to have the truth attested and confirmed by oaths, whereas internal or spiritual men do not desire it, yea, are averse from oaths, and account them horrible, especially those in which God and the holy things of heaven and the church are appealed to, and they are satisfied with saying and with having it said, that a thing is true, or that it is so.

[9] Since swearing is not of the internal or spiritual man, and since the Lord, when He came into the world, taught men to be internal or spiritual, and to that end afterwards abrogated the external things of the church, and opened the internal things of it, therefore he also forbad swearing by God and by the holy things of heaven and the church. This is clear from his own words in Matthew:

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shall not swear, but shall perform unto the Lord thine oaths; I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne; neither by the earth; for it is his footstool; neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black" (5:33-36).

In this passage those holy things which must not be made use of in taking oaths are mentioned, namely, heaven and earth, Jerusalem and the head. And heaven means the angelic heaven, wherefore it is called the throne of God (that by the throne of God is meant that heaven, may be seen above, n. 253, 462, 477); the earth means the church (see above, n. 29, 304, 413, 417), it is therefore called the footstool of God's feet (that the footstool of God's feet means the church, see above, n. 606); Jerusalem means the doctrine of the church, it is therefore called the city of the great God (Dei) (that a city denotes doctrine, may be seen above, n. 223); and the head means intelligence therefrom (see above, n. 553, 577); it is therefore said, "thou canst not make one hair white or black," which signifies, that man can understand nothing of himself.

[10] Again, in the same Evangelist:

"Woe unto you, ye blind guides, because ye say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind; for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools and blind; for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Whosoever therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And whosoever shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by Him that dwelleth therein. And he that sweareth by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by Him that sitteth thereon" (23:16-22).

The reason why they were not to swear by the temple and by the altar, is, that to swear by them, was to swear by the Lord, by heaven, and by the church. For the temple, in the highest sense, means the Lord as to Divine Truth, and, in the respective sense, heaven and the church as to the same, also all worship from Divine Truth (see above, n. 220). And the altar signifies the Lord as to Divine Good, and, in the respective sense, heaven and the church as to that good, also all worship from Divine Good (see above, n. 391). And because by the Lord are meant all Divine things which proceed from Him, for He Himself is in them, and they are of Him, therefore he who swears by Him, swears by all things that are of Him. Similarly, he who swears by heaven and by the church, swears by all the holy things which pertain to them, for heaven embraces and contains them; and similarly the church; it is therefore said, that the temple is greater than the gold of the temple, because the temple sanctifies the gold, and that the altar is greater than the gift which is upon it, because the altar sanctifies the gift.

220. But it shall also be explained what is signified in the Word by temple. Temple, in the highest sense, signifies the Divine Human of the Lord, and in the relative sense, heaven; and because it signifies heaven, it also signifies the church, for the church is the Lord's heaven upon earth. And whereas temple thus signifies heaven and the church, it also signifies the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord: the reason is, that this makes heaven and the church; for those who receive Divine truth in soul and heart, that is, in faith and love, constitute heaven and the church. Such being the signification of temple, it is therefore said, the temple of my God; and by my God, when said by the Lord, is meant heaven, and the Divine truth therein, which also is the Lord in heaven. The Lord is above the heavens, and appears to its inhabitants as a Sun, and from the Lord as a Sun proceed heat and light; heat which in its essence is Divine good, and light which in its essence is Divine truth; those two constitute heaven in general and in particular. Divine truth is that which is meant by my God; this is why in the Word of the Old Testament the Lord is called Jehovah and God, - Jehovah where the subject treated of is the Divine good, and God where it is the Divine truth. This also is the reason why angels are called gods, and that God in the Hebrew tongue is in the plural Elohim. From these considerations it is evident what is here meant by the temple of my God.

(That the Lord is called Jehovah where the Divine good is treated of, but God where the Divine truth is treated of, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 709, 732, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921, 4283, 4402, 7010, 9167. That He is called Jehovah from Being (esse), and thus from essence, but God from Manifestation (existere), and thus from existence, n. 300, 3910, 6905; that the Divine as Being (esse) also is Divine good, and that the Divine as Manifestation (existere) is Divine truth, n. 3061, 6280, 6880, 6905, 10579; and in general that good is the being, (esse), and truth the manifestation (existere) thence, n. 5002. That angels are called gods from their reception of Divine truth from the n. 4295, 4402, 7268, 7873, 8301, 8192. That the Divine of the Lord in the heavens is Divine truth united with Divine good, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 13, 133, 139, 140. That the light in the heavens is in its essence Divine truth, and the heat there Divine good, both from the Lord, may be seen in the same work, n. 126-140, 275.)

[2] That temple in the Word signifies the Divine Human of the Lord, and in the relative sense, heaven and the church, consequently also Divine truth, is evident from the following passages. In John:

To the Jews who asked, "What sign showest thou unto us, that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body" (John 2:18-21).

That temple signifies the Lord's Divine Human is here plainly declared; for by destroying the temple and raising it up in three days is meant His death, burial and resurrection.

[3] In Malachi:

"Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord shall suddenly come to his temple, and the angel of the covenant whom ye seek" (3:1).

Here also by temple is meant the Lord's Divine Human; for the subject treated of is the Lord's advent, therefore coming to His temple signifies assuming the Human.

[4] Again, in the Apocalypse:

"I saw no temple" in the new Jerusalem, "for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it" (21:22).

The subject here treated of is the new heaven and the new earth, when they will be in internals, and not in externals; hence it is said that there was seen no temple, but the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. The Lord God Almighty is the very Divine of the Lord, and the Lamb is His Divine Human; whence also it is evident, that His Divine Human in the heavens is meant by temple.

[5] Again, in Isaiah:

"I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his skirts filling the temple" (6:1).

By the throne, high and lifted up, upon which the Lord was seen to sit, is signified the Lord as to Divine truth in the higher heavens; but by His skirts is signified His Divine truth in the church. (That skirts when said of the Lord, signify His Divine truth in ultimates, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 9917. That the veil of the temple being rent into two parts from the top to the bottom, after the Lord suffered (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45), signified the union of the Lord's Divine Human with the Divine itself, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 9670.)

[6] That by temple is signified the Lord's Divine Human, and at the same time heaven and the church, is evident in the following passages. In David:

"I will bow myself down toward thy holy temple, and I will confess thy name" (Psalms 138:2).

In Jonah:

"I said I am cast out from before thine eyes, but yet will I add to look back to the temple of thy holiness, and my prayer came to thee to the temple of thy holiness" (2:4, 7).

In Habakkuk:

"Jehovah in the temple of his holiness" (2:20).

In Matthew:

"Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind; for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?" (23:16, 17).

In John:

Jesus said unto them that sold in the temple, "Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandize. Whence his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up" (2:16, 17).

[7] Besides the above, there are many passages in the Word where temple is mentioned, which I wish to adduce, in order that it may be known that heaven and the church are thereby meant, as also the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, lest the mind should adhere to the idea, that the temple alone is meant instead of something more holy; for the holiness of the temple of Jerusalem arose from the fact that it represented and signified what is holy.

That the temple signified heaven is clear from these passages. In David:

"I called upon Jehovah, and cried unto my God; he heard my voice out of his temple" (Psalms 18:6).

Again:

"A day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather stand at the door in the house of my God, than dwell in the tents of wickedness" (Psalms 84:10).

Again:

"The just shall flourish like the palm-tree; he shall grow like the cedar in Lebanon. They who are planted in the house of Jehovah shall flourish in the courts of our God" (Psalms 92:12, 13).

Again:

"One thing have I desired of Jehovah, that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Jehovah, and to visit his temple in the morning" (Psalms 27:4).

Again:

"I shall be at rest in the house of Jehovah for length of days" (Psalms 23:6).

[8] In John:

Jesus said: "In my Father's house are many mansions" (14:2).

That heaven and the church are meant in these passages by the house of Jehovah and of the Father is clear. The church is also meant in the following passages. In Isaiah:

"Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned with fire" (64:11).

In Jeremiah:

"I have forsaken my house, I have left mine heritage" (12:7).

In Haggai:

"I will stir up all nations, that the choice of all nations may come; and I will fill this house with glory. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former" (Haggai 2:7-9).

In Isaiah:

"He shall say to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid" (44:28).

The subject here treated of is the coming of the Lord, and the New Church to be then established. In Zechariah:

"The house of Jehovah was founded, that the temple may be built" (8:9).

Similarly in Daniel:

"Belshazzar commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, that they might drink therein; and they drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone and then writing appeared on the wall" (5:2-4).

By the golden and silver vessels which were brought from the temple of Jerusalem are signified the goods and truths of the church; by their drinking wine out of them, and praising the gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and stone, is signified the profanation of them, on which account the writing appeared on the wall, and the king was changed from a man into a beast.

[9] In Matthew:

"His disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be dissolved" (24:1, 2; Mark 13:1, 2; Luke 21:5, 6, 7).

That there should not be left of the temple one stone upon another which should not be dissolved, signifies the total destruction and vastation of the church; for stone signifies the truth of the church; and it therefore follows that the successive vastation of the church is treated of in those chapters in the Evangelists. In the Apocalypse:

"The angel stood, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar, and them that worship therein" (11:1).

By the temple here also is signified the church, and by measuring it, is signified to explore its quality. The signification of the new temple and its measurements, mentioned in Ezekiel, is similar (Ezekiel 40-47).

[10] That by temple is signified the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, is evident from the following passages in Ezekiel:

"The glory of Jehovah went up from above the cherub over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the glory of Jehovah" (10:4).

By the house is here meant heaven and the church, and by the cloud and glory Divine truth. (That cloud denotes Divine truth may be seen above, n. 36; and that glory signifies the same, n. 33.)

[11] In Micah:

"Many nations shall go, and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of" our "God, that he may teach us of his ways, and that we may go in his paths; for from Zion shall go forth doctrine, and the word from Jerusalem" (4:2).

The mountain of Jehovah and the house of God signify the church, and similarly Zion and Jerusalem; to be taught of His ways, and to go in His paths, is to be instructed in Divine truths; therefore it is also said,

"From Zion shall go forth doctrine, and the word from Jerusalem."

[12] In Isaiah:

"The voice of the tumult from the city, the voice of Jehovah from the temple" (66:6).

By the city is meant the doctrine of truth, by temple, the church, and by the voice of Jehovah from the temple, Divine truth. In the Apocalypse:

"There came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying" (16:17).

Here voice also denotes Divine truth. Again:

"The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in the temple the ark of his covenant: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings" (11:19).

By lightnings, voices, and thunderings in the Word are signified Divine truths from heaven (see Arcana Coelestia 7573, 8914). And again:

"The temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. And the seven angels went out of the temple having the seven plagues. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power" (15:5, 6, 8).

The seven angels are said to go out of the temple in heaven, because by angels are signified Divine truths, as may be seen above (n. 130, 200). What is signified by smoke from the glory of God will be seen in the explanation of those words in the following pages. Moreover, it must be known that by the temple which was built by Solomon, as also by the house of the forest of Lebanon, and by each particular thing pertaining to them, as recorded in the first book of Kings (6 and 7), are signified spiritual and celestial things pertaining to the church and to heaven.