937. That "Moses" signifies the Word of the Old Testament can be seen from certain passages in the Word in which he is mentioned. But in some passages "Moses" means the law in the strictest sense, which is the law given from Mount Sinai; in others, the law in a broader sense, which is the historical Word; while here the Word of the Old Testament, both historical and prophetical, is meant. "Moses" signifies the Word because the Ten Commandments, and afterwards the Five Books, which were the first part of the Word, were not from him but from the Lord through him. That Moses is mentioned instead of the law and the Word, is evident from the following passages. In Luke:

Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. If they hear not Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded if one should rise from the dead (Luke 16:29, 31).

Here "Moses and the prophets" have a like meaning as the "law and the prophets" elsewhere, namely, the historical and prophetical Word. In the same:

Jesus, beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, interpreted in all the Scriptures the things that pertained to Himself (Luke 24:27).

In the same:

All things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms concerning Me (Luke 24:44)

In John:

Philip said, We have found Jesus, of whom Moses in the law did write (John 1:45).

In the same:

In the law Moses commanded us (John 8:5).

In Daniel:

The curse hath flowed down upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us (Daniel 9:11, 13).

In Joshua:

Joshua wrote upon the stone of the altar a copy of the law of Moses (Joshua 8:32).

In John:

Moses gave to you the law. Moses gave you the circumcision. If a man receive circumcision on the sabbath, that the law of Moses might not be broken (John 7:19, 22, 33).

In Mark:

Moses hath said, Honor thy father and thy mother (Mark 7:10).

[2] That which was from the Lord through Moses was attributed to Moses because of the representation; therefore the terms "the law of Moses" and "the law of the Lord" are both used in Luke:

When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought Him up to Jerusalem, (as it is written in the law of the Lord, that every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord), that they might offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons (Luke 2:22-24, 39).

[3] Because Moses represented the law it was permitted him to come into the presence of the Lord on Mount Sinai, and not only to receive there the Tables of the Law, but also to hear the statutes and judgments of the law, and command them to the people; and it is added, that they might therefore believe in Moses forever:

Jehovah said unto Moses, Lo, I will come unto thee in the mist of a cloud, that the people may hear when I shall speak unto thee, and may also believe in thee forever (Exodus 19:9).

It is said "in the mist of a cloud," because a "cloud" signifies the Word in the letter. So when Moses came into the presence of the Lord on Mount Sinai:

He entered into the cloud (Exodus 20:21; 24:2, 18; 34:2-5).

(That "cloud" signifies the sense of the letter of the Word see above, n. 36, 594, 905, 906.)

[4] Because Moses represented the Lord as to the law or the Word, therefore:

When he came down from Mount Sinai the skin of his face shone; therefore when he spoke with the people he put a veil over his face (Exodus 34:28-35).

"The shining of the face" signified the internal of the law, for that is in the light of heaven. He veiled his face when he spoke with the people because the internal of the Word was covered and thus obscured to that people to protect them from anything of its light.

[5] Because Moses represented the Lord as to the historical Word, and Elijah the Lord as to the prophetical Word, when the Lord was transfigured Moses and Elijah were seen talking with Him (Matthew 17:3). When the Lord's Divine was manifested in the world, only those who signified the Word could talk with the Lord, because discourse with the Lord is by means of the Word. (That Elijah represented the Lord as to the Word, see n. 624.)

[6] Because Moses and Elijah taken together represented the Word, where Elijah is spoken of as the one sent before the Lord, both are mentioned, in Malachi:

Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, the statutes and the judgments. Lo, I send to you Elijah the prophet, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes (Malachi 4:4-6).

Elijah the prophet means John the Baptist; because he, like Elijah, represented the Word (See above, n. 624, 724).

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.)

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