The Bible

 

Exodus 33

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1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:

2 And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:

3 Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.

4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.

5 For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.

6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.

7 And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.

8 And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.

9 And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses.

10 And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door.

11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

12 And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.

13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.

14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.

16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.

17 And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.

18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:

22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #10528

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10528. 'And I will send an angel before you' means that which is Divine and the Lord's, from which the Church and its worship spring. This is clear from the meaning of 'an angel' in the highest sense as the Lord's Divine Human, and in the relative sense as that which is Divine and the Lord's in heaven among angels, and also in the Church among people on earth, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'sending before you' as preparing. For the meaning of 'an angel' in the highest sense as the Lord's Divine Human, see 1925, 3039, 6280, 6831, 9303, and in the relative sense as that which is Divine and the Lord's in heaven among angels, 1925, 2821, 4085, 6831, 8192. And from this it follows that 'an angel' also means that which is Divine and the Lord's among people on earth who receive it. For those people who have within themselves from the Lord the good of love to Him and the truths of faith in Him become angels after death; and those who become angels are also inwardly such while they live in the world. This is why John the Baptist is called 'an angel' in the Word, as in Luke,

This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send My angel 1 before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You. Luke 7:27.

And the fact that 'angel' in this declaration means that which was Divine and the Lord's with him is evident in Malachi,

Behold, I send My angel, who will prepare the way before Me. And suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you are seeking, and the angel of the covenant in whom you delight. Malachi 3:1.

The reason why that which is Divine and the Lord's is meant by 'angel' in this instance is that John the Baptist represented the Lord in respect of the Word, as did Elijah, and the Word is Divine Truth that comes from the Lord. (For Elijah, that he represented the Word, see Preface to Genesis 18, and 2762, 5247(end); and that John the Baptist did so, 9372.) And it is because the Lord's Divine Human is meant in the highest sense by 'angel' that the words 'there will come to His temple the Lord, and the angel of the covenant' are used. 'The temple' is His Divine Human, as is evident in John 2:18-23. Both expressions - 'the Lord' and 'the angel' - are used because He is called 'the Lord' on account of Divine Good and 'the angel' on account of Divine Truth. And it is because Jehovah in the Word is the Lord Himself that it says, 'I send My angel, who will prepare the way before Me', this being said by Jehovah.

Footnotes:

1. English versions of the Scriptures use the word messenger, the primary meaning of the Hebrew, Greek, or Latin word otherwise rendered angel.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8192

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8192. 'And the angel of God travelled on' means rearrangement by Divine Truth. This is clear from the meaning here of 'travelling on' as rearrangement, the reason why 'travelling on' means rearrangement being that the pillar of cloud, which was a group of angels, which had previously gone ahead of the children of Israel, now took itself round between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel, thereby bringing darkness among the Egyptians and light among the children of Israel (since these conditions were arranged by the Lord, by means of the angel of God or the pillar travelling round and placing himself between the two camps, 'travelling' here means rearrangement); and from the meaning of 'the angel of God' as Divine Truth, which is likewise the meaning of 'God'. For in the Word when truth is the subject the name 'God' is used, but when good is the subject the name 'Jehovah' appears, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921, 4402, 7010, 7268, 7873.

[2] As regards 'angels', it should be recognized that in the Word they serve to mean the Lord, 1925, 3039, 4085, which is why the Lord Himself is called 'the angel', 6280, 6831. This being so, Divine Truth is meant by 'angels', for Divine Truth emanating from the Lord makes heaven. It therefore also makes the angels who constitute heaven, for they are angels in the measure that they receive Divine Truth coming from the Lord. This may also be recognized from the consideration that angels altogether refuse to entertain, indeed they loathe the idea of attributing to themselves any truth or goodness, since this is the Lord's with them. That also is why the Lord is said to be the All-in-all of heaven, and why those in heaven are said to be 'in the Lord'. By virtue of Divine Truth which they receive from the Lord angels are also called 'gods' in the Word, 4295, 7268; and the word for God in the original language is for this reason plural.

[3] In addition to all this it should be recognized that in the Word the singular 'angel' may be used when in fact very many are meant. That is so here, where the expression 'the angel of God' is used, meaning the pillar going before the children of Israel, which was composed of very many angels. The Word also refers to angels by name, such as Michael, Raphael, 1 and others. People unacquainted with the internal sense of the Word think that Michael or Raphael is one particular angel who is chief among those who are with him. But none of these names is used in the Word to mean one particular angel; instead some actual function performed by angels is meant, and so also the Lord's Divine Nature in respect of that function.

Footnotes:

1. Raphael is not mentioned in OT or NT, but in the Apocrypha. Gabriel is probably intended.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.