9408. 'And it was like the substance of the sky for clearness' means the translucence of the angelic heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'the sky (or heaven)' as the angelic heaven, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'clearness' or purity of substance, when said of the sky, as translucence. What the translucence of the angelic heaven is when the Word is the subject must be stated briefly. The angelic heaven is said to be translucent when God's truth shines through; for the whole of heaven is nothing other than a receptacle of God's truth. Each angel is an individual recipient of it, so that all the angels or heaven as a whole is a general recipient. This explains why heaven is called 'God's dwelling-place' and also 'God's throne'. For 'dwelling-place' means God's truth emanating from the Lord and received in the inmost heaven, which in comparison is good, 8269, 8309; and 'throne' means God's truth emanating from the Lord and received in the middle heaven, 5313, 6397, 8625, 9039. Since that which shines through, out of the sense of the letter of the Word, is God's truth as it exists in the heavens, it is the angelic heaven that shines through. For the Word is Divine Truth adjusted to all the heavens, and as a consequence of this it joins the heavens to the world, that is, angels to men, 2143, 7153, 7381, 8920, 9094 (end), 9212 (end), 9216 (end), 9357, 9396. From all this it is evident what the words 'the translucence of the angelic heaven' are used to mean.

[2] The reasons why in the internal sense 'the sky (or heaven)' means the angelic heaven lie with correspondence and also with the appearance. So it is that where the words 'heavens' and 'heavens of heavens' occur in the Word the angelic heavens are meant in the internal sense. For the ancients had no other idea of the visible sky than this, that the inhabitants of heaven lived there and that the stars were their dwelling-places. At the present day too, simple people - especially young children - have the same idea. So it is also that people look upwards to the sky or heaven when they worship God. This action too arises from correspondence; for a sky with stars appears in the next life, but this is not the sky seen by people in the world. Instead it is a sky that takes on an appearance which accords with the spirits and angels' state of intelligence and wisdom. The stars in it are cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, and the clouds which are sometimes seen in the sky vary in meaning according to their colours, translucence, and movements, the blue of the sky being truth transparent with good. All this goes to prove that by 'heavens' the angelic heavens are meant. But by the angelic heavens God's truths are meant, because angels are recipients of God's truth emanating from the Lord.

[3] Similar things are meant by 'heavens' in David,

Praise Jehovah, heavens of heavens, and waters that are above the heavens! Psalms 148:4.

In the same author,

Make melody to the Lord who rides above the heaven of the heaven of old. Psalms 68:33.

In the same author,

By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the spirit ¹ of His mouth. Psalms 33:6.

In the same prophet,

The heavens recount His glory, and the firmament declares the works of His hands. Psalms 19:1.

In the Book of Judges,

O Jehovah, when You went forth from Seir, the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, the clouds indeed dropped water. Judges 5:4.

In Daniel,

The horn of the he-goat grew right on towards the host of the heavens, and cast down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them. Daniel 8:10.

In Amos,

The Lord Jehovih, who builds His steps in the heavens ... Amos 9:6.

In Malachi,

If there is food in My house I will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing for you. Malachi 3:10.

In Isaiah,

Look out from the heavens, and see from the dwelling-place of Your holiness and of Your glory. Isaiah 63:15.

In Moses,

Blessed by Jehovah is the land of Joseph, in regard to the precious things of heaven, to the dew. Deuteronomy 33:13.

In Matthew,

Jesus said, You shall not swear by heaven, for it is God's throne. He who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by Him who sits on it. Matthew 5:32; 23:22.

[4] In these and very many other places 'heavens' means the angelic heavens. And since the Lord's heaven on earth is the Church, the Church too is meant by 'heaven', as in the following places: In John,

I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away. Revelation 21:1.

In Isaiah,

Behold, I am creating new heavens and a new earth; therefore the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. ² Isaiah 65:17.

In the same prophet,

The heavens will vanish away like smoke, and the earth will grow old like a garment. Isaiah 51:6.

In the same prophet,

I clothe heaven with darkness, and I make sackcloth its covering. Isaiah 50:3.

In Ezekiel,

I will cover the heavens, and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. And all the bright lights in heaven I will make dark, and I will put darkness over the land. Ezekiel 32:7-8.

In Matthew,

After the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matthew 24:29.

What the meaning is of 'sun', 'moon', 'stars', and 'in the heavens', see 4056-4060.

In Isaiah,

O Jehovah God of Israel, You are God alone over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Isaiah 37:16.

In the same prophet,

[I am] Jehovah who makes all things, who spreads out the heavens Alone, who stretches out the earth by Myself. Isaiah 44:24.

In the same prophet,

Jehovah who created the heavens, who formed the earth, and made it, and prepared it, did not create it an emptiness. Isaiah 45:18.

[5] In the internal sense 'heaven and earth' in these and other places means the Church, the internal Church being meant by 'heaven' and the external Church by 'earth', see 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535. From all this it is evident that by creation in the earliest chapters of Genesis, where it says, In the beginning God created heaven and earth, Genesis 1:1, And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, Genesis 2:1, a new Church is meant. For creation there describes regeneration, which is also called the new creation, as has been shown and may be seen in the explanations of those chapters.

36. (Verse 7) Behold, he cometh with clouds. That this signifies, that the Lord is about to reveal Himself in the Word by means of the internal sense, is evident from the signification of coming, when (spoken) of the Lord, as being 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 literal sense, is Divine truth in ultimates; and because everything there contains an internal or spiritual sense, to come with clouds, denotes that the Lord will reveal Himself by means of that sense. That clouds signify Divine truths in ultimate, is from appearances in the spiritual world. There, clouds appear in varied light; in the inmost or third heaven in flaming light, in the middle or second heaven white light, and in the ultimate or first heaven in a somewhat duller light. Every one there knows that clouds signify Divine truth from the Lord passing through the angels; for when the Divine truth going forth from the Lord, which is itself the light of heaven, passes through the angels, it appears as a cloud, rarer or denser according to their intelligence. I have frequently seen such clouds, and I also perceived what they signified. This is why clouds, such as those seen by men in the world, signify Divine truth in ultimates; and because the Word in the letter is Divine truth in ultimates, such is the signification of clouds.

[2] He who does not know that clouds have this signification, may suppose that the Lord will come for the Last Judgment in clouds, and 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 the subject there treated of, is the last time of the church; and the coming of the Lord at that time is the revelation of Himself, and of the Divine Truth which is from Him, in the Word, by means of the internal sense. The Lord reveals Himself only in the Word, and by means of the internal sense. Power and glory also signify the Word in the internal sense. (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, The Last Judgment, from the beginning to the end; and also in the work, Heaven and Hell 1; as well as in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 249-266. That the consummation of the age signifies the last time of the church, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 4535, 10622. That the coming of the Lord is the revelation of Divine truth by means of the internal sense, see n. 3900, 4060; that clouds signify the sense of the letter of the Word, see n. 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752, 8106, 8781, 9430, 10551, 10574; that glory signifies Divine truth in heaven, thus the internal sense, because this is Divine truth in heaven, see n. 5922, 9429, 10574. The reason why the Lord is said to come in power is, because all power belongs to Divine truth which is from the Lord, see the work, Heaven and Hell 228-233, 539.) The same is meant by the words of the Lord to the chief priest:

"Jesus said" to the chief priest, "Hereafter 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. To sit at the right hand of power, denotes His omnipotence; to come in the clouds of heaven, denotes revelation of Divine truth concerning Himself in the Word; for He has revealed Himself, and has also fulfilled all things that are 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 visions of the night, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven" (7:13).

In the Apocalypse: "I saw, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a crown" (14:14, 16).

In Isaiah: "Behold, Jehovah sitting upon a light cloud" (19:1).

In David: "Sing unto God, sing praises to his name, extol him that rideth upon the clouds" (Psalm 68:4).

And again: "Jehovah maketh the clouds his chariot; he walketh upon the wings of the wind" (Psalm 104:3).

Who cannot see that these things are not to be understood according to the sense of the letter, namely, that Jehovah sits on 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 in His Divine truth, for this proceeds from Him, consequently that this is meant there by clouds; therefore it is said, that Jehovah makes the clouds His chariot; for by chariot is signified the doctrine of truth (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 2762, 5321, 8215).

[4] Similarly in the following places:

In Isaiah: "Drop down ye heavens from above, and ye higher clouds [pour out] justice" (45:8).

In Nahum: "The way of Jehovah is with cloud and storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet" (1:3).

In David: "Ascribe ye strength unto God; his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the higher clouds" (Psalm 68:34).

In Moses: "There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, riding in the heaven in thy help, and in his magnificence upon the clouds" (Deuteronomy 33:26).

And in David: "A faithful witness in the clouds" (Psalm 89:37).

From these things it is evident what is signified where it is said that the cloud filled the inner court (Ezekiel 10:3, 4); and that the cloud rested upon the tent, of which frequent mention is made in Moses. Likewise, that when Jesus was transfigured, He was seen in glory, and a cloud covered His 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 concerning the Lord being seen in the midst of angels in a cloud, in the small work, The Earths in the Universe 171.)