49. Verse 26 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and they will have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, ¹ and over the beasts, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

To people in the Most Ancient Church with whom the Lord spoke face to face, the Lord appeared as Man. (Much can be told about those people, but this is not the time to do so.) For this reason they called nobody man except the Lord and whatever may have been His. They did not even call themselves man, but only the things which they perceived that they had from the Lord, such as every good stemming from love and every truth of faith. These things were said to be human because they were the Lord's.

[2] In the Prophets therefore, in the highest sense, 'man' and 'son of man' are used to mean the Lord. In the internal sense they are used to mean wisdom and intelligence, and so everyone who is regenerate, as in Jeremiah,

I looked to the earth, and behold, a void and an emptiness, and towards the heavens, and behold, they had no light. I looked, and behold there was no man; and all the birds of the air ¹ had fled. Jeremiah 4:23, 25.

In Isaiah where in the internal sense 'man' means a regenerate person, the Lord Himself as the One Man is meant in the highest sense,

Thus said Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and He who formed him, It was I that made the earth and it was I that created man upon it; My hands stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. Isaiah 45:11-13

[3] The Lord was therefore seen by the Prophets as Man, for example by Ezekiel,

Above the firmament in appearance like a sapphire stone there was the likeness of a throne, and above the likeness of a throne, there was a likeness, as the appearance of a Man upon it above. Ezekiel 1:26.

And the One whom Daniel saw was called 'a Son of Man', or what amounts to the same, Man,

I looked, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like the Son of Man was coming; and He came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and kingdom; and all peoples, nations, and languages will serve Him. His dominion is the dominion of an age, which will not pass away, and His kingdom one that will not perish. Daniel 7:13-14.

[4] Moreover the Lord quite often calls Himself the Son of Man or Man, and, as is done in Daniel, foretells His entry into glory,

They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and glory. Matthew 24:23, 30.

The literal sense of the Word is called 'the clouds of heaven', its internal sense 'power and glory'. The internal sense, in every single detail, focuses exclusively on the Lord and His kingdom. Consequently it is the spiritual sense which contains power and glory.

Footnotes:

9806. 'And you, cause Aaron your brother to come near to you' means the joining of Divine Truth to Divine Good within the Lord's Divine Human. This is clear from the representation of Moses, the one here who was to cause Aaron to come near him, as the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, dealt with in 6752, 6771, 7014, 9372; from the meaning of 'drawing near' as a joining to and presence with, dealt with in 9378; from the representation of 'Aaron' as the Lord in respect of Divine Good, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'brother' as good, dealt with in 3303, 3803, 3815, 4121, 4191, 5686, 5692, 6756. From all this it is evident that the words telling Moses that he should cause Aaron his brother to come near to him mean the joining of Divine Truth to Divine Good within the Lord, the reason why within His Divine Human is meant being that this was where that joining together had to take place. For the Lord had first to make His Human Divine Truth, then afterwards Divine Good, see the places referred to in 9199, 9315. The reason why Aaron was chosen to serve in the priestly office was that he was Moses' brother, and in this way the brotherly relationship of Divine Truth and Divine Good in heaven was at the same time represented. For as stated above, Moses represented Divine Truth and Aaron Divine Good.

[2] Everything throughout creation, both in heaven and in the world, has connection with good and with truth, to the end that it may be something. For good is the inner being (Esse) of truth, and truth is the outward manifestation (Existere) of good. Good without truth therefore cannot manifest itself, and truth without good has no real being. From this it is evident that they must be joined together. In the Word the two joined together are represented by a married couple or by two brothers, by a married couple when the heavenly marriage - the marriage of good and truth - and the succeeding generations which spring from that marriage, are the subject, and by two brothers when two kinds of ministry, namely those of judgement and worship, are the subject. Those who served as ministers of judgement were called judges, and at a later time kings, whereas those who served as ministers of worship were called priests. And since all judgement is arrived at through truth and all worship springs from good, truth founded on good is meant in the Word by 'judges', in the abstract sense, in which no actual person is envisaged; but truth from which good results is meant by 'kings', and good itself by 'priests'. So it is that in the Word the Lord is called Judge, also Prophet, as well as King, in places where the subject has reference to truth, but Priest where it has reference to good. He is in like manner called Christ, Anointed, or Messiah in places where the subject has reference to truth, but Jesus or Saviour where it has reference to good.

[3] It was on account of this brotherly relationship of the truth which belongs to judgement and the good which belongs to worship that Aaron, brother of Moses, was chosen to serve in the priestly office. The fact that 'Aaron' and 'his house' because of this mean good is clear in David,

O Israel, trust in Jehovah! He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in Jehovah! He is their help and their shield. Jehovah has remembered us, He blesses [us]. He will bless the house of Israel, He will bless the house of Aaron. Psalms 115:9-10, 12.

In the same author,

Let Israel now say that His mercy [endures] to eternity; let the house of Aaron now say that His mercy [endures] to eternity. Psalms 118:2-3.

In the same author,

O house of Israel, bless Jehovah! O house of Aaron, bless Jehovah! Psalms 135:19.

'The house of Israel' stands for those with whom truths exist, 'the house of Aaron' for those with whom forms of good are present; for in the Word wherever truth is the subject so too is good, on account of the heavenly marriage, 9263, 9314. For the meaning of 'the house of Israel' as those with whom truths exist, see 5414, 5879, 5951, 7956, 8234.

In the same author,

Jehovah sent Moses His servant, Aaron whom He chose. Psalms 105:26.

Moses is called a servant because 'servant' is used in regard to truths, 3409, whereas one chosen or elected has regard to good, 3755 (end).

[4] In the same author,

Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell also together! It is like the good oil upon the head running down onto the beard, the beard of Aaron, which runs down over the collar ¹ of his garments. Psalms 133:1-3.

Anyone who does not know what 'brother' means, nor what 'oil', 'the head', 'the beard', and 'garments' mean, nor also what 'Aaron' represents, can have no understanding of why such things have been compared to brothers who dwell together. For what similarity is there between oil running from Aaron's head down onto his beard, then onto his garments, and the unanimity of brothers? But the similarity in the comparison is evident from the internal sense, in which the flow of good into truths is the subject and is described by their brotherliness. For 'the oil' means good, 'Aaron's head' the inmost level of good, 'the beard' the very outermost level of it, 'garments' truths, and 'running down' a flowing in. From this it is plain that those words mean the flow, from inner to outer levels, of good into truths, and a joining together there. Without the internal sense how can anyone see that those words hold these heavenly matters within them? For the meaning of 'oil' as the good of love, see 886, 4582, 4638, 9780, and for that of 'the head' as what is inmost, 5328, 6436, 7859, 9656. The fact that 'the beard' means what is the very outermost is evident in Isaiah 7:20; 15:2; Jeremiah 48:37; and Ezekiel 5:1. For the meaning of 'garments' as truths, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5319, 5954, 6914, 6917, 9093, 9212, 9216; and for the representation of 'Aaron' as celestial good, see above.

[5] Seeing that Aaron was chosen to serve in the priestly office, thus to administer the most sacred things, people can understand what the situation was with representations in the Jewish Church. No attention was paid to the person who represented, only to the thing represented by that person. Thus something holy, indeed most holy, could be represented by persons who were inwardly unclean, indeed idolatrous, provided that outwardly they had an air of holiness when engaged in worship. The fact that Aaron was one such person becomes clear from the following details in Moses,

Aaron took the gold from the hands of the children of Israel, and fashioned it with a chisel, and made out of it a molded calf. And Aaron built an altar in front of it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, Tomorrow there will be a feast to Jehovah. Exodus 32:4-5, 25.

And elsewhere in the same author,

Jehovah was greatly moved with anger against Aaron and would have destroyed him; ² but I prayed for Aaron also at that time. Deuteronomy 9:20.

As regards the representatives of the Church among the Israelite and Jewish nation, that no attention was paid to the persons, only to the actual things represented, see the places referred to in 9229.

Footnotes: