477. 'Man' is the Most Ancient Church. This has been stated and shown quite often already, for in the highest sense the Lord Himself alone is Man. From this the celestial Church, being the likeness of Him, is referred to as 'Man', and then from this the spiritual Church is so called because it was an image of Him. But in a general sense everyone is called man who has human understanding, for a person is man, one person more so than the next, by virtue of his understanding. Nevertheless one person ought to be distinguished from the next according to faith inherent in love to the Lord.

[2] The Most Ancient Church, and every true Church, and so people who belong to the Church, that is, who do so by virtue of love to the Lord and of faith in Him, are pre-eminently called 'Man'. This is clear from the Word, as in Ezekiel,

I will cause man to multiply upon you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. I will cause man and beast to multiply upon you so that they multiply and are fruitful, and I will resettle you ¹ to be as in your ancient times, and I will do more good than in your early days. I will cause man to walk upon you, even My people Israel. Ezekiel 36:10-12.

Here the Most Ancient Church is meant by 'earliest times', the Ancient Churches by 'early days', and the Primitive Church, or Church among gentiles, by 'the house of Israel' and 'the people of Israel', all of which Churches are called Man.

[3] In Moses,

Remember the days of old, understand the years of generation after generation. When the Most High gave to the nations an inheritance, when He separated the sons of man, He fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. Deuteronomy 32:7-8.

Here the Most Ancient Church is meant by 'the days of old' and the Ancient Churches by 'generation after generation'. Those people are called 'sons of man' whose faith was in the Lord, which faith is 'the number of the sons of Israel'. A regenerate person is called 'man' in Jeremiah,

I looked to the earth, and behold, a void and an emptiness, and at the heavens, and they had no light. I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the air' had flown away. Jeremiah 4:23, 25.

Here 'earth' stands for the external man, 'heaven' for the internal man; 'man' stands for a love of good, and 'the birds of the air' ² for an understanding of truth.

[4] In the same prophet,

Behold, the days are coming when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. Jeremiah 31:27.

Here 'man' stands for the internal man, 'beast' for the external man. In Isaiah,

Turn yourselves away from the man in whose nostrils there is breath, ² for of what account is he? Isaiah 2:22.

'Man' stands for the member of the Church. In the same prophet,

Jehovah will remove man far away, and there will be many forsaken places in the midst of the land. Isaiah 6:12.

This refers to the vastation of man, so that good and truth are no more. In the same prophet,

The inhabitants of the land will be scorched and few men (homo) left. Isaiah 14:6.

Here 'men' (homo) stands for people who have faith. In the same prophet,

The highways have been laid waste, the wayfarer has ceased. He has made the covenant worthless, despised cities, had no regard for man; the land mourns and languishes. Isaiah 33:8-9.

This stands for the man who in Hebrew is Enosh. In the same prophet,

I will make a man (homo) more precious than pure gold, and a man (homo) than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will jolt heaven, and the earth will be shaken out of its place. Isaiah 13:12-13.

The first reference to 'a man' here is Enosh, but the second is Adam.

Footnotes:

9784. 'In the tent of meeting' means the Lord's presence. This is clear from the consideration that the tent was made for the express purpose of providing a place for the Lord to meet Moses and Aaron, and also the children of Israel. Therefore also the holy act of worship was performed there, as the following verses in Exodus make clear,

They shall make the continual burnt offering at the door of the tent of meeting before Jehovah, where I will meet you to speak to you there. And there I will meet the children of Israel; and it shall be sanctified by My glory. And I will sanctify the tent of meeting and the altar; and Aaron and his sons I will sanctify to perform the priestly function for Me. And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel. Exodus 29:42-45.

And there is another place which declares that the Lord would meet them there or would be present there,

When all these things had been completed the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Jehovah filled the dwelling-place. And Moses could not enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud dwelt over it, and the glory of Jehovah filled the dwelling-place. The cloud of Jehovah was over the dwelling-place by day, and fire was in it by night, in the eyes of all the house of Israel. Exodus 40:33-end.

From these places it becomes clear that 'the tent of meeting' means the place where the Lord's presence is. It does so because the tent represented heaven, and heaven is heaven by virtue of the Lord's presence there, on which account also it was called Jehovah's dwelling-place.