Arcana Coelestia #49
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:
1. literally, bird of the heavens (or the skies)
Ezekiel 24
1
Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth [day] of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2
Son of man, write the name of the day, [even] of this same day: the king of Babylon drew close to Jerusalem this same day.
3
Utter a parable to the rebellious house, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Set on the caldron, set it on, and also pour water into it:
4
gather its pieces into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.
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Take the choice of the flock, and also a pile [of wood] for the bones under [the caldron]; make it boil well; yes, let its bones be boiled in its midst.
6
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the bloody city, to the caldron whose rust is therein, and whose rust is not gone out of it! take out of it piece after piece; No lot is fallen on it.
7
For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it on the bare rock; she didn't pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust.
8
That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance, I have set her blood on the bare rock, that it should not be covered.
9
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great.
10
Heap on the wood, make the fire hot, boil well the flesh, and make thick the broth, and let the bones be burned.
11
Then set it empty on its coals, that it may be hot, and its brass may burn, and that its filthiness may be molten in it, that its rust may be consumed.
12
She has wearied [herself] with toil; yet her great rust doesn't go forth out of her; her rust doesn't [go forth] by fire.
13
In your filthiness is lewdness: because I have cleansed you and you weren't cleansed, you shall not be cleansed from your filthiness any more, until I have caused my wrath toward you to rest.
14
I, Yahweh, have spoken it: it shall happen, and I will do it: I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to your ways, and according to your doings, shall they judge you, says the Lord Yahweh.
15
Also the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
16
Son of man, behold, I will take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke: yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down.
17
Sigh, but not aloud, make no mourning for the dead; bind your headdress on you, and put your shoes on your feet, and don't cover your lips, and don't eat men's bread.
18
So I spoke to the people in the morning; and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
19
The people said to me, Won't you tell us what these things are to us, that you do so?
20
Then I said to them, The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
21
Speak to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pities; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind shall fall by the sword.
22
You shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.
23
Your tires shall be on your heads, and your shoes on your feet: you shall not mourn nor weep; but you shall pine away in your iniquities, and moan one toward another.
24
Thus Ezekiel shall be a sign to you; according to all that he has done, you will do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.
25
You, son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their heart, their sons and their daughters,
26
that in that day he who escapes shall come to you, to cause you to hear it with your ears?
27
In that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped, and you shall speak, and be no more mute: so you will be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
