205. He that hath the key of David. That this signifies who has power by means of Divine truth is evident from the signification of key, as being the power of opening and shutting, in this case heaven and hell; for it follows, he that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no one openeth. Hence by key is here meant the power of saving (as may be seen above, n. 86), because to open heaven, and to shut hell, is to save; also from the representation of David, as being the Lord as to Divine truth. The reason why by David in the Word is meant the Lord, is, that in the Word the Lord is represented as to Divine truth by kings, and by priests as to Divine good, and especially by king David, because he had much care respecting the things of the church, and also wrote the Psalms. (That by kings in the Word is signified Divine truth, and by priests Divine good, may be seen above, n. 31. And, moreover, that by all names of persons and places in the Word spiritual things are signified, which are things pertaining to the church and to heaven, see above, n. 19, 50, 102.) The reason why it is said, he that hath the key of David is, because by David, as just said, is represented the Lord as to Divine truth; and the Lord has all power in the heavens and on earth from Divine good by means of Divine truth; for, in general, good has no power without truth, neither has truth any power without good, for good acts by means of truth. This is why Divine good and Divine truth proceed unitedly from the Lord, and in proportion as they are thus received by the angels, in the same proportion have the angels power: this, therefore, is the reason why the key of David is mentioned. (That all power pertains to truth from good may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 228-233, where the power of the angels of heaven is treated of; and also n. 539, in the same work.)

[2] That by David in the Word is meant the Lord is clearly evident from several passages where he is named in the prophets; as in Ezekiel:

"They shall be to me for a people, and I will be to them for a God, and my servant David king over them, that they may all have one shepherd. They shall dwell upon the earth, they and their sons, and the sons of their sons even to eternity; and David my servant shall be a prince to them to eternity" (37:23-25).

Again, in Hosea:

"The sons of Israel shall return and shall seek Jehovah their God, and David their king; and with fear shall they come to Jehovah and to his goodness in the end of days" (3:5).

It is said, "they shall seek Jehovah their God, and David their king," because by Jehovah in the Word is meant the Lord as to Divine good, which is the Divine as Being (esse), and by David a king, the Lord as to Divine truth, which is the Divine Manifestation (existere). (That by Jehovah in the Word is meant the Lord as to Divine good, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 732, 2586, 2807, 2822, 3921, 4253, 4402, 7010, 9167, 9315.)

[3] In Zechariah:

"Jehovah shall preserve the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitant of Jerusalem may not extol itself above Judah. In that day shall Jehovah protect the inhabitant of Jerusalem; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of Jehovah before them. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitant of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace. In that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem" (12:7, 8, 10; 13:1).

The coming of the Lord is here treated of, and the salvation of those who belong to His spiritual kingdom. By the tents of Judah is meant the celestial kingdom; and by the house of David and the inhabitant of Jerusalem, the spiritual kingdom. The spiritual kingdom is formed of those in heaven and on earth who are in Divine truth, and the celestial kingdom of those who are in Divine good (as may be seen just above).

From these considerations it is plain that these words mean that those two kingdoms should act as one, nor should one exalt itself above the other (concerning these two kingdoms, see what is said in the work, Heaven and Hell 20-28). That by Judah is signified the Lord as to celestial love, and the celestial kingdom of the Lord, may be seen above (n. 119). And that by Jerusalem is signified the spiritual kingdom of the Lord, see Arcana Coelestia 402, 3654, 9166). The same is therefore signified by the house of David; therefore it is there said, "the house of David shall be as God, and as the angel of Jehovah;" by God also is meant the Lord as to Divine truth (see n. 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921, 4287, 4402, 7010, 9167); similarly by the angel of Jehovah (see above, n. 130, 200). David and his house have also a similar signification in the following passages.

[4] In Isaiah:

"Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a prince and a legislator to the nations" (55:3, 4).

These things are said concerning the Lord, who is here signified by David. In David:

"In the heavens thou shalt confirm thy truth: I have made a covenant with my chosen; I have sworn to David my servant, Even to eternity will I establish thy seed, and I will build up thy throne to generation and generation; and the heavens shall confess thy wonder, O Jehovah, and thy truth in the congregation of the holy ones" (Psalms 89:2-5).

These things also are spoken of the Lord, and not of David; for it is said, "I have sworn to David my servant, even to eternity will I establish thy seed, and build up thy throne to generation and generation"; which is not applicable to David, whose seed and throne are not established to eternity, and yet Jehovah sware; and an oath from Jehovah is irrevocable confirmation by the Divine (see Arcana Coelestia 2842). By the seed of David, in the spiritual sense, are meant those who are in truths from good from the Lord, and, in an abstract sense, truths themselves which are from good (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia, 3373, 3380, 10249, 10445), and by throne is meant the spiritual kingdom of the Lord (n. 5313, 6397, 8625). The reason why David is here called a servant, as also above in Ezekiel is, that the term servant is used in the Word of all persons and things that serve and minister (see Arcana Coelestia 3441, 7143, 8241), and the Divine truth proceeding serves and ministers to the Divine good from which it proceeds. That it is the Lord as to Divine truth, or that it is Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, which is meant by David, is clear; for it is said, "in the heavens thou shalt confirm thy truth, and the heavens shall confess thy wonder, thy truth in the congregation of the holy ones." That they are also called holy who are in Divine truths, may be seen just above.

[5] Again:

"I will not profane my covenant; and what is pronounced by my lips will I not change. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall be to eternity, and his throne as the sun before me, as the moon to eternity, as a faithful witness in the clouds" (Psalms 89:34-37).

That these things are said of the Lord, is evident from the whole of the psalm; for His coming is there treated of, and afterwards the rejection of Him by the Jewish nation. That the Lord is there treated of, and that He is meant by David, is evident from these words in the same Psalm:

"I have found David my servant; with the oil of my holiness have I anointed him. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall call me, Thou art my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. I also will make him my first-born, higher than the kings of the earth. I will set his throne as the days of the heavens" (vers. 20, 25-27, 29).

By David, by anointed, and by king, as in other passages of the Psalms, the Lord is meant. This may be seen clearly by those who understand the Word spiritually, but obscurely by those who understand it only naturally. The same is clear in the same:

"Thy priests shall be clothed with justice, and thy saints shall sing for joy; for thy servant David's sake turn not away the face of thine anointed; there will I make the horn of David to bud: I will ordain a lamp for mine anointed, upon himself shall his crown flourish" (Psalm 132:9, 10, 17, 18).

Here also the Lord is meant by David and by anointed; for He is treated of in this Psalm; as is plain from what goes before, where it is said:

"He sware unto Jehovah, I will not give sleep to mine eyes until I find out a place for Jehovah, habitations for the mighty One of Jacob; lo, we have heard of it at Ephratah" (Bethlehem). "We will go into his habitations, we will worship at his footstool" (ver. 2, 4-7).

[6] In order that David might represent the Lord as to Divine truth, the Lord willed to be born of the house of David, and also to be called the son of Jesse; but when He put off the Human from the mother, and put on that from the Father, which is the Divine Human, He was then no longer David's son. This is meant by the words of the Lord to the Pharisees: Jesus said to the Pharisees,

"What think ye of the Christ? whose Son is he? They said unto him, David's. He saith unto them, How then doth David by the spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footsool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?" (Matthew 22:42-45; Luke 20:41-44).

That the Lord glorified His Human, that is, put off the human from the mother, and put on the Human from the Father, which is the Divine Human, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 293-295, 298-310.) Hence it is that He was not the son of David, just as He was not the son of Mary, whom therefore He did not call His mother, but "woman" as may be seen, Matthew 12:46-49; Mark 3:31 to the end; Luke 8:19-21; John 2:4, 19:25, 26. That the same is meant by the keys given to Peter as by the key of David - that the Lord has all power, and that He has this power by means of His Divine truth, will be seen in the article which now follows.

2760. PREFACE ¹

How deluded those people are who confine themselves to the sense of the letter and do not look for the internal sense in other places where this is explained in the Word becomes quite clear from the great number of heresies there are, each one of which confirms its own doctrinal position from the literal sense of the Word. It is particularly clear from that great heresy which insane and hellish self-love and love of the world have made out of the Lord's words to Peter,

I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matthew 16:15-19.

[2] People who keep rigidly to the sense of the letter imagine that these words refer to the man Peter and that such great power was given to him. Although they know that Peter was just an ordinary simple human being who by no means exercised such power, and that the exercise of that power is contrary to the Divine, they nevertheless adopt and stoutly defend a literal interpretation of what the Lord said, because of the insane and hellish self-love and love of the world which fill them with the desire to arrogate such power to themselves on earth and in heaven and to make gods of themselves. But the internal sense of those words is that faith itself in the Lord, which exists solely with those in whom love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour are present, possesses that power, yet not faith but the Lord, the Source of faith. In the words addressed to Peter 'rock' is used to mean that faith, as it is everywhere else in the Word. It is on this faith that the Church is built, and against this faith that the gates of hell do not prevail. It is that faith also which holds the keys of the kingdom of heaven, for that faith closes heaven to prevent evils and falsities entering in, and it opens heaven to goods and truths. This is the internal sense of these words.

[3] Like the twelve tribes of Israel the twelve apostles represented nothing else than all aspects of such faith, 577, 2089, 2129, 2130 (end). Peter represented faith itself, James charity, and John the good works that flow from charity - see the Preface to Genesis 18 - as in a similar way did Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, Jacob's three eldest sons, in the Jewish and

Israelitish representative Church, a point that is clear from a thousand places in the Word. And it was because Peter represented faith that those words were addressed to him. From all these considerations one may recognize what darkness it is into which people plunge themselves, and others with them, who explain everything literally, as they do who, taking literally the words addressed to Peter, use them to take the power of saving the human race away from the Lord and arrogate it to themselves.

² 2760. In John - in the Book of Revelation - the Word as to its internal sense is described as follows,

I saw heaven standing open, and, behold, a White Horse; and He who sat on it was called faithful and true, and in righteousness He judges and goes into battle. His eyes a flame of fire, and on His head many jewels, He has a name written which nobody knows but He Himself, and He is clothed in a garment dyed with blood, and His name is called the Word of God. And the armies that are in heaven were following Him on white horses and were clothed in linen, white and clean. And on His garment and on His thigh He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Revelation 19:11-14, 16.

What each individual part of this description embodies nobody can know except from the internal sense. Plainly, each one is representative and carries a spiritual meaning, such as 'heaven standing open'; 'the horse which was white'; 'He who sat on it was called faithful and true, and in righteousness He judges and goes into battle'; 'His eyes a flame of fire'; 'on His head many jewels'; 'He has a name which nobody knows but He Himself'; 'He is clothed in a garment dyed with blood'; 'the armies in heaven following Him on white horses'; 'clothed in linen, white and clean'; 'on His garment and on His thigh He has a name written'. It is stated openly that the One sitting on the White Horse is the Word, and that He is the Lord who is the Word, for it is said, 'His name is called the Word of God', and after that, 'on His garment and on His thigh He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords'.

[2] From the interpretation of each individual expression it is evident that the Word as to the internal sense is described here. 'Heaven standing open' represents and means that the internal sense of the Word is not seen except in heaven and by those to whom heaven stands open, that is, those in whom love to the Lord and faith in Him-derived from that love are present. 'The horse which was white' represents and means the understanding of the Word as regards its interior contents. The next paragraph shows that 'a white horse' has this representation and meaning. 'He who sat on it' is, it is clear, the Word and the Lord who is the Word. He is called 'faithful' and 'one who judges out of righteousness' by virtue of good, and 'true' and 'one who goes into battle out of righteousness' by virtue of truth; for the Lord Himself is righteousness. 'His eyes a flame of fire' means Divine Truth glowing from the Divine Good that issues from His Divine Love. 'On His head many jewels' means all things of faith. 'He has a name written which nobody knows but He Himself' means that nobody sees the essential nature of the Word in the internal sense except the Lord Himself and he to whom He reveals it. 'Clothed in a garment dyed with blood' means the Word in the letter. 'The armies in heaven that were following Him on white horses' means people who have an understanding of the Word as regards its interior contents. 'Clothed in linen, white and clean' means that in these same persons love and faith derived from love are present. 'On His garment and on His thigh a name written' means truth and good. From these verses in Revelation and from those which come before and after them it is evident that around the last period [of the Church] the internal sense of the Word will be opened. But what is going to happen in that last period is also described in verses 17-21 of that chapter.

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