1093. Having great power.- That this signifies to whom belongs Omnipotence, both in the heavens and on earth, is evident from the signification of great power, when said of the Lord, as denoting Omnipotence. Omnipotence here signifies great power, because the term "great power," but not "Omnipotence," can be applied to an angel, which is according to the idea that man has of angels; but when by an angel is meant the Lord as to His proceeding Divine, then great power means Omnipotence. Omnipotence is also the Lord's because He is the God of heaven and of earth, and both heaven and earth were created by means of the Divine that proceeds from Him as a Sun, and by it also heaven and earth are maintained in existence and subsist. The proceeding Divine is what is called in John, "The Word, which was with God, and which was God," by which all things were made that were made, and by which also the world was made (chap. 1:1, 2, 10). The Omnipotence of the Lord both in the heavens and on earth is meant by the great power of the angel, because it is afterwards said that the earth was lightened with His glory; for when the Last Judgment was accomplished upon those who are meant by the harlot of Babylon, then the darkness was removed which had gathered between heaven and earth. But more will be said upon this subject below.

[2] Continuation concerning the Athanasian Creed.- It is evident from what has been said, that the thoughts of man are extensions into societies either heavenly or infernal, and that unless they were extensions they would have no existence. Man's thought is like the sight of his eyes, and, unless this had extension beyond itself, there would be either no sight, or blindness. But it is man's love that gives his thoughts their determination into societies, good love into heavenly societies, and evil love into infernal societies. For the whole heaven is arranged into societies, according to all the varieties of the affections that belong to love, generally, specifically, and in particular; while hell is arranged into societies according to the lusts (cupiditates) of the love of evil, opposite to the affections of the love of good.

[3] Man's love is comparatively like fire, and his thoughts are like the rays of light from it; if the love is good, then the thoughts, which are like rays, are truths; if the love is evil, the thoughts which go forth like rays are falsities. Thoughts from good love, which are truths, tend towards heaven; but thoughts from evil love which are falsities, tend towards hell, and are so completely conjoined with, and as it were ingrafted upon homogeneous societies, that is, such as are in similar love, that a man becomes entirely one with them.

[4] Man, by means of love to the Lord, is an image of Him. The Lord is Divine Love, and He appears as a Sun before the angels in heaven. Light and heat go forth from that Sun, light being the Divine Truth, and heat the Divine Good; the whole heaven, and all the societies of heaven, are from these. The Lord's love with a man who is an image of him, is as fire from that Sun, from which fire, light and heat similarly go forth; the light is the truth of faith, and the heat is the good of love, each of them being from the Lord, and each implanted in the societies with which such a man's love acts in unison. That man from creation is an image and likeness of God, is evident from Genesis (1:26); and He is an image and likeness of the Lord by means of love, because by means of love man is in the Lord and the Lord in him (John 14:20, 21). In a word, the very least thought that can exist is received in some society, not by the individuals or angels of the society, but by the affection of love from which and in which that society is; for this reason the angels are not conscious of the influx, neither does that influx disturb the society in any way.

[5] From these considerations the truth is evident that man is in conjunction with heaven while he lives in the world, and also in consociation with angels, although both men and angels are ignorant of it. They know nothing of this is because a man's thought is natural, and an angel's thought spiritual, and these make one only by correspondence. Since man by means of the thoughts of his love, is inaugurated into societies either of heaven or hell, therefore, on his entrance into the spiritual world, which takes place immediately after death, his character is known merely from the extension of his thoughts into societies, and in this way every one is explored. Man is also reformed by the admission of his thoughts into the societies of heaven, and he is condemned by the immersion of his thoughts in the societies of hell.

7093. 'And let them hold a feast to Me in the wilderness' means in order that they may worship the Lord with gladness of mind, in the obscurity of faith they live in. This is clear from the meaning of 'holding a feast' as worship offered with gladness of mind, dealt with below (the fact that the Lord was the one to whom they were to hold the feast and whom 'to Me', that is, Jehovah, is used to mean here, see just above in 7091); and from the meaning of 'the wilderness' as obscurity of faith, dealt with in 1708, 7055. Regarding those who belong to the spiritual Church, that they live in comparative obscurity of faith, see 2708, 2715-2718, 2831, 2849, 2935, 2937, 3241, 3246, 3833, 6289, 6500, 6945.

[2] The reason why 'holding a feast' means offering worship with gladness of mind is that they were to hold the feast three days' journey away from Egypt, thus not in a state when molested by falsities but in a state of freedom. For a person who is delivered from falsities and from the distress felt at that time gives thanks to God with gladness of mind, and in so doing holds a feast. Furthermore the feasts which had been instituted among those people, three a year, are also said to have been instituted in remembrance of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt, by which in the spiritual sense is meant in remembrance of deliverance from molestation by falsities through the Lord's Coming into the world. They were also told to be glad on these occasions, as is evident in Moses where the feast of tabernacles is dealt with,

At the feast of tabernacles you shall take ¹ on the first day the fruit of a fine tree, ² fronds of palm trees, the bough of a thick tree, and willows of the powerful stream; and you shall be glad before Jehovah your God seven days. Leviticus 23:40

[3] 'The fruit of a fine tree, fronds of palm trees, the bough of a thick tree, and willows of the powerful stream' means joy because of the goodness and truth present in a person from the inmost to the external parts of his being. The good of love, which is inmost, is meant by 'the fruit of a fine tree'; the good of faith by 'fronds of palm trees'; factual knowledge that accords with truth by 'the branch of a thick tree'; and sensory impressions that accord with truth, which are the most external, by 'the willows of a powerful stream'. No command to take all these things would have been given if there had not been some cause lying behind it in the spiritual world; and that cause does not become evident to anyone except from the internal sense.

[4] They were to be glad during the feast of weeks, as is also clear in Moses,

You shall keep the feast of weeks to Jehovah your God, and you shall be glad before Jehovah your God, you, and your son and your daughter, and your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates. Deuteronomy 16:10-11.

These words too, in the internal sense, mean gladness because of the goodness and truth present in people from the inmost to the external parts of their being.

[5] The fact that feasts were times of gladness, so that holding a feast means worshipping with gladness of mind, is also evident from the following places: In Isaiah,

You will have a song like that of a night for hallowing a feast. Isaiah 30:29.

In Nahum,

Look, on the mountains the feet of one bringing good tidings, of one proclaiming peace! Keep your feasts, O Judah, perform your vows; for [the man of] belial ³ will no more pass through you, he will be cut off completely. ⁴ Nahum 1:15.

In Zechariah,

The fasts will be to the house of Judah ones of joy and gladness and good feasts; only love truth and peace. Zechariah 8:19.

In Hosea,

I will cause all her joy to cease, her feasts, her new moons. Hosea 2:11.

In Amos,

I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation. Amos 8:10.

The fact that 'holding a feast' means offering worship with gladness of mind because they had been delivered from slavery in Egypt, or in the spiritual sense because they had been delivered from molestation by falsities, is made plain by the feast of Passover. They were commanded to celebrate this each year on the day of their departure from Egypt; and they were commanded to do so on account of the deliverance of the children of Israel from slavery, that is, on account of the deliverance of those who belonged to the spiritual Church from falsities, and so from damnation. And since the Lord delivered them by His Coming and raised them up with Him into heaven when He rose again, therefore this too was done at the Passover. This is also meant by the Lord's words in John,

Now is the judgement of this world, now will the prince of this world be cast outdoors. But I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself. John 12:31-32.

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