10155. 'And they will recognize that I am Jehovah their God' means perception that the Lord is the source of all good and all truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'recognizing' as understanding, believing, and perceiving, dealt with below. The reason why perceiving that the Lord is the source of all good and all truth is meant is that the names Jehovah and God are used, and the Lord is called Jehovah by virtue of good and God by virtue of truth, see 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921, 4287, 4402, 7010, 9167.

The reason why 'recognizing' means understanding, believing, and perceiving is that the word is used in reference both to the human power of understanding and to the power of will. When used in reference solely to the power of understanding it means understanding; when used in reference to the understanding and at the same time the will it means believing; and when used in reference solely to the will it means perceiving. With those therefore who merely know of something and as a result think about it, recognizing implies understanding. But with those who possess faith, recognizing implies believing, and with those who have love, recognizing implies perceiving.

[2] When however recognizing is coupled with understanding, seeing, or believing, 'recognizing' means perceiving; for understanding, seeing, and believing are connected with the understanding, consequently with truth, whereas perceiving is connected with the will, consequently with good, as in John,

Peter said, We have believed and recognized that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. John 6:69.

In the same gospel,

Jesus said, Believe the works, that you may recognize and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father. John 10:38.

In the same gospel,

Jesus said, If you recognize Me you recognize My Father, and from now on you recognize Him and have seen Him. John 14:7.

In the same gospel,

The Spirit of truth will be sent, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor recognizes Him. But you recognize Him, because He remains with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17.

In Mark,

Jesus spoke in parables, so that seeing they may see and not recognize. Mark 4:11-12.

In Jeremiah,

... that you may recognize and see that it is evil and bitter to depart from Jehovah your God. Jeremiah 2:19.

In the same prophet,

Let him who glories glory in this, to understand and to recognize Me, that I am Jehovah. Jeremiah 9:24.

In Hosea,

I will betroth you to Me in faith, and you will recognize Jehovah. Hosea 2:20.

[3] In these places 'recognizing' means perceiving, and perceiving comes about as a result of good, whereas understanding and seeing come about as a result of truth. For inwardly within themselves those in whom good or love is predominant perceive that something is so, whereas within themselves those in whom truth or faith is predominant see that it is such. Therefore perception that something is so exists among those who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom, but belief that it is so among those who are in the Lord's spiritual kingdom, see the places referred to in 9277, and what has been stated in 9992, 9995, 10105. And what perception is, see 125, 371, 483, 495, 503, 521, 536, 597, 607, 1121, 1384, 1387, 1398, 1442, 1919, 2144, 2515, 2831, 3528, 5121, 5145, 5227, 7680, 7977, 8780.

[4] In addition, since the proper meaning of 'recognizing' is perceiving as a result of good, reference is made in Deuteronomy 8:5 to recognizing from the heart; for 'from the heart' means from the good of love, 3883-3896, 7542, 9050, 9300, 9495. Therefore also doing good is referred to as recognizing Jehovah, Jeremiah 22:16.

From all this it is evident that 'they will recognize that I am Jehovah their God' means perception that the Lord is the source of all goodness and truth.

7111.'To the taskmasters over the people and to their officers, saying' means those in the nearest position to molest, and those in the nearest position to receive. This is clear from the meaning of 'the taskmasters' as those who compel people to serve, dealt with in 6852, and since they do so by means of molestations, 'the taskmasters' also means those who molest, but those in the nearest position to carry it out, who are dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the officers' as those in the nearest position to receive. For the officers came from the children of Israel, but the taskmasters from the Egyptians, as is evident from what follows. Thus in the internal sense 'the officers' are those in the nearest position to receive, and 'the taskmasters' those in the nearest position to molest.

[2] Who exactly are meant may be recognized from those in the next life who molest, introducing falsities and evils, and those who receive these and pass them on. Those who molest, introducing falsities and evils, are the hells. But to achieve their purpose they send out from themselves emissaries through whom they act; and these make their appearance no great distance away from those who are molested. This is done for the reason that the thoughts and intentions of many may by focused through them; otherwise such thoughts and intentions would become diffuse. Those emissaries appear in particular places of their own in the world of spirits, and from the actual places where they appear one can recognize which hell they come from. Some appear overhead at varying heights and angles; others alongside the head, to the right or left as well as behind it; and others again below the head, on various levels in relation to the body, from the head right down to the soles of the feet. They flow in with the kinds of things that are emitted from hell, but a spirit or man can only feel them, and therefore only know of them, as things that are inside himself, as things that he himself thinks and intends. Those emissaries are called 'subordinates', see what has already been shown from experience regarding them in 4403, 5856, 5983-5989. Since these are in the nearest position to molest they are meant by 'the taskmasters'. But those who receive things from them and pass them on are 'the officers'; they are also intermediary spirits. For as stated above, the officers came from the children of Israel, but the taskmasters came from the Egyptians.

[3] Among the Israelite and Jewish people 'officers was a name given to those who were required to tell the people what they had to do, and who were to give orders. For this reason they also sat with the judges and elders in the gates, and told the people the judgements that had been made as well as the commands issued by the leader, as becomes clear from the following places: In Moses,

You shall appoint ¹ judges and officers in all your gates according to your tribes, who will judge the people with righteous judgement. ² Deuteronomy 16:18.

In the same author,

When they go out to war the priest shall speak to the people and warn them that they should not be afraid. After that the officers shall say that he who has built a house should go back, and also the fearful. Deuteronomy 20:1-3, 5, 8, 9.

In Joshua,

Joshua gave orders to the officers to say to the people that they should prepare provisions for the journey, before they crossed the Jordan. Joshua 1:10-11.

In the same book,

At the end of three days it happened, when the officers passed through the middle of the camp, that they gave orders [to the people, saying] that when they saw the ark of the covenant of Jehovah they too were to set out. Joshua 8:33.

The officers' were overseers of the people, distinct and separate from the princes or leaders of the people, see Deuteronomy 1:15. They were distinct and separate from the elders too, Deuteronomy 31:28, and also from the judges, Joshua 8:33.

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