9315. When Mine angel shall go before thee. That this signifies a life in accordance with the commandments of the Lord, is evident from the signification of “going before thee,” when said of the Lord, who is here the “angel of Jehovah,” as being to teach the commandments of faith and of life, thus also a life in accordance with these commandments (that “to go,” and “to journey,” denote to live, see n. 1293, 3335, 4882, 5493, 5605, 8417, 8420, 8557, 8559); and from the signification of “the angel of Jehovah,” as being the Lord as to the Divine Human (of which above, n. 9303, 9306). That the Lord as to the Divine Human is meant by the “angel,” is because the many angels who appeared before the coming of the Lord into the world were Jehovah Himself in a human form, that is, in the form of an angel. This is very evident from the fact that the angels who appeared were called “Jehovah,” as for instance those who appeared to Abraham and were called “Jehovah” (Genesis 18:1, 13-14, 17, 20, 26, 33); also the angel who appeared to Gideon, of whom we read in Judges, and who also was called “Jehovah” (6:12, 14, 16, 22-24); besides others elsewhere. Jehovah Himself in the human form, or what is the same, in the form of an angel, was the Lord.

[2] At that time His Divine Human appeared as an angel; of which the Lord Himself speaks in John:

Jesus said, Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it, and was glad. Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am (John 8:56, 58).

Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was (John 17:5).

That Jehovah could not appear in any other way, is evident also from the words of the Lord in John:

Ye have not heard the voice of the Father at any time, nor seen His shape (John 5:37).

Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he who is with the Father, he hath seen the Father (John 6:46).

From these passages it may be known what is meant by the Lord from eternity.

[3] The reason why it pleased the Lord to be born a man, was that He might put on the Human actually, and make it Divine, in order to save the human race. Know therefore that the Lord is Jehovah Himself or the Father in a human form, which also the Lord Himself teaches in John:

I and the Father are one (John 10:30).

Jesus said, From henceforth ye have known and have seen the Father; He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:7, 9, 11).

All things that are Mine are Thine, and all Thine are Mine (John 17:10).

[4] This great mystery is stated in John in these words:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. The same was in the beginning with God. All thing were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father. No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath set Him forth (John 1:1-3, 14, 18);

“the Word” denotes the Divine truth which has been revealed to men; and because this could not be revealed except by Jehovah as a Man, that is, except by Jehovah in a human form, thus by the Lord, therefore it is said, “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word.” It is known in the church that by “the Word” is meant the Lord, because this is plainly said: “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father.” That the Divine truth could not be revealed to men except by Jehovah in a human form, is also clearly stated: “no man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath set Him forth.”

[5] From all this it is evident that the Lord from eternity was Jehovah, or the Father, in a human form; but not yet in the flesh, for an angel has no “flesh.” And because Jehovah or the Father willed to put on the whole human, for the salvation of the human race, therefore He took on the flesh also. Wherefore it is said “God was the Word, and the Word was made flesh.” And in Luke:

Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have (Luke 24:39);

by these words the Lord taught that He was no longer Jehovah under the form of an angel; but that He was Jehovah Man, which is also meant by these words of the Lord:

I came out from the Father, and am come into the world; again I leave the world, and go unto the Father (John 16:28).

(That the Lord when in the world made His Human Divine, see n. 1616, 1725, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2033, 2034, 2083, 2523, 2751, 2798, 3038, 3043, 3212, 3241, 3318, 3637, 3737, 4065, 4180, 4211, 4237, 4286, 4585, 4687, 4692, 4724, 4738, 4766, 5005, 5045, 5078, 5110, 5256, 6373, 6700, 6716, 6849, 6864, 6872, 7014, 7211, 7499, 8547, 8864, 8865, 8878; also that He expelled all the human that was from the mother, until at last He was not the son of Mary, n. 2159, 2649, 2776, 4963, 5157; see especially n. 3704, 4727, 9303, 9306, and what has been shown about these things in the passages cited in n. 9194, 9199)

6804. And God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. That this signifies by reason of conjunction with the church through the Lord’s Divine Human, is evident from the signification of “covenant,” as being conjunction (of which in what follows); and from the representation of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with whom a covenant was made, as being the Lord’s Divine Human. (That Abraham represents the Lord as to the Divine Itself, Isaac as to the Divine rational, and Jacob as to the Divine natural, see n. 1893, 2011, 2066, 2072, 2083, 2630, 3194, 3210, 3245, 3251, 3305, 3439, 3576, 3599, 3704, 4180, 4286, 4538, 4570, 4615, 6098, 6185, 6276, 6425.) That where mention is made of “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” in the Word, in the spiritual sense these men are not meant, can be seen from the fact that names never penetrate into heaven, but only what is signified by those who are named, thus the things themselves, their quality and their states, which are of the church and of the Lord’s kingdom, and which are of the Lord Himself.

[2] And moreover the angels in heaven never determine their thoughts to the individual persons, for this would be to limit the thoughts, and to withdraw them from the universal perception of the things, from which is angelic speech. Hence what the angels speak in heaven is unutterable to man, and far above his thought, which is not extended to universals, but confined to particulars. When therefore we read this:

Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens (Matthew 8:11).

The angels perceive the Lord’s presence and the appropriation of the truth and good which proceed from His Divine Human. Also when we read that

Lazarus was taken up into Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22).

The angels perceive that he was taken up into heaven where the Lord is present. Hence also it can be seen that by the “covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” in the internal sense is meant conjunction through the Lord’s Divine Human.

[3] That the Divine Human is a “covenant,” that is, conjunction itself, can be seen from many passages in the Word, as in Isaiah:

I will give Thee for a covenant to the people, for a light of the nations (Isaiah 42:6).

I gave Thee for a covenant of the people, to restore the land, to divide the wasted heritages (Isaiah 49:8).

Incline your ear, and come unto Me; hear and your soul shall live; so will I make a covenant of eternity with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold I have given Him for a witness to the peoples, a prince and a lawgiver to the nations (Isaiah 55:3-4).

The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple; and the Angel of the covenant whom ye desire, behold He cometh (Malachi 3:1).

He hath put for Me a covenant of eternity, to be disposed for all and to be kept (2 Samuel 23:5).

[4] In these passages the Lord is plainly treated of, and the conjunction of the human race with the Divine Itself of the Lord through His Divine Human. It is known in the church that the Lord as to the Divine Human is the Mediator, and that no one can come to the Divine Itself, which is in the Lord and is called the Father, except through the Son, that is, through the Divine Human. Thus the Lord as to the Divine Human is the conjunction. Who can comprehend the Divine Itself by any thought? And if he cannot comprehend it in thought, who can be conjoined with it in love? But everyone can comprehend the Divine Human in thought, and be conjoined with it in love.

[5] That a “covenant” denotes conjunction can be seen from the covenants made between kingdoms, and that by these they are joined together; and that there are stipulations on each side, which are to be kept, in order that the conjunction may be inviolate. These stipulations or compacts are also called a “covenant.” The stipulations or compacts which in the Word are called a “covenant” are on the part of man, in a close sense, the ten commandments, or Decalogue; in a wider sense they are all the statutes, commandments, laws, testimonies, precepts, which the Lord enjoined from Mount Sinai through Moses; and in a sense still more wide they are the books of Moses, the contents of which were to be observed on the part of the sons of Israel. On the part of the Lord the “covenant” is mercy and election.

[6] That the ten commandments or Decalogue are a “covenant” is evident from Moses:

Jehovah hath told you His covenant, which He commanded you to do, the ten words which He wrote on two tables of stone (Deuteronomy 4:13, 23).

And because the two tables of stone, on which the ten commandments were written, were stored up in the ark (Exodus 25:16, 21-22; 31:18; 32:15-16, 19; 40:20), therefore the ark was called the “ark of the covenant” (Deuteronomy 31:9, 24-26; Josh. 3:3, 6, 14; 4:7; Judg. 20:27; 2 Samuel 15:24; 1 Kings 8:21). In the last passage cited, Solomon thus speaks:

There I have set a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of Jehovah which He made with our fathers (1 Kings 8:21).

And in John:

The temple of God was opened in heaven; and there was seen in His temple the ark of His covenant (Revelation 11:19).

[7] That all the judgments and statutes which the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel, were called the “covenant,” as were also the books of Moses themselves, is evident from Moses:

After the mouth of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel (Exodus 34:27).

The things which are here called a “covenant” were the many in regard to sacrifices, feasts, and unleavened bread.

Moses took the book of the covenant, and read in the ears of the people, who said, All that Jehovah hath spoken we will do and hear (Exodus 24:7-8.

Josiah, king of Judah, in the house of Jehovah in the presence of them all read the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of Jehovah. And he made a covenant before Jehovah, to establish the words of the covenant written in that book; and all the people stood to the covenant. The king commanded all the people that they should perform the passover to Jehovah God, as it is written in this book of the covenant (2 Kings 23:2-3, 21).

If thy sons will keep My covenant and My testimony that I have taught them, their sons also shall sit on thy throne forevermore (Psalms 132:12).

[8] That a “covenant” denotes conjunction through love and faith is evident from Moses:

Behold the days come, said Jehovah, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, because they rendered My covenant vain; but this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days: I will put My law in the midst of them, and I will write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Jeremiah 31:31-33);

“to put a law in the midst of them, and to write it on their heart” is to endow with faith and charity; through faith and charity the conjunction is made which is described by the words, “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will no more turn away from them; and I will do well to them; and I will put My fear in their heart, that they shall not depart from Me (Jeremiah 32:40).

Conjunction through love, which is the “covenant,” is signified by, “I will put My fear in their heart, that they shall not depart from Me.”

[9] In Ezekiel:

I will make a covenant of peace with them, a covenant of eternity it shall be with them; and I will give them, and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them; and My habitation shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Ezekiel 37:26-27);

here conjunction through love and faith, which are a “covenant,” is described by “a sanctuary in the midst of them,” and by “a habitation with them,” and by the words, “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

When I passed by thee, and saw thee, that behold it was thy time, the time of loves, and I entered into a covenant with thee, that thou shouldest be Mine (Ezekiel 16:8);

speaking of Jerusalem, whereby is signified the Ancient Church; that “to enter into a covenant that thou shouldest be Mine” is marriage, or spiritual conjunction, is plain. As a “covenant” signifies conjunction, a wife is also called “a wife of the covenant” (Malachi 2:14); and conjunction among brethren is called “the covenant of brethren” (Amos 1:9).

By “covenant” is also signified conjunction in David:

I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to David My servant (Psalms 89:3).

[10] That the compact of a covenant on the part of the Lord is mercy and election, is evident in David:

All the ways of Jehovah are mercy and truth to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies (Psalms 25:10).

The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My mercy shall not depart, and the covenant of My peace shall not be removed, saith thy compassionate One, Jehovah (Isaiah 54:10).

Jehovah thy God, He is God, the faithful God, keeping covenant and mercy with them that love Him, and that keep His commandments, to the thousandth generation (Deuteronomy 7:9, 12).

If ye will keep My covenant, ye shall be unto Me for a peculiar treasure from all peoples (Exodus 19:5),

I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will establish My covenant with you (Leviticus 26:9);

“to have respect unto them” is of mercy; “to make them fruitful and multiply them” is to endow them with charity and faith; they who are endowed with these gifts are called the “elect;” so that these are words of election; and also the words “they shall be for a peculiar treasure.”

[11] Signs of a covenant existed also in the representative church, and were such as reminded of conjunction. Circumcision was such a sign (Genesis 17:11); for “circumcision” signified purification from filthy loves, on the removal of which, heavenly love is instilled, through which is conjunction. The Sabbath is also called “an eternal covenant” (Exodus 31:16). It is said also that “the show-bread should be to the sons of Israel for an eternal covenant” (Leviticus 24:8) and especially the “blood”, as is evident from Moses:

Moses took the book of the covenant, and read in the ears of the people, who said, All that Jehovah hath spoken we will do and hear; then Moses took the blood of the peace sacrifice, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which Jehovah hath made with you over all these words (Exodus 24:7-8),

By the blood of Thy covenant I will send forth the bound out of the pit wherein is no water (Zech. 9:11

Blood was a covenant, or the token of a covenant, because it signified conjunction through spiritual love, that is, through charity toward the neighbor; therefore when the Lord instituted the Holy Supper, He called His blood the “blood of the new covenant” (Matthew 26:28). From all this it can now be seen what is meant by a “covenant” in the Word in the internal sense.