9372. And He said unto Moses. That this signifies that which concerns the Word in general, is evident from the representation of Moses, as being the Word (of which below); and from the signification of “He said,” as involving those things which follow in this chapter, thus those which concern the Word (see n. 9370). (That Moses represents the Word, can be seen from what has been often shown before about Moses, as from the preface to Genesis 18; and n. 4859, 5922, 6723, 6752, 6771, 6827, 7010, 7014, 7089, 7382, 8601, 8760, 8787, 8805.) Here Moses represents the Word in general, because it is said of him in what follows, that he alone should come near unto Jehovah (verse 2); and also that, being called unto out of the midst of the cloud, he entered into it, and went up the mount (verses 16-18).

[2] In the Word there are many who represent the Lord in respect to truth Divine, or in respect to the Word; but chief among them are Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and John the Baptist. That Moses does so, can be seen in the explications just cited above; that so do Elijah and Elisha, can be seen in the preface to Genesis 18; and n. 2762, 5247; and that John the Baptist does so is evident from the fact that he was “Elias who was to come.” He who does not know that John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, cannot know what all those things infold and signify which are said about him in the New Testament; and therefore in order that this secret may stand open, and that at the same time it may appear that Elias, and also Moses, who were seen when the Lord was transfigured, signified the Word, some things may here be quoted which are spoken about John the Baptist; as in Matthew:

After the messengers of John had departed, Jesus began to speak concerning John, saying, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed shaken by the wind? But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft things are in kings’ houses. But what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, even more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, Behold I send Mine angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee. Verily I say unto you, Among those who are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist; nevertheless he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he. All the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye are willing to believe, he is Elias who was to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear (Matthew 11:7-15; and also Luke 7:24-28).

No one can know how these things are to be understood, unless he knows that this John represented the Lord as to the Word, and unless he also knows from the internal sense what is signified by “the wilderness” in which he was, also what by “a reed shaken by the wind,” and likewise by “soft raiment in kings’ houses;” and further what is signified by his being “more than a prophet,” and by “none among those who are born of women being greater than he, and nevertheless he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he,” and lastly by his being “Elias.” For without a deeper sense, all these words are uttered merely from some comparison, and not from anything of weight.

[3] But it is very different when by John is understood the Lord as to the Word, or the Word representatively. Then by “the wilderness of Judea in which John was” is signified the state in which the Word was at the time when the Lord came into the world, namely, that it was “in the wilderness,” that is, it was in obscurity so great that the Lord was not at all acknowledged, neither was anything known about His heavenly kingdom; when yet all the prophets prophesied about Him, and about His kingdom, that it was to endure forever. (That “a wilderness” denotes such obscurity, see n. 2708, 4736, 7313.) For this reason the Word is compared to “a reed shaken by the wind” when it is explained at pleasure; for in the internal sense “a reed” denotes truth in the ultimate, such as is the Word in the letter.

[4] That the Word in the ultimate, or in the letter, is crude and obscure in the sight of men; but that in the internal sense it is soft and shining, is signified by their “not seeing a man clothed in soft raiment, for behold those who wear soft things are in kings’ houses.” That such things are signified by these words, is plain from the signification of “raiment,” or “garments,” as being truths (n. 2132, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 6914, 6918, 9093); and for this reason the angels appear clothed in garments soft and shining according to the truths from good with them (n. 5248, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216). The same is evident from the signification of “kings’ houses,” as being the abodes of the angels, and in the universal sense, the heavens; for “houses” are so called from good (n. 2233, 2234, 3128, 3652, 3720, 4622, 4982, 7836, 7891, 7996, 7997); and “kings,” from truth (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 6148). Therefore by virtue of their reception of truth from the Lord, the angels are called “sons of the kingdom,” “sons of the king,” and also “kings.”

[5] That the Word is more than any doctrine in the world, and more than any truth in the world, is signified by “what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet;” and by, “there hath not arisen among those who are born of women a greater than John the Baptist;” for in the internal sense “a prophet” denotes doctrine (n. 2534, 7269); and “those who are born,” or are the sons, “of women” denote truths (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3704, 4257).

[6] That in the internal sense, or such as it is in heaven, the Word is in a degree above the Word in the external sense, or such as it is in the world, and such as John the Baptist taught, is signified by, “he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he;” for as perceived in heaven the Word is of wisdom so great that it transcends all human apprehension. That the prophecies about the Lord and His coming, and that the representatives of the Lord and of His kingdom, ceased when the Lord came into the world, is signified by, “all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” That the Word was represented by John, as by Elijah, is signified by his being “Elias who is to come.”

[7] The same is signified by these words in Matthew:

The disciples asked Jesus, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? He answered and said, Elias must needs first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, that Elias hath come already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they wished. Even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them. And they understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist (Matthew 17:10-13).

That “Elias hath come, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they wished” signifies that the Word has indeed taught them that the Lord is to come, but that still they did not wish to comprehend, interpreting it in favor of the rule of self, and thus extinguishing what is Divine in it. That they would do the same with the truth Divine itself, is signified by “even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them.” (That “the Son of man” denotes the Lord as to truth Divine, see n. 2803, 2813, 3704)

[8] From all this it is now evident what is meant by the prophecy about John in Malachi:

Behold I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh (Malachi 4:5).

Moreover, the Word in the ultimate, or such as it is in the external form in which it appears before man in the world, is described by the “clothing” and “food” of John the Baptist, in Matthew:

John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, had His clothing of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:1, 4).

In like manner it is described by Elijah in the second book of Kings:

He was a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins (2 Kings 1:8).

By “clothing,” or a “garment,” when said of the Word, is signified truth Divine there in the ultimate form; by “camel’s hair” are signified memory-truths such as appear there before a man in the world; by the “leathern girdle” is signified the external bond connecting and keeping in order all the interior things; by “food” is signified spiritual nourishment from the knowledges of truth and of good out of the Word; by “locusts” are signified ultimate or most general truths; and by “wild honey” their pleasantness.

[9] That such things are signified by “clothing” and “food” has its origin in the representatives of the other life, where all appear clothed according to truths from good, and where food also is represented according to the desires of acquiring knowledge and growing wise. From this it is that “clothing,” or a “garment,” denotes truth (as may be seen from the citations above; and that “food” or “meat” denotes spiritual nourishment, n. 3114, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5576, 5579, 5915, 8562, 9003; that “a girdle” denotes a bond which gathers up and holds together interior things, n. 9341; that “leather” denotes what is external, n. 3540; and thus “a leathern girdle” denotes an external bond; that “hairs” denote ultimate or most general truths, n. 3301, 5569-5573; that “a camel” denotes memory-knowledge in general, n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145, 4156; that “a locust” denotes nourishing truth in the extremes, n. 7643; and that “honey” denotes the pleasantness thereof, n. 5620, 6857, 8056). It is called “wild honey,” or “honey of the field,” because by “a field” is signified the church (n. 2971, 3317, 3766, 7502, 7571, 9139, 9295). He who does not know that such things are signified, cannot possibly know why Elijah and John were so clothed. And yet that these things signified something peculiar to these prophets, can be thought by everyone who thinks well about the Word.

[10] Because John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, therefore also when he spoke of the Lord, who was the Word itself, he said of himself that he was “not Elias, nor the prophet,” and that he was “not worthy to loose the latchet of the Lord’s shoe,” as in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The Jews from Jerusalem, priests and Levites, asked John who he was. And he confessed, and denied not, I am not the Christ. Therefore they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? But he said, I am not. Art thou the prophet? He answered, No. They said therefore unto him, Who art thou? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet. They said therefore, Why then baptizest thou, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet? He answered, I baptize with water; in the midst of you standeth one whom ye know not; He it is who is to come after me, who was before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose. When he saw Jesus, he said, Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, After me cometh a man who was before me; for he was before me (John 1:1, 14, 19-30).

From these words it is plain that when John spoke about the Lord Himself, who was Truth Divine itself, or the Word, he said that he himself was not anything, because the shadow disappears when the light itself appears, that is, the representative disappears when the original itself makes its appearance. (That the representatives had in view holy things, and the Lord Himself, and not at all the person that represented, see n. 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4307, 4444, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806.) One who does not know that representatives vanish like shadows at the presence of light, cannot know why John denied that he was Elias and the prophet.

[11] From all this it can now be seen what is signified by Moses and Elias, who were seen in glory, and who spoke with the Lord when transfigured, of His departure which He should accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:29-31); namely, that they signified the Word (“Moses” the historic Word, and “Elias” the prophetic Word), which in the internal sense throughout treats of the Lord, of His coming into the world, and of His departure out of the world; and therefore it is said that “Moses and Elias were seen in glory,” for “glory” denotes the internal sense of the Word, and the “cloud” its external sense (see the preface to Genesis 18, and n. 5922, 8427).

542. Verses 3-12. And out of the smoke there went forth locusts on the earth; and there was given unto them power as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was said to them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but the men only that have not the seal of God on their foreheads. And it was given to them that they should not kill them, but that they should torment them five months; and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when it striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death and shall not find it, and they shall long to die and death shall flee from them. And the likenesses of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for battle; and upon their heads as it were crowns like gold, and their faces as men's faces. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as those of lions. And they had breastplates as iron breastplates; and the voice of their wings was as the voice of chariots of many horses running into battle. And they had tails like scorpions, and stings were in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had over them a king, the angel of the abyss, his name in Hebrew Abaddon, and in Greek he hath the name Apollyon. One woe is past; behold there come yet two woes after this.

3. "And out of the smoke there went forth locusts on the earth," signifies that from infernal falsities they became corporeal sensual in the church n. 543; "and there was given unto them power as the scorpions of the earth have power," signifies their ability to persuade, and its effect and power n. 544.

4. "And it was said to them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree," signifies that they should do no harm to any true and living knowledge [scientificum] from the sense of the letter of the Word, nor to any knowledge of truth and good therein n. 545; "but the men only that have not the seal of God on their foreheads" signifies but only to the understanding of truth and the perception of good in those who are not in truths from good from the Lord. n. 546).

5. "And it was given ¹ to them that they should not kill them," signifies that they should not be deprived of the faculty to understand truth and perceive good n. 547; "but that they should torment them five months," signifies that the understanding would be darkened and drawn away by the falsities of evil from seeing truth so long as they are in that state n. 548; "and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when it striketh a man," signifies that the darkening and drawing away from seeing the truth is caused by the persuasion with which the mind is infatuated (n. 549).

6. "And in those days shall men seek death and shall not find it," signifies that they then wish to destroy the faculty to understand truth, but are not able (n. 550); "and they shall long to die and death shall flee from them," signifies that they wish to destroy the faculty to perceive good, which is of spiritual life, but in vain (n. 551).

7. "And the likenesses of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for battle," signifies that when man has become sensual he reasons like one who reasons from the understanding of truth n. 552; "and upon their heads as it were crowns like gold," signifies that they seem to themselves when they reason as if they were wise and victorious n. 553; "and their faces as men's faces," signifies that they seem to themselves as it were spiritual affections for truth n. 554.

8. "And they had hair as the hair of women," signifies that they seem to themselves to be as it were affections of natural ² truth n. 555; "and their teeth were as those of lions," signifies that the sensual things which are the ultimates of the intellectual life seem to them to have power over all things n. 556.

9. "And they had breastplates as iron breastplates," signifies the persuasions with which they gird themselves for combats, against which the truths of the rational spiritual man prevail not n. 557; "and the voice of their wings was as the voice of chariots of many horses running into battle," signifies reasonings as if from the truths of doctrine from the Word which are understood, for which they must fight ardently (n. 558).

10. "And they had tails like scorpions," signifies sensual knowledges [scientifica] that are persuasive n. 559; "and stings were in their tails," signifies craftiness in deceiving by means of them n. 560; "and their power was to hurt the men five months," signifies that while in that state they induce a stupor in the understanding of truth and in the perception of good (n. 561).

11. "And they had over them a king, the angel of the abyss," signifies that they received influx from the hell where those are who are in the falsities of evil and are merely sensual (n. 562); "his name in Hebrew Abaddon, and in Greek he hath the name Apollyon," signifies its quality, that it is destructive of all truth and good n. 563.

12. "One woe is past; behold, there come yet two woes after this," signifies one lamentation over the devastation of the church, and that a lamentation over its further devastation follows (n. 564).

Footnotes:

557. Verse 9. (Revelation 9:9) And they had breastplates as iron breastplates, signifies the persuasions with which they gird themselves for combats, against which the truths of the rational-spiritual man prevail not. This is evident from the signification of "breastplates" (or coats of mail), as being defenses against evils and falsities in combats, but here defenses of evils and falsities against goods and truths, because this treats of those who are in the falsities of evil in opposition to truths. Here "breastplates" signify persuasions, because sensual men who are in the falsities of evil, who are here described, do not fight against truths from reason, for they do not see truths, but falsities only, and are therefore in the persuasion that falsities are truths, consequently they fight solely from the persuasion of falsity, and with them this persuasion is such that the truths brought forth by the spiritual-rational man are of no avail, for they are repelled as a sword is from a breastplate or coat of mail. So "breastplates as iron breastplates" signify persuasions against which truths are of no avail. That the persuasiveness with such is so infatuating and suffocating that the spiritual-rational is of no avail against it may be seen above (n. 544, 549, 556). Moreover, breastplates or coats of mail, cover that part of the body called the breast or thorax, and this signifies the spiritual affection of truth; also all affection is contained in the sound which comes forth from the breast with the speech. But those who are here signified by "locusts," who are such sensual men as are in falsities, have no other affection than that of the love of self, and because that affection is full of self-confidence and full of the persuasion that their falsity is truth, and because that affection is in the sound which comes forth from the breast with the speech, so the locusts appeared in "breastplates which were as iron breastplates." Moreover, "iron" signifies truth in ultimates, and likewise falsity there, and at the same time what is hard; and the persuasiveness that they have causes the falsity to be so hard that the truths opposed to it rebound, as if they were of no account or avail. Because the persuasion of sensual men who are in falsities from self-confidence is such, and with spirits is so powerful that it suffocates and extinguishes the rational of other spirits with whom they converse in the world of spirits, it is severely prohibited, and those who make use of it are sent among spirits where they are distressed even to swooning by other spirits by means of still stronger persuasions, and this until they desist.

[2] Because breastplates or coats of mail were in use in wars, and to put them on signified to gird oneself for war and thus to fight, therefore in the Word those who were girt for fighting are said to have put on coats of mail. Thus in Jeremiah:

Harness the horses, and go up, ye horsemen; and stand ye forth in helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the coats of mail (46 Jeremiah 46:4).

These words do not mean the combat of one army against another, but the combat of the spiritual-rational man against the natural man who, from knowledges [scientifica] falsely applied, fights against truths and goods. For this is said of the army of Pharaoh king of Egypt, whom the king of Babylon smote, and "Pharaoh king of Egypt" means such a natural man, and "the king of Babylon," near the Euphrates, means the spiritual-rational man, therefore "Harness the horses, go up, ye horsemen, and stand ye forth in helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the coats of mail," signifies such things as relate to the combat of the spiritual-rational man against the natural man who is in falsities; "horses" mean the things of the understanding, "chariots to which they were harnessed" the things of doctrine, "horsemen" the intelligent, "helmets" the things of reason, "spears" truths combating, and "coats of mail" force and strength in fighting and resisting. A "coat of mail" has this meaning because it girds the breast, and from the breast through the arms is all the strength in fighting and resisting.

[3] In the same:

Against Babylon let him bend, let him that bendeth bend his bow; against her he shall lift himself up in his coat of mail (Jeremiah 51:3).

Here, too, "coat of mail" stands for the power to fight and resist. In Isaiah:

He put on righteousness as a coat of mail, and the helmet of salvation upon His head (Isaiah 59:17).

This treats of the Lord, and of the subjugation of the hells by Him; and "righteousness as a coat of mail" signifies the zeal for rescuing the faithful from hell and the Divine love of saving the human race; and as it was from the zeal of Divine love and power therefrom that the Lord fought and conquered, so righteousness is called a "coat of mail;" while the "helmet of salvation" signifies Divine truth from Divine good, by means of which is salvation, for a "helmet" has a similar signification as the head, because it is worn on the head; that the "head" in reference to the Lord signifies Divine truth and Divine wisdom will be seen in what follows.