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).

798. On the subject of Calvin, I heard the following. (1) When he first arrived in the spiritual world, he did not believe he was anywhere but still in the world in which he was born. Although the angels, who were at the beginning associated with him, told him that he was now in their world, and not in his previous one, he said: 'I have the same body, the same hands and similar senses.' The angels taught him that he now had a substantial body, and formerly he not only had the same one, but also a material body surrounding the substantial one. The material body had been cast aside, but the substantial one remained, and this is what makes a person a person. At first he understood this, but a day later he returned to his former belief, that he was still in the world where he was born. The reason was that he was a sensual man, one who believes nothing but what he derives from the things presented to the bodily senses. It was this that caused all the dogmas of his faith to be conclusions drawn from his own intelligence, and not from the Word. His use of quotations from the Word was merely to win the applause of the common people.

[2] (2) After this first period he left the angels and wandered about, enquiring where those were who from ancient times believed in predestination. He was told that they were a long way from where he was, hemmed in and covered over, with no means of access except through an underground passage at the back. The disciples of Gottschalk, however, still went about freely, meeting at times in a place called in the spiritual language Pyris. Since he was anxious for their company, he was taken to a group where some of them were standing. On coming among them he felt hearty pleasure and formed an inward friendship with them.

[3] (3) But after the followers of Gottschalk were taken away to join their brethren in the cave, he became bored. So he sought asylum in various places, being at length received in a certain community composed entirely of simple folk, including some in religious orders. When he observed that they neither knew anything nor were able to grasp anything about predestination, he took himself off to a corner of the community, and there for a long time he dropped out of sight and did not utter a word on any matter to do with the church. This was arranged so that he could retreat from his error about predestination, and so that the groups of those who had clung to that detestable heresy after the Synod of Dort should be completed. All of these were one after another banished to join their companions in the cave.

[4] (4) Finally the believers in predestination of the present time sought to find Calvin, and after a search he was discovered on the fringe of a community entirely composed of simple folk. So he was summoned from there and brought to a certain magistrate, who was obsessed by similar rubbish. Accordingly he received him into his house and looked after him, and continued to do so until the new heaven began to be founded by the Lord. Then, since the magistrate who was looking after him together with his hangers-on was thrown out, Calvin took himself off to a brothel, and stayed there for some time.

[5] (5) At that time he enjoyed the freedom to wander about, and also of coming close to the place where I was staying. So I was allowed to talk with him, and I began by speaking of the new heaven which is at the present time being established from those who acknowledge the Lord alone as the God of heaven and earth, as He Himself says in Matthew 28:18. I told him that these people believe that He and the Father are one (John 10:30), and that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him, and that anyone who sees and gets to know Him sees and gets to know the Father (John 14:6-11). There is thus one God in the church as there is in heaven.

[6] (6) When I said this he at first kept quiet as usual; but after half an hour he broke his silence and said, 'Was not Christ a man, the son of Mary, Joseph's wife? How can a man be worshipped as God?' 'Is not Jesus Christ,' I said, 'our Redeemer and Saviour, God and man?'

To this he answered: 'He is God and man, yet the divinity is not his but the Father's.'

'Where is Christ then?' I asked. 'He is at the lowest level of heaven,' he said, and offered as proof His humiliation before the Father, and His allowing Himself to be crucified. He added some sharp criticisms of Christ's worship, which at that time crept into his memory from the world. These were in brief that His worship was nothing but idolatry, and he wanted to add some unspeakable remarks about that worship; but the angels with me sealed his lips.

[7] However, I was anxious to convert him, and said that the Lord our Saviour is not only God and man, but also in Him God is man and man is God. I supported this with Paul's remark that in Him all the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9) and John's that He is the true God and everlasting life (John 5:20). I also quoted the words of the Lord Himself, that it is the Father's will that everyone who believes in the Son should have everlasting life, and that anyone who does not believe will not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him (John 3:36; 6:40). Moreover, I said that the Creed called Athanasian lays down that in Christ God and man are not two, but one, and that they are in one person, like soul and body in man.

[8] On hearing this he replied: 'What are all these passages you have quoted from the Word but empty sayings? Is not the Word the book for all heresies? It is like a weathervane on roofs or on ships, which rotates in different directions depending how the wind blows. Predestination is the only true conclusion to be drawn from all religion. It is the dwelling and meeting-tent for everything to do with religion. Faith, the means to justification and salvation, serves there as shrine and sanctuary. Surely no one has free will in spiritual matters; is not everything to do with salvation a free gift? Arguments against these views and so against predestination are to my ears and perception like belches and belly rumbling. This being so, I have thought to myself that a church building where teaching is given on any matter, including from the Word, and the congregation gathered there, is like a zoo, containing sheep together with wolves. But the wolves have muzzles on them in the form of the code of civil law to stop them from falling upon the sheep (by whom I mean those who are predestined). The eloquent preaching heard there is no more than sobs heaved from the breast. But I will give you my confession of faith; it is this. There is a God, and He is omnipotent. None are saved but those who are chosen and predestined by God the Father. Everyone else has his lot, that is, his fate, assigned to him.'

[9] I was so angry on hearing this that I replied: 'What you say is wicked; evil spirit, away with you. Being in the spiritual world, do you not know that there is a heaven and a hell, and that predestination implies that some people are assigned to heaven and some to hell? In this way you cannot form any other idea of God than of a tyrant, who admits his supporters into the city and sends the rest to be slaughtered. You should be ashamed of yourself.'

[10] Afterwards I read out in his presence what is said in the Evangelicals' manual called the Formula of Concord about the erroneous doctrine of the Calvinists, on the subject of the worship of the Lord and predestination. On the worship of the Lord it says:

It is damnable idolatry if trust and heart-felt faith are placed in Christ not only in accordance with His Divine nature, but also in accordance with His human nature, and the honour of worship is directed to both natures.

On predestination it says:

Christ died not for all mankind, but only for the chosen. God created the majority of people for everlasting damnation, and does not wish the majority to be converted and live. The chosen and regenerate cannot lose faith and the Holy Spirit, even if they commit great sins and crimes of every kind. Those, however, who are not chosen are inevitably damned, and cannot attain to salvation, even if they were baptised a thousand times and attended the Eucharist daily, and in addition led the holiest and most blameless life that could ever be. (pp. 837-838 of the Leipzig edition of 1756).

After reading this I asked him whether what is written in that book was derived from his teaching or not. He replied that it was, but he could not remember whether the actual wording was from his pen, though it certainly came from his mouth.

[11] On hearing this all the servants of the Lord left him, and he hurried off along a road leading to a cave, where those convinced of the vile dogma of predestination live. Later I talked with some of those imprisoned in that cave and asked about their fate. They said that they were compelled to work for a living; they were all on bad terms with one another, and each looked for a pretext to do another harm, and they actually did so if they were given the slightest pretext. This is the pleasure of their life. (See further on predestination and its supporters what I have written above, 485-488).