1. Teachings for the New Jerusalem on the Lord

The Entire Sacred Scripture Is about the Lord, and the Lord Is the Word

WE read in John,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and nothing that was made came about without him. In him there was life, and that life was the light for humankind. And the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness did not grasp it. And the Word became flesh and lived among us; and we saw his glory, glory like that of the only-begotten child of the Father. He was full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-3, 5, 14)

In the same Gospel,

Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)

And elsewhere in the same Gospel,

While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of the light. I have come into the world as a light so that anyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness. (John 12:36, 46)

We can see from this that the Lord is God from eternity and that he himself is that Lord who was born into the world. It actually says that the Word was with God and that the Word was God, as well as that nothing that was made came about without him, and then that the Word became flesh and that they saw him.

There is little understanding in the church of what it means to call the Lord “the Word.” He is called the Word because the Word means divine truth or divine wisdom and the Lord is divine truth itself or divine wisdom itself. That is why he is also called the light that is said to have come into the world.

Since divine wisdom and divine love are one with each other and have been one in the Lord from eternity, it also says “in him there was life, and that life was the light for humankind.” The life is divine love, and the light is divine wisdom.

This oneness is what is meant by saying both that “in the beginning the Word was with God” and that “the Word was God.” “With God” is in God, since wisdom is in love and love is in wisdom. This is like the statement elsewhere in John, “Glorify me, Father, together with yourself, with the glory I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:5). “With yourself” is “in yourself.” This is why it adds “and the Word was God.” It says elsewhere that the Lord is in the Father and the Father is in him [John 14:10], and that the Father and he are one [John 10:30].

Since the Word is the divine wisdom of the divine love, it follows that it is Jehovah himself and therefore the Lord, the one by whom all things were made that were made, since everything was created out of divine love by means of divine wisdom.

350. CHAPTER 6.

1. AND I saw when the Lamb had opened the first of the seals, and I heard one of the four animals saying as with a voice of thunder, Come and see.

2. And I saw, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him; and he went forth conquering and to conquer.

3. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second animal saying, Come and see.

4. And there went out another horse that was red, and it was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, that they should kill one another; and there was given unto him a great sword.

5. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third animal saying, Come and see. And I saw, and lo, a black horse; and he that sat thereon had a pair of balances in his hand.

6. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four animals, saying, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny, and hurt not the oil and the wine.

7. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth animal saying, Come and see.

8. And I looked, and behold a pale horse, and his name that sat upon him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

9. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar, the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held.

10. And they cried with a great voice, saying, How long, O Lord, who art holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

11. And white robes were given unto every one; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet a little time, until both their fellow-servants and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

12. And I beheld when he opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.

13. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

14. And the heaven departed as a book when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

15. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond-man, and every free-man, hid themselves in the caverns, and in the rocks of the mountains.

16. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the anger of the Lamb.

17. For the great day of his anger is come; and who is able to stand?

THE EXPLANATION.

VERSES 1, 2. And I saw when the Lamb had opened the first of the seals, and I heard one of the four animals saying as with a voice of thunder, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him; and he went forth conquering and to conquer.

"And I saw," signifies the manifestation of the states of those who belong to the church where the Word is; "when the Lamb had opened the first of the seals," signifies the first manifestation from the Lord; "and I heard one of the four animals saying as with a voice of thunder," signifies out of the inmost heaven from the Lord; "Come and see," signifies attention and perception.

"And I saw and behold a white horse," signifies the understanding of truth from the Word; "and he that sat upon him had a bow," signifies the doctrine of charity and faith, by which combat is maintained against evils and falsities, and [by which] they are dissipated; "and a crown was given unto him," signifies life eternal, which is the reward of victory; "and he went forth conquering and to conquer," signifies the removal of evils and thence of falsities at the end of life, and afterwards to eternity.