477. The identification of the human being with the earliest church has been stated and demonstrated many times before [§§277, 288]. In the highest sense, the Lord himself is the only human being [§49]. The heavenly type of church acquires its name as human from this, because it is a likeness of the Lord [§§50-51]. The spiritual type of church does too, because it is an image of him. But in common usage, a human being is defined as anyone who has a human intellect, [on the supposition that] the intellect makes us human, and [that] having more of it makes one person more human than another; although distinctions among us would [better] be based on the degree of our loving belief in the Lord.

[2] What is mainly called the human is the earliest church and every true religion, and consequently the people in such a religion, or people characterized by love for and faith in the Lord. The Word makes this clear, as in Ezekiel:

I will multiply humankind — the whole, entire house of Israel — upon you, [mountains of Israel]. I will multiply human and animal upon you so that they may multiply and reproduce. And I will cause you to live as in your ancient times, and I will do good to you beyond that at your beginnings. And I will cause humankind — my people Israel — to walk upon you. (Ezekiel 36:10-11, 12)

The ancient times here symbolize the earliest church, the beginnings symbolize the ancient churches, and the house of Israel and the people Israel symbolize the early [Christian] church, or the church among non-Jews. All these churches are being referred to as human beings.

[3] In Moses:

Remember the days of old, understand the years of generation after generation, when the Highest One gave an inheritance to the nations; when he divided the children of humankind, he set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. (Deuteronomy 32:7-8)

The days of old mean the earliest church, while "generation after generation" means the ancient churches. The ones being called children of humankind are those who believed in the Lord; their belief is "the number of the children of Israel." A regenerate individual is called a human being in Jeremiah:

I looked at the earth and there — void and emptiness; and to the heavens, and these had no light! I looked, and there — not a human! And every bird of the heavens had flown away. (Jeremiah 4:23, 25)

The earth stands for the outer self and heaven for the inner, the human stands for love of goodness, and the bird of the heavens stands for comprehension of truth.

[4] In the same author:

Look! The days are coming when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of human and the seed of animal. (Jeremiah 31:27)

The human stands for the inner self and the animal for the outer. In Isaiah:

Keep your distance from humans, whose breath is in their nose, for how much are they worth? (Isaiah 2:22)

The person stands for someone in the church. In the same author:

Jehovah will send humankind far away, but a great [portion] will be left in the middle of the land. (Isaiah 6:12)

This is about the devastation of a person to the point where no good or truth remains. In the same author:

The residents of the land will be destroyed by fire, and the humanity left behind will be a pittance. (Isaiah 24:6)

Humanity here stands for those who possess faith. In the same author:

The paths have been abandoned; the traveler on the path has ceased. They have nullified the compact; they have despised the cities; they have thought nothing of humankind. The land mourns and droops. (Isaiah 33:8-9)

This time "humankind" actually refers to humankind, or a human being, which in the Hebrew [here] is enosh. ¹ In the same author:

I will make humankind more precious than pure gold, and humanity [more precious] than Ophir's gold. Therefore I will shake heaven, and the earth will quake out of its place. (Isaiah 13:12-13)

Here humankind [in the Hebrew] is called enosh the first time, adam the second time. ²

Footnotes:

49. Genesis 1:26. And God said, "Let us make a human in our image, after our likeness; and these will rule over the fish of the sea and over the bird in the heavens, and over the beast, and over all the earth, and over every creeping animal that creeps on the earth."

To members of the earliest church, whom the Lord addressed face to face, he appeared as a human being. (Many things could be told about these people, but this is not the right time.) ¹ As a consequence, they used the term human for none but him, or for his qualities. They did not even call themselves human, excepting whatever they could tell he gave them, such as all the good embraced by love and all the truth espoused by faith. These traits they described as human, because they were the Lord's.

[2] As a consequence, the terms human being and son of humankind ² in the prophets have the Lord as their highest meaning. At a lower but still internal level, the meaning is wisdom and understanding and accordingly everyone who has been reborn. An example from Jeremiah:

I looked at the earth, and there — void and emptiness; and to the heavens, and there — no light in them! I looked, and there — not a human! And all the birds of the heavens had fled. (Jeremiah 4:23, 25)

At the inner level, the following passage in Isaiah uses a human being to mean one reborn, and on the highest level the Lord himself, as an exemplar:

This is what Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel and its fashioner, has said: "I made the earth, and the human being on it I created. My hands stretched out the heavens, and to their whole army ³ I gave commands." (Isaiah 45:11-12, 13)

[3] For this reason, the prophets saw the Lord as a human being. Ezekiel was one who did:

Above the expanse was a seeming appearance of sapphire stone, like a throne, and on the likeness of a throne was what looked like the appearance of a person on it, high above. (Ezekiel 1:26)

When Daniel saw the Lord, he called him "Son of Humankind," or human being, which is the same thing:

I looked, and there! In the clouds of the sky, it was as if the Son of Humankind was coming. And he came to the Ancient One, and they brought him before [the Ancient One]. And he was given power to rule, and glory, and kingship; and all peoples, nations, and tongues will serve him. His ruling power is eternal, a power that will not pass away, and his kingship one that will not perish. (Daniel 7:13-14)

[4] In fact, the Lord often calls himself Son of Humankind, ⁴ or human; echoing the prophecy in Daniel that he will come in glory, he says:

They will see the Son of Humankind coming in the clouds of the sky with strength and glory. (Matthew 24:27, 30)

"The clouds of the heavens" (or sky) is what the literal meaning of the Word is called. "Strength and glory" are terms for the Word's inner meaning, which at each and every point focuses exclusively on the Lord and his kingdom. This focus is what gives the inner meaning strength and glory.

Footnotes: