The White Horse Described in Revelation 19, Followed by Material on the Word and Its Spiritual or Inner Meaning Drawn from Secrets of Heaven

Table Of Contents

Concerning the White Horse in the Apocalypse Chapter 19, 1-5

The Word and Its Spiritual or Inner Meaning from Secrets of Heaven, 6

The Word is understood only by people who are enlightened. 7

The Word is understood only by means of a body of teaching drawn from the Word. 8

There is a spiritual meaning in the Word that is known as “the inner meaning.” 9

The inner meaning of the Word is primarily for angels, but it is also for us. 10

There are countless treasures hidden in the inner or spiritual meaning of the Word. 11

The Word was composed using correspondences and therefore representations. 12

The literal meaning or outer form of the Word. 13

The Lord is the Word 14

People who are hostile to the Word. 15

The books that are books of the Word. 16

More on the Word. 17

9469. 'And fine linen' means the truth from this, that is to say, from the good which has a celestial origin. 'Flax' or 'linen' means truth, see 7601, and 'fine linen' means truth from the Divine, 5319; both kinds of truth exist in the natural man. 'Fine linen' means truth from a celestial origin because of its whiteness and softness.

13. The literal meaning or outer form of the Word. The literal meaning of the Word is in keeping with the outward appearance of things in this world (589, 926, 1832, 1874, 2242, 2520, 2533, 2719), and is suited to the comprehension of ordinary people (2533, 9049, 9063, 9086). In its literal meaning, the Word is earthly: 8783. This is because the earthly level is the outermost level to which spiritual and heavenly realities descend and on which they rest, the way a house rests on its foundation; otherwise, the inner meaning without the outer would be like a house without a foundation: 9360, 9430, 9433, 9824, 10044, 10436. Because this is the nature of the Word, it is a vessel that contains spiritual and heavenly meanings (9407); and because this is its nature, there is something holy and divine in absolutely every bit of its literal meaning, right down to the smallest letter (639, 680, 1869, 1870, 9198, 10321, 10637). Even though some laws given for the children of Israel have been annulled, they are still the holy Word because of the inner meaning they contain: 9211, 9259, 9349. Of the laws, judgments, and statutes established for the Israelite or Jewish church (which was a symbolic church), there are some that are still valid in both senses, inner and outer; there are some that are still absolutely mandatory in their literal sense; there are some that can be helpful at our own discretion; and there are some that have been completely annulled: 9349 (which gives details). The Word is divine even in respect the laws that have been annulled, because there are truths of heaven that lie hidden within their inner meaning: 10637.

What the Word is like in its literal meaning if it is not understood in its inner meaning as well, or what amounts to the same thing, understood according to a true body of teaching drawn from the Word: 10402. A vast number of heresies come into existence from reading the literal meaning without the inner meaning or without a genuine body of teaching drawn from the Word: 10400. People whose interest lies solely in the outer level of the Word apart from what lies within cannot bear the deeper messages of the Word: 10694. That is what the Jews were like, and they still are today: ¹ 301, 302, 303, 3479, 4429, 4433, 4680, 4844, 4847, 10396, 10401, 10407, 10694, 10701, 10707.

Footnotes: