76. Men moet echter weten dat engelen niet door iemands lichamelijke ogen gezien kunnen worden, maar door de ogen van de geest die binnenin hem is, want die is in de geestelijke wereld, terwijl alles van het lichaam zich in de natuurlijke wereld bevindt. Soort ziet soort door gelijk te zijn. Zoals iedereen weet is bovendien het gezichtsorgaan van het lichaam, het oog, zo grof gebouwd, dat het niet eens, behalve door een vergrootglas, de kleinere dingen van de natuur kan zien. Laat staan dat het de dingen die zich boven de natuurlijke sfeer bevinden kan zien, zoals alle dingen in de geestelijke wereld. Maar deze dingen kunnen gezien worden door iemand bij wie het lichamelijk gezichtsvermogen wordt verwijderd en het geestelijk gezichts vermogen wordt geopend. Dit gebeurt in een oogwenk, wanneer het de Heer behaagt dat deze dingen worden gezien. In dat geval weet de persoon niet beter dan dat hij ze met zijn lichamelijke ogen ziet. Op deze manier werden engelen gezien door Abraham, Lot, Manoach en de Profeten. Zo werd ook de Heer na de wederopstanding door de discipelen gezien en op dezelfde manier zag ik engelen. Omdat de profeten op deze manier zagen, werden ze zieners genoemd, van wie men zei dat de ogen hen geopend waren (I Samuel 9:9; Numeri 24:3); het tot stand brengen van dit gezichtsvermogen werd de ogen openen genoemd, zoals bij de knecht van Eliza geschiedde, over wie we lezen: Toen bad Eliza: Heer, open toch zijn ogen, opdat hij ziet. En de Heer opende de ogen van de knecht en hij zag en zie, de berg was vol vurige paarden en wagens rondom Eliza. (2 Koningen 6:17)

606. Verse 5. And the angel whom I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth, signifies the Lord, to whom all things of heaven and the church are subject. This is evident from the signification of "the angel coming down from heaven," as being the Lord (See above, n. 593); and from the signification of "standing upon the sea and upon the earth," as being to whom all things of heaven and the church are subject (See also above, n. 600, since "standing upon them" signifies that they are subject to Him. Thus in David:

Thou madest Him to have dominion over the works ¹ of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under His feet (Psalms 8:6).

This is said of the Lord; His dominion over all things of heaven and the church is meant by "all things are put under His feet." And in Isaiah:

I will make the place of My feet honorable (Isaiah 60:13).

"The place of the Lord's feet" in a general sense means all things of heaven and the church, since the Lord as a sun is above the heavens; but in a particular sense "the place of His feet" signifies the church, for the Lord's church is with men in the natural world, and the natural is the lowest, into which the Divine closes, and upon which it as it were subsists. This is why the church on the earth is also called "the footstool of the Lord," as in the same:

The earth is My footstool (Isaiah 66:1; Matthew 5:35).

Also in Lamentations:

He hath cast down from the heavens unto the earth the splendor of Israel, and doth not remember His footstool (Lamentations 2:1).

And in David:

We will come into His tabernacles, we will bow down at His footstool (Psalms 132:7).

This is said of the Lord, and "His footstool" signifies the church on the earth.

[2] From this it can be seen that "to stand upon the sea and upon the earth" signifies in reference to the Lord that all things of heaven and the church are subject to Him. But "sea and earth upon which He set His feet," signify in particular the lowest heaven and the church on earth, as has just been said; for the higher parts of the body belonging to an angel signify the higher heavens, because they correspond to them; for the inmost heaven corresponds to the head, and the middle heaven to the breast down to the loins, and the ultimate heaven to the feet, but the church on the earth to the soles of the feet, consequently the church is meant by "His footstool." From this correspondence it can be concluded what the "angel (by whom is meant the Lord) standing upon the sea and upon the earth" represented in general and in particular, namely, that He represented the universal heaven; for the Lord is heaven, and His Divine Human forms heaven to an image of itself. This is why the whole heaven is in the sight of the Lord as one man, and corresponds to all things of man, therefore heaven also is called the Greatest Man. (Respecting this see what is said in the work on Heaven and Hell 59-102.)

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