63. (Verse 13) And in the midst of the seven lampstands one like unto the Son of man. That this signifies the Lord, from whom is the all of heaven and of the church, is evident from the signification of "in the midst," as denoting in the inmost (see Arcana Coelestia 1074, 2940, 2973); and, because all things proceed from the inmost as light from the centre into the circumferences, therefore, "in the midst," signifies from whom. This is evident also from the signification of the seven lampstands, as denoting the New Heaven and the New Church (concerning which see above, n. 62); and from the signification of the Son of man, as denoting the Lord as to the Divine Human, and also as to Divine truth, because this proceeds from His Divine Human. From these considerations it is evident that the Lord appeared in the midst of seven lampstands, because from Him proceeds the all of heaven and of the church; for the good of love and the good of faith constitute heaven and the church, and that these are from the Divine is known in the Christian world, and because they are from the Divine, they are from the Lord, because the Lord is the God of heaven, and because the Divine of the Lord makes heaven (see the work, Heaven and Hell 2-6, and n. 7-12; and that this is His Divine Human, n. 78-86).

[2] That by the Son of man is meant the Lord as to the Divine Human, and also as to Divine truth, because Divine truth proceeds from His Divine Human, is evident from those passages in the Word where mention is made of the Son of man. Thus in John:

The multitude said unto Jesus, "How sayest thou that the Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man? Jesus answered them, Yet a little while the light is with you; walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you. While ye have the light believe in the light, that ye may be sons of light" (12:34-36).

From these words it is clear that by the Son of man is signified the same as by light; for when they inquired, "Who is this Son of man?" the Lord answered that He was the light in which they should believe. (That light is the Divine truth proceeding from the Divine Human of the Lord, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 126-140; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 49; thus also that the Son of man is the Divine truth.) It is said in Luke:

[3] "Blessed are ye when men shall hate you for the Son of man's sake" (6:22).

For the Son of man's sake is for the sake of the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord. Divine truth is the all of faith and love to the Lord; and because they who are evil deny those things, and they who deny also hate them, and the good acknowledge them, therefore it is said, that these latter are blessed. Again, in the same:

[4] "The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, but ye shall not see it. Then they shall say to you, Behold here, or behold there; go not away, nor follow them" (17:22, 23).

To desire one of the days of the Son of man, is to desire something of genuine Divine truth. The end of the church is there meant, when there will be no longer any faith, because no charity, at which time all Divine truth will perish; and because Divine truth is signified by the Son of man, therefore it is said, "Then shall they say, Behold here, or behold there; follow them not." And in the same:

[5] "When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" (18:8);

that is, when Divine truth shall be revealed out of heaven, it will not be believed. The Son of man, in this place also, is the Lord as to Divine truth; the coming of the Lord is the revelation of Divine truth at the end of the church. (See Arcana Coelestia 3900, 4060.)

[6] And in Matthew:

"As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and glory" (24:27, 30).

(That by the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven, is there signified the revelation of Divine truth at the end of the church, may be seen above, n. 36.)

[7] And in the same:

"I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" (26:64).

And in Luke:

"Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God" (22:69).

The Son of man is the Lord as to the Divine Human, and as to Divine truth proceeding from It; to sit on the right hand of power, means that He has omnipotence; its being said that they should see this now, means, that Divine truth was in its omnipotence when the Lord in the world had conquered the hells, and reduced to order all things there and in the heavens, and that thus those would be saved who should receive Him in faith and love. (See Arcana Coelestia 9715. That to sit on the right hand denotes omnipotence, may be seen Arcana Coelestia 3387, 4592, 4933, 7518, 8281, 9133; that all the power of good is by truth, n. 6344, 6423, 8304, 9327, 9410, 9639, 9643. That Divine power itself is by Divine truth proceeding from the Divine Human of the Lord, see n. 6948; that the clouds in which the Son of man will come are the Word in the letter, which is Divine truth in the ultimate of order, see the preface to the eighteenth chapter of Genesis, Arcana Coelestia 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752, 8443, 8781; and that glory is the Divine truth itself, such as it is in the internal sense of the Word, see n. 4809, 5922, 8267, 9429.)

[8] From these considerations it is now evident what is signified by these words in the Apocalypse:

"I saw, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown" (14:14).

And in Daniel:

"I saw in the visions of the night, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of the heavens" (7:13).

Because all judgment is executed from truth, therefore it is said, that it is given to the Lord "to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man" (John 5:27); and that "the Son of man shall render to every one according to his deeds" (Matthew 16:27); and that "when the Son of man shall come, he shall sit upon the throne of his glory, and shall judge" (Matthew 25:31).

[9] And again in Matthew, it is said:

"He who soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the evil" (13:37, 38).

The good seed is Divine truth, therefore it is said that the Son of man soweth it; the sons of the kingdom are Divine truths in heaven and the church; for son denotes truth (see Arcana Coelestia 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623), and, in an opposite sense, falsity, which also is the son of evil.

[10] In the same:

"The Son of man hath not where to lay his head" (8:20);

by which is signified, that Divine truth had not a place anywhere, or with any man, at that time. Again it is said, that the Son of man would suffer and be put to death (Matthew 17:12, 22; 26:2, 24, 45; Mark 8:31; 9:12, 31); by which is signified, that thus they would treat Divine truth, consequently the Lord, who was Divine truth itself, as He also teaches in Luke:

"The Son of man must first suffer, and be rejected of this generation" (17:25).

[11] In Jeremiah:

"No man [vir] shall dwell there; neither shall a son of man [hominis] abide there" (49:18, 33).

In the same:

In the cities "no man shall dwell, nor shall a son of man pass through them" (51:43).

He who is not acquainted with the spiritual sense of the Word, believes that by cities here are meant cities, and that by man, and by a son of man, are meant a man and a son; also, that the cities were thus to be desolated, so that no one should be in them; but it is the state of the church as to the doctrine of truth which is described by those words; for cities denote the doctrinals of the church (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 402, 2449, 3216, 4492, 4493); and man is the essential truth thereof, conjoined with good (see n. 3134, 7716, 9007); thus the Son of man is truth. Because the Son of man signified Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, therefore the prophets also, through whom it was revealed, were called "sons of man," as Daniel (8:17); and Ezekiel (2:1, 3, 6, 8; 3:1, 3, 4, 10, 17, 25; 4:1, 16; 8:5, 6, 8, 12, 15; 12:2, 3, 9, 18, 22, 27). As most things in the Word have also an opposite sense, so also has the signification of a son of man, which in that sense denotes falsity opposed to truth. Thus in Isaiah:

"What art thou, that thou fearest man? he dies; and a son of man? he is as grass" (51:12).

And in David:

"Place not your trust in princes, in a son of man, with whom there is no salvation" (Psalm 146:3).

Princes denote primary truths (see Arcana Coelestia 2089, 5044); thus, in an opposite sense, primary falsities; and son of man denotes falsity itself.

6752. 'And she called his name Moses' means the essential nature of the state then. This is clear from the meaning of 'name' and 'calling the name as the essential nature, dealt with in 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2714, 3006, 3421, 6674, at this point the essential nature of a state because when someone's name is mentioned, that particular name used then means the state, 1946, 2643, 3422, 4298. This essential nature of a state that is meant is the nature of the state of the law of God as it was in the beginning with the Lord, and the nature of the state of God's truth as it is in the beginning with a person who is being regenerated. There are two people primarily who represent the Lord with respect to the Word, namely Moses and Elijah. Moses represents the Lord with respect to the historical books, Elijah with respect to the Prophets. In addition to those two there is Elisha, and lastly John the Baptist, who is therefore the one who is meant by 'the Elijah who is to come', Matthew 17:10-13; Luke 1:17. But before one can show that Moses represents the law of God, one must say what the law of God is. In a broad sense God's law means the whole Word; in a narrower sense it means the historical section of the Word; in a restricted sense it means what was written through Moses; and in a very restricted sense it means the Ten Commandments written upon Mount Sinai on tablets of stone. Moses represents the law in the narrower sense as well as in the restricted sense and also in the very restricted.

[2] In a broad sense the Law is the whole Word, both the historical section and the prophetical part. This is clear in John,

We have heard from the Law that the Christ (the Messiah) remains forever. John 12:34.

The fact that 'the Law' here is used to mean the prophetical part as well is self-evident, for this is a reference to what is written in Isaiah 9:6-7; in David, Psalms 110:4; and in Daniel 7:13-14. In the same gospel,

In order that the Word written in the Law might be fulfilled, They hated Me without a cause. John 15:25.

Much the same applies here, for it is a reference to what is written in David, Psalms 35:19. In Matthew,

Truly I say to you, Even until heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one small part of a letter will not pass from the Law till all things are done. Matthew 5:18.

Here 'the Law' in a broad sense stands for the whole Word.

[3] The Law in a narrower sense is the historical section of the Word. This is clear in Matthew,

All things whatever you wish people to do to you, do also to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12.

Here the Word is divided into 'the Law' and 'the Prophets'; and as the Word has been divided into the historical section and the prophetical part, it follows that 'the Law' is used to mean the historical section of the Word, and 'the Prophets' to mean the prophetical part. A similar example occurs in the same gospel,

On these two commandments hang the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 22:40.

And in Luke,

The Law and the Prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God is proclaimed. Luke 16:16; Matthew 11:13.

[4] In a restricted sense the Law is the Word that was written through Moses. This is clear in Moses,

When Moses had finished writing the words of this Law in a book, even until he had completed them, Moses commanded the Levites carrying the ark of Jehovah, saying, Take the book of this Law, and put it at the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God. Deuteronomy 31:14-26.

'The book of the Law' stands for the Books of Moses. In the same book,

If you do not take care to do all the words of this Law which are written in this book, Jehovah will send ¹ upon you every sickness and every plague that is not written in the book of this Law, until you are destroyed. Deuteronomy 28:58, 61.

The meaning is similar here. In David,

In the Law of Jehovah is his delight, and in His Law he meditates day and night. Psalms 1:2.

'The Law of Jehovah' stands for the Books of Moses, for the prophetical books had not yet been written; nor had the historical books apart from the Book of Joshua and the Book of Judges. In addition this restricted meaning of 'the Law' occurs in places containing the expression 'the Law of Moses', which are dealt with immediately below.

[5] In a very restricted sense the Law is the Ten Commandments written upon Mount Sinai on the tablets of stone, as is well known, see Joshua 8:32. This Law is also called the Testimony, Exodus 25:16, 21.

[6] Moses represents the Law in the narrower sense, which is the historical section of the Word, also the Law in the restricted sense, and in the very restricted sense too. This is clear from those places in the Word in which the name Moses is used instead of the Law, and those in which the Law is called the Law of Moses, as in Luke,

Abraham said to him, They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them. If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead. Luke 16:29, 31.

Here 'Moses and the Prophets' has the same meaning as 'the Law and the Prophets', which is the historical section and the prophetical part of the Word. From this it is evident that 'Moses' is the Law or historical section of the Word. In the same gospel,

Jesus beginning at Moses and all the prophets explained in all the scriptures the things that concerned Himself. Luke 24:27.

In the same chapter,

All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me. Luke 24:44.

In John,

Philip said, We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the Law - Jesus. John 1:45.

In the same gospel,

In the Law Moses commanded us. John 8:5.

In Daniel,

The curse and the oath which was written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has come down onto us, because we have sinned against Him. As it is written in the Law of Moses, All this evil has come upon us. Daniel 9:11, 13.

In Joshua,

Joshua wrote on the stone of the altar a copy of the Law of Moses. Joshua 8:32.

[7] The expression 'the Law of Moses' is used because Moses represents the Lord with respect to the Law, that is, the Word, and in a narrower sense the historical section of the Word. This explains why what is the Lord's is ascribed to Moses, as in John,

Moses gave you the Law, Moses gave you circumcision. If a man (homo) receives circumcision on the sabbath, so that the Law of Moses may not be broken... John 7:19, 22-23.

In Mark,

Moses said, Honour your father and your mother. Mark 7:10.

In the same gospel,

Jesus answering said to them, What did Moses command you? They said, Moses permitted him to write a certificate of divorce, and to put her away. Mark 10:3-4.

And because what is the Lord's is ascribed to Moses on account of his representation, both 'the Law of Moses' and 'the Law of the Lord' are used in Luke,

When the days of their purification according to the Law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it has been written in the Law of the Lord, that every male opening the womb is to be called holy to the Lord) and to offer a sacrifice according to what has been stated in the Law of the Lord, A pair of turtle doves and two young pigeons. Luke 2:22-24, 39.

[8] Because Moses represented the Law he was allowed to go in to the Lord on Mount Sinai, not only to receive there the tablets containing the Law but also to hear the statutes and judgements belonging to the Law, and to enjoin these commands on the people. It is also said that the people should therefore believe in Moses forever,

Jehovah said to Moses, Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak to you, and also may believe in you forever. Exodus 19:9.

The expression 'in a thick cloud' is used because 'cloud' means the letter of the Word. Here also is the reason why it says, when Moses went in to the Lord on Mount Sinai, that he went 'into the cloud', Exodus 20:21; 14:2, 18; 34:2-5. For the meaning of 'the cloud' as the literal sense of the Word, see the Preface to Genesis 18, and also 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343 (end).

[9] And since Moses represented the Law or the Word, it also says that when he came down from Mount Sinai the skin on his face shone whenever he spoke, and so he would put a veil over his face, Exodus 34:28-end. 'The shining of his face' meant the inner spirit of the Law, for this dwells in the light of heaven and is therefore called the glory, 5922. While 'the veil' meant the outward form of the Law. The reason why he veiled his face whenever he spoke to the people was that the inner spirit was concealed from them, and had become so obscure to that people that they could not bear any light from it. For the meaning of 'the face' as that which is internal, see 1999, 2434, 3527, 7577, 4066, 4796-4805, 5102, 5695. Since 'Moses' represented the Lord with respect to the historical section of the Word and 'Elijah' represented the Lord with respect to the prophetical part, Moses and Elijah were therefore seen talking to the Lord at His transfiguration, Matthew 17:3. No others except those who represented the Word could have talked to the Lord when He manifested His Divinity in the world; for talking to the Lord is done through the Word. Regarding Elijah's representation of the Lord with respect to the Word, see 1762, 5247 (end).

[10] And since these two together, both Moses and Elijah, represented the whole Word, both are mentioned in Malachi where the sending of Elijah before the Lord is referred to,

Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel - the statutes and judgements. Lo, I am sending you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrifying day of Jehovah comes. Malachi 4:4-6.

These words imply that one was to go before who was to announce the [Lord's] Coming, in accordance with the Word.

Notas de rodapé: