4299. Omdat ik God van aangezichten tot aangezichten heb gezien en mijn ziel bevrijd is geweest; dat dit betekent dat Hij de zwaarste verzoekingen doorstond, alsof zij uit het Goddelijke waren, staat vast uit de betekenis van ‘God zien’, namelijk de toenadering tot Hem door de innerlijke dingen, namelijk door de goede en ware dingen, vandaar de tegenwoordigheid, zie nr. 4198 en uit de betekenis van de aangezichten, nrs. 1999, 2434, 3527, 3573, 4066;

en dus het denken en de aandoeningen, want deze beide zijn de innerlijke dingen, omdat zij van de ziel en van het gemoed zijn en zich in het aangezicht openbaren; en uit de betekenis van ‘mijn ziel is bevrijd geweest’ namelijk doorstaan, namelijk de Goddelijke tegenwoordigheid. Dat door al die dingen wordt aangeduid dat Hij de zwaarste verzoekingen doorstond alsof zij uit het Goddelijke waren, kan nergens anders vandaan blijken dan uit de naastgelegen en de verderaf gelegen oorzaken van de verzoekingen; de naastgelegen oorzaken zijn de boze en valse dingen bij de mens, die hem in verzoekingen leiden, dus de boze geesten en genieën die ze ingieten, nr. 4249; toch kan niemand verzocht worden, dat wil zeggen, enige geestelijke verzoeking ondergaan, dan alleen degene die een geweten heeft, want de geestelijke verzoeking is niets anders dan een marteling van het geweten; dus kunnen geen anderen verzocht worden dan zij die in het hemels en geestelijk goede zijn, want dezen hebben een geweten; de overigen hebben het niet en weten zelfs niet eens wat een geweten is; het geweten is de nieuwe wil en het nieuwe verstand uit de Heer; en dus is het de tegenwoordigheid van de Heer bij de mens en deze tegenwoordigheid is des te dichter nabij, hoe meer de mens in de aandoening van het goede of van het ware is; indien de tegenwoordigheid van de Heer dichter nabij is dan de mens naar verhouding in de aandoening van het goede of het ware is, dan komt de mens in verzoeking; de oorzaak hiervan is dat de boze en valse dingen die bij de mens zijn, die getemperd zijn met de goede en ware dingen bij hem, de nadere tegenwoordigheid niet kunnen doorstaan; dit kan vaststaan uit wat in het andere leven bestaat, namelijk dat de boze geesten geenszins enig hemels gezelschap kunnen naderen of zij beginnen angstig en gemarteld te worden; verder dat de boze geesten het niet verdragen dat de engelen hen onderzoeken, want zij worden terstond gemarteld en vallen in onmacht; en eveneens hieruit dat de hel van de hemel is verwijderd, met als oorzaak dat de hel de hemel niet verdraagt, dat wil zeggen, de tegenwoordigheid van de Heer die in de hemel is; vandaar komt het, dat in het Woord van hen gezegd wordt:

‘Dan zullen zij aanvangen te zeggen tot de bergen: Valt op ons en tot de heuvelen; Verbergt ons’, (Lukas 23:30);

en elders:

‘Zij zullen tot de bergen en tot de steenrotsen zeggen: Stort over ons en verbergt ons van het aangezicht van Degene die op de troon zit’, (Openbaring 6:16);

ook verschijnt de nevelachtige en duistere sfeer die uitwasemt van de boze en valse dingen van degenen die in de hel zijn, in de gedaante van een berg of een steenrots, waaronder zij verborgen worden, zie de nrs. 1265, 1267, 1270. Hieruit nu kan men weten dat ‘ik heb God van aangezichten tot aangezichten gezien en mijn ziel is bevrijd geweest’ de zwaarste verzoekingen betekent, alsof die uit het Goddelijke waren. De verzoekingen en de martelingen verschijnen alsof zij uit het Goddelijke waren, omdat ze, zoals gezegd, door de Goddelijke tegenwoordigheid van de Heer ontstaan, toch zijn ze niet vanuit het Goddelijke of uit de Heer, maar uit de boze en valse dingen die bij degene zijn die verzocht of gemarteld wordt; uit de Heer immers gaat niet dan het heilige, goede, ware en barmhartige voort; het is dit heilige, namelijk het goede, het ware en het barmhartige, dat diegenen die in de boze en valse dingen zijn, niet kunnen uithouden, omdat die dingen tegenovergesteld of strijdig zijn; de boze dingen, de valse dingen en de onbarmhartigheid streven aanhoudend daarnaar om die heilige dingen te schenden en voor zoveel als zij ze aanvallen voor zoveel worden zij gemarteld; en wanneer zij aanvallen en vandaar gemarteld worden, dan menen zij dat het het Goddelijke is dat hen martelt; dit is het wat wordt verstaan onder ‘alsof zij uit het Goddelijke waren’. Dat niemand Jehovah van aangezicht tot aangezicht kan zien en leven, was aan de Ouden bekend en van daar ging de erkentenis daarover over op de nakomelingen van Jakob; daarom waren zij zozeer verheugd wanneer zij enig engel hadden gezien en toch leefden; zoals in het Boek Richteren:

‘Gideon zag, dat het een engel van Jehovah was; daarom zei Gideon: Heer Jehovah, daarom omdat ik een engel van Jehovah gezien heb van aangezicht tot aangezicht; en Jehovah zei tot hem: Vrede zij u, vrees niet, omdat gij niet sterven zult’, (Richteren 6:22, 23). In hetzelfde Boek:

‘Manoach zei tot zijn echtgenote: Stervende zullen wij sterven, omdat wij God gezien hebben’, (Richteren 13:22);

en bij Mozes:

‘Jehovah zei tot Mozes:

‘Gij zult Mijn aangezichten niet kunnen zien, omdat de mens Mij niet zal zien en leven’, (Exodus 33:20). Dat van Mozes wordt gezegd dat hij met Jehovah sprak van aangezicht tot aangezicht, (Exodus 33:11) en dat ‘Jehovah hem gekend heeft van aangezicht tot aangezicht’, (Deuteronomium 34:10), is omdat Hij hem verscheen in een menselijke vorm die aangepast was aan zijn opneming en die uiterlijk was, namelijk als een oude man met een baard, die bij hem gezeten was, zoals ik door de engelen hierover ben onderricht; vandaar hadden ook de Joden geen andere voorstelling dan zoals van een zeer oud mens met een lange en sneeuwwitte baard, die meer dan de andere goden wonderen kon doen; niet dat Hij de Allerheiligste was, omdat zij niet wisten wat het heilige was; te minder zouden zij ooit het heilige hebben kunnen zien dat uit Hem voortgaat, omdat zij in een lichamelijke en aardse liefde waren, zonder heilig innerlijke, nrs. 4289, 4293.

9407. 'There was so to speak a work of sapphire [stone]' means that it is translucent with inner truths on that level, and that all things in it are translucent from the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'a work of sapphire' as the character of the literal sense of the Word when the internal sense is discerned within it, that is, when Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, as it is in heaven, shines through it. For the Word is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord. In origin it is Divine, but as it passes through the heavens it is celestial in the inmost heaven, spiritual in the second or middle heaven, spiritual-natural in the first or lowest heaven, and natural and worldly in the world; this last is its character in the sense of the letter intended for people there. From this it is evident that the sense of the letter, which is the lowest in order, contains a spiritual and a celestial level of meaning, and inmostly the Divine Himself. And since these inner levels are contained in the lowest or literal sense and are seen by those who understand the Word in a spiritual manner, that sense is represented by 'a work of sapphire', which lets rays of heavenly light through, that is, which is translucent.

[2] To give some idea of that translucence, let human speech serve to illustrate it. Such speech has its origin in the end a person has in view which he wishes to make known through speech. This end is his love; for a person has what he loves as his end in view. From that end arises the person's thought, and finally his speech. Anyone who stops to think properly about this can see and discern the truth of it. The fact that the end is the primary component of speech is clear from the general rule that all intelligence has an end within it, and devoid of the end it is not intelligence. And everyone knows that thought is a secondary component arising from the first, for nobody can speak without thinking or think without having an end in view. The fact that spoken words ensue from this, and that these are the final component, which is properly called speech, is also well known. All this being so, when a person pays attention to what another utters he pays attention not to the words the speaker uses but to the meaning conveyed by them which is present in the speaker's thought. And one who is wise pays attention to the end in view that has given rise to the thought expressed in speech, that is, he pays attention to what the speaker's aims are and what it is he loves. These three components are present in human speech, in which the spoken words serve as the outward form.

[3] This comparison enables one to gain some idea regarding the Word in the letter. For those in heaven pay attention to the Word in the letter and perceive things there in exactly the same way as anyone is accustomed to perceive a person's thought as it presents itself in spoken words, or in the inmost heaven as anyone is accustomed to perceive a person's aims or end in view. But the difference is that when someone reads the sense of the letter of the Word this is not heard or understood in heaven, only the internal sense, because in heaven they perceive solely the spiritual and celestial levels of the Word, not the natural level of it. The one sense accordingly passes over into the other, for they correspond to each other and only things which have a correspondence have been used in the writing of the Word. All this shows what to understand when reference is made to the translucent nature of the Word, meant by 'a work of sapphire'.

[4] But a person who is unable to think on a higher level of understanding, that is, on a level altogether above material things, cannot grasp any of this, not even the idea that it is possible for a sense to exist in the Word other than the one perceived in the letter. If that person is told that the letter holds within itself a spiritual sense which has to do with truth, and that this in turn holds within itself a celestial sense which has to do with good, and also that these senses shine through the literal sense, he will be taken aback at first, then dismiss the idea as nonsense, and finally ridicule it. Actual experience has shown me that this is what people are like in the Christian world at the present day, especially the learned, and that those who reason against that truth boast of being wiser than those who uphold it. Yet the learning in earliest times, which were called golden and silver ages, had consisted in speaking and in writing in ways in which no attention was be paid to the literal meaning other than to enable hidden wisdom to shine through it, as becomes perfectly clear from the oldest books, including those by gentile authors, as well as from fragments in their languages. For their knowledge was primarily the knowledge of correspondences and the knowledge of representations, which forms of knowledge at the present day are some of those which have been lost.

[5] The reason why there appeared under the Lord's feet 'so to speak a work of sapphire' and why this means the translucence of the Word in the sense of the letter is that 'stone' in general means truth, and 'precious stone' truth shining through from what is Divine and the Lord's. For the meaning of 'stone' in general as truth, see 643, 1298, 3720, 3769, 3771, 3773, 3789, 3798, 6426, 8609, 8940-8942. As for 'precious stone' being truth shining through from what is Divine and the Lord's, this was meant by the twelve precious stones in Aaron's breastplate, which was called the Urim and Thummim, 3862, 6335, 6640.

[6] Something similar occurs in Ezekiel,

Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, you were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering - ruby, topaz, diamond, tarshish, shoham, and jasper, sapphire, chrysoprase, emerald, and gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and your pipes was within you; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were perfect in your ways on the day you were created. Ezekiel 28:12-13, 15.

This refers to Tyre, by which the Church in respect of interior cognitions or knowledge of truth and good is meant, 1201. Its intelligence and wisdom as these had been in its infancy or earliest period are described by those precious stones. 'The day you were created' means the first state when they were regenerated, for 'creation' in the Word means the regeneration or new creation of a person, 16, 88.

[7] Similar things are meant by 'the precious stones' in John,

The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. Revelation 21:19-20.

This refers to the holy Jerusalem coming down from heaven, by which a new Church among gentile nations is meant, after the present-day Church in our European world has been laid waste. 'The precious stones that are its foundations' are God's truths shining through on the lowest level of order.

[8] God's truth shining through on the lowest level of order, which is the Word in the letter, is meant by 'sapphire' in particular, as in Isaiah,

O afflicted one and storm-tossed, and receiving no comfort! Behold, I am arranging your stones with antimony, and will lay your foundations in sapphires. Isaiah 54:11.

This too refers to the Church which will take the place of the former one, meant in verse 1 of that chapter by 'her that is desolate who is going to have more sons than the previously married one'. 'Arranging stones' stands for the Church's truths, 'foundations in sapphires' for truths shining through on lowest levels.

[9] 'Sapphire' is used with a similar meaning in Jeremiah,

Her Nazirites were brighter than snow, they were whiter than milk. Their bones ¹ were ruddier than pearls, ² polished like sapphire. ³ Lamentations 4:7.

'Nazirites' in the representative sense meant the Lord in respect of the Divine Natural, 3301, 6437, and therefore also Divine Truth emanating from Him as it exists on its lowest levels, that is, the Word in the sense of the letter. For 'the hair', which is implied by 'Nazirites' here, and is said to be 'brighter than snow and whiter than milk', means truth on its lowest levels, 3301, 5247, 5570, 'brightness' and 'whiteness' having reference to truth, 3301, 5319. 'Bones that were ruddy' means factual knowledge of truth, or truth on its lowest level, which acts as servant to all other levels, 6592, 8005, 'ruddiness' having reference to the good of love present in truths, 3300. From all this it is evident that 'sapphire' means truth on the lowest levels which is translucent with inner truths.

[10] In Ezekiel,

Above the expanse that was above the heads of the cherubs, in appearance like a sapphire stone, there was the likeness of a throne, and above the likeness of a throne there was the appearance of a man (homo) sitting upon it. Ezekiel 1:26; 10:1.

'The cherubs' are the Lord's protection and providence, guarding against access to Him except through good, 9277 (end). 'A throne over which there was the appearance of a man' is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, 5313, 6397, 9039. From this it is evident that 'a sapphire stone' means truth translucent with inner truths; that is to say, 'a stone' means truth, and 'sapphire' translucence.

[11] The reason why all things of the Word are translucent with the Lord is that Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is the one and only source of everything there. For what is primary is the one and only vital element present in the things which follow and are derived from it, because they have their being in it and come into being from it; and the Divine Truth is the Lord. Here also lies the reason why the subject in the highest sense of the Word is the Lord alone, His love, providence, kingdom in heaven and on earth, and especially the glorification of His Human.

[12] The fact that the Divine Truth is the Lord Himself is evident from the consideration that whatever emanates from someone is the someone himself. What emanates for instance from a person when he speaks or acts originates in his will and understanding; and will and understanding constitute a person's life, thus the person himself. For the human being is not a human being by virtue of the shape of face and body but by virtue of an understanding that sees what is true and a will that intends what is good. From this it becomes clear that what emanates from the Lord is the Lord; and the fact that this is Divine Truth has been shown often in what has gone before.

[13] But anyone unacquainted with the arcana of heaven may suppose that the nature of Divine Truth which emanates from the Lord is no different from that of spoken words emanating from a human being. It is not spoken words however; rather It is the Divine filling the heavens, like light and heat from the sun filling the world. This may be illustrated by means of the spheres which emanate from the angels in heaven, dealt with in 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504-1520, 1695, 2401, 4464, 5179, 6206 (end), 6598-6613, 7454, 8063, 8630, 8794, 8797. In these places it has been shown and may be seen that they are spheres of the truth of faith and the good of love received from the Lord. But the Divine sphere which emanates from the Lord and is called Divine Truth spreads everywhere; as has been stated, it fills the whole of heaven and composes all of the life there. It appears before the eyes there as light, which enlightens not only angels' sight but also their minds. That same light is in addition what composes a person's understanding in the world. This is the meaning in John,

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. He was the true light which enlightens every person coming into the world. And the world was made by Him. John 1:4, 9-10.

These words refer to Divine Truth, which in this chapter is called 'the Word'; and Divine Truth or 'the Word' - it says - is the Lord Himself.

[14] That light, which is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, was described by the ancients as radiating rings of golden hue around the head and body of God represented as a human being. For the ancients had no thought of God except of Him in human form.

[15] When a person is governed by good, and because of good is guided by truths, this person is raised to that Divine light, and - according to the amount and essential nature of the good - to interior light. This provides him with a general enlightenment in which the Lord enables him to see countless truths and to perceive them from good. At this time that person is led by the Lord to discern and absorb those which are suitable to him. He is led to do so as regards the most specific things, in keeping with order, so far as it contributes to his eternal life. The words 'as regards the most specific things' are used because the Lord's providence reigns universally, and it does so because it is present in the most specific things. For specific things are at the same called what is universal, 1919 (end), 6159, 6338, 6482, 6483, 8864, 8865.

Notas de rodapé: