1. IN the Book of Revelation, this is how John describes the Word ¹ in regard to its spiritual or inner meaning ² :

"I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And the one who sat on it was called faithful and true, and with justice he judges and makes war. His eyes were a flame of fire, and on his head were many gems. He had a name written that no one knew except him. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. The armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. He has on his robe and on his thigh a name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords." (Revelation 19:11, 12, 13, 14, 16)

Only from the inner meaning can anyone know what these particular details involve. It is obvious that each one represents and means something — the heaven that is opened; the horse that is white; the one who sat on it; his judging and making war justly; his eyes being a flame of fire; his having many gems on his head; his having a name that no one knew except him; his being clothed with a robe dipped in blood; the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, following him on white horses; and his having a name written on his robe and on his thigh. It says plainly that this is the Word and that it is the Lord ³ who is the Word, since it says “his name is called the Word of God” and then says “he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”

[2] If we interpret the individual words, we can see that this is describing the spiritual or inner meaning of the Word. Heaven being opened represents and means that the inner meaning of the Word is seen in heaven and therefore is seen by people in this world to whom heaven has been opened. ⁴ The horse that is white represents and means an understanding of the Word in regard to its deeper contents (the reason for this meaning of the white horse will become clear in what follows). Unquestionably, the one who sat on the horse is the Lord as the Word and is therefore the Word, since it says “his name is called the Word of God.” He is described as faithful and judging justly because he is good, and he is described as true and making war justly because he is true, since the Lord himself is justice. His eyes being a flame of fire means the divine truth that comes from the divine goodness of his divine love. His having many gems on his head means all the types of goodness and truth that belong to faith. His having a name written that no one knew except him means that what the Word is like in its inner meaning is seen by no one except him and those to whom he reveals it. His being clothed with a robe dipped in blood means the Word in its literal meaning, which has suffered violence. The armies in heaven that followed him on white horses mean the people who have an understanding of the deeper contents of the Word. Their being clothed in fine linen, white and clean, means that these people have an awareness of truth that comes from doing good. His having a name written on his robe and on his thigh means what is true and what is good, and what that truth and goodness are like.

[3] We can see from this and from what precedes and follows [this passage in the Word] that we have here a prediction that around the last time of the church ⁵ the spiritual or inner meaning of the Word will be opened. What will happen then is described in verses 17, 18, 19, 20, 21.

There is no need to demonstrate here that this is the meaning of these words, since the details have been explained in Secrets of Heaven ⁶ as follows:

The Lord is the Word because he is divine truth: 2533, 2813, 2894, 5272, 8535. The Word is divine truth: 4692, 5075, 9987. It says that the one who sat on the horse judges and makes war justly because the Lord is justice; the Lord is called “justice” because he saved the human race by his own power: 1813, 2025, 2026, 2027, 9715, 9809, 10019, 10152. Justice is a form of merit that belongs to the Lord alone: 9715, 9979. His eyes being a flame of fire means divine truth that comes from the divine goodness of his divine love, because eyes mean understanding and mean the truth that belongs to faith: 2701, 4403–4421, 4523–4534, 6923, 9051, 10569; and a flame of fire means the goodness of love: 934, 4906, 5215, 6314, 6832. The gems on his head mean all the types of goodness and truth that belong to faith: 114, 3858, 6335, 6640, 9863, 9865, 9868, 9873, 9905. His having a name written that no one knew except him means that no one sees what the Word is like in its inner meaning except him and those to whom he reveals it, because the name means what the named thing is really like: 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, 3237, 3421, 6674, 9310. His being clothed with a robe dipped in blood means the Word in its literal meaning, which has suffered violence, because a garment means truth since truth clothes what is good: 1073, 2576, 5248, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10536 (and this has particular reference to the most external forms of truth and therefore to the Word in its letter: 5248, 6918, 9158, 9212); and because blood means the violence inflicted on what is true by what is false: 374, 1005, 4735, 5476, 9127. The armies in heaven that followed him on white horses mean the people who have an understanding of the deeper contents of the Word, because armies mean people who have the understanding of truth and the love for doing good that are characteristic of heaven and the church: 3448, 7236, 7988, 8019; a horse means understanding: 3217, 5321, 6125, 6400, 6534, 6534, 7024, 8146, 8381; and white means truth that is in heaven’s light ⁷ and therefore means deeper truth: 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319. Their being clothed in fine linen, white and clean, means that these people have an awareness of truth that comes from doing good, because linen or fine linen means truth of a heavenly origin, which is truth arising from what is good: 5319, 9469. His having a name written on his robe and on his thigh means what is true and what is good, and what that truth and goodness are like, because a robe means what is true and a name means what that truth is like (as noted above), and the thigh means goodness that comes from love: 3021, 4277, 4280, 9961, 10488. King of Kings and Lord of Lords is the Lord in respect to divine truth and in respect to divine goodness. The Lord is called “King” because of his divine truth: 3009, 5068, 6148. He is called “Lord” because of his divine goodness: 4973, 9167, 9194.

We can see from this what the Word is like in its spiritual or inner meaning and that there is not a word in it that does not mean something spiritual, something about heaven and the church.

Notas de rodapé:

3021. 'Put now your hand under my thigh' means being bound, as regards its power, to the good of conjugial love. This is clear from the meaning of 'the hand' as power, dealt with in 878, and from the meaning of 'the thigh' as the good of conjugial love, dealt with in what follows. A binding of this good to that power is indeed the meaning, as is clear from the consideration that those who were bound by an obligation to carry out some matter connected with conjugial love put their hand, according to ancient custom, under the thigh of the one to whom they were so bound, and in so doing swore by him. This was done because 'the thigh' meant conjugial love, and 'the hand' power, or the full extent of whatever one's capability might be. For all parts of the human body correspond to spiritual and celestial things in the Grand Man, which is heaven, as shown in 2996, 2998, and will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown more extensively later on. The thighs themselves, together with the loins, correspond to conjugial love. Those things were well known to the most ancient people, and for that reason so many customs came down from them, including that of putting their hands under the thigh when being bound by an obligation to carry out something connected with the good of conjugial love. Their knowledge of such things, which was valued most highly by the ancients, and belonged among the chief things that constituted their knowledge and intelligence, is totally lost today, so much so that not even the existence of any such correspondence is known, and for this reason people will probably be astounded that such things are meant by that custom. Here, because the subject is the betrothal of Isaac his son to another member of Abraham's family, and the oldest servant was called on to perform that task, this custom was therefore followed.

[2] It has been stated that 'the thigh', because of its correspondence, means conjugial love, and this may also be seen from other places in the Word, for example, from the procedure to be followed when a woman was accused by her husband of adultery, in Moses,

The priest shall make the woman take the oath of a curse, and the priest shall say to the woman, Jehovah will make you a curse and an oath in the midst of your people, when Jehovah makes your thigh fall away and your belly swell. When he has made her drink the water, then it will happen, if she has defiled herself and committed a trespass against her husband, that the water causing the curse will enter into her and become bitter, and her belly will swell, and her thigh will fall away; and the woman will be a curse in the midst of her people. Numbers 5:21, 27.

'The falling away of the thigh' means the evil of conjugial love, which is adultery. Every other detail in the same procedure had some specific meaning, so that not even the smallest detail fails to embody something, though anyone reading the Word who has no concept of its sacredness will wonder why such things are included there. It is because 'the thigh' means the good of conjugial love that the expression 'those coming out of the thigh' is used frequently, as in a reference to Jacob,

Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will go out from your thighs. Genesis 35:11.

And elsewhere in the same author,

Every soul coming with Jacob to Egypt, who came out of his thigh. Genesis 46:26; Exodus 1:5.

And in a reference to Gideon, Gideon had seventy sons, who came out of his thigh. Judges 8:30.

[3] Since 'the thigh' and 'the loins' mean the things that belong to conjugial love they also mean those that belong to love and charity, the reason being that conjugial love underlies every other kind of love, see 686, 2733, 2737-2739. These all have the same source - the heavenly marriage - which is a marriage of good and truth, regarding which see 2727-2759. For 'the thigh' means the good of celestial love and the good of spiritual love, as may be seen from the following places: In John,

He who sat on the white horse had on His robe and on His thigh the name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords. Revelation 19:16.

'He who sat on the white horse' is the Word, and so the Lord, who is the Word, see 2760-2762. 'Robe' means Divine Truth, 2576, and for that reason He is called 'King of kings', 3009. From this it is evident what 'the thigh' means, namely the Divine Good which flows from His love, on account of which He is also named 'Lord of lords', 3004-3011. And this being the Lord's essential nature, it is said that He had a name written on His robe and on His thigh, for 'name' means essential nature, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006.

[4] In David,

Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One, in Your glory and honour! Psalms 45:3.

This refers to the Lord. 'Sword' stands for truth engaged in conflict, 2799, 'thigh' for the good of love. 'Girding the sword on the thigh' means that the truth which He was to use in the fight was allied to the good of love. In Isaiah,

Righteousness will be the girdle of His loins, and truth the girdle of His thighs. Isaiah 11:5.

This too refers to the Lord. Because 'righteousness' has reference to the good that flows from love, 2235, it is called 'the girdle of His loins', while 'truth' because it comes from good, is called 'the girdle of His thighs'. Thus 'loins' is used in reference to the love within good, and 'thighs' to the love within truth.

[5] In the same prophet'

None will be weary, and none will stumble in Him. He will not slumber nor sleep. Nor has the girdle of His thighs been loosed, nor the thong of His shoes torn away. Isaiah 5:27.

This refers to the Lord. 'The girdle of His thighs' stands, as above, for the love within truth. In Jeremiah Jehovah told the prophet to buy a linen girdle and put it over his loins but not dip it in water. He was then told to go away to the Euphrates and hide it in a cleft of the rock. When he went back at a later time to retrieve it from that place it was spoiled, Jeremiah 13:1-7. 'A linen girdle' stands for truth, but the placing of it over his loins was representative of the fact that truth was the outward expression of good. Anyone may see that these actions are representative. Their meaning however cannot be known except from correspondences, which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with at the ends of certain chapters further on.

[6] It is similar with the meaning of the things seen by Ezekiel, Daniel, and Nebuchadnezzar: Ezekiel saw,

Above the firmament that was above the heads of the cherubim, in appearance like a sapphire stone, there was the likeness of a throne, and above the likeness of a throne, there was a likeness, as the appearance of a Man (Homo) upon it above. And I saw as it were the shape of fiery coals, as the shape of fire, within it round about. From the appearance of His loins and upwards, and from the appearance of His loins and downwards, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, whose brightness was round about it like the appearance of the rainbow which is in the cloud on the day of rain; so was the appearance of the brightness round about, thus was the appearance of the likeness of the Glory of Jehovah. Ezekiel 1:26-28.

This scene was clearly representative of the Lord and His kingdom. 'The appearance of His loins upwards and the appearance, of His loins downwards' is descriptive of His love, as is evident from the meaning of 'fire' as love, 934, and from the meaning of 'brightness' and of 'the rainbow' as wisdom and intelligence from that love, 1042, 1043, 1053.

[7] Daniel saw,

A man clothed in linen whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz, and whose body was like tarshish, ¹ and whose face was like the appearance of lightning and whose eyes were like fiery torches, and whose arms and feet were like the shine of burnished bronze. Daniel 10:5-6.

What each of these expressions means - the loins, the body, the face, the eyes, the arms, and the feet - does not become clear to anyone except from representations and correspondences involved in these. From these it is evident that in what Daniel saw the Lord's heavenly kingdom was represented, in which Divine Love constitutes the loins, and 'the gold of Uphaz' with which He was girded, the good resulting from wisdom that is grounded in love, 113, 1551, 1552.

[8] In Daniel: Nebuchadnezzar saw a statue whose head was fine gold, breast and arms silver, belly and thighs bronze, feet partly iron, partly clay, Daniel 2:32-33. This statue represented consecutive states of the Church. The head of gold represented the first state, which was celestial because it was a state of love to the Lord; the breast and arms of silver represented the second state, which was spiritual because it was a state of charity towards the neighbour; the belly and thighs of bronze represented the third state, which was a state of natural good meant by 'bronze', 425, 1551 - natural good being love or charity towards the neighbour as this exists on a lower level than spiritual good - while the feet of iron and clay were the fourth state, which was a state of natural truth meant by 'iron', 425, 426, and also a state involving complete lack of cohesion with good, which is meant by 'clay'.

From all this one may see what is meant by the thighs and loins, namely conjugial love primarily, and from this love every genuine kind of love, as is evident from the places quoted and also from Genesis 32:25, 31-32; Isaiah 20:2-4; Nahum 2:1; Psalms 69:23; Exodus 12:11; Luke 12:35-36. The thighs and loins also mean in the contrary sense those loves that are the reverse of conjugial love and all genuine loves, namely self-love and love of the world, 1 Kings 2:5-6; Isaiah 32:10-11; Jeremiah 30:6; 48:37; Ezekiel 29:7; Amos 8:10.

Notas de rodapé:

9127. 'There shall be no bloodguilt for him' means that he is not guilty of the violence done. This is clear from the meaning of 'blood' in the highest sense as Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, and in the internal sense springing from this as the truth of good, dealt with in 4735, 6378, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7846, 7850, 7877. Consequently 'shedding blood' means doing violence to God's truth or the truth of good, and also to good itself. For anyone who does violence to truth does it also to good, since truth is wedded so closely to good that one is never without the other. Therefore if violence is done to one it is also done to the other. From all this it is evident that 'there shall be no bloodguilt for him' means not being guilty of the violence done to truth or to good.

[2] A person who has no knowledge of the internal sense of the Word can only think that 'blood' in the Word means blood, and that 'shedding blood' simply means killing someone. But the internal sense does not deal with the life of a person's body, only with that of his soul, that is, with his spiritual life, which will go on living forever. This life is described in the Word, in the sense of the letter, by means of such things as constitute the life of the body, namely flesh and blood. And since a person's spiritual life springs from and is maintained by the good that belongs to charity and the truth that belongs to faith, the good belonging to charity is meant in the internal sense of the Word by 'flesh' and the truth belonging to faith by 'blood'. In an even more internal sense the good belonging to love to the Lord is meant by 'flesh' and the good belonging to love towards the neighbour by 'blood'. In the highest sense however, in which solely the Lord is the subject, 'flesh' is the Lord's Divine Good, thus the Lord Himself in respect of Divine Good, while 'blood' is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, thus the Lord in respect of Divine Truth. These things are understood in heaven by flesh and blood when a person reads the Word. And the same things are understood when the person attends the Holy Supper, though in this the bread is the flesh and the wine is the blood; for 'the bread' has exactly the same meaning as flesh and 'the wine' exactly the same meaning as blood.

[3] But those who think only on the level of the senses, as most people in the world do at the present day, do not understand any of this. Therefore let them keep to the faith they have, so long as they believe that the Holy Supper and the Word have a holiness within them because they come from God. Maybe they do not know where that holiness lies; even so, let those who are endowed with some inner degree of perception, that is, who can think on a level above the senses, consider whether 'blood' is used to mean blood and 'flesh' to mean flesh in Ezekiel,

Son of man, thus said the Lord Jehovih, Say to every bird of the air, to every wild animal of the field, Assemble and come, gather yourselves from all around to My sacrifice which I am sacrificing for you, a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, so that you may eat flesh and drink blood. You will eat the flesh of the mighty, and [drink] the blood of the princes of the earth. And you will drink blood till you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I will sacrifice for you. You will be glutted at My table with horse and chariot, and with the mighty, and with every man of war. Thus will I set My glory among the nations. Ezekiel 39:17-21.

Also in John, in Revelation,

I saw an angel standing in the sun, who called out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying in the middle of heaven, Gather yourselves together to the supper of the great God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and those seated on them, and the flesh of all, free men and slaves, small and great. Revelation 19:17-18.

It is obvious that in these places 'flesh' is not used to mean flesh or 'blood' to mean blood.

The same applies then to the Lord's 'flesh' and 'blood' in John,

The bread which I shall give is My flesh. Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you will have no life in you. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. This is the bread which came down from heaven. John 6:50-58.

The Lord's flesh is the Divine Good of His Divine Love, and His blood is Divine Truth emanating from His Divine Good. This may be recognized from the consideration that they are the food which nourishes a person's spiritual life.

[4] This explains why He goes on to say, 'My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink', and also, 'This is the bread which came down from heaven'. And since a person is joined to the Lord through love and faith, He also says, 'He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him'. But as stated above, this matter can be understood only by those who are able to think on a level above the bodily senses, in particular by those who believe in and love the Lord, because the Lord raises them from the life of their bodily senses up to the life of their spirit. That is, He raises them from the light of the world into the light of heaven, the light in which conceptions of things that are material, that is, impressions in the mind that are acquired by the body fade from view.

[5] Anyone therefore who knows that 'blood' means God's truth coming from the Lord can also see that 'shedding blood' in the Word does not mean killing or taking a person's physical life but killing or taking the life of his soul, that is, destroying his spiritual life, which consists of faith in and love to the Lord. When 'blood' is used to refer to blood shed unlawfully it means God's truth destroyed by falsities arising from evil, as is evident in the following places: In Isaiah,

When the Lord will have washed the excrement of the daughters of Zion and washed away the blood ¹ of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgement and by a spirit of purging ... Isaiah 4:4.

In the same prophet,

Your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. Isaiah 59:3, 7.

In Jeremiah,

Yes, in your skirts the blood of poor innocent souls is found. Jeremiah 2:34.

In the same prophet,

... for the sins of the prophets, the iniquities of the priests who shed in the midst of Jerusalem the blood of the righteous. They went astray blind in the streets, they are defiled with blood. Things which have no power they touch with their garments. Lamentations 4:13-14.

In Ezekiel,

I passed by you and saw you weltering in your blood, ¹ and I said, Live in your blood; ¹ I indeed said to you, Live in your blood. ¹ I washed you with water and washed away your blood ¹ from upon you, and anointed you with oil. Ezekiel 16:6, 9.

In the same prophet,

You, son of man, will you dispute with the city of blood? ¹ Declare to her all her abominations. By your blood which you have shed you have become guilty, and by the idols which you have made you are defiled. Behold, the princes of Israel, each according to his power, ² have been among you and have shed blood. Men of intrigue have been among you, [ready] to shed blood, and among you have eaten on the mountains. Ezekiel 22:2-4, 6, 9.

In Joel,

I will give portents in heaven and on earth, blood and fire, and a column of smoke. The sun will be turned into thick darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day [of Jehovah] comes. Joel 2:30-31.

And in John,

The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became like blood. Revelation 6:12.

In the same book,

The second angel sounded, and so to speak a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third part of the sea became blood. Revelation 8:8.

In the same book,

The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of one dead, from which every living soul died in the sea. The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and into the fountains of water, and blood was made. Revelation 16:3-4.

[6] In these places 'blood' is not used to mean the life-blood of the human body when it has been shed, but the blood of spiritual life, which is God's truth, when violence has been done to it by falsity arising from evil. 'Blood' has a similar meaning in Matthew,

On you will come the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel even to the blood of Zechariah, whom you killed between the temple and the altar. Matthew 23:35.

These words mean that from earliest times down to the present the Jews had been doing violence to the truths of the Word, to such an extent that they were unwilling to accept any inner, heavenly truth at all. Therefore they did not accept the Lord either. The shedding of His blood by them was a sign of their total rejection of God's truth; for the Lord was Divine Truth itself, which is the Word made flesh, John 1:1, 14. Their total rejection of God's truth that came from the Lord and was the Lord is meant by the following in Matthew,

Pilate washed his hands before the people, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this righteous person; you yourselves see [to it]. And answering, all the people said, His blood be on us and on our children. Matthew 27:24-25.

This accounts for the following incident described in John,

One of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. He who has seen has testified, and the testimony is true; and he knows that he is saying things that are true, so that you may believe. John 19:34-35.

The reason why water also came out is that 'water' means God's truth in its outward form, the kind of truth that the letter consists of. For the meaning of 'water' as truth, see 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 8568.

[7] All this also shows what is meant by being made pure by the Lord's blood, namely accepting the truth of faith from Him, 7918, 9088. Thus it also shows what is meant by the following in John, in Revelation,

They conquered the dragon by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their ³ testimony. Revelation 12:11.

'The blood of the Lamb' is Divine Truth that comes from the Lord, as also is 'the word of their testimony'. 'The blood of the lamb' is innocent blood, for 'a lamb' means innocence, 3519, 3994, 7840. God's truth emanating from the Lord in heaven has innocence at the centre of it; for none other than those possessing innocence have any feeling for it, 2526, 2780, 3111, 3183, 3495, 3994, 4797, 6013, 6107, 6765, 7836 (end), 7840, 7877, 7902.

Notas de rodapé: