9372. And He said unto Moses. That this signifies that which concerns the Word in general, is evident from the representation of Moses, as being the Word (of which below); and from the signification of “He said,” as involving those things which follow in this chapter, thus those which concern the Word (see n. 9370). (That Moses represents the Word, can be seen from what has been often shown before about Moses, as from the preface to Genesis 18; and n. 4859, 5922, 6723, 6752, 6771, 6827, 7010, 7014, 7089, 7382, 8601, 8760, 8787, 8805.) Here Moses represents the Word in general, because it is said of him in what follows, that he alone should come near unto Jehovah (verse 2); and also that, being called unto out of the midst of the cloud, he entered into it, and went up the mount (verses 16-18).

[2] In the Word there are many who represent the Lord in respect to truth Divine, or in respect to the Word; but chief among them are Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and John the Baptist. That Moses does so, can be seen in the explications just cited above; that so do Elijah and Elisha, can be seen in the preface to Genesis 18; and n. 2762, 5247; and that John the Baptist does so is evident from the fact that he was “Elias who was to come.” He who does not know that John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, cannot know what all those things infold and signify which are said about him in the New Testament; and therefore in order that this secret may stand open, and that at the same time it may appear that Elias, and also Moses, who were seen when the Lord was transfigured, signified the Word, some things may here be quoted which are spoken about John the Baptist; as in Matthew:

After the messengers of John had departed, Jesus began to speak concerning John, saying, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed shaken by the wind? But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft things are in kings’ houses. But what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, even more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, Behold I send Mine angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee. Verily I say unto you, Among those who are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist; nevertheless he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he. All the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye are willing to believe, he is Elias who was to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear (Matthew 11:7-15; and also Luke 7:24-28).

No one can know how these things are to be understood, unless he knows that this John represented the Lord as to the Word, and unless he also knows from the internal sense what is signified by “the wilderness” in which he was, also what by “a reed shaken by the wind,” and likewise by “soft raiment in kings’ houses;” and further what is signified by his being “more than a prophet,” and by “none among those who are born of women being greater than he, and nevertheless he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he,” and lastly by his being “Elias.” For without a deeper sense, all these words are uttered merely from some comparison, and not from anything of weight.

[3] But it is very different when by John is understood the Lord as to the Word, or the Word representatively. Then by “the wilderness of Judea in which John was” is signified the state in which the Word was at the time when the Lord came into the world, namely, that it was “in the wilderness,” that is, it was in obscurity so great that the Lord was not at all acknowledged, neither was anything known about His heavenly kingdom; when yet all the prophets prophesied about Him, and about His kingdom, that it was to endure forever. (That “a wilderness” denotes such obscurity, see n. 2708, 4736, 7313.) For this reason the Word is compared to “a reed shaken by the wind” when it is explained at pleasure; for in the internal sense “a reed” denotes truth in the ultimate, such as is the Word in the letter.

[4] That the Word in the ultimate, or in the letter, is crude and obscure in the sight of men; but that in the internal sense it is soft and shining, is signified by their “not seeing a man clothed in soft raiment, for behold those who wear soft things are in kings’ houses.” That such things are signified by these words, is plain from the signification of “raiment,” or “garments,” as being truths (n. 2132, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 6914, 6918, 9093); and for this reason the angels appear clothed in garments soft and shining according to the truths from good with them (n. 5248, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216). The same is evident from the signification of “kings’ houses,” as being the abodes of the angels, and in the universal sense, the heavens; for “houses” are so called from good (n. 2233, 2234, 3128, 3652, 3720, 4622, 4982, 7836, 7891, 7996, 7997); and “kings,” from truth (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 6148). Therefore by virtue of their reception of truth from the Lord, the angels are called “sons of the kingdom,” “sons of the king,” and also “kings.”

[5] That the Word is more than any doctrine in the world, and more than any truth in the world, is signified by “what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet;” and by, “there hath not arisen among those who are born of women a greater than John the Baptist;” for in the internal sense “a prophet” denotes doctrine (n. 2534, 7269); and “those who are born,” or are the sons, “of women” denote truths (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3704, 4257).

[6] That in the internal sense, or such as it is in heaven, the Word is in a degree above the Word in the external sense, or such as it is in the world, and such as John the Baptist taught, is signified by, “he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he;” for as perceived in heaven the Word is of wisdom so great that it transcends all human apprehension. That the prophecies about the Lord and His coming, and that the representatives of the Lord and of His kingdom, ceased when the Lord came into the world, is signified by, “all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” That the Word was represented by John, as by Elijah, is signified by his being “Elias who is to come.”

[7] The same is signified by these words in Matthew:

The disciples asked Jesus, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? He answered and said, Elias must needs first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, that Elias hath come already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they wished. Even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them. And they understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist (Matthew 17:10-13).

That “Elias hath come, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they wished” signifies that the Word has indeed taught them that the Lord is to come, but that still they did not wish to comprehend, interpreting it in favor of the rule of self, and thus extinguishing what is Divine in it. That they would do the same with the truth Divine itself, is signified by “even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them.” (That “the Son of man” denotes the Lord as to truth Divine, see n. 2803, 2813, 3704)

[8] From all this it is now evident what is meant by the prophecy about John in Malachi:

Behold I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh (Malachi 4:5).

Moreover, the Word in the ultimate, or such as it is in the external form in which it appears before man in the world, is described by the “clothing” and “food” of John the Baptist, in Matthew:

John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, had His clothing of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:1, 4).

In like manner it is described by Elijah in the second book of Kings:

He was a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins (2 Kings 1:8).

By “clothing,” or a “garment,” when said of the Word, is signified truth Divine there in the ultimate form; by “camel’s hair” are signified memory-truths such as appear there before a man in the world; by the “leathern girdle” is signified the external bond connecting and keeping in order all the interior things; by “food” is signified spiritual nourishment from the knowledges of truth and of good out of the Word; by “locusts” are signified ultimate or most general truths; and by “wild honey” their pleasantness.

[9] That such things are signified by “clothing” and “food” has its origin in the representatives of the other life, where all appear clothed according to truths from good, and where food also is represented according to the desires of acquiring knowledge and growing wise. From this it is that “clothing,” or a “garment,” denotes truth (as may be seen from the citations above; and that “food” or “meat” denotes spiritual nourishment, n. 3114, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5576, 5579, 5915, 8562, 9003; that “a girdle” denotes a bond which gathers up and holds together interior things, n. 9341; that “leather” denotes what is external, n. 3540; and thus “a leathern girdle” denotes an external bond; that “hairs” denote ultimate or most general truths, n. 3301, 5569-5573; that “a camel” denotes memory-knowledge in general, n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145, 4156; that “a locust” denotes nourishing truth in the extremes, n. 7643; and that “honey” denotes the pleasantness thereof, n. 5620, 6857, 8056). It is called “wild honey,” or “honey of the field,” because by “a field” is signified the church (n. 2971, 3317, 3766, 7502, 7571, 9139, 9295). He who does not know that such things are signified, cannot possibly know why Elijah and John were so clothed. And yet that these things signified something peculiar to these prophets, can be thought by everyone who thinks well about the Word.

[10] Because John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, therefore also when he spoke of the Lord, who was the Word itself, he said of himself that he was “not Elias, nor the prophet,” and that he was “not worthy to loose the latchet of the Lord’s shoe,” as in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The Jews from Jerusalem, priests and Levites, asked John who he was. And he confessed, and denied not, I am not the Christ. Therefore they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? But he said, I am not. Art thou the prophet? He answered, No. They said therefore unto him, Who art thou? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet. They said therefore, Why then baptizest thou, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet? He answered, I baptize with water; in the midst of you standeth one whom ye know not; He it is who is to come after me, who was before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose. When he saw Jesus, he said, Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, After me cometh a man who was before me; for he was before me (John 1:1, 14, 19-30).

From these words it is plain that when John spoke about the Lord Himself, who was Truth Divine itself, or the Word, he said that he himself was not anything, because the shadow disappears when the light itself appears, that is, the representative disappears when the original itself makes its appearance. (That the representatives had in view holy things, and the Lord Himself, and not at all the person that represented, see n. 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4307, 4444, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806.) One who does not know that representatives vanish like shadows at the presence of light, cannot know why John denied that he was Elias and the prophet.

[11] From all this it can now be seen what is signified by Moses and Elias, who were seen in glory, and who spoke with the Lord when transfigured, of His departure which He should accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:29-31); namely, that they signified the Word (“Moses” the historic Word, and “Elias” the prophetic Word), which in the internal sense throughout treats of the Lord, of His coming into the world, and of His departure out of the world; and therefore it is said that “Moses and Elias were seen in glory,” for “glory” denotes the internal sense of the Word, and the “cloud” its external sense (see the preface to Genesis 18, and n. 5922, 8427).

839. I looked out into the world of spirits and saw an army on fiery red and black horses. The riders looked like apes with their faces and chests facing backward toward the horses' haunches and tails, and the rear of their heads and their backs facing forward toward the horses' necks and heads; and the reins hung from the riders' necks. They kept crying, moreover, "Let us fight against riders on white horses!" But they kept pulling on the reins with both hands, so that they drew the horses back from battle. And this again and again.

Two angels then descended from heaven, and approaching me they said, "What do you see?"

So I told them that I was seeing the ludicrous display of the horsemen described, and I asked the angels what was going on and who the riders were.

[2] To that the angels replied, "They come from the place called in Revelation 16:16 Armageddon, where several thousand of them gathered to fight against people who belong to the Lord's New Church, which is called the New Jerusalem. They talked in that place about the church and religion, and yet they had nothing of the church among them, because they lacked any spiritual truth, neither did they have any element of religion, because they lacked any spiritual goodness. They spoke there with the mouth and lips about the church and religion, but only to gain mastery by means of them.

"They learned in their youth to affirm faith alone, a trinity in God, and a duality in Christ. But when they advanced to higher offices in the church, they retained what they had learned only for a time. Then, because they began to think no more about God and heaven, but about themselves and the world, thus not about eternal bliss and happiness, but about temporal status and wealth, they expelled the doctrines they had learned in their youth from their rational mind's interiors which communicate with heaven and so are in the light of heaven, and retained them only in their rational mind's exteriors which communicate with the world and so are only in the light of the world. And eventually they pushed them aside into the sensual level of their natural mind.

"As a consequence the church's doctrines with them have become ones of the mouth only, and no longer matters of thought in accord with reason, still less matters of their love's affection.

"Moreover, because they have made themselves such, they do not accept any of the church's genuine truths, nor any of religion's genuine goods. The interiors of their minds have become comparatively like jars filled with iron filings mixed with powdered sulfur, a mixture which becomes first hot if water is introduced into it, and then bursts into flame, breaking the jar. So it is with these people. When they hear something regarding living water, namely, the Word's genuine truth, and it enters their ears, they become exceedingly heated and inflamed, and reject it as something that will cause their heads to burst.

[3] "These are the people who looked to you like apes riding backward on fiery red and black horses with the reins around their necks, since people who do not like the church's truth and goodness from the Word also do not wish to look at a horse's foreparts, but at its hindparts. For a horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word - a fiery red horse an understanding of the Word extinguished as to goodness, and a black horse an understanding of the Word extinguished as to truth.

"They cried out for battle against riders on white horses because a white horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word as to its truth and goodness. They appeared to draw back their horses with their necks because they were afraid to fight, lest the Word's truth spread to many and so come to light.

"This is the explanation."

[4] The angels went on to say, "We come from a society in heaven called Michael, and have been commanded by the Lord to go down to the place called Armageddon, from which the company of horsemen you saw broke out.

"Armageddon to us in heaven symbolizes a state and disposition to fight on behalf of falsified truths, arising from a love of mastery and great status. And because we perceive in you a desire to know about the combat there, we will tell you something about it.

"After we descended from heaven, we went to the place called Armageddon and saw some several thousand people gathered there. However, we did not join their company, but there were two buildings on the place's southern side in which there were some boys with their teachers. We entered the buildings, and the boys and teachers received us kindly. We were delighted with their company. All were fair of face because of the life in their eyes and the zeal in their speech. The life in their eyes was due to their perception of truth, and the zeal in their speech to their affection for truth. Therefore they were also given caps from heaven, and they decorated the edges of them with gold braid interwoven with pearls. They were given garments, too, with varying patterns of white and blue.

"We asked them whether they had looked over at the place nearby called Armageddon. They said that they had seen it through a window up under the building's roof. They saw a gathering there, they said, but one of figures under various forms that appeared now and then as dignified men, and now and then as not human, but as statues and carved idols, surrounded by a crowd of people on bended knee. These people also appeared to us under various forms, sometimes as human, sometimes as leopards and sometimes as goats. As goats they appeared with their horns pointed downward, using them to dig up the ground.

"We interpreted these changes in appearance for them, saying what they represented and what they symbolized.

[5] "But in response to your question, when the people who were gathered there heard that we had gone into those buildings, they said to each other, 'What do they have to do with those boys? Let's send some of our company to throw them out.'

"So they sent some of them, and when they arrived they said to us, 'Why did you go into those buildings? Where are you from? By the authority invested in us we order you to go!'

"But we replied, 'You have no power or authority to tell us to go. In your own eyes, indeed, you are like Anakim, ¹ and the people here like dwarfs, but still you have no power or right here, beyond that perhaps of the cunning arts emanating from the three lodging places you have here, arts which nevertheless will be of no avail. Report to your companions, therefore, that we have been sent here from heaven to find out whether you have among you any religion or not, and if not, you will be expelled from this place.

"'Put to your companions, then, this question, in which lies the most essential element of the church and so of religion: How do they understand these words in the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father, who are in heaven. Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, as in heaven, so upon the earth."'

"On hearing this, the people first said, 'What do you mean?' But then that they would put the question.

"So they went away and put it to their companions. And their companions replied, 'What kind of question is this?'

"However, they understood the hidden purpose, that the angels wanted to know whether the words support the path of their faith to God the Father. So they said, 'The words clearly say that we are to pray to God the Father, and because Christ is our Savior, that we are to pray to God the Father for the sake of the Son.'

"And presently, with some irritation, they decided they would come to us and tell us this with their own mouths, saying as well that they would tweak our ears.

"So they came from that place, and entered a grove near the two buildings where the boys were with their teachers. There was a raised level area there, a kind of arena. And holding each other by the hand, they entered that arena, where we were waiting for them.

"There were mounds of turf there, forming hillocks. They seated themselves on them, for they said to each other, 'Let us not stand in their presence, but sit.'

"And then one of them, who had the ability to disguise himself as an angel of light, ² and who was told by the rest to speak with us, said, 'You have put to us that we disclose our thinking regarding the first words in the Lord's Prayer, as to how we interpret them. I accordingly say to you that we interpret them to mean that we are to pray to God the Father, and because Christ is our Savior and we are saved by His merit, that we are to pray to God the Father with faith in Christ's merit.'

[6] "But then we said to them, 'We come from a society in heaven called Michael, and we have been sent to look and see whether those of you gathered in this place have any religion or not. This we could not discover except by asking you about God. For the idea of God enters into every aspect of religion and makes possible a conjunction, and through conjunction salvation. In heaven we recite the Prayer daily, as people do on earth, and we think then not of God the Father, because He is invisible, but of God in His Divine humanity, because in this He can be seen. Moreover, you call Him in that humanity Christ, but we call Him the Lord, and thus for us the Lord is our Father in heaven.

"'The Lord also taught us that He and the Father are one; ³ that the Father is in Him, and He in the Father; ⁴ that whoever sees Him, sees the Father; ⁵ and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. ⁶ Moreover, He also said that it is the will of the Father that people believe in the Son, ⁷ and that whoever does not believe in the Son does not see life, ⁸ indeed that the wrath of God abides on him. ⁹ It is apparent from this that one goes to the Father through the Son and in Him. And because this is the case, He also taught that He had been given all authority in heaven and on earth. ¹⁰

"'It says in the Prayer, "Hallowed be Your name," and "Your kingdom come." And we showed from the Word that the Lord's Divine humanity is the name of the Father, and that the Father's kingdom exists when people go directly to the Lord, and not at all when they go directly to God the Father. Therefore the Lord also told His disciples to preach the kingdom of God. ¹¹ This, then, is the kingdom of God.

[7] "We further instructed them from the Word," the angels said, "that the Lord came into the world to glorify His humanity, in order that angels in heaven and people in the church might by united to God the Father through Him and in Him. For He taught that people who believe in Him are in Him and He in them, meaning that, as the church teaches, they are in the body of Christ.

"Finally we informed them that the Lord is at this day establishing a new church, one meant by the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation, that the worship in it will be worship of the Lord alone, as is the case in heaven, and that everything contained in the Lord's Prayer from beginning to end will be thus fulfilled.

"Everything we have just said we confirmed from the Word in the Gospels and from the Word in the Prophets, so extensively that they tired of listening.

[8] "First, we confirmed that 'our Father in heaven' is the Lord Jesus Christ from the following passages:

...unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given... And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, ...God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

...You (Jehovah) are our Father...; our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name. (Isaiah 63:16)

(Jesus said,) "He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me." (John 12:45)

If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. (John 14:7)

Philip said..., "Lord, show us the Father...." Jesus said to him, ."..He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how then can you say, 'Show us the Father'..." (John 14:8-9)

I and the Father are one. (John 10:30)

All things that the Father has are Mine. (John 16:15, cf. 17:10)

...the Father is in Me, and I in (the Father). (John 10:38, cf. 14:10-11, 14:20)

"And that no one has seen the Father but the Son alone, who is in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18, cf. 5:37; 6:46).

"Consequently the Lord also says that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6), and that one comes to the Father through Him, from Him, and in Him (John 6:56; 14:20; 15:4-6; 17:19, 23)."

(But for more on the unity of God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - see the account in no. Arcana Coelestia 962.)

[9] "Second, that 'hallowed be Your name' means to go to the Lord and worship Him - this we confirmed from the following:

Who does not... glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. (Revelation 15:4)

"This in reference to the Lord.

(Jesus said,) "Father, glorify Your name." And a voice came from heaven, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it." (John 12:28)

"The Father's name that was glorified is His Divine humanity.

(Jesus said,) "I come in My Father's name...." (John 5:43)

(Jesus said,) "Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me." (Luke 9:48)

These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:31)

As many as received Him, to them He gave the power to be children of God, to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)

Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:13-14)

...he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:15-16, 18)

...where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:19-20)

"Jesus also told His disciples to preach in His name (Luke 24:47). And so on elsewhere, in places that mention the Lord's name, meaning Himself in respect to His humanity, as in Matthew 7:22; 10:22; 18:5; 19:29; 24:9; Mark 11:10; 13:13; 16:17; Luke 10:17; 19:38; 21:12, 17; John 2:23.

"It is apparent from this that the Father is hallowed in the Son, and by angels and people through the Son, and that this is the meaning of 'hallowed be Your name,' as is further evident in John 17:19, 21-23, 26.

[10] "Third, that 'Your kingdom come' means let the Lord reign - this we confirmed by the following:

The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God is preached... (Luke 16:16)

Jesus..., preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, (said,) "The time is fulfilled; the kingdom of God is at hand...." (Mark 1:14-15, cf. Matthew 3:2)

"Jesus Himself preached the gospel of the kingdom, and said that the kingdom of God was at hand (Matthew 4:17, 23; 9:35). He commanded the disciples to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God (Mark 16:15, Luke 8:1; 9:60). He spoke similarly to the seventy He sent out (Luke 10:9, 11). And so on elsewhere, as in Matthew 11:5; 16:27-28.

"The kingdom of God whose gospel they were to proclaim was the Lord's kingdom, and thus the Father's kingdom. The reality of this is apparent from the following:

The Father... has given all things into (the Son's) hand. (John 3:35)

(The Father gave the Son) authority over all flesh... (John 17:2)

All things have been delivered to Me by My Father. (Matthew 11:27)

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18)

And further from the following:

...Jehovah of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth He is called. (Isaiah 54:5)

I watched..., and behold, One like the Son of Man..., and to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and all peoples (and) nations... will worship Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one that shall not perish. (Daniel 7:13-14)

(When) the seventh angel sounded..., there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" (Revelation 11:15, cf. 12:10)

(This kingdom of the Lord is the subject of the book of Revelation from beginning to end, and all those who will belong to the Lord's New Church, namely, the New Jerusalem, will come into it.)

[11] "Fourth, 'Your will be done, as in heaven, so upon the earth' - this we confirmed by the following:

(Jesus said,) "This is the will of My Father..., that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life. (John 6:40)

...God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:15-16)

He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (John 3:36)

"And so on elsewhere. To believe in the Son is to turn to Him and have confidence that He saves, because He is the Savior of the world.

"Furthermore, it is known in the church that the Lord Jesus Christ reigns in heaven. He Himself also says that His kingdom exists there. Accordingly, when the Lord reigns likewise in the church, then the will of His Father is done, as in heaven, so upon the earth.

[12] "To this we will finally add the following," the angels said. "It is said throughout the whole Christian world that people who belong to the church constitute the body of Christ and are in His body. How then can a person in the church go to God the Father except through Him in whose body he is. Otherwise he must have to leave the body and go.

[13] "When the people from Armageddon heard these and many other things from the Word, they tried now and then to interrupt us and to cite the kinds of things the Lord addressed to His Father in a state of exinanition. ¹² But their tongues then stuck to roofs of their mouths, since they were not permitted to contradict the Word.

"Eventually, however, the reins on their tongues were loosened and they cried out, 'You have spoken against the doctrine of our church, namely that we should turn to God the Father directly and believe in Him. Thus you have made yourselves guilty of violating our faith. Leave this place, therefore, and if you don't, we will throw you out.'

"Then, their passions fired up, they proceeded from threats to the attempt. But by a power then given us we struck them blind, so that not seeing us, they broke out into a level stretch of land, which was a desert. And of those that the boys saw from the window, some became as statues and idols, before whom the rest knelt, and they are the ones who appeared to you as apes on horses."

Fusnotat:

3881. Therefore she called his name Judah. That this signifies his quality, is evident from the signification of “name,” and of “calling a name,” as being quality (n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, 3421). The quality itself is contained in the internal sense of the words that Leah spoke: “This time I will confess Jehovah,” concerning which just above (n. 3880), namely, that in the supreme sense it is the Lord and the Divine of His love; in the internal sense, the Word and also the Lord’s celestial kingdom; and in the exterior sense, the doctrine from the Word which is of the celestial church. That these things are signified in the Word by “Judah,” wherever the name occurs, scarcely anyone as yet knows, because the histories of the Word are believed to be merely historical; and the prophecies to be of the things that have been consigned to oblivion, except some from which doctrinal tenets may be drawn. That there is a spiritual sense in them is not believed, because at this day it is not known what the spiritual sense of the Word is, nor even what that which is spiritual is. The principal reason of this is that men live a natural life, and the natural life is such that when it is regarded as the end, or is loved above all other things, it obliterates both knowledges and faith; insomuch that when spiritual life and a spiritual sense are mentioned, it is as though a kind of nonentity were spoken of, or something unpleasant and sad, that excites loathing, because it is in disagreement with the natural life. As this is now the state of the human race, they do not apprehend, nor are they willing to apprehend that anything else is meant by the names in the Word than the things themselves which are named; such as nations, peoples, persons, countries, cities, mountains, rivers; when yet in the spiritual sense names signify actual things.

[2] That in the internal sense “Judah” signifies the Lord’s celestial church; in the universal sense His celestial kingdom; and in the supreme sense the Lord Himself, may be seen from many passages in the Old Testament where “Judah” is mentioned; as from the following.

In Moses:

Thou art Judah; thy brethren shall praise thee; thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s sons shall bow down themselves to thee. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey my son thou art gone up; he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall be the gathering together of the peoples. Binding his ass’s foal unto the vine, and the son of his she-ass unto the choice vine, he shall wash his garment in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes. his eyes are red with wine, and his teeth white with milk (Genesis 49:8-12).

[3] This prophetic utterance of Jacob (then Israel) concerning Judah, cannot be understood by anyone-not even a single word of it-except from the internal sense; as for instance what is meant by “his brethren praising him”; and by “his father’s sons bowing down themselves to him”; by “his going up from the prey like a lion’s whelp, and stooping and couching as a lion”; or what by “Shiloh”; by “binding his ass’s foal to a vine, and the son of his she-ass to a choice vine”; by “washing his garment in wine, and his covering in the blood of grapes”; by “his eyes being red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.” As before said these expressions cannot possibly be understood by anyone except from the internal sense, when yet all and each of them signify celestial things of the Lord’s kingdom, and Divine things; and thereby it is predicted that the Lord’s celestial kingdom, and in the supreme sense the Lord Himself, should be represented by Judah. But concerning all these expressions, of the Lord’s Divine mercy more shall be said in the explication of that chapter.

[4] The case is the same in other parts of the Word, especially in the Prophets, where mention is made of Judah; as in Ezekiel:

Thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the sons of Israel his companions; and take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and of all the house of Israel his companions; and join them for thee one to another into one stick, and they shall become one in My hand. I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all. My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd; and they shall walk in My judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers dwelt; they and their sons shall dwell upon it, and their sons’ sons even forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. And I will establish with them a covenant of peace it shall be to them an everlasting covenant. I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. Thus shall My habitation be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Ezekiel 37:15-28).

Whoever supposes that by “Judah” is here meant Judah; by “Israel,” Israel; by “Joseph,” Joseph; by “Ephraim,” Ephraim; and by “David,” David; will believe that all these things are to come to pass as they are described in the sense of the letter-that Israel will be again consociated with Judah, as well as the tribe of Ephraim; likewise that David will rule over them, and that they will thus dwell upon the land given unto Jacob forever; and that an everlasting covenant will in this case be established with them, and a sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore; when in the internal sense the Jewish nation is not meant at all; but the Lord’s celestial kingdom which is “Judah,” and His spiritual kingdom which is “Israel,” and the Lord Himself who is “David.” From this it is very plain that by names are not meant persons, but things celestial and Divine.

[5] The case is similar in regard to the following words in Zechariah:

Many peoples and numerous nations shall come to seek Jehovah Zebaoth. In those days ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of a man of Judah, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you (Zech. 8:22-23).

They who apprehend these words according to the letter will say (as the Jewish nation to this day believes) that as this prophecy has not yet been fulfilled, it will be; and therefore that the Jews will return to the land of Canaan, and many will follow them out of all the languages of the nations, and will lay hold of the skirt of a man of Judah, and will pray for leave to follow them; and that then God (namely, the Messiah, whom Christians call the Lord) will be with them, to whom they must first be converted. This would be the promise of the words if by a “man of Judah” there were meant a Jew. But the subject here treated of in the internal sense is a new spiritual church among the Gentiles; and by a “man of Judah” is signified the saving faith which comes from love to the Lord.

[6] That by “Judah” is not meant Judah; but, as already said, in the internal sense the Lord’s celestial kingdom, which was represented in the church instituted with Judah or the Jews, may also be clearly seen from the following passages:

The Lord shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four wings of the earth. Then shall the envy of Ephraim depart, and the enemies of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim (Isaiah 11:12-13).

And in Jeremiah:

Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise up unto David a righteous branch, who shall reign as a king, and shall prosper, and shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely; and this is His name whereby they shall call Him, Jehovah our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5-6).

And in Joel:

Then ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion, the mountain of My holiness; and Jerusalem shall be holiness. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall flow with waters; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of Jehovah, and shall water the stream of Shittim. Judah shall abide forever, and Jerusalem to generation and generation (Joel 3:17-18, 20).

[7] And in Zechariah:

In that day I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness; and I will open Mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness. And the chieftains of Judah shall say in their heart, I will strengthen to myself the inhabitants of Jerusalem in Jehovah Zebaoth their God. In that day will I make the chieftains of Judah like a hearth of fire in the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the peoples round about on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem shall yet again be inhabited in her own place, even in Jerusalem; and Jehovah shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David, and the glory of the inhabitant of Jerusalem, may not lift itself up above Judah. In that day will Jehovah defend the inhabitant of Jerusalem. And the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of Jehovah before them. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitant of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace (Zech. 12:4-10).

The subject here treated of is the Lord’s celestial kingdom-that truth should not have dominion therein over good, but that truth should be subordinate to good. Truth is signified by the “house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem;” and good by “Judah.” From this it is manifest why it is first said that “the glory of the house of David, and the glory of the inhabitant of Jerusalem, may not lift itself up above Judah;” and next, that “the house of David shall be as God, and as the angel of Jehovah, and that the spirit of grace shall be poured upon it, and upon the inhabitant of Jerusalem;” for such is the state when truth is subordinate to good, or faith to love. The “horse which shall be smitten with astonishment, and the horse of the peoples with blindness” signifies self-intelligence (n. 2761-2762, 3217).

[8] Again:

In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness to Jehovah; and the pots in the house of Jehovah shall be like the bowls before the altar; and every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness to Jehovah Zebaoth (Zech. 14:20-21);

describing the Lord’s kingdom.

In Malachi:

Behold I send My angel who shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Angel of the covenant whom ye desire; behold He cometh but who may abide the day of His coming? Then shall the meat-offering of Judah and of Jerusalem be pleasant unto Jehovah, as in the days of old, and as in former years (Malachi 3:1-2, 4 (Malachi 3:4)); where the subject treated of is manifestly the Lord’s advent. It is known that the meat-offering of Judah and Jerusalem was not then pleasant; but that worship from love was pleasant, which is the “meat-offering of Judah;” and worship from faith derived from love, which is the “meat-offering of Jerusalem.”

[9] In Jeremiah:

Thus saith Jehovah Zebaoth, Yet again shall they say this word in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; Jehovah bless thee, O habitation of righteousness, O mountain of holiness. And Judah and all the cities thereof shall dwell therein together. Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will sow the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. Behold the days come that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers (Jeremiah 31:23-24, 27, 31-32).

And in David:

The Lord hath chosen the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion that He loved; and hath built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth hath He founded it forever (Psalms 78:68-69).

[10] From these and many other passages here omitted, it may be seen what is signified in the Word by “Judah;” and that it is not the Jewish nation, because this was very far from being a celestial church, or the Lord’s celestial kingdom; being the worst of all nations in regard to love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, and also in regard to faith; and this from the days of their first fathers, the sons of Jacob, down to the present time. (That such persons were nevertheless capable of representing the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord’s kingdom, may be seen above, n. 3479-3481, because in representations the person is not reflected upon, but only the thing that is represented, n. 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3670)

[11] But when they did not remain in the rituals ordained by Jehovah or the Lord, but turned away from them to idolatries, they then no longer represented celestial and spiritual things, but the opposite, that is, infernal and diabolical things-according to the Lord’s words in John:

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will to do; he was a murderer from the beginning, and stood not in the truth (John 8:44).

That this is signified by “Judah” in the opposite sense, may be seen from the following words in Isaiah:

Jerusalem hath stumbled, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their works are against Jehovah to rebel against the eyes of His glory (Isaiah 3:8).

And in Malachi:

Judah hath dealt treacherously, and abomination hath been wrought in Israel and in Jerusalem; and Judah hath profaned the holiness of Jehovah, because he hath loved and betrothed to himself the daughter of a strange god (Malachi 2:11);

and also in the following passages: Isaiah 3:1, and following verses ; 8:7-8; Jeremiah 2:28; 3:7-11; 9:26; 11:9-10, 12; 13:9; 14:2; 17:1; 18:12-13; 19:7; 32:35; 36:31; 44:12, 14, 26, 28; Hosea 5:5; 8:14; Amos 2:4-5; Zeph. 1:4.