1384. Wat de eerste soort betreft, die de engelen eigen is, en daarin bestaat, dat zij innerlijk gewaarworden, wat waar en goed is, en gewaarworden wat van de Heer komt, en wat van henzelf, en verder ook van waar en hoedanig datgene is wat zij denken, spreken en doen, wanneer het uit henzelf komt. Het werd mij gegeven met de zonen van de Oudste Kerk te spreken over hun innerlijke gewaarwording; zij zeiden dat zij niets uit zichzelf denken of denken kunnen, en niets uit zichzelf willen, maar dat zij bij alles, wat zij in het algemeen en in het bijzonder denken en willen en gewaarworden, wat van de Heer en wat van elders komt, en dat zij niet alleen gewaarworden, hoeveel van de Heer en hoeveel als van henzelf komt, maar ook, wanneer iets als van henzelf komt, waar het dan vandaan komt, van welke engelen, en verder van welke aard die engelen zijn, van welke aard hun gedachten, met alle verscheidenheid, en zo dus welke invloed het is, en ontelbare andere dingen meer. De innerlijke gewaarwording van deze soort zijn van een grote verscheidenheid; bij de hemelse engelen, die in de liefde tot de Heer zijn, bestaat een innerlijke gewaarwording van het goede en vandaar van al wat tot het ware behoort, en omdat zij uit het goede het ware gewaarworden, laten zij niet toe dat er gesproken, nog minder dat er geredeneerd wordt over het ware, maar zij zeggen: zo is het of zo is het niet. De geestelijke engelen echter, die ook innerlijke gewaarwording hebben, maar niet van dien aard als de hemelse engelen, spreken over het ware en het goede; niettemin worden zij het ware en het goede gewaar, maar met onderscheid, want de verscheidenheden van deze innerlijke gewaarwording zijn ontelbaar. De verscheidenheden rusten hierop, dat zij gewaarworden of iets komt van de wil van de Heer, of dat Hij het vergunt, of dat Hij het toelaat, waartussen een scherp onderscheid ligt.

10155. 'And they will recognize that I am Jehovah their God' means perception that the Lord is the source of all good and all truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'recognizing' as understanding, believing, and perceiving, dealt with below. The reason why perceiving that the Lord is the source of all good and all truth is meant is that the names Jehovah and God are used, and the Lord is called Jehovah by virtue of good and God by virtue of truth, see 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921, 4287, 4402, 7010, 9167.

The reason why 'recognizing' means understanding, believing, and perceiving is that the word is used in reference both to the human power of understanding and to the power of will. When used in reference solely to the power of understanding it means understanding; when used in reference to the understanding and at the same time the will it means believing; and when used in reference solely to the will it means perceiving. With those therefore who merely know of something and as a result think about it, recognizing implies understanding. But with those who possess faith, recognizing implies believing, and with those who have love, recognizing implies perceiving.

[2] When however recognizing is coupled with understanding, seeing, or believing, 'recognizing' means perceiving; for understanding, seeing, and believing are connected with the understanding, consequently with truth, whereas perceiving is connected with the will, consequently with good, as in John,

Peter said, We have believed and recognized that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. John 6:69.

In the same gospel,

Jesus said, Believe the works, that you may recognize and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father. John 10:38.

In the same gospel,

Jesus said, If you recognize Me you recognize My Father, and from now on you recognize Him and have seen Him. John 14:7.

In the same gospel,

The Spirit of truth will be sent, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor recognizes Him. But you recognize Him, because He remains with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17.

In Mark,

Jesus spoke in parables, so that seeing they may see and not recognize. Mark 4:11-12.

In Jeremiah,

... that you may recognize and see that it is evil and bitter to depart from Jehovah your God. Jeremiah 2:19.

In the same prophet,

Let him who glories glory in this, to understand and to recognize Me, that I am Jehovah. Jeremiah 9:24.

In Hosea,

I will betroth you to Me in faith, and you will recognize Jehovah. Hosea 2:20.

[3] In these places 'recognizing' means perceiving, and perceiving comes about as a result of good, whereas understanding and seeing come about as a result of truth. For inwardly within themselves those in whom good or love is predominant perceive that something is so, whereas within themselves those in whom truth or faith is predominant see that it is such. Therefore perception that something is so exists among those who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom, but belief that it is so among those who are in the Lord's spiritual kingdom, see the places referred to in 9277, and what has been stated in 9992, 9995, 10105. And what perception is, see 125, 371, 483, 495, 503, 521, 536, 597, 607, 1121, 1384, 1387, 1398, 1442, 1919, 2144, 2515, 2831, 3528, 5121, 5145, 5227, 7680, 7977, 8780.

[4] In addition, since the proper meaning of 'recognizing' is perceiving as a result of good, reference is made in Deuteronomy 8:5 to recognizing from the heart; for 'from the heart' means from the good of love, 3883-3896, 7542, 9050, 9300, 9495. Therefore also doing good is referred to as recognizing Jehovah, Jeremiah 22:16.

From all this it is evident that 'they will recognize that I am Jehovah their God' means perception that the Lord is the source of all goodness and truth.

5121. 'And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it' means revelation resulting from the perception received by the celestial within the natural as to what it held within it. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' in the historical narratives of the Word as perception, dealt with in 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2619, 2862, 3509, 3395, in this case as revelation resulting from perception, since the subject is a dream and its interpretation, and all revelation is either the result of talking to angels through whom the Lord speaks or else the result of perception, dealt with below; from the representation of 'Joseph' as the celestial within the natural, dealt with above in 5086, 5087, 5106; and from the meaning of 'the interpretation' as what it held within it, also dealt with above, in 5093, 5105, 5107. From this it is evident that 'Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it' means revelation resulting from the perception received by the celestial within the natural as to what it held within it.

[2] With regard to revelations resulting either from perception or from talking to angels through whom the Lord speaks, it should be recognized that people who are governed by good and from this by truth, especially those who are governed by good flowing from love to the Lord, receive revelation as a result of perception. But those who are not governed by good or from this by truth can indeed receive revelations, but not those that are the result of perception, only those which come to them through a voice which they hear speaking within themselves and so through angels from the Lord. This kind of revelation is external, whereas the other kind is internal. Revelation resulting from perception is the kind that angels, especially celestial ones, receive. It was also the kind received by members of the Most Ancient Church, and by some members of the Ancient Church too; but scarcely anyone receives such at the present day. Very many people however, including those who have not been governed by good, have received revelations from conversations [with angels] which did not involve any perception, the same as with those receiving revelations through visions or through dreams.

[3] Most of the revelations received by the prophets in the Jewish Church were of this kind - they heard a voice, saw a vision, or dreamed a dream. But because they had no perception these were merely verbal or visual revelations which did not involve any perception about what was really meant by them. For genuine perception comes from the Lord through heaven; it fills the understanding with spiritual ideas and leads it, as may be perceived, to think along the lines of, and inwardly to recognize, the true nature of a thing. The source of that power of recognition is not known, but the understanding imagines that it begins within itself and springs from the interconnected ideas it has present within itself. But in fact that power is a dictate coming from the Lord by way of heaven into the interior parts of ones thought regarding the things that are above and beyond the natural and the senses, that is, the kinds of things that belong to the spiritual world or heaven. From all this one may see what revelation resulting from perception is. But the revelation resulting from perception which the Lord, who is represented here by 'Joseph', had - which revelation is the subject here in the internal sense - sprang from the Divine within Himself, and so originated in Himself.