The White Horse Described in Revelation 19, Followed by Material on the Word and Its Spiritual or Inner Meaning Drawn from Secrets of Heaven

Table Of Contents

Concerning the White Horse in the Apocalypse Chapter 19, 1-5

The Word and Its Spiritual or Inner Meaning from Secrets of Heaven, 6

The Word is understood only by people who are enlightened. 7

The Word is understood only by means of a body of teaching drawn from the Word. 8

There is a spiritual meaning in the Word that is known as “the inner meaning.” 9

The inner meaning of the Word is primarily for angels, but it is also for us. 10

There are countless treasures hidden in the inner or spiritual meaning of the Word. 11

The Word was composed using correspondences and therefore representations. 12

The literal meaning or outer form of the Word. 13

The Lord is the Word 14

People who are hostile to the Word. 15

The books that are books of the Word. 16

More on the Word. 17

14. The Lord is the Word. The sole subject of the deepest meaning of the Word is the Lord, and it describes all the phases of the glorification of his human nature (that is, of its union with the divine nature itself), as well as all the phases of his taking control of the hells and setting in order everything there and in the heavens: 2249, 7014. So in this meaning there is a description of the Lord’s whole life in our world, and by means of this there is a constant presence of the Lord with the angels: 2523. At the very center of the Word there is only the Lord, and this is the source of what is divine and holy in the Word: 1873, 9357. The Lord’s saying that the Scripture about him was fulfilled [Luke 18:31; 24:44] was referring to everything in the deepest meaning of the Word: 7933.

“The Word” means divine truth: 4692, 5075, 9987. The Lord is the Word because he is divine truth: 2533. The Lord is the Word also because the Word comes from him and is about him (2859); and in its deepest meaning is about no one but the Lord, so the Lord himself is there (1873, 9357); and also because there is a marriage of divine goodness and divine truth throughout the Word and in its every detail, a marriage found only in the Lord (3004, 3005, 3009, 4137, 5194, 5502, 6343, 7945, 8339, 9263, 9314). Divine truth coming from divine goodness is the sole reality, and only what it dwells in—which comes from what is divine—is substantial: ¹ 5272, 6880, 7004, 8200. And because divine truth emanating from the Lord as the sun in heaven is heaven’s light and divine goodness is its warmth, and because everything there comes into being from that light and warmth the way everything in this world comes into being from earthly light and warmth (which are also present in earthly substances and work through them), and because this earthly world as a whole comes into being by means of heaven or the spiritual world, we can see that everything that has been created has been created from divine truth—that is, from the Word, just as it says in John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things that were made were made through him. And the Word became flesh” (John 1:1, 2, 3, 14): 2803, 2894, 5272, 7678. (See Heaven and Hell 137 for more on the creation of everything by divine truth and therefore by the Lord; §§116–125 for more about the fact that the sun in heaven is the Lord and that it is his divine love; and §§126–140 on divine truth being light and divine goodness being warmth, both from that sun in heaven.)

A joining together of the Lord and us is accomplished through the Word, by means of its inner meaning: 10375. Absolutely everything in the Word is a means to this joining together, and this is why the Word is more wondrous than anything else that has been written: 10632, 10633, 10634. Now that the Word has been written, the Lord speaks to us through it: 10290. (See also the information presented in Heaven and Hell 303–310 about the union of heaven with us by means of the Word.)

Fotnoter:

5194. 'And it happened at the end of two years of days' means after the state when the joining together took place, that is to say, when the powers of the senses belonging to the exterior natural and those belonging to the interior natural were joined together, both of which powers are dealt with in the previous chapter. This is clear from the meaning of 'two years of days', that is, a period of two years, as a state involving a joining together; for 'two' means a joining together, 1686, 3519, while 'years' means states, as does 'days'. For the meaning of years' as states, see 487, 488, 493, 893, and for that of 'days', 27, 487, 488, 497, 2788, 3462, 3785, 4850. The reason 'two' means a joining together is that every single thing in the spiritual world, and consequently in the natural world, has two forces associated with it - goodness and truth. Good is an active inflowing force, truth a passive, recipient one. Also, because everything has these two forces associated with it, and because nothing can ever be brought forth unless the two are made one by becoming so to speak married to each other, a joining together is therefore meant by them.

[2] This type of marriage exists in every single thing within the natural order and its three kingdoms; without it nothing whatever can come into existence. For anything to come into existence within the natural order there needs to be heat and light, heat in the natural world corresponding to the good of love in the spiritual world, and light corresponding to the truth of faith. These two - heat and light - must act as one if anything is to be brought forth. If they do not act as one, as is the case in winter-time, nothing at all is brought forth. The same holds true on a spiritual level, as is quite evident with the human being, who has two mental powers - will and understanding. The will has been formed so that it may receive spiritual heat, that is, the good of love and charity, while the understanding has been formed so that it may receive spiritual light, that is, the truth of faith. Unless these two residing with a person make one nothing is brought forth, for the good of love devoid of the truth of faith cannot give definition and particular character to anything, while the truth of faith devoid of the good of love cannot bring anything into effect. So that the heavenly marriage may exist in a person therefore, or rather so that a person may be in the heavenly marriage, those two entities must make one in him. This explains why the ancients likened every single thing in the world, and every single thing within the human being, to a marriage, 54, 55, 568, 718, 747, 917, 1432, 2173, 2516, 2731, 2739, 2758, 3132, 4434, 4875, 5138. From all this one may see why it is that 'two' means a joining together.