966. And it became blood as of one dead. That this signified that all were falsified, is evident from the signification of blood, as denoting Divine truth; and, in the opposite sense, Divine truth falsified (concerning which see n. 30, 328, 329, 476, 748). In this case, therefore, that all the knowledges of truth from the Word were falsified. The knowledges of truth from the Word are the truths of the sense of the letter, or the truths in the Word for the natural man, which also are Divine truths. These altogether falsified are signified by the sea becoming blood, as of one dead.

The Divine truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are said to be falsified, when they are perverted even to the destruction of interior Divine truth, or of Divine truth in the heavens. They then also appear in the heavens with man as the blood of one dead. That those who separate faith from the goods of life falsify the Word has been often shown above; and it is of such that these things are said, as is evident from the second verse of this chapter.

Concerning the Fourth Precept of the Decalogue, that parents are to be honoured.

This precept also was given, because the honour of parents represented and thence signified love to the Lord, and love towards the church. For father, in the heavenly sense, or the heavenly Father, is the Lord; and mother, in the heavenly sense, or the heavenly mother, is the church. Honour signifies the good of love; and length of days, which is the consequence, signifies the felicity of life eternal. This precept is thus understood in heaven, where no other father is known but the Lord, and no other mother but the Lord's kingdom, which is also the church. For the Lord gives life from Himself, and by the church He gives spiritual nourishment. That in the heavenly sense of this precept, not any father in the world is meant, or indeed to be named, while man is in a heavenly idea, the Lord teaches in Matthew:

"Call no one your father on earth; for one is your Father, who is in the heavens" (23:9).

That Father signifies the Lord as to Divine Good may be seen above (n. 32, 200, 254, 297). That mother signifies the Lord's kingdom, the church, and Divine truth may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 289, 2691, 2717, 3703, 5581, 8897). That length of days signifies the felicity of eternal life, n. 8898 in the same work; and that honour signifies the good of love, n. 8897 there, and above, n. 288, 345.

From these things it is now evident that the third and fourth precepts involve mysteries concerning the Lord; that is, the acknowledgment and confession of His Divine, and the worship of Him from the good of love.

2534. 'For he is a prophet' means that thus it was to be taught. This is clear from the meaning of 'a prophet'. One reads the word 'prophet' many times in the Word, and in the sense of the letter it means those to whom revelation is given, and also - abstractedly from persons - revelation itself. But in the internal sense that word means one who teaches, and also - abstractedly - doctrine itself. And because, as has been stated, the Lord is doctrine itself, or the Word which teaches, He is called 'a Prophet', as also in Moses,

Jehovah your God will raise up a Prophet like me from the midst of you, from your brothers; Him shall you obey. Deuteronomy 18:15, 18.

The words 'like me' are used because the Lord was represented by Moses, as He also was by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and many more. And because people awaited Him it is therefore said in John,

When the people saw the sign which Jesus had done, they said, This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world. John 6:14.

[2] Since the Lord in the highest sense is 'the Prophet' and 'the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy', Revelation 19:10, 'a prophet' therefore means in the internal sense of the Word a person who teaches, and also - abstractedly - doctrine, as becomes quite clear from the following places: In Luke,

You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High. Luke 1:76.

Zechariah said this in reference to his son, John the Baptist, who was not the prophet but one preparing the way by teaching and preaching the good news about the Lord's Coming, as he himself says,

They asked him, What are you? Are you Elijah? But he said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He answered, No. Therefore they said to him. Who are you? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord. John 1:21-23.

[3] In Matthew,

Many will say on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? Matthew 7:22.

Here it is evident that 'prophesying' means teaching. In John,

You must again prophesy over many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. Revelation 10:11.

'Prophesying' stands for teaching. What 'peoples', 'nations', 'tongues', and 'kings' mean has been stated and shown in various places. In the same book,

The nations will trample the holy city for forty-two months, but I will grant My two witnesses to prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. Revelation 11:2-3.

Here also 'prophesying' stands for teaching. In Moses,

Jehovah said to Moses, See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. Exodus 7:1.

Here 'prophet' stands for one teaching or saying what Moses would have to say. In Joel,

I will pour out My spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Joel 2:28.

'They will prophesy' stands for they will teach.

[4] In Isaiah,

Jehovah has poured out over you a spirit of sleep, and has closed your eyes; the prophets and your heads, the seers, He has covered; and the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a sealed book which men give to one who is able to read, saying, Read this, now; and he will say, I cannot, for it is sealed. Isaiah 29:10-11.

Here 'the prophets' is used to mean those who teach truth, and 'the seers' those who see truth. Their heads are said to be 'covered' when they know no truth at all and see none at all. Because in ancient times those who taught were called prophets, they were also called 'seers', for 'seeing' meant understanding, 2150, 2325. The fact that they were called 'seers', see 1 Samuel 9:9; 2 Samuel 24:11. They were also called 'men (vir) of God' because of the meaning 'man' carried, dealt with in 158, 265, 749, 915, 1007, 2517. The fact that they were called 'men of God', see 2 Kings 1:9-16; 4:7, 9, 16, 21-22, 25, 27, 40, 42; 5:8, 14, 20; 13:19; 23:16-17.

[5] That 'prophets' means in the internal sense those who teach is clear in the whole of Jeremiah 23 and the whole of Ezekiel 13, where prophets are referred to specifically, and also in many other places where they are mentioned. This also explains why 'pseudoprophets' means those who teach falsities, as in Matthew,

At the close of the age many pseudoprophets will arise and lead many astray. False Christs and false prophets ¹ will arise and will show great signs, and will lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Matthew 24:11, 24; Mark 13:22.

No others are meant here by 'pseudoprophets' and 'false prophets', nor likewise by the pseudoprophet in Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10.

[6] How much the internal sense of the Word is obscured by ideas that have been conceived from the representatives of the Jewish Church becomes clear from the fact that every time a prophet is mentioned in the Word the idea of prophets like those who lived in those times immediately springs to mind, an idea which impedes greatly any discernment of what is meant by them. But the wiser anyone is, the more easily is an idea conceived from such representatives banished. For example, when the temple is mentioned, people who are more wise in their thinking do not envisage the temple in Jerusalem but the temple of the Lord; when Mount Zion, or simply Zion, is mentioned, they do not envisage a location in Jerusalem but the Lord's kingdom; and when Jerusalem is mentioned, they do not envisage the Jerusalem situated in the tribe of Benjamin and Judah but the holy and heavenly Jerusalem.

Mga talababa: