8581. Behold I stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb. That this signifies the Lord in respect to the truths of faith, is evident from the signification of “a rock,” as being faith, here faith from the Lord, or the Lord in respect to faith; for Jehovah, that is, the Lord, says, “Behold I stand upon the rock;” and from the signification of “Horeb,” as being the Divine Law; consequently by these words is signified the Lord in respect to the truths of faith which are from His law, or the Word. That “a rock” denotes the Lord as to faith, and relatively to man, the faith which is from the Lord, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in Moses:

Give ye greatness to our God, the Rock whose work is perfect. He made him ride on the high places of the earth, and he did eat the produce of the fields, He made him suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the stone of the rock. But when Jeshurun became fat, he kicked, he forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. The Rock that begat thee thou hast given to forgetfulness, and hast forgotten God thy Former. Their rock hath sold them, and Jehovah hath shut them up, for their rock is not as our Rock. When it is said, Where are their gods, the rock in which they trusted (Deuteronomy 32:3-4, 13, 15, 18, 30-31, 37).

From these words it is plain that it is Jehovah, that is, the Lord, who is called “the Rock”; that this is Jehovah or the Lord as to faith, is clear from the details here in the internal sense.

[2] In Daniel:

Thou wast seeing till that a stone was cut out, which was not by hands, and it smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces. Then were the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; so that the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them. But the stone that smote the image became a great Rock, and filled the whole earth. The God of the heavens shall make a kingdom arise which shall not be destroyed to the ages; and His kingdom shall not be permitted to another people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms; but itself shall stand to the ages. Forasmuch as thou hast seen that a stone was cut out from the rock, that was not by hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold (Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45).

This is said of the Lord and His kingdom, and by “a stone” is meant faith, and by “a rock” the Lord as to faith. That these things are signified by “stone” and by “rock,” is plain to everyone who reflects. “Stone” too signifies in the Word the truth which is of faith (see n. 643, 1298, 3720, 3769, 3771, 3773, 3789, 3798, 6426); and therefore the Lord as to Divine truth is called “the Stone of Israel” (n. 6426). That “a rock” denotes the Lord as to the truth of faith, is because by “a rock” is also meant a bulwark against falsities; the bulwark itself is the truth of faith, for combat is waged from this truth both against falsities and against evils.

[3] From all this it can also be seen that by “rock” is meant the Lord as to faith, and also the faith which is from the Lord, in the words which the Lord spake to Peter, in Matthew:

I say unto thee, Thou art Peter [Petrus], and upon this rock [Petra] I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of the heavens; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in the heavens; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in the heavens (Matthew 16:18-19).

That “a rock” here denotes the Lord as to faith, and the faith which is from the Lord, and that Peter represents this faith, see the preface to Genesis 22, also n. 3750, 4738, 6000, 6073, 6344. It is also plain to everyone who thinks from sound reason that the power of opening heaven and of shutting hell for the good, and of opening hell and shutting heaven for the evil, belongs to the Lord alone; and that this belongs to faith is because faith is from the Lord, thus also is the Lord’s, that is, the Lord Himself is in it. Moreover all sovereign power in the other life comes through the truth of faith from good (see n. 4931, 6344, 6423, 8200, 8304). And he who thinks from reason can conclude that the Lord’s church has not been built upon any man, thus not upon Peter, but upon the Lord Himself, thus upon faith in Him.

[4] From all this it can be seen into what and how great errors they fall, who press so closely the sense of the letter of the Word; and with what eagerness the leaders of the church catch at the idea that such power was given to Peter, and consequently to those who call themselves his successors, because it favors their love; and with what difficulty they suffer themselves to be persuaded that anything else is meant, for everyone desires to procure for himself the height of power. From the above it is also plain how necessary it is to know what is signified in the internal sense by “a rock,” what by “keys,” what by “the gates of hell,” and many other things.

[5] That Jehovah is called “the Rock,” and that then is meant the Lord as to faith, is also evident from many other passages in the Word, as from the following, which may be cited without further explication:

Send ye the lamb of the Ruler of the land from the Rock toward the wilderness unto the mount of Zion (Isaiah 16:1).

Thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not remembered the Rock of thy refuge (Isaiah 17:10,

Asshur shall fall with the sword not of a man, also his rock shall pass away through dread thereof (Isaiah 31:8-9).

Let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them cry from the top of the mountains (Isaiah 42:11).

Attend to Me, ye that follow after righteousness, that seek Jehovah, look back unto the Rock from which ye were hewn (Isaiah 51:1).

Forsake the cities, and dwell in the rock, ye inhabitants of Moab (Jeremiah 48:28).

I am against thee, O destroying mountain, destroying the universal earth; and I will stretch out My hand against thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a mountain of burning; neither shall they take from thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations (Jeremiah 51:25-26);

speaking of Babel. And in David:

He made me come up out of a pit of devastation, out of the mire of clay, and He set my feet upon a rock (Psalms 40:2).

From the extremity of the earth do I cry unto Thee when my heart faileth, Thou leadest me to the Rock that is high from Me (Psalms 61:2).

He fed them with the fat of wheat; and with honey out of the rock I sated them (Psalms 81:16).

[6] As “a rock” signified the Lord as to faith, and faith from the Lord, therefore also wonderful things were done upon a rock, of which it is thus written in the book of Judges:

The angel of Jehovah said unto Gideon that he should take the flesh and the unleavened things, and put them upon the rock, and pour out the broth, and there went up fire out of the rock, and devoured the flesh and the unleavened things (Judg. 6:20-21).

Manoah the father of Samson took a kid of the goats, and offered it upon the rock. Then the angel did wondrously, and went up in the flame (Judg. 13:19-20).

What these things signified can be seen if from the internal sense there is unfolded what Gideon represented, and what Manoah the father of Samson; also what was signified by “the flesh” and “the unleavened things,” and by “the broth,” as also by “the kid of the goats,” and by “the fire;” for all and each of these things were representative and significative.

[7] From the signification of “a rock,” as being faith, it can also be known what is meant by Moses being put in an opening of the rock when he was to see Jehovah (Exodus 33:20-23); for by “an opening of a rock” is signified obscurity of faith. That the rock in Horeb from which came the waters signified the Lord, is known in the churches; but that it signifies the Lord as to faith, and also that it signifies faith from the Lord, has now been shown. The like to what is signified by “the rock in Horeb” is also signified by these words in Isaiah:

Say ye, Jehovah hath redeemed His servant Jacob, then shall he not thirst, He shall lead them in the wastes, He shall make the waters flow out of the rock for them, while He shall cleave the rock that the waters may flow out (Isaiah 48:20-21).

That water was not given to the people from any other rock than that in Horeb, is because by “Horeb” is signified the Divine Law; that the Divine Law is signified by “Horeb,” is because the Law was there promulgated; and faith which is from the Lord is from the Divine Law, that is, from the Word; for through this the Lord teaches what faith is, and also gives faith.

3769. And a great stone was upon the well’s mouth. That this signifies that the Word was closed, is evident without explication. The Word is said to be closed when it is understood solely as to the sense of the letter, and when all that is in this sense is taken for doctrine. And it is still more closed when those things are acknowledged as doctrinal things which favor the cupidities of the love of self and of the world; for these especially roll a great stone upon the mouth of the well, that is, close up the Word; and then mankind do not know, neither do they desire to know, that there is any interior sense in the Word, when yet they may see this from many passages where the sense of the letter is unfolded as to the interior sense; and also from the doctrinal things received in the church, to which by various explications they refer all the sense of the letter of the Word.

[2] What is meant by the Word being closed may be seen especially from the Jews, who explain each and all things according to the letter, and thence believe that they are chosen in preference to all nations on the face of the earth, and that the Messiah will come to bring them into the land of Canaan and exalt them above all nations and peoples of the earth; for they are immersed in earthly corporeal loves, which are such that they altogether close up the Word as to interior things. Therefore also they do not yet know whether there is any heavenly kingdom, whether they shall live after death, what the internal man is, nor even that there is anything spiritual; still less do they know that the Messiah has come to save souls. That the Word is closed with them, may be sufficiently evident also from the fact that although they live among Christians, they do not receive the least of their doctrinal things-according to the following words in Isaiah:

Say to this people, Hearing, hear ye, and do not understand; and seeing, see ye, and do not perceive. Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes. And I said, Lord, how long? And He said, Until the cities be waste without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the ground be wasted to a solitude (Isaiah 6:9-11; Matthew 13:14-15; John 12:40-41).

[3] For insofar as a man is immersed in loves of self and of the world, and in the cupidities of these loves, so far the Word is closed to him; for these loves have self as their end, which end kindles a natural lumen, but extinguishes heavenly light, so that men sharply see the things of self and the world, but not at all those of the Lord and His kingdom; and when this is the case, they may indeed read the Word, but it is with the end of acquiring honors and riches, or for the sake of appearance, or from the love and consequent habit of it, or from piety, and yet not from a purpose of amending the life. To such persons the Word is in various ways closed; to some so much that by no means are they willing to know anything but what their doctrinal things dictate, whatever these may be.

[4] For example: should anyone say that the power of opening and shutting heaven was not given to Peter, but to the faith of love, which faith is signified by Peter’s keys, inasmuch as the love of self and of the world opposes this, they will by no means acknowledge it. And should anyone say that saints ought not to be worshiped, but the Lord alone, neither do they receive this. Or if anyone should say that by the bread and wine in the Holy Supper is meant the Lord’s love toward the universal human race, and the reciprocal love of man to the Lord, this they do not believe. Or should anyone assert that faith is of no avail unless it is the good of faith, that is, charity, this they explain inversely; and so with everything else. They who are of this character cannot see one whit of the truth that is in the Word, nor are they willing to see it, but abide obstinately in their own dogma; and are not even willing to hear that there is an internal sense wherein is the sanctity and glory of the Word, and even when they are told that it is so, from their aversion thereto they loathe the bare mention of it. Thus has the Word been closed, when yet it is of such a nature as to lie open even into heaven, and through heaven to the Lord, and it is closed solely in relation to man, insofar as he is in the evils of the love of self and of the world in respect to his ends of life, and in the consequent principles of falsity. From this it is evident what is signified by a great stone being upon the well’s mouth.