9315. When Mine angel shall go before thee. That this signifies a life in accordance with the commandments of the Lord, is evident from the signification of “going before thee,” when said of the Lord, who is here the “angel of Jehovah,” as being to teach the commandments of faith and of life, thus also a life in accordance with these commandments (that “to go,” and “to journey,” denote to live, see n. 1293, 3335, 4882, 5493, 5605, 8417, 8420, 8557, 8559); and from the signification of “the angel of Jehovah,” as being the Lord as to the Divine Human (of which above, n. 9303, 9306). That the Lord as to the Divine Human is meant by the “angel,” is because the many angels who appeared before the coming of the Lord into the world were Jehovah Himself in a human form, that is, in the form of an angel. This is very evident from the fact that the angels who appeared were called “Jehovah,” as for instance those who appeared to Abraham and were called “Jehovah” (Genesis 18:1, 13-14, 17, 20, 26, 33); also the angel who appeared to Gideon, of whom we read in Judges, and who also was called “Jehovah” (6:12, 14, 16, 22-24); besides others elsewhere. Jehovah Himself in the human form, or what is the same, in the form of an angel, was the Lord.

[2] At that time His Divine Human appeared as an angel; of which the Lord Himself speaks in John:

Jesus said, Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it, and was glad. Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am (John 8:56, 58).

Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was (John 17:5).

That Jehovah could not appear in any other way, is evident also from the words of the Lord in John:

Ye have not heard the voice of the Father at any time, nor seen His shape (John 5:37).

Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he who is with the Father, he hath seen the Father (John 6:46).

From these passages it may be known what is meant by the Lord from eternity.

[3] The reason why it pleased the Lord to be born a man, was that He might put on the Human actually, and make it Divine, in order to save the human race. Know therefore that the Lord is Jehovah Himself or the Father in a human form, which also the Lord Himself teaches in John:

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

Jesus said, From henceforth ye have known and have seen the Father; He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:7, 9, 11).

All things that are Mine are Thine, and all Thine are Mine (John 17:10).

[4] This great mystery is stated in John in these words:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. The same was in the beginning with God. All thing were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father. No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath set Him forth (John 1:1-3, 14, 18);

“the Word” denotes the Divine truth which has been revealed to men; and because this could not be revealed except by Jehovah as a Man, that is, except by Jehovah in a human form, thus by the Lord, therefore it is said, “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word.” It is known in the church that by “the Word” is meant the Lord, because this is plainly said: “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father.” That the Divine truth could not be revealed to men except by Jehovah in a human form, is also clearly stated: “no man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath set Him forth.”

[5] From all this it is evident that the Lord from eternity was Jehovah, or the Father, in a human form; but not yet in the flesh, for an angel has no “flesh.” And because Jehovah or the Father willed to put on the whole human, for the salvation of the human race, therefore He took on the flesh also. Wherefore it is said “God was the Word, and the Word was made flesh.” And in Luke:

Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have (Luke 24:39);

by these words the Lord taught that He was no longer Jehovah under the form of an angel; but that He was Jehovah Man, which is also meant by these words of the Lord:

I came out from the Father, and am come into the world; again I leave the world, and go unto the Father (John 16:28).

(That the Lord when in the world made His Human Divine, see n. 1616, 1725, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2033, 2034, 2083, 2523, 2751, 2798, 3038, 3043, 3212, 3241, 3318, 3637, 3737, 4065, 4180, 4211, 4237, 4286, 4585, 4687, 4692, 4724, 4738, 4766, 5005, 5045, 5078, 5110, 5256, 6373, 6700, 6716, 6849, 6864, 6872, 7014, 7211, 7499, 8547, 8864, 8865, 8878; also that He expelled all the human that was from the mother, until at last He was not the son of Mary, n. 2159, 2649, 2776, 4963, 5157; see especially n. 3704, 4727, 9303, 9306, and what has been shown about these things in the passages cited in n. 9194, 9199)

4692. And they added yet to hate him for his dreams, and for his words. That this signifies still greater contempt and aversion because of the preaching of truth—here concerning the Lord’s Divine Human—is evident from the signification of “adding,” as being more; from the signification of “hating,” as being to despise and be averse to (n. 4681); from the signification of a “dream,” as being preaching (n. 4682, 4685); and from the signification of “words,” as being truths. That “words” denote truths is because every word in heaven is from the Lord; therefore “words” in the internal sense signify truths, and the “Word” in general signifies all Divine truth.

[2] As regards the subject itself, this is the supreme truth of all which the church that has separated faith from charity especially despises, and to which it is averse, namely, that the Human of the Lord is Divine. All who were of the Ancient Church and did not separate charity from faith, believed that the God of the universe was a Divine Man, and that He was the Divine being; and hence they named Him “Jehovah.” They knew this from the most ancient people, and also because He had appeared as a Man to some of their brethren. They also knew that all the rituals and externals of their church represented Him. But those who were of faith separate could not so believe, because they could not comprehend how the Human could be Divine, nor could they comprehend that the Divine love effected this; for whatever they did not comprehend from some idea received through the external senses of the body, they regarded as nothing. Faith separate from charity is attended with this, for with those who hold it the internal of perception is closed, as there is no intermediate through which there can be influx.

[3] The Jewish Church which succeeded did indeed believe that Jehovah was Man and also God, because He had appeared as a man to Moses and the prophets, for which reason the Jews called every angel who appeared to them “Jehovah;” nevertheless they had no other idea of Him than the Gentiles had of their gods, to whom the Jews preferred Jehovah God because He could perform miracles (n. 4299), not knowing that Jehovah was “the Lord” in the Word (n. 2921, 3035), and that it was His Divine Human which all their rituals represented. Their only thought of the Messiah or Christ was that He would be the greatest prophet, greater than Moses; and the greatest king, greater than David, who would bring them with stupendous miracles into the land of Canaan. They did not wish to hear anything about His heavenly kingdom, because they apprehended nothing but worldly things, for they were separated from charity.

[4] The Christian Church, however, in external worship does indeed adore the Lord’s Human as Divine, especially in the Holy Supper, because He said that the bread therein was His body, and the wine His blood; but in their doctrine they make His Human not Divine, for they make a distinction between the Divine nature and the human nature. The reason of this also is that the church has turned away from charity to faith, and at last to faith separate. And because they do not acknowledge the Lord’s Human to be Divine, many stumble and at heart deny Him (n. 4689). Nevertheless the truth is that the Lord’s Divine Human is the Divine coming-forth from the Divine being, spoken of above (n. 4687), and that He is the Divine being, for the Divine being and the Divine coming-forth are one, as also the Lord plainly teaches in John:

Jesus said to Philip, Have I been so long time with you, and hast thou not known Me? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:9-11);

and also in other places. For the Divine coming-forth is the Divine Itself proceeding from the Divine being, and in image is a Man; because heaven, of which it is the all, represents a Grand Man, as was said above (n. 4687), and has been shown at the end of the chapters, in the correspondence of all things in man therewith.

[5] The Lord was indeed born as is another man, and had an infirm human from the mother; but this human the Lord entirely cast out, so that He was no longer the son of Mary, and made the Human in Himself Divine, which is meant by His being glorified; and He also showed to Peter, James, and John, when He was transfigured, that He was a Divine Man.