Apocalypse Explained#608
608. Verse 6 (Revelation 10:6). And he sware by Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages, signifies the verity from His own Divine. This is evident from the signification of "to swear," as being a strong assertion and confirmation, and in reference to the Lord the verity (of which presently); also from the signification of "Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages," as being the Divine from eternity, which alone lives, and which is the source of life to all in the universe, both angels and men. (That this is signified by "Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages" may be seen above, n. 289, 291, 349.) That "to swear" signifies asseveration and confirmation, but here verity (since it is the Lord that is meant by the angel that swears), can be seen from this, that "to swear" means to asseverate and confirm that a thing is so, and when done by the Lord means Divine verity; for oaths are made only by those who are not interiorly in truth itself, that is, by those who are not interior but only exterior men; consequently they are never made by angels, still less by the Lord; but He is said in the Word to swear, and the Israelites were allowed to swear by God, because they were only exterior men, and because the asseveration and confirmation of the internal man, when it comes into the external, falls into the form of an oath. In the Israelitish Church all things were external, representing and signifying things internal. The Word in the sense of the letter is similar. From this it can be seen that "the angel sware by Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages" cannot mean that he thus sware, but that he said in himself that this is verity, and that when this came down into the natural sphere it was changed, according to correspondences, into the form of an oath.
[2] Now as "to swear" is only an external corresponding to the confirmation that belongs to the mind of the internal man, and is therefore significative of that, so in the Word of the Old Testament it is said to be lawful to swear by God, yea, that God Himself is said to swear. That this signifies confirmation, asseveration and simply verity, or that it is true, can be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:
Jehovah hath sworn by His right hand and by the arm of His strength (Isaiah 62:8).
In Jeremiah:
Jehovah of Hosts hath sworn by His soul (Jeremiah 51:14; Amos 6:8).
In Amos:
The Lord Jehovih hath sworn by His holiness (Amos 4:2).
In the same:
Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob (Amos 8:7).
In Jeremiah:
Behold, I have sworn by My great name (Jeremiah 44:26).
Jehovah is said "to have sworn by His right hand," "by His soul," "by His holiness," and "by His name," to signify by Divine verity; for "the right hand of Jehovah," "the arm of His strength," "His holiness," "His name," and "His soul," mean the Lord in relation to Divine truth, thus Divine truth proceeding from the Lord; the like is meant by "the excellency of Jacob," for "the mighty One of Jacob" means the Lord in relation to Divine truth.
[3] That "to swear," in reference to Jehovah, signifies confirmation by Himself, that is, from His Divine, is evident in Isaiah:
By Myself have I sworn, the word has gone forth from My mouth, and shall not be recalled (Isaiah 45:23).
In Jeremiah:
By Myself I have sworn that this house shall become a desolation (Jeremiah 22:5).
Because "to swear" in reference to Jehovah signifies Divine verity it is said in David:
Jehovah hath sworn truth unto David, He turneth 1 not from it (Psalms 132:11).
[4] Jehovah God, or the Lord, never swears, for to swear is not becoming to God Himself, or the Divine verity; but when God, or the Divine verity, wills to have anything confirmed before men, then that confirmation in its descent into the natural sphere falls into the form or formula of an oath, such as is used in the world. This shows why it is said in the sense of the letter of the Word, which is the natural sense, that God swears, although He never swears. This, then, is the signification of "to swear" in reference to Jehovah or the Lord in the preceding passages, and also in the following. In Isaiah:
Jehovah of Hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass (Isaiah 14:24).
In David:
I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn unto David My servant. Lord, Thou hast sworn unto David in verity (Psalms 89:3, 35, 49).
In the same:
Jehovah hath sworn and will not repent (Psalms 110:4).
In Ezekiel:
I have sworn unto thee, and have entered into a covenant with thee, that thou mightest become Mine (Ezekiel 16:8).
In David:
Unto whom I have sworn in Mine anger (Psalms 95:11).
In Isaiah:
I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more pass over the earth (Isaiah 54:9).
In Luke:
To remember His holy covenant, the oath which He sware to Abraham our father (Luke 1:72, 73).
In David:
He hath remembered His covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath with Isaac (Psalms 105:8, 9).
In Jeremiah:
That I may establish the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers (Jeremiah 11:5; 32:22).
In Moses:
The land which I have sworn to give unto your fathers (Deuteronomy 1:35; 10:11; 11:9, 21; 26:3, 15; 31:20; 34:4).
[5] From this it can be seen what is meant by "the angel lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages," as it is likewise said in Daniel:
And I heard the man clothed in linen, that he held up his right hand and his left hand unto the heavens, and sware by Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages (Daniel 12:7);
as meaning to bear witness before the angels respecting the state of the church, that what follows is Divine verity.
[6] Because the church that was instituted with the sons of Israel was a representative church, in which all things that were commanded were natural things representing and signifying spiritual things, the sons of Israel, with whom that church existed, were permitted to swear by Jehovah, and by His name, likewise by the holy things of the church; and this represented and thus signified internal confirmation, and also verity, as can be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:
He that blesseth himself in the earth let him bless himself in the God of truth, and he that sweareth in the earth let him swear in the God of truth (Isaiah 65:16).
In Jeremiah:
Swear by the living Jehovah, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness (Jeremiah 4:2).
In Moses:
Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God, Him shalt thou serve, and shalt swear in His name (Deuteronomy 6:13; 10:20).
In Isaiah:
In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that swear to Jehovah of Hosts (Isaiah 19:18).
In Jeremiah:
If in learning they will learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, Jehovah liveth! (Jeremiah 12:16).
In David:
Everyone that sweareth by God shall glory, but the mouth of them that speak a lie shall be stopped (Psalms 63:11).
"To swear by God" here signifies to speak the truth, for it is added, "the mouth of them that speak a lie shall be stopped." (That they swore by God see also Genesis 21:23, 24, 31; Joshua 2:12; 9:20; Judges 21:7; 1 Kings 1:17.)
[7] As the ancients were allowed to swear by Jehovah God, it follows that it was an enormous evil to swear falsely or to swear to a lie, as is evident from these passages. In Malachi:
I will be a witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those that swear to a lie (Malachi 3:5).
In Moses:
Thou shalt not swear to a lie by My name, so that thou profane the name of thy God; also, Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain (Leviticus 19:12; Deuteronomy 5:11; Exodus 20:7; Zechariah 5:4).
In Jeremiah:
Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see whether there be any who say, By the living Jehovah; surely they swear by a lie. Thy sons have destroyed 2 Me, and sworn by one not God (Jeremiah 5:1, 2, 7).
In Hosea:
Israel, ye shall not swear, Jehovah liveth (Hosea 4:15).
In Zephaniah:
I will cut off them that swear by Jehovah, and that swear by their king, and them that are turned back from following Jehovah (Zephaniah 1:4-6).
In Zechariah:
Love not the oath of a lie (Zechariah 8:17).
In Isaiah:
Hear ye, O house of Jacob, who swear by the name of Jehovah, not in truth nor in righteousness (Isaiah 48:1).
In David:
The clean in hands and the pure in heart doth not lift up his soul unto vanity, nor swear with deceit (Psalms 24:4).
[8] From this it can be seen that the ancients, who were in the representatives and the significatives of the church, were permitted to swear by Jehovah God in order to bear witness to the truth, and by that oath it was signified that they thought what is true and willed what is good. Especially was this granted to the sons of Jacob, because they were wholly external and natural men, and not internal and spiritual; and merely external or natural men wish to have the truth confirmed and witnessed to by oaths; but internal or spiritual men do not wish this; indeed, they turn away from oaths and shudder at them, especially those in which God and the holy things of heaven and the church are appealed to, and are content with saying and with having it said that a thing is true, or that it is so.
[9] As swearing does not belong to the internal or spiritual man, and as the Lord, when He came into the world, taught men to be internal or spiritual, and to that end abrogated the externals of the church, and opened its internals, therefore He forbade swearing by God and by the holy things of heaven and the church. This is evident from these words of the Lord in Matthew:
Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not swear [falsely], but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oath; but I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by the heaven, for it is the throne of God; neither by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; neither by Jerusalem, for it is a city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black (Matthew 5:33-37).
Here the holy things by which one must not swear are mentioned, namely, "heaven," "earth," "Jerusalem," and the "head;" and "heaven" means the angelic heaven, wherefore it is called "the throne of God" (that "the throne of God" means that heaven, see above, n. 253, 462, 477); "the earth" means the church (See above, n. 29, 304, 413, 417), which is called therefore "the footstool of God's feet" (that "the footstool of God's feet" also means the church, see above, n. 606; "Jerusalem" means the doctrine of the church, wherefore it is called "the city of the great king" (that "city" means doctrine, see above, n. 223; and the "head" means intelligence therefrom (See above, n. 553, 577), therefore it is said "thou canst not make one hair white or black," which signifies that man of himself can understand nothing.
[10] Again, in the same:
Woe unto you, ye blind guides, for ye say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind; for whether is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And whosoever shall swear by the altar it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it he is a debtor. Ye fools and blind; whether is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? But whosoever sweareth by the altar sweareth by it and by everything thereon. And whosoever sweareth by the temple sweareth by it and by Him that dwelleth therein. And he that sweareth by heaven sweareth by the throne of God and by Him that sitteth thereon (Matthew 23:16-22).
One must not swear "by the temple and by the altar," because to swear by these was to swear by the Lord, by heaven, and by the church; for the "temple" in the highest sense means the Lord in relation to Divine truth, and in a relative sense heaven and the church in respect to truth, likewise all worship from Divine truth (See above, n. 220); and the "altar" signifies the Lord in relation to Divine good, and in a relative sense heaven and the church in respect to that good, likewise all worship from Divine good (See above, n. 391); and because by the Lord all Divine things that proceed from Him are meant, for He is in them and they are His, so he who swears by Him swears by all things that are His; likewise he who swears by heaven and by the church, swears by all the holy things that belong to heaven and the church, for heaven is the complex and containant of these things; so, in like manner, is the church; therefore it is said that the temple is greater than the gold of the temple, because the temple sanctifies the gold, and that the altar is greater than the gift which is upon it, because the altar sanctifies the gift.
脚注:
1. Latin has "turneth," the Hebrew "turn back," which is found in Arcana Coelestia 2842.
2. Latin has "destroyed," the Hebrew "forsaken. "
耶利米書第2章
2
你去向耶路撒冷人的耳中喊叫說,耶和華如此說:你幼年的恩愛,婚姻的愛情,你怎樣在曠野,在未曾耕種之地跟隨我,我都記得。
3
那時以色列歸耶和華為聖,作為土產初熟的果子;凡吞吃他的必算為有罪,災禍必臨到他們。這是耶和華說的。
5
耶和華如此說:你們的列祖見我有甚麼不義,竟遠離我,隨從虛無的神,自己成為虛妄的呢?
6
他們也不說:那領我們從埃及地上來,引導我們經過曠野,沙漠有深坑之地,和乾旱死蔭、無人經過、無人居住之地的耶和華在哪裡呢?
7
我領你們進入肥美之地,使你們得吃其中的果子和美物;但你們進入的時候就玷污我的地,使我的產業成為可憎的。
8
祭司都不說,耶和華在哪裡呢?傳講律法的都不認識我。官長違背我;先知藉巴力說預言,隨從無益的神。
10
你們且過到基提海島去察看,打發人往基達去留心查考,看曾有這樣的事沒有。
11
豈有一國換了他的神嗎?其實這不是神!但我的百姓將他們的榮耀換了那無益的神。
12
諸天哪,要因此驚奇,極其恐慌,甚為淒涼!這是耶和華說的。
13
因為我的百姓做了兩件惡事,就是離棄我這活水的泉源,為自己鑿出池子,是破裂不能存水的池子。
15
少壯獅子向他咆哮,大聲吼叫,使他的地荒涼;城邑也都焚燒,無人居住。
16
挪弗人和答比匿人也打破你的頭頂。
17
這事臨到你身上,不是你自招的嗎?不是因耶和華─你神引你行路的時候,你離棄他嗎?
18
現今你為何在埃及路上要喝西曷的水呢?你為何在亞述路上要喝大河的水呢?
19
你自己的惡必懲治你;你背道的事必責備你。由此可知可見,你離棄耶和華─你的神,不存敬畏我的心,乃為惡事,為苦事。這是主─萬軍之耶和華說的。
20
我在古時折斷你的軛,解開你的繩索。你說:我必不事奉耶和華;因為你在各高岡上、各青翠樹下屈身行淫(或譯:我在古時折斷你的軛,解開你的繩索,你就說:我必不事奉別神。誰知你在各高岡上、各青翠樹下仍屈身行淫)。
21
然而,我栽你是上等的葡萄樹,全然是真種子;你怎麼向我變為外邦葡萄樹的壞枝子呢?
22
你雖用鹼、多用肥皂洗濯,你罪孽的痕跡仍然在我面前顯出。這是主耶和華說的。
23
你怎能說:我沒有玷污、沒有隨從眾巴力?你看你谷中的路,就知道你所行的如何。你是快行的獨峰駝,狂奔亂走。
24
你是野驢,慣在曠野,慾心發動就吸風;起性的時候誰能使牠轉去呢?凡尋找牠的必不致疲乏;在牠的月分必能尋見。
25
我說:你不要使腳上無鞋,喉嚨乾渴。你倒說:這是枉然。我喜愛別神,我必隨從他們。
26
賊被捉拿,怎樣羞愧,﹞以色列家和他們的君王、首領、祭司、先知也都照樣羞愧。
27
他們向木頭說:你是我的父;向石頭說:你是生我的。他們以背向我,不以面向我;及至遭遇患難的時候卻說:起來拯救我們。
28
你為自己做的神在哪裡呢?你遭遇患難的時候,叫他們起來拯救你罷!猶大啊,你神的數目與你城的數目相等。
30
我責打你們的兒女是徒然的,他們不受懲治。你們自己的刀吞滅你們的先知,好像殘害的獅子。
31
這世代的人哪,你們要看明耶和華的話。我豈向以色列作曠野呢?或作幽暗之地呢?我的百姓為何說:我們脫離約束,再不歸向你了?
32
處女豈能忘記他的妝飾呢?新婦豈能忘記他的美衣呢?我的百姓卻忘記了我無數的日子!
33
你怎麼修飾你的道路要求愛情呢?就是惡劣的婦人你也叫他們行你的路。
34
並且你的衣襟上有無辜窮人的血;你殺他們並不是遇見他們挖窟窿,乃是因這一切的事。
35
你還說:我無辜;耶和華的怒氣必定向我消了。看哪,我必審問你;因你自說:我沒有犯罪。