937. That "Moses" signifies the Word of the Old Testament can be seen from certain passages in the Word in which he is mentioned. But in some passages "Moses" means the law in the strictest sense, which is the law given from Mount Sinai; in others, the law in a broader sense, which is the historical Word; while here the Word of the Old Testament, both historical and prophetical, is meant. "Moses" signifies the Word because the Ten Commandments, and afterwards the Five Books, which were the first part of the Word, were not from him but from the Lord through him. That Moses is mentioned instead of the law and the Word, is evident from the following passages. In Luke:

Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. If they hear not Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded if one should rise from the dead (Luke 16:29, 31).

Here "Moses and the prophets" have a like meaning as the "law and the prophets" elsewhere, namely, the historical and prophetical Word. In the same:

Jesus, beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, interpreted in all the Scriptures the things that pertained to Himself (Luke 24:27).

In the same:

All things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms concerning Me (Luke 24:44)

In John:

Philip said, We have found Jesus, of whom Moses in the law did write (John 1:45).

In the same:

In the law Moses commanded us (John 8:5).

In Daniel:

The curse hath flowed down upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us (Daniel 9:11, 13).

In Joshua:

Joshua wrote upon the stone of the altar a copy of the law of Moses (Joshua 8:32).

In John:

Moses gave to you the law. Moses gave you the circumcision. If a man receive circumcision on the sabbath, that the law of Moses might not be broken (John 7:19, 22, 33).

In Mark:

Moses hath said, Honor thy father and thy mother (Mark 7:10).

[2] That which was from the Lord through Moses was attributed to Moses because of the representation; therefore the terms "the law of Moses" and "the law of the Lord" are both used in Luke:

When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought Him up to Jerusalem, (as it is written in the law of the Lord, that every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord), that they might offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons (Luke 2:22-24, 39).

[3] Because Moses represented the law it was permitted him to come into the presence of the Lord on Mount Sinai, and not only to receive there the Tables of the Law, but also to hear the statutes and judgments of the law, and command them to the people; and it is added, that they might therefore believe in Moses forever:

Jehovah said unto Moses, Lo, I will come unto thee in the mist of a cloud, that the people may hear when I shall speak unto thee, and may also believe in thee forever (Exodus 19:9).

It is said "in the mist of a cloud," because a "cloud" signifies the Word in the letter. So when Moses came into the presence of the Lord on Mount Sinai:

He entered into the cloud (Exodus 20:21; 24:2, 18; 34:2-5).

(That "cloud" signifies the sense of the letter of the Word see above, n. 36, 594, 905, 906.)

[4] Because Moses represented the Lord as to the law or the Word, therefore:

When he came down from Mount Sinai the skin of his face shone; therefore when he spoke with the people he put a veil over his face (Exodus 34:28-35).

"The shining of the face" signified the internal of the law, for that is in the light of heaven. He veiled his face when he spoke with the people because the internal of the Word was covered and thus obscured to that people to protect them from anything of its light.

[5] Because Moses represented the Lord as to the historical Word, and Elijah the Lord as to the prophetical Word, when the Lord was transfigured Moses and Elijah were seen talking with Him (Matthew 17:3). When the Lord's Divine was manifested in the world, only those who signified the Word could talk with the Lord, because discourse with the Lord is by means of the Word. (That Elijah represented the Lord as to the Word, see n. 624.)

[6] Because Moses and Elijah taken together represented the Word, where Elijah is spoken of as the one sent before the Lord, both are mentioned, in Malachi:

Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, the statutes and the judgments. Lo, I send to you Elijah the prophet, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes (Malachi 4:4-6).

Elijah the prophet means John the Baptist; because he, like Elijah, represented the Word (See above, n. 624, 724).

6343. 'You are my might' means that through faith comes the power which good possesses. This is clear from the representation of Reuben, to whom 'you' refers here, as faith in the understanding, referred to immediately above in 6342; and from the meaning of 'might' as the power which good possesses. As regards power - the power to think and will, perceive, do what is good, believe, dispel falsities and evils - it comes wholly from good through truth, good being its primary source and truth merely the channel through which it comes, 3563, 4931, 5623. The reason the power that good possesses is meant is that 'might' means that power, whereas 'strength' means the power of truth. Thus it is that 'the beginning of my strength', which comes next, means the initial power that truth possesses; for the word used in the original language to express 'strength' has reference in the Word to truth, whereas the word used to express 'might' has reference to good.

[2] The fact that the Word is holy, extremely holy in its inner senses, is plainly evident from the consideration that the heavenly marriage, which is the marriage of goodness and truth, thus heaven itself, is present within every detail of the Word. In the inmost sense every detail embodies the marriage of the Lord's Divine Human with His kingdom and Church; indeed the theme in the highest sense of all is the union of the Divine Itself and the Divine Human within the Lord. These extremely holy subjects contained in every detail of the Word are a plain indication that the Word has come down from the Divine. The truth of all this may be recognized from the consideration that where good is spoken of, so too is truth, and where what is internal is spoken of, so too is what is external. Also, there are expressions which always mean good, those which always mean truth, and those which mean both - both good and truth. Or if they do not mean them directly, they are nevertheless used with reference to them or else imply them. And such reference of those expressions to good and truth or their meaning them directly shows that every detail, as has been stated, embodies the marriage of goodness and truth, which is the heavenly marriage, and that the inmost and highest sense holds the Divine marriage which exists in the Lord, thus holds the Lord Himself, within it.

[3] All this reveals itself in every part of the Word, yet not plainly except in those places where the repetition of some matter occurs that is no more than a change of words, as in the present chapter, where Reuben is dealt with,

You are my might, and the beginning of my strength.

Also,

Excelling in eminence and excelling in worth.

Here 'might' is used in reference to good, and 'strength' to truth; 'excelling in eminence' is used in reference to truth, and 'excelling in worth' to good. Likewise in the next verse regarding Reuben,

You went up to your father's bed; at that time you profaned it - he went up to my couch.

Similarly further on, where Simeon and Levi are dealt with,

Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is hard. I will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel. Verse 7.

Here 'anger' means a turning away from good and 'wrath' a turning away from truth. 'Jacob' is the external aspect of the Church and 'Israel' the internal aspect of it. Then where Judah is dealt with,

Your brothers will praise you; your father's sons will bow down to you. Verse 8.

Further on,

He binds his young ass to the vine, and the foal of his she-ass to the outstanding vine; he washes his clothing in wine, and his garment in the blood of grapes. Verse 11.

Where Zebulun is dealt with,

He will dwell at the haven of the seas, and he will be at the haven of ships. Verse 13.

Where Dan is dealt with,

He will be a serpent on the road, a darting serpent on the path. Verse 17.

[4] Similar examples occur frequently in the Psalms and among the Prophets, as in Isaiah,

Babel will not be dwelt in ever again, it will not be lived in even from generation to generation. Its time is near and about to come, and its days will not be prolonged. Isaiah 13:20, 22.

In the same prophet,

Search from above in the Book of Jehovah, and read: None of these will be missing, not one will not be left longing for its mate; ¹ for He has commanded with His mouth, and His Spirit has gathered them. The Same has cast the lot for them, and His hand has distributed to them by means of a measuring rod. Even for ever they will possess it, from generation to generation they will dwell in it. Isaiah 34:16-17.

More examples may be found in a thousand other places. Anyone who does not know that expressions are used in the Word to mean spiritual and celestial realities, and that some are used to refer to good but others to truth, will inevitably think that such usages are no more than repetitions that serve solely as fillers and so are in themselves meaningless. Thus it is that people who think ill of the Word also add this to the arguments they use in vilifying it. Yet utterly Divine things are concealed within those repetitions; that is to say, the heavenly marriage, which is heaven itself, and the Divine Marriage, which is the Lord Himself, are concealed in them. This [highest] sense is 'the glory' in which the Lord is present, while the literal sense is 'the cloud' in which that glory is present, Matthew 24:30; Luke 21:27. See Preface to Genesis 18, and also 5922.

脚注: