9408. 'And it was like the substance of the sky for clearness' means the translucence of the angelic heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'the sky (or heaven)' as the angelic heaven, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'clearness' or purity of substance, when said of the sky, as translucence. What the translucence of the angelic heaven is when the Word is the subject must be stated briefly. The angelic heaven is said to be translucent when God's truth shines through; for the whole of heaven is nothing other than a receptacle of God's truth. Each angel is an individual recipient of it, so that all the angels or heaven as a whole is a general recipient. This explains why heaven is called 'God's dwelling-place' and also 'God's throne'. For 'dwelling-place' means God's truth emanating from the Lord and received in the inmost heaven, which in comparison is good, 8269, 8309; and 'throne' means God's truth emanating from the Lord and received in the middle heaven, 5313, 6397, 8625, 9039. Since that which shines through, out of the sense of the letter of the Word, is God's truth as it exists in the heavens, it is the angelic heaven that shines through. For the Word is Divine Truth adjusted to all the heavens, and as a consequence of this it joins the heavens to the world, that is, angels to men, 2143, 7153, 7381, 8920, 9094 (end), 9212 (end), 9216 (end), 9357, 9396. From all this it is evident what the words 'the translucence of the angelic heaven' are used to mean.

[2] The reasons why in the internal sense 'the sky (or heaven)' means the angelic heaven lie with correspondence and also with the appearance. So it is that where the words 'heavens' and 'heavens of heavens' occur in the Word the angelic heavens are meant in the internal sense. For the ancients had no other idea of the visible sky than this, that the inhabitants of heaven lived there and that the stars were their dwelling-places. At the present day too, simple people - especially young children - have the same idea. So it is also that people look upwards to the sky or heaven when they worship God. This action too arises from correspondence; for a sky with stars appears in the next life, but this is not the sky seen by people in the world. Instead it is a sky that takes on an appearance which accords with the spirits and angels' state of intelligence and wisdom. The stars in it are cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, and the clouds which are sometimes seen in the sky vary in meaning according to their colours, translucence, and movements, the blue of the sky being truth transparent with good. All this goes to prove that by 'heavens' the angelic heavens are meant. But by the angelic heavens God's truths are meant, because angels are recipients of God's truth emanating from the Lord.

[3] Similar things are meant by 'heavens' in David,

Praise Jehovah, heavens of heavens, and waters that are above the heavens! Psalms 148:4.

In the same author,

Make melody to the Lord who rides above the heaven of the heaven of old. Psalms 68:33.

In the same author,

By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the spirit ¹ of His mouth. Psalms 33:6.

In the same prophet,

The heavens recount His glory, and the firmament declares the works of His hands. Psalms 19:1.

In the Book of Judges,

O Jehovah, when You went forth from Seir, the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, the clouds indeed dropped water. Judges 5:4.

In Daniel,

The horn of the he-goat grew right on towards the host of the heavens, and cast down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them. Daniel 8:10.

In Amos,

The Lord Jehovih, who builds His steps in the heavens ... Amos 9:6.

In Malachi,

If there is food in My house I will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing for you. Malachi 3:10.

In Isaiah,

Look out from the heavens, and see from the dwelling-place of Your holiness and of Your glory. Isaiah 63:15.

In Moses,

Blessed by Jehovah is the land of Joseph, in regard to the precious things of heaven, to the dew. Deuteronomy 33:13.

In Matthew,

Jesus said, You shall not swear by heaven, for it is God's throne. He who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by Him who sits on it. Matthew 5:32; 23:22.

[4] In these and very many other places 'heavens' means the angelic heavens. And since the Lord's heaven on earth is the Church, the Church too is meant by 'heaven', as in the following places: In John,

I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away. Revelation 21:1.

In Isaiah,

Behold, I am creating new heavens and a new earth; therefore the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. ² Isaiah 65:17.

In the same prophet,

The heavens will vanish away like smoke, and the earth will grow old like a garment. Isaiah 51:6.

In the same prophet,

I clothe heaven with darkness, and I make sackcloth its covering. Isaiah 50:3.

In Ezekiel,

I will cover the heavens, and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. And all the bright lights in heaven I will make dark, and I will put darkness over the land. Ezekiel 32:7-8.

In Matthew,

After the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matthew 24:29.

What the meaning is of 'sun', 'moon', 'stars', and 'in the heavens', see 4056-4060.

In Isaiah,

O Jehovah God of Israel, You are God alone over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Isaiah 37:16.

In the same prophet,

[I am] Jehovah who makes all things, who spreads out the heavens Alone, who stretches out the earth by Myself. Isaiah 44:24.

In the same prophet,

Jehovah who created the heavens, who formed the earth, and made it, and prepared it, did not create it an emptiness. Isaiah 45:18.

[5] In the internal sense 'heaven and earth' in these and other places means the Church, the internal Church being meant by 'heaven' and the external Church by 'earth', see 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535. From all this it is evident that by creation in the earliest chapters of Genesis, where it says, In the beginning God created heaven and earth, Genesis 1:1, And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, Genesis 2:1, a new Church is meant. For creation there describes regeneration, which is also called the new creation, as has been shown and may be seen in the explanations of those chapters.

4847. 'In case he also dies, like his brothers' means fear lest it should perish, that is to say, that the representative of the Church among those descended from Jacob, specifically among those descended from Jacob through Judah, should perish. This is clear from the meaning of 'in case he dies' as fear lest it may perish. As regards the perishing of the representative of the Church among those descended from Jacob if the internal things of a genuine representative Church were linked to it, this implies that among those descended from Jacob a representative Church was to have been established like that which had existed with the ancients. But the disposition of that nation was such that its only wish was to worship and adore external things; it had no wish to know anything at all about internal ones, since it was immersed in desires belonging to self-love and love of the world, and in falsities that resulted from these. It believed, more than gentiles did, that a number of gods existed, but that Jehovah was greater than the rest because He could perform greater miracles. This was why as soon as the miracles ended, or when - because they were of frequent and common occurrence - little importance was placed on them, that nation instantly turned to other gods, as one can see quite clearly from the historical and prophetical parts of the Word.

[2] Such being the nature of that nation, a representative Church like that which had existed among the ancients could not be established among it, only that which was a representative of the Church. Also, the Lord made provision so that through that representative of the Church some degree of communication with heaven might be established; for what is representative can exist even in people who are evil because one does not look at the person who represents, only at the reality represented by him. From this it is evident that in the case of that nation worship was nothing else than idolatrous, 4825, even though the representatives held holy and Divine realities within them. To that kind of worship - to idolatrous worship - what was internal could not be joined; for if what was internal had been linked to it, that is, if they had acknowledged internal things, they would have rendered holy things unholy. For a holy internal, if joined to an idolatrous external, is rendered unholy.

This explains why internal things were not disclosed to that nation, for if these had been disclosed to it, it would have perished.

[3] The inability of that nation to receive and acknowledge internal things, however fully these might have been revealed to them, is quite evident from members of it at the present day. At the present day they do, it is true, have a knowledge of internal things since they live among Christians; yet they reject these things and also deride them. Even the majority of those who have been converted do nothing else in their hearts. From these considerations it is clear that a Church representative of spiritual and celestial things did not exist among that nation, only a representative of the Church, that is, an external without an internal, which in itself is idolatrous. From them it may also be seen how mistaken is the thinking of those Christians who believe that when the Church reaches its end the Jewish nation will be converted, and will at that time be chosen in preference to Christians. Even more mistaken is the thinking of those who believe that at that time the Messiah or Lord is going to appear to them, when by means of a great prophet and great miracles He is going to lead them back into the land of Canaan. These are the errors that people fall into who take 'Judah', 'Israel', and 'the land of Canaan' in the prophetical parts of the Word to mean Judah, Israel, and the land of Canaan, and who consequently believe the literal sense alone and have no interest in any internal sense