558. And the voice of their wings was as the voice of chariots of many horses running to battle.- That this signifies reasonings as though from truths of doctrine understood from the Word for which they must zealously combat, is evident from the signification of the voice of wings, as denoting reasonings, concerning which in what follows; and from the signification of the voice of chariots, as denoting doctrinals or truths of doctrine from the Word, concerning which also in what follows; and from the signification of horses, as denoting the understanding of the Word; see above (n. 355, 364, 372, 373, 381, 382); and from the signification of running to battle, as denoting the eagerness of combating, for war signifies spiritual combat, and to run denotes eagerness for it. From these considerations it is evident that the voice of their wings being as the voice of chariots of many horses running to battle, signifies reasonings as though from truths of doctrine understood from the Word, for which they must zealously fight. In order that these things may be understood, it must be observed, that spiritual combats, which are for truths against falsities, are maintained from the Word, and are confirmed by a series of arguments and conclusions, by which the mind is enlightened and fully convinced. This, therefore, is the signification of the voice of their wings being as the voice of chariots of many horses running to battle. The reasonings of the sensual man from falsities and on behalf of falsities, appear, in external form, to be quite similar to those of the spiritual man, but in the internal they are altogether dissimilar, for they do not possess any series of arguments and conclusions, but only persuasions derived from sensual scientifics, with which the mind is infatuated but not convinced; the nature of these scientifics will be explained in the following article. That wings signify spiritual truths, and that hence the voice of wings signifies discussions from them, consequently reasonings, and in the highest sense the Divine Spiritual, which is the Divine Truth, may be seen above (n. 283). But that chariots signify doctrinals, or truths of doctrine, was shown above (n. 355), when explaining the signification of a horse, as denoting the Intellectual, and, where the Word is treated of, as denoting the understanding of the Word.

2807. 'Abraham said, God will see for Himself to the animal for a burnt offering, my son' means the reply: The Divine Human will provide those who are to be sanctified. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing to for oneself', when used in reference to God, as foreseeing and providing - for 'to see' in the internal sense nearest to the literal means to understand, 2150, 2325, whereas in the sense yet more interior it means having faith, 897, 2325, while in the highest sense it means foreseeing and providing; and also from the meaning of 'the animal for a burnt offering' as those members of the human race who are to be sanctified, dealt with just above in 2805. That 'the animal for a burnt offering' is here used to mean those who are spiritual is evident from what follows. The kinds of animals used for burnt offering and sacrifice each had a different meaning. That is to say, a lamb meant one thing, a sheep another, a kid and she-goat another, a ram and he-goat another, an ox yet another, as did a young bull and a calf. And young pigeons and turtle doves had meanings different again. It is quite clear that each kind of animal had its own meaning from the fact that it was laid down explicitly which kind were to be sacrificed on each particular day, at each particular religious festival, when atonement was being made, cleansing effected, inauguration carried out, and all other occasions. Which kinds were to be used on which occasions would never have been laid down so explicitly unless each one had possessed some specific meaning.

[2] Clearly all the religious observances or forms of external worship which existed in the Ancient Church, and subsequently in the Jewish, represented the Lord, so that the burnt offerings and sacrifices in particular represented Him since these were the chief forms of worship among the Hebrew nation. And because they represented the Lord they also at the same time represented among men those things that are the Lord's, that is to say, the celestial things of love, and the spiritual things of faith, and as a consequence of this represented the people themselves who were celestial and spiritual or who ought to have been so. This is why 'the animal' here means those who are spiritual, that is, those who belong to the Lord's spiritual Church. As regards 'God will see for Himself to the animal for a burnt offering, my son' meaning that the Divine Human will provide them, this is clear from the fact that here it is not said that 'Jehovah' will see to it but that 'God' will do so. When both of these names occur, as they do in this chapter, Jehovah is used to mean the same as 'the Father', and God the same as 'the Son', so that here the Divine Human is meant; and a further reason for the usage is that the spiritual man, whose salvation comes from the Divine Human, is the subject, see 2661, 2716.