12. Over de Verlichting door het Woord.

28. Elk mens die in geestelijke aandoening van het ware is, dat is, die het ware zelf lief heeft omdat het waar is, wordt verlicht uit de Heer terwijl hij het Woord leest. Niet echter de mens die alleen vanuit een natuurlijke aandoening van het ware, die de begeerte tot weten wordt geheten, dit leest. Deze ziet niets anders dan hetgeen samenstemt met zijn liefde of met de beginselen die hij òf zelf opgevat heeft, òf uit anderen door gehoor of door lezing geput heeft. Met enkele dingen zal daarom gezegd worden vanwaar en welke mens verlichting heeft door het Woord. Die mens heeft verlichting die de boze dingen schuwt omdat zij zonden zijn, en omdat zij tegen de Heer zijn, en tegen Zijn Goddelijke wetten. Bij deze en niet bij een ander wordt het geestelijk gemoed geopend, en voor zoveel dit wordt geopend, treedt het hemels licht binnen, en vanuit het hemels licht is alle verlichting in het Woord; want dan heeft de mens de wil van het goede. Deze wil wordt, wanneer hij tot dat nut wordt bepaald, in het verstand eerst aandoening van het ware, daarna doorvatting van het ware, en kort daarop door middel van het redelijk licht denking van het ware, aldus beslissing en conclusie, die bij het overgaan daaruit in het geheugen en tegelijk ook in het leven overgaat, en aldus blijft. Dit is de weg van alle verlichting in het Woord, en ook de weg van de hervorming en de wederverwekking van de mensen; maar het is noodzakelijk dat tevoren in het geheugen erkentenissen zijn, zowel van geestelijke als van natuurlijke dingen, want deze zijn de voorraadkamers waarin de Heer door middel van het hemels licht werkt, en hoe voller deze zijn, en zonder bevestigde valse dingen, des te verlichter doorvatting wordt gegeven en des te zekerder conclusie. Immers, de Goddelijke werking valt niet in een ledige en ijle mens, als hij bijvoorbeeld niet weet dat de Heer zuivere Liefde is, en zuivere Barmhartigheid, het Goede zelf en het Ware zelf, en dat de Liefde zelf en het Goede zelf in zijn wezen zodanig is, dat het niet aan iemand het boze kan doen, noch toornen en wraak nemen. Wie niet weet dat het Woord in de letterlijke zin op verscheidene plaatsen is vanuit aanschijnen; die kan niet worden verlicht in het Woord. Waar gezegd wordt over Jehova dat hij ontsteekt en toomt, en dat Hij vuur en woede heeft, dat Zijn toorn gloeit tot aan de laagste hel [zoals bij David], en dat er niet een boze is in de stad dat Jehova niet gedaan heeft [Amos 3:6], dat de Heer zich zal verblijden om boos te doen zoals Hij zich verblijd heeft om wel te doen [Deut. 28:63], en dat Hij ons in verzoekingen leidt, zoals in het Onze Vader, en evenzo in de overige dingen.

5545. Note. In the prefaces to the doctrine it is said that there are many things there that are matters to be understood for the reason that angels have understanding when they have wisdom and intelligence; and that it is the person's faculty of understanding that is enlightened by the Lord when he or she reads the Word. Nothing comes directly. The intellect exists for the purpose of receiving the truths that pertain to faith, and the will exists for the purpose of receiving the good qualities that pertain to love. And it was said that ¹ without such a faculty of understanding, a decision as to what is true could never be made, since on the basis of the Word's literal sense one can draw the conclusion that whatever one proposes to oneself is the truth, as for example that there is fury in Jehovah and it burns down to hell as said in David, ² and that He rejoices to do evil just as He had rejoiced to do good, Deut. 28:63, and so in very many other places. This is the reason that [in the literal sense] there are things that are to be understood also.

脚注:

10551. 'And so it was, when Moses entered the tent, that the pillar of cloud came down, and stood at the door of the tent, and talked to Moses' means that when the Word had gone beyond what they were capable of understanding, extremely poor visibility descended on them as they stood outside, and yet there was clear perception from within. This is clear from the meaning of 'when Moses entered the tent' as when the Word had gone beyond what they were capable of understanding, dealt with immediately above in 10550; from the meaning of 'the pillar of cloud' as extremely poor visibility so far as that nation was concerned, for by 'cloud' the outward sense of the Word is meant, see Preface to Genesis 18, and 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343(end), 6752, 8443, 8781, and also the poor visibility of the Word so far as those who have no enlightenment are concerned, and its extremely poor visibility so far as those with whom the outward sense of the Word is separated from the inward are concerned, 6832, 8106, 8814, 8819, 9430; from the meaning of 'standing at the door' as being outside, dealt with above in 10549; and from the meaning of 'talking to Moses' as clear perception from within. For the Word - as it is essentially - is meant by 'Moses', see 9372, while perceiving is meant by 'talking', see in the places referred to in 10290. The reason why 'from within' is meant is that Moses, to whom 'the pillar of cloud' talked, was within the tent.

[2] What it is to see from without and to perceive from within must be stated. Those who have enlightenment when they read the Word see it from within; for their internal has been opened, and when the internal has been opened it dwells in the light of heaven. This light flows in and brings enlightenment, though the person is not conscious of its doing so. He is not conscious of this because that light flows into the cognitions or knowledge present in the human memory, which however dwell in natural light. And since the person feels, when he uses them to think with, that he does so all by himself he cannot be aware of the influx; yet there are various indications enabling him to know that he has been given enlightenment. But anyone at all who supposes that he has enlightenment is mistaken if he does not love to know truth for its own sake and for the sake of leading a good life, thus if he does not love Divine Truth for life's sake. For leading a life in keeping with Divine Truths derived from the Word constitutes loving the Lord; and from the Lord, when He is loved, springs all enlightenment.

[3] Those however who do not see a life in keeping with Divine Truths derived from the Word as the end in view, but position, gain, and reputation as the end in view and the Divine Truths of the Word therefore as the means, cannot possibly possess any enlightenment. This end is worldly and bodily, and not spiritual and heavenly. Consequently it closes off their internal man, and once this is closed no light from heaven can flow in and bring enlightenment. If these people suppose that they are enlightened when they read the Word they are completely mistaken; for their thought is inspired not by heaven but by the world, and so springs not from the Lord but from self. And to the extent that it springs from self and the world it is the product of natural light separated from heavenly light; and natural light separated from heavenly light constitutes thickest darkness in spiritual matters. If these people are convinced that they have seen something as a result of having been enlightened they are mistaken. For the only way that they perceive whether anything is true is with the aid of proofs supplied by others, which is to see truth from without and not from within, or else with the aid of faith that is no more than persuasion, the nature of which may be seen in 9363-9369. Such people are able to see falsity as truth and truth as falsity, and also to see evil as good and good as evil.

[4] From all this it is clear what seeing the Word from without is and perceiving it from within is. Seeing it from without is what is meant when it says that the people stood, [each] at the door of [his] tent, and looked after Moses, and also that they saw the pillar of cloud standing at the door of the tent, and they bowed down, [each] at the door of [his] tent. But perceiving the Word from within is what is meant when it says that Moses entered the tent, and that the pillar of cloud at the door of the tent talked to Moses.

[5] A brief statement must also be made about the way in which the influx bringing enlightenment operates. Angels equally with men perceive the Word when it is read; but angels do so on a spiritual level, men on a natural level. A person whose internal has been opened also perceives it on a spiritual level, though he is not conscious of doing so while he lives in the world because his spiritual thought flows into his natural thought in the external man and manifests itself within this. Nevertheless that interior thought is what enlightens and is the channel through which influx from the Lord operates. Some learned people by looking into their own thoughts and reflecting on what they see have also noticed that the human being possesses interior thought which is not overt. They have therefore called the ideas composing it immaterial and intellectual ¹ , distinguishing them from the overt ideas composing exterior thought, which they have called natural and material. But they have not known that the ideas composing interior thought are spiritual, nor that when these flow down from their own level they are converted into natural ones and then take on a different shape and appearance. These considerations show to some extent the way in which the influx bringing enlightenment operates.

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