Concerning The Word (series) Pt. 7

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The Word is such because in its origin it is the Divine itself that proceeds from the Lord, and is called the Divine truth. When this descended to men in the world it passed through the heavens in their order according to their degrees, which are three. In each heaven it was written there in accommodation to the wisdom and intelligence of the angels. Finally it was brought down from the Lord through the heavens to men, and there it was written and promulgated in adaptation to man's understanding and apprehension. This, therefore, is the sense of its letter, and in this, the Divine truth such as it is in the three heavens, lies stored up in distinct order.

From this, it is clear that all the wisdom of the angels in the three heavens has been imparted by the Lord to our Word, and in its inmost there is the wisdom of the angels of the third heaven, which is incomprehensible and ineffable to man, because full of arcana and treasures of Divine verities. These lie stored up in each particular and in all the particulars of our Word.

As the Divine truth is the Lord in the heavens, so the Lord Himself is present, and may be said to dwell in all the particulars and each particular of His Word, as He does in His heavens. In the same way as He has said of the ark of the Covenant, in which were deposited only the Ten Commandments written on the two tables, the first fruits of the Word, for He said that He would speak there with Moses and Aaron, that He would be present there, that He would dwell there, and that it was His holy of holies, and His dwelling place as in heaven.

(to be continued)
(Apocalypse Explained 1073:2)

Concerning The Word (series) Pt. 6

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

That the Word is holy and Divine from inmosts to outermosts is not evident to the man who leads himself, but is evident to the man whom the Lord leads. For the man who leads himself sees only the external of the Word, and judges from its style; but the man whom the Lord leads judges of the external of the Word from the holiness that is in it. The Word is like a garden, that may be called a heavenly paradise, in which are dainties and delightful things of every kind, dainties from the fruits, and delightful things from the flowers; and in the middle of it trees of life, and near them fountains of living water, and round about trees of the forest, and near them rivers. The man who leads himself judges of that paradise, which is the Word, from its circumference, where the trees of the forest are; but the man whom the Lord leads judges of it from the middle of it, where the trees of life are. The man whom the Lord leads is actually in the middle of it, and looks to the Lord; but the man who leads himself actually sits down at the circumference, and looks away from it to the world.

Again, the Word is like fruit within which there is a nutritious pulp, and in the middle of it seed vessels, in which inmostly is a living germ that germinates in good soil. Again, the Word is also like a most beautiful infant, which, except the face, is enveloped in wrappings upon wrappings; the infant itself is in the inmost heaven, the wrappings are in the lower heavens, and the general covering of the wrappings is on the earth. As the Word is such, it is holy and Divine from inmosts to the externals.

(to be continued)
(Apocalypse Explained 1072:2, 3)

Concerning The Word (series) Pt. 5

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:1, 2, 14)

But as the world does not know how the words [here] in John 1:1, 2, 14 that the Lord is the Word, are to be understood, this shall be further explained.

It is known in the church that God is good itself and truth itself, and thus that all the good that an angel has and that a man has is from God, and likewise all truth. Now since the Lord is God, He is also the Divine good and the Divine truth; and this is what is meant by "the Word, that was with God, and was God," and also was "the light that enlighteneth every man," and that also "became flesh," that is, Man in the world. That when the Lord was in the world He was the Divine truth, which is the Word, He Himself teaches in many passages where He calls Himself "the Light," also where He calls Himself "the Way, the Truth, and the Life;" and where He says that "the Spirit of truth" proceeds from Him. "The Spirit of truth" is the Divine truth. When the Lord was transfigured He represented the Word, "His face that shone as the sun" represented its Divine good; and "His garments, which were bright as the light" and "white as snow," represented its Divine truth. "Moses and Elijah," who then talked with the Lord, also signified the Word, "Moses" the historical Word, and "Elijah" the prophetic Word. Moreover, all things of the Lord's passion represented the kind of violence that the Jewish nation offered to the Word. Again, the Lord from Divine truth, which He is, is called "God," "King," and "Angel," and is meant by "the rock in Horeb," and "the rock" where Peter is spoken of. All this makes clear that the Lord is the Word, because He is the Divine truth. The Word in the letter, which is with us, is the Divine truth in ultimates.

(to be continued)
(Apocalypse Explained 1070:2)