THE LIBRARY OF LIGHT
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DOCTRINE OF THE LORD
Emanuel Swedenborg
1763
www.cosmic-people.com
www.angels-heaven.org
CONTENTS
(1)
Universal Holy Scripture treats of the Lord; the Lord is in the Word (nos. 1-7)
(2)
Its being said that the Lord fulfilled all things of the law means that he fulfilled all things of the Word (8-11)
(3)
The Lord came into the world to subjugate the hells and to glorify his human (12-14)
(4)
By the Passion of the cross the Lord did not take away sins, but bore them (15-17)
(5)
The imputation of the Lord’s merit is nothing but the remission of sins after repentance (18)
(6)
The Lord in respect to the divine human is called the son of God; and in respect to the Word, the son of man (19-28)
(7)
The Lord made Divine his human from the Divine that was in himself, and thus became one with the Father (29-36)
(8)
The Lord is God himself, from whom and concerning whom is the Word (37-44)
(9)
God is one, and the Lord is that God (45)
(10)
The Holy Spirit is the Divine proceeding from the Lord, and this is the Lord himself (46-54)
(11)
The doctrine of the Athanasian Creed agrees with the truth (55-61)
(12)
By the “new Jerusalem” (spoken of in Revelation) is meant a new church (62-64)
(*)
Index of Scripture Passages
(**)
Translator’s Prefatory Note to the Nine Questions
(***)
Nine Questions
DOCTRINE OF THE LORD
Universal Holy Scripture treats of the Lord: the Lord is the Word
1. We read in John:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not (John 1:1-5).
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 1:14).
The light is come into the world and men loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil (John 3:19).
While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be sons of light. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in me should not abide in the darkness (John 12:36, 46).
From these passages it is evident that the Lord is God from eternity, and that this God is the selfsame Lord who was born in the world; for it is said that the Word was with God, and God was the Word, and also that without him was not anything made that was made; and it is added that the Word was made flesh, and they beheld him.
It is but little understood in the church why the Lord is called the Word. It is because “the Word” signifies Divine truth or Divine wisdom, and the Lord is Divine truth itself or Divine wisdom itself. And this is why he is called the light, of which also it is said that it came into the world. As the Divine wisdom and the Divine love make a one,3 and in the Lord had been a one from eternity, it is said, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” “Life” is Divine love; and “light” is Divine wisdom. It is this one that is meant by, “In the beginning the Word was with God, and God was the Word.” “With God” is in God; for wisdom is in love, and love in wisdom. So in another place in John:
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was (John 17:5).
“With thine own self” is in thyself, and therefore it is said, “and God was the Word”; and elsewhere, that the Lord is in the Father, and the Father in him; and that he and the Father are one. As therefore the Word is the Divine wisdom of the Divine love, it follows that it is Jehovah himself, thus the Lord by whom all things were made that are made; for all things have been created from Divine love by means of Divine wisdom.
2. That the Word here specifically meant is the same Word that was manifested by means of Moses, the prophets, and the evangelists, is very evident from the fact that the Word is the Divine truth itself from which angels have all their wisdom, and men all their spiritual intelligence. For this same Word that is among men in this world is also among the angels in the heavens, but in this world among men it is natural, whereas in the heavens it is spiritual. And as the Word is the Divine truth, it is also the Divine proceeding;4 and this is not only from the Lord, but is also the Lord himself; and being the Lord himself, it follows that each and all things of the Word have been written concerning him alone. From Isaiah to Malachi there is nothing that is not either concerning the Lord, or, in the opposite sense, against him. Hitherto no one has ever seen this to be so, and yet everyone can see it, provided he is aware of it, and thinks of it while he is reading, especially if he knows that the Word contains not only a natural but also a spiritual sense, and that in this sense the names of persons and places signify something of the Lord, and, derivatively, something of heaven and the church from him, or else some thing opposite to them. As all things of the Word both in general and in particular treat of the Lord and as the Word, being the Divine truth, is the Lord, it is evident why it is said, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory”; and also why it is said, “While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be sons of light: I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in me should not abide in the darkness.” The “light” is the Divine truth, thus the Word. This is why even at this day everyone who, while reading the Word, approaches the Lord alone and prays to him, is enlightened in the Word.
3. Briefly stated, the subjects concerning the Lord that are treated of in all the prophets of the Old Testament, from Isaiah to Malachi, both in general and in particular, are these:
(a) The Lord came into the world in the fullness of times, which was when he was no longer known by the Jews, and when, consequently, there was nothing of the church left; and unless he had then come into the world and revealed himself, mankind would have perished in eternal death. As he himself says in John: “Except ye believe that I am, ye shall die in your sins” (8:24).
(b) The Lord came into the world to execute a last judgment, and thereby to subdue the existing dominance of the hells; which was effected by means of combats (that is, temptations) admitted into his maternal human, and the attendant continual victories; for unless the hells had been subjugated no man could have been saved.
(c) The Lord came into the world in order to glorify his human, that is, unite it to the Divine which was in him from conception.
(d) The Lord came into the world in order to set up a new church which should acknowledge him as the redeemer and savior, and be redeemed and saved through love to him and faith in him.
(e) He at the same time reduced heaven into order, so that it made a one with the church.
(f) The passion of the cross was the last combat or temptation, by means of which he completely conquered the hells and fully glorified his human.
In the following small work on the holy Scripture it will be seen that the Word treats of no other subjects than these.
4. In confirmation of this, I shall in this first chapter merely adduce passages from the Word which contain the expressions “that day,” “in that day,” and “in that time”; in which, by “day,” and “time,” is meant the Lord’s advent. In Isaiah:
It shall come to pass in the futurity of days that the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established in the top of the mountains. Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day. The day of Jehovah of armies shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty. In that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver and of gold (Isa. 2:2, 11-12, 20).
In that day the Lord Jehovih will take away their ornament (Isa. 3:18).
In that day shall the branch of Jehovah be beautiful and glorious (Isa. 4:2).
In that day it shall roar against him, and he shall look unto the land, and behold darkness and distress, and the light shall be darkened in the ruins (Isa. 5:30).
It shall come to pass in that day that Jehovah shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt. In that day the Lord shall shave in the crossings of the river. In that day he shall vivify. In that day every place shall be for briers and thorns (Isa. 7:18, 20-21, 23).
What will ye do in the day of visitation, which shall come? In that day Israel shall stay upon Jehovah, the holy one of Israel, in truth (Isa. 10:3, 20).
It shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, which standeth for an ensign of the peoples, shall the nations seek, and his rest shall be glory. Chiefly in that day shall the Lord seek again the remnant of his people (Isa. 11:10-11).
In that day thou shalt say, I will confess unto thee, O Jehovah. In that day shall ye say, Confess ye to Jehovah, call upon his name (Isa. 12:1, 4).
The day of Jehovah is at hand, as a laying waste from Shaddai shall it come. Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel, and of indignation, and of wrath, and of anger. I will move the heaven, and the earth shall be shaken out of her place, in the day of the wrath of his anger. His time is near, and it cometh, and the days shall not be prolonged (Isa. 13:6, 9, 13, 22).
It shall come to pass in that day, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin. In that day shall a man look unto his maker, and his eyes to the holy one of Israel. In that day shall the cities of refuge be as the forsaken places of the forest (Isa. 17:4, 7, 9).
In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak with the lip of Canaan. In that day there shall be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of Egypt. In that day there shall be a path from Egypt to Assyria, and Israel shall be in the midst of the land (Isa. 19:18-19, 23-24).
The inhabitant of the island shall say in that day, Behold our expectation (Isa. 20:6).
A day of tumult, and of treading down, and of perplexity, from the Lord Jehovih of armies (Isa. 22:5).
In that day shall Jehovah visit upon the army of the height, and upon the kings of the earth. After a multitude of days shall they be visited; then shall the moon blush, and the sun be ashamed (Isa. 24:21-23).
It shall be said5 in that day, Lo, this is our God, for whom we have waited, that he may deliver us (Isa. 25:9).
In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah, We have a strong city (Isa. 26:1).
In that day Jehovah shall visit with his sword. In that day ye shall answer to it, A vineyard of unmixed wine (Isa. 27:1-2, 12-13).
In that day shall Jehovah of armies be for a crown of ornament, and for a diadem (Isa. 28:5).
In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of darkness (Isa. 29:18).
There shall be streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers shall fall; and the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, in the day that Jehovah shall bind up the hurt of his people (Isa. 30:25-26).
In that day they shall cast away every man his idols of silver and of gold (Isa. 31:7).
The day of Jehovah’s vengeance, the year of his recompenses (Isa. 34:8).
These two things shall come to thee in one day, the loss of children and widowhood (Isa. 47:9).
My people shall know my name, and in that day that I am he that doth speak; behold it is I (Isa. 52:6).
Jehovah hath anointed me to proclaim the acceptable year of Jehovah, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn (Isa. 61:1-2).
The day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come (Isa. 63:4).
In Jeremiah:
In those days ye shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of Jehovah. In that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah. In those days the house of Judah shall walk to the house of Israel (Jer. 3:16-18).
In that day the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes, and the priests shall be amazed, and the prophets (Jer. 4:9).
Behold the days come in which the land shall become a waste (Jer. 7:32, 34).
They shall fall among them that fall, in the day of their visitation (Jer. 8:12).
Behold the days come that I will visit all that is circumcised with what is uncircumcised (Jer. 9:25).
In the time of their visitation they shall perish (Jer. 10:15).
There shall be no remains to them, I will bring evil upon them in the year of their visitation (Jer. 11:23).
Behold, the days come in which it shall no more be said (Jer. 16:14).
I will look upon them in the nape, and not the faces, in the day of their destruction (Jer. 18:17).
Behold, the days come in which I will give this place for a waste (Jer. 19:6).
Behold, the days come that I will raise unto David a righteous offshoot, who shall reign as king. In those days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. Therefore, behold, the days come that they shall no more say . . . I will bring evil upon them in the year of their visitation. In the end of days ye shall understand intelligence (Jer. 23:5-7, 12, 20).
Behold, the days come in which I will turn again. Alas! for that day is great, and none shall be like it. It shall come to pass in that day that I will break the yoke, and burst the bonds (Jer. 30:3, 7-8).
There shall be a day that the watchman upon Mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, let us ascend Zion, unto Jehovah our God. Behold, the days come that I will make a new covenant. Behold, the days come that the city shall be built to Jehovah (Jer. 31:6, 31, 38).
The days come that I will establish the good word. In those days and at that time, will I make a righteous offshoot unto David. In those days shall Judah be saved (Jer. 33:14-16).
I will bring words against this city for evil in that day. But I will deliver thee in that day (Jer. 39:16-17).
That day is to the Lord Jehovih of armies a day of vengeance, that he will take vengeance of his enemies. The day of destruction has come upon them, the time of their visitation (Jer. 46:10, 21).
Because of the day that cometh to lay waste (Jer. 47:4).
I will bring upon him the year of visitation. Yet I will bring again his captivity in the end of days (Jer. 48:44, 47).
I will bring destruction upon them in the time of their visitation. Her young men shall fall in the streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day. In the end of days I will bring again their captivity (Jer. 49:8, 26, 39).
In those days, and in that time, the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah shall come together, and shall seek Jehovah their God. In those days, and in that time, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none. Woe unto them, for their day is come, the time of their visitation (Jer. 50:4, 20, 27, 31).
They are vanity, a work of errors, in the time of their visitation they shall perish (Jer. 51:18).
In Ezekiel:
An end is come, the end is come, the morning cometh upon thee, the time is come, the day of tumult is near. Behold the day, behold it cometh, the morning hath gone forth, the rod hath blossomed, violence hath budded. The day is come, the time is come upon all the multitude thereof. Their silver and gold shall not deliver them in the day of the anger of Jehovah (Ezek. 7:6, 7, 10, 12, 19).
They said of the prophet, The vision that he seeth shall come to pass after many days; he prophesieth for times that are far off (Ezek. 12:27).
They shall not stand in the war in the day of the anger of Jehovah (Ezek. 13:5).
Thou, O deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day is done, in the time of the iniquity of the end (Ezek. 21:25).
A city that sheddeth blood in the midst of her, that her time may come; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, so that thou art come to thy years (Ezek. 22:3-4).
Shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength? In that day he that escapeth shall come unto thee to the instructing of thine ears. In that day shall thy mouth be opened together with him that is escaped (Ezek. 24:25-27).
In that day will I cause a horn to grow unto the house of Israel (Ezek. 29:21).
Howl ye, Woe worth the day, for the day of Jehovah is near, the day of Jehovah is near, a day of cloud. It shall be the time of the nations. In that day shall messengers go forth from me (Ezek. 30:2-3, 9).
In the day in which thou shalt go down into hell (Ezek. 31:15).
I will search for my flock in the day that he shall be in the midst of his flock; and I will deliver them out of all places whither they have been scattered, in the day of cloud and of thick darkness (Ezek. 34:11-12).
In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities (Ezek. 36:33).
Prophesy and say, In that day when my people Israel shall sit securely, shalt thou not know it? In the futurity of days I will lead thee into my land. In that day, even the day when Gog shall come upon the land. In my zeal, in the fire of mine indignation, if not in this day, there shall be a great earthquake upon the land of Israel (Ezek. 38:14, 16, 18-19).
Behold, it cometh, this day of which I have spoken. It shall come to pass in that day that I will give unto Gog a place for burial in the land of Israel, so that the house of Israel shall know that I am Jehovah their God, from that day and forward (Ezek. 39:8, 11, 22).
In Daniel:
God in the heavens hath revealed secrets, what shall be in the futurity of days (Dan. 2:28).
The time came that the saints possessed the kingdom (Dan. 7:22).
Attend, for at the time of the end shall be the vision. And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the anger, for at the time appointed shall the end be. The vision of the evening and the morning is truth; shut thou up the vision, for it shall be for many days (Dan. 8:17, 19, 26).
I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the end of days; for the vision is yet for days (Dan. 10:14).
The intelligent shall be proved to purge and cleanse them, even to the time of the end, because it is yet for the time appointed (Dan. 11:35).
At that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince who standeth for the sons of thy people, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation. At that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book (Dan. 12:1).
Thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end. But from the time that the continual [burnt offering] shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh waste be set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Thou shall arise into thy lot at the end of the days (Dan. 12:4, 11, 13).
In Hosea:
I will make an end of the kingdom of the house of Israel. In that day I will break the bow of Israel. Great shall be the day of Jezreel (Hos. 1:4-5, 11).
In that day thou shalt call me, my husband. In that day I will make a covenant for them. In that day I will hear (Hos. 2:16, 18, 21).
The sons of Israel shall return, and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king, in the end of days (Hos. 3:5).
Come, and let us return unto Jehovah; after two days he will revive us; in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him (Hos. 6:1-2).
The days of visitation are come; the days of retribution are come (Hos. 9:7).
In Joel:
Alas for the day, for the day of Jehovah is at hand, and as a laying waste from Shaddai shall it come (Joel 1:15).
The day of Jehovah cometh, nigh is the day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of cloud and of obscurity. The day of Jehovah is great and very terrible, and who can endure it? (Joel 2:1, 2, 11).
Upon the servants, and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah is come (Joel 2:29, 31).
Behold, in those days, and in that time, which I will bring back, I will gather all nations. The day of Jehovah is near. It shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop new wine (Joel 3:1-2, 14, 18).
In Obadiah:
Shall I not in that day destroy the wise men out of Edom? Neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over them in the day of their destruction, in the day of their distress. For the day of Jehovah is near upon all the nations (Obad. 8, 12, 15).
In Amos:
He that is courageous in his heart shall flee away naked in that day (Amos 2:16).
In the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him (Amos 3:14).
Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! What to you is the day of Jehovah? It is one of darkness, and not of light. Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light, even thick darkness, and no brightness in it? (Amos 5:18, 20.)
The songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day. In that day I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the day of light. In that day shall the beautiful virgins and the young men faint for thirst (Amos 8:3, 9, 13).
In that day I will raise up the tent of David that is fallen. Behold, the days come that the mountains shall drop new wine (Amos 9:11, 13).
In Micah:
In that day shall one lament, We be utterly laid waste (Micah 2:4).
In the end of days the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established at the head of the mountains. In that day will I gather her that halteth (Micah 4:1, 6).
In that day I will cut off thy horses and thy chariots (Micah 5:10).
The day of thy watchmen, and thy visitation, cometh. The day is at hand for building thy walls. In that day he shall come even to thee (Micah 7:4, 11-12).
In Habakkuk:
The vision is yet for an appointed time, and at the end it shall speak; though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not delay (Hab. 2:3).
O Jehovah do thy work in the midst of the years; in the midst of the years make known; God cometh (Hab. 3:2-3).
In Zephaniah:
The day of Jehovah is at hand. In the day of Jehovah’s sacrifice I will visit upon the princes, and upon the king’s sons. In that day there shall be the voice of a cry. At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps. The great day of Jehovah is near. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of cloud and overclouding, a day of the trumpet and of sounding. In the day of Jehovah’s wrath the whole land shall be devoured, and he shall make a speedy end of all them that dwell in the land (Zeph. 1:7-8, 10, 12, 14-16, 18).
Before the day of Jehovah’s anger has come upon us, it may be ye shall be hid in the day of Jehovah’s anger (Zeph. 2:2-3).
Wait ye upon me until the day that I rise up to the prey, for it is my judgment. In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy works. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not. At that time I will deal with thine oppressors. At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I gather you; for I will make you a name, and a praise (Zeph. 3:8, 11, 16, 19-20).
In Zechariah:
Many nations shall cleave to Jehovah in that day (Zech. 2:11).
I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day shall ye cry every man to his companion under the vine and under the fig tree (Zech. 3:9-10).
In those days ten men shall take hold of the skirt of a man that is a Jew (Zech. 8:23).
Jehovah their God shall serve them in that day, as the flock of his people (Zech. 9:16).
My covenant was broken in that day (Zech. 11:11).
In that day will I make Jerusalem a stone of burden for all peoples. In that day I will smite every horse with astonishment. In that day will I make the leaders of Judah like a furnace of fire among the wood. In that day shall Jehovah defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In that day I will seek to destroy all nations. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem (Zech. 12:3-4, 6, 8, 9, 11).
In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in that day I will cut off the names of the idols in the land. In that day the prophets shall be ashamed (Zech. 13:1-4).
Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh. His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives. In that day there shall not be light and brightness; but it shall be one day which shall be known unto Jehovah; not day, nor night, at evening time there shall be light. In that day living waters shall go out from Jerusalem. In that day there shall be one Jehovah, and his name one. In that day there shall be a great tumult from Jehovah. In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness unto Jehovah. In that day there shall be no more a Canaanite in the house of Jehovah (Zech. 14:1, 4, 6-9, 13, 20-21).
In Malachi:
Who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth? They shall be mine in the day wherein I do make a peculiar treasure. Behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven. Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah (Mal. 3:2, 17; 4:1, 5).
In David:
In his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace, and he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth (Ps. 72:7-8, besides other places).
5. In these passages by “day” and “time” is meant the advent of the Lord. By a “day” or “time” of darkness, of thick darkness, of gloom, of no light, of laying waste, of the end of iniquity, of destruction, is meant the advent of the Lord when he was no longer known, and when consequently there was no longer anything of the church left. By “a day” cruel, terrible, of wrath, of anger, of tumult, of visitation, of sacrifice, of recompense, of distress, of war, of a cry, is meant the advent of the Lord to judgment. By “the day” in which Jehovah alone shall be exalted, in which he shall be one and his name one, in which the offshoot of Jehovah shall be for beauty and glory, in which the righteous shall flourish, in which he shall vivify, in which he shall seek his flock, in which he shall make a new covenant, in which the mountains shall drop new wine, in which living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, in which they shall look unto the God of Israel, and many similar expressions, is meant the advent of the Lord to set up again a new church which will acknowledge him as the redeemer and savior.
6. To these passages may be added some which speak of the Lord’s advent more openly:
The Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name God-with-us (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:22-23).
Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, Hero, Father of eternity, Prince of peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it in judgment and justice, from henceforth and even to eternity (Isa. 9:6-7).
There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a shoot shall bear fruit out of his roots: and the spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might. Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and truth the girdle of his reins. Therefore it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, which standeth for an ensign of the peoples, shall the nations seek, and his rest shall be glory (Isa. 11:1-2, 5, 10).
Send ye the lamb of the ruler of the land, from the rock to the wilderness, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion. By mercy has the throne been established, and one shall sit upon it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness (Isa. 16:1, 5).
It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him that he may save us; this is Jehovah we have waited for him, we will rejoice and be glad in his salvation (Isa. 25:9).
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make plain in the solitude a pathway for our God. For the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. Behold, the Lord Jehovih will come in strength, and his arm shall rule for him; behold, his reward is with him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd (Isa. 40:3, 5, 10-11).
Mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I Jehovah have called thee in righteousness, and I will give thee for a covenant to the people, for a light to the nations, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the bound from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am Jehovah, this is my name, and my glory will I not give to another (Isa. 42:1, 6-8).
Who hath believed our word, and to whom is the arm of Jehovah revealed? He hath no form; we have seen him, but he hath no appearance. He hath borne our diseases, and carried our griefs (Isa. 53:1, 2, 4, to end).
Who is this that cometh from Edom, with sprinkled garments from Bozrah, marching in the greatness [multitudine] of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, great to save: for the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. So he became their savior (Isa. 63:1, 4, 8).
Behold, the days come that I will raise up to David a righteous offshoot, who shall reign a king, and shall prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth: and this is his name whereby they shall call him, Jehovah our righteousness (Jer. 23:5-6; 33:15-16).
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy king cometh unto thee, he is just and saved.6 He shall speak peace to the nations; and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth (Zech. 9:9-10).
Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Zion; lo, I come, that I may dwell in the midst of thee and many nations shall cleave to Jehovah in that day, and shall be my people (Zech. 2:10-11).
Thou Bethlehem Ephratah, little as thou art to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, and whose goings forth are from of old, from the days of eternity. He shall stand and feed in the strength of Jehovah (Micah 5:2, 4).
Behold, I send mine angel, who shall prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the angel of the covenant, whom ye have desired behold; he cometh, but who shall abide the day of his coming? Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah (Mal. 3:1-2; 4:5).
I saw, and behold, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages may worship him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed; and all dominions shall worship him, and obey him (Dan. 7:13-14, 27).
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to consummate the transgression, and to seal up the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the holy of holies. Know, therefore, and perceive, that from the going forth of the word to restore and build Jerusalem, unto messiah the prince, shall be seven weeks (Dan. 9:24-25).
I will set his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers: he shall cry unto me, Thou art my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. I also will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. His seed also will I make to endure to eternity, and his throne as the days of the heavens (Ps. 89:25-27, 29).
Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Jehovah shall send the scepter of thy strength out of Zion; rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thou art a priest to eternity after the manner of Melchizedek (Ps. 110:1-2, 4; Matt. 22:44; Luke 20:42).
I have anointed my king upon Zion, the mountain of my holiness; I will declare for a statute, Jehovah hath said unto me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee; I will give the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way; blessed are all they that put their trust in him (Ps. 2:6-8, 12).
Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, but hast crowned him with glory and honor; thou hast made him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet (Ps. 8:5-6).
Jehovah, remember David, who sware unto Jehovah, and vowed to the mighty one of Jacob, I shall not enter within the tent of my house, I shall not go up upon my couch, I shall not give sleep to mine eyes, until I find out a place for Jehovah, a habitation for the mighty one of Jacob. Lo, we heard of him at Ephratah, we found him in the fields of the forest. We will enter into his tabernacles, we will bow at his footstool. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness, and let thy saints shout for joy (Ps. 132:1-7, 9).
The passages here adduced, however, are but few.
7. That universal holy Scripture has been written solely about the Lord, will be more fully evident from what follows, especially from the things to be advanced in the small work on the holy Scripture. This is the one only source of the holiness of the Word, and is what is meant by the words
The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10).
Its being said that the Lord fulfilled all things of the law means that he fulfilled all things of the Word
8. At the present day many persons believe that when it is said of the Lord that he fulfilled the law, the meaning is that he fulfilled all the commandments of the Decalogue, and thus became righteousness, and also justified the men of this world through this matter of faith. This however is not the meaning. The meaning is that the Lord fulfilled all things written concerning himself in the law and the prophets, that is, in universal holy Scripture, because this treats solely of him, as has been said in the foregoing article. The reason why many have believed differently, is that they have not searched the Scriptures and seen what is there meant by “the law.” The law there means, in a restricted sense, the ten commandments of the Decalogue; in a wider sense, all things written by Moses in the five books; and in the widest sense, all things of the Word. It is well known that by the law in a restricted sense are meant the ten commandments of the Decalogue.
9. That by the law in a wider sense are meant all things written by Moses in his five books, is evident from the following passages. In Luke:
Abraham said to the rich man in hell, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them; if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead (Luke 16:29, 31).
In John:
Philip said to Nathanael, We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write (John 1:45).
In Matthew:
Think not that I am come to loosen the law and the prophets; I am not come to loosen, but to fulfill (Matt. 5:17).
All the prophets and the law prophesied until John (Matt.11:13).
In Luke:
The law and the prophets were until John; since then the kingdom of God is evangelized (Luke 16:16).
In Matthew:
All things whatsoever that ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets (Matt. 7:12).
Jesus said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matt. 22:37, 39-40).
In these passages, “Moses and the prophets,” and “the law and the prophets,” mean all things that have been written in the books of Moses and in the books of the prophets.
That “the law” specifically means all things that have been written by Moses, is further evident from the following passages. In Luke:
When the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were fulfilled, they brought Jesus to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; as it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord; and to offer a sacrifice, according to that which is said in the law of the Lord: A pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons. And the parents brought Jesus into the temple, to do for him after the custom of the law. And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord (Luke 2:22-24, 27, 39).
In John:
Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned (John 8:5). The law was given by Moses (John 1:17).
From these passages it appears that where such things are spoken of as are written in the books of Moses, they are sometimes called “the law,” and sometimes “Moses.”
(So also in Matt. 8:4; Mark 10:2-4; 12:19; Luke 20:28, 37; John 3:14; 7:19, 51; 8:17; 19:7.)
Many things that were also commanded are called by Moses “the law,” as:
Concerning the burnt offerings (Lev. 6:9; 7:37). Concerning the sacrifices (Lev. 6:25; 7:1-11). Concerning the meat offering (Lev. 6:14). Concerning leprosy (Lev. 14:2). Concerning jealousy (Num. 5:29-30). Concerning the Naziriteship (Num. 6:13, 21).
And Moses himself calls his books “the law”:
Moses wrote this law, and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah; and he said to them, Take the book of this law, and put it at the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah (Deut. 31:9, 11, 26).
It was placed at the side, because within the ark were the tables of stone, which in a restricted sense are the law. Afterwards the books of Moses are called “the book of the law”:
And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah. And when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, he rent his garments (2 Kings 22:8, 11; 23:24).
10. That by “the law,” in the widest sense, are meant all things of the Word, is evident from these passages:
Jesus said, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? (John 10:34). (This is written in Ps. 82:6.)
The multitude answered him, We have heard out of the law, that the Christ abideth forever (John 12:34). (This is written in Ps. 89:29; 110:4; and in Dan. 7:11, 14.)
That the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause (John 15:25). (This is written in Ps. 35:19.)
The Pharisees said, Have any of the rulers believed on him? But this multitude that knoweth not the law are cursed (John 7:48, 49).
It is easier for heaven and earth to pass than for one tittle of the law to fall (Luke 16:17). (Here “the law” means all holy Scripture.)
11. That the statement that the Lord fulfilled all things of the law means that he fulfilled all things of the Word is evident from passages where it is said that the Scripture was fulfilled by him, and that all things were consummated: as from the following:
Jesus went into the synagogue, and stood up to read, and there was delivered to him the book of the prophet Isaiah, and he unrolled the book, and found the place where it is written, The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me, he hath sent me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he rolled up the book and said, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears (Luke 4:16-21).
Search the Scriptures, for they testify of me (John 5:39).
That the Scripture may be fulfilled, he that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me (John 13:18).
None of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 17:12).
That the word might be fulfilled which he spake, Of them whom thou gavest me have I lost none (John 18:9).
Jesus said to Peter, Put up again thy sword into its place. How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled (Matt. 26:52, 54, 56).
The son of man goeth as it is written of him, that the Scriptures be fulfilled (Mark 14:21, 49).
Thus the Scripture was fulfilled which saith he was accounted among the transgressors (Mark 15:28; Luke 22:37).
That the Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They divided my garments among them, and upon my undervesture did they cast a lot (John 19:24).
After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now consummated, that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 19:28).
When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, It is consummated, that is, fulfilled (John 19:30).
These things were done, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. And again another Scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced (John 19:36-37).
Besides other places, where passages are adduced from the prophets, without its being at the same time said that the law, or the Scripture, was fulfilled.
That all the Word has been written about the Lord, and that he came into the world to fulfill it, he also taught his disciples before his departure, in these words:
Jesus said to his disciples, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:25-27).
Jesus said to his disciples, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me (Luke 24:44).
That in the world the Lord fulfilled all things of the Word, even to the veriest singulars7 of it, is evident from these his own words:
Verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall not pass from the law, till all things be accomplished (Matt. 5:18).
From these passages it may now be clearly seen that by its being said that the Lord fulfilled all things of the law is not meant that he fulfilled all the commandments of the Decalogue, but that he fulfilled all things of the Word.
The Lord came into the world to subjugate the hells and to glorify his human, and the passion of the cross was the final combat whereby he fully conquered the hells and fully glorified his human
12. It is known in the church that the Lord conquered death, by which is meant hell, and that he afterwards ascended in glory into heaven; but as yet it has not been known that it was by means of combats which are temptations that the Lord conquered death or hell, and at the same time by means of them glorified his human; and that the passion of the cross was the final combat or temptation by means of which he effected this conquest and this glorification. Of these temptations many things are said in the prophets and in David; but not so many in the evangelists. In these, the temptations which he endured from childhood are summarily described by his temptations in the wilderness, followed by those from the devil and the last of them by the things he suffered at Gethsemane and on the cross.
(Concerning his temptations in the wilderness, and by the devil, see Matt. 4:1-11; Mark 1:12, 13; and Luke 4:1-13.)
By these temptations, however, are meant all his temptations even to the last of them. He revealed no more to his disciples concerning them; for it is said in Isaiah:
He was oppressed, yet he opened not his mouth: as a lamb that is brought to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth (Isa. 53:7).
(Concerning his temptations at Gethsemane, see Matt. 26:36-44; Mark 14:32-42; and Luke 22:39-46. And concerning the temptations on the cross, see Matt. 27:33-50; Mark 15:22-37; Luke 23:33-49; and John 19:17-34.)
Temptations are nothing else than combats against the hells.8
13. That the Lord fully conquered the hells by the passion of the cross, he himself teaches in John:
Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out (John 12:31).
The Lord said this when the passion of the cross was at hand.
The prince of this world is judged (John 16:11).
Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (John 16:33).
In Luke:
Jesus said, I beheld satan fall as lightning from heaven (Luke 10:18).
The “world,” the “prince of the world,” “satan,” and “the devil” mean hell.
That by the passion of the cross the Lord also fully glorified his human, he teaches in John:
When Judas was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him; if God be glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and will straightway glorify him (John 13:31-32).
Father, the hour is come, glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee (John 17:1).
Now is my soul troubled; and he said, Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again (John 12:27-28).
In Luke:
Ought not the Christ to suffer this, and to enter into his glory? (Luke 24:26).
These things are said of the passion. Glorification is the unition of the Divine and the human; and therefore it is said, “and God will glorify him in himself.”
14. That the Lord came into the world to reduce into order all things in heaven, and derivatively on earth; that this was effected by means of combats against the hells, which were then infesting every man that came into the world and that went out of the world; and that he thereby became righteousness, and saved men, who otherwise could not have been saved, is foretold in many passages in the prophets, of which only a few shall be adduced.
[2] In Isaiah:
Who is this that cometh from Edom, with sprinkled garments from Bozrah; this that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there was not a man with me wherefore I have trodden them in mine anger, and trampled them in my wrath; therefore their victory is sprinkled upon my garments; for the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. Mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and I brought down their victory to the earth. He said, Lo, they are my people, sons; therefore he was their savior in his love, and in his pity, he redeemed them (Isa. 63:1-9).
These things are said of the Lord’s combats against the hells. The “apparel” in which he was “glorious,” and which was “red,” means the Word, to which violence had been done by the Jewish people. The actual combat against the hells, and the victory over them, are described by its being said that he “trod them in his anger, and trampled them in his wrath.” That he fought alone, and from his own power, is described by “of the people there was not a man with me, mine own arm brought salvation unto me, I brought down their victory to the earth.” That he thereby effected salvation and redemption is described by “therefore he was their savior; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them.” That this was the reason for his advent is described by “the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.”
[3] In Isaiah again:
He saw that there was not anyone, and he was amazed that there was none to interpose; therefore his own arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it upheld him; therefore he put on righteousness as a coat of mail, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on garments of vengeance, and clad himself with zeal as a cloak; then came the redeemer to Zion (Isa. 59:16-17, 20).
These words also treat of the Lord’s combats against the hells while he was in the world. That he fought against them from his own power is meant by, “he saw that there was not anyone, therefore his own arm brought salvation unto him.” That thereby he became righteousness is meant by “his righteousness, it upheld him, whence he put on righteousness as a coat of mail.” That he thus effected redemption is meant by “then came the redeemer to Zion.” [4] In Jeremiah:
They are dismayed, their strong ones were beaten down, they are fled a pace, and look not back: that day is to the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth a day of vengeance, that he may take vengeance of his enemies, and the sword shall devour, and be sated (Jer. 46:5, 10).
The Lord’s combat with the hells and his victory over them are described by its being said that they are dismayed, and that their strong ones being beaten down are fled apace, and looked not back. Their “strong ones,” and “enemies,” are the hells, for all there feel hatred against the Lord. His advent into the world for this purpose is meant by, “that day is to the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth a day of vengeance, that he may take vengeance of his enemies.”
[5] In Jeremiah:
Her young men shall fall in the streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day (Jer. 49:26).
In Joel:
Jehovah hath uttered his voice before his army; the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible; who therefore can endure it? (Joel 2:11).
In Zephaniah:
In the day of the sacrifice of Jehovah I will visit upon the princes, upon the king’s sons, upon all who are clothed with strange apparel. That day is a day of distress, a day of the trumpet and of sounding (Zeph. 1:8, 15-16).
In Zechariah:
Jehovah shall go forth, and fight against the nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before the faces of Jerusalem. Then shall ye flee into the valley of my mountains. In that day there shall not be light and brightness. And Jehovah shall be king over all the earth; in that day there shall be one Jehovah, and his name one (Zech. 14:3-6, 9).
These passages also treat of the Lord’s combats. “That day” means his advent. The Mount of Olives that was before the faces of Jerusalem was where the Lord was wont to tarry. (See Mark 13:3; 14:26; Luke 21:37; 22:39; John 8:1; and elsewhere.)
[6] In David:
The cords of death compassed me about, the cords of hell encompassed me, the snares of death forestalled me; therefore he sent out his arrows, and many lightnings, and discomfited them. I will pursue mine enemies, and catch them, neither will I turn until I have consumed them. I will smite them that they shall not be able to rise. Thou hast girded me with strength unto the war, and thou shalt put mine enemies to flight; I will beat them small as dust before the faces of the wind, as the mire of the streets I will enfeeble them (Ps. 18:5, 14, 37-40, 42).
The “cords” and “snares of death” that encompassed and forestalled signify temptations, which, being from hell, are called also “the cords of hell.” These and all other things in this whole Psalm treat of the Lord’s combats and victories; and therefore it is added, “Thou wilt make me the head of the nations; a people that have not known shall serve me” (verse 43).
[7] In David, again:
Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty one; thine arrows are sharp, the people shall fall under thee, from the heart of the king’s enemies. Thy throne is forever and to eternity: thou hast loved righteousness, wherefore God hath anointed thee (Ps. 45:3, 5-7).
These words also treat of combat with the hells, and of their subjugation; for this whole Psalm treats of the Lord, that is to say, of his combats, his glorification, and the salvation of the faithful by him. In David:
A fire shall go before him, it shall burn up his enemies round about; the earth shall see and shall fear; the mountains shall melt like wax before the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens shall declare his righteousness, and all the people shall see his glory (Ps. 97:3-6).
This Psalm likewise treats of the Lord, and of the like things.
[8] In David:
Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool; rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. The Lord at thy right hand hath smitten kings in the day of his anger; he hath filled with dead bodies, he hath smitten the head over much land (Ps. 110:1-2, 5-6).
That these words are said of the Lord, is evident from his own words in Matt. 22:44; Mark 12:36; and Luke 20:42. To “sit at the right hand,” signifies omnipotence; the “enemies” signify the hells; “kings,” those there who are in falsities of evil. To “make them his footstool,” “smite them in the day of anger,” and “fill with dead bodies,” signifies to destroy their power; and to “smite the head over much land,” signifies to destroy all.
[9] As the Lord alone conquered the hells, without the aid of any angel, he is called hero, and a man of wars (Isa. 42:13); the king of glory, Jehovah strong and mighty; a hero of war (Ps. 24:8, 10); the mighty one of Jacob (Ps. 132:2); and in many places, Jehovah Zebaoth, that is, Jehovah of the armies of war. His advent is also called the day of Jehovah terrible, cruel, of indignation, of wrath, of anger, of vengeance, of destruction, of war, of the sounding of the trumpet, of tumult, as may be seen from the passages quoted above in n. 4.
[10] As the last judgment executed by the Lord when he was in the world was effected by means of combats with the hells, and by their subjugation, this coming judgment is treated of in many passages. As in David:
Jehovah cometh to judge the earth; he shall judge the world in righteousness, and the people in truth (Ps. 96:13).
And so in many other passages. These are from the prophetical parts of the Word.
[11] In its historical parts like things are represented by the wars of the sons of Israel with various nations; for everything that is written in the Word, whether in prophecy or history, is written about the Lord; and this is why the Word is Divine. Many arcana of the Lord’s glorification are contained in the rituals of the Israelitish church, as for example in its burnt offerings and sacrifices, in its sabbaths and feasts, and in the priesthood of Aaron and the Levites; as they are also in all those other things in Moses which are called laws, judgments, and statutes; and this is what is meant by the Lord’s words to his disciples:
That he must needs fulfill all things which are written in the law of Moses concerning him (Luke 24:44)
and by his saying to the Jews that Moses “wrote of him” (John 5:46).
[12] From all this it is evident that the Lord came into the world to subjugate the hells, and to glorify his human; and that the passion of the cross was the final combat, by which he fully conquered the hells, and fully glorified his human. But more will be seen on this subject in the following small work on the holy Scripture, where are collected together all the passages from the prophetical Word that treat of the Lord’s combats with the hells and his victories over them; or, what is the same, that treat of the last judgment executed by him when he was in the world; and also those which treat of his passion, and of the glorification of his human, which are so numerous that if quoted they would fill pages.
By the passion of the cross the Lord did not take away sins, but bore them
15. Some persons within the church believe that by the passion of the cross the Lord took away sins, and made satisfaction to the Father, and so effected redemption; and some, that he transferred to himself, bore, and cast into the depths of the sea (that is, into hell), the sins of those who have faith in him. They confirm themselves in these notions by the words of John concerning Jesus:
Behold the lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world (John 1:29);
and by the Lord’s words in Isaiah:
He hath borne our diseases, and carried our sorrows: he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his wound has health been given us. Jehovah hath made to fall on him the iniquities of us all. He was oppressed [literally, he hath endured exaction], and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth he is led as a lamb to the slaughter. He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due, that he might deliver the wicked into their sepulcher, and the rich into their deaths; he shall see of the labor of his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall he justify many, in that he hath borne their iniquities. He hath poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors (Isa. 53:4-12).
Both these passages speak of the Lord’s temptations and passion; and by his taking away sins and diseases, and by the iniquities of all being made to fall on him, is meant the like as by his bearing sorrows and iniquities.
[2] Therefore it shall first be stated what is meant by bearing iniquities, and afterwards what by taking them away. To bear iniquities means to endure grievous temptations; and also to suffer the Jews to treat him as they had treated the Word, which they did because he was the Word. For the church as it then existed among the Jews was utterly devastated, and it was devastated by their having perverted all things of the Word, so that there was not any truth remaining; and therefore they did not acknowledge the Lord. This was meant and signified by all things of the Lord’s passion. The prophets were treated in a similar way, because they represented the Lord in respect to the Word, and derivatively in respect to the church, and the Lord was the prophet.
[3] That the Lord was the prophet is evident from the following passages:
Jesus said, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house (Matt. 13:57; Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24).
Jesus said, It cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem (Luke 13:33).
They said of Jesus, This is that prophet of Nazareth (Matt. 21:11; John 7:40).
Fear took hold on all; and they praised God, saying that a great prophet is risen up among us (Luke 7:16).
That a prophet should be raised up out of the midst of their brethren, whose words they shall obey (Deut. 18:15-19).
That the prophets underwent similar treatment, is evident from the things which follow.
[4] In order that he might represent the state of the church, the prophet Isaiah was commanded
To loose the sackcloth from off his loins, and to put off the shoe from his foot, and to walk naked and barefoot three years, for a sign and a wonder (Isa. 20:2-3).
In order that he might represent the state of the church, the prophet Jeremiah was commanded:
To buy for himself a girdle, and put it upon his loins, and not put it in water, and to hide it in a hole of the rock near the river Euphrates; and after many days he found it rotten (Jer. 13:1-7).
The same prophet represented the state of the church by
His not taking a wife in that place, nor entering into the house of mourning, neither going away to lament, nor entering into the house of feasting (Jer. 16:2, 5, 8).
[5] In order that he might represent the state of the church, the prophet Ezekiel was commanded
To cause a barber’s razor to pass upon his head, and upon his beard, and afterwards to divide it, and to burn the third part of it in the midst of the city, to smite a third part with a sword, and to scatter a third part in the wind; and that he should bind a few hairs in his skirts, and at last cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them (Ezek. 5:1-4).
In order that he might represent the state of the church, the same prophet was commanded
To make vessels of wandering, and to wander to another place in the eyes of the sons of Israel, and to bring forth the vessels by day, and go forth in the evening through a hole dug in the wall, and cover his face so that he should not see the earth, and that so he should be for a wonder to the house of Israel, and should say, I am your sign; like as I have done, so shall it be done unto you (Ezek. 12:3-7, 11).
[6] In order that he might represent the state of the church, the prophet Hosea was commanded
To take to himself a harlot for a wife, and he took her, and she bare him three sons, one of whom he called “Jezreel”; the second, “That hath not obtained mercy”; and the third, “Not my people” (Hos. 1:2-9).
And again he was commanded
To go and love a woman beloved of her companion, and an adulteress, whom he also bought for fifteen pieces of silver (Hos. 3:1-2).
[7] In order that he might represent the state of the church, the prophet Ezekiel was commanded
To take a tile, and engrave upon it Jerusalem, and to lay siege to it, and build a rampart and a mount against it, and to put an iron pan between himself and the city, and to lie on his left side three hundred and ninety days, and afterwards, on his right side, forty days. Also to take wheat, barley, lentils, millet, and spelt, and make bread thereof, which he should then eat by measure. And also that he should make for himself a barley cake with the dung of man; and because he prayed that it might not be so, he was commanded to make it with cow’s dung (Ezek. 4:1-15).
The prophets represented other things besides; as, for instance, Zedekiah, by
The horns of iron that he made for himself (1 Kings 22:11).
And another prophet, by being
Smitten and wounded, and by putting ashes upon his eyes (1 Kings 20:35-38).
[8] In general, the prophets represented the Word in its ultimate sense, which is the sense of the letter, by a garment of hair (Zech. 13:4); and therefore Elijah
Was clad in such a coat, and was girt about his loins with a leathern girdle (2 Kings 1:8);
and in like manner John the Baptist,
Who had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins, and ate locust and wild honey (Matt. 3:4).
From these things it is evident that the prophets represented the state of the church, and also the Word; for he who represents the one represents the other, because the church is from the Word, and is according to the reception of it in life and faith. Therefore prophets, wherever mentioned in both testaments, signify the doctrine of the church from the Word; and by the Lord, as the grand prophet, is signified the church itself, and the Word itself.
16. The state of the church from the Word thus represented in the prophets is what is meant by bearing the iniquities and sins of the people. That such is the case is evident from the things said of Isaiah the prophet:
That he went naked and barefoot three years, for a sign and a wonder (Isa. 20:3).
Of the prophet Ezekiel:
That he brought forth vessels of wandering, and covered his face so that he should not see the earth, and that so he was for a portent to the house of Israel, and also said, I am your portent (Ezek. 12:6, 11).
[2] That this was for them to bear iniquities, is plainly evident in Ezekiel, where that prophet is commanded to lie three hundred and ninety days, and forty days, upon his left side and upon his right respectively, against Jerusalem, and to eat a barley cake made with cow’s dung. As we read:
Lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it, thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days, that thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when thou hast accomplished them, thou shalt lie upon thy right side, so that thou bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days (Ezek. 4:4-6).
[3] That by his having thus borne the iniquities of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, the prophet did not take them away, and thus expiate them, but only represented and showed them, is evident from what there follows:
Thus saith Jehovah, The sons of Israel shall eat their unclean bread among the nations whither I will drive them. Behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, that they may lack bread and water, and be desolate a man and his brother, and consume away for their iniquity (Ezek. 4:13, 16-17).
[4] So when the same prophet showed himself, and said,
Behold, I am your portent, it is added, As I have done, so shall it be done unto them (Ezek. 12:6, 11).
The meaning is therefore the same where it is said of the Lord:
He hath borne our diseases, and carried our sorrows; Jehovah hath made to light on him the iniquities of us all; by his knowledge hath he justified many, in that he hath borne their iniquities (Isa. 53:4, 6, 11);
where, in this whole chapter, the Lord’s passion is treated of.
[5] That the Lord himself, as the grand prophet, represented the state of the church in respect to the Word is evident from all things of his passion; as that he was betrayed by Judas; that he was taken and condemned by the chief priests and elders; that they buffeted him; that they smote him on the head with a reed; that they put on him a crown of thorns; that they divided his garments, and cast lots for his undervesture; that they crucified him; that they gave him vinegar to drink; that they pierced his side; that he was buried; and that he rose again the third day.
[6] That he was betrayed by Judas signified that he was betrayed by the Jewish nation, among whom at that time was the Word, for Judas represented that nation. That he was taken and condemned by the chief priests and elders signified that he was so treated by the whole Jewish church. That they scourged him, spat in his face, buffeted him, and smote him on the head with a reed signified that they had done the like to the Word in respect to its Divine truths, all of which treat of the Lord. That they put on him a crown of thorns signified that they had falsified and adulterated those truths.
That they divided his garments, and cast lots for his undervesture signified that they had dispersed all the truths of the Word, but not its spiritual sense, which his undervesture signified. That they crucified him signified that they had destroyed and profaned the whole Word. That they offered him vinegar to drink signified that everything had become falsified and false; and therefore he did not drink it, and then said, It is finished. That they pierced his side signified that they had completely extinguished all the truth of the Word, and all its good. That he was buried signified the rejection of the residue of the maternal human. That he rose again the third day, signified his glorification.
[7] Similar things are signified by these things as foretold in the prophets and in David. And it was for the same reason that, after he had been scourged and brought out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe put on him by the soldiers, he said, Behold the man! (John 19:1, 5.) This he said because by “man” [hominem] is signified the church; for by “son of man” is signified the truth of the church, thus the Word. It is evident then from these things, that to bear iniquities means to represent and effigy in one’s self sins against the Divine truths of the Word. That the Lord endured and suffered such things as the son of man, and not as the son of God, will be seen in what follows; for “the son of man” signifies the Lord in respect to the Word.
17. Something shall now be said of what is meant by taking away sins. To take away sins means the same as to redeem man, and to save him; for the Lord came into the world to render salvation possible to man. Without his advent no mortal could have been reformed and regenerated, and so saved. But this became possible after the Lord had deprived the devil (that is, hell) of all his power; and had glorified his human, that is, had united it to the Divine of his Father. If these things had not been done, no man would have been capable of permanently receiving any Divine truth, still less any Divine good; for the devil, whose power was previously the stronger, would have plucked it out of his heart.
[2] From what has been said it is evident that the Lord did not take away sins by the passion of the cross; but that he takes them away, that is, removes them, in those who believe in him by living according to his commandments; as he also teaches in Matthew:
Think not that I am come to loosen the law and the prophets. Whosoever shall loosen the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of the heavens; but whosoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 5:17, 19).
[3] Who cannot see from reason alone, provided he is in some enlightenment, that sins cannot be taken away from a man except by actual repentance, which consists in his seeing his sins, imploring the Lord’s help, and desisting from them? To see, believe, and teach otherwise, is not from the Word, nor from sound reason, but from cupidity and a depraved will, which are proper to man, and from this comes the debasement of his intelligence.
The imputation of the Lord’s merit is nothing but the remission of sins after repentance
18. It is believed in the church that the Lord was sent by the Father to make an atonement for the human race, and that this was effected by his fulfilling the law, and by the passion of the cross; and that in this way he took away condemnation, and made satisfaction; and that without this expiation, satisfaction, and propitiation, the human race would have perished in eternal death, and this on account of justice which by some is called vengeful justice. It is true that without the Lord’s advent all in the world would have perished; but how it is to be understood that the Lord fulfilled all things of the law, and why he suffered the cross, may be seen above, in chapters 2 and 3, which show that it was not on account of any vengeful justice, because this is not a Divine attribute. Divine attributes are justice, love, mercy, and good; and God is justice itself, love itself, mercy itself, and good itself; and where these are, there is not anything of vengeance, and therefore no vengeful justice.
[2] As the fulfilling of the law, and the passion of the cross, have hitherto been understood by many to mean that by these two things the Lord made satisfaction for mankind, and took away the condemnation that had been foreseen or appointed, there has followed from the connection, and also from the principle that man is saved by mere faith that it is so, the dogma of the imputation of the Lord’s merit by our receiving, as for satisfaction, these two things that belong to his merit. But this dogma is refuted by what has been said about the fulfilling of the law by the Lord, and about his passion of the cross. At the same time we can see that the imputation of merit is a phrase destitute of meaning, unless there is meant by it the remission of sins after repentance. For nothing of the Lord can be imputed to man; but salvation can be awarded him by the Lord after he has performed repentance, that is, after he has seen and acknowledged his sins, and has then desisted from them, and this from the Lord. Then is salvation awarded him; not that he is saved by his own merit or righteousness, but by the Lord, who alone has fought and conquered the hells, and who alone still fights for man, and conquers the hells for him.
[3] These things are the Lord’s merit and righteousness, and they never can be imputed to man; for if they were, the Lord’s merit and righteousness would be imputed to man as if they were his; and this is never done, nor can be done. If imputation were possible, an impenitent and wicked man could impute the Lord’s merit to himself, and so think himself justified, and yet this would be to defile what is holy with things profane, and to profane the Lord’s name; for it would be to keep the thought fixed on the Lord, and the will in hell, and yet the will is the whole man. There is a faith of God, and a faith of man; those have the faith of God who perform repentance; and those the faith of man who do not perform repentance, and yet think of imputation; and the faith of God is a living faith, and the faith of man is a dead faith.
[4] That the Lord himself, and his disciples, preached repentance and the remission of sins, is evident from the following passages:
Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand (Matt. 4:17).
John said, Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance; and now is the axe laid to the root of the trees; every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire (Luke 3:8-9).
Jesus said, Except ye repent, ye shall all perish (Luke 13:3, 5).
Jesus, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, said, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the gospel (Mark 1:14-15).
Jesus sent out the disciples, who went forth and preached that men should repent (Mark 6:12).
Jesus said to the apostles that they must preach in his name repentance and the remission of sins among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem (Luke 24:47).
John preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins (Luke 3:3; Mark 1:4).
By “baptism” is meant spiritual washing, which is a washing from sins, and is called regeneration.
[5] Repentance and the remission of sins are thus described by the Lord in John:
He came unto his own, but his own received him not; but to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name; who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:11-13).
By “his own” are meant those who were then of the church, where was the Word; by “the sons of God” and “those who believe in his name” are meant those who believe in the Lord, and who believe the Word; by “bloods” are meant falsifications of the Word, and confirmations of falsity thereby; “the will of the flesh” is man’s own pertaining to the will, which in itself is evil; “the will of man” is man’s own pertaining to the understanding, which in itself is falsity; those “born of God” are those who have been regenerated by the Lord. From these things it is evident that those are saved who are in the good of love and in the truths of faith from the Lord, and not those who are in what is their own.
The Lord in respect to the divine human is called the son of God; and in respect to the Word, the son of man
19. In the church, the son of God is supposed to be the second person of the Godhead, distinct from the person of the Father, whence comes the belief about the son of God born from eternity.
As this belief has been universally received, and as it relates to God, no one has had any opportunity or permission to think about it from any understanding; not even as to what it is to be born from eternity; for anyone who thinks about it from the understanding must needs say to himself, This transcends my understanding; but still I say it because others say it, and I believe it because others believe it. Be it known, then, that there is no son from eternity; but that the Lord is from eternity. When it is known what the Lord is, and what the son, it will be possible, and not before, to think with understanding of the triune God.
[2] That the Lord’s human, conceived of Jehovah the Father, and born of the virgin Mary, is the son of God, is plainly evident from the following passages. In Luke:
The angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel entered in to her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women. And when she saw, she was troubled at his word, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found grace with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the son of the most high. But Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the most high shall overshadow thee, Wherefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the son of God (Luke 1:26-35).
It is here said, “Thou shalt conceive and bear a son; he shall be great, and shall be called the son of the most high”; and further, “that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the son of God”; from which it is evident that the human conceived of God, and born of the virgin Mary, is what is called “the son of God.”
[3] In Isaiah:
The Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name God-with-us (Isa. 7:14).
That the son born of the virgin, and conceived of God, is he who is called “God-with-us,” thus is he who is the son of God, is evident. That this is the case is confirmed also by Matt. 1:22-23.
[4] In Isaiah:
Unto us a Child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, Hero, Father of eternity, Prince of peace (Isa. 9:6).
The burden is the same here; for it is said, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,” who is not a son from eternity, but a son born in the world, as is also evident from the words of the prophet in the next verse, which are similar to those of the angel Gabriel to Mary in Luke 1:32-33.
[5] In David:
I will make an announcement concerning a statute, Jehovah hath said, thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and ye perish in the way (Ps. 2:7, 12).
Neither here is there meant a son from eternity, but a son born in the world; for it is a prophecy concerning the Lord who was to come; and therefore it is called “a statute concerning which Jehovah has made an announcement” to David. “This day,” is not from eternity, but is in time.
[6] In David:
I will set his hand in the sea. He shall call me, thou art my Father. I will make him my firstborn (Ps. 89:25-27).
This whole Psalm treats of the Lord who was to come, and therefore he is meant by him who “shall call Jehovah his Father,” and who shall be the “firstborn,” thus who is the son of God.
[7] And so in other places, where he is called A rod out of the stem of Jesse (Isa. 11:1); An offshoot of David (Jer. 23:5); The seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15); The only-begotten (John 1:18);
A priest to eternity, and the Lord (Ps. 110:4-5).
[8] In the Jewish church there was understood by the son of God the messiah whom they had expected, and of whom they knew that he was to be born at Bethlehem. That by the son of God they understood the messiah, is evident from the following passages. In John:
Peter said, We believe and know that thou art the Christ, the son of the living God (John 6:69).
Thou art the Christ the son of God, who should come into the world (John 11:27).
In Matthew:
The chief priest asked Jesus whether he was the Christ the son of God. Jesus said, I am (Matt. 26:63-64; Mark 14:62).
In John:
These things are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the son of God (John 20:31; also Mark 1:1).
“Christ” is a Greek word, and means “the anointed,” as also does “messiah” in the Hebrew language; and therefore John says:
We have found the messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ (John 1:41).
The woman said, I know that messiah cometh, who is called Christ (John 4:25).
[9] It has been shown in the first chapter that the law and the prophets, that is, the whole Word of the Old Testament, is concerning the Lord, and therefore by the son of God who was to come nothing else can be meant than the human which the Lord assumed in the world. From this it follows that the human was what was meant, when Jesus at his baptism was called by Jehovah, in a voice from heaven, his son:
This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased (Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22).
For it was his human that was baptized. And when he was transfigured:
This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him (Matt. 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35).
And in other places also, as Matt. 8:29; 14:33; Mark 3:11; 15:39; John 1:34, 49; 3:18; 5:25; 10:36; 11:4.
20. As by “the son of God” is meant the Lord as to the human which he assumed in the world, which is the Divine human, it is evident what is meant by the Lord’s so frequently saying that he was sent by the Father into the world, and that he came forth from the Father. By his being sent by the Father into the world is meant that he was conceived from Jehovah the Father. That nothing else is meant by being sent, and sent by the Father is evident from all the passages where it is said that he did the will of the Father and his works, which were that he conquered the hells, glorified his human, taught the Word, and set up9 a new church, which could not have been done except by means of a human conceived from Jehovah and born of a virgin, that is, unless God had been made man. Examine the passages where “sent” occurs, and you will see. As, for instance, Matt. 10:40; 15:24; Mark 9:37; Luke 4:43; 9:48;
10:16; John 3:17, 34; 4:34; 5:23-24, 36-38; 6:29, 39-40, 44, 57; 7:16, 18, 28, 29; 8:16, 18, 29, 42; 9:4; 11:42; 12:44-45, 49; 13:20; 14:24; 15:21; 16:5; 17:3, 8, 21, 23, 25; 20:21; and also the passages where the Lord calls Jehovah “Father.”
21. At the present day many think of the Lord no otherwise than as of a common man like themselves, because they think solely of his human, and not at the same time of his Divine, when yet his Divine and his human cannot be separated. For the Lord is God and man, and God and man in the Lord are not two, but one person, yes, altogether one, just as soul and body are one man, according to the doctrine received in the whole Christian world which was formulated by councils, and is called the doctrine of the Athanasian Creed. Therefore, lest anyone should in future separate in his thought the Divine and the human in the Lord, I pray him to read the passages from Luke quoted above, and also the following in Matthew:
The birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her betrothed, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy betrothed, for that which is begotten [natus] in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. And Joseph, being awaked from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto him his betrothed, but knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son; and he called his name Jesus (Matt. 1:18-25).
From these words, and from those written in Luke concerning the Lord’s nativity, and from others adduced above, it is evident that the “son of God” is Jesus conceived of Jehovah the Father, and born of the virgin Mary, of whom all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
22. He who knows what in the Lord is called “the son of God” and what in him is called “the son of man” is able to see many of the secret things of the Word; for at one time the Lord calls himself “the son,” at another “the son of God,” and at another “the son of man,” everywhere according to the subject that is being treated of. When his divinity, his oneness with the Father, his Divine power, faith in him, life from him are being treated of, he calls himself “the son,” and “the son of God.” As, for instance, in John 5:17-26, and elsewhere. But where his passion, judgment, his advent, and, in general, redemption, salvation, reformation, and regeneration, are treated of, he calls himself “the son of man”; the reason of which is that he is then meant in respect to the Word. In the Word of the Old Testament, the Lord is designated by various names, being there named Jehovah, Jah, Lord, God, the Lord Jehovih, Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel, the holy one of Israel, the mighty one of Jacob, Shaddai, the rock, and also creator, former, savior, redeemer, everywhere according to the subject that is being treated of. And the same in the Word of the New Testament, where he is named Jesus, Christ, the Lord, God, the son of God, the son of man, the prophet, the lamb, with other names, also everywhere according to the subject there treated of.
23. Having stated on what grounds the Lord is called “the son of God,” we will now state those on which he is called “the son of man.” The Lord is called “the son of man” where the subject treated of is his passion, judgment, his advent, and, in general, redemption, salvation, reformation, and regeneration. The reason is that “the son of man” is the Lord in respect to the Word; and as the Word he suffered, judges, came into the world, redeems, saves, reforms, and regenerates. That such is the case is evident from what now follows.
24. That the Lord is called “the son of man” when his passion is treated of, is evident from these passages:
Jesus said to his disciples, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the nations, and they shall scourge him, and spit on him, and shall kill him; but on the third day he shall rise again (Mark 10:33-34). (And so in other places where he foretells his passion, as in Matt. 20:18-19; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22.) Jesus said to his disciples, Behold, the hour is at hand, and the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners (Matt. 26:45).
The angel said to the women that came to the sepulcher, Remember how he spake unto you, that the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again (Luke 24:6-7).
The reason the Lord then called himself “the son of man” is that he suffered himself to be treated in the same way as they had treated the Word, as has been shown above very fully.
25. That the Lord is called “the son of man” when the judgment is treated of is evident from these passages:
When the son of man shall come in his glory, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the left (Matt. 25:31, 33).
When the son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, he shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:28).
The son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, and shall render to everyone according to his deeds (Matt. 16:27).
Watch ye at every season, that ye may be accounted worthy to stand before the son of man (Luke 21:36).
In such an hour as ye think not, the son of man cometh (Matt. 24:44; Luke 12:40).
The Father judgeth no one, but hath given all judgment to the son, because he is the son of man (John 5:22, 27).
The reason why the Lord calls himself “the son of man” when the judgment is treated of is that all judgment is effected according to the Divine truth which is in the Word. That this judges everyone is said by the Lord himself in John:
If anyone hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not, for I came not to judge the world. The Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day (John 12:47-48).
The son of man has not come to judge the world, but that through him it might be saved; he that believeth in him is not judged; but he that believeth not is judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the onlybegotten son of God (John 3:17-18).
(That the Lord judges no one to hell, and casts no one into hell, but that an evil spirit casts himself in, may be seen in Heaven and Hell, n. 545-550, 574.) By “the name” of Jehovah, of the Lord, of the son of God, is meant the Divine truth, and therefore also the Word, which is from him, and about him, and therefore is himself.
26. That the Lord is called “the son of man” when his advent is treated of, is evident from these passages:
The disciples said to Jesus, What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the age? And then the Lord foretold the successive states of the church down to its end; and of its end he said, Then shall appear the sign of the son of man, and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory (Matt. 24:3, 30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27).
“The consummation of the age,” means the last time of the church; his “coming in the clouds of heaven with glory,” means the opening of the Word, and the making manifest that the Word has been written about him alone. In Daniel:
I saw and behold one like the son of man came with clouds of the heavens (Dan. 7:13).
In Revelation:
Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him (Rev. 1:7).
This also is said of the son of man, as is evident from verse 13.
I saw and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the son of man (Rev. 14:14).
[2] That by “the son of God” the Lord meant one thing in himself, and by “the son of man” another, is evident from his reply to the chief priest:
The high priest said unto Jesus, I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the son of God. Jesus said unto him, Thou hast said; nevertheless, I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven (Matt. 26:63-64).
Here he first confessed that he was the son of God, and afterwards said that they should see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven, by which is meant that after the passion of the cross he would possess the Divine power of opening the Word and setting up the church anew,10 which could not be effected before, because he had not then conquered hell and glorified his human. What is signified by sitting upon the clouds of heaven, and coming in glory, has been set forth in Heaven and Hell, n. 1.)
27. That the Lord is called “the son of man” when redemption, salvation, reformation, and regeneration are treated of is evident from these passages:
The son of man came to give his life a redemption for many (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:5).
The son of man is come to save, and not to destroy (Matt. 18:11; Luke 9:56).
The son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).
The son of man is come that the world through him may be saved (John 3:17).
He that soweth the good seed is the son of man (Matt. 13:37).
Redemption and salvation are here treated of, and as the Lord effects these by means of the Word, he here calls himself “the son of man.” The Lord says,
That the son of man has power [potestas]11 to forgive sins (Mark 2:10; Luke 5:24) (that is, to save).
And also,
That he is the Lord of the sabbath, because he is the son of man (Matt. 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5) (i.e., because he is the Word, which he is himself then teaching).
He says, further, in John:
Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the son of man shall give unto you (John 6:27).
By “meat” is meant all truth and good of doctrine from the Word, thus from the Lord; and this is also meant there by the manna, and by the bread which came down from heaven; and also by the following in the same chapter:
Except ye shall eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you (John 6:53).
“Flesh,” or “bread,” is the good of love from the Word; “blood,” or “wine,” is the good of faith from the Word, both from the Lord.
[2] The like is signified by “the son of man” in other passages where he is mentioned, as in the following:
The foxes have holes, and the birds nests, but the son of man hath not where to lay his head (Matt. 8:20; Luke 9:58).
By this is meant that the Word would have no place among the Jews, as also the Lord said in John 8:37; and also that they had it not abiding in them, because they had not acknowledged him (John 5:38). In Revelation also “the son of man” means the Lord in respect to the Word:
In the midst of the seven lamp stands I saw one like unto the son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle (Rev. 1:13, etc.).
Here, in various ways, the Lord is represented as the Word, and he is therefore called “the son of man.” In David:
Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou hast made strong for thyself: so will not we go back from thee; quicken us (Ps. 80:17-18).
“The man of thy right hand,” also means the Lord in respect to the Word; and so does “the son of man.” He is called “the man of the right hand,” because the Lord has power from the Divine truth, which also the Word is, and he had Divine power when he had fulfilled the whole Word; and therefore he had said:
That they should see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the Father, with power (Mark 14:62).
28. That “the son of man” signifies the Lord in respect to the Word was the reason why the prophets also were called sons of man. The reason why the prophets were called sons of man was that they represented the Lord in respect to the Word, and consequently signified the doctrine of the church from the Word. In heaven nothing else is understood by “prophets” as mentioned in the Word; for the spiritual signification of “prophet,” as well as of “son of man,” is the doctrine of the church from the Word; and, when predicated of the Lord, “prophet” means the Word itself.
That the prophet Daniel is called “son of man” may be seen in Dan. 8:17.
That the prophet Ezekiel is called “son of man” may be seen in Ezek. 2:1, 3, 6, 8; 3:1, 3-4, 10, 17, 25; 4:1, 16; 5:1; 6:2; 7:2; 8:5, 6, 8, 12, 15; 11:2, 4, 15; 12:2-3, 9, 18, 22, 27; 13:2, 17; 14:3, 13; 15:2; 16:2; 17:2; 20:3-4, 27, 46; 21:2, 6, 9, 12, 14, 19, 28; 22:18, 24; 23:2, 36; 24:2, 16, 25; 25:2; 26:2; 27:2; 28:2, 12, 21; 29:2, 18; 30:2, 21; 31:2; 32:2, 18; 33:2, 7, 10, 12, 24, 30; 34:2; 35:2; 36:1, 17; 37:3, 9, 11; 16; 38:2, 14; 39:1, 17; 40:4; 43:7, 10, 18; 44:5. From what has been said it is now evident that the Lord in respect to the Divine human is called “the son of God,” and in respect to the Word, “the son of man.”
The Lord made Divine his human from the Divine that was in himself, and thus became one with the Father
29. The doctrine of the church that is received in the whole Christian world is that:
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the son of God, is God and man, who, although he is God and man, yet he is not two, but one Christ; one, by the taking of the manhood into God; one altogether, by unity of person; for as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ.
These words are taken from the doctrine of the Athanasian Creed, which has been received in the whole Christian world; and they are what is essential in it concerning the unition of the Divine and the human in the Lord. What is said further in that creed about the Lord will be explained in its own chapter. From these words it is quite evident that it is in accordance with the faith of the Christian church that the Divine and the human in the Lord are not two, but one, as the soul and body are one man, and that the Divine in him assumed the human.
[2] From this it follows that the Divine cannot be separated from the human, nor the human from the Divine, for this would be like separating the soul from the body. That this is so must be admitted by everyone who reads what is cited above (n. 9, 21) from two of the evangelists (namely, Luke 1:26-35, and Matt. 1:18-25) concerning the Lord’s birth; from which it is manifest that Jesus was conceived of Jehovah God, and born of the virgin Mary; so that the Divine was in him, and was his soul. As therefore his soul was the very Divine of the Father, it follows that his body, or human, must also have become Divine, for where the one is Divine, the other must be so too. In this way and in no other are the Father and the son one, and the Father in the son and the son in the Father, and all things of the son the Father’s, and all things of the Father the son’s, as the Lord himself teaches in his Word.
[3] But how this unition was effected, shall be shown in the following order:
(a) The Lord from eternity is Jehovah.
(b) The Lord from eternity, or Jehovah, assumed the human to save men.
(c) He made Divine the human from the Divine in himself.
(d) He made Divine the human by means of temptations admitted into himself.
(e) The full unition of the Divine and the human in him was effected by means of the passion of the cross, which was the last temptation.
(f) By successive steps he put off the human taken from the mother, and put on a human from the Divine within him, which is the Divine human, and is the son of God.
(g) That thus God became man, as in first principles, so also in ultimates.
30. (a) That the Lord from eternity is Jehovah is known from the Word; for the Lord said to the Jews, Verily I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58).
And he says in another place,
Glorify thou me, O Father, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was (John 17:5).
By this is meant the Lord from eternity, and not a son from eternity; for “the son” is his human that was conceived of Jehovah the Father, and born of the virgin Mary, in time, as has been shown above.
[2] That the Lord from eternity is Jehovah himself is evident from many passages in the Word, of which at present there shall be adduced only these few:
It shall be said in that day, This is our God; we have waited for him that he may deliver us; this is Jehovah, we have waited for him; we will rejoice and be glad in his salvation (Isa. 25:9).
From these words it is evident that Jehovah God himself was awaited.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make plain in the solitude a path for our God. The glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. Behold, the Lord Jehovah shall come in strength (Isa. 40:3, 5, 10; Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4).
Here, too, the Lord is called Jehovah, who should come.
[3] I Jehovah will give thee for a covenant to the people, for a light of the nations. I Jehovah, this is my name, and my glory will I not give to another (Isa. 42:6-8).
“A covenant to the people” and “a light of the nations” is the Lord as to the human; and as this is from Jehovah, and has become one with Jehovah, it is said, I Jehovah, this is my name, and my glory will I give to another, that is, not to another than himself. To give glory, means to glorify, or to unite to himself.
[4] The Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple (Mal. 3:1).
By “temple” is meant the temple of his body (John 2:19, 21).
The dayspring from on high hath visited us (Luke 1:78).
“The dayspring from on high” also is Jehovah, or the Lord from eternity.
From what has been said it is evident that by the Lord from eternity is meant his Divine a quo,12 which in the Word is “Jehovah.” But from the passages to be quoted below, it will be evident that by Lord, and also by Jehovah, after his human was glorified, is meant the Divine and the human together, as a one; and that by the son, alone, is meant the Divine human.
31. (b) That the Lord from eternity, or Jehovah, assumed the human to save men has been confirmed from the Word in preceding chapters; and that man could not have been saved in any other way, will be shown elsewhere. That he assumed a human is evident from the passages in the Word where it is said that he went forth from the Father, descended from heaven, and was sent into the world. As from these:
I went out from the Father, and am come into the world (John 16:28).
I went out and am come from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me (John 8:42).
The Father loveth you, because ye have believed that I came out from God (John 16:27).
No one hath ascended into heaven, but he that came down from heaven (John 3:13).
The bread of God is he that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world (John 6:33, 35, 41, 50-51).
He that cometh from above is above all; he that cometh from heaven is above all (John 3:31).
I know the Father because I am from him, and he hath sent me (John 7:29).
(That to be “sent by the Father into the world” means to assume a human, may be seen above, at n. 20.)
32. (c) That the Lord made his human Divine from the Divine in himself is evident from many passages of the Word, of which those shall be here adduced which confirm:
(1) That this was done by successive steps:
Jesus grew and waxed strong in spirit and in wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him (Luke 2:40).
Jesus increased in wisdom, in age, and in grace with God and men (Luke 2:52).
[2] (2) That the Divine operated through the human, as the soul does through the body:
The son can do nothing from himself, but what he seeth the Father doing (John 5:19).
I do nothing of myself, but as my Father hath taught me; I speak these things, and he that hath sent me is with me; he hath not left me alone (John 8:28-29; 5:30).
I have not spoken of myself, but the Father who sent me, he hath given me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak (John 12:49).
The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works (John 14:10).
I am not alone, because the Father is with me (John 16:32).
[3] (3) That the Divine and human operated unanimously:
What things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the son likewise (John 5:19).
As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the son quickeneth whom he will (John 5:21).
As the Father hath life in himself so hath he given to the son to have life in himself (John 5:26).
Now they have known that all things which thou hast given me, are of thee (John 17:7).
[4] (4) That the Divine was united to the human, and the human to the Divine:
If ye had known me ye would have known my Father also; and ye have seen him. He said to Philip, who desired to see the Father, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me (John 14:7-11).
If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not; but if I do, believe the works; that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father (John 10:37-38).
That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee (John 17:21).
At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father (John 14:20).
No one is able to pluck the sheep out of my Father’s hand; I and the Father are one (John 10:29-30).
The Father loveth the son, and hath given all things into his hand (John 3:35).
All things that the Father hath are mine (John 16:15). All mine are thine, and thine are mine (John 17:10).
Thou hast given the son power [potestas] over all flesh (John 17:2). All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18).
[5] (5) That the Divine human is to be approached is evident from these passages:
That all may honor the son, even as they honor the Father (John 5:23). If ye had known me, ye would have known my Father also (John 8:19). He that seeth me, seeth him that sent me (John 12:45).
If ye had known me, ye would have known my Father also; and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him (John 14:7).
He that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me (John 13:20).
The reason of this is that no one can see the Divine itself which is called “the Father”; but the Divine human can be seen; for the Lord says:
No one hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten son who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath set him forth (John 1:18).
Not that anyone hath seen the Father, save he that is with the Father; he hath seen the Father (John 6:46).
Ye have not heard the Father’s voice at any time, nor seen his shape (John 5:37).
[6] (6) As the Lord made his human Divine from the Divine in himself, and as the human is to be approached, and as the son of God, we must put our faith in the Lord, who is both Father and son. This is evident from these passages:
Jesus said, As many as received him, to them gave he power [potestas] to be the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name (John 1:12).
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:15).
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should have eternal life (John 3:16).
He that believeth in the son is not judged; but he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the onlybegotten son of God (John 3:18).
He that believeth in the son hath eternal life; but he that believeth not the son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him (John 3:36).
The bread of God is he that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in me shall never thirst (John 6:33, 35).
This is the will of him that sent me, that everyone who seeth the son, and believeth in him, may have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:40).
They said to Jesus, What shall we do that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered, This is the work of God, that ye believe in him whom he hath sent (John 6:28-29).
Verily I say unto you, He that believeth in me hath eternal life (John 6:47).
Jesus cried, saying, If anyone thirst let him come unto me and drink; he that believeth in me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:37-38).
Unless ye believe that I am, ye shall die in your sins (John 8:24).
Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, shall live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die (John 11:25-26).
Jesus said, I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in me should not abide in darkness (John 12:46; 8:12).
While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may become sons of light (John 12:36).
Verily I say unto you, that the dead shall hear the voice of the son of God, and they that hear shall live (John 5:25).
Abide in me, and I in you. I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing (John 15:4-5).
That they should abide in the Lord, and the Lord in them (John 14:20; 17:23).
I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one cometh unto the Father but by me (John 14:6).
[7] In these and all other passages where “the Father” is mentioned, there is meant the Divine which was in the Lord from conception, and which, according to the doctrine of faith of the Christian world, was circumstanced as is the soul in the body with man. The human itself from this Divine is the son of God. Now as this human was made Divine, therefore, in order to prevent man from approaching the Father only, and thereby in thought, faith, and thence in worship, separating the Father from the Lord in whom the Father is, after the Lord had taught that he and the Father are one; that the Father is in him, and he in the Father; that all should abide in him; and that no one cometh to the Father but by him, he taught also that we must believe in him, and that man is saved by a faith directed to him.
[8] Many in Christendom can form no idea of the fact that the human in the Lord was made Divine, the chief reason of which is that they think of a man from his material body, and not from his spiritual body. And yet the truth is that all the angels (who are spiritual) are also men in a complete form; and, what is more, the whole Divine which proceeds from Jehovah God, from its first principles in heaven, down to its ultimate in this world, has a tendency to the human form.13
33. (d) That the Lord made his human Divine by means of temptations admitted into himself, and by means of continual victories in them has been treated of above, n. 12-14; to which shall be added only this: temptations are nothing but combats against evils and falsities; and as evils and falsities are from hell, temptations are combats against hell. Moreover, with the men who are undergoing spiritual temptations, there are present evil spirits from hell, who induce them. The man is unaware that evil spirits induce the temptations; yet that they do so has been granted me to know from much experience.
[2] This is the reason why man is drawn out of hell and elevated into heaven when from the Lord he conquers in temptations; and this again is why man becomes spiritual, and therefore an angel, by means of temptations, or combats against evils. The Lord, however, fought from his own power against all the hells, and completely mastered and subjugated them; and as he at the same time glorified his human, he holds them so to eternity.
[3] For before the Lord’s advent the hells had grown up to such a height that they were beginning to infest the very angels of heaven, and also every man that came into the world and went out of it. The cause of so high a growth of the hells was the complete devastation of the church, and the consequent prevalence of idolatries which caused the men of this world to be in mere falsities and evils; and the hells are from men. Hence it was that no man could have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world.
[4] Of these combats of the Lord the psalms and prophets treat much, but the evangelists little. It is these combats which are meant by the temptations that the Lord endured, the last of which was the passion of the cross. And it is on account of them that the Lord is called savior and redeemer. This is so far known in the church as to lead them to say that the Lord conquered death or the devil (that is, hell), and that he rose again victorious; and also that without the Lord there is no salvation. That the Lord also glorified his human, and thereby became the savior, redeemer, reformer, and regenerator to eternity, will be seen in what follows.
[5] That by means of these combats or temptations the Lord has become our savior, is evident from the passages quoted above in n. 12-14; and also from this one in Isaiah:
The day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come; I have trampled them in mine anger, I have brought down their victory to the earth; so he became their savior (Isa. 63:4, 6, 8).
This chapter treats of the Lord’s combats. Also from this passage in David:
Lift up your heads, ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye doors of the world, that the king of glory may come in. Who is this king of glory? Jehovah mighty and a hero, Jehovah a hero of war (Ps. 24:7-8).
These words also treat of the Lord.
34. (e) That the full unition of the Divine and the human in the Lord was effected by means of the passion of the cross, which was the last temptation has been established above in its proper chapter, where it has been shown that the Lord came into the world in order to subjugate the hells and glorify his human, and that the passion of the cross was the last combat, by mean of which he fully conquered the hells and fully glorified his human. Now, as by the passion of the cross the Lord fully glorified his human (that is, united it to his Divine, and thus made his human also Divine), it follows that he is Jehovah and God as to both the Divine and the human. And therefore in many passages in the Word he is called Jehovah, God, and the holy one of Israel, the redeemer, savior, and former.
[2] As in the following:
Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath exalted in God my savior (Luke 1:46-47).
The angel said to the shepherds, Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people; that there is born this day, in the city of David, a savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10-11).
They said, This is indeed the Christ, the savior of the world (John 4:42).
I Jehovah God will help thee, and thy redeemer is the holy one of Israel (Isa. 41:14).
Thus saith Jehovah thy creator, O Jacob, and thy former, O Israel, for I have redeemed thee. I am Jehovah thy God, the holy one of Israel, thy savior (Isa. 43:1, 3).
Thus saith Jehovah your redeemer, the holy one of Israel: I am Jehovah your holy one, the creator of Israel, your king (Isa. 43:14-15).
Thus saith Jehovah, the holy one of Israel, and his former (Isa. 45:11). Thus saith Jehovah thy redeemer, the holy one of Israel (Isa. 48:17).
That all flesh may know that I Jehovah am thy savior and thy redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob (Isa. 49:26).
Then shall the redeemer come to Zion (Isa. 59:20).
That thou mayest know that I Jehovah am thy savior and thy redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob (Isa. 60:16).
Jehovah thy former from the womb (Isa. 49:5). Jehovah my rock, and my redeemer (Ps. 19:14).
They remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer (Ps. 78:35).
Thus saith Jehovah thy redeemer, and thy former from the womb (Isa. 44:24).
As for our redeemer, Jehovah of armies is his name, the holy one of Israel (Isa. 47:4).
With mercy of eternity will I have mercy on thee, saith Jehovah thy redeemer (Isa. 54:8).
Their redeemer is strong, Jehovah of armies is his name (Jer. 50:34).
Let Israel hope in Jehovah, for with Jehovah there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption; and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities (Ps. 130:7-8).
Jehovah is my rock and my fortress; the horn of my salvation, my savior (2 Sam. 22:2-3).
Thus saith Jehovah, the redeemer of Israel, his holy one, Kings shall see and stand, because of Jehovah who is faithful, the holy one of Israel, who hath chosen thee (Isa. 49:7).
Surely God is in thee, and there is none else, there is no God. Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the savior (Isa. 45:14-15).
Thus saith Jehovah, the king of Israel, and his redeemer Jehovah of armies, Besides me there is no God (Isa. 44:6).
I am Jehovah, and besides me there is no savior (Isa. 43:11).
Am not I Jehovah? And there is no God else besides me; and a savior, there is none besides me (Isa. 45:21).
I am Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior (Hos. 13:4).
Am not I Jehovah, and there is no other God besides me; a just God and a savior, there is none besides me: look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else (Isa. 45:21-22).
Jehovah of armies is his name, and thy redeemer the holy one of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called (Isa. 54:5).
[3] From these passages it may be seen that the Lord’s Divine called “the Father” (and here “Jehovah” and “God”), and the Divine human called “the son” (and here “the redeemer” and “savior,” and also “the former,” which means the reformer and regenerator), are not two, but one. For not only is mention made of Jehovah, God, and the holy one of Israel the redeemer and savior, but the expression “Jehovah the redeemer and savior” is used, and even “I am Jehovah the savior, and there is none besides me.” From this it is very evident that the Divine and the human in the Lord are one person; and that the human also is Divine. For the redeemer and savior of the world is no other than the Lord in respect to the Divine human, and this is what is called the son. Moreover redemption and salvation are an attribute proper to his human, which is called merit and righteousness; for it was his human that endured temptations and the passion of the cross; and therefore it was by means of his human that he effected redemption and salvation.
[4] As, therefore, after the unition of the human with the Divine in him, which was like that of the soul and body in man, they were no longer two but one person (according to the doctrine of the Christian world), it follows that the Lord is Jehovah and God as to both the Divine and the human. And this therefore is why it is said on the one hand that Jehovah and the holy one of Israel are the redeemer and savior, and on the other that the redeemer and savior are Jehovah, as may be seen from the passages that have been quoted. Thus it is said,
Christ the savior (Luke 2:11; John 4:42).
God and the God of Israel the savior and redeemer (Luke 1:47; Isa. 45:15; 54:5; Ps. 78:35).
Jehovah the holy one of Israel the savior and redeemer (Isa. 41:14; 43:3, 11, 14-15; 48:17; 49:7; 54:5).
Jehovah the savior, redeemer, and former (Isa. 44:6; 47:4; 49:26; 54:8; 63:16; 50:34; Ps. 19:14; 130:7-8; 2 Sam. 22:2-3).
Jehovah God the redeemer and savior, and besides me there is none else (Isa. 43:11; 44:6; 45:14-15, 21-22; Hos. 13:4).
35. (f) By successive steps the Lord put off the human taken from the mother, and put on a human from the Divine within him, which is the Divine human, and is the son of God. That in the Lord were the Divine and the human, the Divine from Jehovah the Father, and the human from the virgin Mary, is known. Hence he was God and man, having a Divine essence and a human nature; a Divine essence from the Father, and a human nature from the mother; and therefore was equal to the Father as to the Divine, and less than the Father as to the human. It is also known that this human nature from the mother was not transmuted into the Divine essence, nor commingled with it, for this is taught in the doctrine of faith which is called the Athanasian Creed. For a human nature cannot be transmuted into the Divine essence, nor can it be commingled therewith.
[2] In accordance with the same creed is also our doctrine, that the Divine assumed the human, that is, united itself to it, as a soul to its body, so that they were not two, but one person. From this it follows that the Lord put off the human from the mother, which in itself was like that of another man, and thus material, and put on a human from the Father, which in itself was like his Divine, and thus substantial, so that the human too became Divine. This is why in the Word of the prophets the Lord even as to the human is called Jehovah, and God; and in the Word of the evangelists, Lord, God, Messiah or Christ, and the son of God in whom we must believe, and by whom we are to be saved.
[3] As from his birth the Lord had a human from the mother, and as he by successive steps put it off, it follows that while he was in the world he had two states, the one called the state of humiliation or emptying out [exinanitio], and the other the state of glorification or unition with the Divine called the Father. He was in the state of humiliation at the time and in the degree that he was in the human from the mother; and in that of glorification at the time and in the degree that he was in the human from the Father. In the state of humiliation he prayed to the Father as to one who was other than himself; but in the state of glorification he spoke with the Father as with himself. In this latter state he said that the Father was in him and he in the Father, and that the Father and he were one. But in the state of humiliation he underwent temptations, and suffered the cross, and prayed to the Father not to forsake him. For the Divine could not be tempted, much less could it suffer the cross. From what has been said it is now evident that by means of temptations and continual victories in them, and by the passion of the cross which was the last of the temptations, the Lord completely conquered the hells, and fully glorified his human, as has been shown above.
[4] That the Lord put off the human taken from the mother, and put on a human from the Divine in himself called the Father, is evident also from the fact that whenever he addressed his mother directly, he did not call her mother, but woman. Only three times in the evangelists do we read that he thus addressed or spoke of her, twice calling her woman, and once not recognizing her as his mother. Of the two occasions when he called her woman we read in John:
The mother of Jesus said unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what [belongs] to me, and to thee? Mine hour is not yet come (John 2:3-4).
When from the cross, Jesus sees his mother, and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith to his mother, Woman, behold thy son; and then he saith to the disciple, Behold thy mother (John 19:26-27).
And of the one occasion when he did not recognize her, in Luke:
It was told Jesus by certain who said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. Jesus answering said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these, who hear the Word of God, and do it (Luke 8:20-21; Matt. 12:46-49; Mark 3:31-35).
In other places Mary is called his “mother,” but not from his own mouth.
[5] The same inference is confirmed by the fact that the Lord did not admit that he was the son of David. For we read in the evangelists:
Jesus asked the Pharisees, saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son? And no one was able to answer him a word (Matt. 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44; Ps. 110:1).
From what has been said it is evident that in respect to the glorified human the Lord was the son neither of Mary nor of David.
[6] Of what quality was his glorified human, he showed to Peter, James, and John when transfigured before them:
That his face shone as the sun, and his raiment was like the light; and then a voice out of the cloud said, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him (Matt. 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36).
The Lord was also seen by John as the sun shining in his strength (Rev. 1:16).
[7] That the Lord’s human was glorified is evident from what is said about his glorification in the evangelists:
The hour is come that the son of man should be glorified. Jesus said, Father, glorify thy name: then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I both have glorified it and will glorify it again (John 12:23, 28).
As the Lord was glorified by successive steps, it is said “I both have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” Again in the same evangelist:
After Judas had gone out, Jesus said, Now is the son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him: God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him (John 13:31-32).
Jesus said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy son, that thy son may also glorify thee (John 17:1, 5).
And in Luke:
Behooved it not the Christ to suffer this, and to enter into his glory? (Luke 24:26.)
These things are said concerning his human.
[8] The reason the Lord said “God is glorified in him,” and “God shall glorify him in himself,” and also “Glorify thy son that thy son may also glorify thee,” is that the unition was reciprocal, being that of the Divine with the human and of the human with the Divine. On this account he said also, “I am in the Father, and the Father in me” (John 14:10-11); and “All mine are thine, and thine are mine” (John 17:10); so that the unition was plenary. It is the same with all unition—unless it is reciprocal, it is not full. Such therefore must also be the uniting of the Lord with man, and of man with the Lord. As he teaches:
In that day ye shall know that ye are in me, and I in you (John 14:20).
Abide in me, and I in you; he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit (John 15:4-5).
[9] As the Lord’s human was glorified, that is, made Divine, he rose again after death on the third day with his whole body, which does not take place with any man; for a man rises again solely as to the spirit, and not as to the body. In order that men may know, and no one doubt, that the Lord rose again with his whole body, he not only said so through the angels in the sepulcher, but also showed himself to his disciples in his human body, saying to them when they believed that they saw a ghost:
See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me and see; for a ghost hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have; and when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet (Luke 24:39-40; John 20:20).
And he said to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless but believing; then said Thomas, My Lord and my God (John 20:27-28).
[10] In order to evince still further that he was not a ghost but a man, the Lord said to his disciples,
Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of a honeycomb; and he took it and did eat before them (Luke 24:41-43).
As his body was no longer material, but Divine substantial, he came in to his disciples when the doors were shut (John 20:19, 26); and after he had been seen he became invisible (Luke 24:31). Being such, the Lord was then taken up, and sat at the right hand of God; as we read:
It came to pass that while Jesus blessed his disciples, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven (Luke 24:51).
After he had spoken unto them, he was carried up into heaven, and sat at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19).
To “sit at the right hand of God,” signifies divine omnipotence.
[11] As the Lord ascended into heaven, and sat at the right hand of God (by which is signified Divine omnipotence) with the Divine and the human united into a one, it follows that his human substance or essence is just as is his Divine substance or essence. To think otherwise would be like thinking that his Divine was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God, but not his human together with it, which is contrary to Scripture, and also to the Christian doctrine, which is that in Christ God and man are like soul and body, and to separate these is contrary to sound reason. This unition of the Father with the son, or of the Divine with the human, is meant also in the following:
I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again I leave the world, and go to the Father (John 16:28).
I go away, and come to him that sent me (John 7:33; 16:5, 16; 17:11, 13; 20:17).
If then ye shall see the son of man ascending where he was before (John 6:62).
No one hath ascended into heaven but he that came down from heaven (John 3:13).
Every man who is saved ascends into heaven, but not of himself. He ascends by the Lord’s aid. The Lord alone ascended of himself.
36. (g) Thus God became man, as in first principles so also in ultimates. That God is a man, and that every angel and every spirit is a man from God, has been partially shown in Heaven and Hell, and will be further shown in the works entitled Angelic Wisdom. From the beginning, however, God was a man in first principles and not in ultimates; but after he had assumed the human in the world, he became a man in ultimates also. This follows from what has been already established—that the Lord united his human to his Divine, and thus made his human Divine. It is from this that the Lord is called the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the alpha and the omega:
I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the almighty (Rev. 1:8, 11).
When John saw the son of man in the midst of the seven lamp stands, he fell at his feet as dead; but he laid his right hand upon him, saying, I am the first and the last (Rev. 1:13, 17; 2:8; 21:6).
Behold, I come quickly, to give everyone according to his work: I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (Rev. 22:12-13).
Thus saith Jehovah the king of Israel, and his redeemer Jehovah of armies, I am the first and the last (Isa. 44:6; 48:12).
The Lord is God himself, from whom and concerning whom is the Word
37. In chapter 1 we undertook to show that universal holy Scripture treats of the Lord, and that the Lord is the Word. This shall now be further shown from passages of the Word in which the Lord is called “Jehovah,” the “God of Israel and of Jacob,” the “holy one of Israel,” the “Lord,” and “God”; and also “king,” “Jehovah’s anointed,” and “David.” I may first mention that I have been permitted to run through all the prophets and the psalms of David, and to examine each verse and see what it treats of, and I have seen that the only subjects treated of are: the church set up anew and to be set up anew by the Lord; the advent, combats, glorification, redemption, and salvation, of the Lord; heaven from him; and, with these, their opposites. As all these are works of the Lord, it became evident that universal holy Scripture is concerning him, and therefore that the Lord is the Word.
[2] But this can be seen only by those who are in enlightenment from the Lord, and who also know the spiritual sense of the Word. All the angels of heaven are in this sense, and therefore when the Word is being read by a man, they so comprehend it. For spirits and angels are constantly with man, and as they are spiritual they understand spiritually all that a man understands naturally. That all holy Scripture is concerning the Lord, may be obscurely seen, and as through a glass, darkly, from the passages of the Word already cited in chapter 1 (n. 1-6), as also from those concerning the Lord now to be quoted, to show how frequently he is called the Lord [that is, Jehovah] and God; and from which it is apparent that it is he who spoke through the prophets, by whom it is everywhere said, “Jehovah spake,” “Thus saith Jehovah,” “The saying of Jehovah.”
[3] That the Lord existed before his advent into the world is evident from the following passages:
John the Baptist said concerning the Lord, He it is who coming after me was before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man who was before me, for he was before me (John 1:27, 30).
They fell down before the throne (on which was the Lord) saying, We give thee thanks, Lord God almighty, who art, and who wast, and who art to come (Rev. 11:16, 17).
Thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall he go forth unto me that shall be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity (Micah 5:2).
The same is evident from the Lord’s words in the evangelists that he “was before Abraham,” that he had glory with the Father “before the foundation of the world,” that he “had gone forth from the Father,” and that “the Word was from the beginning with God,” that “God was the Word,” and that this “was made flesh.”
That the Lord is called “Jehovah,” the “God of Israel and of Jacob,” the “holy one of Israel,” “God,” and “Lord,” and also “King,” “Jehovah’s Anointed,” and “David,” is evident from what now follows.
38. (a) That the Lord is called “Jehovah” is evident from these passages:
Thus saith Jehovah thy creator, O Jacob, and thy former, O Israel, Fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I am Jehovah thy God, the holy one of Israel, thy savior (Isa. 43:1, 3).
I am Jehovah your holy one, the creator of Israel, your king (Isa. 43:15).
The holy one of Israel, and his Former, O God of Israel, the savior (Isa. 45:11, 15).
That all flesh may know that I Jehovah am thy savior and thy redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob (Isa. 49:26).
That thou mayest know that I Jehovah am thy savior and thy redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob (Isa. 60:16).
Jehovah thy former from the womb (Isa. 49:5). Jehovah my rock, and my redeemer (Ps. 19:14).
Thus saith Jehovah thy maker and former from the womb. Thus saith Jehovah the king of Israel, and his redeemer, Jehovah of armies (Isa. 44:2, 6).
As for our redeemer, Jehovah of armies is his name, the holy one of Israel (Isa. 47:4).
With the mercy of eternity will I have mercy on thee, saith Jehovah thy redeemer (Isa. 54:8).
Their redeemer is strong, Jehovah of armies is his name (Jer. 1:34).
Jehovah God, my rock, my fortress, the horn of my salvation, my savior (2 Sam. 22:2-3).
Thus saith Jehovah your redeemer, the holy one of Israel (Isa. 43:14; 48:17).
Thus saith Jehovah the redeemer of Israel, his holy one, Kings shall see (Isa. 49:7).
I am Jehovah, and besides me there is no savior (Isa. 43:11).
Am not I Jehovah, and there is none besides me, and there is no savior besides me. Look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth (Isa. 45:21-22).
I am Jehovah thy God, and there is no savior besides me (Hos. 13:4). Thou hast redeemed me, O Jehovah, God of truth (Ps. 31:5).
Let Israel hope in Jehovah, for with Jehovah there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption, and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities (Ps. 130:7-8).
Jehovah of armies is his name, and thy redeemer the holy one of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called (Isa. 54:5).
In these passages Jehovah is called the “redeemer and savior”; and as the Lord alone is the redeemer and savior, it is he who is meant by “Jehovah.” That the Lord is Jehovah, that is, that Jehovah is the Lord, is evident also from the following passages:
There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a shoot out of his roots shall bear fruit, and the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him (Isa. 11:1-2).
It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is Jehovah, we have waited for him; we will rejoice and be glad in his salvation (Isa. 25:9).
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make plain in the solitude a pathway for our God. For the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it. Behold the Lord Jehovih shall come in strength, and his arm shall rule for him (Isa. 40:3, 5, 10).
I Jehovah will give thee for a covenant to the people, for a light of the nations. I am Jehovah, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another (Isa. 42:6, 8).
Behold the days come that I will raise unto David a righteous offshoot, who shall reign a king, and shall prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth; and this is his name whereby he shall be called, Jehovah our righteousness (Jer. 23:5-6; 33:15-16).
Thou Bethlehem Ephratah, out of thee shall he go forth unto me that shall be a ruler in Israel; he shall stand and feed [his flock] in the strength of Jehovah (Micah 5:2, 4).
Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called God, hero, the Father of eternity, upon the throne of David to establish and to found it in judgment and in justice, from henceforth and even to eternity (Isa. 9:6-7).
Jehovah shall go forth and fight against the nations; and his feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives before the faces of Jerusalem (Zech. 14:3-4).
Lift up your heads, O ye gates and be ye lifted up, ye doors of the world, that the king of glory may come in. Who is this king of glory? Jehovah strong and a hero, Jehovah a hero of war (Ps. 24:7-10).
In that day shall Jehovah of armies be for a crown of ornament, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people (Isa. 28:5).
I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great day of Jehovah (Mal. 4:5).
Not to mention other passages where mention is made of the great and near day of Jehovah as Ezek. 30:3; Joel 2:11; Amos 5:18, 20; Zeph. 1:14-15, 18.
39. (b) That the Lord is called “the God of Israel” and “the God of Jacob” is evident from the following passages:
Moses took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which Jehovah hath made with you. And they saw the God of Israel, under whose feet was as it were a work of sapphire stone, and as it were the substance of heaven (Exod. 24:8, 10).
The multitude wondered when they saw the dumb speaking, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel (Matt. 15:31).
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and wrought deliverance for his people Israel, when he raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David (Luke 1:68-69).
I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I Jehovah, who have called thee by thy name, am the God of Israel (Isa. 45:3).
O house of Jacob, who swear in the name of Jehovah, and of the God of Israel; for they are called of the city of holiness, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel, Jehovah of armies is his name (Isa. 48:1-2).
Jacob shall see his children in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and they shall sanctify the holy one of Jacob, they shall fear the God of Israel (Isa. 29:23).
In the end of the days many people shall go and say, Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob, who shall teach us of his ways, that we may walk in his paths (Isa. 2:2-3; Micah 4:1-2).
That all flesh may know that I Jehovah am thy savior and thy redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob (Isa. 49:26).
I Jehovah am thy savior and thy redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob (Isa. 60:16).
Thou art in pain, O earth, before the Lord, before the God of Jacob (Ps. 114:7).
David sware to Jehovah, he vowed to the mighty one of Jacob, Surely I will not come into the tent of my house, until I find out a place for Jehovah, a habitation for the mighty one of Jacob; we have heard of him at Ephratah (Bethlehem) (Ps. 132:2-3, 5-6).
Blessed be the God of Israel; the whole earth shall be filled with his glory (Ps. 72:18-19).
Not to quote those passages in which the Lord is called the God of Israel the redeemer and savior; as Luke 1:47; Isa. 45:15; 54:5; Ps. 78:35.
Besides many other passages, in which he is called the God of Israel only; as Isa. 17:6; 21:10, 17; 24:15; 29:23; Jer. 7:3; 9:15; 11:3; 13:12; 16:9; 19:3, 15; 23:2; 24:5; 25:15, 27; 29:4, 8, 21, 25; 30:2; 31:23; 32:14-15, 36; 33:4; 34:2, 13; 35:13, 17-19; 37:7; 38:17; 39:16; 42:9, 15, 18; 43:10; 44:2, 7, 11, 25; 48:1; 50:18; 51:33; Ezek. 8:4; 9:3; 10:19-20; 11:22; 43:2; 44:2; Zeph. 2:9; Ps. 41:13; 59:5; 68:8.
40. (c) That the Lord is called “the holy one of Israel” is evident from these passages:
The angel said to Mary, That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the son of God (Luke 1:35).
I saw in the visions, and behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven (Dan. 4:13, 23).
God came from Teman, and the holy one from Mount Paran (Hab. 3:3). I am Jehovah your holy one, the creator of Israel, your king (Isa. 43:15). The holy one of Israel, and his former (Isa. 45:11).
Thus saith Jehovah, the redeemer of Israel, his holy one (Isa. 49:7). I am Jehovah thy God, the holy one of Israel, thy savior (Isa. 43:3).
As for our redeemer, Jehovah of armies is his name, the holy one of Israel (Isa. 47:4).
Thus saith Jehovah your redeemer, the holy one of Israel (Isa. 43:14; 48:17).
Jehovah of armies is his name, and thy redeemer the holy one of Israel (Isa. 54:5).
They tempted God, and the holy one of Israel (Ps. 78:41).
They have forsaken Jehovah, and have provoked the holy one of Israel (Isa. 1:4).
They have said, Cause the holy one of Israel to cease from our faces; wherefore thus saith the holy one of Israel (Isa. 30:11-12).
Who say, Let him hasten his work that we may see, and let the counsel of the holy one of Israel draw nigh and come (Isa. 5:19).
In that day they shall stay upon Jehovah, the holy one of Israel, in truth (Isa. 10:20).
Cry out and shout, O daughter of Zion, for great is the holy one of Israel in the midst of thee (Isa. 12:6).
The saying of the God of Israel, In that day shall a man look to his maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the holy one of Israel (Isa. 17:6-7).
The meek shall increase their joy in Jehovah, and the needy among men shall rejoice in the holy one of Israel (Isa. 29:19; 41:16).
Nations shall run unto thee because of Jehovah thy God, and because of the holy one of Israel (Isa. 55:5).
The isles shall confide in me, to bring thy sons from far, unto the name of Jehovah of armies, and to the holy one of Israel (Isa. 60:9).
The land is full of guilt against the holy one of Israel (Jer. 51:5).
Babylon hath been proud against Jehovah, against the holy one of Israel (Jer. 1:29). (Besides many other passages.)
By “the holy one of Israel” is meant the Lord as to the Divine human; for the angel Gabriel said to Mary, “That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the son of God” (Luke 1:35). That Jehovah and the holy one of Israel, although distinctively mentioned, are one and the same, is evident from the passages here quoted, in which it is said that Jehovah is that holy one of Israel.
41. (d) That the Lord is called “Lord” and “God” is evident from so many passages that if quoted they would fill pages. Let these few suffice:
When by the Lord’s command Thomas had seen his hands and touched his side, he said, My Lord and my God (John 20:27-28).
They remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer (Ps. 78:35).
Jehovah of armies is his name, and thy redeemer the holy one of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called (Isa. 54:5).
The same is evident from the fact that they adored him, and fell upon their faces before him (Matt. 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 28:9; Mark 1:40; 5:22; 7:25; 10:17; Luke 17:15, 16; John 9:38).
So in David:
We heard of him at Ephratah; we will enter into his dwelling places, and will bow ourselves at his footstool (Ps. 132:6-7).
And it is the same in heaven:
I was in the spirit, and behold a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne like a jasper and sardine stone, and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And the four and twenty elders fell down before him that sat on the throne, and adored him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne (Rev. 4:2-3, 10).
I saw in the right hand of him that sat upon the throne a book sealed within and on the back side, sealed with seven seals, and no one was able to open the book. Then one of the elders said, Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof; and I beheld in the midst of the throne a lamb standing, and he came and took the book, and they fell down before the lamb, and worshiped him that liveth for ever and ever (Rev. 5:1, 3, 5-8, 14).
42. (e) The reason why the Lord is called “king” and “the anointed” is that he was the messiah, or Christ; and “messiah” or “Christ” means the king and the anointed. This is why, in the Word, the Lord is meant by “king,” and also by “David,” who was king over Judah and Israel. That the Lord is called “king” and “Jehovah’s anointed,” is evident from many passages in the Word:
The lamb shall overcome them; for he is Lord of lords and King of kings (Rev. 17:14).
He that sat upon the white horse had on his vesture a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16).
It is from the Lord’s being called a “king,” that heaven and the church are called his “kingdom,” and that his advent into the world is called “the gospel of the kingdom.” That heaven and the church are called his kingdom, may be seen in Matt. 12:28; 16:28; Mark 1:14, 15; 9:1; 15:43; Luke 1:33; 4:43; 8:1, 10; 9:2, 11, 60; 10:11; 16:16; 19:11; 21:31; 22:18; 23:51. And in Daniel:
God shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever (Dan. 2:44).
I saw in the night visions, and behold one like the son of man came with the clouds of the heavens. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should worship him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Dan. 7:13-14, 27).
That his advent is called “the gospel of the kingdom,” may be seen in Matt. 4:23; 9:35; 24:14.
43. (f) That the Lord is called “David” is evident from these passages:
In that day they shall serve Jehovah their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them (Jer. 30:8-9).
Afterwards the sons of Israel shall return, and shall seek Jehovah their God, and David their king, and shall come with fear to Jehovah, and to his goodness in the end of days (Hos. 3:5).
I will raise up one shepherd over them, who shall feed them, my servant David, he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd: and I Jehovah will be their God, and my servant David a prince in the midst of them (Ezek. 34:23-24).
That they may be my people, and that I may be their God; and David my servant shall be king over them, that they may all have one shepherd; then shall they dwell upon the land, they and their sons and their sons’ sons, even to eternity; and David shall be their prince to eternity; and I will make a covenant of peace, and it shall be a covenant of eternity with them (Ezek. 37:23-26).
I will make a covenant of eternity with you, the sure mercies of David: behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a prince and a lawgiver to the nations (Isa. 55:3-4).
In that day I will raise up the tent of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; I will restore his ruins, and will build it as in the days of eternity (Amos 9:11).
The house of David shall be as God, as the angel of Jehovah before them (Zech. 12:8).
In that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David (Zech. 13:1).
44. He who knows that the Lord is meant by David, may know why David so frequently wrote of the Lord in his Psalms while writing about himself; as in these words:
I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant; thy seed will I establish to eternity, and will build up thy throne to generation and generation; and the heavens shall confess thy wonder, thy truth also in the congregation of the saints. Thou spoke in vision to thine holy one and said, I have laid help upon one that is mighty, I have exalted one chosen out of the people, I have found David my servant, with my holy oil have I anointed him, with whom my hand shall be established, mine arm also shall strengthen him, my truth and my mercy shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted, I will set his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall cry unto me, thou art my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. I will also make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth; my covenant shall stand fast with him; his seed will I make to endure to eternity, and his throne as the days of the heavens. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David; his seed shall endure to eternity, and his throne as the sun before me; it shall be established to eternity as the moon, and a faithful witness in the clouds (Ps. 89:3-5, 19-21, 24-29, 35-37).
And so in other psalms, as Ps. 45:1-17; 122:4-5; 132:8-18.
God is one, and the Lord is that God
45. From the numerous passages quoted from the Word in the preceding chapter, it is evident that the Lord is called Jehovah, the God of Israel and of Jacob, the holy one of Israel, Lord, and God, and also king, the anointed, and David, from which it may be seen, as yet however as through a glass, darkly, that the Lord is God himself, from and about whom is the Word. Now it is known in the whole world that God is one, and no man possessed of sound reason denies it. It remains therefore to confirm this from the Word and, in addition, that the Lord is that God.
(a) That God is one is confirmed by these passages of the Word:
Jesus said, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord; therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul (Mark 12:29-30).
Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah; and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul (Deut. 6:4-5).
One came unto Jesus and said, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but the one God (Matt. 19:16-17).
That all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou alone art Jehovah (Isa. 37:20).
I am Jehovah and there is none else; there is no God besides me that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is no God besides me: I am Jehovah and there is none else (Isa. 45:5-6).
O Jehovah of armies, God of Israel, that dwellest on the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, over all the kingdoms of the earth (Isa. 37:16).
Is there a God besides me, and a rock? I know not any (Isa. 44:8).
Who is God save Jehovah and who is a rock save our God? (Ps. 18:31.)
(b) That the Lord is that God is confirmed by these passages of the Word:
Surely God is in thee, and there is none else, there is no God. Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the savior (Isa. 45:14-15).
Am not I Jehovah? And there is no God else besides me, a just God and a savior, there is none besides me. Look unto me that ye may be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else (Isa. 45:21-22).
I am Jehovah, and besides me there is no savior (Isa. 43:11).
I am Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt acknowledge no God but me; for there is no savior besides me (Hos. 13:4).
Thus saith Jehovah the king of Israel, and his redeemer Jehovah of armies, I am the first and I am the last, and besides me there is no God (Isa. 44:6).
Jehovah of armies is his name, and thy redeemer the holy one of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called (Isa. 54:5).
In that day Jehovah shall be king over all the earth; in that day there shall be one Jehovah, and his name one (Zech. 14:9).
As the Lord alone is the savior and the redeemer, and as it is said that Jehovah is that savior and redeemer, and that there is none besides him, it follows that the one God is no other than the Lord.
The Holy Spirit is the Divine proceeding from the Lord, and this is the Lord himself
46. Jesus has said in Matthew:
All power [potestas] is given unto me in heaven and on earth; go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo I am with you all the days even to the consummation of the age (Matt. 28:18-20).
It has already been shown that the Divine called “the Father,” and the Divine called “the son,” are a one in the Lord; and it shall now be shown that “the Holy Spirit” is the same as the Lord.
[2] The reason why the Lord said that they were to baptize into the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, is that there is in the Lord a trine or trinity; for there is the Divine called the Father, the Divine human called the son, and the proceeding Divine called the Holy Spirit. The Divine called the Father, and the Divine called the son, are the Divine ex quo;14 and the proceeding Divine is the Divine per quod.15 That the Divine which proceeds from the Lord is no other than the Divine which is himself, will be seen in the treatises on the Divine providence, omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience;16 for it is a matter of deep investigation.
[3] That there is a trine in the Lord may be illustrated by comparison with an angel, who has a soul and a body, and also a proceeding. That which proceeds from him is himself outside of him. I have been permitted to learn many things about this proceeding, but this is not the place to present them.
[4] After death the first thing the angels teach every man who looks to God is that the Holy Spirit is not any other than the Lord; and that “to go forth” and “to proceed” is nothing else than to enlighten and teach by the presence, which is according to the reception, of the Lord. The result is that after death very many people put away the idea they had formed in this world about the Holy Spirit, and receive the idea that it is the Lord’s presence with man through angels and spirits, by and according to which the man is enlightened and taught.
[5] Moreover, it is usual in the Word to name two Divines, and sometimes three, which yet are one; as Jehovah and God, Jehovah and the holy one of Israel, Jehovah and the mighty one of Jacob, and also God and the lamb. And as these are one, it is said in other places, Jehovah alone is God, Jehovah alone is holy, and he is the holy one of Israel, and there is none besides him; and also instead of God it is sometimes said the lamb, and instead of the lamb, God; this is done in Revelation; the other expressions occur in the prophets.
[6] That it is the Lord only who is meant by the Father, son, and Holy Spirit in Matthew 28:19 is evident from what there precedes and what follows. In the preceding verse the Lord says, “All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth,” and in the following verse he says, “Lo, I am with you all the days, even to the consummation of the age”; thus he speaks of himself only, so that he spoke in that manner [about the Father, son, and Holy Spirit] to make his disciples aware that there is a trinity in him.
[7] In order that it may be known that the Holy Spirit is not a Divine other than the Lord himself, it shall be shown what is meant by “spirit” in the Word. By “spirit” is meant (a) Man’s life in general. (b) As man’s life varies according to his state, by “spirit” is meant the varying affection of life in man. (c) Also the life of one who is regenerate, which is called spiritual life. (d) But where “spirit” is said of the Lord, his Divine life is meant, thus the Lord himself. (e) Specifically, the life of his wisdom, which is called the Divine truth. (f) Jehovah himself, that is, the Lord, spoke the Word through the prophets.
47. (a) That by “spirit” is meant man’s life is evident from ordinary discourse, in which it is said that a man, when he dies, yields up his spirit, so that by “spirit” in this sense is meant the life of the respiration, and in fact the term “spirit” is derived from the respiration, and this is why, in the Hebrew language, there is one word for both “spirit” and “wind.” There are in man two fountains of life; one is the motion of the heart, and the other is the respiration of the lungs. The life from the respiration of the lungs is what is properly meant by “spirit” and also by “soul.” That this acts as one with the man’s thought from the understanding, and that the life from the heart’s motion acts as one with his will’s love, will be seen in its own place. That man’s life is meant in the Word by “spirit” is evident from these passages:
Thou gatherest in their breath [spiritum], they expire, and return into dust (Ps. 104:29).
He remembered that they were flesh, a wind [spiritus] that passeth away, and cometh not again (Ps. 78:39).
When his breath has gone forth, he will return into earth (Ps. 146:4).
Hezekiah lamented that the life of his spirit should go forth (Isa. 38:16).
The spirit of Jacob revived (Gen. 45:27).
A molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in it (Jer. 51:17).
The Lord Jehovih said to the dry bones, I will cause breath to enter into you, that ye may live. Come from the four winds O breath, and breathe upon these slain, and they shall live; and the breath came into them, and they revived (Ezek. 37:5-6, 9-10).
Jesus took the daughter [of Jairus] by the hand, and her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately (Luke 8:54-55).
48. (b) As man’s life varies according to his state, by “spirit” is meant the varying affection of life in man. As (1) the life of wisdom:
Bezaleel was filled with the spirit of wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge (Exod. 31:3).
Thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom (Exod. 28:3).
Joshua was filled with the spirit of wisdom (Deut. 34:9).
Nebuchadnezzar said of Daniel that the spirit of the holy gods is in him The queen said that an excellent spirit of knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom was in him (Dan. 4:8; 5:12).
They that erred in spirit shall know intelligence (Isa. 29:24).
(2) The excitation of life:
Jehovah hath stirred up the spirit of the king of Media (Jer. 51:11).
Jehovah hath stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people (Hag. 1:14).
I will put a spirit in the king of Assyria, that he may hear a rumor, and shall return into his own land (Isa. 37:7).
Jehovah hardened the spirit of Sihon the king (Deut. 2:30).
That which cometh up upon your spirit shall not be at all (Ezek. 20:32).
(3) Freedom of life:
[It is said of] the four living creatures (which were cherubs) seen by the prophet, Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went (Ezek. 1:12, 20).
(4) Life in fear and pain, or grief and anger:
That every heart may melt, and all hands be let down, and every spirit be faint (Ezek. 21:7).
My spirit hath failed upon me; my heart is amazed in the midst of me (Ps. 142:3; 143:4).
My spirit is consumed (Ps. 143:7).
As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved (Dan. 7:15).
The spirit of Pharaoh was troubled (Gen. 41:8).
Nebuchadnezzar said, My spirit was troubled (Dan. 2:3). I went in sadness in the heat of my spirit (Ezek. 3:14).
(5) A life of various evil affections:
Provided that in his spirit there is no guile (Ps. 32:2).
Jehovah hath mingled a spirit of perversities in the midst thereof (Isa. 19:14).
He said to the foolish prophets that go away after their own spirit (Ezek. 13:3).
The prophet is a fool, the man [that hath a] spirit is mad (Hos. 9:7). Take ye heed to your spirit, and deal not treacherously (Mal. 2:16). The spirit of whoredoms hath led them astray (Hos. 4:12).
The spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them (Hos. 5:4).
When the spirit of jealousy hath passed upon him (Num. 5:14).
A man who wandereth in spirit and chattereth a lie (Micah 2:11).
A generation whose spirit was not steadfast with God (Ps. 78:8).
Jehovah hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep (Isa. 29:10).
Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble; as for your spirit, fire shall devour you (Isa. 33:11).
(6) Infernal life:
I will cause the unclean spirit to pass out of the land (Zech. 13:2).
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, and he afterwards joineth to himself seven spirits worse than himself, and they enter in and dwell there (Matt. 12:43-45).
Babylon is become the hold of every foul spirit (Rev. 18:2).
(7) Besides the infernal spirits themselves by whom men are troubled:
Matt. 8:16; 10:1; 12:43-45; Mark 1:23-27; 9:17-29; Luke 4:33, 36; 6:17, 18; 7:21; 8:2, 29; 9:39, 42, 55; 11:24-26; 13:11; Rev. 13:15; 16:13, 14.
49. (c) That by “spirit” is meant the life of one who is regenerate, which is called spiritual life:
Jesus said, Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5).
I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit. I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes (Ezek. 36:26-27).
To give a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek. 11:19).
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and let a willing spirit uphold me (Ps. 51:10, 12).
Make you a new heart, and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel (Ezek. 18:31).
Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created, and thou renewest the faces of the earth (Ps. 104:30).
The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth (John 4:23).
Jehovah God giveth breath [animam] to the people, and spirit to them that walk therein (Isa. 42:5).
Jehovah formeth the spirit of man in the midst of him (Zech. 12:1).
With my soul have I awaited thee in the night; with my spirit in the midst of me have I awaited thee in the morning (Isa. 26:9).
In that day shall Jehovah be for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment (Isa. 28:5-6).
My spirit hath rejoiced in God my savior (Luke 1:47).
They have quieted my spirit in the land of the north (Zech. 6:8).
Into thy hand I commend my spirit; thou hast redeemed me (Ps. 31:5). Did not he make one, and the rest in whom was spirit? (Mal. 2:15).
After three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into the two witnesses that had been killed by the beast (Rev. 11:11).
I Jehovah the former of the mountains, and the creator of the wind [spiritus] (Amos 4:13).
O God, the God of the spirits as to all flesh (Num. 16:22; 27:18).
I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitant of Jerusalem, the spirit from on high (Zech. 12:10).
Until he hath poured upon us the spirit from on high (Isa. 32:15).
I will pour waters upon him that is thirsty, and brooks upon the dry [ground], I will pour my spirit upon thy seed (Isa. 44:3).
I will pour my spirit upon all flesh, also upon the servants and the handmaids; in those days will I pour out my spirit (Joel 2:28, 29).
(To pour out the spirit means to regenerate; as does also to give a new heart and a new spirit.)
[2] That by “spirit” is meant spiritual life in those who are in humiliation:
I dwell in a contrite and humble spirit, and to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones (Isa. 57:15).
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise (Ps. 51:17).
He will give the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Isa. 61:3).
A woman forsaken and grieved in spirit (Isa. 54:6).
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens. (Matt. 5:3).
50. (d) That where “spirit” is said of the Lord, there is meant his Divine life, thus the Lord himself, is evident from these passages:
He whom the Father hath sent speaketh the words of God, for God hath not given the spirit by measure unto him; the Father loveth the son, and hath given all things into his hand (John 3:34-35).
There shall go forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and the spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and intelligence, the spirit of counsel and might (Isa. 11:1-2).
I have put my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the nations (Isa. 42:1).
When the enemy shall come as a pent-up stream, the spirit of Jehovah shall lift up a standard against him; then shall the redeemer come to Zion (Isa. 59:19-20).
The spirit of the Lord Jehovih is upon me; Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor (Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:18).
Jesus knowing in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves (Mark 2:8).
Jesus exulted in spirit, and spoke (Luke 10:21). Jesus was troubled in his spirit (John 13:21). Jesus sighed in his spirit (Mark 8:12).
[2] “Spirit” as used for Jehovah himself, that is, the Lord:
God is a spirit (John 4:24).
Who hath directed the spirit of Jehovah, or who is a man of his counsel? (Isa. 40:13).
The spirit of Jehovah led them by the hand of Moses (Isa. 63:12, 14). Whither shall I go from thy spirit, and whither shall I flee? (Ps. 139:7). Jehovah said, Not by might, but by my spirit shall he do it (Zech. 4:6).
They provoked the spirit of his holiness, therefore he was turned to be their enemy (Isa. 63:10; Ps. 106:33, 40).
My spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is flesh (Gen. 6:3).
I will not contend to eternity, for the spirit should fail before me (Isa. 57:16).
The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven; but he who shall speak a word against the son of man, it shall be forgiven (Matt. 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-30; Luke 12:10).
“Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” is blasphemy against the Lord’s Divine; “a word against the son of man” is something said against the Word by wrongly interpreting its meaning; for “the son of man” is the Lord in respect to the Word, as has been shown above.
51. (e) That by “spirit,” when said of the Lord, is specifically meant the life of his wisdom, which is Divine truth:
I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away the comforter will not come unto you, but if I go away I will send him unto you (John 16:7).
When he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will lead you into all truth. He shall not speak from himself but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak (John 16:13).
He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall declare it unto you: all things that the Father hath are mine; therefore said I that he shall receive of mine and shall declare it unto you (John 16:14-15).
I will ask the Father, that he may give you another comforter, the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him, for he abideth with you, and shall be in you: I will not leave you orphans, I come to you, and ye shall see me (John 14:16-19).
When the comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the spirit of truth, he shall testify of me (John 15:26).
Jesus cried, saying, if anyone thirst let him come unto me and drink; he that believeth in me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow streams of living water. This he said of the spirit which they that believe in him should receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:37-39).
Jesus breathed on his disciples, and said, Receive ye the Holy Spirit (John 20:22).
[2] That by the “comforter,” the “spirit of truth,” and the “Holy Spirit,” the Lord meant himself, is evident from his words—that “the world did not as yet know him,” for they did not as yet know the Lord. And when he said that he “would send it,” he added, “I will not leave you orphans, I come to you, and ye shall see me” (John 14:16-19, 26, 28); and in another place, “Lo I am with you all the days, even to the consummation of the age” (Matt. 28:20); and when Thomas said, “We know not whither thou goest,” Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth” (John 14:5-6).
[3] As the “spirit of truth” or “Holy Spirit” is the same as the Lord, who is the truth itself, it is said, “the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39); for after his glorification or complete unition with the Father, which was effected by the passion of the cross, the Lord was Divine wisdom and Divine truth itself, thus the Holy Spirit. The reason why the Lord breathed on the disciples and said, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit” was that all the breathing of heaven is from the Lord. For angels as well as men have breathing and beating of the heart; their breathing being according to their reception of wisdom from the Lord, and their beating of the heart or pulse being according to their reception of Divine love from the Lord. That this is so will be seen in its own place.
[4] That “the Holy Spirit” is Divine truth from the Lord, is further evident from these passages:
When they bring you to the synagogues, be not anxious as to what ye shall say; for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say (Luke 12:11-12; 21:14; Mark 13:11).
Jehovah said, my spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth (Isa. 59:21).
There shall go forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath [spiritu] of his lips shall he slay the wicked, and truth shall be the girdle of his thighs (Isa. 11:1, 4-5).
Now with the mouth he hath commanded, and his spirit hath gathered them (Isa. 34:16).
They who worship God must worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).
It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life (John 6:63).
John said, I baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16).
To “baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire” is to regenerate by means of the Divine truth which is of faith and the Divine good which is of love.
When Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove (Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:32-33).
A dove is a representative of purification and regeneration by means of Divine truth.
[5] As by “the Holy Spirit,” where the Lord is treated of, is meant his Divine life, thus himself, and specifically the life of his wisdom which is called Divine truth, by the “spirit” mentioned in the writings of the prophets which is called also the “Holy Spirit” is meant Divine truth from the Lord. Thus in the following passages:
The spirit said unto the churches (Rev. 2:7, 11, 29; 3:1, 6, 13, 22).
The seven lamps of fire burning before the throne are the seven spirits of God (Rev. 4:5).
In the midst of the elders a lamb standing, having seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth (Rev. 5:6).
“Lamps of fire,” and the Lord’s “eyes,” signify Divine truths, and “seven” signifies what is holy.
The spirit said that they may rest from their labors (Rev. 14:13). The spirit and the bride say, Come (Rev. 22:17).
They made their heart adamant, that they should not hear the law or the words which Jehovah hath sent in his spirit by the hand of the prophets (Zech. 7:12).
The spirit of Elijah came upon Elisha (2 Kings 2:15).
John went before in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17).
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied (Luke 1:41). Zacharias, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied (Luke 1:67).
David said in the Holy Spirit, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand (Mark 12:36).
The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10).
As, therefore, by the “Holy Spirit” there is meant, specifically, the Lord as to Divine wisdom, and derivatively as to Divine truth, it is evident why it is said of the Holy Spirit that it enlightens, teaches, inspires.
52. (f) Jehovah himself (that is, the Lord) spoke the Word through the prophets. We read of the prophets that they were in vision, and that Jehovah spoke to them. When they were in vision they were not in the body, but in their spirit, in which state they saw things such as are in heaven. But when Jehovah spoke to them, they were in the body, and heard him speaking. These two states of the prophets should be carefully distinguished. In their state of vision, the eyes of their spirit were opened, and those of their body shut, and they then seemed to themselves to be carried from place to place, the body remaining in its own place. In this state, at times, were Ezekiel, Zechariah, Daniel, and John when he wrote Revelation; and it is then said that they were “in vision,” or “in the spirit.” Thus Ezekiel says:
The spirit lifted me up, and brought me into Chaldea to the captivity, in the vision of God, in the Spirit of God; thus went up above me the vision which I saw (Ezek. 11:1, 24).
He says too:
That the spirit took him up, and he heard behind him an earthquake, and other things (Ezek. 3:12, 14).
Also that the spirit lifted him up between the earth and the heaven, and brought him in the visions of God to Jerusalem, and he saw abominations (Ezek. 8:3, etc.).
In like manner in the vision of God, or in the spirit, he saw
The four living creatures, which were cherubs (Ezek. 1; 10).
And also the new earth and the new temple, and an angel measuring them (Ezek. 40-48).
That he was then in the visions of God, he says in Ezek. 40:2; and that the spirit took him up, in Ezek. 43:5.
The case was the same with Zechariah, in whom at the time there was an angel,
When he saw a man riding among the myrtle trees (Zech. 1:8, etc.).
When he saw four horns, and afterwards a man who had a measuring line in his hand (Ezek. 1:18; 2:1).
When he saw Joshua the high priest (Zech. 3:1, etc.).
When he saw a lampstand, and two olive trees (Ezek. 4:2-3). When he saw a flying roll, and an ephah (Ezek. 5:1, 6).
And when he saw four chariots going out between two mountains, and horses (Ezek. 6:1, etc.).
In a similar state was Daniel,
When he saw four beasts coming up out of the sea (Dan. 7:3).
And when he saw the combats of the ram and the he-goat (Dan. 8:1, etc.).
That he saw these things in visions is stated in 7:1-2, 7, 13; 8:2; 10:1, 7-8. That the angel Gabriel was seen by him in vision, and spoke with him, is stated in 9:21-22. The case was the same with John when he wrote Revelation, who says,
That he was in the spirit on the Lord’s day (Rev. 1:10).
That he was carried away in the spirit into the wilderness (Rev. 17:3). Into a high mountain in the spirit (Rev. 21:10).
That he saw horses in vision (Rev. 9:17).
And elsewhere that he saw the things which he described, thus in spirit, or in vision (Rev. 1:12; 4:1; 5:1; 6:1; and in every other chapter).
53. As to the Word itself, however, it is not said in the prophets that they spoke it from the Holy Spirit, but that they spoke it from Jehovah, from Jehovah of armies, from the Lord Jehovih; for we read “the Word of Jehovah came unto me,” “Jehovah said unto me,” and very frequently “Jehovah said,” and “the word [dictum] of Jehovah.” And as the Lord is Jehovah, as has been shown above, it follows that all the Word has been spoken by him. That no one may doubt this to be the case, I will give the references, in Jeremiah only, to the places where these four expressions occur: Jer. 1:4, 7, 11-14, 19; 2:1-5, 9, 19, 22, 29, 31; 3:1, 6, 10, 12, 14, 16; 4:1, 3, 9, 17, 27; 5:11, 14, 18, 22, 29; 6:6, 9, 12, 15-16, 21-22; 7:1, 3, 11, 13, 19-21; 8:1, 3, 12, 13; 9:3, 7, 9, 13, 15, 17, 22, 24-25; 10:1, 2, 18; 11:1, 6, 9, 11, 17, 21-22; 12:14, 17; 13:1, 6, 9, 11-15, 25; 14:1, 10, 14-15; 15:1-3, 6, 11, 19, 20; 16:1, 3, 5, 9, 14, 16; 17:5, 19-21, 24; 18:1, 5-6, 11, 13; 19:1, 3, 6, 12, 15; 20:4; 21:1, 4, 7-8, 11-12; 22:2, 5-6, 11, 16, 18, 24, 29-30; 23:2, 5, 7, 12, 15, 24, 29, 31, 38; 24:3, 5, 8; 25:1, 3, 7-9, 15, 27-29, 32; 26:1-2, 18; 27:1, 2, 4, 8, 11, 16, 19, 21-22; 28:2, 12, 14, 16; 29:4, 8-9, 16, 19-21, 25, 30-32; 30:1-5, 8, 10-12, 17-18; 31:1, 2, 7, 10, 15-17, 23, 27-28, 31-38; 32:1, 6, 14-15, 25-26, 28, 30, 36, 42; 33:1-2, 4, 10-13, 17, 19-20, 23, 25; 34:1-2, 4, 8, 12-13, 17, 22; 35:1, 13, 17-19; 36:1, 6, 27, 29-30; 37:6-7, 9; 38:2-3, 17; 39:15-18; 40:1; 42:7, 9, 15, 18-19; 43:8, 10; 44:1-2, 7, 11, 24-26, 30; 45:1-2, 5; 46:1, 23, 25, 28; 47:1; 48:1, 8, 12, 30, 35, 38, 40, 43-44, 47; 49:2, 5-7, 12-13, 16, 18, 26, 28, 30, 32, 35, 37-39; 50:1, 4, 10, 18, 20-21, 30-31, 33, 35, 40; 51:25, 33, 36, 39, 52, 58. These from Jeremiah only. All the other prophets speak in the same way, and none say that the Holy Spirit has spoken, or that Jehovah has spoken to them by means of the Holy Spirit.
54. From all this then it is evident that Jehovah (who is the Lord from eternity) spoke through the prophets; and that where the Holy Spirit is mentioned, it is the Lord himself. It follows that God is one in both person and essence, and that this God is the Lord.
The doctrine of the Athanasian Creed agrees with the truth, provided that by a trinity of persons is understood a trinity of person, and that this trinity is in the Lord
55. The recognition by Christians of three Divine persons, and thus as it were of three gods, has arisen from there being in the Lord a trine, one of which is called the Father, the second the son, and the third the Holy Spirit. This trine is also referred to in the Word under distinct names just as we refer by distinct names to soul, to body, and to that which proceeds from them, which, however, taken together, form a one. In the sense of the letter the Word is of such a nature that things which form a one it distinguishes from each other as if they did not form a one. This is why Jehovah (who is the Lord from eternity) is sometimes called “Jehovah,” sometimes “Jehovah of armies,” sometimes “ God,” sometimes “the Lord”; and at the same time he is called “creator,” “savior,” “redeemer,” and “former,” and even “Shaddai”; and his human which he assumed in this world, “Jesus,” “Christ,” “messiah,” “son of God,” “son of man”; and, in the Word of the Old Testament, “God,” “holy one of Israel,” “Jehovah’s anointed,” “king,” “prince,” “counselor,” “angel,” “David.”
[2] In consequence of this feature of the Word in the sense of the letter (that it speaks of as many those who really form a one) Christians, who at first were simple folk, and understood everything in accordance with the literal import of the words discriminated the Divinity into three Persons. On account of their simplicity this was permitted, but in such a manner that they should believe the son to be infinite, uncreate, almighty, God, and Lord, altogether equal to the Father; and that they should also believe that these are not two, or three; but one in essence, majesty, and glory, and therefore in divinity.
[3] They who believe this in simplicity in accordance with doctrine, and do not confirm themselves in the idea of three gods, but of the three make a one, after death are taught by the Lord by means of angels that he himself is that one God, and that trine. And this teaching is received by all who come into heaven; for no one can be admitted into heaven who thinks of three gods, however much he may say one; for the life of the whole heaven, and the wisdom of all the angels, are founded upon the acknowledgment and consequent confession of one God, and upon the faith that this one God is also man, and that he is the Lord, who is at once both God and man.
[4] From all this it is evident that it was of Divine permission that Christians at first received the doctrine of three persons, provided that they at the same time received the idea that the Lord is God, infinite, almighty, and Jehovah. For unless they had received this too, it would have been all over with the church, because the church is the church from the Lord; and the eternal life of all is from the Lord, and from no other.
[5] That the church is the church from the Lord is evident from this alone, that the whole Word from beginning to end treats solely of the Lord, as was shown above; and that we must believe in him, and that they who do not believe in him have not eternal life, but that the anger of God abideth on them (John 3:36).
[6] Now as everyone sees in himself that if God is one, he is one in both person and essence (for no one thinks differently, or can think differently, while thinking that God is one), I will here cite the whole of the creed which takes its name from Athanasius, and will afterwards show that all things said therein are true, provided that instead of a trinity of persons there is understood a trinity of person.
56. The creed is as follows:
Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic (other authorities say, Christian) faith; which faith, except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic (others say, Christian) faith is this: that we worship one God in trinity, and the trinity in unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance (others say, essence). For there is one person of the Father, another of the son, and another of the Holy Spirit; but the Godhead of the Father, of the son, and of the Holy Spirit, is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is, such is the son, and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father uncreate, the son uncreate, and the Holy Spirit uncreate. The Father incomprehensible [infinitus], the son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal: and yet there are not three eternals, but one Eternal: as also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreates, but one uncreate, and one incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty, and yet there are not three almighties, but one almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God and yet there are not three gods, but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord; and yet not three lords, but one Lord. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every person by himself to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic religion to say there be three gods or three lords (others say, still we cannot, according to the Christian faith, mention three gods or three lords). The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten [natus] the Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten: the Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And in this trinity none is afore or after another, none is greater or less than another; but the whole three persons are coeternal together, and coequal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the unity in trinity and the trinity in unity is to be worshiped (others say, three persons in one Godhead, and one God in three persons, is to be worshiped). He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the trinity.
Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ (others say, that he firmly believes that our Lord is very man). For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the son of God, is God and man; God of the substance (or essence; others, nature) of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of the substance (others say, nature) of his mother, born in the world; perfect God, and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh [corpore] subsisting; equal to the Father as touching his Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching his manhood. Who although he be God and man, yet he is not two, but one Christ; one, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh [corpus] but by taking of the manhood into God (others say, he is one, yet not that the Godhead was transmuted into manhood, but the Godhead took up the manhood to itself); one altogether, not by confusion (others say, commingling) of substance, but by unity of person (others say, he is altogether one, not that the two natures are commixed, but he is one person). For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ, who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, he sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God almighty, from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.
57. That all things of the creed are true insofar as its verbal expressions are concerned, provided that instead of a trinity of persons there is understood a trinity of person, will be seen if we transcribe it again, with this latter trinity substituted in it. A trinity of person is this: that the Lord’s Divine is the Father, the Divine human the son, and the proceeding Divine the holy spirit. When this trinity is understood, the man can both think of and say one God; but who fails to see that otherwise he cannot but think of three gods? Athanasius himself saw this, and this is why there were inserted these words:
As we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every person by himself to be God and Lord; so are we forbidden by the Catholic religion (or, by the Christian faith) to say (or name) three gods or three lords.
This amounts to saying, Although it is allowable, by the Christian verity, to acknowledge, or think of, three gods and Lords, yet it is not allowable, by the Christian faith, to say or name more than one God and one Lord. And yet it is acknowledgment and thought which conjoin man with the Lord and heaven, and not mere speech. Besides, no one can comprehend how the Divine, which is one, can be divided into three persons, each of whom is God, for the Divine is not divisible. And to make the three one through the essence or substance does not take away the idea of three gods, but merely conveys an idea of their unanimity.
58. That insofar as its verbal expressions are concerned, all things of this creed are true, provided that instead of a trinity of persons there is understood a trinity of person, is evident from the same when rewritten in this form:
Whosoever will be saved, it is necessary that he hold this Christian faith; and the Christian faith is, that we worship one God in trinity, and trinity in unity, not confounding the trine of person, nor dividing the essence. The trine of one person is what is called the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The divinity of the Father, son, and Holy Spirit is one and the same, the glory and majesty equal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father is uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Spirit uncreate. The Father is infinite, the Son infinite, and the Holy Spirit infinite. And yet there are not three infinities, nor three uncreates, but one Uncreate, and one Infinite. So likewise the Father is almighty, the son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty; and yet there are not three almighties, but one almighty. So the Father is God, the son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; and yet there are not three gods, but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord; and yet there are not three lords, but one Lord. For as by the Christian verity we acknowledge a trine in one person, who is God and Lord, so by the Christian faith we can say one God and one Lord. The Father is made of none, neither created, nor born; the son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but born; the Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the son, not made, nor created, nor born, but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three fathers; one Son, not three sons one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits. And in this trinity none is greatest or least, but they are altogether equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the unity in trinity, and trinity in unity, is to be worshiped.
59. So far in the creed as to the trinity and unity of God. The creed then treats of the Lord’s assumption of the human in the world, called the incarnation. Everything said in the creed on this point also is true, provided we make a clear distinction between the human from the mother in which the Lord was when in a state of humiliation or emptying out [exinanitio] [see Isa. 53:12], as when he suffered temptations and the cross; and the human from the Father, in which he was when in a state of glorification or unition. For in the world the Lord assumed a human conceived of Jehovah (who is the Lord from eternity), and born of the virgin Mary; so that he had both a Divine and a human, a Divine from his Divine from eternity, and a human from the mother Mary in time; but this latter human he put off, and put on a human that was Divine. This human is what is called the Divine human, and is meant in the Word by the “son of God.” When therefore the things first said in the creed about the Incarnation are understood of the maternal human (in which the Lord was when in a state of humiliation), and the things that follow, of the Divine human (in which he was when in a state of glorification), all things there are in agreement. With the maternal human (in which the Lord was when in a state of humiliation) agree the following statements that come first in the creed:
That Jesus Christ was God and man, God of the substance of the Father, and man of the substance of the mother, born in the world; perfect God and perfect man, of a rational soul and human body consisting; equal to the Father as touching the Godhead, but inferior to the Father as touching the manhood.
That this manhood was not converted into the Godhead, nor commixed therewith; it being put off, and the Divine human assumed in its place.
With the Divine human (in which he was when in a state of glorification, and is now to eternity) agree the following words in the creed:
Although our Lord Jesus Christ, the son of God, be God and man, yet he is not two, but one Christ; yea, he is altogether one, for he is one person, for as the reasonable soul and body are one man, so God and man are one Christ.
60. That in the Lord, God and man (as is said in the creed) are not two, but one person, yea, altogether one, as soul and body are one, is clear from many things said by the Lord himself, as that the Father and he are one; that all things of the Father are his, and all his the Father’s; that he is in the Father, and the Father in him; that all things are given into his hand; that he has all power; that he is the God of heaven and earth; that whosoever believes in him has eternal life; and further from its being said of him that he was taken up into heaven as to both the Divine and the human, and that, with respect to both, he sits on the right hand of God, which means that he is almighty: not to repeat many passages of the Word treating of his Divine human which are copiously quoted above, and all of which bear witness that God is one in both person and essence; that the trinity is in him; and that this God is the Lord.
61. The reason why these truths relative to the Lord are now for the first time made publicly known, is that it has been foretold in Revelation (chapters 21 and 22) that a new church, in which this doctrine will hold the chief place, is to be instituted by the Lord at the end of the former church. It is this church which is meant by the “new Jerusalem,” and no one can come into it who does not acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth. This I can declare—that the universal heaven acknowledges the Lord alone; and that no one who does not acknowledge him is admitted into heaven; for heaven is heaven from the Lord. It is precisely this acknowledgment from love and faith which causes all there to be in the Lord and the Lord in them, as the Lord himself teaches in John:
In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you (John 14:20).
Abide in me, and I in you. I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing; if anyone abide not in me, he is cast forth (John 15:4-6; 17:22-23).
The reason why this has not been previously seen from the Word, is that if it had been previously seen it would not have been received, because the last judgment had not been effected. Before that event the power of hell prevailed over the power of heaven, and as man is in the midst between the two, it is evident that the devil (which is hell) would have plucked it out of men’s hearts, and would also have profaned it. But this state of power on the part of hell was completely broken by the last judgment, which has now been executed. Since that judgment—thus now—every man who craves to be enlightened and wise can be so. (On this subject see Heaven and Hell, n. 589-596, 597-603; and also Last Judgment, n. 65-72, 73-74.)
By the “new Jerusalem” (spoken of in Revelation) is meant a new church
62. In Revelation, after a description of the state of the Christian church as it would be at its end, and as it now is,17 and after those of that church who are signified by the false prophet, the dragon, the harlot, and the beasts, are said to have been cast into hell, it is added:
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth were passed away. And I, John, saw the holy city new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, their God. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful (Rev. 21:1-3, 5).
By the “new heaven,” and by the “new earth,” which John saw, after the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, is not meant a new starry and atmospheric heaven such as appears before the eyes of men, nor a new earth such as that on which men dwell; but there is meant a newness of the church in the spiritual world, and a newness of the church in the natural world. As a newness of the church in both worlds, spiritual and natural, was effected by the Lord when he was in this world, a like prediction had been made in the prophets, namely, that a new heaven and a new earth would then come into existence (as in Isa. 65:17; 66:22, and elsewhere), which cannot possibly mean a heaven visible to the eyes, and an earth habitable by men. By the term spiritual world is meant the world where angels and spirits dwell, and by the term natural world is meant the world where men dwell. That a newness of the church in the spiritual world has been recently effected, and that a newness of the church in the natural world will be effected, has been partly shown in the little work on the last judgment, and will be shown more fully in the continuation of that work.
63. By the “holy city Jerusalem” is meant this new church as to doctrine, and therefore it was seen coming down from God out of heaven, for the doctrine of genuine truth comes to us from the Lord through heaven, and from no other source. As the church in respect to doctrine is meant by the city new Jerusalem, it is said:
Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:2);
and afterwards,
There came unto me one of the seven angels, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the lamb’s wife, and he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God (Rev. 21:9-10).
That by “bride” and “wife” is meant the church, when the Lord is meant by “bridegroom” and “husband,” is well known. The church is a “bride” when she is desirous to receive the Lord; and a “wife,” when she does receive him. That the Lord is meant by “her husband” is evident; for it is said, “the bride, the lamb’s wife.”
64. The reason why “Jerusalem” means the church as to doctrine, is that there and at no other place in the land of Canaan were the temple and altar, the offering of sacrifices, and therefore the Divine worship; and for this reason the three yearly feasts were celebrated there, to which every male in the whole country was commanded to go. This is why “Jerusalem” signifies the church in respect to worship, and therefore as to doctrine—for worship is prescribed in doctrine, and is performed according to it. An additional reason is that the Lord was present in Jerusalem, and taught in its temple, and afterwards glorified his human there. Besides, “city” in the spiritual sense of the Word signifies doctrine, and therefore “holy city” signifies the doctrine of Divine truth from the Lord.18
[2] That by “Jerusalem” is meant the church as to doctrine, is further evident from other passages in the Word, as from these:
For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. Then shall the nations see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory, and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall name; and thou shalt be a crown of ornament in the hand of Jehovah, and a kingdom’s diadem in the hand of thy God; for Jehovah shall delight in thee, and thy land shall be married. Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him and they shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of Jehovah; and thou shalt be called a city sought out, not forsaken (Isa. 62:1-4, 11-12).
This whole chapter treats of the Lord’s advent, and of a new church to be set up by him. This new church is here meant by “Jerusalem called by a new name which the mouth of Jehovah shall name,” and which shall be “a crown of ornament in the hand of Jehovah, and a kingdom’s diadem in the hand of God,” and in which Jehovah shall “delight,” and which shall be called “a city sought out, not forsaken.” These words cannot possibly mean the Jerusalem in which were the Jews at the time of the Lord’s coming into the world, for that city was of a wholly contrary character, and might rather be called Sodom, as indeed it is called in Rev. 11:8; Isa. 3:9; Jer. 23:14; Ezek. 16:46, 48.
[3] Again in Isaiah:
Behold, I create a new heaven and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered: be ye glad and rejoice to eternities in that which I create; for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a gladness, that I may rejoice over Jerusalem, and be glad over my people. Then shall the wolf and the lamb feed together; they shall not do harm in all the mountain of my holiness (Isa. 65:17-19, 25).
This chapter also treats of the Lord’s advent, and of a church to be set up anew by him. This church was not set up anew among those who were in Jerusalem, but among those outside of it, so that it is this church which is meant by the Jerusalem that should be to the Lord a rejoicing, and whose people should be to him a gladness, and where also the wolf and the lamb should feed together, and where they should do no harm. Here, too, it is said, just as in Revelation, that the Lord will “create a new heaven and a new earth,” the meaning being similar; and it is added that he will “create Jerusalem.”
[4] In another place in Isaiah:
Awake! Awake! Put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust, arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem. My people shall know [cognoscet] my name in that day, for I am he that doth speak, behold it is I. Jehovah hath comforted his people; he hath redeemed Jerusalem (Isa. 52:1-2, 6, 9).
This chapter also treats of the Lord’s advent, and of the church to be set up anew by him; so that by the Jerusalem into which the uncircumcised and the unclean should no more come, and which the Lord should redeem, is meant the church; and by “Jerusalem the holy city,” the church as to doctrine from the Lord.
[5] In Zephaniah:
Shout, O daughter of Zion; be glad with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem; the king of Israel is in the midst of thee; fear evil no longer: he will be glad over thee with joy, he will rest in thy love, he will exult over thee with a shout: I will make you a name and a praise to all the people of the earth (Zeph. 3:14-17, 20).
Here in like manner it treats of the Lord and of a church from him, over which “the king of Israel” (who is the Lord) will be glad with joy, will exult with a shout, and in whose love he will rest, and whose members he will make a name and a praise to all people of the earth.
[6] In Isaiah:
Thus saith Jehovah thy redeemer, and thy former, saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built (Isa. 44:24, 26).
In Daniel:
Know [scito] and perceive that from the going forth of the word even to the restoring and the building up of Jerusalem, even to messiah the prince, shall be seven weeks (Dan. 9:25).
It is evident that here also “Jerusalem” means the church, because this was indeed restored and built by the Lord, but not the Jerusalem that was the residence of the Jews.
[7] “Jerusalem” means a church from the Lord in the following passages also. In Zechariah:
Thus saith Jehovah, I will return to Zion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; whence Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth; and the mountain of Jehovah Zebaoth, the mountain of holiness (Zeph. 8:3, 20-23).
In Joel:
Then shall ye know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion, the mountain of holiness; and Jerusalem shall be holiness: and it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and Jerusalem shall abide from generation to generation (Joel 3:17-20).
In Isaiah:
In that day shall the shoot of Jehovah be for ornament and glory; and it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy; even everyone that is written for life in Jerusalem (Isa. 4:2-3).
In Micah:
In the latter days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established in the head of the mountains; for doctrine shall go forth out of Zion, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem: unto thee shall come the former kingdom, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem (Micah 4:1-2, 8).
In Jeremiah:
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah and all nations shall be gathered to the name of Jehovah to Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the confirmation of their evil heart (Jer. 3:17).
In Isaiah:
Look upon Zion the city of our set feast; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be scattered; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be plucked away (Isa. 33:20).
Besides other passages, as Isa. 24:23; 37:32; 66:10-14; Zech. 12:3, 6, 8-10; 14:8, 11-12, 21; Mal. 3:1, 4; Ps. 122:1-7; 137:5-6.
[8] That in these passages “Jerusalem” means the church which was to be set up anew by the Lord, and which actually was set up anew by him, and not the Jerusalem in the land of Canaan that was inhabited by the Jews, is evident from those passages in the Word where it is said of the latter Jerusalem that it should utterly perish and be destroyed; as Jer. 5:1; 6:6-7; 7:17, 20, etc.; 8:5-7, etc.; 9:10-11, 13, etc.; 13:9-10, 14; 14:16; Lam. 1:8-9, 15, 17; Ezek. 4:1 to end; 5:9 to end; 12:18-9; 15:6-8; 16:1 to end; 23:1-49; Matt. 23:33, 37, 39; Luke 19:41-44; 21:20-22; 23:28-30; and in many other places.
65. In Revelation occur the words, “A new heaven and a new earth”; and afterwards, “Behold I make all things new,” which mean nothing else than that in the church now to be set up anew by the Lord the doctrine will be new. This doctrine did not exist in the former church, the reason of which is that if it had, it would not have been received, because the last judgment had not then been executed, and previous to that judgment the power of hell prevailed over the power of heaven, so that if the doctrine had been given before, even from the Lord’s mouth, it would not have remained with men; nor does it at this day remain except with those who approach the Lord alone, and acknowledge him as the God of heaven and earth. (See above, at n. 61.) This same doctrine had indeed been given in the Word; but as not long after its setting up anew the church was turned into Babylon, and afterwards, with others, into Philistia, that doctrine could not be seen from the Word, for the church sees the Word from the principles of its religion and from its doctrine, and in no other way.
The new things contained in the present little work are, in general, as follows:
(a) God is one in person and essence, and this God is the Lord.
(b) All holy Scripture treats of him alone.
(c) He came into the world to subdue the hells, and to glorify his human; and he accomplished both by admitting temptations into himself, and did so fully by the last of them which was the passion of the cross. Thereby he became the redeemer and savior; and thereby merit and righteousness are his alone.
(d) The statement that he “fulfilled all things of the law” means that he fulfilled all things of the Word.
(e) By the passion of the cross he did not take away sins, but bore them as the prophet, that is to say, he suffered that there should be represented, in himself, the church in respect to its maltreatment of the Word.
(f) The imputation of his merit is not anything at all unless thereby is meant the forgiveness of sins after repentance.
These things are contained in this little work. In those which follow it, which are to be concerning the holy Scripture, concerning the doctrine of life, concerning faith, and concerning Divine love and Divine wisdom, still other new things will be seen.
(*)
Index of Scripture Passages
GENESIS
3:15 19
6:3 50
41:8 48
45:27 47
EXODUS
24:8, 10 39
28:3 48
31:3 48
LEVITICUS
6:9 9
14 9
25 9
7:1-11 9
37 9
14:2 9
NUMBERS
5:14 48
29, 30 9
6:13, 21 9
16:22 49
27:18 49
DEUTERONOMY
2:30 48
6:4, 5 45
18:15-19 15
31:9, 11, 26 9
34:9 48
2 SAMUEL
22:2, 3 34, 38
1 KINGS
20:35-38 15
22:11 15
2 KINGS
1:8 15
2:15 51
22:8, 11 9
23:24 9
PSALMS
2:6-8, 12 6
2:7, 12 19
8:5, 6 6
18:31 45
4, 5, 14, 37-40, 48, 43 14
19:14 34, 38
14 34
24:7, 8 33
7, 8, 10 38
31:5 38, 49
32:2 48
35:19 10
41:13 39
45:1-17 44
3, 5-7 14
51:10-12 49
17 49
59:5 39
68:8 39
72:7, 8 4
18, 19 39
78:8 48
35 34, 41
35 34
35 39
39 47
41 40
80:17, 18 27
82:6 10
89:3-5, 19-21, 24-29, 35-37 44
25-27, 29 6
25-27 19
29 10
973-6 14
104:29 47
30 49
106:33, 40 50
110:1 35
1, 2, 4 6
1, 2, 5, 6 14
4, 5 19
4 10
114:7 39
122:1-7 64
4, 5 44
130:7, 8 34, 38
7, 8 34
132:1-9 6
2, 3, 5, 6 39
6, 7 41
8-18 44
137:4-6 64
139:7 50
142:3 48
143:4 48
7 48
146:4 47
ISAIAH
1:4 40
2:2, 3 39
2, 11, 12, 20 4
3:18 4
4:2 4
2, 3 64
5:19 40
30 4
7:14 6, 19
18, 20, 21, 23 4
9:6, 7 6, 19, 38
10:3, 20 4
20 40
11:1 19
1, 2 38, 50
1, 2, 5, 10 6
1, 4, 5 51
10, 11 4
12:1, 4 4
12:6 40
13:6, 9, 13, 22 4
16:1, 5 6
17:4, 7, 9 4
6 39
17:6, 7 40
19:14 48
18, 19, 23, 24 4
20:2, 3 15, 16
6 4
21:10, 17 39
22:5 4
24:15 39
21-23 4
23 64
25:9 4, 6, 30, 38
26:1 4
9 49
27:1, 2, 12, 13 4
28:5 4, 38
5, 6 49
29:10 48
18 4
19 40
23 39
24 48
30:11, 12 40
25, 26 4
31:7 4
32:15 49
33:11 48
20 64
34:8 4
16 51
37:7 48
16 45
20 45
32 64
40:3, 5, 10, 11 6
3, 5, 10 30, 38
13 50
41:14 34.2, 34.4
16 40
42:1 50
1, 6-8 6
5 49
6-8 30
6, 8 38
43:1, 3 34, 38, 40
3, 11, 14, 15 34
11 34, 38, 45
14 38, 40
14, 15 34
15 38, 40
44:2, 6 38
3 49
6 34, 36, 45
8 45
24 34
24, 26 64
45:3 39
5, 6 45
11 38, 40
11, 15 34
14, 15 34, 45
14, 15, 21, 22 34
15 34
15 39
21, 22 34, 38, 45
47:4 34, 38, 40
9 4
48:1, 2 39
12 36
17 34, 40
49:5 34, 38
7 34, 38, 40
26 34, 38, 39
52:1, 2, 6, 9 64
6 4
53:1, 2, 4 6
1-12 15
4, 6, 11 16
7 12
54:5 34, 39, 40, 41, 45
6 49
8 34, 38
55:3, 4 43
5 40
57:15 49
16 50
59:16, 17, 20 14
19, 20 50
20 34
21 51
60:9 40
16 34, 38, 39
61:1 50
1, 2 4
3 49
62:1-4, 11, 12 64
63:1-9 14
1, 4, 8 6
4 4
4, 6, 8 33
10 50
16 34
65:17-19, 25 64
17 62
66:22 64
JEREMIAH
1:4, 7, 11-14, 19 53
2:1-5, 9, 19, 22, 29, 31 53
3:1, 6, 10, 12, 14, 16 53
16-18 4
17 64
4:1, 3, 9, 17, 27 53
9 4
5:1 64
11, 14, 18, 22, 29 53
6:6, 7 64
6, 9, 12, 15, 16, 21, 22 53
7:1, 3, 11, 13, 19-21 53
3 39
17, 18 seq. 64
32, 34 4
8:1, 3, 12, 13 53
5-8 seq. 64
12 4
9:3, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 15, 17,
22, 23, 25 53
11, 12, 14 seq. 64
15 39
25 4
10:1, 2, 18 53
15 4
11:1, 6, 9, 11, 18, 21, 22 53
3 39
23 4
12:14, 17 53
13:1, 6, 9, 11-15, 25 53
1-7 15
9, 10, 14 64
12 39
14:1, 10, 14, 15 53
16 64
15:1-3, 6, 11, 19, 20 53
16:1, 3, 5, 9, 14, 16 53
2, 5, 8 15
9 39
14 4
17:5, 19-21, 24 53
18:1, 5, 6, 11, 13 53
17 4
19:1, 3, 6, 12, 15 53
3, 15 39
6, 8 4
20:4 53
21:1, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12 53
22:2, 3, 5, 6, 11, 16, 18,
24, 29, 30 53
23:2 39
2, 5, 7, 11, 12, 15, 16,
24, 29, 31-33, 38 53
5, 6 6, 38
5 19
5-7, 12, 20 4
24:3, 5, 8 53
5 39
25:1, 3, 7-9, 15, 27-29, 32 53
15, 27 39
26:1, 2, 18 53
27:1, 2, 4, 8, 11, 16, 19,
21, 22 53
28:2, 12, 14, 16 53
29:4, 8-9, 16, 19-21, 25, 30-32 53
4, 8, 21, 25 39
30:1-5, 8, 10-12, 17, 18 53
2 39
3, 7, 8 4
8, 9 43
31:1, 2, 7, 10, 15-17, 23,
27, 28, 31-38 53
6, 27, 31, 38 4
23 39
32:1, 6, 14, 15, 25, 26, 28,
30, 36, 42, 44 53
14, 15, 36 39
33:1, 2, 4, 10-13, 17, 19,
20, 23, 25 53
4 39
14, 15, 16 4
15, 16 6, 38
34:1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 13, 17, 22 53
2, 13 39
35:1, 13, 17-19 53
13, 17-19 39
36:1, 6, 27, 29, 30 53
37:6, 7, 9 53
7 39
38:2, 3, 17 53
17 39
39:15-18 53
16 39
16, 17 4
40:1 53
42:7, 9, 15, 18, 19 53
9, 15, 18 39
43:8, 10 53
10 39
44:1, 2, 7, 11, 24-26, 30 53
2, 7, 11, 25 39
45:1, 2, 5 53
46:1, 23, 25, 28 53
5, 10 14
10, 21 4
47:1 53
4 4
48:1, 8, 12, 30, 35, 38, 40,
43, 44, 47 53
1 39
44, 47 4
49:2, 5-7, 12, 13, 16, 18,
26, 28, 30, 32, 35, 37-39 53
8, 26, 39 4
26 14
50:1, 4, 10, 18, 20, 21,
31, 33, 35, 40 53
4, 20, 27, 31 4
18 39
29 40
34 34, 38
51:5 40
11 48
17 47
18 4
25, 33, 36, 39, 52, 58 53
33 39
LAMENTATIONS
1:8, 9, 17 64
EZEKIEL
1:12, 20 48
(chap. cited) 52
2:1, 3, 6, 8 28
3:1, 3, 4, 10, 17, 25 28
12, 14 52
14 48
4:1 to end 64
1-15 15
1, 16 28
4-6 16
13, 16, 17 16
5:1 28
1-4 15
9 to end 64
6:2 28
7:2 28
6, 7, 10, 12, 19 4
8:3, 6, 10 52
4 39
5, 6, 8, 12, 15 28
9:3 39
10:19, 20 39
(chap. cited) 52
11:1, 24 52
2, 4, 15 28
19 49
22 39
12:2, 3, 9, 18, 22, 27 28
3, 7, 11 15
3-11 16
18, 19 64
27 4
13:2, 17 27
3 28
5 4
14:3, 13 28
15:2 28
6-8 64
16:1-63 64
2 28
17:2 28
18:31 49
20:3, 4, 27, 46 28
32 48
21:2, 6, 9, 12, 14, 19, 28 28
7 48
25, 29 4
22:3, 4 4
18, 24 28
23:1-49 64
2, 36 28
24:2, 16, 25 28
25-27 4
25:2 28
26:2 28
27:2 28
28:2, 12, 21 28
29:2, 18 28
21 4
30:2, 3, 9 4
2, 21 28
3 38
31:2 28
15 4
32:2, 18 28
33:2, 7, 10, 12, 24, 30 28
34:2 28
11, 12 4
23, 24 43
35:2 28
36:1, 17 28
33 4
26, 27 49
37:3, 9, 11, 16 28
5, 6, 9, 10 47
23-26 43
38:2, 14 28
14, 16, 18, 19 4
39:1, 17 28
40:2 52
4 28
(chap. cited) 52
41(chap. cited) 52
42(chap. cited) 52
43:2 39
5 52
7, 10, 18 28
(chap. cited) 52
44:2 39
5 28
(chap. cited) 52
45(chap. cited) 52
46(chap. cited) 52
47(chap. cited) 52
48(chap. cited) 52
DANIEL
2:3 48
28 4
44 42
4:8 48
13, 23 40
5:11, 12, 14 48
7:1, 2, 7, 13 52
3 52
13 26
13, 14, 27 6
13, 14, 27 42
14 10
15 48
22 4
8:1 seq. 52
2 52
17 28
16, 17, 19, 26 4
9:21, 22 52
24, 25 6
25 64
10:1, 7, 8 52
14, 15 4
11:35 4
12:1 4
4, 9, 11, 13 4
HOSEA
1:2-9 15
4, 5, 11 4
2:16, 18, 21 4
3:5 43
5 4
4:12 48
5:4 48
6:1, 2 4
9:7 4
9:7 48
13:4 45
4 38
4 34
JOEL
1:15 4
2:1, 2, 11 4
11 14
11 38
28, 29 49
29, 31 4
3:1, 2, 14, 18 4
17, 18, 20 64
AMOS
2:16 4
3:14 4
4:13 49
5:18, 20 4
18, 20 38
8:3, 9, 13 4
9:11 43
11, 13 4
OBADIAH
12-15 4
MICAH
2:4 4
11 48
4:1, 2 39
1, 2, 8 64
1, 6 4
5:2 37
2, 4 6
2, 4 38
10 4
7:4, 11, 12 4
HABAKKUK
2:3 4
3:2 4
3 40
ZEPHANIAH
1:7, 14, 15, 18 38
7, 8-10, 12, 14-16, 18 4
8, 9, 15, 16 14
2:2, 3 4
9 39
3:8, 11, 16, 19, 20 4
14, 15, 17, 20 64
HAGGAI
1:14 48
ZECHARIAH
1:8, 18 52
2:10, 11 6
11 4
3:1 seq. 52
9, 10 4
4:2, 3 52
6 50
5:1, 6 52
6:1 52
8 49
7:12 51
8:3, 20-23 64
23 4
9:9, 10 6
16 4
11:11 4
12:1 49
3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11 4
3, 6, 8-10 64
8 43
10 49
13:1 43
14 4
2 48
4 15
14:1, 4, 6-9, 13, 20, 21 4
3, 4 38
3-6, 9 14
8, 9 45
8, 11, 12, 21 64
MALACHI
2:15 49
16 48
3:1 30
1, 2 6
1, 4 64
2, 17 4
4:1, 5 4
5 6, 38
MATTHEW
1:18-25 21
22, 23 6, 19
3:3 30
4 15
11 51
16 51
17 19
4:1-11 12
17 18
23 42
5:3 49
17, 18 9
17, 19 17
18 11
7:12 9
8:4 9
16 48
20 27
29 19
9:18 41
35 42
10:1 48
40 20
11:13 9
12:8 27
28 42
31, 32 50
43, 45 48
46, 49 35
13:37 27
57 15
14:33 19, 41
15:24 20
25 41
31 39
16:27 25
28 42
17:1-8 35
5 19
18:11 27
19:16, 17 45
28 25
20:18, 19 24
28 27
21:11 15
22:37, 39, 40 9
41-46 35
44 6, 14
23:33, 37, 39 64
24:3, 30 26
14 42
44 25
25:31, 33 25
26:36-44 12
26:45 24
52, 54, 56 11
63, 64 19, 26
27:33-56 12
43, 54 19
28:9 41
18 32
18-20 46
19 46
20 51
MARK
1:1 19
3 30
4 18
8 51
10 51
11 19
12, 13 12
14, 15 18, 42
23-27 48
40 41
2:8 50
10 27
28 27
3:11 19
28, 30 50
31, 35 35
5:22 41
6:4 15
12 18
7:25 41
8:12 50
31 24
9:1 42
2-8 35
7 19
17-29 48
37 20
10:2-4 9
17 41
33, 34 24
45 27
12:19 9
29, 30 45
35-37 35
36 51
36 14
13:3 14
11 51
26 26
14:21, 49 11
26 14
32-42 12
62 19, 27
15:22-38 12
28 11
39 19
43 42
16:19 35
LUKE
1:17 51
26-35 19
32, 33 19
33 42
35 40
41 51
47 49
46, 47 34
47 39
67 51
68, 69 39
78 30
2:10, 11 34
10, 11 34
22-24, 27, 39 9
40, 52 32
3:3 18
4 30
8, 9 18
16 51
21, 22 51
22 19
4:1-13 12
16-21 11
18 50
24 15
33, 36 48
43 20, 42
5:24 27
6:5 27
17, 18 48
7:16 15
21 48
8:1, 10 42
2, 29 48
20, 21 35
54, 55 47
9:2, 11, 60 42
22 24
28-36 35
35 19
39, 42, 55 48
48 20
56 27
58 27
10:11 42
16 20
18 13
21 50
11:24-26 48
12:10 50
12 51
40 25
13:3, 5 18
11 48
33 15
16:16 9
16 42
17 10
29, 31 9
17:15, 16 41
19:10 27
11 42
41-44 64
20:28, 37 9
41-44 35
42 6, 14
21:20-22 64
27 26
31 42
36 25
37 14
22:18 42
37 11
39 14
39-46 12
23:28-30 64
33-49 12
51 42
24:6, 7 24
25-27 11
26 13, 35
31 35
39, 40 35
41, 43 35
44 11, 14
47 18
51 35
JOHN
1:1-5, 14 1
11-13 18
12 32
14 2
17 9
18 18, 32
18, 34, 49 19
27, 30 37
29 15
32, 33 51
41 19
45 9
2:3, 4 35
19, 21 30
3:5 49
13 35
14 9
15 32
16 32
17 27
17, 18 25
17, 24 20
18 32
18 19
19 1
31 31
34, 35 50
35 32
36 32, 55
4:23 49
24 50, 51
25 19
34 20
42 34
5:17-26 22
19 32
19, 21, 26 32
22, 27 25
23 32
23, 24, 36-38 20
26 32
25 19
30 32
37 32
38, 39 27
39 11
46 14
6:27, 53 27
28, 29 32
29, 39, 40, 44, 57 20
33, 35 32
33, 35, 41, 50, 51 31
40 32
46 32
47 32
62 35
63 51
69 19
7:16, 18, 28, 29 20
19, 51 9
29 31
33 35
37, 38 32
37-39 51
39 51
40 15
48, 49 10
8:1 14
5 9
12 32
16, 18, 29, 42 20
17 9
19 32
24 3, 24
28, 29 32
37 27
42 31
58 30
9:4 20
38 41
10:29, 30 32
34 10
36 19
37, 38 32
11:4 19
25, 26 32
27 19
41, 42 20
12:23, 28 35
27, 28 13
31 13
34 10
36 32
36, 46 1
36, 46 2
44, 45, 49 20
45 32
46 32
47, 48 25
49, 50 32
13:18 11
20 32
20 20
21 50
31, 32 13
31, 32 35
14:6 32
5, 6 51
6-11 32
7 32
10 32
10, 11 35
16-19 51
16-19, 26, 28 51
20 32, 61
20 35
24 20
15:4, 5 32, 35
4, 5, 6 61
21 20
25 10
26 51
16:5 20
5, 16 35
7 51
11 13
13 51
14, 15 51
15 32
26, 27 31
28 31, 35
32 32
33 13
17:1, 5 13, 35
2 32
3, 8, 21, 23, 25 20
5 1, 30
7 32
10 32, 35
11, 13 35
12 11
21 32
22, 23 61
23 32
18:9 11
19:1, 5 16
7 9
17-37 12
24 11
26, 27 35
28 11
30 11
36, 37 11
20:19, 26 35
20 35
21 20
22 51
27, 28 35, 41
31 19
REVELATION
1:7, 13 26
8, 11 36
10 52
12 52
13 27
13, 17 36
16 35
2:7, 11, 29 51
8 36
3:1, 6, 13, 22 51
4:1 52
2, 3, 10 41
5 51
5:1 52
1, 3, 5-8, 14 41
6:1 52
9:17 52
11:11 49
16, 17 37
13:15 48
14:13 51
14 26
16:13, 14 48
17:3 52
14 42
19:10 7, 51
11, 16 42
21:1-3, 5 62
2 63
9, 10 63
10 52
(chap. cited) 61
22:12, 13 36
17 51
(chap. cited) 61
Nine Questions, Chiefly Relating to the Lord, the Trinity, and the Holy Spirit, with Answers
(**)
Translator’s Prefatory Note
This little tract, which in accordance with an old and well established custom, and for self-evident reasons, is placed immediately after the Doctrine of the Lord, was first printed and published in the original Latin in London in the year 1785 by Robert Hindmarsh from a manuscript copy in the handwriting of Thomas Hartley, and received from him by Hindmarsh in that year.
The date at which the answers to the nine questions were written by Swedenborg is very closely indicated in the replies to Questions 2 and 7, where by referring to the work True Christian Religion, Swedenborg shows that his answers were written after the publication of that work [1771]. They therefore contain his latest utterances on the subject of the doctrine of the Lord and the Divine trinity.
The following translation has been made from a copy of the very handsome Latin quarto of Hindmarsh which is preserved in the library of the Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.
(***)
Nine Questions, Chiefly Relating to the Lord, the Trinity, and the Holy Spirit, with Answers
Question 1:
1. In what sense did the Lord call himself the son of man, if he took only flesh from the mother, and not a rational soul? Has the human sonship regard solely to the human flesh?
Answer:
The Lord called himself the son of man because he was the Word or Divine truth even as to the human; for in the spiritual sense “son of man” signifies the truth of the church from the Word. The same was signified by “prophet,” because the prophets taught truths from the Word; and therefore the Lord, who was a prophet in a pre-eminent degree, and also the Word, and therefore the Divine truth, called himself, as to the human, the son of man. This is why, in the prophets and psalms passim where the vastation of truth in the church is treated of, it is said that the son of man abides not there; and this also is why the prophets themselves were called sons of man, as Ezekiel in Ezek. 2:1, 3, 6, 8; 3:1, 3-4, 10, 17, 25; and very frequently in the succeeding chapters; and also Daniel. That such is the case has been shown from many passages quoted in Angelic Wisdom concerning the Lord,19 which consult if at hand.
Question 2:
2. Had the Lord a rational soul from Jehovah the Father, to which was united the Divine esse, whence he became very God and very man?
Answer:
The Lord from eternity (that is, Jehovah) was Divine love and Divine wisdom, and he then had a Divine celestial and a Divine spiritual; but not, before he assumed the human, a Divine natural. And as the rational is predicated solely of the celestial and spiritual natural, it follows that by the assumption of the human, Jehovah the Lord did also put on the Divine rational. He had a Divine rational before the assumption of the human, but by means of influx into the angelic heaven; and when he had manifested himself in this world, he did so by means of an angel whom he filled with his divinity. For the purely Divine essence (which as just said was purely Divine celestial and Divine spiritual) transcends both the angelic and the human rational. But that Divine rational existed by means of influx. Its nature may be inferred from what is said below on the sixth point. Luther and Melanchthon teach that in Christ man is God and God is man, which also is according to holy Scripture, as may be seen in True Christian Religion, n. 137. But Calvin denied it, and merely affirmed that Christ is God and man.
Question 3:
3. Was there not always a trinity in the Divine nature, to be understood in this way: the Divine love, the Divine wisdom, and the quickening spirit, or holy proceeding?
Answer:
The Divine trinity in one person is to be understood as soul, body, and proceeding operation, which together constitute one essence, for the one is from the other, and therefore the one belongs to the other. In the same way there is a trinity in each man, which taken together constitutes one person, to wit, the soul, the body, and the operation that goes forth. But in man this trinity is finite, because man is only an organ of life; whereas in the Lord the trinity is infinite and thus Divine, because the Lord is life itself even in respect to the human, as he himself teaches in John 5:26; 14:6; and also elsewhere.
Question 4:
4. Does not the son, by whom Jehovah is said to have created the worlds (Heb. 1:2; 11:3), signify the same as the Divine wisdom in Jer. 10:12; 51:15; so that the essential wisdom or logos of God in first principles is now become the truth or logos of God in ultimates?
Answer:
That the Lord (that is, the Word or Divine truth through which all things were made that were made, and through which the world was created, John 1:3, 10) was the Divine wisdom which together with the Divine love constitutes one Divine essence, and thus one and the same God, follows of course; for the Divine wisdom is also the Divine truth, because all things of wisdom are truths, and wisdom produces nothing but truths, for it is their container, exactly in accordance with Jer. 10:12; 51:15. The same is understood also by the statement that is made in Ps. 33:6. The “spirit [or breath] of Jehovah’s mouth” also is wisdom; and the “Word” there mentioned is the Divine love and the Divine wisdom together, for it is said, “And God was the Word” (John 1:1).
Question 5:
5. Is not the “Holy Spirit” in the New Testament the same as the “spirit of God” in the Old Testament, with the sole difference that before the Lord’s incarnation it proceeded either immediately from the Divine esse or Jehovah, or mediately through angels, and after the incarnation through the son or Divine human? Is not the Holy Spirit the same as the sphere of God?
Answer:
The spirit of God and the Holy Spirit are two distinct things. The spirit of God neither did nor could operate on man except imperceptibly; whereas the Holy Spirit, which proceeds solely from the Lord, operates on man perceptibly, and enables him to comprehend spiritual truths in a natural way; for the Lord has united the Divine natural to the Divine celestial and the Divine spiritual, and he operates from these two through that. Besides, “holy” in the Word is predicated solely of Divine truth, thus of the Lord, who is Divine truth not only in the celestial and spiritual but also in the natural sense; and therefore it is said in Revelation that the Lord alone is holy (15:3-4). (See also Apocalypse Revealed, n. 173.) It is also said in John: “The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (7:39).
The Holy Spirit is the same as the Divine sphere if by this is meant the Divine love and Divine wisdom, which two proceed from Jehovah the Lord from the sun of the angelic heaven, as do heat and light from the sun of the natural world and constitute its sphere. For in its essence the heat of the sun of the angelic heaven is love, and the light wisdom. And to these two the heat and light of the sun of this world correspond.
Question 6:
6. Was the Divine human of Jehovah, before the incarnation, a person subsisting per se, as the manifestation [existere], form, or body of God? Or was it an angelic form assumed on occasion for the sake of manifestation?
Does it not follow that the Divine human before the incarnation was different from the Divine human which now is since the incarnation, seeing that the Divine trinity is in the Lord’s person?
Answer:
Before the incarnation there was not any Divine human except a representative one by means of some angel whom Jehovah the Lord filled with his spirit, as has been said above. And as that was representative, all things of the church at that time were representative, and like shadows; but after the incarnation the representatives ceased, like the shades of evening or night at the rising of the sun. That representative human in which Jehovah then presented himself in this world before his actual advent was not of such efficacy as to be able spiritually to enlighten men, and therefore enlightenment was then effected solely by means of types and figures.
Question 7:
7. May not the most holy trinity be properly said to be one and the same Lord in three characters, distinctions of offices, or relations toward men, as creator, redeemer, and sanctifier; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Divine esse, Divine human, and holy proceeding: not as three persons, out of which there would necessarily be made three gods?
Answer:
The most holy trinity in one person is to be apprehended as the Divine esse, the Divine human, and the Divine proceeding; thus as soul, body, and derivative power [virtus] and operation, precisely as given in the memorable relation inserted in True Christian Religion, n. 188. As productions from these there follow in order creation, redemption, and regeneration; for creation is an attribute of the Divine esse, redemption of the Divine human from the Divine esse, and regeneration of the Holy Spirit, which is the primary power [virtus], or operation, by the Divine human from the Divine esse, according to what has been advanced in True Christian Religion, n. 153-155.
Question 8:
8. It is said in 1 Cor. 15:45, “The first man Adam was made a living soul”; and in the genealogy in Luke 3, he is placed as the first after God, and it is said, “who was the son of God.” Does not the regarding of Adam as a church contradict this?
Answer:
In the genealogy in Luke it is said that Adam was “of God,“ that is, created by God, and not the son of God.
Question 9:
9. If there was no individual called Noah, how comes it to be said in Ezek. 14:14: “Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job,” etc.?
I lay no great stress on these matters [says Mr. Hartley], but I had a mind to propose them.
Answer:
The reason Noah is mentioned in Ezek. 14:14 is that he had been mentioned in Genesis, and consequently the same is signified in the Prophet as in Moses, namely, that the man with his three sons was significative of a subsequent church, on which subject see what has been delivered in Arcana Coelestia.
________________________________________________________
Footnotes
3. That is, a complex whole which constitutes a unity. [Translator]
4. In the expression “Divine proceeding,” Divine is not to be understood as an adjective qualifying proceeding, but proceeding is to be taken as a verb (or participle) describing the act which the Divine there performs. Thus the expression does not mean a proceeding which is Divine, but a Divine that is in the act of proceeding forth. “Divine proceeding,” thus understood, exactly translates Swedenborg’s Divinum procedens. [Translator]
5. The Latin has “Jehovah shall say.”
6. In Apocalypse Revealed (n. 612), it is “savior”; in Apocalypse Explained (n. 31[7]), it is “just and saving”; but the Hebrew is “saved,” as given here by Swedenborg. [Translator]
7. The term “singular” is the correlative of “universal,” as “particular” is of “general.” The veriest singulars are most absolute ones, the most singular or individually distinct of all. [Translator]
8. Concerning the Lord’s temptations or combats, see New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine, published in London (n. 201 and 302). And concerning temptations in general (n. 187-200).
9. Latin instaurare, to set up, not originally, but in restoration and repair. See Translator’s Preface. [Translator]
10. See footnote 7 above.
11. Potestas, Greek exousia, the authority, command, and power that is exercised by a ruler. [Translator]
12. Literally, the Divine from which; that is, the Divine which is the source. [Translator]
13. That angels are human forms, and that everything Divine has a tendency to the human form, may be seen in the work Heaven and Hell (n. 73-77, 453-460), and more fully in the works which follow this present one, which will be from angelic wisdom concerning the Lord.
14. Literally, the Divine from which; that is, the Divine which is the source. [Translator]
15. Literally, the Divine by means of which; that is, the Divine which is the instrument or executive agency. [Translator]
16. See footnote to author’s preface. [Translator]
17. That is, in 1763. [Translator]
18. That by “city” in the Word is signified the doctrine of the church and of religion, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia (n. 402, 2449, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493). That by the gate of a city is signified the doctrine by means of which there is entrance into the church (n. 2943, 4477, 4478). That on this account the elders sat in the gate of the city, and judged, ibid. That “to go out of the gate” is to fall back from doctrine (n. 4492, 4493). That in heaven cities and palaces are presented representatively when angels and spirits are conversing about doctrinal matters (n. 3216).
19. This is the work published by Swedenborg under the title Doctrina Novae Hierosolymae de Domino, translated into English as Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord. [Translator]
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