624# 启10:11.“他对我说，你必须再说预言”表示神性命令，仍要教导圣言。这从“说”和“说预言”的含义清楚可知：在本章，“天使”是指圣言方面的主，当天使说话时，“说”是指命令，因为主所说的话也是命令；“说预言”是指教导圣言(对此，我们很快就会谈到)。之所以说他仍必须教导圣言，是因为仍留在教会中的这种对圣言的理解被探究，结果发现，圣言在字义上是令人快乐的，因为“小书卷在口中甜如蜜”表示这一点，“小书卷”表示圣言。之所以命令教会仍要教导圣言，是因为教会的结束尚未到来。“第七位天使吹号”描述了教会的结束；但此处“第六位天使吹号”描述了就在结束之前的教会状态；此处论述了教会的这种状态。在结束之前，圣言当被教导时，仍令一些人感到快乐，但在教会的最后状态或结束时，却不是如此，因为那时主会打开圣言的内层事物，而这些事物并不令人快乐，如前面论述吃小书卷，它却使肚子发苦时所说的。
世人完全不知道为何仍必须教导圣言，尽管它的内层真理是令人不快乐的，又为何直到完结，也就是当教会之人不再留有任何良善或真理时，最后的审判才到来，但这在天堂是众所周知的。原因在于，有两种人会受到审判；一种由那些心怀好意的人组成，一种由那些不怀好意的人组成。心怀好意的人是终端天堂中的天使，他们大多数都很简单，因为他们没有通过内层真理，只通过他们照之生活的来自圣言字义的外层真理培养理解力。因此，他们的属灵心智，也就是内层心智的确没有关闭，但也没有像那些在教义和生活上接受内层真理的人那样打开；这就是为何他们在属灵事物上变得简单，被称为心怀好意的人。但不怀好意的人是那些外在像基督徒一样生活，但内在却允许各种邪恶进入思维和意愿的人，以至于他们在外在形式上看似天使，但在内在形式上却是魔鬼。当这些人进入来世时，他们大部分与心怀好意的人，也就是终端天堂中的简单善人联合；因为联合通过外层发生，简单善人是这样：他们相信外在形式上看似良善的一切都是良善，他们的思维没有渗透到更远。在最后的审判到来前后，这些不怀好意的人必须与心怀好意的人分离；他们只能逐渐分离。这就是为何在最后审判之前，仍必须教导圣言，尽管从内层来说，也就是在其内层方面，它令人不快乐；由于这些内层事物令不人快乐，所以他们不接受这些内层事物，只接受诸如来自圣言字义、支持他们自己的爱和由此衍生的原则的那类事物，字义方面的圣言由此令他们快乐。因此，正是通过这些内层事物，心怀好意的人与不怀好意的人分离。
因此，在最后审判之后，新教会完全建立之前，时间延长了，这是一个来自天堂的奥秘；如今，这个奥秘只进入少数人的理解力；然而，这就是主在马太福音中的教导：
家主的仆人来对他说，你不是撒好种在田里吗？从哪里来的稗子呢？他们说，你要我们去薅出来吗？他说，不必，恐怕薅稗子的时候，连麦子也与它们一起连根拔出来。容这两样一齐生长，等着收割；当收割的时候，我要对收割的人说，先将稗子薅出来，捆成捆烧掉；惟有麦子要收在我的仓里。那撒好种的，就是人子；田地就是世界；好种就是天国之子；收割的时候就是时代的完结。正如将稗子薅出来用火焚烧，时代的完结也要如此。(马太福音13:27–30)
“时代的完结”表示教会的末期；在此之前，心怀好意的人不会与不怀好意的人分离，“恐怕薅稗子的时候，连麦子也与它们一起连根拔出来”表示因为他们通过外层，或说外在事物联合在一起。对此，参看小著《最后的审判》(70节)。
624b.“说预言”表示教导圣言，因为“先知”在最高意义上表示圣言方面的主，在相对意义上表示一个教导圣言的人，但在抽象意义上表示圣言本身，也表示取自圣言的教义。“先知”表示这一切，故“说预言”表示教导圣言和取自圣言的教义。这就是“说预言”和“先知”的含义，这一点可从圣言中提到先知和预言、按灵义来理解的经文清楚看出来，如以下经文。马太福音：
当那日，必有许多人对我说，主啊，主啊，我们不是奉你的名说预言，奉你的名赶鬼，奉你的名行许多异能吗？但那时我必向他们声明，我从来不认识你们，你们这些作孽的人，离开我吧。(马太福音7:22, 23)
此处论述的主题是拯救，意思是说，没有一个人是凭认识并教导圣言得救的，而是凭实行它而得救的；因为刚才经上说，只有那些实行神旨意或意愿的人才能进天国(马太福音7:21)；随后经上说，听见主的话就去行的人是谨慎的人，但听见却不去行的人是愚蠢的人(马太福音7:24–27)。这清楚表明，这些话是什么意思，即：“当那日，必有许多人对我说，主啊，主啊”表示只藉着口中的祷告和话语对主的敬拜；“我们不是奉你的名说预言吗”表示教导圣言和取自圣言的教义，“说预言”表示教导；“赶鬼”表示从宗教虚假中释放出来；“许多异能”表示使许多人转变。但由于他们做这些事不是为了主，也不是为了真理和良善，以及灵魂的救赎，而是为了自我和世界，因而只是为了在外在形式上表现，所以就他们自己而言，所做的，不是良善，而是邪恶；主对他们说“我从来不认识你们，你们这些作孽的人”就表示这一点。表面上看，做这些事似乎不是作孽；然而，一个人为了自我和世界所做的一切都是罪孽，因为其中没有对主和邻舍的爱，只有对自我和世界的爱；死后，每个人自己的爱在等着他。
同一福音书：
在时代的完结，有许多假先知会出现，迷惑许多人。假基督和假先知将出现，显大神迹、大奇事，如果可能，甚至要迷惑选民。(马太福音24:11, 24; 马可福音13:22)
“假先知”、“假基督和假先知”不是指在这个词的通常意义上的先知，而是指所有扭曲圣言并教导虚假的人；这些人也是“假基督”，因为“基督”表示神性真理方面的主，因此“假基督”表示被歪曲的神性真理。“显大神迹、大奇事”表示经由来自圣言字义的确认的虚假的功效和能力；在灵界，神迹和奇事都是通过这字义产生的，因为圣言的字义无论怎样被歪曲，都拥有能力；许多奇事可能与这一事实有关。“选民”表示那些处于属灵良善的人，也就是那些处于仁之良善的人。
又：
人因先知的名接待先知，必得先知的赏赐；人因义人的名接待义人，必得义人的赏赐。无论何人，只因门徒的名把一杯凉水给这小子里的一个喝，我实在告诉你们，这人必不失他的赏赐。(马太福音10:41, 42)
没有人能理解这些话，除非他知道“先知”、“义人”、“门徒”、“小子”，以及“因他们的名接待他们”表示什么。“先知”在抽象意义上表示教义的真理，“门徒”表示教义的良善，“义人”表示生活的良善，“因他们的名接待他们”表示出于对这些事物的爱而接受它们；因此“因先知的名接待先知”表示热爱教义的真理，因为它是真理，或为了真理而接受真理；“因义人的名接待义人”表示热爱并实行良善，因为这是良善，因此是出于内心的爱或情感从主接受它。事实上，为了真理和良善本身而爱它们的人是从真理和良善本身，因而从它们所发自的主而爱它们；他因爱它们不是为了自我和世界，所以是属灵地爱它们；死后，一切属灵之爱都会留在人身上，并赋予永生。“得赏赐”表示带着这爱在自己身上，因而表示接受天堂的祝福；“只因门徒的名把一杯凉水给这小子里的一个喝”表示出于纯真而爱纯真，出于纯真而爱来自圣言的良善和真理，并教导它们；“给一杯凉水喝”表示出于一点纯真而热爱并教导，“小子”表示纯真的人，在抽象意义上表示纯真本身；“给一杯凉水喝”表示出于一点纯真而教导，“门徒”表示来自主的教义良善；“给小子水喝”表示出于属灵的纯真教导真理，以及在真理上教导纯真的人。这是对这些话的属灵解读，除非知道这一切，否则谁能知道“因先知和义人的名接待先知和义人”、“必得先知和义人的赏赐”是什么意思呢？“赏赐”表示持续到永恒的爱及其快乐。
又：
从前有许多先知和义人想看你们所看的，却没有看见；想听你们所听的，却没有听见。(马太福音13:17)
“先知和义人”在灵义上表示所有处于教义的真理和符合真理的生活良善的人；“看见和听见”表示理解并感知，在此表示理解并感知从主发出的内层真理，因为当人理解并感知到这些真理，也实行它们时，他就被改造了。此处所指的，是从主发出的内层真理，因为当主在世时，祂揭示了这些真理。从字义上说，这指的是看见和听见主，但由于主是天堂和教会中的神性真理本身，因此一切神性真理都来自主，主自己教导它们，并不断通过圣言教导它们，所以“看见和听见主”表示理解和感知这些神性真理。
约珥书：
我要将我的灵浇灌一切肉体；你们的儿女要说预言，你们的老年人要作梦，少年人要见异象。(约珥书2:28)
这些话论及主的降临，以及那些接受主并信祂之人对神性真理的感知；要被浇灌一切肉体的“灵”表示从主发出的神性真理，因为在圣言中，圣灵表示这神性真理；“说预言”表示理解并教导教义的真理；“作梦”表示接受启示；“见异象”表示感知启示；“儿女”表示那些处于对真理和良善的属灵情感的人；“老年人”表示那些处于智慧的人，“少年人”表示那些处于聪明的人。
阿摩司书：
主耶和华若不将祂的奥秘启示祂的仆人先知，就不行一句话。狮子吼叫，谁不惧怕呢？主耶和华说话，谁不会说预言呢？(阿摩司书3:7, 8)
此处“说预言”也表示接受神性真理并教导它；不过，前面解释了这段经文(可参看AE 601a节)。
624c.在以下启示录的经文中，“说预言”和“先知”具有相同的含义：
我要赐给我那两个先知，穿着麻布，说预言一千二百六十天。(启示录11:3)
又：
审判死人、祂的仆人和众先知得赏赐的时候。(启示录11:18)
又：
对耶稣的见证是预言的灵。(启示录19:10)
又：
众圣徒众使徒众先知啊，你们都要欢喜。因为神已经伸了你们的冤。(启示录18:20)
在这些经文中，“先知”表示那些处于教义真理的人，在抽象意义上表示教义的真理，“说预言”表示接受并教导这些真理，尤表教导关于主自己的事，这一点可见于下文。
阿摩司书：
阿摩司对亚玛谢说，耶和华选召我，使我不跟从羊群，说，你去向我民以色列说预言；你说，不要说预言攻击以色列，也不要滴下预言攻击以撒家。你的妻子必在城中作妓女，你的儿女必倒在剑下，你的地必以绳墨被瓜分。(阿摩司书7:14–17)
“说预言攻击以色列，滴下预言攻击以撒家”表示驳斥那些处于邪恶之虚假的教会成员，“说预言”表示教导和驳斥，“以色列”和“以撒家”表示教会。由于必须驳斥的，是邪恶之虚假，所以这话是对亚玛谢说的，亚玛谢代表败坏的教会；“他的妻子必作妓女”表示对圣言的歪曲和玷污；“他的儿女必倒在剑下”表示教会的真理和良善将被邪恶之虚假摧毁；“地必以绳墨被瓜分”表示教会和属于教会的一切都将被驱散。
何西阿书：
耶和华藉先知使以色列从埃及上来，以色列也藉先知而得保存。以法莲因苦惹动主怒；所以他必将血债归在他身上。(何西阿书12:13–14)
此处“先知”在最近的意义上是指摩西，摩西把以色列从埃及领出来，然后又看护以色列；但在灵义上，“先知”表示圣言方面的主，“以色列”表示所有处于来自良善的真理的教会之人，“埃及”表示属世人，与属灵人分离的属世人是受诅咒的。因此，“耶和华藉先知使以色列从埃及上来”表示主通过神性真理，也就是圣言，把那些处于来自良善的真理之人从诅咒中领出来，并通过神性真理保护他们。“以法莲因苦惹动主怒”表示他们在对圣言的理解方面扭曲圣言，“以法莲”表示对圣言的理解，“苦”表示扭曲和由此而来的虚假，从中发出令人不快乐的东西；“所以他必将血债归在他身上”表示由于对圣言中的真理的玷污而导致的诅咒。
同一先知书：
察罚的日子来了，报应的日子到了；以色列，愚昧的先知和灵里疯狂的人必知道它；这都因众多的罪孽和深仇大恨。以法莲曾作我神的守望者；但先知却在他一切的道上作捕鸟人的网罗，在他神的家中只有仇恨。(何西阿书9:7–8)
“察罚和报应的日子”表示最后审判的日子，那时恶人要受到惩罚，这就是报应，这报应总在察罚以先；“以色列”、“先知”、“灵里疯狂的人”不是指以色列，先知和灵里疯狂的人，而是指所有处于邪恶之虚假和虚假之邪恶，并通过字义教导和确认它们的教会之人。“众多的罪孽”表示邪恶之虚假，“深仇大恨”表示虚假之邪恶；“作神的守望者的以法莲”表示对圣言的理解，这就是为何他被称为“神的守望者”；但由于那些处于邪恶之虚假和虚假之邪恶的人扭曲对圣言的理解，从而狡猾地把人引入歧途，所以经上说：“先知作捕鸟人的网罗，在神的家中只有仇恨。”
以西结书：
你要说预言攻击说预言的以色列的先知，对那些随己心发预言的先知说，你们当听耶和华的话；主耶和华如此说，愚顽的先知有祸了，他们随从自己的灵，却一无所见！我的手必攻击那见虚假异象，用谎诈占卜的先知。(以西结书13:2–3, 9)
在圣言的此处和别处提到的“先知”，在最近的意义上是指诸如旧约的众先知，主藉着他们说话；但在灵义上不是指这些先知，而是指主所引导的所有人；主也流入这些人，并向他们揭示圣言的奥秘，无论他们是否教导人；因此，“先知”在灵义上表示这些人。但“随己心发预言、随从自己的灵、见虚假异象，用谎诈占卜的先知”表示所有不是被主，而是被自己教导和引导的人，因此他们没有聪明，而是有疯狂，没有智慧，而是有愚蠢；因为他们没有对神的爱，而是有对自我的爱，没有对邻舍的爱，而是有对世界的爱，虚假不断从这些爱中涌出来。由此可见，这些话的一系列含义是什么。
弥迦书：
你们只有黑夜，没有异象，只有黑暗，没有占卜。日头必向先知沉落，白昼向他们变为黑暗。(弥迦书3:6)
“你们只有黑夜，没有异象”表示他们没有对真理的理解，而是有对虚假的理解；“只有黑暗，没有占卜”表示没有被揭示的真理，只有虚假；“日头必向先知沉落，白昼向他们变为黑暗”表示光必不再由主那里从天堂流入，并赋予光照，却只有使理解力变得黑暗的来自地狱的幽暗。
624d.许多经文都提到“先知”，人对他们没有其它任何概念，只知道所指的是旧约的众先知，主藉着他们对人们说话，也藉着他们口述圣言；但由于圣言在每个细节上也都有一个灵义，所以在灵义上，“先知”表示由主教导的所有人，因而表示所有处于对真理的属灵情感，也就是热爱真理，因为它是真理的人。主教导这些人，流入他们的理解力，并光照他们；比起旧约的众先知，这一点更适用于他们，因为旧约的众先知不是在理解力上被光照，而是只通过听觉来接受他们将要说或写的话；事实上，他们甚至不理解这些话的内层意义，更不明白它们的灵义。由此可见，“先知”在灵义上表示所有从主变得智慧的人，无论他们是否教导人。由于一切真正的属灵意义都是从人、地方和时间中被抽象出来的，所以“先知”在至高意义上也表示圣言和取自圣言的教义方面的主，同样表示圣言和教义；“先知”在反面意义上表示对圣言的败坏和歪曲，以及教义的虚假。由于这就是“先知”在两种意义上所表示的，所以我要引用几段提到先知的经文，其中的先知表示所有接受、教导圣言和教义的人，在从人分离出来的意义上表示圣言和教义，在反面意义上表示那些扭曲圣言，教导教义虚假的人，在抽象意义上表示对圣言的扭曲和教义的虚假。
以赛亚书：
耶和华必从以色列中剪除头与尾；长老和尊贵人就是头；教导谎言的先知就是尾。(以赛亚书9:14, 15)
同一先知书：
耶和华将沉睡的灵浇灌你们，封闭你们的眼；蒙盖先知和你们的头，先见。(以赛亚书29:10)
耶利米书：
他们否认耶和华，说，这并不是祂；灾祸必不临到我们，剑和饥荒，我们也看不见。先知必成为风，话也不在他们里面。(耶利米书5:12–13)
同一先知书：
我差遣我的仆人众先知到他们那里去，每日早起来差遣他们。(耶利米书7:25)
又：
万军之耶和华论到先知如此说，看哪，我必使他们吃苦艾，使他们喝苦胆水；因伪善从耶路撒冷的先知那里出来进入全地。你们不要听这些先知向你们所预言的话；他们使你们成为虚无；所说的异象是出于自己的心，不是出于耶和华的口。(耶利米书23:15–16)
又：
自一个时代以来，在我、你以前的先知向多地和大国说预言，论到战争、灾祸、瘟疫。至于那预言平安的先知，到先知的话应验的时候，人就知道那先知真是神所差来的。(耶利米书28:8–9)
马太福音：
你们这假冒为善的人和法利赛人有祸了，因为你们建造先知的坟，修饰义人的墓，说，若是我们在我们祖宗的日子，必不和他们一同流先知的血。因此，你们自己证明自己是杀害先知者的儿子了。我差遣先知和智慧人并文士到你们这里来；有的你们要杀害，要钉十字架；叫地上所流义人的一切血都归到你们身上，从义人亚伯的血起，直到你们在圣殿和祭坛之间所杀的巴拉加的儿子撒迦利亚的血为止。耶路撒冷啊，耶路撒冷啊，你杀害先知，又用石头打死那奉差遣到你这里来的人。(马太福音23:29–37; 路加福音11:47–51)
在这些经文中，“先知”似乎只是指耶和华，也就是藉着说话的众先知，因此主所说的“杀害先知”仅仅是指他们的死亡或杀他们。但主同时是指由于对圣言的歪曲和玷污而对神性真理的杀戮和灭绝；因为一个人及其功能在灵义上是指这个人所做和所说的事情本身；因此，“先知”表示神性真理，或圣言和由此而来的教义。由于一个人的功能和这个人在行为或结果上合而为一，所以“先知”是指先知所教导的事情本身。“流血”也表示玷污圣言的真理；由于犹太民族就做这种事，所以经上说“耶路撒冷啊，耶路撒冷啊，你杀害先知，又用石头打死那奉差遣到你这里来的人”；这些话在灵义上的意思是，他们消灭他们从圣言所拥有的一切神性真理。
由于“先知”表示神性真理，也就是圣言，教会中的神性真理来自圣言，而只有那些拥有圣言的神性真理的人才能消灭这神性真理，所以主说：
先知在耶路撒冷之外丧命是不宜的。(路加福音13:33)
“耶路撒冷”表示真理的教义方面的教会。
624e.圣言也提到“祭司和先知”，那里的“祭司”表示一个引导人们照神性真理生活的人，“先知”表示一个教导神性真理的人。以下经文就提到了这层意义上的“祭司和先知”。耶利米书：
律法必不从祭司那里灭没，谋略必不从智慧人那里灭没，话也不从先知那里灭没。(耶利米书18:18)
同一先知书：
在那日，君王的心和首领的心都要消灭；祭司都要惊奇，先知都要诧异。(耶利米书4:9)
以西结书：
他们必向先知求异象；但律法已从祭司那里灭没了，谋略已从长老那里断绝了。君王必悲哀，首领必披上惊愕为衣。(以西结书7:26, 27)
“异象和先知”表示对圣言的理解；“来自祭司的律法”表示生活准则；“来自长老的谋略”表示由此而来的智慧。“君王”和“首领”表示经由来自良善的真理而来的聪明；这就是这些话的灵义。
以赛亚书：
祭司和先知因烈酒而犯错，他们被酒吞没，因烈酒偏离正道；在看见中犯错，在审判时跌倒。(以赛亚书28:7)
耶利米书：
这地上有令人震惊、恐惧的事发生；就是先知说假预言，祭司亲手把持权柄，我的百姓也喜爱这样。(耶利米书5:30–31)
同一先知书：
从先知到祭司，人人都行虚谎。(耶利米书8:10)
又：
当先知，或祭司问你说，耶和华的预言是什么呢？你就对他们说，我要撇弃你们，无论是先知，是祭司。(耶利米书23:33–34)
西番雅书：
她的先知是轻浮诡诈的人；他们的祭司亵渎圣物，强解律法。(西番雅书3:4)
耶利米书：
祭司都不说，耶和华在哪里呢？传讲律法的不承认我，先知藉巴力说预言，随从无益的东西。以色列家，就是他们和他们的君王、首领、祭司、先知都羞愧。(耶利米书2:8, 26)
更不用提一起提到“先知和祭司”的其它许多经文了，其中“祭司”表示那些教导生活、引向良善的人，“先知”表示那些教导引导人的真理之人；但在抽象意义上，“祭司”和“祭司职分”表示爱之良善，因而表示生活的良善，“先知”表示教义的真理，因而表示引向生活良善的真理；总之，先知必须教导人，祭司必须引导人。
撒迦利亚书：
在那日，我要从地上剪除偶像的名，使它们不再被记得；也要使先知与污灵从这地消失；若再有人说预言，生他的父母必对他说，你不得存活；生他的父母要将他刺透。到那日，先知必因各人所预言的异象羞愧，不再穿毛外衣来欺骗人；他必说，我不是先知，我是耕地的人，因为从幼年人就卖了我。(撒迦利亚书13:2–5)
此处论述的主题是主的降世，代表性敬拜的废除，以及那时教会所盛行的大量虚假；因为有教会在中间的犹太民族将一切敬拜都置于外在，丝毫不置于内在，也就是说，不置于仁与信，即内在事物，而是置于祭祀和外在事物；因此，他们的敬拜由纯粹的虚假构成，就本身而言，这个民族自己就是崇拜偶像的。先知的这些话描述了主对这些事物的废除；因此，“我要从地上剪除偶像的名，使它们不再被记得”表示对偶像崇拜，也就是没有任何内在的纯外在敬拜的废除；“我要使先知与污灵从这地消失”表示对教义虚假的废除；“若再有人说预言，生他的父母必对他说，你不得存活”表示主所建立的教会，该教会将是一个内在教会，若有人教导教义的虚假，它必彻底消灭它们；“说预言”表示教导教义的虚假，“父母”表示良善和真理方面的教会，“父”表示良善方面的教会，“母”表示真理方面的教会，“你不得存活”表示消灭。“生他的父母要将他刺透”所表相同。“先知必因各人的异象羞愧，不再穿毛外衣来欺骗人”也表示对教义虚假的废除，“先知”和“异象”在此同样表示教义的虚假，“穿毛外衣来欺骗人”表示扭曲圣言的外在事物，就是诸如字义中的那些事物，因为先知身上的“毛衣”代表圣言的终端意义，与施洗约翰所穿的“骆驼毛的衣服”一样。他说“我是耕地的人，因为从幼年人就卖了我”表示属犹太教会的人就是这种情况，犹太教会是纯外在的，不是内在的，他们生在其中，因而热衷于它。
但以理书：
为你百姓和你圣城，已经定了七十个七，为要止住罪过，封住罪，赎尽罪孽，引进时代的义，封住异象和先知，并膏至圣所。(但以理书9:24)
这些话论及主的降临，那时罪孽满盈了，或教会不再留有任何良善或真理。“为你百姓和你圣城”表示临到教会及其教义，那时它们都完全荒废和灭绝了。“止住罪过，封住罪”表示当教会里的所有人都处于教义的虚假和生活的邪恶时；因为如本文开头所说的，主的降临和随即的最后审判不会发生，直到教会不再留有任何教义真理或生活良善，原因如前面所提到的，好让心怀好意的人与不怀好意的人分离。“引进时代的义”表示最后的审判，那时每个人都照着他的行为得赏赐；“封住异象和先知”表示前教会的结束和新教会的开始，或代表属灵事物的外在教会的结束，和属灵的内在教会的开始，“异象和先知”表示教义的虚假；这些话也表示主将应验圣言指着祂所预言的一切；“膏至圣所”表示通过与神性本身合一对主人身的荣耀；它还表示后来一切敬拜都必须来自对祂的爱。
摩西五经：
耶和华对摩西说，我使你作法老的神；你的哥哥亚伦要作你的先知。(出埃及记7:1)
主之所以对摩西说，“我使你作法老的神”，是因为摩西代表律法，律法是指神性真理，“神”在灵义上也表示这神性真理；事实上，摩西从主的口中领受他要对法老说的话，领受这些话的人被称为“神”；这就是为何天使被称为“神”，由此也表示神性真理。亚伯作他的“先知”表示他要教导通过摩西所领受的真理，并向法老宣布它，因为如前所述，“先知”表示一个教导真理的人，在抽象意义上表示真理的教义。《属天的奥秘》(7268, 7269节)更充分地解释了这些事。
这就是为何旧约的先知代表神性真理的教义方面的主，他们当中主要的先知代表神性真理的教义所源自的圣言本身方面的主，如摩西，以利亚，以利沙，施洗约翰；由于主是圣言，也就是神性真理，所以祂自己在圣言的至高意义上被称为“先知”。由于摩西，以利亚和施洗约翰代表圣言方面的主，所以：
当主变了形像时，摩西和以利亚显现，与主说话。(马太福音17:3, 4; 马可福音9:4, 5; 路加福音9:30)
“摩西和以利亚”表示圣言，包括历史的和预言的，“摩西”表示历史圣言，“以利亚”表示预言圣言，因为当主变了形像时，祂以天堂里的神性真理所处的形式来呈现祂自己。以利亚代表圣言方面的主，这一点从祂所行的神迹明显看出来，这一切也表示那些属于神性真理，或圣言的事物；施洗约翰因以同样的方式代表圣言方面的主，故被称为“以利亚”，这可从玛拉基书明显看出来：
看哪，耶和华大而可畏之日未到以前，我必差遣先知以利亚到你们那里去；他必使父亲的心转向儿子，儿子的心转向父亲，免得我来用咒诅击打这地。(玛拉基书4:5, 6)
经上公开声称，约翰就是此处所说的以利亚(马太福音11:14; 17:10–12; 马可福音9:11–13)；意思不是说他是以利亚，而是说他和以利亚一样代表圣言。由于圣言教导，主将要降世，并且在至内在的意义上，圣言处处，甚至直到最小细节，都在论述主，所以约翰被差遣在祂前面教导他们，主要降临(可参看马太福音11:9–10; 路加福音1:76; 7:26)。
由此可见，为何主被称为“先知”，即因为祂是圣言，也就是神性真理本身，这从约翰福音(1:1, 2, 14)明显看出来。主被称为“先知”，因为祂是圣言，这一点也可见于摩西五经：
耶和华你的神要从你们弟兄中间给你兴起一位先知像我，你们要听从他。我要把我的话放在他口中，他必将我所吩咐他的一切都对你们说。不听他奉我名所说的话的人，我必讨罚他。(申命记18:15–19)
经上说，“耶和华要兴起一位先知像摩西”，是因为摩西代表律法，也就是圣言方面的主，如前所述；因此，论到摩西，经上还说，耶和华与他口对口说话，不像与其他先知那样藉异象、梦、谜语说话(民数记12:1–8)；这也描述了摩西对主的代表。因为主从耶和华，也就是自成孕时就在祂里面的神性本身而与祂自己说话；这由“我要把我的话放在他口中，他必将我所吩咐他的一切都对你们说”来表示；这也由耶和华与摩西口对口说话，不像与其他先知那样说话来代表。这又是为何主被称为先知(马太福音21:11; 路加福音7:16; 约翰福音7:40–41; 9:17)。
624. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again.- That this signifies the Divine command that the Word may yet be taught, is evident from the signification of saying, when ascribed to an angel, by whom in this chapter the Lord is represented as to the Word, as denoting command, for what the Lord says, is also a command; and from the signification of prophesying as denoting to teach the Word, of which we shall speak presently. It is said that he must as yet teach the Word, because the quality of the understanding of the Word still remaining in the church was explored, and it was found that the Word was delightful as to the sense of the letter, for this is signified by the little book being in the mouth sweet as honey, the little book denoting the Word. It was commanded that the Word should be yet taught in the church, because its end was not yet come, for the end of the church is described by the sounding of the seventh angel. But here the state of the church immediately before the end, is described by the sounding of the sixth angel, and this state is the subject now treated of. And, before the end is come, the Word when taught is still delightful to some, but not so in the last state or end of the church, for then the Lord opens the interior things of the Word, which are undelightful, as was said above in treating of the belly made bitter, and of the little book that was eaten up.
[2] Why the Word must still be taught, although its interior truths are undelightful, and why a last judgment does not take place before there is a consummation, that is to say, when there is no longer any good and truth remaining with the men of the church, is entirely unknown in the world, but is known in heaven. The reason is that there are two kinds of men upon whom judgment takes place; one kind consists of those who are well disposed (probi), and the other of those who are not. The well disposed are angels in the ultimate heaven, the chief part of whom are simple, because they have cultivated their understanding, not with interior truths, but only with exterior truths from the sense of the letter of the Word, in agreement with which they had lived. For this reason their spiritual mind, which is the interior mind, was not indeed closed, nor was it opened, as with those who had received interior truths in doctrine and life, therefore in regard to spiritual things they became simple, and are called the well disposed. But the ill disposed are those who have lived outwardly as Christians, but interiorly admitted evils of every kind into the thought and into the will, so that in external form they have appeared like angels, although in the internal form they have been devils. When these come into the other life, they are, for the most part, consociated with the well disposed, or the simple good who are in the ultimate heaven. For consociation takes place by means of the exteriors, and the simple good are such that they believe everything to be good which appears as good in the external form, their thought not penetrating farther. But these ill disposed must be separated from the well disposed or simple good, before and after a last judgment takes place; and they can be separated only successively. This is the reason why before the time of the Last judgment the Word must still be taught, although interiorly it is undelightful, that is, as to its interior things; and because the interior things are undelightful, they do not receive them, but only such things from the sense of the letter of the Word as favour their own loves, and the principles conceived therefrom, on account of which the Word, as to the sense of the letter, is still delightful to them. By such means, therefore, are the well disposed separated from the ill disposed.
[3] That for this reason the time is protracted after a last judgment before a new church is fully established, is an interior truth (arcanum) from heaven which at this day can enter the understanding of only a few; yet this is the teaching of the Lord in the following passages in Matthew:
"So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field; whence then hath it tares? and they said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn. He that sowed the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom; the harvest is the consummation of the age. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the consummation of this age" (The Last Judgment 70:2).
[4] To prophesy signifies to teach the Word, because a prophet, in the highest sense, means the Lord as to the Word, and in the respective sense one who teaches the Word, but in the abstract sense the Word itself, and also doctrine from the Word are signified. These things are signified by a prophet, therefore by prophesying is signified to teach the Word, and also doctrine from the Word. This signification is evident from those passages in the Word, understood in the spiritual sense, where prophets and prophesying are mentioned, as in the following.
In Matthew:
"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied by thy name? and by thy name have cast out demons? and in thy name done many virtuous things? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (7:22, 23).
The subject here is salvation, which means that no one is saved by knowing the Word and teaching it, but by doing it; for in the preceding verse, it is said, that those only shall enter the kingdom of the heavens who do the will of God (verse 21); and in the subsequent verses, that he who heareth the words of the Lord and doeth them is a wise man, but he who heareth and doeth them not is a foolish man (verses 24-27). The meaning of the above words is therefore plain, namely, that the worship of the Lord by prayers, and by words of the mouth only is meant by, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord; to teach the Word, and doctrinals from the Word, is meant by have we not prophesied in thy name, name denoting according to doctrine from the Word, and to prophesy denoting to teach. By casting out demons, is signified to liberate from falsities of religion, demons denoting falsities of religion. By doing many virtuous things, is signified, to convert many. But because they did these things not for the Lord's sake and for the sake of truth and good, nor for the sake of the salvation of souls, but for the sake of themselves and the world, that is, that they might appear [to be such] only in the external form, therefore so far as they themselves were concerned, they did not do good but evil; this is meant by the Lord's saying to them, "I never knew you, ye that work iniquity." It may seem as though they could not work iniquity by doing such things, but nevertheless everything which a man does only for the sake of himself and the world, is iniquity, because there is no love of the Lord and of the neighbour therein, but only the love of self and the world, and his own love remains with every one after death.
[5] Again,
In the consummation of the age, "many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; so as, if possible, to lead into error the very elect" (Matthew 24:11, 24; Mark 13:22).
False prophets and false Christs do not mean prophets, in the ordinary meaning of the word prophets, but all those who pervert the Word and teach falsities; these are also false Christs, for Christ signifies the Lord as to Divine Truth, therefore false Christs signify Divine truths falsified. To show great signs and wonders, signifies the effect and power of falsities by means of confirmations from the sense of the letter of the Word, signs and wonders are also produced by means of this in the spiritual world, for the sense of the letter of the Word, however falsified, possesses power, concerning which fact many wonderful things might be related. By the elect are signified those who are in spiritual good, that is, who are in the good of charity.
[6] Again:
"He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a just man in the name of a just man, shall receive a just man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones [a cup] of cold [water] only in the name of a disciple, verily, I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward" (Matthew 10:41, 42).
No one can understand these words unless the signification of a prophet, a just man, a disciple, and the little ones be known, and also the meaning of receiving them in their own name. A prophet, in the abstract sense, signifies the truth of doctrine, a disciple, the good of doctrine, a just man, the good of life, while by receiving them in their own name is signified to receive those things from the love of them. Then by receiving a prophet in the name of a prophet, is signified, to love the truth of doctrine because it is truth, or to receive truth for its own sake; by receiving a just man in the name of a just man, is signified to love good, and to do it because it is good, that is, to receive it from the Lord out of love or affection of the heart. For he who loves truth and good for their own sakes, loves them from themselves, thus, from the Lord, from whom they proceed; and as he does not love them for the sake of himself and the world, he loves them spiritually, and all spiritual love remains with man after death, and gives eternal life. To receive a reward signifies to carry that love with him, and consequently receive the blessing of heaven; to give one of the little ones [a cup] of cold [water] to drink only in the name of a disciple, signifies, from innocence [to love] innocence, and from that to love good and truth from the Word and teach them, to give [a cup] of cold [water] to drink, signifying to love and teach from a little innocence, little ones signifying the innocent and, abstractedly innocence; to give to drink [a cup] of cold [water] signifying to teach from a little innocence, while a disciple signifies the good of doctrine from the Lord. By giving water to the little ones to drink is therefore signified to teach truth from spiritual innocence, and also to instruct the innocent in truths. This is the spiritual interpretation of the above words, and unless this be known, who can understand the signification of receiving a prophet, and a just man in the name of a prophet and of a just man, and of receiving the reward of a prophet and of a just man. Reward signifies love with its delights enduring to eternity.
[7] In the same:
"Many prophets and just men have desired to see those things which ye see, but have not seen them; and to hear the things which ye hear, but have not heard them" (Matthew 13:17).
Prophets and just men in the spiritual sense, mean all those who are in truths of doctrine and in the good of life according to them; and seeing and hearing signify to understand and perceive, in this case, the interior truths proceeding from the Lord, for the understanding and perception of these reform a man, when he also lives according to them. Interior truths proceeding from the Lord are here meant, because the Lord, when He was in the world, opened those truths. In the sense of the letter, to see and hear the Lord are meant, but because the Lord is the Divine Truth itself in heaven and in the church, consequently since all Divine truths are from the Lord, and the Lord Himself taught them and continually teaches them by means of the Word, therefore the understanding and perception of them are signified by seeing and hearing the Lord.
[8] So in Joel:
"I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, that your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions" (2:28).
These things are said concerning the coming of the Lord and the perception of Divine Truth by those who receive the Lord and believe in Him. By the spirit that shall be poured out upon all flesh, is signified the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, for this is meant in the Word by the Holy Spirit. Prophesying signifies to understand and to teach the truths of doctrine. By dreaming dreams is signified to receive revelation, and by seeing visions is signified to perceive revelation; by sons and daughters are signified those who are in the spiritual affection for truth and good; old men signify those who are in wisdom, and young men, those who are in intelligence.
[9] So in Amos:
"The Lord Jehovih doeth not a word without revealing his secret unto his servants the prophets. The lion roareth, who will not fear? The Lord Jehovih hath spoken, who will not prophesy?" (3:7, 8).
Here also prophesying signifies to receive Divine Truth and to teach it; but this passage may be seen explained above (n. 11:3).
And again:
"The time to judge the dead is come, and to give the reward unto his servants the prophets" (11:18).
Again:
"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (19:10).
And again:
"Rejoice, O heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath judged [their] judgment" (18:20).
That in these passages prophets mean those who are in truths of doctrine, and in the abstract sense, truths of doctrine, and that prophesying means to receive and teach them, especially to teach about the Lord Himself, will be seen hereafter.
[10] Again in Amos:
"Amos said to Amaziah, Jehovah took me as I followed the flock, and Jehovah said, Go, prophesy against my people Israel, and thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not a word against the house of Isaac. Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line" (7:14-17).
By prophesying against Israel, and dropping a word against the house of Isaac, is signified, to refute those of the church who are in the falsities of evil, to prophesy denoting to teach and refute, and Israel and the house of Isaac denoting the church. Because falsities of evil are what must be refuted, this is said to Amaziah, who represented the perverted church. That his wife shall be a harlot, signifies the falsification and adulteration of the Word; that his sons and daughters shall fall by the sword, signifies, that the truths and goods of the church shall perish by means of the falsities of evil; and that the land shall be divided by line, signifies, that the church, and every thing belonging to it, shall be dissipated.
[11] So in Hosea:
"By a prophet Jehovah caused Israel to come up out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he guarded. Ephraim provoked him to anger with bitternesses; therefore shall he leave his bloods upon him" (12:13, 14).
The prophet, in the proximate sense, here means Moses, by whom Israel was led out of Egypt, and subsequently watched over, but, in the spiritual sense, by prophet is meant the Lord as to the Word, and by Israel are meant all those of the church who are in truths from good, while Egypt means the natural man, which when separated from the spiritual man, is damned. By Jehovah therefore causing Israel to come up out of Egypt by means of a prophet, is signified that the Lord leads out of damnation those who are in truths from good by means of the Divine Truth in the Word, and that by means of this He guards them. By Ephraim provoking Him to anger with bitternesses, is signified that they perverted the Word as to the understanding of it, Ephraim denoting the understanding of the Word, while bitternesses denote the perversions and the consequent falsities from which proceeds that which is undelightful. Therefore shall he leave his bloods upon him, signifies damnation, because of the adulteration of the truth which is in the Word.
[12] Again, in the same prophet:
"The days of visitation are come, the days of retribution are come; Israel, the foolish prophet, and the man insane in spirit, shall know; this is because of the multitude of iniquity, and the great hatred. Ephraim is a watchman with my God, the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, hatred in the house of his God" (9:7, 8).
The days of visitation and retribution, signify the days of a last judgment, when the evil suffer punishment, which is signified by retribution, and is always preceded by visitation. By Israel, the prophet, and the man [insane in] spirit, are not meant Israel, the prophet, and a man [insane in] spirit, but all those of the church who are in falsities of evil, and in evils of falsity, and who teach and confirm these from the sense of the letter of the Word. The falsities of evil are signified by the multitude of iniquity, and the evils of falsity by great hatred. Ephraim, who is called a watchman with God, signifies the understanding of the Word, and is therefore called a watchman with God; but because those who are in falsities of evil, and in evils of falsity pervert the understanding of the Word, and thus craftily lead astray, therefore it is said, "the prophet is a snare of a fowler, and hatred in the house of his God."
[13] So in Ezekiel:
"Prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own heart, Hear ye the word of Jehovah; Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, Woe unto the foolish prophets who go away after their own spirit, and have seen not that which is near! My hand shall be against the prophets that see vanity, and that divine a lie" (13:2, 3, 9).
The prophets mentioned here and in other parts of the Word, in the proximate sense mean prophets such as those of the Old Testament, through whom the Lord spoke; in the spiritual sense, however, those prophets are not meant, but all those whom the Lord leads; the Lord also flows in with them, and reveals to them the interior things (arcana) of the Word, whether they teach them or not; these therefore are signified by prophets in the spiritual sense. But prophets who prophesy out of their own heart, and go after their own spirit, and see vanity and divine a lie, mean all who are not taught and led by the Lord, but by themselves, whence they have insanity instead of intelligence and folly instead of wisdom; for they have the love of self instead of love to God, and the love of the world instead of love towards the neighbour, and from these, falsities continually flow. The connected signification of the above words is evident from these things.
[14] So in Micah:
"Night shall be unto you for vision, and darkness shall arise unto you for divination; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall grow black upon them" (3:6).
Here, by night shall be unto you for vision, is signified their having the understanding of falsity, instead of the understanding of truth. Darkness for divination, signifies falsities instead of revealed truths; the sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day grow black upon them, signifies, that there shall be no longer any light from the Lord, flowing-in out of heaven and imparting enlightenment, but thick darkness from the hells darkening the understanding.
[15] Since prophets are mentioned in many passages, and no one has any other idea concerning them than that the prophets of the Old Testament, by whom the Lord spoke unto the people, and dictated the Word are meant; and because the Word, in every detail, has also a spiritual sense, therefore, in this sense, prophets mean all those whom the Lord teaches, thus all those who are in the spiritual affection for truth, that is, who love truth because it is truth. For the Lord teaches these, flows into their understanding, and enlightens them, and this more than with the prophets of the Old Testament, for they were not enlightened as to the understanding, but received the words which they were to utter or write only by the hearing; indeed they did not understand the interior meaning of the words, much less the spiritual. From these things it is evident that prophets, in the spiritual sense, mean all those who are wise from the Lord, whether they also teach or not. And because all truly spiritual meaning is removed from the idea of persons, places, and times, therefore by a prophet is also signified, in the highest sense, the Lord as to the Word, and as to doctrine from the Word, and also the Word and doctrine; and in the opposite sense prophets signify perversions and falsifications of the Word, and falsities of doctrine.
Such then being the signification of prophets in both senses, I will refer to a few passages only where they are mentioned, and in which they mean all who receive and teach the Word and doctrine, and, in a sense apart from persons, the Word and doctrine; and, in the opposite sense, those who pervert the Word, and teach falsities of doctrine, and, in the abstract, the perversion of the Word and falsity of doctrine.
[16] Thus in Isaiah:
"Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail. The old man and honourable he is the head; but the prophet the teacher of a lie, he is the tail" (9:14, 15).
Again, in the same prophet:
"Jehovah hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; the prophets and your heads, the seers hath he covered" (29:10).
And in Jeremiah:
"They denied Jehovah, when they said, He is not, neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword or famine; but the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them" (5:12, 13).
And again:
"I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them" (7:25).
And again, in the same prophet:
"Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts against the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem is hypocrisy gone forth into all the land. Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you; they make you vain; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of Jehovah" (23:15, 16).
And again:
"The prophets that have been before me and before thee from an age prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, the prophet shall be known, that God hath sent him" (28:8, 9).
So in Matthew:
"Woe unto you," hypocrites and Pharisees! "because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the just, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses against yourselves, that ye are the sons of them who killed the prophets. I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; that upon you may come all the just blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee" (23:29-37; Luke 11:47-51).
In these passages it appears as though the prophets mean simply the prophets through whom Jehovah, that is, the Lord, spoke, consequently that the Lord by "killing the prophets" meant only their death; but yet at the same time He meant the killing and extinction of Divine Truth, as a result of the falsification and adulteration of the Word. For by a person and his function, in the spiritual sense, is meant the thing itself which the person does and says, and thus by a prophet are meant Divine Truth or the Word, and doctrine therefrom. And because the function of a person makes one in act with the person, therefore the particular thing, which a prophet teaches, is meant by him. The shedding of blood also means to adulterate the truths of the Word; and because this was done by the Jewish nation, therefore it is said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee." These words, in the spiritual sense, mean that they extinguish all Divine Truth which they have from the Word.
[17] Because a prophet means the Divine Truth, which is the Word, and from the Word in the church, and because this cannot be extinguished except by those who have Divine Truth or the Word, therefore the Lord said, "that it is not fitting that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem" (Luke 13:33); for by Jerusalem is meant the church as to the doctrine of truth. In the Word also frequent mention is made of priest and prophet, and by priest is there meant one who leads to a life according to Divine Truth, and by prophet, one who teaches it. In this sense priest and prophet are mentioned in the following passages of the Word.
Thus in Jeremiah:
"For the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the Word from the prophet" (18:18).
Again, in the same prophet:
"In that day the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder" (4:9).
So in Ezekiel:
"They shall seek a vision from the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with astonishment" (7:26, 27).
By a vision from the prophet is meant the understanding of the Word; by the law from the priest are meant the precepts of life; by counsel from the elders is meant wisdom therefrom; the king and the princes mean intelligence by means of truths from good; such is the spiritual meaning of these words.
[18] And in Isaiah:
"The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are gone out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment" (28:7).
Again, in Jeremiah:
"A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; the prophets prophesy a lie, and the priests bear rule by their hands; and my people love to have it so" (5:30, 31).
Again:
"From the prophet even unto the priest every one maketh a lie" (8:10).
And again, in the same prophet:
"When the prophet, or the priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the prophetic saying of Jehovah? thou shalt then say unto them, I have forsaken you, both the prophet, and the priest" (23:33, 34).
And in Zephaniah:
"Her prophets are very fickle, men of treacheries; their priests profane what is holy, they do violence to the law" (3:4).
Again, in Jeremiah:
"The priests said not, Where is Jehovah? and they that handle the law have not acknowledged Me; and the prophets have prophesied by Baal, and walked after those that do not profit. The houses of Israel are ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets" (2:8, 26).
In addition to the above there are many other passages, where prophets and priests are mentioned together, and by priests are therein meant those who teach life, and lead to good, and by prophets, those who teach truths by which men are to be led. But, in the abstract sense, priests, and the priesthood, mean the good of love, consequently also the good of life, and prophets mean the truth of doctrine, and therefore, the truth which leads to good of life. In a word, prophets must teach, and priests must lead.
[19] Again, in Zechariah:
"In that day, I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, that they may no more be remembered; and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. And it shall come to pass, that when any man hath prophesied, his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; nay, his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through. It shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed a man of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they put on a coat of hair that they may lie. And he shall say, I am no prophet, I am a man (vir) that tilleth the earth, for a man (homo) sold me from my boyhood" (Zechariah 13:2-5).
The subjects here treated of are the coming of the Lord into the world, and the abolition of representative worship, and also of the falsities with which the doctrine of the church then abounded. For the Jewish nation, with which that church was, placed all worship in externals, and nothing in internals, that is to say, in sacrifices and things external, and nothing in charity and faith, which are internal things, consequently their worship and doctrine consisted of mere falsities, and the nation itself, regarded in itself, was idolatrous. The abolition of such things by the Lord is described by the above words of the prophet. Therefore by, I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered, is signified the abolition of idolatrous worship, that is, of worship merely external apart from internal. By, I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land, is signified the abolition of the falsities of doctrine. When any man hath prophesied, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live, signifies, that the church to be instituted by the Lord, and which will be an internal church, will altogether extinguish falsities of doctrines, if any one shall teach them. Prophesying signifies to teach falsities of doctrine; father and mother signify the church as to good and as to truth; father signifies the church as to good, and mother, the church as to truth. By, thou shalt not live, is signified to extinguish; this is also signified by, his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through. The abolition of falsities of doctrine is also meant by, the prophets shall be ashamed a man of his vision; neither shall they put on a coat of hair that they may lie. The prophets and their vision also here denote falsities of doctrine, and wearing a coat of hair, to lie, denotes to pervert the external things of the Word, such as are those in the sense of its letter; the coat of hair with the prophets represented the ultimate sense of the Word, like the clothing of John the Baptist, which was of camel's hair. By his saying, "I am a man (vir) that tilleth the earth, for a man sold me from boyhood," is signified, that this was the case with those of the Jewish church, which was merely external, and not internal, because they were born in it, and were therefore attached to it.
[20] In Daniel:
"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy city of holiness, to consummate the transgression, and to seal up sins, and to expiate iniquity, and to bring, in the justice of the ages, and to seal up the vision and the prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies" (9:24).
These words refer to the coming of the Lord, when iniquity is consummated, or when good and truth no longer remain in the church. Upon thy people and upon thy city of holiness, signifies, upon the church and its doctrine, which are then altogether vastated and extinguished. To consummate the transgression, and to seal up sins, signifies, when all those who are in the church are in falsities of doctrine, and in evils of life; for, as shown in the beginning of this article, the Lord's coming and the last judgment therewith, do not take place until there is no longer any truth of doctrine or good of life remaining in the church, in order that, as above mentioned, the well disposed may be separated from the ill disposed. To bring in the justice of the ages, signifies the last judgment, when every one is rewarded according to his deeds. To seal up the vision and the prophet, signifies the end of the former church, and the beginning of a new church, or the end of the external church, which was representative of spiritual things, and the beginning of the internal church, which is spiritual, the vision and the prophet denoting falsities of doctrine. The same words also signify, that the Lord would fulfil all things prophesied of Him in the Word. To anoint the holy of holies, signifies the glorification of the Lord's Human by union with the Divine Itself; it signifies also all worship afterwards from love to Him.
[21] Thus also in Moses:
"Jehovah said unto Moses, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet" (Arcana Coelestia 7268, 7269).
[22] For this reason the prophets of the Old Testament represented the Lord as to the doctrine of Divine Truth, and the chief of them represented the Lord as to the Word itself from which the doctrine of Divine Truth is derived, as Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and John the Baptist; and because the Lord is the Word, that is, the Divine Truth, therefore He Himself, in the highest sense [of the Word], is called a prophet.
Since Moses, Elijah, and John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, therefore Moses and Elijah were seen speaking with the Lord, when He was transfigured (Matthew 17:3, 4; Mark 9:4, 5; Luke 9:30). Moses and Elijah there mean the Word both historical and prophetical; Moses means the historical Word, and Elijah, the prophetical, because the Lord, when transfigured, presented Himself in the form in which the Divine Truth is in heaven. That Elijah represented the Lord as to the Word is evident from the miracles wrought through him, all of which also signified those things that pertain to Divine Truth or the Word. And because John the Baptist similarly represented the Lord as to the Word, therefore he was called Elijah; as is plain in Malachi:
"Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (4:5, 6).
And also it is plainly declared that John was the Elijah here spoken of (Matthew 11:14; 17:10, 12; Mark 9:11, 13); not that he was Elijah, but that he represented the Word just as Elijah did. And because the Word teaches that the Lord would come into the world, and, even to the most minute details, everywhere treats of Him in the inmost sense, therefore John was sent before Him to teach them that the Lord would come, as may be seen (Matthew 11:9, 10; Luke 1:76; 7:26).
[23] From these things it is plain that the Lord was called a prophet because He Himself was the Word, or the Divine Truth itself, as is evident from John 1:1, 2, 14. That the Lord is called a prophet because He was the Word, is evident in Moses:
"Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken. I will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto you everything that I command him. The man (vir) who will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, of him I will require it" (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).
It is said that Jehovah would raise up a prophet like unto Moses, because Moses represented the Lord as to the law, that is, as to the Word, as said above, therefore it is also said of Moses, that Jehovah spake with him mouth to mouth, and not as with other prophets by visions, dreams, and dark sayings (Num. 12:1-8); by which also the representation of the Lord by Moses is described. For the Lord spoke with himself from Jehovah, that is, from the Divine itself which was in Him from conception, and this is meant by the passage, "I will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto you everything that I command him," and this was also represented by Jehovah speaking with Moses mouth to mouth, and not as with other prophets. This is the reason, therefore, why the Lord is called a prophet also in Matthew 21:11; Luke 7:16; John 6:40, 41; 9:17.
624. Verse 11. And he said to me, Thou must again prophesy, signifies Divine command to still teach the Word. This is evident from the signification of "saying," when the angel speaks, by whom in this chapter the Lord in relation to the Word is represented, as being command, for what the Lord says is a command; also from the signification of "to prophesy," as being to teach the Word (of which presently). It is said he must still teach the Word, because such understanding of the Word as still remained in the church was explored, and it was found that the Word was delightful in respect to the sense of the letter, for this is signified by "the little book was in the mouth sweet as honey," "the little book" meaning the Word. It was commanded to still teach the Word in the church, because its end was not yet come. The end of the church is described by "the sounding of the seventh angel;" but here the state of the church next before the end is described by "the sounding of the sixth angel;" this state of the church is here treated of. Before the end, the Word when taught is still delightful to some, but not so in the last state of the church or its end, for then the Lord opens the interior things of the Word, which are undelightful, as has been said above in treating of the eating up of the little book and its making the belly bitter.
[2] Why the Word must still be taught although its interior truths are undelightful, and why the Last Judgment does not come until the consummation, that is, when there is no longer any good or truth remaining with the men of the church, is wholly unknown in the world, although known in heaven. The reason is that there are two classes of men upon whom judgment is effected; one class consists of the well-disposed, and the other of those who are not well-disposed. The well-disposed are the angels in the ultimate heaven, most of whom are simple, because they have not cultivated the understanding by interior truths, but only by exterior truths from the sense of the letter of the Word, according to which they have lived; for this reason their spiritual mind, which is the interior mind, was not indeed, closed, but neither has it been opened, as it is with those who have received interior truths in doctrine and in life; this is why they have become simple in respect to spiritual things, and are called well-disposed. But the ill-disposed are those who have lived outwardly as Christians but inwardly have admitted evils of every kind into the thought and into the will, so that while in the external form they appeared to be angels, in internal form they were devils. When such come into the other life they come into association for the most part with the well-disposed, that is, with the simple good who are in the ultimate heaven; for exterior things consociate, and the simple good are such that what appears in external form to be good they believe to be good, their thought not penetrating farther. These ill-disposed must be separated from the well-disposed before the Last Judgment comes, and also afterward and they can only be separated successively. This is why before the time of the Last Judgment the Word must still be taught, although interiorly, that is, in respect to its interiors, it is undelightful; and as these interior things are undelightful they do not receive them, but only such things from the sense of the letter of the Word as favor their loves and the principles derived from them, on account of which the Word in respect to the sense of the letter is delightful to them. It is therefore by means of these interior things that the well-disposed are separated from the ill-disposed.
[3] That for this reason the time is extended after the Last Judgment before the new church is fully established, is an arcanum from heaven which at this day cannot enter the understanding except with a few; yet this is what the Lord teaches in Matthew:
The servants of the householder coming said unto him, Didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? Whence then are these tares? And they said, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares ye root up at the same time the wheat with them. Let both, therefore, grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into the barn. He that hath sowed the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom; the harvest is the consummation of the age. As then the tares are gathered up and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the consummation of this age (The Last Judgment 70.)
[4] "To prophesy" signifies to teach the Word, because a "prophet" means in the highest sense the Lord in relation to the Word, and in a relative sense one who teaches the Word, but in an abstract sense the Word itself, and also doctrine from the Word. This a "prophet" signifies, therefore "to prophesy" signifies to teach the Word and doctrine from the Word. That such is the signification of "to prophesy" and "prophet" can be seen from passages in the Word where these are mentioned, understood in the spiritual sense, as in the following.
In Matthew:
Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied by Thy name, and by Thy name cast out demons, and in Thy name done many mighty works? But then will I profess unto them, I know you not; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7:22, 23).
This treats of salvation, that one is saved not by knowing the Word and teaching it, but by doing it; for just before, it is said that those only will enter the kingdom of the heavens who do the will of God (verse Matthew 7:21); and just after, that he who hears the Lord's words and does them is a prudent man, but he who hears and does not is a foolish man (verses Matthew 7:24-27). This makes clear what these words mean, namely, that worship of the Lord by prayers and by words of the mouth only is meant by "Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord;" and to teach the Word and doctrinals from the Word is meant by "have we not prophesied by Thy name?;" "name" signifying according to doctrine from the Word, and "to prophesy" to teach; "to cast out demons" signifies to deliver from falsities of religion, "demons" meaning the falsities of religion; "to do many mighty works" signifies to convert many. But because these works were done not for the Lord's sake, nor for the sake of truth and good and the salvation of souls, but for the sake of self and the world, thus only that they might appear in outward form, so in reference to themselves it was not good but evil that was done; this is meant by the Lord's saying "I know you not, ye that work iniquity." Doing such things does not appear to be working iniquity, and yet everything that a man does for the sake of self and of the world is iniquity, since there is in it no love of the Lord and of the neighbor, but only the love of self and the world; and his own love awaits everyone after death.
[5] In the same:
In the consummation of the age many false prophets shall arise and shall lead many astray. There shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect (Matthew 24:11, 24; Mark 13:22).
"False prophets" and "false Christs and false prophets" do not mean prophets in the common acceptation of the word, but mean all those who pervert the Word and teach falsities; such are also "false Christs," since "Christ" signifies the Lord in respect to Divine truths, so "false Christs" signify Divine truths falsified. "To show great signs and wonders" signifies the efficacy and power of falsities through confirmations from the sense of the letter of the Word, and it is by this that signs and wonders are produced in the spiritual world; for the sense of the letter of the Word, however falsified, has power; respecting which wonderful things might be related. "The elect" signify those who are in spiritual good, that is, who are in the good of charity.
[6] In the same:
He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. Yea, whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you he shall not lose his reward (Matthew 10:41, 42).
This no one can understand unless he knows what is signified by "prophet," "righteous man," "disciple," and "little ones," also by "receiving them in their name." "Prophet" in an abstract sense signifies the truth of doctrine, "disciple" the good of doctrine, "a righteous man" the good of life, and "to receive them in their name" signifies to receive these things from the love of them; thus, "to receive a prophet in the name of a prophet" signifies to love the truth of doctrine because it is truth, or to receive truth for its own sake; "to receive a righteous man in the name of a righteous man" signifies to love good and to do it because it is good, thus to receive it from the Lord from love or the affection of the heart; for he who loves truth and good for their own sakes loves them from themselves, thus from the Lord from whom they proceed, and as he does not love them for the sake of self and the world, he loves them spiritually, and all spiritual love continues with man after death and gives eternal life. "To receive a reward" signifies to carry with oneself that love, and thus to receive the blessedness of heaven; "to give to drink to one of the little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple" signifies to love innocence from innocence, and from it to love good and truth from the Word and to teach them; "to give to drink a cup of cold water," signifies to love and teach from a little innocence, "little ones" signifying the innocent, and in an abstract sense innocence itself; "to give to drink a cup of cold water" signifies to teach from a little innocence, and "a disciple" the good of doctrine from the Lord; "to give water to little ones to drink" signifies to teach truth from spiritual innocence, and also to teach truths to the innocent. This is the spiritual interpretation of these words, and unless this is known who can know what is meant by "receiving a prophet and a righteous man in the name of a prophet and righteous man" and that "they shall receive the reward of a prophet and a righteous man"? "Reward" signifies love with its delights enduring to eternity.
[7] In the same:
Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things which ye see but have not seen them, and to hear the things which ye hear but have not heard them (Matthew 13:17).
"Prophets and righteous men" mean in the spiritual sense all who are in the truths of doctrine and in the good of life according to truths; and "to see and hear" signifies to understand and perceive, here interior truths proceeding from the Lord, for when man understands and perceives these and also does them, he is reformed. Interior truths proceeding from the Lord are meant, because the Lord, when He was in the world, disclosed such truths. In the sense of the letter this means to see and hear the Lord, but as the Lord is the Divine truth itself in heaven and in the church, and as in consequence all Divine truths are from the Lord, and the Lord Himself taught them, and continually teaches them by means of the Word, so "to see and hear the Lord" signifies to understand and perceive these.
[8] In Joel:
I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh; that your sons and your daughters may prophesy, your old men dream dreams, and your young men see visions (Joel 2:28).
This is said of the Lord's coming, and of the perception of Divine truth by those who receive the Lord and believe in Him; the "spirit" that will be poured out upon all flesh signifies the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, for this is meant in the Word by the Holy Spirit; "to prophesy" signifies to understand and teach the truths of doctrine; "to dream dreams" signifies to receive revelation; and "to see visions" signifies to perceive revelation; "sons and daughters" signify those who are in the spiritual affection of truth and good; "old men" signify those who are in wisdom, and "young men," those who are in intelligence.
[9] In Amos:
The Lord Jehovih doeth not a word without revealing His secret unto His servants the prophets. The lion roareth, who will not fear? The Lord Jehovih hath spoken, who will not prophesy? (Amos 3:7, 8).
Here also "to prophesy" signifies to receive Divine truth and to teach it (but this may be seen explained above, n. Revelation 11:3).
Again:
The time of judging the dead, and of giving the reward to His 1servants the prophets (Revelation 11:18).
Again:
The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10).
Again:
Be glad, O heaven, ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath judged your judgment (Revelation 18:20).
That here "prophets" mean those who are in the truths of doctrine, and in an abstract sense the truths of doctrine, and "to prophesy" means to receive and teach these, especially to teach about the Lord Himself, will be seen hereafter.
[10] In Amos:
Amos said to Amaziah, Jehovah took me from following the flock and said, Go, prophesy against My people Israel: and thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not against the house of Isaac. Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line (Amos 7:14-17).
"To prophesy against Israel, and to drop against the house of Isaac," signifies to refute those of the church who are in the falsities of evil, "to prophesy" signifying to teach and refute, and "Israel" and "the house of Isaac" signifying the church. Because the falsities of evil are what must be refuted, this is said to Amaziah, who represented the perverted church; "his wife shall be a harlot" signifies the falsification and adulteration of the Word; "his sons and daughters shall fall by the sword" signifies that the truths and goods of the church will be destroyed by the falsities of evil; and "the land shall be divided by line" signifies that the church and everything belonging to it will be scattered.
[11] In Hosea:
By a prophet Jehovah caused Israel to come up out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he guarded. Ephraim hath provoked to anger with bitterness; therefore he shall leave his bloods upon him (Hosea 12:13, 14).
By the "prophet" here in the nearest sense Moses is meant, by whom Israel was led out of Egypt and afterwards guarded; but in the spiritual sense "prophet" means the Lord in relation to the Word, and "Israel" all those of the church who are in truths from good, and "Egypt" the natural man, which separated from the spiritual man is damned. Therefore "By a prophet Jehovah caused Israel to come up out of Egypt" signifies that the Lord leads out of damnation those who are in truths from good by means of the Divine truth, which is the Word, and guards them by means of it. "Ephraim hath provoked to anger with bitterness" signifies that they perverted the Word as to the understanding of it, "Ephraim" signifying the understanding of the Word, and "bitterness" perversions and falsities therefrom, from which is what is undelightful; "therefore he shall leave his bloods upon him" signifies damnation on account of the adulteration of the truth that is in the Word.
[12] In the same:
The days of visitation are come, the days of retribution are come; Israel, the foolish prophet, and the man insane of spirit, shall know it; this because of the multitude of iniquity and great hatred. Ephraim is a watchman with my God; but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God (Hosea 9:7, 8).
The "days of visitation and retribution" signify the days of the Last Judgment, when the evil suffer punishment, and this is retribution, which is always preceded by visitation; "Israel," "prophet," and "the man of spirit," do not mean Israel, prophet, and the man of spirit, but all those of the church who are in the falsities of evil and in the evils of falsity, and who teach these and confirm them by the sense of the letter of the Word. The falsities of evil are signified by "the multitude of iniquity," and the evils of falsity by "great hatred;" "Ephraim who is a watchman with God" signifies the understanding of the Word, and this is why he is called "a watchman with God;" but as those who are in the falsities of evil and in the evils of falsity pervert the understanding of the Word, and thus craftily lead astray, it is said "the prophet is the snare of a fowler, and hatred in the house of God."
[13] In Ezekiel:
Prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou to the prophets out of their own heart, Hear ye the word of Jehovah; Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, Woe unto the foolish prophets that go away after their own spirit, and after that which they have not seen! And My hand shall be against the prophets that behold vanity, and that divine falsehood (Ezekiel 13:2, 3, 9).
By "prophets" here and elsewhere in the Word are meant in the nearest sense such prophets as those were in the Old Testament through whom the Lord spoke; but in the spiritual sense those prophets are not meant, but all whom the Lord leads; with these also the Lord flows in and reveals to them the secrets of the Word, whether they teach or not; such, therefore, are signified by "prophets" in the spiritual sense. But "the prophets that prophesy out of their own heart, and go away after their own spirit, and who behold vanity and divine falsehood," mean all who are not taught and led by the Lord but by themselves, consequently they have insanity in place of intelligence, and folly in place of wisdom, for they have the love of self in place of the love to God, and the love of the world in place of the love to the neighbor, and from these loves falsities continually pour forth. From this it can be seen what these words signify in series.
[14] In Micah:
It shall be night unto you for vision, and darkness shall arise to you for divination; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall grow black over them (Micah 3:6).
"It shall be night unto you for vision" signifies that there shall be the understanding of falsity instead of the understanding of truth; "darkness for divination" signifies falsities instead of revealed truths; "the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day grow black over them," signifies that light shall no more flow in from the Lord out of heaven and enlighten, but thick darkness from the hells which shall darken the understanding.
[15] In many passages "prophets" are mentioned, and no one has had any other idea respecting them than that the prophets of the Old Testament, through whom the Lord spoke unto the people, and through whom He dictated the Word, are meant; but as the Word has a spiritual sense in each and every particular of it, therefore in that sense "prophets" mean all whom the Lord teaches, thus all who are in the spiritual affection of truth, that is, who love truth, because it is truth, for the Lord teaches these, and flows into their understanding and enlightens; and this is more true of these than of the prophets of the Old Testament, for they did not have their understanding enlightened, but the words they were to say or write they received merely by hearing, and did not even understand their interior sense, still less their spiritual sense. From this it can be seen that "prophets" mean in the spiritual sense all who are wise from the Lord; and this whether they teach or do not teach. And as every truly spiritual meaning is abstracted from the idea of persons, places, and times, so the "prophet" also signifies in the highest sense the Lord in relation to the Word, and as to doctrine from the Word, and likewise the Word and doctrine; and in the contrary sense "prophets" signify the perversions and falsifications of the Word and the falsities of doctrine. As this is what "prophets" signify in both senses, I will cite a few passages only in which prophets are mentioned, and in which they mean all who receive and teach the Word and doctrine, and in a sense separate from persons the Word and doctrine, and in the contrary sense those who pervert the Word and teach falsities of doctrine, and in an abstract sense the perversion of the Word and falsities of doctrine.
[16] In Isaiah:
Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail; the old man and the honored of face he is the head; but the prophet, the teacher of a lie, he is the tail (Isaiah 9:14, 15).
In the same:
Jehovah hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; your prophets and your heads, the seers, hath He covered (Isaiah 29:10).
In Jeremiah:
They have denied Jehovah when they said, It is not He, neither shall evil come upon us, neither shall we see sword and famine. But the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them (Jeremiah 5:12, 13).
In the same:
I have sent unto them all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them (Jeremiah 7:25).
Thus said Jehovah of Hosts against the prophets, Behold I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink waters of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem is hypocrisy gone forth into all the land. Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you; they make you vain; they speak the vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of Jehovah (Jeremiah 23:15, 16).
In the same:
The prophets that have been before me and before thee of an age prophesied over many lands and over great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. The prophet who prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass that prophet shall be known that God sent him (Jeremiah 28:8, 9).
In Matthew:
Woe unto you, hypocrites and Pharisees, because ye build the sepulchers of the prophets, and adorn the tombs of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye witness against yourselves that ye are the sons of them that slew the prophets. I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes; and some of them shall ye kill and crucify; that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous even to the blood of Zachariah, son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee (Matthew 23:29-37; Luke 11:47-51).
In these passages it seems as if "prophets" mean merely the prophets through whom Jehovah, that is, the Lord, spoke, consequently that by "slaying the prophets" the Lord simply meant their slaughter. But the Lord meant at the same time the slaughter and extinction of Divine truth that comes from the falsification and adulteration of the Word; for by a person and his function the thing itself which the person did and said is meant in the spiritual sense; thus a "prophet" means Divine truth or the Word and doctrine therefrom; therefore as the function of a person and the person are in effect one, so the thing itself that the prophet teaches is meant by "prophet." "To shed blood" also means to adulterate the truths of the Word; and as the Jewish nation was such it is said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee," these words meaning in the spiritual sense that such extinguish all Divine truth which they have from the Word.
[17] Because a "prophet" means Divine truth, which is the Word, and which is in the church from the Word, and this cannot be extinguished except by those who have the Divine truth of the Word, therefore the Lord said:
That it was not fitting for a prophet to perish out of Jerusalem (Luke 13:33).
"Jerusalem" meaning the church in respect to the doctrine of truth.
In the Word "priest and prophet" are also often mentioned, and "priest" means there one who leads men to live according to Divine truth, and "prophet" one who teaches it. In this sense "priest and prophet" are mentioned in the following passages. In Jeremiah:
The law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the Word from the prophet (Deuteronomy 18:18).
In that day the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall be amazed (Jeremiah 4:9).
In Ezekiel:
They shall seek a vision from the prophet; but the law hath perished from the priest, and counsel from the elders. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with astonishment (Ezekiel 7:26, 27).
"Vision from the prophet" means the understanding of the Word; "law from the priest" the precepts of life; "counsel from the elders" wisdom therefrom. "King" and "princes" mean intelligence through truths from good; such is the spiritual meaning of these words.
[18] In Isaiah:
The priest and the prophet err through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are gone astray through strong drink; they err among the seeing, they stumble in judgment (Isaiah 28:7).
In Jeremiah:
An astonishing and horrible thing has come to pass in the land; the prophets have prophesied a lie, and the priests bear rule by their hands; and my people love to have it so (Jeremiah 5:30, 31).
From the prophet even unto the priest everyone doeth a lie (Jeremiah 8:10).
When a prophet or a priest shall ask thee, saying, What is the prophetic saying of Jehovah? say unto them, I have abandoned you, and the prophet, and the priest (Jeremiah 23:33, 34).
In Zephaniah:
Her prophets are very light, men of treacheries; their priests profane what is holy; they violently wrest the law (Zephaniah 3:4).
In Jeremiah:
The priests said not, Where is Jehovah? and they that handle the law have not acknowledged Me, and the prophets have prophesied by Baal, and have walked after those that do not profit. The houses of Israel are ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets (Jeremiah 2:8, 26);
not to mention many other passages where "prophets and priests" are mentioned together, and thereby "priests" are meant those who teach life, and lead to good, and by "prophets" those who teach truths which lead; but in an abstract sense "priests" and "the priesthood" mean the good of love, consequently the good of life, and "prophets" the truth of doctrine, consequently the truth that leads to the good of life; in a word, "prophets" must teach, and "priests" lead.
[19] In Zechariah:
In that day I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, that they may no more be remembered; and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land; and it shall come to pass that when any man shall prophesy anymore, his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through. It shall come to pass in that day that the prophets shall be ashamed every man of his vision when they have prophesied, neither shall they wear a tunic of hair to dissemble; and he shall say, I am no prophet, I am a man that tilleth the ground, for a man sold me from boyhood (Zechariah 13:2-5).
This is said of the Lord's coming into the world, and of the abolition of representative worship and of the falsities with which the doctrine of the church then abounded; for the Jewish nation, with which the church was, placed all worship in externals, and nothing in internals, that is, nothing in charity and faith, which are internal, but in sacrifices, and in such things as are external, consequently their worship and doctrine consisted of mere falsities, and the nation itself, viewed in itself, was idolatrous. The abolition of such things by the Lord is described by these words of the prophet; therefore "I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, that they may no more be remembered," signifies the abolition of idolatrous worship, that is, of worship merely external without any internal; "I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land" signifies the abolition of the falsities of doctrine; "when they have prophesied anymore, his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live," signifies that the church to be instituted by the Lord, which shall be an internal church, shall completely extinguish the falsities of doctrine, if anyone shall teach them; "to prophesy" signifying to teach the falsities of doctrine, "father and mother," the church in respect to good and in respect to truth, "father," the church in respect to good, and "mother," the church in respect to truth, and "thou shalt not live" signifying to extinguish. The same is meant by "his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through." The abolition of the falsities of doctrine is meant also by "the prophets shall be ashamed, every man of his vision, neither shall they wear a tunic of hair to dissemble," "prophets" and "their vision" here also meaning the falsities of doctrine, and "to wear a tunic of hair to dissemble" signifying to pervert the external things of the Word such as are in the sense of its letter, for "tunic of hair" with the prophets represented the ultimate sense of the Word, the same as "the raiment of camel's hair" of John the Baptist. His saying "I am a man that tilleth the ground, for a man sold me from boyhood," signifies that this is the case with those of the Jewish Church, which was merely external, not internal, because of their being born in it, and consequently devoted to it.
[20] In Daniel:
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy city of holiness, to finish the transgression, and to seal up sins, and to expiate iniquity, and to bring in the righteousness of the ages, and to seal up the vision and the prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies (Daniel 9:24).
This is said of the Lord's coming, when iniquity is consummated, or when there shall be no longer any good or truth remaining in the church. "Upon the people and upon the city of holiness" signifies upon the church and its doctrine, which are then wholly vastated and extinguished. "To finish the transgression and to seal up sins" signifies when all in the church are in the falsities of doctrine and in evils in respect to life, for, as has been shown at the beginning of this article, the Lord's coming and the Last Judgment therewith do not take place until there is no longer any truth of doctrine or good of life remaining in the church, and this for the reason there mentioned, that the well-disposed may be separated from the ill-disposed. "To bring in the righteousness of the ages" signifies the Last Judgment, when everyone will be rewarded according to his deeds; "to seal up the vision and the prophet" signifies the end of the former church and the beginning of the new, or the end of the external church, which was representative of things spiritual, and the beginning of the internal, which is a spiritual church, "vision and the prophet" meaning the falsities of doctrine; and these same words signify also that the Lord will fulfill all things that are predicted of Him in the Word; "to anoint the holy of holies" signifies the glorification of the Lord's Human by union with the Divine Itself; it signifies also that all worship afterwards must be from love to Him.
[21] In Moses:
Jehovah said unto Moses, I have set thee a god to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet (Arcana Coelestia 7268, 7269.)
[22] This is why the prophets of the Old Testament represented the Lord in relation to the doctrine of Divine truth, and the chief of them represented the Lord in relation to the Word itself, from which comes the doctrine of Divine truth, as Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and John the Baptist; and as the Lord is the Word, that is Divine truth, He Himself in the highest sense is called a "Prophet." As Moses, Elijah, and John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word:
Moses and Elijah appeared speaking with the Lord when He was transfigured (Matthew 17:3, 4; Mark 9:4, 5; Luke 9:30).
There "Moses and Elijah" mean the Word both historical and prophetical, "Moses" the historical Word, and "Elijah" the prophetical, and for the reason that when the Lord was transfigured He presented Himself in the form in which the Divine truth is in heaven. That Elijah represented the Lord as to the Word is evident from the miracles done by Him, all of which signified such things as belong to Divine truth or the Word; and as John the Baptist in like manner represented the Lord as to the Word he was called "Elijah," as can be seen in Malachi:
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh; and He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse (Malachi 4:5, 6).
And it is openly declared:
That John was Elijah (Matthew 11:14; 17:10-12; Mark 9:11-13);
not that he was Elijah, but he represented something similar to that which Elijah represented, that is, the Word; and as the Word teaches that the Lord was to come into the world, and because, moreover, in each and all particulars in the inmost sense the Word treats of Him, therefore:
John was sent before Him to teach them that the Lord was to come (as m ay be seen Matthew 11:9, 10; Luke 1:76; 7:26).
[23] From this it can now be seen why the Lord is called a "Prophet," namely, because He was the Word, that is, Divine truth itself (as is evident from John 1:1, 2, 14). That the Lord is called a "Prophet" because He was the Word can be seen also in Moses:
Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken. I will put My words in his mouth, that he may speak unto you all that I shall command him. The man who will not hearken unto My words which he shall speak in My name, of him I will require it (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).
It is said that "Jehovah was to raise up a prophet like Moses," because Moses represented the Lord in relation to the Law, that is, the Word, as has been said above; therefore it is also said of Moses:
That Jehovah spake with him mouth to mouth, and not as with other prophets, by visions, dreams, and dark sayings (Numbers 12:1-8).
By this also the representation of the Lord by Moses is described; for the Lord from Jehovah, that is, from the very Divine that was in Him from conception, spoke with Himself; this is meant by "I will put My words in his mouth, that he may speak unto you all that I shall command him;" and this, too, was represented with Moses by "Jehovah spake with him mouth to mouth, and not as with other prophets." Again this is why:
The Lord is called a Prophet (Matthew 21:11; Luke 7:16; John 7:40, 41; 9:17).
Footnotes:
1. Latin has "his," the Greek "thy," as found in AR 340.
624. [Vers. 11.] "Et dixit mihi, Oportet te iterum prophetare." - Quod significet Divinum mandatum ut adhuc doceatur Verbum, constat ex significatione "dicere", cum ab angelo, per quem in hoc capite repraesentatus est Dominus quoad Verbum, quod sit mandatum; nam quod Dominus dicit, hoc mandatum est: et ex significatione "prophetare", quod sit docere Verbum (de qua sequitur). Quod oporteret illum adhuc docere Verbum, erat causa quia exploratum est qualis adhuc intellectus Verbi in ecclesia residuus esset, et compertum quod Verbum jucundum esset quoad sensum litterae; hoc enim significatur per id, quod "libellus in ore fuerit dulcis sicut mel", nam per "libellum" significatur Verbum. Quod mandatum sit ut adhuc doceretur Verbum in ecclesia, erat causa, quia nondum finis ejus erat; finis ejus describitur per "clangorem septimi angeli"; hic autem status ecclesiae proximus ante finem per "clangorem sexti angeli", de quo statu ecclesiae nunc agitur: et antequam finis est, Verbum, cum docetur, quibusdam adhuc est jucundum; non autem in statu ecclesiae ultimo seu finis ejus, nam tunc Dominus aperit interiora Verbi, quae injucunda sunt, ut supra dictum est, ubi actum est de amaricato ventre et devorato libello.
[2] Quod Verbum adhuc docendum sit, tametsi interiora vera ejus injucunda sunt, et quod ultimum judicium non veniat priusquam consummatio est, hoc est, quando non amplius aliquod bonum et verum superest apud homines ecclesiae, est causa quae in mundo prorsus ignota est, sed in caelo nota: nempe, sunt duo genera hominum super quos judicium fit; unum genus consistit ex probis, alterum ex improbis; probi sunt angeli in ultimo caelo, quorum plerique sunt simplices, ex causa quia non excoluerunt intellectum veris interioribus, sed solum exterioribus ex sensu litterae Verbi, secundum quae vixerunt; inde est quod mens eorum spiritualis, quae est mens interior, non quidem clausa fuerit, sed nec aperta sicut apud illos qui interiora vera receperunt doctrina et vita; inde est quod quoad spiritualia simplices facti, et quod dicantur probi: improbi autem sunt qui exterius vixerunt sicut Christiani, sed interius in cogitationem et in voluntatem admiserunt omnis generis mala; sic ut in externa forma apparuerint sicut angeli, tametsi in interna forma essent diaboli; hi, quando in alteram vitam veniunt, consociantur ut plurimum probis, hoc est, simplicibus bonis, qui in ultimo caelo sunt; exteriora enim consociant, ac simplices boni tales sunt ut credant bonum esse quod in externa forma apparet bonum; ulterius cogitatione non penetrant; hi (nempe improbi) ab illis (nempe probis) separandi sunt antequam ultimum judicium venit, et quoque post illud, et non separantur nisi successive; haec causa est quod ante tempus ultimi judicii docendum usque sit Verbum, tametsi interius, hoc est, quoad interiora ejus, injucundum est; quae, nempe interiora, quia injucunda sunt, illa non recipiunt, sed solum talia ex sensu litterae Verbi quae favent amoribus eorum ac principiis inde captis, propter quae illis Verbum quoad sensum litterae est jucundum: per haec itaque separantur probi ab improbis.
[3] Quod propter hanc causam protrahatur tempus, antequam post ultimum judicium nova ecclesia plene instauratur, est arcanum e caelo quod hodie non potest in intellectum cadere, nisi apud paucos; hoc usque est quod Dominus docet apud Matthaeum,
"Accedentes servi Patrisfamilias dixerunt ei, .. Nonne bonum semen seminasti in agro tuo? unde ergo sunt zizania? .... .Et dixerunt, Vis ergo abeamus et colligamus ea? At ille dixit, Non, ne colligendo zizania eradicetis simul cum eis triticum, sinite itaque utraque simul crescere usque ad messem; et tempore messis dicam messoribus, Colligite primum zizania, et ligate ea in fasciculos ad comburendum, triticum vero colligite in horrea. .... Qui seminavit bonum semen est Filius hominis, ager est mundus, semen bonum sunt filii regni, .... messis est consummatio saeculi: .... sicut ergo colligantur zizania, et comburuntur igne, sic erit in consummatione saeculi hujus" (13:27-30, 37-43 1
):
"consummatio saeculi" significat ultimum tempus ecclesiae; quod non prius separandi sint probi ab improbis, quia per exteriora consociati sunt, intelligitur per "ne colligendo zizania eradicetis simul cum eis triticum." (De hac re etiam videatur in opusculo De Ultimo Judicio 70.)
[4] Quod "prophetare" significet docere Verbum, est quia per "prophetam" in supremo sensu intelligitur Dominus quoad Verbum, et in sensu respectivo docens Verbum, at in sensu abstracto ipsum Verbum et quoque doctrina e Verbo: haec per "prophetam" significantur; inde per "prophetare" significatur docere Verbum, et quoque doctrinam e Verbo.
Quod "prophetare" et "propheta" talia significent, constare potest a locis in Verbo quoad sensum spiritualem intellectis, ubi memorantur; ut in sequentibus:
- Apud Matthaeum,
"Multi dicent Mihi in die illo, Domine, Domine, nonne per nomen tuum prophetavimus, et per nomen tuum daemonia ejecimus, et in nomine tuo virtutes multas fecimus? Sed tunc confitebor illis, Non novi vos; discedite a Me, operantes iniquitatem" (7:22, 23):
agitur ibi de salvatione, quod nempe nemo salvetur per id quod sciat Verbum et doceat illud, sed per id quod faciat illud; in antecedentibus enim dicitur quod illi solum intraturi sint regnum caelorum "qui faciunt voluntatem Dei" (vers. 21); et in sequentibus, quod "qui audit verba Domini et facit illa" sit vir prudens, sed "qui audit et non facit" sit vir stultus (vers. 24-27): inde patet quid per illa verba intelligitur; nempe cultus Domini per preces et per verba oris solum, intelligitur per "Multi dicent Mihi in illo die, Domine, Domine"; docere Verbum et doctrinalia e Verbo, intelligitur per "Nonne per nomen tuum prophetavimus?" per "nomen" significatur secundum doctrinam e Verbo, et per "prophetare" significatur docere: per "daemonia ejicere" significatur e falsis religionis liberare; "daemonia " sunt falsa religionis: per "virtutes multas facere" significatur plures convertere: sed quia haec fecerunt non propter Dominum, nec propter verum et bonum et propter salutem animarum, sed propter se et mundum, ita modo in externa forma ut apparituri essent, ideo respective ad se ipsos non bonum sed malum fecerunt; hoc intelligitur per quod dicturus Dominus, "Non novi vos, operantes iniquitatem." Videtur sicut non operati fuerint iniquitatem quando talia fecerunt; sed usque omne id iniquitas est quod homo facit solum propter se et mundum, quoniam non est aliquis amor Domini nec proximi, sed modo amor sui et mundi in illis; et unumquemvis post mortem manet suus amor.
[5] Apud eundem,
In consummatione saeculi "multi pseudoprophetae exsurgent, et seducent multos;.... surgent falsi Christi, et falsi prophetae, et dabunt signa magna et prodigia, ut in errorem inducant, si possibile, electos" (24:11, 24; Marcus 13:22):
per "pseudoprophetas", perque "falsos Christos et falsos prophetas", non intelliguntur prophetae secundum notionem de prophetis communem, sed omnes illi qui pervertunt Verbum et falsa docent; hi etiam sunt falsi Christi, nam "Christus" significat Dominum quoad Divinum Verum, unde "falsi Christi" significant Divina vera falsificata: "dare signa magna et prodigia" significat efficaciam et potentiam falsitatum per confirmationes ex sensu litterae Verbi; per hunc etiam signa et prodigia fiunt in mundo spirituali, nam sensus litterae Verbi, utcunque falsificatus, potentiam habet; de qua re mirabilia possunt memorari: per "electos" significantur qui in bono spirituali, hoc est, qui in bono charitatis sunt.
[6] Apud eundem,
"Quisquis prophetam suscipit in nomine prophetae, mercedem prophetae accipiet; et quisquis suscipit justum in nomine justi, mercedem justi accipiet: immo, quisquis potaverit unum parvorum horum potu frigidae tantum in nomine discipuli, amen dico vobis non perdet mercedem suam" (10:41, 42):
haec nemo intellecturus est nisi sciat quid significatur per "prophetam", per "justum", per "discipulum" et per "parvos"; tum quid per "suscipere eos in nomine eorum": per "prophetam" in sensu abstracto significatur verum doctrinae, per "discipulum" bonum doctrinae, per "justum" bonum vitae, ac per "suscipere illos in nomine illorum" significatur recipere illa ex amore illorum; ita per "suscipere prophetam in nomine prophetae" significatur amare verum doctrinae quia est verum, seu recipere verum propter illud; per "suscipere justum in nomine justi" significatur amare bonum et facere illud quia est bonum, ita recipere id a Domino ex amore seu affectione cordis; qui enim amat illa propter illa, is amat illa ex illis, ita a Domino a quo procedunt; is quia non amat illa propter se et mundum, spiritualiter amat illa, et omnis amor spiritualis manet hominem post mortem, et dat vitam aeternam: "mercedem accipere" significat secum ferre illum amorem, et inde beatum caeli recipere: "potare unum parvorum potu frigidae tantum in nomine discipuli" significat innocentiam ex innocentia, et ex illa amare bonum et verum ex Verbo, et docere illa; "potare potu frigidae" significat amare et docere ex pauca innocentia; "parvi" significant innocentes et abstracte innocentiam; "potare potu frigidae" significat docere ex pauca innocentia, et "discipulus" significat bonum doctrinae a Domino; "potare parvos aqua", significat docere verum ex innocentia spirituali, et quoque docere innocentes vera. Haec spiritualis interpretatio illorum verborum est; quae si nesciretur, quis sciturus est quid intelligitur per "suscipere prophetam et justum in nomine prophetae et justi"? et quod "illi accepturi mercedem prophetae et justi"? "Merces" significat amorem in aeternum permanentem cum ejus jucundis.
[7] Apud eundem,
"Multi justi et prophetae desideraverunt videre quae vos videtis, sed non viderunt; et audire quae vos audivistis, sed non audiverunt" (13:17):
per "prophetas" et "justos" in sensu spirituali intelliguntur omnes qui in veris doctrinae et in bono vitae secundum illa sunt; et per "videre" et "audire" significatur intelligere et percipere; hic interiora vera procedentia a Domino, nam haec intelligere et percipere reformant. hominem, quando etiam homo facit illa. Quod interiora vera procedentia a Domino intelligantur, est quia Dominus, cum in mundo fuit, aperuit illa: in sensu litterae intelligitur videre et audire Dominum; sed quia Dominus est ipsum Divinum Verum in caelo et in ecclesia, proinde quia omnia Divina vera a Domino sunt, et Ipse illa docuit, et continue per Verbum docet, per "videre et audire Dominum" significatur intelligere et percipere illa.
[8] Apud Joelem,
"Effundam spiritum meum super omnem carnem, ita ut prophetent filii vestri et filiae Vestrae, senes vestri somnia somnient, juvenes vestri visiones videant" (3:1 [B.A. 2:28]):
haec de adventu Domini ac de perceptione Divini Veri ab illis qui recipiunt Dominum et credunt in Ipsum; per "spiritum qui effundetur super omnem carnem" significatum Divinum Verum procedens a Domino, nam hoc per "spiritum sanctum" in Verbo intelligitur; per "prophetare" significatur intelligere et docere vera doctrinae; per "somnia somniare" significatur revelationem accipere, et per "visiones videre" significatur revelationem percipere; per "filios" et "filias" significantur qui in affectione veri et boni spirituali sunt; per "senes" significantur qui in sapientia; et per "juvenes" qui in intelligentia.
[9] Apud Amos,
"Non facit Dominus Jehovih verbum, nisi revelaverit arcanum suum servis suis prophetis. Leo 2
rugit, quis non timeat? Dominus Jehovih locutus est, quis non prophetet?" (3:7, 8):
per "prophetare" hic quoque significatur recipere Divinum Verum et docere illud. (Sed haec videantur explicata supra, n. 601 [a] .)
Similia per "prophetare" et per "prophetas" significantur in sequentibus in Apocalypsi: -
"Dabo duobus prophetis meis ut prophetent dies mille ducentos sexaginta, induti saccis" (11:3);
alibi,
"Tempus mortuos judicandi, et dandi mercedem servis suis prophetis" (11:18);
[alibi, ]
"Testimonium Jesu est spiritus prophetiae" (19:10);
[et] alibi,
"Exulta... caelum, sancti apostoli ac prophetae, quia judicavit Deus judicium" eorum (18:20):
quod ibi per "prophetas" intelligantur illi qui in veris doctrinae sunt, et in sensu abstracto vera doctrinae, et quod per "prophetare" intelligatur recipere et docere illa, imprimis docere Ipsum Dominum, videbitur in sequentibus.
[10] Apud Amos,
"Dixit Amos ad Amaziam, .... . Accepit me Jehovah post gregem, et dixit.... , Abi, propheta contra populum meum Israelem;.... et tu dicis, Ne propheta contra Israelem, neque stilla contra domum Jischaki:.... uxor tua in urbe scortabitur, filii tui et filiae tuae gladio cadent, ac terra tua fune dividetur" (7 [14,] 15-17);
per "prophetare contra Israelem", et "stillare contra domum Jischaki", significatur redarguere illos qui ab ecclesia in falsis mali sunt; "prophetare" significat docere et redarguere, ac "Israel" et "domus Jischaki" significant ecclesiam; quoniam falsa mali sunt quibus redarguentur, dicitur ad Amaziam, per quem repraesentabatur ecclesia perversa: quod "uxor ejus scortabitur" significat falsificationem et adulterationem Verbi; quod "filii et filiae gladio cadent" significat quod vera et bona ecclesiae peritura sint per falsa mali; et quod "terra fune dividetur" significat quod ecclesia et omne ejus dissipabitur.
[11]): per "prophetam" hic in sensu proximo intelligitur Moses, per quem Israel eductus est ex Aegypto, et dein custoditus; sed in sensu spirituali per "prophetam" intelligitur Dominus quoad Verbum, et per "Israelem" intelliguntur omnes qui ab ecclesia in veris ex bono sunt, et per "Aegyptum" intelligitur naturalis homo, qui separatus a spirituali homine est damnatus; inde "Per prophetam ascendere fecit Jehovah Israelem ex Aegypto", significat quod Dominus illos qui in veris ex bono sunt educat ex damnatione per Divinum Verum quod est Verbum, tum quod per illud custodiat: "Provocavit ad iram Ephraim amaritudinibus" significat quod perverterint Verbum quoad intellectum ejus; per "Ephraim" significatur intellectus Verbi, et per "amaritudines" significantur perversiones et inde falsitates, ex quibus injucunda: "ideo sanguines ejus super eo relinquet" significat damnationem propter adulterationem veri quod in Verbo.
[12] Apud eundem,
"Venerunt dies visitationis, venerunt dies retributionis, cognoscent Israel, stultus propheta et insanus vir spiritus, hic propter multitudinem iniquitatis.. et magnum odium; speculator Ephraim cum Deo meo, propheta laqueus aucupis in omnibus viis ejus, odium in domo Dei ejus" (9:7, 8):
per "dies visitationis et retributionis" significantur dies ultimi judicii, quando mali luent poenas, quod est retributio, quam visitatio semper praecedit; per "Israelem", "prophetam" et "virum spiritus", non intelligitur Israel, propheta et vir spiritus, sed omnes illi qui ab ecclesia in falsis mali et malis falsi sunt, ac illa docent, exque Verbi sensu litterae confirmant; falsa mali significantur per "multitudinem iniquitatis, et mala falsi per "magnum odium"; per "Ephraimum", qui speculator cum Deo, significatur intellectus Verbi; inde vocatur "speculator cum Deo"; sed quia intellectum Verbi pervertunt illi qui in falsis mali et in malis falsi sunt, et sic astute seducunt, ideo dicitur "Propheta laqueus aucupis et odium in domo Dei."
[13] Apud Ezechielem,
"Propheta contra prophetas Israelis prophetantes, et dic prophetis e corde suo, Audite Verbum Jehovae; sic dixit Dominus Jehovih, Vae prophetis stultis, qui abeunt post spiritum suum, et juxta [id quod] non viderunt. .... Erit manus mea contra prophetas, videntes vanitatem et divinantes mendacium" ( 3
per "prophetas" hic et alibi in Verbo in sensu proximo intelliguntur prophetae quales fuerunt in Veteri Testamento, per quos Dominus locutus est; sed in sensu spirituali non intelliguntur illi prophetae, sed omnes quos Dominus ducit; apud hos etiam Dominus influit, ac illis revelat arcana Verbi, sive illa doceant sive non; quare hi per "prophetas" in spirituali sensu significantur: at per "prophetas qui prophetant e corde suo, et abeunt post spiritum suum, quique vident vanitatem et divinant mendacium", intelliguntur omnes qui non docentur et ducuntur a Domino, sed a semet ipsis; unde illis insania loco intelligentiae, et stultitia loco sapientiae; nam illis est amor sui loco amoris in Deum, et amor mundi loco amoris erga proximum, ex quibus continue scaturiunt falsa: ex his videri potest quid per illa verba in serie significatur.
[14] Apud Micham,
"Nox Vobis pro visione, et tenebrae orientur vobis pro divinando, et occidet sol super prophetas, et nigrescet super iis dies" (3:6):
"Nox vobis pro visione" significat quod intellectus falsi erit pro intellectu veri; "tenebrae pro divinando" significat quod falsa pro veris revelatis; "occidet sol super prophetas, et nigrescet super iis dies", significat quod non amplius aliqua lux a Domino et e caelo influet, quae illustrabit, sed caligo ex infernis quae intellectum nigrabit.
[15] Quoniam multis in locis nominantur prophetae, et quisque non aliam de illis ideam cepit quam sicut de prophetis Veteris Testamenti per quos Dominus locutus est ad populum et per quos Dominus dictavit Verbum, et quia Verbum in omnibus et singulis etiam spiritualem sensum habet, ideo in eo sensu per "prophetas" intelliguntur omnes quos Dominus docet; ita omnes qui in affectione veri spirituali sunt, hoc est, qui verum amant quia est verum, hos enim docet Dominus, influit in eorum intellectum, ac illustrat; et hoc plus quam apud prophetas Veteris Testamenti, hi enim non illustrabantur quoad intellectum, sed modo recipiebant auditu verba, quae dicturi erant aut quae scripturi; immo, nec interiorem eorum sensum minus spiritualem intelligebant. Ex his constare potest quod per "prophetas" in sensu spirituali intelligantur omnes qui a Domino sapiunt, sive etiam doceant sive non doceant: et quia omnis sensus vere spiritualis est abstractus ab idea personarum, locorum et temporum, ideo per "prophetam" quoque significatur in supremo sensu Dominus quoad Verbum et quoad doctrinam e Verbo, et quoque Verbum ac doctrina; ac in opposito sensu per "prophetas" significantur perversiones et falsificationes Verbi, ac falsa doctrinae. Et quia haec per "prophetas" in utroque sensu significantur, velim solum aliqua loca afferre in quibus prophetae nominantur, per quos intelliguntur omnes qui recipiunt et docent Verbum et doctrinam, et in sensu separato a personis intelligitur Verbum et doctrina, ac in opposito sensu qui pervertunt Verbum et docent falsa doctrinae, et abstracte perversio Verbi et falsum doctrinae:
[16]); apud eundem,
"Effudit super vos Jehovah spiritum somnolentiae, et occlusit oculos vestros, prophetas et capita vestra, videntes obtexit" (29:10);
apud Jeremiam,
"Abnegarunt Jehovam quando dixerunt, Non ille, neque veniet super nos malum, ac gladium famemque non videbimus; sed prophetae erunt in ventum, nec verbum in iis" (5:12, 13);
apud eundem,
"Misi ad eos omnes servos meos prophetas, quotidie matutinando et mittendo" (7:25);
apud eundem,
"Sic dixit Jehovah Zebaoth contra prophetas, Ecce Ego cibans eos absinthio et potabo eos aquis fellis; quia a prophetis Hierosolymae exivit hypocrisis in universam terram:.... ne attendite ad verba prophetarum prophetantium vobis, vanos reddunt vos, visionem cordis sui loquuntur, non ex ore Jehovae" (23:15, 16);
apud eundem,
"Prophetae qui fuerunt ante me et ante te a saeculo, prophetarunt super terras multas, et super regna magna de bello, et de malo et de peste; propheta qui prophetat de pace, cum venerit verbum prophetae, cognoscetur propheta quod miserit eum" Deus (28:8, 9);
apud Matthaeum,
"Vae vobis" hypocritae et Pharisaei", quia aedificatis sepulchra prophetarum, et ornatis monumenta justorum, et dicitis, Si fuissemus in diebus patrum nostrorum, non fuissemus participes eorum in sanguine prophetarum; itaque testamini contra vosmet quod filii sitis eorum qui occiderunt prophetas. .... Mitto ad vos prophetas, sapientes et scribas; jam vero ex iis occidetis et crucifigetis, .... ut veniat super vos omnis sanguis justus effusus super terram a sanguine Abelis justi usque ad sanguinem Sachariae filii Barachiae, quem occidistis inter templum et altare. .... Jerusalem, Jerusalem, quae occidis prophetas, et lapidas missos ad te...." (23:29-37; Luc. 11:47-51 4
):
in his locis apparet sicut per "prophetas" modo intelligantur prophetae, per quos Jehovah, hoc est, Dominus, locutus est; proinde quod Dominus per "occidere prophetas" 5
solum intellexerit necem eorum: sed simul intellexit occisionem et exstinctionem Divini Veri 6
oriundam ex falsificatione et adulteratione Verbi: nam per personam et ejus functionem in sensu spirituali intelligitur ipsa res qua persona fungitur et quam loquitur, ita per "prophetam" Divinum Verum seu Verbum, ac doctrina inde; quia functio personae unam rem cum persona agit, ideo ipsa res, quam propheta docet, per illum intelligitur: per "sanguinem effundere" etiam intelligitur adulterare vera Verbi" et quia gens Judaica talis erat, ideo dicitur, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, quae occidis prophetas, et lapidas missos ad te", per quae verba in sensu spirituali intelligitur quod exstinguant omne Divinum Verum quod ex Verbo apud illos.
[17] Quia per "prophetam" intelligitur Divinum Verum quod est Verbum et ex Verbo in ecclesia, et hoc exstingui nequit nisi ab illis apud quos Divinum Verum aut Verbum est, ideo dixit Dominus
Quod non conveniens sit ut propheta intereat extra Hierosolymam (Luca 13:33);
per "Hierosolymam" intelligitur ecclesia quoad doctrinam veri.
In Verbo etiam pluries dicitur "sacerdos et propheta"; et per "sacerdotem" ibi intelligitur qui ducit ad vivendum secundum Divinum Verum, et per "prophetam" qui docet illud. In hoc sensu nominantur "sacerdos" et "propheta" in sequentibus locis:
- Apud Jeremiam,
"Non peribit lex a sacerdote, aut consilium a sapiente, aut Verbum a propheta" (18:18);
apud eundem,
"In die illo.... peribit cor regis et cor principum, et stupescent sacerdotes, ac prophetae admirabuntur" (4:9);
apud Ezechielem,
"Quaerent visionem a propheta, sed lex periit a sacerdote, et consilium a senioribus; rex lugebit, et princeps induetur stupore" (7:26, 27):
per "visionem a propheta" intelligitur intellectus Verbi; per "legem a sacerdote" intelliguntur praecepta vitae; per "consilium a senioribus" intelligitur sapientia inde; per "regem et principes" intelligitur intelligentia per vera ex bono: hoc est spirituale horum verborum.
[18] Apud Esaiam,
"Sacerdos et propheta errant per siceram, absorbentur a vino, aberrant per siceram, errant inter videntes, titubant judicio" (28:7);
apud Jeremiam,
"Stupendum et horrendum factum est in terra; prophetae prophetarunt mendacium, et sacerdotes dominantur per manus suas, et populus meus amant ita" (5 [30,] 31);
apud eundem,
" [A] propheta usque ad sacerdotem quisque facit mendacium" (8:10);
apud eundem,
"Quando interrogaverint te.... aut propheta aut sacerdos, dicendo, Quodnam dictum propheticum Jehovae? dicito ad eos, Deserui vos, et prophetam et sacerdotem" (23:33, 34);
apud Zephaniam,
"Prophetae.. levissimi, viri perfidiarum, sacerdotes eorum profanant sanctum, violenter torquent Legem" (3:4);
apud Jeremiam,
"Sacerdotes non dixerunt, Ubi Jehovah? et tenentes Legem non agnoverunt Me:.... et prophetae prophetarunt per Baalem; post eos vero, qui non prosunt, iverunt. .... Pudefacti sunt domus Israelis, ipsi, reges eorum, principes eorum, et sacerdotes eorum, et prophetae eorum" (2:8, 26):
ut praeteream plura loca ubi "prophetae" et simul "sacerdotes" nominantur; et ibi per "sacerdotes" intelliguntur qui docent vitam et qui ducunt ad bonum, et per "prophetas" intelliguntur qui docent vera, per quae ducendi: in sensu autem abstracto per "sacerdotes" ac per "sacerdotium" intelligitur bonum amoris, proinde etiam bonum vitae; et per "prophetas" intelligitur verum doctrinae, proinde verum quod ducit ad bonum vitae; verbo, prophetae docebunt, et sacerdotes ducent.
[19] Apud Sachariam,
"In die illo.... exscindam nomina idolorum e terra, ut non memorentur amplius, etiamque prophetas et spiritum immundum transire faciam e terra; et fiet cum prophetaverint vir amplius, dicent ad eum pater ejus et mater ejus, qui generarunt eum, Non vives; .... 7
quin confodient eum pater ejus et mater ejus qui generarunt eum.... : fiet in die illo, pudefient prophetae, vir propter visionem suam, cum prophetaverint, neque induent tunicam pili ut mentiantur; et dicet, Non propheta ego, vir colens terram ego, quia homo vendidit me a pueritia" (13:2-4 [, 5]):
hoc de adventu Domini in mundum, et de abolitione cultus repraesentativi, tum falsitatum quibus doctrina ecclesiae tunc scatuit; nam gens Judaica, apud quam fuit illa ecclesia, omnem cultum posuit in externis, et nihil in internis; hoc est, in sacrificiis et talibus quae externa erant, et nihil in charitate et fide, quae interna sunt; inde cultus et doctrina constabant ex meris falsitatibus, et ipsa gens in se spectata erat idololatra. Abolitio talium a Domino per illa prophetae verba describitur: quare per "Exscindam nomina idolorum e terra, ut non memorentur amplius", significatur abolitio cultus idololatrici, hoc est, cultus mere 8
externi absque interno: per "transire faciam prophetas et spiritum immundum e terra" significatur abolitio falsitatum doctrinae: per quod "dicent ad eum pater ejus et mater ejus, qui generarunt eum, cum prophetaverint amplius, Non vives", significatur quod ecclesia instituenda a Domino, quae futura ecclesia interna, prorsus exstinctura sit falsa doctrinae, si quis illa doceret; per "prophetare" significatur docere falsa doctrinae, per "patrem et matrem" significatur ecclesia quoad bonum et quoad verum (per "patrem" ecclesia quoad bonum, et per "matrem" ecclesia quoad verum); per "Non vives" significatur exstinguere: hoc etiam intelligitur per quod "pater ejus et mater ejus, qui generarunt eum, confodient eum": abolitio falsitatum doctrinae etiam intelligitur per "Pudefient prophetae, vir propter visionem suam, neque induent tunicam pili ut mentiantur"; per "prophetas" et "visionem" eorum etiam hic intelliguntur falsa doctrinae, et per "inducere tunicam pili ut mentiantur" significatur pervertere externa Verbi, qualia sunt in sensu litterae ejus; tunica pili apud prophetas repraesentabat ultimum sensum Verbi, similiter ac indumentum Johannis Baptistae ex pilis cameli: per quod dixerit, "Vir colens terram ego, quia homo vendidit me a pueritia", significatur quod hoc illis sit ab Ecclesia Judaica, quae solum externa et non interna fuit, quia in ea natus et ideo ei addicatus.
[20] Apud Danielem,
"Septimanae septuaginta decisae sunt super populum tuum, et super urbem sanctitatis tuam, ad consummandum praevaricationem, et ad obsignandum peccata, et ad expiandum iniquitatem, et ad adducendum justitiam saeculorum, et ad obsignandum visionem et prophetam, et ad ungendum sanctum sanctorum" (9:24):
haec de adventu Domini, quando iniquitas consummata est, hoc est, quando non amplius aliquod bonum et verum in ecclesia residuum erit: "super populum et super urbem sanctitatis" significat super ecclesiam et ejus docrinam, quae tunc prorsus vastata et exstincta: "ad consummandum praevaricationem et ad obsignandum peccata" significat quando omnes in ecclesia sunt in falsis doctrinae et in malis quoad vitam; nam, ut in praemissis hujus articuli ostensum est, adventus Domini, et cum Ipso ultimum judicium, non prius adest quam cum non amplius aliquod verum doctrinae et bonum vitae in ecclesia superest; et hoc ex causa de qua supra, nempe, ut probi ab improbis separentur: "adducere justitiam saeculorum" significat ultimum judicium, quando cuivis retribuetur secundum facta ejus: "obsignare visionem et prophetam" significat finem prioris ecclesiae et principium novae; seu finem externae ecclesiae, quae fuit repraesentativa spiritualium, et principium internae quae est spiritualis; per "et prophetam" etiam intelliguntur falsa doctrinae; et quoque per eadem verba significatur quod Dominus impleturus omnia quae in Verbo de Ipso praedicta sunt: "ungere sanctum sanctorum" significat glorificationem Humani Domini per unionem cum Ipso Divino, et quoque significat postea omnem cultum ex amore in Ipsum.
[21] Apud Mosen,
"Jehovah dixit ad Mosen, ... Constitui te deum Pharaoni, et Aharon frater tuus erit propheta tibi" (Exodus 7:1):
quod Dominus dixerit ad Mosen quod "constituerit eum deum Pharaoni", erat quia Moses repraesentabat Legem, per quam intelligitur Divinum Verum, quod etiam in sensu spirituali per "Deum" significatur; recipiebat enim Moses ex ore Domini verba quae dicturus erat Pharaoni, et qui recipit illa dicitur "deus"; inde quoque est quod angeli dicantur "dii", et inde quoque significant Divina vera: quod Aharon esset "propheta ejus", significat quod doceret verum receptum a Mose ac diceret Pharaoni, nam per "prophetam", ut supra dictum est, significatur docens verum, et abstracte doctrina veri. (Sed haec amplius explicata videantur in Arcanis Caelestibus, n. 7268, 7269.)
[22] Ex eo est quod prophetae Veteris Testamenti repraesentaverint Dominum quoad doctrinam Divini Veri, et quod praecipui eorum repraesentaverint Dominum quoad ipsum Verbum ex quo doctrina Divini Veri, prout Moses, Elias, Elisaeus et Johannes Baptista; et quia Dominus est Verbum, hoc est, Divinum Verum, ideo Ipse in supremo sensu dictus est "Propheta." Quoniam Moses, Elias et Johannes Baptista repraesentaverunt Dominum quoad Verbum, ideo
Moses et Elias apparuerunt, locuti cum Domino, cum transformatus (Matthaeus 17:3, 4; Marcus 9:4, 5; Luca 9:30):
et ibi per "Mosen et Eliam" intelligitur Verbum tam Historicum quam Propheticum, per "Mosen" Verbum Historicum, et per "Eliam" Verbum Propheticum; et hoc ex causa, quia Dominus transformatus Se sistebat in forma in qua est Divinum Verum in caelo. Quod Elias repraesentaverit Dominum quoad Verbum, constat ex miraculis per illum factis, per quae omnia significantur talia quae Divini Veri seu Verbi sunt: et quia Johannes Baptista similiter repraesentabat Dominum quoad Verbum, ideo ille dictus fuit Elias; ut constat apud Malachiam,
"En Ego mitto vobis Eliam prophetam, antequam venit dies Jehovae magnus et terribilis, et convertet cor patrum ad filios, et cor filiorum ad patres, ne Veniam et percutiam terram anathemate" (3:23, 24 [B.A. 4:5, 6]):
et quoque aperte dicitur quod Johannes Elias fuerit (Matthaeus 11:14; 17:10-12; Marcus 9:11-13);
non quod fuerit Elias, sed quod repraesentaverit simile quod Elias, nempe Verbum: et quia Verbum docet quod Dominus in mundum venturus sit, et quoque in omnibus et singulis in sensu intimo agit de Domino, ideo Praemissus est Johannes ut doceret illos quod Dominus venturus sit (videatur Matthaeus 11:9, 10; Luca 1:76; 7:26).
[23] Ex his nunc constare potest unde est quod Dominus dicatur Propheta, nempe, quia Ipse erat Verbum, hoc est, ipsum Divinum Verum (ut constare potest ex Johanne, cap. 1 vers. 2, 14).
Quod Dominus dicatur "Propheta" quia fuit Verbum, constat apud Mosen,
"Prophetam e medio tui, e fratribus tuis, sicut me, excitabit tibi Jehovah Deus tuus, Huic obedietis:.... dabo verba mea in os Ipsius, ut loquatur ad vos omne quod praecepero Ipsi:.... vir qui non obediverit verbis meis, quae loquetur in nomine meo, Ego quaeram a cum illo" (Deut. 18:15-19 9
):
quod dicatur quod "Jehovah excitaturus Prophetam sicut Mosen", erat quia Moses repraesentavit Dominum quoad Legem, hoc est, quoad Verbum, ut supra dictum est; quare etiam de Mose dicitur
Quod Jehovah cum illo locutus sit ore ad os, et non sicut cum prophetis aliis per visiones, somnia et aenigmata (Numeri 12:1-8);
per quae etiam repraesentativum Domini apud Mosen describitur; Dominus enim ex Jehovah, hoc est, ex ipso Divino quod in Ipso ex conceptione fuit, Secum locutus est: hoc intelligitur per "Dabo verba mea in os Ipsius, ut loquatur ad vos omne quod praecepero Ipsi"; et hoc quoque repraesentabatur apud Mosen, quod "Jehovah ore ad os locutus sit cum illo, et non sicut cum aliis prophetis." Inde nunc est quod Dominus dicatur Propheta (etiam apud Matthaeum, cap. 21:11: apud Lucam cap. 7:16: apud Johannem, cap. 7:40, 41; 9:17).
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