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※ (주3). Both in the wholes and particulars of the Word there is an internal or spiritual sense (n. 1143, 1984, 2135, 2333, 2395, 2495, 4442, 9048, 9063, 9086).

2495

That the Word contains within it an internal sense that is not apparent in the letter has already been stated and shown in many places, and the nature of this internal sense appears from all that has thus far been unfolded, beginning with the first chapter of Genesis. Nevertheless as the few who at this day believe in the Word do not know that there is such a sense, it may be well to confirm it further.

[2] The Lord describes the consummation of the age, or the last period of the church, as follows:

그 날 환난 후에 즉시 해가 어두워지며 달이 빛을 내지 아니하며 별들이 하늘에서 떨어지며 하늘의 권능들이 흔들리리라 (마24:29) Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Matt. 24:29; Mark 13:24).

그 때에 그 환난 후 해가 어두워지며 달이 빛을 내지 아니하며 (막13:24)

That in this passage the “sun” does not mean the sun, nor the “moon” the moon, nor the “stars” the stars; but that the “sun” signifies love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor; the “moon” the faith of love and charity; and the “stars” the knowledges of good and truth, was shown above (n. 31–32, 1053, 1521, 1529–1531, 2120, 2441); so that by these words of the Lord there is signified that in the consummation of the age (or last period of the church) there will no longer be any love, or charity, nor therefore any faith.

[3] That this is the meaning is evident from similar words of the Lord in the prophets, as in Isaiah:

9보라 여호와의 날 곧 잔혹히 분냄과 맹렬히 노하는 날이 이르러 땅을 황폐하게 하며 그 중에서 죄인들을 멸하리니 10하늘의 별들과 별 무리가 그 빛을 내지 아니하며 해가 돋아도 어두우며 달이 그 빛을 비추지 아니할 것이로다 (사13:9, 10) Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, to make the earth a solitude; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it; for the stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall not shine with their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine (Isa. 13:9–10);

where also the last period of the church, or what is the same, the consummation of the age, is treated of. In Joel:

2곧 어둡고 캄캄한 날이요 짙은 구름이 덮인 날이라 새벽 빛이 산 꼭대기에 덮인 것과 같으니 이는 많고 강한 백성이 이르렀음이라 이와 같은 것이 옛날에도 없었고 이후에도 대대에 없으리로다, 10그 앞에서 땅이 진동하며 하늘이 떨며 해와 달이 캄캄하며 별들이 빛을 거두도다 (욜2:2, 10) A day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of cloud and obscurity, before him the earth quaked, the heavens trembled, the sun and the moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew their shining (Joel 2:2, 10);

with a similar meaning. Again in the same:

여호와의 크고 두려운 날이 이르기 전에 해가 어두워지고 달이 핏빛 같이 변하려니와 (욜2:31) The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes (Joel 2:31).

14사람이 많음이여, 심판의 골짜기에 사람이 많음이여, 심판의 골짜기에 여호와의 날이 가까움이로다 15해와 달이 캄캄하며 별들이 그 빛을 거두도다 (욜3:14, 15) The day of Jehovah is near, the sun and the moon have been darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining (Joel 3:14–15).

In Ezekiel:

7내가 너를 불 끄듯 할 때에 하늘을 가리어 별을 어둡게 하며 해를 구름으로 가리며 달이 빛을 내지 못하게 할 것임이여 8하늘의 모든 밝은 빛을 내가 네 위에서 어둡게 하여 어둠을 네 땅에 베풀리로다 주 여호와의 말씀이니라 (겔32:7, 8) When I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine; all the luminaries of light in the heavens will I make dark, and will set darkness upon thy land (Ezek. 32:7–8).

So too in John:

12내가 보니 여섯째 인을 떼실 때에 큰 지진이 나며 해가 검은 털로 짠 상복 같이 검어지고 달은 온통 피 같이 되며 13하늘의 별들이 무화과나무가 대풍에 흔들려 설익은 열매가 떨어지는 것 같이 땅에 떨어지며 (계6:12, 13) I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and behold there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars fell unto the earth (Rev. 6:12, 13).

넷째 천사가 나팔을 부니 해 삼분의 일과 달 삼분의 일과 별들의 삼분의 일이 타격을 받아 그 삼분의 일이 어두워지니 낮 삼분의 일은 비추임이 없고 밤도 그러하더라 (계8:12) The fourth angel sounded, so that the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, and the third part of them was darkened (Rev. 8:12).

[4] From these passages it is evident that the Lord’s words in the evangelists involve much the same as his words in the prophets, namely, that in the last times there will be neither charity, nor faith; and that this is the internal sense; as also is still further evident in Isaiah:

그 때에 달이 수치를 당하고 해가 부끄러워하리니 이는 만군의 여호와께서 시온 산과 예루살렘에서 왕이 되시고 그 장로들 앞에서 영광을 나타내실 것임이라 (사24:23) The moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, for Jehovah Zebaoth shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem (Isa. 24:23);

that is to say, faith, which is the “moon,” shall blush; and charity, which is the “sun,” shall be ashamed, because they are such; for it cannot be said of the moon and the sun that they shall blush and be ashamed. And in Daniel:

9그 중 한 뿔에서 또 작은 뿔 하나가 나서 남쪽과 동쪽과 또 영화로운 땅을 향하여 심히 커지더니 10그것이 하늘 군대에 미칠 만큼 커져서 그 군대와 별들 중의 몇을 땅에 떨어뜨리고 그것들을 짓밟고 (단8:9, 10) The goat’s horn grew toward the south, and toward the east, and grew even to the army of the heavens, and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the earth and trampled upon them (Dan. 8:9–10);

where it is plain to everyone that the “army of the heavens” does not signify an “army,” nor the “stars” stars.

※ (주3). Both in the wholes and particulars of the Word there is an internal or spiritual sense (n. 1143, 1984, 2135, 2333, 2395, 2495, 4442, 9048, 9063, 9086).

2395

우리가 멸하리라 For we will destroy this place.

That this signifies that the state of evil in which they were would condemn them is evident from the meaning of “destroying,” when predicated of the Lord, as being in the internal significance to perish by evil, that is, to be condemned; and also from the signification of “this place” as being a state of evil (n. 2393). It is frequently said in the Word that Jehovah “destroys”; but in the internal sense it is meant that man destroys himself; for Jehovah or the Lord destroys no one. But as from the fact of his seeing and regulating all things in both general and particular it appears as if the destruction came from Jehovah or the Lord, it is so expressed in many places in the Word, to the end that men may thereby be kept in a most general idea that all things are under the Lord’s eyes, and all things under his auspices; for if at first they are kept in this idea, they can afterwards be easily instructed. For the explications of the Word as to the internal sense are nothing but particulars that elucidate a general idea.

[2] Another reason why it is so expressed is that they who are in no love are kept in fear, and thereby stand in awe of the Lord, and flee to him for the sake of deliverance. This shows that it does no harm to believe the sense of the letter, even though the internal sense teaches something else, provided that it is done from a simple heart. But these things will be treated of more fully in what follows, at verse 24 (n. 2447), where it is said that Jehovah caused it to rain brimstone and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah. The angels, being in the internal sense, are so far from thinking that Jehovah destroys anyone that they cannot endure even the idea of such a thing; and therefore when these and other such things are read in the Word by man, the sense of the letter is cast away as it were to the back, and at last passes into this: that evil itself is what destroys man, and that the Lord destroys no one (as may be seen from the example given above in n. 1875).

※ (주3). Both in the wholes and particulars of the Word there is an internal or spiritual sense (n. 1143, 1984, 2135, 2333, 2395, 2495, 4442, 9048, 9063, 9086).

2333

일찍이 일어나 갈 길을 가소서 And in the morning ye shall rise and go on your way.

That this signifies confirmation in good and truth, may be seen from the signification of “rising in the morning,” and also from the signification of “going on the way.” In the Word “morning” signifies the Lord’s kingdom and whatever belongs to the Lord’s kingdom, thus principally the good of love and of charity, as will be confirmed from the Word at verse 15; and a “way” signifies truth (see n. 627); for which reason it is said that after they had been in his house and had passed the night there (by which is signified that they had an abode in the good of charity that was with him), they should “rise in the morning and go on their way,” by which is signified being thereby thus confirmed in good and truth.

[2] From this, as from other passages, it is evident how remote from the sense of the letter, and consequently how much unseen is the internal sense, especially in the historical parts of the Word; and that it does not come to view unless the meaning of every word is unfolded in accordance with its constant signification in the Word. On this account, when the ideas are kept in the sense of the letter, the internal sense appears no otherwise than as something obscure and dark; but on the other hand when the ideas are kept in the internal sense, the sense of the letter appears in like manner obscure, nay, to the angels as nothing. For the angels are no longer in worldly and corporeal things, like those of man, but in spiritual and celestial things, into which the words of the sense of the letter are wonderfully changed, when it ascends from a man who is reading the Word to the sphere in which the angels are, that is, to heaven; and this from the correspondence of spiritual things with worldly, and of celestial things with corporeal. This correspondence is most constant, but its nature has not yet been disclosed until now in the unfolding of the meaning of the words, names, and numbers in the Word, as to the internal sense.

[3] That it may be known what is the nature of this correspondence, or what is the same, how worldly and corporeal ideas pass into corresponding spiritual and celestial ideas when the former are elevated to heaven, take as an example “morning” and “way.” When “morning” is read, as in the passage before us to “rise in the morning,” the angels do not get an idea of any morning of a day, but an idea of morning in the spiritual sense, thus such a one as is described in Samuel: “The rock of Israel he is as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, a morning without clouds” (2 Sam. 23:3, 4); and in Daniel: “The holy one said unto me, Until evening, when morning comes, two thousand three hundred” (Dan. 8:14, 26). Thus instead of “morning” the angels perceive the Lord, or his kingdom, or the heavenly things of love and charity; and these in fact with variety according to the series of things in the Word which is being read.

[4] In like manner where “way” is read—as here, to “go on your way”—they can have no idea of a way, but another idea which is spiritual or celestial, namely, like that in John, where the Lord said: “I am the way and the truth” (John 14:6); and as in David: “Make thy ways known to me, O Jehovah, lead my way in truth” (Ps. 25:4, 5); and in Isaiah: “He made him to know the way of understanding” (Isa. 40:14). Thus instead of “way” the angels perceive truth, and this in both the historical and the prophetical parts of the Word. For the angels no longer care for the historical things, as these are altogether inadequate to their ideas; and therefore in place of them they perceive such things as belong to the Lord and his kingdom, and which also in the internal sense follow on in a beautiful order and well-connected series. For this reason, and also in order that the Word may be for the angels, all the historical things therein are representative, and each of the words is significative of such things; which peculiarity the Word has above all other writing.