bygrace's Tistory Blog

19

(1) The one God is called Jehovah from esse, that is, because he alone is, was, and is to be, and because he is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega.

It is known that “Jehovah” signifies I am and to be [esse]; and that God has been so called from the most ancient times is clear from the book of creation, or Genesis, where in the first chapter he is called “God,” and in the second and subsequent chapters “Jehovah God,” and afterwards, when the children of Abraham through Jacob, during their long sojourn in Egypt, forgot the name of God, it was recalled to their remembrance; of which as follows:

13모세가 하나님께 아뢰되 내가 이스라엘 자손에게 가서 이르기를 너희의 조상의 하나님이 나를 너희에게 보내셨다 하면 그들이 내게 묻기를 그의 이름이 무엇이냐 하리니 내가 무엇이라고 그들에게 말하리이까 14하나님이 모세에게 이르시되 나는 스스로 있는 자이니라 또 이르시되 너는 이스라엘 자손에게 이같이 이르기를 스스로 있는 자가 나를 너희에게 보내셨다 하라 15하나님이 또 모세에게 이르시되 너는 이스라엘 자손에게 이같이 이르기를 너희 조상의 하나님 여호와 곧 아브라함의 하나님, 이삭의 하나님, 야곱의 하나님께서 나를 너희에게 보내셨다 하라 이는 나의 영원한 이름이요 대대로 기억할 나의 칭호니라 (출3:13-15) Moses said unto God, What is thy name? God said unto Moses, I am who I am, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you; and thou shalt say, Jehovah God of your fathers hath sent me unto you: this is my name to eternity, and this is my memorial from generation to generation (Exod. 3:13–15).

Since God alone is the I Am and esse, or Jehovah, nothing can exist in the created universe that does not derive its esse from him; but how will be seen below. The words:

이스라엘의 왕인 여호와, 이스라엘의 구원자인 만군의 여호와가 이같이 말하노라 나는 처음이요 나는 마지막이라나 외에 다른 신이 없느니라 (사44:6) I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega (Isa. 44:6: Rev. 1:8, 11; 22:13),

주 하나님이 이르시되 나는 알파와 오메가라 이제도 있고 전에도 있었고 장차 올 자요 전능한 자라 하시더라 (계1:8)

나는 알파와 오메가요 처음과 마지막이요 시작과 마침이라 (계22:13)

have the same meaning, signifying, who is the itself and the only from things first to things last, the source of all things.

[2] God is called “the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end,” because alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and omega the last; and therefore the two signify all things in the complex. This is because each letter in the alphabet in the spiritual world signifies a thing. And as the vowels furnish the tone, they signify something belonging to affection or love. This is the origin both of spiritual or angelic speech and of writing there. But it is an arcanum hitherto unknown; for there is a universal language which is the language of all angels and spirits, and which has nothing in common with any language of men in the world; into this language everyone comes after death, for it is inherent in every man from his creation; consequently in the spiritual world everyone can understand every other. I have frequently been permitted to hear that language; and I have compared it with languages in the world, and have found that in no respect whatever does it agree with any natural language on earth. It differs from them in its initial element, which is that each letter in each word has its special meaning. It is for this reason that God is called alpha and omega, which means that he is the itself and the only from things first to things last, the source of all things. But regarding this speech and form of writing, which flows from the spiritual thought of the angels, see Conjugial Love (n. 326–329), and also the following pages.

18

Let us first consider the Divine esse, and afterwards the Divine essence. In appearance the two are one and the same; but esse is more universal than essence; for essence implies esse, and is derived from esse. The esse of God (or the Divine esse) it is impossible to define, because it transcends every idea of human thought, since this can take in only what is created and finite, and not what is uncreate and infinite, and therefore not the Divine esse. The Divine esse is esse itself, from which all things are, and which must be in all things in order that they may have being. A fuller conception of the Divine esse may be gained by the following propositions:

(1) The one God is called Jehovah from esse, that is because he alone is, was, and is to be, and because he is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega.

(2) The one God is substance itself and form itself, and angels and men are substances and forms from him, and so far as they are in him and he is in them are images and likenesses of him.

(3) The Divine esse is at once esse [being] in itself and existere [manifestation] in itself.

(4) It is impossible for the Divine esse and existere in itself to produce another Divine which is esse and existere in itself; therefore another God of the same essence is impossible.

(5) The doctrine of a plurality of gods, both in past ages and at the present day, sprang solely from a failure to understand the Divine esse.

But these propositions must be elucidated one by one.