469. [verse 2] 'And he had in his hand a little book opened' signifies the Word as to this point of the doctrine there, that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that His Human is Divine. That by 'the book' which the Lamb took from the One sitting upon the throne, and of which He loosened the seven seals (Rev. v 1, 7; vi 1), is understood the Word may be seen above (n. 256, 259, 295 seq.); and therefore by the 'little book' in the hand of the angel, who is also the Lord (n. 465), nothing else is here understood but the Word as to some essential there. That this is the point of doctrine in the Word, that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth and that His Human is Divine, is plain from the details in this chapter and the following one in the spiritual sense, and also from the natural sense of the next chapter (xi vers. 15-17). [2] The little book is said to he 'opened' because that [point of doctrine] comes into existence manifestly in the Word, and is plain to any one who reads it if he pays attention. It treats of this now because this is the very essential of the New Church. This is because the salvation of any one depends upon the recognition and acknowledgment of God, for it is a fact, as is said in the PREFACE, that 'upon a just idea of God the entire heaven is founded, and on earth the entire Church, and in general every religion, since by means of that idea there is a conjunction, and through the conjunction light, wisdom and eternal happiness'. [3] Now because the Lord is Himself the God of heaven and earth, therefore unless He Himself is acknowledged no one is admitted into heaven, for heaven is His body; but he stands below and is bitten by serpents, that is, by infernal spirits, from whose bites there is no healing except what the sons of Israel had, as they were looking towards the serpent of bronze (Num. xxi 1-9). That the Lord as to the Divine Human is understood by this is plain from these [words] in John:-