Apocalypse Explained (Whitehead) n. 1112

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1112. And God hath remembered her injustices, signifies that falsities from evils have separated them from the Lord. This is evident from the signification of "remembering," in reference to God as being to separate Him from themselves (of which presently); also from the signification of "injustices," as being falsities from evil, for "the just" is truth from good, consequently "the unjust" is falsity from evil. "The just" is truth from good because civil justice is nothing else than civil truth, which is of the law, and civil equity is the good that is also of the law, since as the law wills justice so it wills equity; for as all truth must be from good so all justice must be from equity; and as all truth must be of good so all justice must be of equity, and conversely. The two cannot be separated, for if they are separated equity is no longer equity, nor is so-called justice justice; as good and truth cannot be separated, for if they are separated good is not good, nor is truth truth. This has been said to make clear that "injustices" here signify falsities from evil. [2] "God hath remembered her injustices" signifies that falsities of evil have separated them from the Lord, because what precedes, that "her sins have reached even unto heaven," signifies that their evils had closed up heaven, for when heaven is closed to man the Lord is separated; and that being the meaning of the first part of the verse, this must be the meaning of what follows. It must be understood, however, that the Lord does not separate Himself from such, but that they separate themselves from the Lord; for the Lord regards everyone from the face and not from the back of the head; and for this reason the angels of heaven have the Lord continually before their face, and this whichever way they turn, but evil spirits turn the face away from the Lord and turn to Him the back part of the head, and thus they separate themselves from Him. The falsities from evils that are with them are what do this. (That the angels of heaven thus turn to the Lord, and that the spirits of hell thus turn away from Him, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 17, 123, 142-145, 151, 251, 272, 548, 552, 561.)

(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord)

[3] It has been said that one Divine by itself is not possible, but that there must be a trine, and that this trine is one God in essence and in Person. It may now be asked, What trine God had before the Lord took on the Human and made it Divine in the world? God was then likewise Man, and had the Divine, the Divine Human, and the Divine proceeding, that is, the Divine being [esse], the Divine manifesting [existere], and the Divine proceeding [procedere], for as has been said, God without a trine is not possible. But the Divine Human was not then Divine even to ultimates. Ultimates are meant by "flesh and bones," and even these were made Divine by the Lord when He was in the world. This was what was added, and this is the Divine Human that God now has. This, too, may be illustrated by this comparison. Every angel is a man, having a soul, having a body, and having a proceeding; and yet this does not make him a complete man, for he does not have flesh and bones as a man in the world has. [4] That the Lord made His Human Divine even to its ultimates, which are called "flesh and bones," He made clear to the disciples, who when they saw Him believed that they saw a spirit, saying:

See My hands and My feet that it is I Myself; feel Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have (Luke 24:39). From this it follows that now God is Man more than an angel is. Comparison has been made with an angel and with a man; yet it must be understood that God has life in Himself, while an angel does not have life in himself, for he is a recipient of life. That the Lord as to both the Divine and the Divine Human, is life in Himself He teaches in John:

As the Father hath life in Himself so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26). Here by "Father" the Lord means the Divine in Himself; for He says elsewhere that the Father is in Him, and that the Father and He are one.


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