1228. Verse 10. And I fell down before his feet to adore him signifies perception from him of the Divine, to which adoration belongs. This is evident from the signification of "to fall down before the feet" and "to adore," as being to acknowledge, confess, and worship the Divine (see n. 805, 821, 1206). From his saying that he must not be adored because he is only an angel, who is a servant of the Lord the same as men are, it is evident that merely a perception from him of the Divine is meant. But the essence of the matter is that when the Lord sends angels to men, as He did to the prophets, He fills them with His Divine and thus moves them to speak. Then the angel that is sent speaks from the Lord and not from himself; but as soon as he has spoken he returns into himself and then knows that he is only an angel. Thus the Word was written by the Lord by means of angels, and thus the Lord spoke with the ancients, as with Abraham, with Hagar his handmaid, with Gideon, and in general with the prophets, and this is why the prophets called the angels Jehovah, and some of them were adored as long as they were filled with the Divine. This presence of the Lord is the same as the presence of the Holy Spirit. This makes clear what is signified by these words.
(Continuation)
[2] (8) As the Lord has the Divine love and the Divine wisdom, so from these He has Divine omnipresence and Divine omniscience, but omnipresence is chiefly from the Divine love, and omniscience is chiefly from the Divine wisdom. Love and wisdom in the Lord are not two but one, and this one is the Divine love, which appears before the angels of heaven as a sun. But when love and wisdom proceed from the Lord as a sun they appear as two distinct things, love appearing as heat, and wisdom as light. These from their origin from the sun act wholly as one; but with the angels of heaven and with the men of the church they are separated, some receiving more of love which is heat than of wisdom which is light, and these are called celestial angels and men; while others receive more of wisdom which is light than of love which is heat, and these are called spiritual angels and men. An illustration of this can be found in the sun of the world. In that sun fire and the origin of light are wholly one, and this one is the fiery element in that sun. From this the heat and light proceed together, but they appear as two distinct things, although from their origin they act as one. That one appears on the earth in the spring and summer seasons, yet they are two distinct things according to the turning of the earth towards the sun, and thus according as the reception is direct or oblique. This correspondence may serve as an illustration. [3] It is similar with omnipresence and omniscience. In the Lord these are one; and yet they proceed from Him as two distinct attributes; for omnipresence has relation to love, and omniscience to wisdom; or what is the same, omnipresence has relation to good, and omniscience to truth, since all good is of love and all truth is of wisdom. The Lord's omnipresence has relation to love and to good because the Lord is present with man in the good of his love; and omniscience has relation to wisdom and to truth because from man's good of love the Lord is omnipresent in the truths of his understanding, and this omnipresence is called omniscience. As this is true individually of one man so it is true in general of all.
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