2. Someone who thinks in this way, however, does not reflect that Jehovah Himself, the God of heaven and earth, spoke the Word through Moses and the prophets, and that it must therefore be Divine truth itself. For whatever Jehovah Himself utters is such truth. Nor does that person reflect that the Lord, who is the same as Jehovah, spoke the Word reported by the Gospel writers, much of it in person, and the rest by the breath of His mouth, which is the Holy Spirit. Consequently what He Himself says is, in His own words, life, and He is the light that enlightens, and truth personified.

[2] That Jehovah Himself spoke the Word through the prophets is something we showed in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord 52-53.

That the words the Lord Himself spoke, as reported by the Gospel writers, are life, is something He said in John:

The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63)

Again in John, Jesus said to the woman at Jacob’s spring:

If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, “Give Me a drink, ” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.... Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:6, 10, 14)

Jacob’s spring symbolizes the Word, as in Deuteronomy 33:28 as well. That, too, is why the Lord sat there and spoke with the woman. And the water symbolizes the Word’s truth.

[3] Again in John:

...Jesus...(said), “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38)

And again:

...Peter (said to Jesus), “...You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)

Therefore the Lord says in Mark:

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. (Mark 13:31)

The Lord’s words are life because He is the life and the truth, as He tells us in John:

I am the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6)

And again in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word.... In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1, 4)

The Word there means the Lord in relation to Divine truth, in which alone there is life and light.

[4] It is on this account that the Word, being from the Lord and embodying the Lord, is called “a fountain of living waters” (Jeremiah 2:13, 17:13), “a fountain of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3), “a fountain” (Zechariah 13:1). Also “a river of the water of life” (Revelation 22:1). And we are told that “the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters” (Revelation 7:17).

There are in addition many other places where the Word is called the sanctuary and the tabernacle in which the Lord dwells with mankind.

114. Without the Word No One Would Have Any Knowledge of God, of Heaven and Hell, of Life after Death, and Still Less of the Lord

This follows as a general conclusion from everything we have already said and shown: That the Word is Divine truth itself (nos. 1-4). That the Word is the means of conjunction with angels in heaven (nos. 62-69). That the Word throughout contains a marriage of the Lord and the church and so a marriage of goodness and truth (nos. 80-89). That the character of a church is such as its understanding of the Word (nos. 76-79). That the Word exists also in the heavens and is the source from which angels have their wisdom (nos. 70-75). That it is by means of the Word that nations and peoples not in the church have spiritual light (nos. 104-113). And more as well.

One may conclude from this that without the Word no one would have any spiritual intelligence, which consists in having knowledge of God, of heaven and hell, and of life after death. And no one would have any knowledge at all of the Lord, and of faith in and love for Him, thus nothing of redemption, even though it is the means of salvation.

The Lord also says to His disciples, “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

And John [the Baptist] says, “A man can gain nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven” (John 3:27).

38. We find in heaven and in the world sequential order and concurrent order. In sequential order one element follows and succeeds another, from the highest of them to the lowest. In concurrent order, however, one element is adjacent to another, from the inmost of them to the outmost.

Sequential order is like a column with vertical elements from highest to lowest, while concurrent order is like a coherent whole with concentric rings from the center to the surface.

We will now say how sequential order becomes, in the lowest element, concurrent order. It happens in this way: The highest elements in sequential order become the inmost ones in concurrent order, and the lowest elements in sequential order become the outmost ones in concurrent order. It is comparatively like a sinking column of vertical elements becoming a unified mass on a single plane.

[2] In this way concurrent order is formed from a sequential one, and this is the case in each and every constituent of the natural world, and in each and every constituent of the spiritual world. For everywhere we find a first element, an intermediate element, and a final element. And the first element proceeds and progresses through the intermediate element to its final element.

Now in application to the Word: Its celestial, spiritual and natural constituents emanate from the Lord in sequential order, and in the final ones are present in concurrent order. Thus the Word’s celestial and spiritual senses are then present at the same time in its natural sense.

When this is understood, it can be seen how the Word’s natural sense, namely its literal sense, is the foundation, containing vessel, and buttress of its spiritual and celestial senses. It can be seen, too, how Divine goodness and Divine truth are present in the Word’s literal sense in their fullness, in their holiness, and in their power.