14.
It is foretold in many passages in the Prophets that the Lord came into the world to reduce to order all things in the heavens and thence on earth; and that this was effected by combats against the hells,
which were then infesting every man on his entrance into, and departure out of, the world; and further that He thereby became righteousness and saved mankind, who otherwise could not have been saved.
A few only of these passages shall be here adduced:
[2] In Isaiah:
Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozra? this that is glorious in His apparel, travelling in the
greatness of His strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the wine-press
alone; and of the people there was no man (vir) with me: for I have trodden them in mine anger, and have trampled them in my fury: so their victory was sprinkled upon my garments. For the day
of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come ... mine own arm brought salvation unto me ... I brought down their victory to the earth. He said, Surely they are my people, children
[that will not lie]: so He was their Saviour. In His love and in His pity He redeemed them. Isa. lxiii 1-9.
These words are written concerning the Lord's combats against the hells. By the
apparel in which He was glorious, and which was red, is meant the Word, to which violence was done by the Jewish people. The combat itself against the hells, and the victory over them, is described
by His treading them in His anger, and trampling them in His fury. That He fought alone and from His own power is described by these words: Of the people there was no man with me . . . mine own arm brought
salvation unto me ... I brought down their victory to the earth. That He thereby saved and redeemed mankind, is described by these words: So He was their Saviour: in His love and in His pity He
redeemed them. That this was the cause of His Coming is described by these words: The day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
[3] Again in Isaiah:
He saw that there
was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His own arm brought salvation unto Him; and His righteousness, it sustained Him. For He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and an helmet of salvation upon His head; and He put on the garments of vengeance, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. . . . Then He came to Zion, the Redeemer. Isa. lix 16, 17, 20.
These words
are also written concerning the Lord's combats against the hells when He was in the world. That He fought against them alone from His own power, is meant by, "He saw that there was no man: therefore
His own arm brought salvation to Him." That thereby He became righteousness is described by, "His righteousness, it sustained Him: for He put on righteousness as a breastplate"; and that He thus redeemed
mankind, by, "Then He came to Zion, the Redeemer."
[4] In Jeremiah:
They are dismayed ... their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back ... For this is the day
of the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth, a day of vengeance, that He may avenge Him of His adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate. Jer. xlvi 5, 10.
The Lord's combat with the hells
and His victory over them are described by these words: They are dismayed ... their mighty ones are beaten down and are fled apace, and have not looked back Their mighty ones and the adversaries denote
the hells, because all there entertain hatred against the Lord. His Coming into the world for this purpose is meant by these words: This is the day of the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth, a day of vengeance,
that He may avenge Him of His adversaries.
[5] Again in Jeremiah:
Her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men (viri) of war shall be cut off in that day. Jer. xlix 26.
In
Joel:
Jehovah hath uttered His voice before His army... for the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible who then shall abide it? Joel ii 11.
In Zephaniah:
In the day of the sacrifice
of Jehovah, I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel. That day is a day ... of distress ... a day of the trumpet and shout of alarm. Zeph.
i 8, 15, 16.
In Zechariah:
Then shall Jehovah go forth, and fight against the nations, as when He fought in the day of battle. And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives,
which is before Jerusalem. Then shall ye flee to the valley of my mountains ... In that day there shall not be light and brightness. And Jehovah shall be King over all the earth; in that day
shall there be one Jehovah, and His name One. Zech. xiv 3-6, 9.
In these places also the Lord's combats are treated of: by that day, is meant His Coming. The Mount of Olives, which was before
Jerusalem, was the place where the Lord was wont to tarry. See Mark xiii 3; xiv 26; Luke xxi 37; xxii 39; John viii 1; and elsewhere.
[6] In the Psalms:
The cords of death compassed me....
The cords of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me. Therefore He sent out His arrows . . . and many lightnings, and discomfited them. I will pursue mine enemies, and overtake them
neither will I turn again till I have consumed them, and wounded them so that they are not able to rise. Thou wilt gird me with strength unto the battle and wilt put mine enemies to flight. I will
beat them small as the dust before the wind I will reduce them as the mire of the streets. Ps. xviii 4, 5, 14, 37-40, 42.
The cords and the snares of death that compassed and prevented,
signify temptations which, because these are from hell, are also called the cords of hell. These and the rest of the things in the whole of this Psalm treat of the Lord's combats and victories. Therefore
it is also said,
Thou wilt set me as the head of the nations: a people whom I have not known shall serve me. Ps. xviii 43.
[7] Again in the Psalms:
Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O
Mighty One... Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the people fall under thee. Thy throne is for ever and ever. . . . Thou lovest righteousness . . . therefore God hath
anointed thee. Ps. xlv 3, 5-7.
These words also treat of the combat with the hells and their subjugation. For the whole Psalm treats of the Lord, that is, of His combats, of His glorification
and the salvation of the faithful by Him.
Again in the Psalms:
A fire shall go before Him and burn up His enemies round about. The earth shall see and tremble. The hills shall melt like wax
at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens shall declare His righteousness, and all peoples shall see His glory. Ps. xcvii 3-6.
This Psalm likewise treats of the, Lord, and
of the same subjects as the preceding.
[8] Again in the Psalms:
Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Rule thou in the midst of thine
enemies. The Lord at thy right hand smote the kings in the day of His anger ... He filled the places with dead bodies, and wounded the head over much land. Ps. cx 1, 2, 5, 6.
That these things
are said of the Lord is evident from His own words in Matthew xxii 44; in Mark xii 36; and in Luke xx 42. By sitting at the right hand is signified omnipotence; by enemies are signified the hells;
by kings, those there who are in falsities of evil. By making them a footstool, by smiting them in the day of His anger and by filling the places with dead bodies, is meant destroying their power;
and by wounding the head over much land is meant destroying every one.
[9] Since the Lord conquered the hells alone, without the aid of any angel, He is therefore called Hero and Man of War (vir),
Isa. xlii 13; the King of glory, Jehovah the Mighty, the Hero of War, Psalm xxiv 8, 10; the Mighty One of Jacob, Psalm cxxxii 2; and in many places, Jehovah Zebaoth, that is, Jehovah of Hosts.
His
Coming is also called the terrible day of Jehovah, a cruel day, a day of indignation, of wrath, of anger, of vengeance, of destruction, of war, of the trumpet, of the shout of alarm and of tumult; as
may be seen from the passages adduced above in No. 4. [10] Because a last judgment was accomplished by the Lord whilst He was in the world, by combats with the hells and by their subjugation, therefore
the judgment which He was to accomplish is spoken of in many places; as in the Psalms:
Jehovah cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in truth.
Ps. xcvi 13.
[11] So likewise in many other places. These quotations are from the prophetical parts of the Word. However, in the historical parts of the Word similar things are represented by the
wars of the Children of Israel with various nations; for all that is written in the Word, both in its prophetical and in its historical parts, is written concerning the Lord, and consequently the Word
is Divine. Many arcana* of the Lord's glorification are contained in the rituals of the Israelitish Church, as in its burnt-offerings and sacrifices; also in its sabbaths and feasts, and in the priesthood
of Aaron and the Levites; and likewise in the other subjects recorded in the Books of Moses, called laws, judgments and statutes. This is also understood by the Lord's words to the disciples,
That
it behoved Him to fulfil all things which were written concerning Him in the Law of Moses. Luke xxiv 44;
and by His saying to the Jews,
That Moses wrote of Him. John v 46.
[12]
From all this, then, it is evident that the Lord came into the world to subjugate the hells, and to glorify His Human; and that the passion of the cross was the final combat by which He fully conquered
the hells, and fully glorified His Human. However, more on this subject may be seen in the treatise which is to follow this, CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. In it will be collected together all
the passages in the Prophetical Word which treat of the Lord's combats with the hells and His victories over them, or, what is the same thing, which treat of the Last Judgment accomplished by Him when
He was in the world; as well as the passages concerning His passion and the glorification of His Human. These are so numerous that, were they all quoted, they would fill many pages. * Arcanum (plur.
arcana) what is shut up, enclosed, from arceo to shut up, and arca, an ark, chest, or box. Usual connotation, hidden things.
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