2. It is evident from these things that nothing contained either in the Apocalypse, or in the prophetical parts of the Old Testament can be understood, unless the spiritual sense be known, and particularly unless there be a revelation from heaven, where the whole Word is understood according to that sense. That this is the case will be proved by the explanation itself, which follows.
The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Teachings #255
255. From Secrets of Heaven
The necessity and excellence of the Word. From earthly light, we know nothing about the Lord, heaven and hell, our life after death, or the divine truths that are essential for our spiritual and eternal life: 8944, 10318, 10319, 10320. Evidence for this is the fact that many people, including scholars, do not believe in these things even though they were born where the Word is present and have been taught from it about these matters: 10319. That is why it became necessary for there to be some revelation from heaven, since we are born for heaven: 1775. For this reason there has been a revelation in every era: 2895. Information about the various kinds of revelation in this world over time: 10355, 10632. The earliest people, the ones who lived before the Flood, whose era was called the Golden Age, 1 had direct revelation and therefore had divine truth written on their hearts: 2896. The ancient churches that existed after the Flood had a Word containing both historical and prophetic material: 2686, 2897. (On these churches, see §247 above.) Its historical materials were called The Wars of Jehovah and its prophetic materials were called Pronouncements: 2897. This Word was like our own Word as far as its inspiration was concerned: 2897. It was mentioned by Moses: 2686, 2897. However, this Word has been lost: 2897. There were also prophetic revelations among other peoples, as we can see from Balaam's prophecies [Numbers 23-24]: 2898.
[2] The Word is divine throughout and in every detail: 639, 3305, 10321, 10637. The Word is divine and holy down to the smallest letters and the tip of every letter 2 : 9349 (which includes evidence from eyewitness experience). How people nowadays explain the claim that the Word is inspired down to the smallest letters: 1886.
[3] The church takes a particular form where the Word exists and the Lord is known by means of it, and therefore where divine truths have been revealed: 3857, 10761. Still, though, this does not mean that people are part of the church by merely being born where the Word exists and the Lord is known by means of it; people are part of the church only if they are being regenerated by the Lord by means of truths from the Word-that is, they are living lives of love and faith: 6637, 10143, 10153, 10578, 10645, 10829.
Footnotes:
1. On the Flood, which Swedenborg sees not as a literal event, but as a symbolic one, see note 1 in Last Judgment 26. He elsewhere points out that the term "Golden Age," which he applies to the period before the Flood, is shared with the Greek myth of the Golden Age described by ancient authors such as Hesiod (flourished around 700 B. C. E.) in Works and Days (= Hesiod 1914) 109-126. For more on the Golden Age, see note 3 in Other Planets Other Planets 49. For an outline of the various churches that Swedenborg identifies in history, see note 3 in New Jerusalem 4; for an annotated list of passages in Secrets of Heaven that discuss the early churches in particular, see New Jerusalem 247. [GFD, RS]
2. Matthew 5:18 is clearly intended; there Jesus declares that not one iota or one stroke of the Mosaic Law given in the Bible will ever become null and void. Whatever the precise reference, the combined reference has the same force as the idiom "every little bit." [GFD, SS]
