42. [verse 12] 'And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me' signifies the inversion of the state of those who are in the good of life as to the perception of truth in the Word while they turn to the Lord. John says that he heard the voice behind him (verse 10); and now [he says] that he turned to see the voice; and again, that having turned he saw seven lampstands. By reason of these [statements] it is plain that he heard the voice from the rear and that he turned to see whence it [came]. It is plain that in this there is an arcanum. The arcanum is that before a man turns to the Lord and acknowledges Him as the God of heaven and earth he is not able to see the Divine Truth in the Word. This is because God, in both Person and Essence, is One, in Whom is the Trinity, and that God is the Lord. They, therefore, who acknowledge a Trinity of Persons, look primarily to the Father, and some to the Holy Spirit, and seldom to the Lord, and if to the Lord, they think of His Human as of an ordinary man. When a man does this he is quite unable to be enlightened in the Word, for the Lord is the Word, for it is from Him and concerning Him. On that account they who do not approach the Only Lord look at Him and His Word behind, and not in front of, themselves, or from the back and not from the face. This is the arcanum that lies hidden in the [statement] that
John heard a voice behind him, and he turned to see the voice, and having turned he saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of them the SON OF MAN;
for the voice that he heard came from the SON OF MAN, Who is the Lord. [2] That the Lord Only is the God of heaven and earth He now teaches with a manifest voice, for He says:-
I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, says the Lord, Who is and Who was and Who is to come Rev. i 8;
and here:-
I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last Rev. i 11;
and afterwards:-
I am the First and the Last Rev. i 17; ii 8.
That by a 'voice', when from the Lord, Divine Truth is understood, may be seen above (n. 37); and that by 'John' are understood those belonging to the Church who are in the good of life (n. 5, 6 above). It can now be established from these things that by the words 'And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me' is signified the inversion of the state of those who are in the good of life, as to the perception of truth in the Word when they turn to the Lord.
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