706. The reason why the Lord's blood means His Divine truth and that of the Word is that His flesh means in the spiritual sense the Divine good of love, and these two are made one in the Lord. It is well known that the Lord is the Word; and there are two things to which everything in the Word has reference, Divine good and Divine truth. If therefore the Word is substituted for the Lord, it is plain that it is these two which are meant by His flesh and blood. It is established from many passages that blood means the Divine truth of the Lord or of the Word; for instance, from blood being called the blood of the covenant, since a covenant is a link, and linking is effected by the Lord by means of His Divine truth. Also in Zechariah:
By the blood of your covenant I shall release the captives from the pit. Zech. 9:11.
And in the works of Moses:
After Moses had read the book of the law for the people to hear*, he sprinkled half the blood upon the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which Jehovah has made with you upon all these words. Exod. 24:3-8.
Also:
Jesus taking the cup gave it to them, saying, This is my blood, the blood of the new covenant. Matt. 26:27, 28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20.
[2] The blood of the new covenant or testament cannot mean anything but the Word, which is called an old and a new covenant or testament, and so the Divine truth it contains. It is because blood has this meaning that the Lord gave them wine, saying, 'This is my blood'; and wine stands for Divine truth. For this reason it is also called 'the blood of grapes' (Gen. 49:11; Deut. 32:14). This is plainer still from the Lord's words:
Truly, truly, I tell you: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you. For my flesh is truly food, and my blood is truly drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, remains in me and I in him. John 6:50-58.
It is perfectly obvious that blood here means the Divine truth of the Word, because it is said that he who drinks it has life in himself, and remains in the Lord, and the Lord remains in him. It ought to be well known in the church that this is the effect of Divine truth and living in accordance with it, and that the Holy Supper strengthens this effect.
[3] It is because blood stands for the Lord's Divine truth, which is also the Divine truth of the Word, and because this is what the old and new covenants and testaments are, that blood was the holiest representative of the church among the Children of Israel. In that church every detail was a correspondence of something natural with something spiritual. For instance, they were to take some of the blood of the Passover and put it on the door-posts and lintels of their houses, to ensure the plague would not come upon them (Exod. 12:7, 13, 22).
The blood of the burnt offering was to be sprinkled over the altar, right to its foundations, and over Aaron, his sons and their clothes (Exod. 29:12, 16, 20, 21; Lev. 1:5, 11, 15; 3:2, 8, 13; 4:25, 30, 34; 8:15, 24; 17:6; Num. 18:17**; Deut. 12:27). Also over the veil above the Ark, over the mercy-seat there, and over the horns of the incense altar (Lev. 4:6, 7, 17, 18; 16:12-15). The blood of the Lamb stands for something similar in Revelation:
These have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Rev. 7:14.
Also in these words from the same book:
War broke out in heaven, Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and they defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their*** witness. Rev. 12:7, 11.
[4] It is impossible to think that Michael and his angels defeated the dragon by anything but the Lord's Divine truth in the Word. For angels in heaven cannot think about any blood, nor do they think about the Lord's passion; but they think of Divine truth and His resurrection. When therefore a person thinks about the Lord's blood, the angels perceive the Divine truth of His Word. When he thinks about the Lord's passion, they perceive His glorification, and then only His resurrection. I have been allowed to know by long experience that this is so.
[5] It is also plain from this passage in the Psalms of David that blood stands for Divine truth:
God will save the souls of the needy. Their blood will be precious in His eyes, and they will live and He will give them of the gold of Sheba. Ps. 72:13-16.
Blood being precious in God's eyes stands for Divine truth being with them; the gold of Sheba is wisdom coming from this. Also in Ezekiel:
Gather for the great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, so that you may eat flesh and drink blood; you will drink the blood of the princes of the earth, and you will drink blood until you are drunk. Thus shall I set my glory among the nations. Ezek. 39:17-21.
This deals with the church which the Lord is to found among the gentiles. Blood cannot here mean blood, but the truth from the Word they possess; see just above.
* Literally: in the ears of the people. ** Corrected from (Lev.) 8:1. *** The Latin has 'his witness'.
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