good by truth, and of truth by good, and that hence a testimony means good from which truth is, and truth which is from good, may be evident from the Word in other passages. That a witness means confirmation of good by truth and of truth by good, is evident from these passages In Joshua: Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves, that ye have chosen you Jehovah to serve Him. And they said, We are witnesses. Now therefore put away the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto Jehovah the God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, Jehovah our God will we serve, and unto His voice will we hearken. And Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and a judgment in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak that was in the sanctuary of Jehovah. And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be for a witness to us, for it hath heard all the words of Jehovah which He spake unto us; and it shall be to you for a witness, lest ye deny your God (xxiv. 22-27). That a witness is here confirmation, is manifest, and indeed confirmation of a covenant, and accordingly of conjunction; for a covenant signifies conjunction (n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021). And as conjunction with Jehovah. or the Lord is not given except by good, nor good which conjoins except what has its quality from truth, it follows that a witness is confirmation of good by truth. The good here meant is conjunction with Jehovah or the Lord, by their choosing Him to serve Him—the truth by which the confirmation was made, being the stone. That stone means truth may be seen above (n. 643, 1298, 3720). In the supreme sense the stone is the Lord Himself, because all truth is from Him, and therefore He is called the Stone of Israel (Gen. xlix. 24). And it is also said, "Behold, this stone shall be for a witness to us, for it hath heard all the words of Jehovah which He spake unto us." In John: I will give unto my 4

two witnesses, that they prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man desireth to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies. These have power to shut heaven. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. And after three days and a half, the breath of life from God entered into them, so that they stood upon their feet (Apoc. xi. 3-7, 11). The two witnesses here are good and truth, that is, good in which there is truth, and truth which is from good, both confirmed in hearts, as is manifest from its being said that the two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks. That an olive tree is such good, may be seen above (n. 886). The two olive trees stand for celestial good and spiritual good. Celestial good is of love to the Lord, and spiritual good is of charity toward the neighbor. The candlesticks are the truths of those goods, as will be evident when by the Divine mercy of the Lord we shall have occasion to speak of candlesticks. That these, namely, goods and truths, have power to shut heaven and to open heaven, may be seen in the preface to the twenty-second chapter. That the beast out of the abyss, or out of hell, will kill them, signifies vastation of good and truth within the church; and that the spirit of life from God entered into them, so that they stood upon their feet, signifies a 5 new church. That as heaps were placed for witnesses in ancient times, so afterward were altars, is evident in Joshua: The Reubenites and the Gadites said, Behold the pattern of the altar of Jehovah which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, and not for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you. And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the Altar, that it is a Witness between us, that Jehovah is God (xxii. 28, 34).

An altar is the good of love, and in the supreme sense the Lord Himself (n. 921, 2777, 2811). A witness in the internal sense stands for confirmation of good by truth. Because by a witness is signified confirmation of good by 6 truth and of truth from good, by a witness therefore in the supreme sense is signified the Lord, because He is the Divine truth confirming as in Isaiah: I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold I have given Him for a witness to the peoples, a prince and commander to the peoples (lv. 4). In John: And from Jesus Christ, Who is the faithful Witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth (Apoc. i. 5). In the same: These things saith . . . the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God (Apoc. iii. 14). The command given 7 in the representative church, that all truth shall stand on the word of two or three witnesses, and not on that of one (Num. xxxv. 30: Deut. xvii. 6, 7; xix. 15: Matt. xviii. 16), is founded on the Divine law that one truth does not confirm good, but several truths; for one truth without connection with others, is not confirming, but several together, since from one may be seen another. One does not produce any form, and thus not any quality, but several connected in series. For as one tone does not produce any melody, still less harmony, so neither does one truth. These are the things on which that law is founded, though in outward form it appears founded in the civil state; but the one is not contrary to the other, as with the precepts of the decalogue, concerning which see above (n. 2609). That a testimony is good from which is truth, 8 and truth which is from good, follows from the above, and also from this, that the ten precepts of the decalogue written upon the tables of stone are called in one word the testimony as in Moses: Jehovah gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of speaking with him upon mount Sinai, the two tables of the testimony, tables of

In the same: Moses

stone, written with the finger of God (Exod. xxxi. 18).
went down from the mount, and
the two tables of the testimony were in his hand, tables
that were written on their two sides (Exod. xxxii. 15).
And because the tables were placed in the ark, the ark is
called the ark of the testimony, as in Moses: Jehovah said
to Moses, Thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which
I shall give thee (Exod. xxv. 16, 21). Moses took and
put the testimony into the ark (Exod. xl. 20). In the
same: I will meet with thee, and I will speak with thee
from above the mercy-seat from between the two cherubim
which are upon the ark of the testimony (Exod. xxv. 22).
In the same: That the cloud of incense may cover the
mercy-seat, that is upon the testimony (Lev. xvi. 13). In
the same: The stones of the twelve tribes were left in the
tent of meeting before the testimony (Num. xvii. 4). That
the ark was also called therefrom the ark of the testimony,
see, besides the place cited, Exodus xxv. 22, also xxxi.
9 Apoc. xv. 5. The precepts of the decalogue were there-
fore called the testimony, because they were of the cove-
nant, and thus of conjunction between the Lord and
man; which conjunction cannot exist unless man keeps
the precepts, not only in external form, but also in internal.
What the internal form of those precepts is, may be seen
above (n. 2609); and therefore it is good confirmed by
truth, and truth derived from good, which is signified by
testimony. Because this is so, the tables were also called
the tables of the covenant, and the ark the ark of the
covenant. From this it is now manifest what is signified
in the genuine sense by testimony in the Word (as in Deut.
iv. 45; vi. 17, 20: Isa. viii. 16: 2 Kings xvii. 15: Ps. xix.
7; xxv. 10; lxxviii. 5; xciii. 5; cxix. 2, 22, 24, 59, 79,
88, 138, 167; cxxii. 3, 4: Apoc. vi. 9; xii. 17; xix. 10).

7:

4198. And Mizpah; for he said, Jehovah watch between
me and thee. That this signifies the presence of the Di-
vine natural of the Lord, namely, in the good which is now

represented by Laban, is evident from the signification of looking, or watching, as presence; for he who looks at another, or sees him from a high outlook, is present with him by sight. Besides, to see, when predicated of the Lord, is foresight and providence (n. 2837, 2839, 3686, 3854, 3863), and thus also presence, but by foresight and providence. As regards the presence of the Lord, He is present with every one, but according to reception; for every one's life is from the Lord alone. They who receive His presence in good and truth, are in the life of intelligence and wisdom; but they who receive His presence not in good and truth, but in evil and falsity, are in the life of insanity and foolishness, but still in the faculty of understanding and being wise. That they are still in this, may be evident from their knowing how to feign and simulate good and truth in outward form, and thereby to captivate men - which would not be the case at all unless they were in that faculty. The quality of the presence is signified by Mizpah; here the quality with those who are in the goods of works, that is, with gentiles, who are here represented. by Laban; for the name Mizpah in the original language is derived from looking.

4199. For we shall be hidden one from another. That this signifies separation in respect to what is of the church, is evident from the signification here of being hidden, as separation; and from the signification of "one from another," as those who are within the church, and those who are without. They are said to be hidden, because they are separated as to good and truth, and thus in respect to what is of the church.

4200. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, and if thou shalt take women over my daughters, there is no man with us. That this signifies that affections for truth are to remain within the church, is evident from the signification of daughters, here Rachel and Leah, as affections for truth (see n. 3758, 3782, 3793, 3819); from the signification of