1. The Sacred Scripture, or Word, Is Divine Truth Itself

Everyone says that the Word comes from God, is Divinely inspired, and so is holy. But even so, no one has known before this wherein the Divinity in it lies. For in its letter the Word appears as though written in the ordinary way, in a foreign style, neither as sublime or nor as lucid as writings of the present age seem to be.

As a result, a person who worships nature as God, or in preference to God, and so thinks prompted by self and his own self-interest, and not prompted by heaven in response to the Lord, may easily fall into error regarding the Word, and into scorning it, and when reading it, saying to himself, “What is this? What is that? Is this Divine? Can God, whose wisdom is infinite, speak so? Where is the holiness in it, and what makes it holy, other than some teaching of religion and so conviction?”

45. Truths in the Word’s literal sense are meant by the precious stones in the Garden of Eden in which the King of Tyre is said in Ezekiel to have been. We read in Ezekiel:

...King of Tyre..., “You seal up (your) measure, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, chrysoprase, and emerald, and gold. (Ezekiel 28:12-13)

Tyre in the Word symbolizes concepts of truth and goodness. A king symbolizes the church’s truth. The Garden of Eden symbolizes wisdom and intelligence gained from the Word. Precious stones symbolize truths made translucent by goodness, the kind of truths found in the Word’s literal sense. And because these truths are symbolized by the precious stones, therefore they are called the king’s covering. That the literal sense covers over the inner constituents of the Word may be seen in the preceding section.

52. It can be seen from this that people who read the Word apart from doctrine, or who do not acquire for themselves doctrine from the Word, are in darkness as regards any truth, and that their minds meander and are unsure, prone to error, and moreover are open to heresies, which they embrace if bias or authority favors them and their reputation is not endangered. For the Word is for them like a lampstand without light, and in the darkness they seem to see much, and yet see scarcely anything, inasmuch as doctrine alone is the lamp.

I have seen people of this character examined by angels and found to be able to affirm from the Word whatever they will, and to affirm whatever accords with their love and with the love of those whom they favor. I have also seen them stripped of their clothing, a sign that they were without truths. Garments in that world are truths.