2. Someone who thinks in this way, however, does not reflect that Jehovah Himself, the God of heaven and earth, spoke the Word through Moses and the prophets, and that it must therefore be Divine truth itself. For whatever Jehovah Himself utters is such truth. Nor does that person reflect that the Lord, who is the same as Jehovah, spoke the Word reported by the Gospel writers, much of it in person, and the rest by the breath of His mouth, which is the Holy Spirit. Consequently what He Himself says is, in His own words, life, and He is the light that enlightens, and truth personified.

[2] That Jehovah Himself spoke the Word through the prophets is something we showed in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord 52-53.

That the words the Lord Himself spoke, as reported by the Gospel writers, are life, is something He said in John:

The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63)

Again in John, Jesus said to the woman at Jacob’s spring:

If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, “Give Me a drink, ” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.... Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:6, 10, 14)

Jacob’s spring symbolizes the Word, as in Deuteronomy 33:28 as well. That, too, is why the Lord sat there and spoke with the woman. And the water symbolizes the Word’s truth.

[3] Again in John:

...Jesus...(said), “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38)

And again:

...Peter (said to Jesus), “...You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)

Therefore the Lord says in Mark:

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. (Mark 13:31)

The Lord’s words are life because He is the life and the truth, as He tells us in John:

I am the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6)

And again in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word.... In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1, 4)

The Word there means the Lord in relation to Divine truth, in which alone there is life and light.

[4] It is on this account that the Word, being from the Lord and embodying the Lord, is called “a fountain of living waters” (Jeremiah 2:13, 17:13), “a fountain of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3), “a fountain” (Zechariah 13:1). Also “a river of the water of life” (Revelation 22:1). And we are told that “the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters” (Revelation 7:17).

There are in addition many other places where the Word is called the sanctuary and the tabernacle in which the Lord dwells with mankind.

71. As regards the Word in heaven, it is written in the spiritual style of writing, which is quite different from any natural style. The spiritual style consists of nothing but letters, each of which carries a meaning, and there are diacritical marks over the letters which enhance the meaning.

The letters used by angels in the spiritual kingdom are similar to typographical letters in our world. But the letters used by angels in the celestial kingdom — each of which also carries a whole meaning — are similar to ancient Hebrew letters, being curved in various ways, with marks above and within them.

[2] Because that is the nature of their writing, therefore their Word does not contain any names of the persons or places found in our Word, but instead of names it has expressions with symbolic meanings. For example, instead of Moses it has “historical Word.” Instead of Elijah it has “prophetic Word.” Instead of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob it has “the Lord in respect to His Divinity and Divine humanity.” Instead of Aaron it has “priesthood, ” instead of David “kingship, ” both as attributes of the Lord. Instead of the names of the twelve sons of Jacob, or of the tribes of Israel, it has various expressions having to do with heaven and the church. Similar expressions are used for the names of the Lord’s twelve disciples. Instead of Zion and Jerusalem, it has the church in relation to the Word and in relation to doctrine drawn from the Word. Instead of the land of Canaan it has the church itself. Instead of the cities there on each side of the Jordan it has various expressions having to do with the church and its doctrine. And so on with all the other names.

[3] It is the same with numbers. These are not found in the Word in heaven, either, but instead it has expressions to which the numbers in our Word correspond.

It can be seen from this that the Word in heaven is one that corresponds to our Word, and thus that they are united. For they are united by the correspondences.