2. He, however, who thinks in this way does not consider that Jehovah Himself, who is the God of heaven and earth, spoke the Word by means of Moses and the Prophets, and consequently that it must be Divine Truth itself; for what Jehovah Himself speaks is Divine Truth. Nor does he consider that the Lord, who is the same as Jehovah, spoke the Word written by the Evangelists, much of it from His own mouth, and the rest from the spirit of His mouth, which is the Holy Spirit. For this reason He Himself declares that in His words there is life, that He is the light which enlightens, and that He is the truth.
[2] That Jehovah Himself spoke the Word by the Prophets has been shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD, Nos. 52, 53. That the words which the Lord Himself spoke in the Evangelists are life, is declared in John:
The words that I speak unto you are spirit, and they are life. John vi 63.
In the same Evangelist:
Jesus said to the woman at Jacob's well, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldst have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water. Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John iv 6, 10, 14.
By Jacob's well is signified the Word,
as also in Deut. xxxiii 28;
and for this reason also the Lord sat there, and spoke with the woman; and by water is signified the truth of the Word. In the same Evangelist:
If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John vii 37, 38.
In the same:
Peter said to Jesus, Thou hast the words of eternal life. John vi 68. For this reason the Lord says in Mark,
Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away. Mark xiii 31.
The words of the Lord are life, because He Himself is the Life and the Truth, as He teaches in John:
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. John xiv 6;
and in the same:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. John i 1, 4.
By the Word here is meant the Lord as to Divine Truth, in which alone there is life and light. For this reason the Word, which is from the Lord, and which is the Lord, is called
a fountain of living waters Jer. ii 13; xvii 13; xxxi 9;
a fountain of salvation. Isa. xii 3;
a fountain. Zech. xiii 1;
and a river of water of life. Rev. xxii 1;
and it is said that
The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters. Rev. vii 17;
besides other passages, where the Word is also called the Sanctuary and the Tabernacle, in which the Lord dwells with man.