AC 2762 - Horses

AC 2762 [1, 2]

It is from the representation of the horse,
as being the understanding,
that when horses are mentioned in the Word,
the spirits and angels with man
at once know
that the understanding is what is treated of.
It is also why,
when spirits from some other planet
who have been endowed
with intelligence and wisdom
are raised up from the world of spirits into heaven,
horses shining appear as though they consisted of fire,
which I also have seen
when those people were carried up.

From this I could see what is signified by
the chariot of fire and horses of fire seen by Elisha
when Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven;
as also what is signified
by the exclamation of Elisha then:

My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and its riders.
(II Kings 2: 11, 12),

and by the same spoken by Joash king of Israel
to Elisha when the latter was dying,

My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and its riders.
(II Kings 13: 14)

That by Elijah and Elisha was represented
the Lord as to the Word,
will of the Lord's Divine mercy be told elsewhere;
the doctrine of love and charity from the Word
being meant by the "chariot of fire,"
and the doctrine of faith from there
by the "horses of fire."
The doctrine of faith is the same as
the understanding of the Word as to its interiors,
or as to its internal sense.