AC 8020 - If There Was Not Something Spiritual; AC 8028 - The Preparation Work of the Angels and John the Baptist

AC 8020 - If There Was Not Something Spiritual

If there were not something spiritual
in the whole and in each detail (of the Word),
the angels who are with a person
when he reads the Word
would comprehend but little,
indeed scarcely anything, from the Word;
for the angels comprehend spiritually
all things that have been described
in the Word
in a natural manner.

AC 8028 - The Work of the Angels and John the Baptist

  . . . when angels are about to come,
a spirit is sent before to prepare the way,
and that he excites fear,
and gives admonition to receive the angels courteously;
and that he interrupts;
also that at first he does not understand
what the angels speak,
but afterward when he has been reduced to a better state
he understands;
in a word, that he is continually at hand,
and prepares the lower mind,
and endeavors to avert things unworthy.
In regard to this
there occurred to me a thought about John the Baptist,
that it was according to the order of heaven
for him to be sent before
and announce the coming of the Lord,
and that he should prepare the way
that He might be worthily received,
according to what is written in
Matt. 3:3; Luke 1:17; 3:4; John 1:23.

This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
"A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.'"
(Matthew 3:3)

"And he will go on before the Lord,
in the spirit and power of Elijah,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous --
to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
(Luke 1:17)

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet,
"I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness,
'Make straight the way for the Lord.'"
(John 1:23)