The Divine needs to connect with what's been created, especially to what is human. Since the Divine Itself is, in its essence, beyond human comprehension, we can see and know it from its visible forms which are the Word, Jesus Christ, the created universe, and even the the human mind and body. These and many other things express the Divine Human.

To understand this further, imagine that you are completely paralyzed, to the point that you can’t make a sound or even move your eyes or the muscles of your face. Someone you love walks up to you. Inside, you feel a surge of affection. But how can you show it? You can’t say it, can’t smile, can’t even form an expression in your eyes. It can’t be done; you have no communication at all.

To be expressed, then, love needs a vessel, something capable of communication. That vessel is what Swedenborg calls the “human.”

For us, in the physical world, that “human” is in the form of our physical bodies. Through them we can smile, laugh, speak, hug, kiss, write - and can also strike out, shout in anger and criticize. Our bodies are the vessels that let us share what’s inside with the people around us. Through our bodies we also see, hear and feel the things inside others. They are the mode through which we interact.

But imagine if you could read minds, and could allow your mind to be read by others. You would no longer need your body as a vessel, but the things you shared would still be human; they would be human thoughts, human feelings, human ideas, still distinctly your own and reflective of the kind of person you are. You’d still have a “human,” but it would be your mind instead of your body.

That can give us some idea of what the Lord’s “human” is: it is the vessel through which we can receive His love and His guidance. It’s not something physical, like our human bodies, but is spiritual, as our minds are spiritual. And it puts His love into feelings, images and ideas, just as our minds do.

Put that way, it’s easy to see that the Lord’s humanity has always been, and was indeed an agent of creation: in creating the universe, the Lord used his human to give form to His love, forms that would be separate from Him, forms that He could love. It’s also easy to see that His humanity will always be: He is love itself, and that love will always need a vessel.

The Lord’s “human” also fills another great need. We are finite; the Lord is infinite. We live in a world of dead physical matter; the Lord is life itself. We are born into selfish loves; the Lord loves us infinitely. We live in time and space and can only think in terms of time and space; the Lord is outside of time and space, uncontained and uncontainable. For these and many other reasons the Lord, in His essence, is inconceivable to us; we have no mental tools to form an idea of the infinite. We can, however, think of the Lord as a human, and can thus worship him in the form of His divine human. By relating his love to us, his humanity makes it possible for us to relate to Him.

That leaves one great question: what about Jesus? He was human, but also kind of God, too. How does that relate to the idea of the divine human?

The answer lies in how we receive what the Lord gives us, and how that reception has changed over the millennia.

The Lord’s love is conveyed to us through the divine human in the form of what Swedenborg calls “divine truth,” which is essentially the Lord’s thoughts, His ideas. These thoughts are, of course, all about love, and are filled to overflowing with His love.

The earliest people, those of what Swedenborg calls the “Most Ancient Church,” could receive those thoughts directly, and accept the love in them directly. From this they were pure and innocent to a degree we can barely imagine, with wisdom and insight that sprang from the love they shared.

As people drew away from the Lord, though, their ability to accept the love contained within the divine truth began to degrade. In what Swedenborg calls the “Ancient Church” people received it in the form of love of one another, and accessed it through powerfully symbolic stories and the symbolism of nature. Finally, with the Children of Israel, the love and the truth were almost completely separated, with the Lord’s ideas contained within ritual, but His inspiration to be good operating in a disconnected way. Ultimately those people grew so evil that the desire for good was in danger of being choked off forever.

So the Lord rendered his “human” into physical flesh, born as a child to the virgin Mary. As always, that human was a vessel for the Lord’s love, but it was a vessel that could share divine truth in a tangible way. Swedenborg’s works say that Jesus spent his life stripping away His mortal aspects by battling temptations, and was a form of divine truth when He began His ministry. During His ministry he stripped away his mortal loves, until in the final temptation on the cross he was fully reunited with the divine love that was His soul. In His ministry, then, he shared His deepest ideas, and in His death He shared the love that formed and filled those ideas. It was enough to save humankind forever.

In doing this the Lord also changed His relationship with us. He gave us deeper truths about how to be loving, and taught us that love is more important than ritual. He also opened for us the idea that the Bible is full of deeper and richer meanings: that it is itself a form of divine truth. With these tools we now have the ability to use the Lord’s ideas as a key to accept His love. By knowing what’s right, knowing what the Lord teaches, we can compel ourselves to act in loving ways even if we don’t feel the love, and the Lord will use that to reform us so that we come to actually love what is good.

So the Divine Human is still a vessel for the Lord’s love, as it has always been. It’s a vessel that has adapted according to our needs and the paths the Lord can use to draw us toward heaven.

(Referências: Apocalypse Explained 26, 151; Apocalypse Revealed 613; Arcana Coelestia 2716, 3061 [2-3], 4180 [5-6], 4687 [2-3], 4724 [2-4], 4735 [2-3], 6280 [1-6], 6804 [4], 6831, 7211, 9303, 10067 [3], 10267, 10356; Divine Love and Wisdom 14-17-18-22, 52, 285; Heaven and Hell 80, 101; On the Athanasian Creed 27, 62, 209)

6280. As regards 'the redeeming angel' - that the Lord's Divine Human is meant - this is clear from the consideration that by His assumption of the Human and making it Divine the Lord redeemed man, that is, delivered him from hell, on account of which, in respect of His Divine Human, the Lord is called the Redeemer. The reason why the Divine Human is called an angel is that the word 'angel' means one who has been sent, and the Lord's Divine Human is called 'the One who has been sent', as is evident from quite a number of places in the Word, in the Gospels. Furthermore the Divine Human that existed before the Lord's Coming into the world was Jehovah Himself flowing in by way of heaven when He was declaring His Word. Jehovah was above the heavens, but what passed from Him through the heavens was the Divine Human at that time; for by means of Jehovah's flowing into heaven a human image was presented, and the Divine itself as present by this inflowing was the Divine Man. This is the Divine Human which has existed from eternity and is called the One who has been sent, by which is meant that which goes forth and which is one and the same as 'the angel' spoken of here.

[2] But because Jehovah was no longer able to reach men by flowing into them through that Divine Human of His, for the reason that they had distanced themselves so far away from that Divine, He took on a human form and made it Divine. Then by flowing in from this into heaven, He could reach right out to those members of the human race who would accept the good of charity and the truth of faith from His Divine Human, which had thus been made visible, and so could deliver them from hell - a deliverance which could not possibly have been accomplished in any other way. This deliverance is what is called Redemption, and the Divine Human itself effecting that deliverance or redemption is what is called 'the redeeming angel'.

[3] But the Lord's Divine Human, it should be recognized, is above heaven - as the Divine itself is - since the Lord is the Sun that gives heaven its light; thus heaven is far below Him. The Divine Human present in heaven is the Divine Truth going forth from Him, which is the light radiating from Him as from the sun. In Essence the Lord is not Divine Truth, for that Truth is what goes forth from Him like light from the sun; rather, His Essence is Divine Goodness itself, which is one with Jehovah.

[4] The Lord's Divine Human is also called 'the angel' in other places in the Word, for example when He appeared to Moses in the bramble-bush, described as follows in Exodus,

When Moses came to the mountain of God, to Horeb, the angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire from the middle of a bramble-bush. Jehovah saw that Moses turned aside to see, therefore God called to him from the middle of the bramble-bush. And He went on to say, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Exodus 3:1-2, 4, 6.

It is the Lord's Divine Human that is referred to here by the name 'the angel of Jehovah'. He was really Jehovah, which he is also explicitly called. Jehovah's presence there within His Divine Human may be recognized from the consideration that the Divine itself could not become visible except through the Divine Human, as the Lord's words in John declare,

Nobody has ever seen God; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known. John 1:18.

And in another place,

You have never heard the Father's voice nor seen His shape. John 5:37.

[5] The Lord's Divine Human is also called 'an angel' where the leading of the people into the land of Canaan is the subject, referred to in Exodus as follows,

Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way, and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. Take notice of his face; for he will not tolerate your transgression, since My name is within him. Exodus 23:20-21, 23.

Here 'an angel' is the Divine Human. This is evident from the fact that it says 'since My name is within him', that is, Jehovah Himself is within him. 'My name' means Jehovah's essential nature, present in the Divine Human. For more about the meaning of 'the name of Jehovah' as the Lord's Divine Human, see 2628; and for more about the meaning of 'the name of God' as His essential nature, and so everything in its entirety by which God is worshipped, 1724, 3006.

[6] In Isaiah,

In all their affliction He suffered affliction, and the angel of His face delivered them; because of His love and His compassion He redeemed them, and took them and carried them all the days of eternity. Isaiah 63:9.

'The angel of Jehovah's face' is plainly the Lord's Divine Human, for it says that 'He redeemed them'. In Malachi,

Behold, suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you seek, and the angel of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming, says Jehovah Zebaoth. But who can endure the day of His Coming, and who will stand when He appears? Then the minchah of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to Jehovah, as in the days of eternity, and as in former years. Malachi 3:1-2, 4

'The angel of the covenant' quite clearly means the Lord's Divine Human, for the subject is the Lord's Coming. 'Then the minchah of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to Jehovah' means that worship offered out of love and faith in Him will be acceptable then. It is perfectly plain that 'Judah' is not used in these verses to mean Judah, or 'Jerusalem' to mean Jerusalem, for neither at that time nor any later time was the minchah of Judah and Jerusalem acceptable. 'The days of eternity' are the states of the Most Ancient Church, which was a celestial Church, while 'former years' are the states of the Ancient Church, which was a spiritual one, see 6239. Furthermore 'angel' in the Word does not mean in the internal sense any angel but some Divine attribute within the Lord, 1925, 2319, 2821, 3039, 4085.

1925. 'The angel of Jehovah found her' means thought in the interior man, that is to say, thought residing with the Lord. This becomes clear from the representation and meaning of 'the angel of Jehovah'. Mention is made several times in the Word of 'the angel of Jehovah', and in every case when used in the good sense it represents and means some essential quality with the Lord and from the Lord. Which one it represents and means however becomes clear from the train of thought. They were indeed angels who were sent to men and women, and who also spoke through the prophets. Yet what they spoke did not originate in those angels but was something imparted through them. In fact their state at the time was such that they knew no other than that they were Jehovah, that is, the Lord. But as soon as they had finished speaking they returned to their previous state and spoke as they normally did from themselves.

[2] This was the case with the angels who uttered the Word of the Lord, as I have been given to know from much similar experience in the next life, experience that will be presented in the Lord's Divine mercy further on. This is the reason why angels were sometimes called Jehovah, as is quite clear from the angel that appeared in the bramble-bush to Moses, concerning whom the following is recorded,

The angel of Jehovah appeared to Moses in a flame of fire from the middle of the bramble-bush. Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, and God called to him from the middle of the bramble-bush God said to Moses, I am who I am. And God said again to Moses, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, Jehovah the God of your fathers has sent me to you. Exodus 3:2, 4, 14-15.

From these verses it is evident that it was an angel who appeared to Moses as a flame in the bramble-bush and that he spoke as Jehovah, because the Lord or Jehovah was speaking through him.

[3] So that man may be spoken to by means of articulated sounds heard in the natural world, the Lord employs angels as His ministers by filling them with the Divine and by rendering unconscious all that is their own, so that for the time being they know no other than that they themselves are Jehovah. In this way the Divine of Jehovah which belongs in highest things comes down into the lowest constituting the natural world in which man sees and hears. It was similar in the case of the angel who spoke to Gideon, of whom the following is said in the Book of Judges,

The angel of Jehovah appeared to Gideon and said to him, Jehovah is with you, O mighty man of strength. And Gideon said to him, Forgive me for asking, ¹ O my Lord; why has all this befallen us? And Jehovah looked on him and said, Go in this might of yours. And Jehovah said to him, Surely I will be with you. Judges 6:12-14, 16.

And further on,

Gideon saw that he was the angel of Jehovah, and Gideon said, Alas, Lord Jehovih! Inasmuch as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. ² And Jehovah said to him, Peace be to you; do not fear. Judges 6:22-23.

Here similarly it was an angel, but his state was such at that time that he knew no other than that he was Jehovah, or the Lord. Elsewhere in the Book of Judges,

The angel of Jehovah went up from Gilgal to Bochim, and he said, I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I swore to give to your fathers. I said, I will not break my covenant with you, even for ever. Judges 2:1.

Here similarly the angel speaks in the name of Jehovah, declaring that he brought them out of the land of Egypt, though in fact it was not the angel who led them out but Jehovah, as is stated many times elsewhere.

[4] From this it may become clear how angels spoke through the prophets - that it was the Lord Himself who spoke, yet through angels, and that the angels spoke nothing at all from themselves. That the Word comes from the Lord is clear from many places, as also in Matthew,

To fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin will be with child and give birth to a son. Matthew 1:22-23.

And there are other places besides this. It is because the Lord speaks through angels when He speaks to man that the Lord is also called an angel in various places in the Word. In these instances 'angel' means, as stated, some essential quality residing with the Lord and deriving from Him, as is the case here where it is the Lord's interior thought. This also is the reason why in this chapter the angel is named Jehovah and also God, as in verse 13, 'And Hagar called the name of Jehovah who was speaking to her, You are a God who sees me'.

[5] In other places 'angels' is used in a similar way to mean some specific attribute that is the Lord's, as in John,

The seven stars are the angels of the seven Churches. Revelation 1:20.

There are no angels of Churches, but by 'angels' is meant that which constitutes the Church, and thus which is the Lord's in regard to the Churches. In the same book,

I saw the wall of the Holy Jerusalem, great and high, having twelve gates, and above the gates twelve angels, and names written which are those of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. Revelation 21:12.

Here 'twelve angels' has the same meaning as 'the twelve tribes', namely all things of faith, and so the Lord from whom faith and all that belongs to it is derived. In the same book,

I saw an angel flying in mid-heaven, having an eternal gospel. Revelation 14:6.

Here 'an angel' means the gospel that is the Lord's alone.

[6] In Isaiah,

The angel of His presence ³ saved them; ⁴ in His love and in His pity He redeemed them, and lifted them up and carried them all the days of eternity. Isaiah 63:9.

Here 'the angel of His presence" is used to mean the Lord's mercy towards the entire human race in redeeming it. Similarly in Jacob's blessing of the sons of Joseph,

May the angel who has redeemed me from every evil bless the boys. Genesis 48:16.

Here also the redemption, which is the Lord's, is meant by 'the angel'. In Malachi,

Suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you are seeking, and the angel of the covenant in whom you delight. Malachi 3:1.

Here it is plainly evident that the Lord is meant by 'the angel'. The expression 'the angel of the covenant' is used here because of His Coming into the world. In Exodus it is plainer still that 'an angel' means the Lord,

Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way, and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. He will not tolerate your transgression, for My name is within him. Exodus 23:20-21.

From this it is now clear that 'an angel' in the Word is used to mean the Lord; but just what aspect of the Lord is evident from the train of thought in the internal sense.

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