* There is no paragraph 2484 in the Latin.
[2] The Lord describes the close of the age, that is, the final period of the Church, as follows,
Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matt. 24:29; Mark 13:24, 25.
That ‘the sun’ here does not mean the sun, nor ‘the moon’ the moon, nor ‘the stars’ the stars, but that ‘the sun’ means love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, ‘the moon’ faith received from love and charity, and ‘the stars’ cognitions of good and truth, has been shown in 31, 32, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 2120, 2441. Thus these words spoken by the Lord mean that when the close of the age or final period has arrived there will no longer be any love or any charity, or consequently any faith. It is evident that this is their meaning from similar words of the Lord that occur in the Prophets, as in Isaiah,
Behold, the day of Jehovah comes, to make the earth a desolation, and He will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not shine with their light. The sun will be darkened in its rising, and the moon will not give its light. Isa. 13:9, 10.
This too refers to the final period of the Church, or what amounts to the same, the close of the age.
[3] In Joel,
A day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of cloud and obscurity. The earth quaked before Him, the heavens trembled. The sun and the moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew their shining. Joel 2:2, 10.
Here the meaning is similar. Elsewhere in the same prophet,
The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes. Joel 2:31.
In addition in the same prophet,
The day of Jehovah is near. The sun and the moon have been darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining. Joel 3:14, 15.
In Ezekiel,
When I have blotted you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars, I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. All the bright lights in the heavens I will make dark over you, and I will put darkness over your land. Ezek. 32:7, 8.
Likewise in John,
When he opened the sixth seal I looked, and behold, a great earthquake took place, and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became like blood, and the stars fell to the earth. Rev. 6:12, 13.
In the same book,
The fourth angel sounded, so that the third part of the sun was struck, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, and a third part of them was darkened. Rev. 8:12.
[4] These places show clearly that the Lord’s words in the Gospels embody much the same as the Lord’s words in the Prophets – namely that in the last times there will be no charity and no faith – and that this is the internal sense. All this is further evident in Isaiah,
The moon will blush, and the sun be ashamed, for Jehovah Zebaoth will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. Isa. 24:23.
The meaning here is that faith, which is ‘the moon’, will blush, and charity, which is ‘the sun’, will be ashamed because their condition is such; for it cannot be said of the moon and the sun that they will blush and be ashamed. And in Daniel,
The horn of the he-goat grew towards the south, and towards the east, and grew even towards the host of heaven, and it cast down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them. Dan. 8:9, 10.
Here it is evident to anyone that ‘the host of heaven’ does not mean a host, nor ‘the stars’ the stars.
GENESIS 20
1 And Abraham travelled from there towards the land of the south, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar.
2 And Abraham said of* Sarah his wife, She is my sister; and Abimelech King of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
3 And God came to Abimelech in a dream in the night, and said to him, Behold, you will die because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married to a husband.
4 And Abimelech had not come near her, and he said, Lord, will You kill even a righteous nation?
5 Did he not say to me, She is my sister? And she herself also said, He is my brother. In the uprightness of my heart and in the blamelessness of my hands have I done this.
6 And God said to him in the dream, Yes, I know that in the uprightness of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not allow you to touch her.
7 And now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and will pray for you, and you will live. And if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and everyone who is yours.
8 And in the morning Abimelech rose up early and called all his servants and spoke all these words in their ears; and the men were very much afraid.
9 And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, What have you done to us, and what sin have I committed against you, that you have brought great sin on me and on my kingdom? Deeds which ought not to be done you have done to me.
10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, What did you see, that you have done this thing?
11 And Abraham said, Because I said, Surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me on account of my wife.
12 And also she is truly my sister, my father’s daughter but not my mother’s daughter; and she became my wife.
13 And it happened, when God caused** me to depart from my father’s house, that I said to her, This is your kindness which you may do for me: at every place we come to, say for me, He is my brother.
14 And Abimelech took flocks and herds, and men servants and women servants, and gave to Abraham; and he restored to him Sarah his wife.
15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before you; dwell in that which is good in your eyes.
16 And to Sarah he said, Behold, I have given a thousand-pieces of silver to your brother; behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes for all who are with you, and with all; and she was vindicated.
17 And Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife, and his women servants, and they gave birth.
18 For Jehovah had completely closed every womb of Abimelech’s house because of the matter of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
* The Latin preposition here (ad), like the Hebrew (‘el) which it translates, usually means to or towards.
** This verb is plural; see 2559.
In Chapter 12 above the subject was Abraham’s sojourn in Egypt, which meant the instruction that the Lord received in factual knowledge when He was still a boy. In the present chapter the subject is Abraham’s sojourn in Gerar, where Abimelech was. This sojourning in a similar way means instruction received by the Lord, but now it is in matters of doctrine regarding charity and faith. Dealt with in particular here is the origin of the doctrine of charity and faith; that is to say, that this doctrine is spiritual deriving from a celestial origin but is not from the rational.
These historical descriptions, like everything else in the Word, embody Divine arcana. This becomes clear from the fact that now, for a second time, Abraham said that his wife was his sister; for the same thing had happened when he entered Egypt. On that occasion he said to Sarah, ‘Say, now, you are my sister’, Gen. 12:13. And not only Abraham but also Isaac did so, in that when he came to Gerar he said that Rebekah his wife was his sister – ‘The men of the place asked about his wife, and he said, She is my sister’, Gen. 26:6, 7. And in those two chapters further similarities occur, so that such historical incidents are described three times, which would never have been done but for some hidden reason in the internal sense.
‘Abraham travelled from there towards the land of the south’ means the Lord’s advances in goods and truths of faith, ‘Abraham’ being the Lord during that state. ‘And dwelt between Kadesh and Shur’ means His state specifically, ‘Kadesh’ being the affection for interior truth coming from rational concepts, ‘Shur’ the affection for exterior truth deriving from factual knowledge. ‘And he sojourned in Gerar’ means consequent instruction in the spiritual things of faith.
[2] As regards the Lord’s instruction in general, the nature of it is quite plain from the internal sense of this chapter. From that sense it is plain that He was taught through a whole succession of revelations and so through Divine perceptions and thoughts from Himself, that is, from His Divine. These perceptions and thoughts He implanted in Divine intelligence and wisdom, and continued to do so until the perfect union of His Human and His Divine had been effected. This way of becoming wise is not at all open to anyone else, for it sprang from the Divine itself, which was His inmost, being the Father’s, from whom He had been conceived. Thus it sprang from the Divine Love itself which the Lord alone possessed and which constituted His desire to save the entire human race.
[3] It is an arcanum as yet known by scarcely anyone that love itself holds wisdom and intelligence within it, but that the nature of these is determined by that of the love. The reason wisdom and intelligence exist within love is that all influx takes place into the love, or what amounts to the same, into the good, and so into the life itself of man. This is the source of the wisdom and intelligence possessed by angels, which are beyond description. It is the source also of the wisdom and intelligence possessed by men who are governed by love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour. Although during their lifetime the latter do not discern at all the presence with them of such wisdom and intelligence, they nevertheless enter into these after death for the reason that they exist within love itself and within charity itself, see 2494. As for the Lord’s love however, this was infinitely higher than the love which exists in angels, for it was Divine Love itself, and therefore He had within Himself the acme of all wisdom and intelligence. Yet into the possession of this, because He was born a human being (homo) and advanced as a human being does according to Divine order, He entered by successive degrees so that He might in that way unite His Human to the Divine and make it Divine, doing so by His own power.
[2] In general there are intellectual things of faith, rational things of faith, and factual things of faith. In relation to one another they accordingly pass from more interior to more exterior. The inmost things of faith are called intellectual; those which pass down from them or from there are the rational things of faith; and those in turn which pass down from these are the factual things of faith. They are interrelated, to use the language of the learned, as prior to posterior, or what amounts to the same, as superior to inferior, that is, as more interior to more exterior. It does indeed seem to man as though the factual degree of faith is first and that the rational then arises from that, and after this the intellectual from that, for the reason that this is the way a human being develops from childhood onwards. But in fact the intellectual is constantly flowing; into the rational, and the rational into the factual, though man is not directly conscious of it. In childhood the influx is obscure; in adult years it is more noticeable; and when at length the individual has been regenerated it is quite manifest. Once he is regenerate this order is quite apparent, and still more fully so in the next life, see 1495. All of these things, distinguished as described into separate degrees and existing in relation to one another in the order shown, are called spiritual. The spiritual things of faith constitute all truths that stem from good, that is, from a celestial origin. Whatever derives from the celestial is one of the spiritual things of faith.
‘Abraham said’ means the Lord’s thought. ‘Of Sarah his wife’ means spiritual truth joined to the celestial. ‘She is my sister’ means rational truth. ‘And Abimelech king of Gerar sent’ means the doctrine of faith, ‘Abimelech’ being the doctrine of faith which has regard to rational things. ‘And took Sarah’ means the affection for consulting the rational.
* The Latin preposition here (ad), like the Hebrew (‘el) which it translates, usually means to or towards.
‘God came to Abimelech’ means the Lord’s perception regarding the doctrine of faith. ‘In a dream in the night’ means a perception that was obscure. ‘And said to him’ means thought springing from this. ‘Behold, you will die because of the woman’ means that the doctrine of faith would be ruined if the rational were consulted regarding the contents of that doctrine. ‘For she is married to a husband’ means that the doctrine of true faith is spiritual, and the contents of it are joined to the celestial.
[2] Thoughts deriving from no conscience however exist with people who do not allow themselves to be governed inwardly by good and truth but by evil and falsity, that is, not by the Lord but by themselves. They imagine that they think inwardly just as much as those who do so from conscience and perception, the reason being that they do not know what conscience is, still less what perception is, though the difference between their thought and that of people thinking from conscience or perception is as great as that between hell and heaven. People whose thought is devoid of conscience think from every evil desire and false notion, and so from hell. When they think in any other manner they do so from an outward respectability for the sake of reputation. But people who think from conscience do so from affections for good and truth, and so from heaven. As for the Lord’s thought however, this surpasses all human understanding, for it sprang directly from the Divine.
[2] The reason no doctrine of faith from the rational exists is that the rational is immersed in the appearances of good and truth, and such appearances are not truths in themselves, as shown already in 2053, 2196, 2203, 2209. What is more, the rational bases itself on illusions, which are the product of external sensory impressions confirmed by facts which introduce haziness into those appearances of truth. The rational for the most part is merely human, as also becomes clear from its birth. This then is why nothing of the doctrine of faith can even be started, let alone be built up from it. Such doctrine must stem from the Lord’s Divine itself and His Divine Human. This is the origin of it, so much so indeed that the Lord is doctrine itself. It is for this reason also that in the Word He is called the Word, the truth, the light, the way, and the door. Furthermore – and this is an arcanum – all doctrine is derived from Divine Good and Divine Truth and possesses the heavenly marriage within it. Doctrine which does not possess this within it is not the genuine doctrine of faith. Consequently every detail of the Word, the source of doctrine, holds the image of a marriage within it, see 683, 793, 801.
[3] It does indeed seem in the literal or external sense of the Word as though the doctrine of faith possessed much from the rational and indeed from the natural. But the reason for this is that the Word exists for the sake of man, for whom it has been adapted in this way. Nevertheless in itself the Word is spiritual from a celestial origin, that is, it is derived from Divine Truth joined to Divine Good. The fact that doctrine would be brought to ruin if the rational were consulted as regards the contents of that doctrine will be illustrated by examples in what follows.
‘Abimelech had not come near her’ means that where the doctrine of faith was concerned rational truth was not consulted in any way. ‘And he said, Lord, will You kill even a righteous nation?’ means, Would the good and truth of doctrine be done away with?
[2] The fact that these words were uttered from a zeal that went with an affection or love towards the whole human race may be evident to anyone. Such love was directing the Lord’s thoughts even when He had not yet put off the human from the mother. And although He perceived from the Divine that the doctrine of faith had a wholly celestial origin, nevertheless in order that the needs of the human race, which does not receive anything of which it cannot form some idea from its own rational thought, might be met, it is therefore said, ‘Will You kill even a righteous nation?’ meaning, Would the good and truth of doctrine be done away with? The fact that a person does not receive anything of which he cannot form some idea from his rational thought may be seen from the ideas which a person entertains regarding Divine arcana. The latter always have some idea attached to them that is derived from worldly objects or things analogous to worldly objects by which they are retained in the memory and reproduced in thought. For without ideas derived from worldly objects a person is unable to engage in thought. If therefore truths from a Divine origin were presented naked they would never be accepted because they would go far beyond his range of understanding, and so beyond his faith as well, most of all in the case of those whose worship is external.
[3] Let the following examples illustrate this: The Divine itself cannot reside in anything except that which is Divine, and so only in the Lord’s Divine Human, and with man through His Human. If the rational were consulted it would say that the Divine itself can reside in the human of anyone. Again nothing holy exists which does not proceed from the Lord, and so from the Divine, which is one. If the rational were consulted it would say that what is holy may also spring from other sources.
[4] Again, man does not live from himself, do good from himself, believe the truth from himself, or indeed think from himself. The good and truth that he does or believes come from the Lord, but the evil and falsity come from hell. And what is more, hell – that is, those who are in hell – do not think from themselves but, in the same way as man, are recipients of the Lord’s good and truth. If the rational were consulted it would reject all those ideas because it would not comprehend them. It would also reject the idea that nobody is rewarded on account of the good he does and of the truth he teaches. And it would reject the idea that what is external does not accomplish anything, only what is internal, insofar as the affection for good is present in the doing of good, and insofar as from this the affection for truth is present in the teaching of truth, and insofar as the things are not done from oneself. So also with a thousand other examples that could be given.
[5] Such being the nature of the human rational, the Word therefore uses expressions that accord with man’s capacity to understand, and also with his inherent disposition. And this explains why the internal sense of the Word is different from its literal sense. This becomes quite clear from the Old Testament Word where most things are stated in ways that accord with the capacity to understand and the inherent disposition of the people who lived in those times. As a consequence little, indeed scarcely anything, is mentioned there about the life after death, about eternal salvation, and about the internal man. Indeed the character of the Jewish and Israelitish people with whom the Church existed at that time was such that if these matters had been disclosed to them they would not only have failed to understand them but would also have ridiculed them. If similarly it had been disclosed to them that the Messiah or Christ was going to come and save their souls for ever, this too they would have rejected as something of no importance, as also becomes clear from the same nation today. And it is so still that if what is internal or spiritual is mentioned in their presence, and the fact that the Messiah is not going to be a very great earthly king, they laugh at it.
[6] This was the reason why the Lord sometimes spoke in the way the Prophets had spoken and expressed all else by means of parables, as He Himself states in Matthew,
Jesus said, I speak to them in parables, because those who see do not see, and those who hear do not hear, nor do they understand. Matt. 13:13.
‘Those who see’ and ‘those who hear’ are those inside the Church who, though they see and hear, nevertheless do not understand. And in John,
He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and are converted and I heal them. John 12:40.
Their being ‘converted’ and being ‘healed’ implies that even so they would subsequently reject and in so doing profane, which entails eternal condemnation, see 301-303, 582, 1008, 1010, 1059, 1327, 1328, 2051, 2426. Nevertheless the Lord in many places disclosed the interior things of the Word, but solely for the benefit of the wise.
‘Did he not say to me’ means exoneration from having thought in this fashion. ‘She is my sister’ means that it was the rational which ought to be consulted. ‘And she herself also said, He is my brother’ means that the rational itself so declared that celestial good should be coupled with it. ‘In the uprightness of my heart’ means that such thinking was the product of innocence and simple good. ‘And in the blamelessness of my hands have I done this’ means the product of the affection for truth, and thus of all that enables one so to think.
[2] As regards the Lord’s life itself, it was a life in which the Human was constantly advancing towards the Divine, even to complete union, as stated many times already. For to fight the hells and overcome them He had to do so from the Human, since no conflict with the hells takes place from the Divine. That being so, He was pleased to put on the human as any other person; to be a small child as any other; to grow in knowledge and cognitions which were represented and meant by Abraham’s sojourning in Egypt, Chapter 12, and now in Gerar. Thus He was pleased to develop the rational like any other person and to dispel the shadow enveloping it and to bring it into light, and to do so from His own power. That the Lord advanced in this manner from the Human to the Divine, no one can be in any doubt if he merely considers the fact that He was a small child, and learned to talk as any small child does, and so on. But there was this difference, that the Divine itself dwelt within Him because He had been conceived from Jehovah.
[2] As regards the way in which the good and truth of the rational are acquired, its good comes from Divine good, but not its truth from Divine truth, for the truth of the rational is acquired through knowledge and cognitions which are implanted by means of the senses, external and internal, and so by an external route. Consequently many illusions that result from sensory impressions cling to the truths of that rational which cause those truths not to be truths. Nevertheless when Divine Good flows into them and takes hold of them they are in that case seen as truths and are acknowledged as truths, even though they are no more than appearances of truth. The good itself within those truths undergoes modification determined by the shadows there and comes to have the same nature as the truth. This is one arcanum which lies concealed in these words, that the rational so declared that celestial good should be coupled with it.
‘God said to him in the dream’ means a perception that was less obscure. ‘Yes, I know that in the uprightness of your heart you have done this’ means here, as previously, that such thinking was the product of innocence and of simple good, thus that there was nothing worthy of blame. ‘And I also withheld you from sinning against Me’ means nothing harmful had taken place. ‘Therefore I did not allow you to touch her’ means that the rational was not consulted at all.
[2] So that more may be known about the nature of the doctrine of faith, that it is spiritual from a celestial origin, it should be recognized that such doctrine is Divine truth from Divine good, and so is wholly Divine. That which is Divine is beyond comprehension since it surpasses all understanding, even that of angels. Nevertheless this Divine, which in itself is beyond comprehension, is able to flow in by way of the Lord’s Divine Human into man’s rational. And when it flows into his rational, the way it is received there is determined by the truths that are there. Thus it is received in varying ways, differently from one person to another. To the extent therefore that the truths residing with a person are more genuine, the Divine flowing in is also received more perfectly, and the understanding part of his mind is enlightened.
[3] Present within the Word of the Lord there are truths themselves, but in its literal sense there are truths which have been adapted to the mental grasp of those whose worship is external, while in its internal sense there are truths adapted to those who are internal people, that is, who as regards doctrine and at the same time as regards life are like angels. Their rational is as a result enlightened to such an extent that this enlightenment is compared to the brightness of the stars and of the sun, in Dan. 12:3; Matt. 13:43. This shows how important it is to know and receive interior truths. People can indeed know these truths, but none can possibly receive them except those who are governed by love to the Lord or by faith in Him. For as the Lord is Divine Good, so He is Divine Truth, and therefore doctrine itself, for everything included in the doctrine of true faith has regard to the Lord. It also has regard to the heavenly kingdom and the Church, and to the things that constitute the heavenly kingdom and the Church. But all these are His and are the intermediate ends by means of which the final end, that is, the Lord, is regarded.
[4] That the Lord is doctrine itself as regards truth and good, thus that it is He alone who is regarded in doctrine, He Himself teaches in John,
Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:6, 7.
Here ‘the way’ means doctrine, ‘the truth’ everything that constitutes doctrine, ‘the life’ good itself which is the life of truth. And that love to Him or faith in Him is that which receives, He also teaches in John,
His own did not receive him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:11-13.
‘The born of God’ are those in whom love and, from this, faith are present.
‘Now return the man’s wife’ means that the spiritual truth of doctrine was by him to be brought back untouched from the rational. ‘For he is a prophet’ means that thus it was to be taught. ‘And will pray for you’ means that it will thus be revealed. ‘And you will live’ means that thus doctrine will possess life. ‘And if you do not return her’ means here, as previously, if he did not restore the spiritual truth of doctrine untouched by the rational. ‘Know that you will certainly die’ means that no doctrine of truth and good will exist. ‘And everyone who is yours’ means all that belonged to it together.
[2] It has been stated above that although the doctrine of faith is in itself Divine and so stands above all human, even angelic, range of understanding, it has nevertheless been expressed in the Word in a rational manner in accordance with man’s range of understanding. It is like a parent who is teaching small boys and girls. When teaching them he explains every single thing in accordance with their own mentality, even though he himself thinks from what is more interior or higher. Otherwise he would be teaching without their learning, or it would be like casting seed on bare rock. The same applies also to the angels who in the next life instruct the simple in heart. Although the angels possess celestial and spiritual wisdom they nevertheless do not go above the heads of those they are teaching but use simple ideas to talk to them, yet advance by degrees to higher ideas as the instruction advances. For if they were to speak from angelic wisdom the simple would not grasp anything at all and so would not be led on to the truths and goods of faith. Much the same would happen if in the Word the Lord had not taught in a rational manner in accordance with man’s range of understanding. Nevertheless in its internal sense the Word is raised up to angelic understanding. But even so, that highest level of meaning on which the Word exists with angels is infinitely lower than the Divine. This shows what the Word is like in origin, and so what it is in itself, and thus that at every point it embodies more than the whole of heaven is capable of comprehending, even as to one small part, though in the letter it seems so ordinary and so crude.
[3] The fact that the Lord is the Word, because the Word derives from Him and He is in the Word, is clear in John,
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. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1, 4, 14.
See also Rev. 19:11, 13, 16. And because the Lord is the Word, He is doctrine also, for no other doctrine exists which is itself Divine.
Jehovah your God will raise up a Prophet like me from the midst of you, from your brothers; Him shall you obey. Deut. 18:15, 18.
The words ‘like me’ are used because the Lord was represented by Moses, as He also was by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and many more. And because people awaited Him it is therefore said in John,
When the people saw the sign which Jesus had done, they said, This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world. John 6:14.
[2] Since the Lord in the highest sense is ‘the Prophet’ and ‘the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy’, Rev. 19:10, ‘a prophet’ therefore means in the internal sense of the Word a person who teaches, and also – abstractedly – doctrine, as becomes quite clear from the following places: In Luke,
You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High. Luke 1:76.
Zechariah said this in reference to his son, John the Baptist, who was not the prophet but one preparing the way by teaching and preaching the good news about the Lord’s Coming, as he himself says,
They asked him, What are you? Are you Elijah? But he said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He answered, No. Therefore they said to him. Who are you? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord. John 1:21-23.
[3] In Matthew,
Many will say on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? Matt. 7:22.
Here it is evident that ‘prophesying’ means teaching. In John,
You must again prophesy over many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. Rev. 10:11.
‘Prophesying’ stands for teaching. What ‘peoples’, ‘nations’, ‘tongues’, and ‘kings’ mean has been stated and shown in various places. In the same book,
The nations will trample the holy city for forty-two months, but I will grant My two witnesses to prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. Rev. 11:2, 3.
Here also ‘prophesying’ stands for teaching. In Moses,
Jehovah said to Moses, See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. Exod. 7:1.
Here ‘prophet’ stands for one teaching or saying what Moses would have to say. In Joel,
I will pour out My spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Joel 2:28.
‘They will prophesy’ stands for they will teach.
[4] In Isaiah,
Jehovah has poured out over you a spirit of sleep, and has closed your eyes; the prophets and your heads, the seers, He has covered; and the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a sealed book which men give to one who is able to read, saying, Read this, now; and he will say, I cannot, for it is sealed. Isa. 29:10, 11.
Here ‘the prophets’ is used to mean those who teach truth, and ‘the seers’ those who see truth. Their heads are said to be ‘covered’ when they know no truth at all and see none at all. Because in ancient times those who taught were called prophets, they were also called ‘seers’, for ‘seeing’ meant understanding, 2150, 2325. The fact that they were called ‘seers’, see 1 Sam. 9:9; 2 Sam. 24:11. They were also called ‘men (vir) of God’ because of the meaning ‘man’ carried, dealt with in 158, 265, 749, 915, 1007, 2517. The fact that they were called ‘men of God’, see 2 Kings 1:9-16; 4:7, 9, 16, 21, 22, 25, 27, 40, 42; 5:8, 14, 20; 13:19; 23:16, 17.
[5] That ‘prophets’ means in the internal sense those who teach is clear in the whole of Jeremiah 23 and the whole of Ezekiel 13, where prophets are referred to specifically, and also in many other places where they are mentioned. This also explains why ‘pseudoprophets’ means those who teach falsities, as in Matthew,
At the close of the age many pseudoprophets will arise and lead many astray. False Christs and false prophets* will arise and will show great signs, and will lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Matt. 24:11, 24; Mark 13:22.
No others are meant here by ‘pseudoprophets’ and ‘false prophets’, nor likewise by the pseudoprophet in Rev. 16:13; 19:20; 20:10.
[6] How much the internal sense of the Word is obscured by ideas that have been conceived from the representatives of the Jewish Church becomes clear from the fact that every time a prophet is mentioned in the Word the idea of prophets like those who lived in those times immediately springs to mind, an idea which impedes greatly any discernment of what is meant by them. But the wiser anyone is, the more easily is an idea conceived from such representatives banished. For example, when the temple is mentioned, people who are more wise in their thinking do not envisage the temple in Jerusalem but the temple of the Lord; when Mount Zion, or simply Zion, is mentioned, they do not envisage a location in Jerusalem but the Lord’s kingdom; and when Jerusalem is mentioned, they do not envisage the Jerusalem situated in the tribe of Benjamin and Judah but the holy and heavenly Jerusalem.
* Here, apparently following Schmidius’ Latin version of the Scriptures, Sw. has two similar but not identical expressions – pseudoprophetae and falsi prophetae. But in the original Greek the same word occurs in both places.
It happened, when Jesus was baptized and prayed, that heaven was opened. Luke 3:21.
In the same gospel,
It happened, when Jesus took Peter, James, and John, He went up on the mountain to pray. When He was praying the appearance of His face was altered, and His clothing became dazzling white. Luke 9:28, 29.
Also in John, He said when praying,
Father, glorify Your name. Then a voice came from heaven, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. John 12:27, 28.
Here it is evident that the Lord’s praying consisted in a talking to the Divine and at the same time in revelation.
[2] The position with doctrine is that insofar as belief is rooted in what belongs to the human, that is, in sensory impressions, factual knowledge, and rational deductions, no doctrine exists; but insofar as sensory impressions, factual knowledge, and rational deductions are put aside, that is, insofar as belief is formed quite apart from these, doctrine comes into being because the Divine is able to flow in; whereas those properties possessed by the human prevent influx and reception. It is however one thing to rely for belief on rational deductions, factual knowledge, and sensory impressions, that is, to resort to them so as to arrive at belief, but quite another to confirm and strengthen belief by means of rational deductions, factual knowledge, and sensory impressions. The difference between the two approaches will be evident in what follows below, for these also are dealt with in the internal sense in this chapter.
‘In the morning Abimelech rose up early’ means a clear perception and confirmatory light flowing from celestial good. ‘And called all his servants’ means rational concepts and factual knowledge. ‘And spoke all these words in their ears’ means an exhortation made to confirmations from this source, even until they should become obedient. ‘And the men were very much afraid’ means until they should become averse.
[2] The reason why the perception which the Lord had when He was in the Human, and why His thought concerning that which was rational with the doctrine of faith, are dealt with so extensively in the internal sense is that stated above. A further reason is that it is angel-like to think in a distinct manner about the various aspects of the Lord’s life in the world, and about how He cast off the human rational and by His own power made it Divine, and at the same time to think about the nature of the doctrine of charity and faith when the rational mixes with it, besides many more things dependent on these, which are interior features of the Church and of man. To anyone whose heart and mind are set on worldly and bodily interests, such matters seem of little importance, and perhaps of no advantage to him; whereas to angels whose hearts and minds are set on celestial and spiritual interests, those same matters are precious. Their ideas and perceptions regarding them are beyond description. From this it is evident that very many matters which to man are of little importance because they are above and beyond his grasp of things are to angels of the highest worth since those matters come within the light of their wisdom; and conversely, the matters of highest worth to man, because they are worldly and so come within his grasp of things, are to angels of little importance since those matters go on away from the light of angels’ wisdom. This difference between angels and men with regard to the internal sense of the Word occurs in many places.
From the train of thought: There are many matters of a confirmatory nature that lend support to whatever the rational acknowledges; indeed its acknowledgement is due entirely to those confirmatory matters. This is why, when rational concepts are brought into a condition of obedience, an exhortation is made to things that confirm, for these are for ever at hand and so to speak rising up.
From the meaning of ‘ears’: ‘Ears’ in the internal sense of the Word means obedience because of the correspondence that exists between hearing and obeying. Furthermore, this correspondence lies hidden within the very word ‘hearing’, more so in ‘hearkening’. This correspondence has its origin in the next life where those who are obedient and willing belong to the province of the ear. Indeed they correspond to the faculty of hearing itself, an arcanum unknown as yet. But these matters will be seen more easily when correspondence will be dealt with in the Lord’s Divine mercy later on. The fact that ‘ears’ has this meaning becomes clear from very many places in the Word; but for the time being let only the following in Isaiah be quoted,
Make the heart of this people fat and their ears heavy, and plaster over their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and their heart understands. Isa. 6:10.
Here ‘seeing with the eyes’ means understanding, and ‘hearing with the ears’ means perceiving with affection and therefore means obeying. And nothing else is meant when the Lord says,
He who has an ear to hear, let him hear. Matt. 11:15; 13:9, 43; Luke 8:8; 14:35.
‘Abimelech called Abraham and said to him’ means the Lord’s thought from the doctrine of faith. ‘What have you done to us, and what sin have I committed against you?’ means reproving Himself for having thought in this fashion. ‘That you have brought great sin on me and on my kingdom’ means that thereby the doctrine of faith and all matters of doctrine would be at risk. ‘Deeds which ought not to be done you have done to me’ means horror.
He is the One who formed all things and the sceptre of His inheritance; Jehovah Zebaoth is His name. You are to me a hammer, weapons of war, and in You I will scatter the nations, and in You I will destroy the kingdoms. Jer. 51:19, 20.
This refers to the Lord who, it is clear, is not going to scatter nations or destroy kingdoms but to do so to things meant by nations and kingdoms, namely evils and falsities of doctrine.
[2] In Ezekiel,
Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations to where they have gone away, and will gather them from all around, and bring them into their own land; I will make them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one King will be King to them all, and they will no longer be two nations, nor will they be divided any longer into two kingdoms. Ezek. 37:21, 22.
‘Israel’ stands for the spiritual Church, ‘nation’ for the good of that Church, that is, of doctrine, for by ‘nations’ goods are meant, see 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849. ‘Kingdom’ stands for the truths of that Church. The fact that ‘nations’ and ‘kingdoms’ here mean something different from nations and kingdoms is quite evident, for the children of Israel, or the Israelites, are spoken of as being gathered together and brought into the land when in fact they were dispersed among the gentile nations and became such themselves.
[3] In Isaiah,
I will confound Egypt with Egypt, and they will fight, every one against his brother, and every one against his companion, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. Isa. 19:2.
Here ‘Egypt’ stands for the reasonings based on facts concerning the truths of faith, 1164, 1165, 1186. ‘City’ stands for doctrine, in this case heretical doctrine, 402, 2268, 2449, ‘kingdom’ for falsity of doctrine. ‘City against city and kingdom against kingdom’ therefore stands for the fact that heresies and falsities will be in conflict with one another. The same is meant by the following words spoken by the Lord in reference to the close of the age, in Matthew,
Nation will be roused against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Matt. 24:7.
This stands for evils against evils, and falsities against falsities.
[4] The things that Daniel prophesied about the four kingdoms, Chapter 2:37-46; 7:17-end; and about the kingdoms of Media and Persia, Chapter 8:20-end; and about the kingdoms of the king of the south and the king of the north in Chapter 11; and the things that John too prophesied in the Book of Revelation about kings and kingdoms, have no other meaning. Those kingdoms are used solely to mean states of the Church as regards truths and falsities. The conditions of monarchs and of earthly kingdoms in the sense of the letter are in the internal sense states of the Church and of the Lord’s kingdom. In the internal sense nothing else occurs there than spiritual and celestial things, for regarded in itself the Word of the Lord is purely spiritual and celestial; but so that it may be read and understood by man, no matter who, ideas of the things which belong to heaven are conveyed by means of such things as exist on earth.
‘Abimelech said to Abraham’ means further thought from the doctrine of faith. ‘What did you see, that you have done this thing?’ means a looking into the cause. ‘Abraham said’ means a perception, which constituted a reply. ‘Because I said, Surely there is no fear of God in this place’ means the thought derived from this that men would have no respect for spiritual truth in that state in which they were then. ‘And they will kill me on account of my wife’ means that this being so celestial things of faith would perish also if they were to think that spiritual truth alone could be joined to celestial good.
[2] This was still more the case with men when the Lord came into the world. At that time they did not even have any knowledge of what the celestial or the spiritual was, nor even of anything internal. Wholly earthly and worldly, and thus external things possessed every thought in their minds, even the minds of the apostles themselves who supposed that the Lord’s kingdom would be like a worldly kingdom. For that reason these asked to sit one on His right hand and the other on the left and for a long while imagined they were going to sit on twelve thrones and to judge the twelve tribes of Israel, still unaware of the fact that in the next life they would not have the power to judge even the least detail of any one individual’s affairs, 2129 (end). His looking into this state of the human race was the reason why the Lord at first thought about whether the rational ought to be consulted in the doctrine of faith. In this He was moved by a love which was that the salvation of all might be taken care of and that the Word should not perish.
[2] In addition to this arcanum, there are many other arcana within these words, ‘They will kill me on account of my wife’, which mean that such being so the celestial things of faith would perish if men were to think that spiritual truth alone could be joined to celestial good. One arcanum within them is that when people had no respect for spiritual truth, celestial good would thereby perish, for once spiritual truth is rejected celestial good perishes. Another arcanum is that unless it had been declared that they were to worship the Father – though there is no other way to Him except through the Son, and ‘he who sees the Son sees the Father’, John 14:8-12 – it would not have been accepted. And there are other arcana in them besides these.
‘And also she is truly my sister’ means that rational truth possessed such a relationship. ‘My father’s daughter but not my mother’s daughter’ means that the rational was conceived from celestial good as the father but not from spiritual truth as the mother. ‘And she became my wife’ means that spiritual truth was joined to the celestial, with rationality serving as the means. ‘And it happened, when God caused me to depart from my father’s house’ means when He left behind factual knowledge and the appearances that arise from this, together with their delights, meant here by ‘father’s house’. ‘That I said to her’ means the thought at that time. ‘This is your kindness which you may do for me’ means that consequently He would at that time have this comfort. ‘At every place we come to’ means all things which after that He would deduce regarding rational truth. ‘Say for me, He is my brother’ means that it should be said that rational truth had been joined to celestial good.
* This verb is plural; see 2559.
[2] For it is well known that man is born without any knowledge and without any actual rationality, and with only the ability to acquire these; also that after he is born he learns and absorbs all things gradually, chiefly by means of sensory impressions received through hearing and sight; and as he learns and absorbs them so he becomes rational. The fact that these things are accomplished by way of the body, which is an external way, because they are accomplished through hearing and sight, is self-evident. But the thing man does not know, because he does not reflect on the matter, is that something is flowing in constantly from within which receives those things that thus enter in and are implanted through hearing and sight, and arranges them into order. That which flows in, receives, and arranges them is Divine celestial good, which comes from the Lord. This is the source of the life of those things, the source of their order, and the source of all the separate relationships among them, as has been stated. From all this it may become clear that man’s rational springs from Divine celestial good as the father, in accordance with the words in this verse, ‘she is my father’s daughter’.
[3] As regards the second arcanum – that the rational is not conceived from spiritual truth as the mother – this becomes clear from what has been stated in 1902. For if spiritual truth were to flow in from within, as good does, man would be born with total rationality and at the same time with complete knowledge, so that he would have no need to learn anything. But since man is such that because of his heredity he is under the influence of every evil and consequently of every falsity, so that if truths themselves also were to flow in he would adulterate them and falsify them and in so doing would perish for ever, the Lord has provided against any truth at all flowing in by way of man’s internal being, only by way of his external. From this it becomes clear that man’s rational does not spring from spiritual truth as the mother, in accordance with the words in this verse, ‘but not my mother’s daughter’. It pleased the Lord that His own Rational as well should be formed according to the same order, to the end that by His own power He might make Divine all things with Him that were Human, and might implant Divine spiritual Truth in, and unite it to, Divine celestial Good, and implant Divine celestial Good in, and unite it to, Divine spiritual Truth.
‘Abimelech took’ means that the doctrine of faith….’Flocks and herds’ means, having been enriched with rational goods and natural goods…… ‘And men servants and women servants’ means, and also with rational truths and natural truths, as well as with affections for these…… ‘And gave to Abraham’ means, imparted these to the Lord…. ‘And he restored to him Sarah his wife’ means, when the Divine spiritual had been joined to the celestial.
Jehovah will have compassion on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and will set them on their own ground, and the sojourner will attach himself to them, and they will join themselves to the house of Jacob. And the peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will inherit them on Jehovah’s ground as men servants and women servants. Isa. 14:1, 2.
[2] Here ‘Jacob’ stands for the external Church, ‘Israel’ for the internal, ‘sojourners’ for people who receive instruction in truths and goods, 1463, 2025. ‘Men servants and women servants’ stands for natural truths and rational truths, together with the affections for them, which are to be of service to the Church meant by Jacob and Israel. The fact that Jacob and Israel, or Jews and Israelites, were not meant here, is quite evident, for once they had been dispersed among the gentiles the Israelites became gentiles. Yet the Jews still cherish and await an even literal fulfilment of this prophecy – that sojourners will attach themselves to them, and after that peoples will bring them [to their place] and will become their men servants and women servants. But in fact where reference is made in the prophetical parts of the Word to Jews and Israelites, not even the least thing is meant in regard to these, as must also be plain to the Jews themselves from the fact that in various places it is said equally of Israel as of Judah that they were to be led back.
[3] In the same prophet,
Behold, Jehovah is emptying the earth and making it desolate, and He will disfigure the face of it and will cause its inhabitants to scatter. And it will be, as with the people so with the priest, as with the man servant so with his master, as with the woman servant so with her mistress. Isa. 24:1, 2.
Here ‘the earth’ stands for the Church, 662, 1066, 1067, 1850, which is ’emptied and made desolate, and its face disfigured and inhabitants scattered’, when interior truths and goods, meant by ‘priest and people’, and when exterior truths and goods, meant by ‘man servant and woman servant’, are no more, which comes about when external things have dominion over internal.
[4] In the same prophet,
I will bring forth seed from Jacob, and from Judah the heir of My mountains, and My chosen ones will possess it, and My servants will dwell there. Isa. 65:9.
Here ‘Jacob’ stands for the external Church, ‘Judah’ for the internal celestial Church, ‘chosen ones’ for its goods, and ‘servants’ for its truths.
[5] In Joel,
I will pour out My spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Even on your men servants and women servants in those days I will pour out My spirit. Joel 2:28, 29.
The subject here is the Lord’s kingdom. ‘Prophesying’ stands for teaching, 2534, ‘sons’ for truths themselves, 489, 491, 533, 1147, ‘daughters’ for goods themselves, 489-491. ‘Men servants and women servants’ stands for lower truths and goods on which it is said that the spirit is to be ‘poured out’ when these serve to support and strengthen. That such things are meant here and elsewhere by ‘men servants and women servants’ is not too apparent, both because of the common idea which one has of men servants and women servants, and because of this being a prophecy of some seemingly historical event.
[6] In John,
I saw an angel standing in the sun, who called out with a loud voice saying to all the birds flying in mid-heaven, You may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and those seated on them, and the flesh of all, free men and slaves, both small and great. Rev. 19:17, 18.
Here it is quite plain that not the flesh of kings, captains, mighty men, horses, those seated on these, free men and slaves, which they were to eat, is meant but internal and external truths of the Church which became ‘flesh’ for them.
[7] That ‘men servants’ means truths and ‘women servants’ goods which were subservient to and so serve spiritual and celestial truths and goods is quite clear from the laws laid down in the representative Church which had to do with men servants and woman servants. All these laws have regard to the state of the Church and of the Lord’s kingdom in general and in particular, and to the way in which lower truths and goods, which are natural and rational, have to serve those that are spiritual and celestial, and thus those that are Divine, such as the following,
The Hebrew male slave and the Hebrew female slave* was to be free in the seventh year and at that time was to receive gifts from the flock, the threshing-floor, and the winepress. Exod. 21:2-6; Deut. 15:12-15; Jer. 34:9-14.
A wife was to go free if she had entered into bondage together with her husband; but if the master had provided him with the wife, the wife and children were to be the master’s. Exod. 21:3, 4.
A poor brother who had been bought was not to serve as a slave but as a hired servant and an alien; and in the jubilee year he was to go out together with his children. Lev. 25:39-43.
If a brother were bought by an alien sojourner he could be redeemed and leave in the jubilee year. Lev. 25:47 and following verses.
Male and female slaves bought from nations round about, and from alien sojourners, were to be their possession for evermore, whom they might subject to their absolute command, but not the children of Israel. Lev. 25:44-46.
If a slave did not wish to be emancipated, he was to have his ear pierced with an awl at the door, and he was a slave for evermore. The same applied to a female slave if she did not wish to be released. Exod. 21:6; Deut. 15:16, 17.
If someone beat his own male slave or female slave with a rod, so that he died, that slave was to be avenged. But if he survived a day or two, he was to be free; for he himself was his money. Exod. 21:20, 21.
If he struck the slave’s eye or tooth [and destroyed it], he was to go free. Exod. 21:26, 27.
If an ox gored a male slave or a female slave so that he died, [the owner] was to weigh out thirty pieces of silver for the master, and the ox was to be stoned. Exod. 21:32.
A slave who had escaped from his master was not to be placed under arrest but was to live in a place of his own choice and not be oppressed. Deut. 23:15, 16. A slave who had been bought with silver and who had been circumcised was to eat the Passover. Exod. 12:44, 45.
Anyone’s daughter who had been bought was not to leave her bondage as male slaves did. If she was bad the master was not to sell her to a foreigner. If she was betrothed to his son she was to be treated as a daughter. If that son married another he was not to reduce her food, clothing, and marital rights. If he did not honour these requirements she was to leave her bondage without making any payment. Exod. 21:7-11.
[8] All these laws owe their existence to laws in heaven, which are laws to do with what is good and true. They also have regard in the internal sense to these laws in heaven, but they do so partly through correspondences, partly through representatives, and partly through meaningful signs. But when the representatives and the meaningful signs of that Church, which were the most external and lowest things of worship, were done away with, so also did the necessity for such laws come to an end. If therefore these laws which are derived from the laws of order to do with what is good and true, and from representatives and meaningful signs, were to be opened up [to reveal their inner reality], it would be evident that ‘male slaves’ means nothing else than truths of a rational and factual kind, which are lower truths and therefore ought to serve spiritual truths, and that ‘female slaves’ means accompanying goods which because they too are lower ought indeed to serve, though in a different way. This explains why certain laws laid down concerning female slaves or servants differed from those laid down concerning male ones. For regarded in themselves truths are servants much more than their accompanying goods.
[9] ‘The royal right’ referred to in Samuel means nothing else in the internal sense than the right of truth, and also the right of falsity when it starts to have dominion over truth and over good, as becomes clear from the explanation of the words describing it,
This will be the king’s right who will reign over you _ he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots, and to his horsemen, and they will run before his chariots; he will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers; he will take your male slaves and your female slaves, and your best young men, and your asses, and will put them to do his work; he will take a tenth of your flock; and at length you yourselves will be made into slaves. And you will cry out on that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but Jehovah will not answer you on that day. 1 Sam. 8:11, 13, 16-18.
‘A king’ means truth, see 1672, 2015, 2069, and so in the contrary sense what are not truths, that is, falsities. The sons whom he would appoint to his chariots and to his horsemen mean truths of doctrine that would be subservient to false assumptions, which are meant by ‘chariots and horsemen’. The daughters whom he would take to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers mean the goods of doctrine by which the falsities would be made pleasing and acceptable. The male slaves and female slaves, the young men, and the asses whom ‘he will put to do his work’ mean rational concepts and factual knowledge by means of which those falsities will be made stronger. ‘The flock of which he will take a tenth’ means remnants of good to which he will do violence. And the statement that they would be made into slaves means that instead of having dominion the celestial and spiritual things of the Word and of doctrine will be subservient so as to confirm the falsities within his assumptions and the evils within his desires. For nothing exists which cannot be introduced into false assumptions so as to confirm them, either by false application, or by a wrong interpretation, or by perversion, or by rejection of things which do not support those assumptions. It is for this reason that the words are added, ‘If you cry out on that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, Jehovah will not answer you on that day’.
* In this paragraph man servant and male slave translate the same word (servus), and woman servant and female slave likewise translate the same word (ancilla).
[2] With man it is one thing for him to regard the doctrine of faith from rational ideas but quite another to regard rational ideas from the doctrine of faith. Regarding the doctrine of faith from rational ideas occurs when someone does not believe in the Word, that is, in doctrine drawn from it, until he is persuaded on rational grounds that the thing is so. But regarding rational ideas from the doctrine of faith occurs when someone first of all believes in the Word or doctrine drawn from it and then confirms the same by rational ideas. The first approach is an inversion of order and leads to belief in nothing, whereas the second is genuine order and leads to greater belief. It is the first that is expressed by ‘you will die on account of the woman’, meaning that the doctrine of faith would be brought to ruin if the rational were consulted, 2516, 2538, but the second by ‘Abimelech gave flocks and herds, and men servants and women servants’, meaning that the doctrine of faith was enriched with rational and natural goods and truths.
[3] These matters receive considerable treatment in the Word in its internal sense, especially when Asshur and Egypt are referred to, the reason being that when the doctrine of faith is regarded from rational ideas, that is, when someone does not believe until he is persuaded on rational grounds that the thing is so, it is not only in that case brought to ruin but also whatever is contained within it is denied. But when rational ideas are regarded from the doctrine of faith, that is, when he believes the Word and after that confirms the same things by means of rational ideas, doctrine is in that case living and whatever is contained within it is regarded affirmatively.
[4] There are therefore two basic attitudes of mind, the first leading to utter stupidity and insanity, the second to perfect intelligence and wisdom. The first occurs when someone denies everything, that is, says in his heart that he is unable to believe those things until he is convinced by things which he can grasp in his mind and perceive with his senses. This is an attitude which leads to utter stupidity and insanity and must be termed the negative attitude. The second occurs when someone regards affirmatively the things which comprise doctrine drawn from the Word, that is, when he thinks within himself and believes that those things are true because the Lord has spoken them. This is an attitude that leads to perfect intelligence and wisdom, and must be termed the affirmative attitude.
[5] The more those who think from the negative attitude consult rational ideas and the more they consult factual knowledge and the more they consult philosophical concepts, the more they pitch themselves headlong into darkness, till at length they deny everything. The reasons for this are that nobody is able from things that are lower to grasp with his mind those that are higher, that is, from those that are lower to grasp those that are spiritual and celestial, still less those that are Divine, since these go above and beyond his entire understanding. And what is more, when this is the case everything is regarded from a basically negative attitude of mind. On the other hand, however, people who think from the affirmative attitude are able to confirm themselves by whatever rational ideas, and by whatever factual knowledge, indeed by any philosophical concepts, which they are able in any way to make use of, for to them all these matters are confirmatory and enable them to have a fuller idea of the matter.
[6] In addition there are those who are in doubt before they deny, and there are those who are in doubt before they accept affirmatively. Those in doubt before denying are people who are disposed towards a life of evil; and when carried away by that life, then insofar as they think about those matters they deny them. Those however in doubt before accepting affirmatively are people who are disposed towards a life of good; and when they allow themselves to be turned to that life by the Lord, then insofar as they think about those matters they accept them affirmatively. Since this subject is taken further in the verses that follow this, let them in the Lord’s Divine mercy be illustrated more fully at that point; see 2588.
‘Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before you’ means the Lord’s perception regarding the doctrine of love and charity. ‘Dwell in that which is good in your eyes’ means His Being, present in everything where good exists.
[2] The reason why up to this point the Lord’s thought had been concerned with the doctrine of faith but was now concerned with the doctrine of love and charity is that the Lord joined the Human to the Divine by means of truths which are matters of faith, yet at the same time by means of Divine Goods which are matters of love that were present within those truths. This He did according to the order by which also man becomes spiritual and celestial but not Divine so as to have life in himself, in the way that the Lord became so. But when the marriage had taken place in the Lord of Divine Truth to Good, and of Good to Truth, which is meant by the words ‘Abimelech restored to Abraham Sarah his wife’, 2569, His thought was now concerned with the doctrine of love and charity, and this also was according to order; for once man has become spiritual and celestial he no longer thinks from truth but from good, yet not as the Lord did – from Divine Good united to Divine Truth. This is the reason why the doctrine of love and charity is only now mentioned for the first time, even though the doctrine of faith regarded in itself is the same, and the Lord’s perception and thought always sprang from Divine love within every thing of faith. Hence it is that the doctrine of love and charity is Divine doctrine itself, and was the doctrine which was cultivated in the Most Ancient Churches. And because that doctrine made one with the doctrine of faith, they rejected people who separated these; see 2417.
[2] What is more, there is the good of doctrine and there is the truth of doctrine. The good of doctrine is love and charity, the truth of doctrine is faith. People with whom the good of doctrine resides, that is, love and charity, have with them the truth of doctrine, that is, faith. But it is one thing for good, that is, love and charity, to exist with a person, quite another for the good of doctrine to do so. Young children with whom love towards parents and charity towards other young children exist are moved by good but not by the good of doctrine, nor consequently by the truth of doctrine, or faith. The people with whom the good of doctrine exists are those who have been regenerated by means of the truths of faith. To the extent that good resides with them truths reside with them; that is, to the extent that love and charity reside with them so does faith, and therefore wisdom and intelligence.
[3] Because love to the Lord and mutual love resides with angels, so also does all truth and thus all wisdom and intelligence, not only in celestial and spiritual things but also in rational and natural. For by virtue of love, it being from the Lord, they are in touch with the very beginnings or sources of things, that is, with ends in view and causes. Seeing from beginnings, that is, from ends and causes, is seeing from heaven all things that are below, even those on earth. This is like – to use a comparison – someone in a watch-tower set on a high mountain. He is able to look around for many miles on the objects that are below, while those who are below, especially those down in a valley or in a forest, can hardly see the same number of paces away. So it is with those governed by the good of doctrine in comparison with those governed by the truth of doctrine separated from good. Although the latter imagine that they can see further than the former, they do not in fact see any good at all, nor any truth except very slightly and superficially, and even that is defiled by falsities.
[4] Even so, the wisdom and intelligence of angels is finite, and in comparison with the Lord’s Divine Wisdom most finite, amounting to hardly anything. This may be recognized from the fact that the infinite and the finite cannot be measured one against the other, and yet communication from the Divine omnipotence is possible; also from the fact that the Lord is Good itself and Love itself, and is therefore the Essential Being (Esse) of good and the Essential Being (Esse) of love which resides with angels, and so the Essential Being (Esse) of their wisdom and intelligence. From this it may also be evident that the Lord is present in heaven and on earth in everything where good exists. People who imagine that the Lord is present in truth separated from good are very much mistaken, for He is present solely in good and from this in truth, that is, in love and charity, and from these in faith.
‘And to Sarah he said’ means perception from spiritual truth. ‘Behold, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your brother’ means an infinite abundance of rational truth joined to celestial good. ‘Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes for all who are with you’ means that rational truths are like a covering or garment for spiritual truths. ‘And with all’ means that so also are the truths descending from these. ‘And she was vindicated’ means that thus there was no blame attached and no harm done.
[2] These words, it is evident, embody deeper arcana than can be disclosed intelligibly. And if they were to be disclosed merely to a limited extent it would be necessary to explain many things first of all, which are as yet unknown, such as what spiritual truth is; what perception from spiritual truth is; the fact that the Lord alone has had perception from spiritual truth; the fact that just as the Lord implanted rational truth within rational good so He implanted spiritual truth within celestial good, and in so doing was constantly implanting the Human within the Divine in order that in every thing the marriage might exist of the Human with the Divine, and of the Divine with the Human. These things and many more must come first before the things within this verse can be presented intelligibly. Those things are primarily suited to the minds of angels which have the ability to understand them and for the sake of which minds the internal sense of the Word exists. To them these matters are represented in a heavenly manner; and by means of those matters and of the things within this chapter, an idea is instilled of how the Lord by degrees cast aside the human which He had from the mother until at length He was no longer her son (the fact that He did not acknowledge her as His mother is evident in Matt. 12:46-49; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:20, 21; John 2:4) and also an idea of how by His own power He made the Human Divine until He was one with the Father, as He Himself teaches in John 14:6, 8-11, and elsewhere.
[3] By means of myriads of ideas and representations, all of which are beyond description, the Lord presents such matters to angels in clear light. The reason, as has been stated, is that these are suited to their minds, and when conscious of them they experience the bliss of intelligence and the happiness of wisdom. What is more, there are angels who, while they were men, formed ideas of the Lord’s Human as they did of that of any other person. In order that these angels may exist together with celestial angels in the next life – for in that life ideas inspired by an affection for good join people together – such erroneous ideas as they have had about the Lord are dispelled by means of the internal sense, and in this way they are perfected. This shows how precious to angels those things are within the internal sense of the Word, though they may perhaps seem of small importance to man whose idea of such things is so obscure as to be scarcely any idea at all.
[2] That ‘a thousand’ in the Word means much and countless, and infinite when it has reference to the Lord, is evident from the following places: In Moses,
I, Jehovah your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons, on the third and on the fourth generations of those who hate Me; and showing mercy to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments. Exod. 20:5, 6; 34:7; Deut. 5:9, 10.
And in Jeremiah,
Jehovah shows mercy to thousands and He repays the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them. Jer. 32:18.
In these two places ‘thousands’ does not mean a definite number but that which is infinite, for the Lord’s mercy, being Divine, is infinite. In David,
The chariots of God are myriad on myriad, thousands on thousands;* the Lord is within them, Sinai within holiness. Ps. 68:17.
Here ‘myriads’ and ‘thousands’ stand for things that are countless.
[3] In the same author,
A thousand will fall at your side, and a myriad at your right hand; it will not come near you. Ps. 91:7.
Here also ‘a thousand’ and ‘a myriad’ stand for things that are countless, and as it has reference to the Lord, who is meant by ‘David’ in the Psalms, those numbers stand for all who are His enemies. In the same author,
Our garners are full, yielding food and still more food; our flocks bring forth a thousand, and ten thousand in our streets. Ps. 144:13.
Here also ‘a thousand’, and ‘ten thousand’ or a myriad, stand for things that are countless. In the same author,
A thousand years in Your eyes are but as yesterday when it is past. Ps. 90:4.
‘A thousand years’ stands for that which is outside time, thus for eternity, which is infinity of time. In Isaiah,
One thousand at the rebuke of one, at the rebuke of five will you flee until you are left like a flagstaff on top of a mountain. Isa. 30:17.
Here ‘one thousand’ or a chiliad stands for a large indefinite number, ‘five’ for few, 649. In Moses,
May Jehovah the God of your fathers add to you, as you are, a thousand times, and may He bless you. Deut. 1:11.
Here ‘a thousand times’ stands for things that are countless, as in everyday speech in which also a thousand is an expression for many, as when one speaks of things being said thousands of times, or done in thousands of ways. Similarly in Joshua,
One man of you will chase a thousand, for Jehovah your God fights for you. Josh. 23:10.
[4] Being a definite calculable number, the word ‘thousand’ when used in prophetical parts, especially when these are linked together as historical descriptions, appears to mean a thousand. But in fact it means people who are many or countless – an unspecified number. For historical descriptions are of such a nature that they restrict people’s ideas to the most immediate and proper meanings that the words possess, as they also do with the names that occur there, when in fact numbers in the Word, like names also, mean real things, as may become clear from what has been shown already concerning numbers in 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252. This explains why some people suppose that the thousand years referred to in Revelation 20:1-7 means a thousand years or periods of time, for the reason, as has been stated, that prophecies are declared in that book through historical descriptions. But in fact ‘a thousand years’ there means nothing else than that which is large and indeterminate, and elsewhere infinity of time, or eternity.
* lit. two myriads, thousands doubled.
[2] As regards rational truths being like a covering or garment for spiritual truths, the position is that the inmost parts of man’s being belong to his soul, while the more exterior belong to his body. Man’s inmost parts consist in goods and truths from which the soul has its life, or else the soul would not be a soul. Those which are more exterior however derive their life from the soul, and each one of them is like a body, or what amounts to the same, a covering or garment. This becomes clear in particular from the things that are seen in the next life, for example, from angels when these are presented to view. The interior parts of their beings shine from their faces, while the exterior are represented both in their bodies and in the clothes they are wearing, so completely that anyone there may recognize the character of those angels simply from the clothes they are wearing; for every angel consists of real substance and so is an essence given outward form. It is similar in the case of angels who have been seen and whose faces and clothing are described in the Word, such as those seen in the Lord’s tomb, Matt 28:3; Mark 16:5; and the twenty-four elders around the throne, Rev. 4:4; and others. Nor does this apply only to angels but also to everything else, even inanimate objects, mentioned in the Word. Their exteriors are a covering or garment as with the Ark of the Covenant and the tent surrounding it. ‘The Ark’ there, which was inmost, represented the Lord Himself, for the Testimony belonged there, while ‘the tent’ outside of it represented the Lord’s kingdom. Every single one of ‘the coverings’ there, that is, the veils and screens, represented the exterior celestial and spiritual things within the Lord’s kingdom, that is to say, within the three heavens This becomes clear from the plan of it that was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai, Exod. 25:9; 26:30. It was this that gave it its holiness, not the gold and silver and the carvings that were in it.
[3] Since the matter of rational truths being like a covering or garment to spiritual truths is being discussed here, and since in Moses a description of the Tent is given – of its coverings or of its screens, and also of its veils in front of places of entry – let an explanation be given, for the sake of illustration, of what specifically was meant by the veils. (But what was meant by the enveloping covers will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be stated elsewhere.) The Tabernacle had three veils, the first, which made a division between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies; the second, which is called a screen serving as a door into the tent; the third, which is called a screen serving as a gate into the court.
[4] The first of these, the veil itself, which was a screen in front of the Ark, is referred to in Moses,
You shall make a veil of violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet and fine-twined linen. The work of a designer,* you shall make it with cherubs on it. And you shall hang it on four pillars of shittim, overlaid with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold; [they shall stand] on four bases of silver. And you shall hang the veil under the clasps. And you shall bring in, within the veil, the Ark of the Testimony, and the veil shall divide for you the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. Exod. 26:31-34; 36:35, 36.
This veil represented the most immediate and inmost appearances of rational good and truth, which occur among the angels of the third heaven. These appearances are described by the violet, purple, twice-dyed scarlet, and fine-twined linen, the red of which represented the goods that belong to love, and the white its truths. Also, the gold and silver with which the pillars were overlaid, and of which the hooks and bases were made had a similar representation. As regards colours being representative, see 1042, 1043, 1053, 1624; and as regards ‘gold’ meaning the good of love, 113, 1551, 1552, and ‘silver’ truth, 1551, 2048.
[5] This shows what is meant by the veil of the temple being torn in two, Matt. 27:51; Mark. 15:38; Luke 23:45 – namely that once all appearances had been dispelled the Lord entered into the Divine Itself, and at the same time He opened a means of access to the Divine Itself through His Human that had been made Divine.
[6] The second veil, or screen serving as a door to the tent, is referred to in Moses as follows,
You shall make a screen for a door of the tent, of violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet and fine-twined linen, the work of an embroiderer. And you shall make for the screen five pillars of shittim and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold; and you shall cast for them five bases of bronze. Exod. 26:36, 37; 36 37, 38
This screen represented the appearances of good and truth which are lower and more exterior than those mentioned already; that is, they are the middle appearances that belong to the rational, which occur among the angels of the second heaven. The description given to these appearances is virtually the same, the difference being that this screen had five pillars and five bases, by which number is meant something relatively small, for these appearances are not so unified or heavenly as the appearances belonging to the inmost or third heaven. Regarding the number ‘five’ meaning that which is small, see 649, 1686. And because these appearances look to natural things, it was commanded that the bases should be cast of bronze; for bronze represented and meant natural good, 425, 1551.
[7] The third veil, or screen serving as a gate into the court, is referred to in Moses as follows,
The screen for a gate of the court shall be twenty cubits [long], of violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet and fine-twined linen, the work of an embroiderer; the pillars of it shall be four and the bases of these four. All the pillars of the surrounding court shall be fastened with silver; their hooks shall be of silver but their bases of bronze. Exod. 27:16, 17; 38:18, 19
This screen represented the still lower and more exterior appearances of good and truth, which are the lowest appearances belonging to the rational, and which occur among the angels of the first heaven. Because these appearances correspond to those that are more interior the description given to them is also much the same, the differences being that the pillars were not overlaid with gold but were fastened together with silver, while the hooks were made of silver – all of which mean rational truths such as have their origin immediately in factual knowledge – and the bases were made of bronze which mean natural goods. All these considerations show that there was nothing in the Tent which was not representative of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord’s kingdom; that is, they show that all those things were made so as to provide every type or imprint of the celestial and spiritual things that exist in the three heavens. And they also show that the coverings or screens meant things which, like a body or clothing, surround or are outside of that which is inmost.
[8] In addition to all this, the fact that coverings, screens, and a garment or clothes mean relatively lower truths becomes clear from many places in the Word, as in Ezekiel,
Fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt was your sail, violet and purple from the islands of Elishah was your covering.** Ezek. 27:7.
This refers to ‘Tyre’, which means interior cognitions of celestial and spiritual things, and therefore those who possess those cognitions, 1201. ‘Embroidered work from Egypt’ stands for factual knowledge – ‘Egypt’ meaning factual knowledge, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462. ‘Violet and purple from the islands of Elishah as a covering’ stands for forms of ritual corresponding to internal worship, 1156.
[9] In the same prophet,
All the princes of the sea will step down from upon their thrones, and will remove their robes and will strip off their embroidered clothes. They will clothe themselves with tremblings; they will sit on the ground. Ezek. 26:16.
This too refers to ‘Tyre’. ‘Robes’ and ’embroidered clothes’ stand for cognitions formed out of factual knowledge, and so stand for lower truths.
[10] In the same prophet,
I clothed you with embroidered cloth and shod you with badger, and I swathed you in fine linen and covered you with silk, and I adorned you with adornments and put bracelets on your hands and a chain on your neck. You took some of your garments and made for yourself gaily-decked high places and committed whoredom on them. You took your embroidered clothes and covered them. Ezek. 16:10, 11, 16, 18.
This describes ‘Jerusalem’, which is the spiritual Church, as it had been in early times and as it was subsequently when perverted. Its lower spiritual things and its matters of doctrine are the embroidered clothes, fine linen, and silk.
[11] In Isaiah,
The Lord, Jehovah Zebaoth, is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah the whole staff of bread and staff of water. At that time a man will take hold of his brother, of his father’s house, [saying,] You have clothing, you will be leader for us. On that day he will speak out, saying, I will not be a binder up; and in my house there is neither bread nor clothing. You shall not make me leader of the people. The Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion. And on that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, and of the networks, and of the crescents, and of the necklaces, and of the chainlets, and of the bracts;*** and the tiaras, and the garters, and the sashes, and the perfume boxes,**** and the earrings; the rings, and the nose-jewels, the changes of clothes, and the robes, and the veils, and the pin-cases, and the mirrors, and the muslin, and the turbans, and the mantles. Isa. 3:1, 6, 7, 17-24.
‘Jerusalem’ stands for the spiritual Church, ‘Judah’ for the celestial Church, ‘the staff of bread and the staff of water which will be taken away’ for good and truth. ‘The clothing which the leader will have’ stands for the truths that make up doctrine. The various articles of clothing and adornments that are listed belonging to the daughters of Zion mean every single genus and species of good and truth which were to be taken away from them. Unless each item that is mentioned meant some specific detail of the Church they would not be part of the Word, every expression of which has what is Divine within it. ‘The daughters of Zion’ who are said to possess all these articles means those things that constitute the Church; see 2362.
[12] In the same prophet,
Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion, put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; no more may there come in to you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Isa. 52:1, 2.
‘Zion’ stands for the celestial Church, ‘Jerusalem’ for the spiritual, ‘beautiful garments’ for the sacred things of faith. In the same prophet,
Their webs do not become clothing, neither are they covered in their works. Their works are works of iniquity. Isa. 59:6.
‘Webs’ stands for made-up truths which do not become clothing. ‘Clothing’ stands for exterior truths of doctrine and worship, hence the statement ‘neither are they covered in their works’.
[13] In the same prophet,
I will greatly rejoice in Jehovah, my soul will exult in my God, for He will clothe me with the clothes of salvation, with the robe of righteousness has He covered me. Isa. 61:10.
‘The clothes of salvation’ stands for truths of faith, ‘the robe of righteousness’ for the good that flows from charity. In John,
You have a few names also in Sardis, who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who conquers will be clad in white garments. Rev. 3:4, 5.
In the same book,
Blessed is he who is awake and keeps his garments, so that he may not walk naked. Rev. 16:15.
In the same book,
On the thrones I saw twenty-four elders seated, clad in white garments. Rev 4:4.
Here it is evident that ‘garments’ do not mean garments but spiritual things, which are forms of truth.
[14] The same may be seen in what the Lord said when speaking about the close of the age. When He said that people were not to turn back and fetch their garments, Matt. 24:18; Mark 13:16, truths were meant by ‘garments’, see 2454, as they also are in His reference to the man who was not wearing a wedding garment, Matt. 22:11, 12, and in His reference to John,
What did you go out to see. A man clad in fine garments? Those who wear fine garments are in kings’ houses. Matt. 11:8; Luke 7:25.
This means that they did not care about the external things of doctrine and worship but about the internal, and this is why He adds,
What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. Matt. 11:9.
‘A prophet’ here stands for the external things of doctrine and worship.
[15] As ‘clothes’ meant truths of every kind the children of Israel were commanded when leaving Egypt to ask from their neighbour for gold and silver, and for clothes, and to place them on their children, Exod. 3:22; 12:35, 36.
[16] They were also commanded not to wear clothes made from different kinds of stuff, or to wear mixed ones, Lev. 19:19; Deut. 22:11; and were commanded to make tassels for the hems of their clothes, to put a violet cord there, and when they saw it were to recollect the commandments and carry them out, Num. 15:38-40. In former times they also rent their clothes, as is evident in Josh. 7:6; Judg. 11:35; 1 Sam. 4:12; 2 Sam. 1:2, 11, 12; 3:31; 13:30, 31; 15:32; 1 Kings 21:27; 2 Kings 5:7, 8; 6:30; 22:11, 14, 19; Isa. 36:22; 37:1. This action meant a zealous regard for doctrine and truth which had in a similar way been torn to shreds, and also a humble recognition that nothing existed with them, which is meant by the adornment of clothing.
[17] That veils, screens, garments, or clothes mean such things is also evident with the prophecy of Jacob, who by now was Israel,
He will bind his colt to the vine, and the foal of his ass to a choice vine. He will wash his clothing in wine, and his garment in the blood of grapes. Gen. 49:11.
What these words mean nobody can know except from the internal sense, that is to say, what is meant by ‘a vine’, ‘a choice vine’, ‘a colt’, ‘the foal of an ass’, ‘wine’, ‘the blood of grapes’, ‘clothing’, and ‘garment’. That it is a reference to the Lord who in that prophecy is called ‘Shiloh’ is self-evident. The reference at this point is to Judah who represents the Lord’s Divine celestial. ‘The clothing he was to wash in wine’ and ‘the garment in the blood of grapes’ mean His Rational and Natural which He was to make Divine.
[18] Similarly in Isaiah,
Who is this coming from Edom, with dyed clothes from Bozra, he that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the vast numbers of his strength? Why are you red as to your clothing, and your clothes like his that treads the winepress? And I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me. Their victory has been sprinkled on my clothes, and I have stained all my raiment. Isa. 63:1-3.
Here also ‘clothes’ and ‘raiment’ stand for the Lord’s Human which, by means of the conflicts brought about by temptations and by means of victories, He made Divine by His own power; hence the statement, ‘I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me’. The reference to ‘Isaac smelling the smell of Esau’s clothes, and so blessing him’ implies much the same, Gen. 27:27.
[19] The Holiness itself of the Lord’s Divine Human was also a garment which was seen as light and as something dazzling white when He was transfigured, described in Matthew as follows,
When Jesus was transfigured His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became [white] as the light. Matt. 17:2.
In Luke,
When Jesus was praying the appearance of His face was altered; His clothing became dazzling white. Luke 9:29.
And in Mark,
When Jesus was transfigured His clothes became glistening, intensely white like snow, as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Mark 9:3.
The sacred vestments worn by Aaron when he went inside the veil, which were made of linen, were similarly representative, Lev. 16:2, 4, and so were the sacred vestments ‘for glory and adornment’ when he ministered, which are described in Exod. 28:2-end; 39:1-end. Not a detail of those vestments failed to be representative.
* lit. of designing, but where this verse is explained Sw. translates of a designer; see 9669.
** The Latin word used here is the same as that which in preceding quotations from the Word has been translated screen.
*** i.e. thin metal plates worn as jewelry
**** lit. houses of the soul
[2] The fact that no other kinds of childbirths are meant in the Word by childbirths may become clear from the following places: In Samuel,
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, and those who were hungry have ceased to be so, until the barren has borne seven, and she who has many has left off. Jehovah takes life and He gives life; He causes [some] to go down into hell and [others] to come up. 1 Sam. 2:5, 6.
In Jeremiah,
The bearer of seven languishes, she breathes her last. Her sun is going down while it is still day. Jer. 15:9.
In Isaiah,
Sing, O barren one, who did not bear, break forth into singing and shout, who has not gone into labour; for the sons of her that is desolate are more than the sons of her that is married, said Jehovah. Isa. 54:1.
In David,
The voice of Jehovah causes the hinds to calve, and He strips the forests bare; and in His temple everyone says, Glory. Ps. 29:9.
In Isaiah,
Blush, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, I have not gone into labour, I have not given birth, nor have I reared young men or brought up young women. As when the report comes to Egypt, they go into labour over the report of Tyre. Isa. 23:4, 5.
In the same prophet,
Before she went into labour she gave birth, and before pain came to her she brought forth a male child. Who has heard of such a thing as this? Who has seen such? Does a land give birth in one day? And shall I [bring to the point of birth and not] cause to give birth? said Jehovah. Shall I who cause to give birth shut up [the womb]? said your God. Isa. 66:7-9.
In Jeremiah,
Ask, now, and see whether a male can bear. Why then have I seen every man, hands on loins, like one giving birth? Jer. 30:6.
In Ezekiel,
I will send fire on Egypt, and Sin will certainly go into labour, and No will be [breached]. Ezek. 30:16.
In Hosea,
As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird, away from birth, and from the womb, and from conception. Hosea 9:11.
In the same prophet,
The pains of childbirth have come upon Ephraim, he is an unwise son, for now he will not present himself at the mouth of the womb of sons. Hosea 13:13.
In John,
A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Carrying in the womb she cried out in labour, and was in anguish to give birth. A dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she had given birth to her child he might devour it. She gave birth therefore to a male child, who was to rule* all nations with an iron rod. But the boy was caught up to God and His throne. Rev. 12:1, 2, 4, 5.
[3] From all these places anyone may see that no other conceptions and births are meant than those which are conceptions and births of the Church. The same may also be seen from the things said about Abimelech, that ‘God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his women servants, and they gave birth’; and that ‘Jehovah had completely closed every womb in Abimelech’s house on account of the matter of Sarah, Abraham’s wife’. What is meant in the internal sense by these words may become clear from the explanation of them, namely the character of the doctrine of faith when regarded from Divine truths, and the character of it when regarded from the rational. That is to say, when regarded from Divine truths, that is, from the Word, every single thing, both rational and factual, is confirmatory. But it is different when it is regarded from human things, that is from reason and knowledge. When regarded from the latter no good or truth at all is conceived; for to regard things from the Word is to do so from the Lord, but to regard them from reason and knowledge is to do so from man. The former gives rise to all intelligence and wisdom, the latter to all insanity and stupidity.
* lit. to shepherd
‘For Jehovah had completely closed every womb of Abimelech’s house’ means sterility of doctrine. ‘Because of the matter of Sarah’ means through the rational if it had joined itself. ‘Abraham’s wife’ means, in order that spiritual truth might be joined to celestial good.
[2] Similarly in other places in the Word where conception is referred to, as in Isaiah,
Jehovah has called me from the womb. Jehovah who formed me from the womb has said…. I will at that time be precious to Jehovah, and my God will be my strength. Isa. 49:1, 5.
‘Strength’ has reference to truth and therefore ‘God’ is used. In the same prophet,
Thus said Jehovah, your Maker, and He who formed you from the womb. Isa. 44:2, 24.
And elsewhere. For the same reason also the phrase ‘Abimelech’s house’ is used, which means the good that belongs to the doctrine of faith. As regards ‘a house’ meaning good, see 2048, 2233, and ‘Abimelech’ the doctrine of faith, 2509, 2510. The statements that ‘they gave birth’ and ‘the wombs of Abimelech’s house were closed on account of Sarah’, it is evident, hold a Divine arcanum within them, but this arcanum cannot possibly be disclosed except by means of the internal sense.
[2] People’s attitudes to matters of doctrine regarding faith have been spoken of above in 2568. There it was stated that there are two basic attitudes of mind from which people think, the negative and the affirmative; also that they think from a negative attitude who believe nothing unless they are convinced by rational considerations and by facts, and indeed by sensory evidence, whereas those people think from an affirmative attitude who believe that things are true because the Lord has said so in the Word and who thus have faith in the Lord. People who adopt the negative attitude towards the truth of anything in the Word say in their hearts that they are willing to believe when persuaded on rational grounds and by facts. But these are such as never believe, not even indeed if they were convinced by means of the evidence of their own physical senses of seeing, hearing, and touch; for they would always be producing new reasonings against such things, and in so doing they would at length completely destroy all faith and at the same time would turn the light of the rational into darkness, because they would turn it into falsities. People however who adopt the affirmative attitude, that is, who believe that things are true because the Lord has said so, are being confirmed all the time by rational considerations and by facts, and even by sensory evidence, and their ideas are being enlightened and are strengthened by these; for light comes to man through no other channel than the rational ideas and the factual knowledge which he possesses. This is so with everyone. With those who have the affirmative attitude of mind doctrine is certainly living, and of them it is said that they are healed and give birth. But with those who have the negative attitude doctrine certainly dies, and of them it is said that the womb is completely closed. All this shows what it is to enter the doctrine of faith by means of rational ideas, and what it is to enter into rational ideas from the doctrine of faith.
[3] Let these differences be illustrated by examples: The Word teaches that the first and foremost matter of doctrine is love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour. People with the affirmative attitude towards this are able to enter into whatever things of a rational, factual, and indeed sensory kind they please, each according to his ability, knowledge, and experience. Indeed the more they do so the more they are confirmed, for the whole natural order is full of what is confirmatory. But people who deny this first and foremost teaching, and who wish first of all to be convinced by means of factual and rational considerations that a thing is true, never allow themselves to be convinced because they deny in their hearts and are all the time taking their stand on some other basic idea which they believe to be essential. In the end through confirmations of that idea these people so blind themselves that they cannot even know what love to the Lord is and what love towards the neighbour is. And because they confirm themselves in notions contrary to such love they at length also confirm themselves in the idea that no other kind of love can exist that has any delight in it except self-love and love of the world. And this they do to such an extent – if not in doctrine yet in the lives they lead – that they embrace hellish love in place of heavenly love.
[4] But with those who as yet have adopted neither a negative attitude nor an affirmative one but are in a state of doubt that precedes either of these, the position has been stated above in 2568. There it was shown that those who incline towards a life of evil fall into the negative attitude, whereas those who incline towards a life good are brought into the affirmative one. Take a different example: One of the leading ideas of the doctrine of faith is that all good comes from the Lord and all evil from man or self. People with the affirmative attitude that this is so are able to confirm themselves by many rational ideas, and by facts, such as that no good can possibly flow in except from Good itself, that is, from the fountain of good, and so from the Lord, and that good cannot have its first beginnings anywhere else. Such people find these ideas enlightened for them by all things which are truly good within themselves, within others, within society in general, and indeed within the whole of creation. But people with the negative attitude confirm themselves by everything they can possibly think of in ideas to the contrary, so much so that at length they do not know what good is. And disputing among themselves as to what the highest good is, they are profoundly ignorant of the fact that it is by means of celestial and spiritual good from the Lord that every type of good beneath it is made living, and that the delight flowing from it is truly delight. Some also imagine that if good does not come from themselves it cannot possibly come from any other source.
[5] Take another example: Those who are governed by love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour are able to receive the truths of doctrine and to have faith in the Word, but not so those leading a life of self-love and love of the world. Or what amounts to the same, those governed by good are able to believe but not those governed by evil. People with the affirmative attitude of mind are able to confirm this in countless ways – with rational ideas and factual knowledge. With rational ideas they are able to confirm that truth is compatible with good but not with evil, and that as all falsity resides in evil it is also the product of evil, and that if any people governed by evil nevertheless possess any truth, this is on their lips, not in their heart. And with factual knowledge they are able to confirm from many points of view that truths put evils to flight and that evils detest truths. But people with the negative attitude confirm themselves in the idea that everyone, irrespective of what he is like in character – even if he leads a life for ever hating, taking delight in revenge, and practicing deceit – is able to believe as others are able to do so. Yet while holding to this idea they themselves totally reject goodness of life from doctrine, and having rejected it believe nothing whatever.
[6] To make the matter plainer still, take yet another example: Those who adopt the affirmative attitude that the Word has been written in such a way as to have an internal sense that is not apparent in the letter are also able in many ways to confirm themselves through rational considerations, such as the following,
By means of the Word man has a link with heaven.
Correspondences exist of natural things with spiritual, though the spiritual are not very apparent.
The ideas which belong to interior thought are completely different from the material ideas which fall into the words of spoken language. While man is in the world he is able to be in heaven (for he has been born for life in both places) through the Word which is intended for both places.
With some people a certain Divine light flows into the things of the understanding and into the affections when the Word is being read.
It is necessary that something be written which has come down from heaven and thus that the nature of its existence in its origins cannot be the same as its existence in the letter.
It cannot be holy except from a certain holiness which it has within it.
A person with the affirmative attitude is also able to confirm himself by means of certain facts, such as the following,
In former times people were living in an age of representatives. The writings of the Ancient Church contained such representatives, and those of many authors among the gentiles were composed of them, so that in the Churches that style of writing was regarded as being holy, and among the gentiles as being learned (books by many of those authors could also be mentioned).
But people who adopt the negative attitude, though they do not deny all these considerations and facts, nevertheless do not believe them. They persuade themselves that the Word is such as it exists in the letter, where indeed it presents a worldly appearance, but is nevertheless spiritual. They do not have any interest however in where that spiritual element lies, but for a multitude of reasons still want it. And that of which they are persuaded they are able to confirm in many ways.
[7] To present this matter in a way that can be grasped by ordinary people, let the following known fact serve as an example: Those with the affirmative attitude that sight does not belong to the eye but to the spirit which sees objects in the world by means of the eye as an organ of its own body can find confirmation of this fact in many ways. For instance, those people may find confirmation of it in their hearing of words spoken by another, in that these spoken words ally themselves to a certain interior sight, into which those words are converted – something that could not possibly occur but for the existence of that interior sight. These people may also find confirmation of the same in the consideration that whatever they think about is seen with an interior sight, by some more clearly and by others more obscurely, as well as in the consideration that the things produced by their imagination are not unlike actual objects of sight. They may find a further confirmation in the consideration that unless it were the spirit within the body that saw the things taken in by the eye as the organ of sight, the spirit would be unable to see anything in the next life, when in fact it is destined to behold countless and astonishing sights which the eye of the body cannot possibly see. In addition confirmation may be found by these people by reflecting on how in dreams, especially those of the prophets, many things have likewise been seen, yet not with the eyes. Finally, if trained in philosophy, a person may find confirmation in the consideration that things which are more exterior cannot enter into those that are more interior, just as that which is compound cannot enter into that which is simple, so that things of the body cannot enter into those of the spirit; only the reverse is possible. Besides these many other confirmations might be introduced, till at length a person is persuaded that sight belongs to the spirit, and not to the eye except from the spirit. But people with the negative attitude either speak of everything of this kind as that which is natural and physical, or else they speak of it as that which is imaginary. And when they are told that a spirit possesses and enjoys far more perfect sight than man does in the body, they laugh at the idea and dismiss it as nonsense, for they believe that they will be living in darkness when they are deprived of the sight of the eye. But in fact quite the reverse is the case in that they then dwell in the light.
[8] These examples show what it is to enter into things of a rational and factual nature from truths, and what it is to enter into truths from things of a factual and rational nature. The first method of approach is according to order, but the second is contrary to it; and when a person acts according to order he is enlightened, but when he acts contrary to order he is made blind. This makes plain how important it is for people to know and believe truths, for truths enlighten man, but falsities make him blind. Truths open up to the rational a vast and practically unlimited field, whereas falsities provide scarcely any such opening up at all, though this is not very evident. The reason why angels have so much wisdom is that they are enveloped in truths, truth being the light itself of heaven.
[9] Those who have made themselves blind through refusing to believe anything which they do not perceive with the physical senses, till at length they have no belief at all, were in former times called ‘serpents belonging to the tree of knowledge’. For they reasoned much from things as perceived by the senses and from the resulting illusions which man accepts and believes all too easily, and by such reasoning they led very many astray, see 195, 196. In the next life they are easily distinguished from other spirits by the fact that in everything which is a matter of faith they reason whether it is so. And if it is demonstrated to them a thousand times, and then another thousand, that it is so they still advance doubts of a negative kind against every confirmation that is offered, and this they would go on doing for ever. They are so blinded therefore that they are lacking in common sense, that is, they are unable to grasp what good and truth are. Yet every one of them imagines that he is wiser than anyone else in the whole universe, making wisdom consist in being able to dispose of what is Divine and to derive the origin of things from what is natural. Many who have been considered wise men in the world are pre- eminently such as these; for the more anyone with the negative attitude of mind possesses talent and knowledge, the more insane he is, more so than all others. But the more anyone with the affirmative attitude possesses talent and knowledge the wiser he is able to become. One is not by any means forbidden to develop the rational by means of factual knowledge, but one is not allowed to use it to harden oneself against the truths of faith which belong to the Word.
[10] Much concerning these matters occurs in the internal sense of the Word, especially in prophetical sections, where the subject is Asshur and Egypt, for ‘Asshur’ means reasoning, 119, 1186, and ‘Egypt’ knowledge, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462.
People who wish to enter into matters of doctrine regarding faith and into Divine things by means of things of a factual and of a rational nature, and who are consequently of unsound mind, are referred to in Isaiah as follows,
I will confound Egypt within Egypt, and they will fight every one against his brother, and every one against his companion, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt will be emptied out in the midst of it, and I will swallow up his plans. The waters from the sea will fail, and the river will be parched and dry; and the streams will depart, and the rivers of Egypt will diminish and become parched. Reed and rush will wither away. Every seed of the river will be dry. Jehovah has mingled in the midst of her a spirit of perversity, and they have made Egypt err in all its work, as a drunken man errs in his vomit. Isa. 19:2, 3, 5-7, 14.
In the same prophet,
Woe to the rebellious children, who depart to go down into Egypt but have not asked at My mouth, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. And the strength of Pharaoh will be shame for you, and trust in the shadow of Egypt ignominy. Isa. 30:1-3.
In the same prophet,
Woe to those who go down into Egypt for help and rely on horses and trust in chariots because they are many, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel and do not seek Jehovah. And Jehovah will stretch out His hand; he who gives help will stumble, and he who is helped will fall, and they will all be destroyed together. And Asshur will fall by a sword, not of man; and a sword, not of man, will devour him. Isa. 31:1, 3, 8.
In Jeremiah,
My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hollow out pits for themselves, broken pits which do not hold water. Is not Israel a slave? If he is a home-born [servant], why has he become a prey? Are you not bringing this on yourself by forsaking Jehovah your God at a time when He is leading you in the way? And now, what have you to do with the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor, or what have you to do with the way to Asshur, to drink the waters of the River? O generation, see the Word of Jehovah! Have I been a wilderness for Israel? or a land of darkness? For what reason have My people said, We will be our own masters, we will not come to You any more? Why do you go off so forcefully to change your way? You will also be put to shame by Egypt, as you were put to shame by Asshur. Jer 2:13, 14, 17, 18, 31, 36.
In the same prophet,
Hear the word of Jehovah, O remnants of Judah, Thus said Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel, If you surely set your faces to come into Egypt, and you enter to sojourn there, then it will be, that the sword of which you are afraid will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are terrified will cleave to you there in Egypt, so that you die there. And all the men (vir) who have set their faces to come into Egypt to sojourn there will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, and none of them will survive or escape from before the evil which I am bringing over you. Jer. 42:15-17, and following verses.
In Ezekiel,
And let all the inhabitants of Egypt know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. When they grasp you with the hand, you will be broken, and you will tear for them every shoulder; and when they lean on you you will be broken, and you will make all their loins to be at a stand. Therefore thus said the Lord Jehovih, Behold, I am bringing a sword over you, and I will cause man and beast to be cut off from you; and the land of Egypt will be a desolation and a waste, and they will know that I am Jehovah, for [Egypt] has said, The river is mine, and I made it. Ezek. 29:6-9, and following verses.
In Hosea,
Ephraim was like a silly dove. They called on Egypt, they went away to Asshur. When they go I will stretch My net over them. Woe to them, for they have strayed away from Me! Hosea 7:11-13.
In the same prophet,
Ephraim feeds the wind, and pursues the east wind. All the day long he multiplies lies and devastation and they make a covenant with Asshur, and oil is carried down into Egypt. Hosea 12:1.
In the same prophet,
Israel has committed whoredom beneath its God. You have taken delight in hiring yourself out on every threshing-floor. Ephraim will return to Egypt, and in Asshur they will eat what is unclean. For behold, they have gone away on account of the devastation, Egypt will gather them, Moph* will bury them; the nettle will possess their precious things of silver, the thorn will be in their tents. Ephraim has been stricken, their root has dried up, they will bear no fruit. Even when they bring forth I will slay the beloved fruits of their womb. My God will cast them away because they have not hearkened to Him, and they will be wanderers among the nations. Hosea 9:1, 3, 6, 16, 17.
In Isaiah,
Woe to Asshur, the rod of My anger, and he is the staff, in their hand, of My indignation! He does not think what is right and his heart does not consider what is right, for it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few, for he says, Are not my princes at the same time kings? I will visit upon the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Asshur, for he has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have intelligence, and I will remove the boundaries of peoples and will plunder their treasures, and as a powerful man will cast down the inhabitants. Therefore the Lord, the Lord Zebaoth, will send leanness among his fat ones, and instead of his glory a burning of fire will be kindled. Isa. 10:5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 16.
[11] In all these places ‘Asshur’ means reasoning, as has been shown, ‘Egypt’ and ‘pharaoh’ mean knowledge, and ‘Ephraim’ the understanding part of the mind. These and many other places elsewhere describe what man’s rational comes to be like when he reasons about the truths of faith from the negative attitude of mind. Similar teaching is embodied in the incidents recorded in Isaiah 36 and 37, when the Rabshakeh was sent from the king of Asshur and spoke out against Jerusalem and king Hezekiah, and the angel of Jehovah at that time struck down in the camp of the king of Asshur one hundred and eighty-five thousands. Those descriptions mean the disarray into which all that constitutes man’s rationality is thrown when he reasons against Divine things, however much he may seem to himself at that time to be wise.
[12] Such reasoning is also referred to in various places as ‘whoredom committed with the sons of Egypt and with the sons of Asshur’, as in Ezekiel,
You committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt, your neighbours, great in flesh, and multiplied your whoredom. And you committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur, and were still not satisfied. Ezek. 16:26, 28; 23:3, 5-21.
See 2466.
[13] People however who enter into things of a rational and factual kind from the doctrine of faith and by so doing are made wise are referred to in Isaiah as follows,
On that day there will be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to Jehovah at its border; and it will be for a sign and a witness to Jehovah Zebaoth in the land of Egypt, for they will cry out to Jehovah because of the oppressors, and He will send a saviour and prince to them, and He will deliver them. And Jehovah will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know Jehovah on that day and will offer sacrifice and minchah, and will make a vow to Jehovah and perform it. Isa. 19:18-21.
In the same chapter,
On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Asshur, and Asshur will come into Egypt, and the Egyptians will serve Asshur.** On that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Asshur, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom Jehovah Zebaoth will bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Asshur the work of My hands, and Israel My heritage. Isa. 19:23-25.
This is referring to the spiritual Church, of which Israel is the spiritual element, Asshur the rational, and Egypt the factual. These three constitute all the intellectual powers of that Church, which come in that order one after another. This explains why it is said, ‘On that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Asshur’, and ‘blessed be Egypt My people, Asshur the work of My hands, and Israel My heritage’.
[14] In the same prophet,
It will be on that day, that a great trumpet will be blown, and they will come – those who are perishing in the land of Asshur, and those who are outcasts in the land of Egypt – and they will bow themselves down to Jehovah on the holy mountain, in Jerusalem. Isa. 27:13.
In the same prophet,
Thus said Jehovah, The labour of Egypt, and the wares of Cush and of the Sabaeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours. They will follow after you and bow down to you. To you they will make the supplication, God is with you only; and there is no other besides God. Isa. 45:14.
‘Cush and the Sabaeans’ are cognitions, 117, 1171. In Zechariah,
Egypt will go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah Zebaoth. Zech. 14:17, 18.
In Micah,
As for me, I look to Jehovah, I wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. The day for building your walls, this is the day; and they will come even to you from Asshur and the cities of Egypt even to the River. Micah 7:7, 11, 12.
[15] In Ezekiel,
Thus said the Lord Jehovih, At the end of forty years I will gather Egypt from the peoples among whom they were scattered, and I will bring back the captivity of Egypt. Ezek. 29:13, 14.
In the same prophet,
Behold, Asshur was a cedar in Lebanon, beautiful in its branches, and a shady forest, and lofty in height, and its trunk among entangled boughs. The waters caused it to grow, with its streams going around the place of its planting, and he sent out his lines of water to all the trees of the field. Therefore its height was made higher than all the trees of the field, and its branches were multiplied, and its branches were made long by many waters. In its branches all the birds of the air made their nests, and under its branches every wild animal of the field gave birth, and in its shadow dwelt all great nations. And it became beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches, for its root was in many waters. The cedars did not hide it in the garden of God, the fir trees were not equal to its branches. No tree in the garden of God was equal to it in its beauty. I made it beautiful in the mass of its branches, and all the trees of Eden which are in the garden of God envied it. Ezek. 31:3-9.
Here the Most Ancient Church, which was celestial, is described as to the nature of its rational and so of its wisdom and intelligence, for that Church used to look at things below from those which were Divine. Thus it looked at truths from goods themselves, and then from truths at what was subsidiary to these. By ‘Asshur’ and ‘a cedar’ are meant the rational, by ‘entangled boughs among which were its branches’ is meant factual knowledge, by ‘streams’ and ‘waters’ are meant spiritual goods, among which was its ‘root’, by ‘the height and the length of the branches’ the extent of it, by ‘the garden of God’ the spiritual Church, and by ‘the trees of Eden’ perceptions. This and the other places quoted above show what man’s rational is like and what his factual knowledge is like when they are subordinate to Divine truths and serve these by confirming them.
[16] The fact that things of a rational and factual kind serve people who have the affirmative attitude of mind as a means for making them wise was represented and meant by the command to the children of Israel to seek from the Egyptians the loan of vessels of gold and vessels of silver, and clothing, Exod. 3:22; 11:2; 12:35, 36. Something similar is meant by what is said in various places in the Word about their possessing the goods, houses, vineyards, and olive-groves, and many other things, of the nations, and also by references to the very gold and silver itself seized from the nations becoming holy, as in Isaiah,
Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she will return to hiring herself out as a harlot, and will commit whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the ground. And its merchandise and its harlot’s hire will become holy to Jehovah; it will not be stored or hoarded, for its merchandise will be for them that dwell before Jehovah to eat to satisfaction and for ancient clothing. Isa. 23:17, 18.
‘The merchandise of Tyre’ stands for cognitions, 1201, which to those with the negative attitude of mind are like ‘a harlot’s hire’ but to those with the affirmative attitude are like that which is holy. Something similar is also meant by the Lord’s words,
Make friends for yourselves out of the mammon of unrighteousness, so that when you fail they may receive you into eternal habitations. If then you have not appeared faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true? Luke 16:9, 11.
* i.e. Memphis.
** The Hebrew of this text in Isaiah may be read in two different ways – serve Asshur or serve with Asshur. Most English versions of Isaiah prefer the second of these.
It is commonly supposed that those born outside the Church, who are called heathens and gentiles, cannot be saved for the reason that they do not possess the Word and so do not know the Lord, without whom there is no salvation. But that gentiles too are saved may be known from the single consideration that the Lord’s mercy is universal – that is, it reaches out to every individual human being. For gentiles are born human beings the same as those within the Church, who are a relative minority; and they are not to blame because they do not know the Lord. Consequently the nature of their state and condition in the next life has in the Lord’s Divine mercy been shown to me.
[2] As regards the Word, when I read to him something from the prophetical parts he was extremely delighted, above all with the fact that individual names and individual expressions meant things that were interior. He was utterly amazed that the learned nowadays take no delight in studying matters such as this. I perceived clearly that the interior parts of his thought or mind had been opened, and at the same time that those of certain Christians who were present had been closed, for with these Christians there reigned ill-will towards him and lack of belief that the Word was of such a nature. Indeed when I continued reading the Word he said that he could not remain because he perceived something more sacred than he could endure, being stirred inwardly by so much feeling. The Christians on the other hand said quite openly that they were able to remain; and the reason why they were able to do so was that their interiors had been closed and sacred things did not stir any such feelings within them.
[3] At length I spoke to him about the Lord, that He was born a man but conceived from God, that He cast off the human and put on the Divine, and that it is He who rules over all. To these points he replied that he knew many things about the Lord, and in his own way recognized that if the human race was to be saved it could not have been done in any other way. During this time certain bad Christians were introducing various objections, but to these he paid no attention, saying that it was not surprising that they did so, for during their lifetime they had absorbed obnoxious ideas regarding these matters and that unlike the ignorant they could not admit things of a confirmatory nature until these ideas had been dispersed. This person had been a gentile.
* In Heaven and Hell 322 Sw. says that he was led to believe that this spirit was Cicero.
* In Spiritual Diary [now called Spiritual Experiences] 3494 Sw. speaks of these gentiles as being Mohammedans.
* i.e. further India and the islands beyond (Oxford English Dictionary)
* A feature of certain African languages
* In the Hebrew Bible Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings are entitled The Former Prophets.
** In the Hebrew Bible Daniel does not occur among The Latter Prophets but in a section known as The Writings.
[2] That individual words used to describe them carry a spiritual meaning is also evident from what has been shown, for example, about names meaning real things, such as that Egypt means knowledge, Asshur the rational part of the mind, Ephraim the intellectual part, Tyre cognitions, Zion the celestial Church, Jerusalem the spiritual Church, and so on with everything else. The same has been shown to be so with particular expressions, such as that ‘a king’ means truth, ‘a priest’ good, and that all other words – such as kingdom, city, house, nation, people, garden, vineyard, olive-grove, gold, silver, bronze, iron, birds, beasts, bread, wine, oil, morning, day, light – each have their specific internal meaning. This is consistently so in the historical books as well as the prophetical, even though they were written by various authors and in different periods. This consistency would never have been possible if the Word had not come down out of heaven. From all this one may know that there is an internal sense in the Word, as well as from the fact that the Divine Word cannot possibly be about mere human beings such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants who formed the worst of the nations; or about their kings, wives, sons, daughters, prostitutes, plunderings, and like matters, all of which regarded in themselves are not worthy of mention in the Word unless by means of them such things as exist in the Lord’s kingdom are represented and meant. It is these that are worthy of the Word.
Moab will howl, the whole of Moab will howl; for the foundations of Kir Hareseth you will mourn, despite your having been stricken; for the fields of Heshbon have languished, the vine of Sibmah. The lords of the nations break down its branches, they reached even to Jazer, they wandered in the wilderness. Its shoots have been torn away; they have passed over the sea. Therefore I shall weep with weeping over Jazer, the vine of Sibmah. I will soak you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh, for on the vintage and on your harvest the hedad* has fallen. Isa. 16:7-9.
And in Jeremiah,
The sound of a cry in Horonaim, devastation and great destruction! Moab has been destroyed, her little ones have caused a cry to be heard, for at the ascent of Luhith weeping goes up with weeping; for in the descent of Horonaim their enemies have heard the shout of destruction. Judgement has come to the land of the plain, to Holon, and to Jahzah, and to Mephaath, and on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Bethdiblathaim, and on Kiriathaim, and on Bethgamul, and on Bethmeon, and on Kerioth, and on Bozrah. Jer. 48:3-5, 21-24.
Such in very many places is the nature of the prophetical parts of the Word, which would have no use if they did not possess an internal sense. It is imperative however that the Word, being Divine, should contain within it the laws of the heavenly kingdom into which man is to come.
* A Hebrew word which is a shout of exaltation, used here as a battle-cry.
[2] Take, for example, the words that those who honoured their parents would have their days prolonged upon the land. By ‘parents’ the angels in heaven perceived the Lord, and by ‘land’ His kingdom, which those who worship Him in love and faith would possess for ever as sons and heirs. People on earth however understood parents by ‘parents’, the land of Canaan by ‘the land’, and years of life by ‘the prolonging of their days’. By ‘do not steal’ angels in heaven perceived that they were not to take anything away from the Lord nor to ascribe any righteousness and merit at all to themselves. People on earth however understood that they were not to steal. From this it is clear that these commandments are true in both senses. Or take the commandment ‘not to murder’; angels in heaven perceived that they were not to hate anyone nor to destroy any good and truth existing with another. But people on earth perceived that friends must not be murdered. And so it is with all the other commandments.
* i.e. as distinct from those to do with worship
GENESIS 21
1 And Jehovah visited Sarah as He had said, and Jehovah did to Sarah as He had spoken.
2 And Sarah conceived and bore to Abraham a son in his old age, at the appointed time, as God had spoken to him.
3 And Abraham called the name of his son born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.
4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, a son eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5 And Abraham was a son a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 And Sarah said, God has made laughter for me; everyone that hears will laugh for me.
7 And she said, Who would have said to Abraham, Sarah will suckle sons? For I have born [him] a son in his old age.
8 And the boy grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day when he weaned Isaac.
9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.
10 And she said to Abraham, Cast out this servant-girl, and her son; for the son of this servant-girl shall not inherit together with my son, with Isaac.
11 And the matter was deeply distressing to Abraham* because of his son.
12 And God said to Abraham, Do not be distressed** about the lad and about your servant-girl. Everything which Sarah says to you, hearken to her voice, for in Isaac will your seed be called.
13 And also, the son of the servant-girl I will make into a nation, because he is your seed.
14 And in the morning Abraham rose up early, and took bread and a flask of water, and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulder, and the boy, and sent her away; and she went and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15 And the water from the flask was used up, and she put the boy under one of the shrubs.
16 And she went and sat by herself some distance away, withdrawing herself about a bowshot, for she said, Let me not see the death of the boy. And she sat some distance away and lifted up her voice and wept.
17 And God heard the boy’s voice, and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said to her, What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the boy’s voice where he is.
18 Rise up, lift the boy up, and strengthen your hand in him, for I will make him into a great nation.
19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the flask with water, and gave the boy a drink.
20 And God was with the boy, and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and was an archer.
21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.
22 And so it was at that time, that Abimelech spoke, and Phicol the general of his army, to Abraham, saying, God is with you in all that you are doing.
23 And now swear to me here by God that you will not lie to me, and to my son, and to my grandson; according to the kindness which I have done to you, may you do to me and to the land in which you have sojourned.
24 And Abraham said, I will swear.
25 And Abraham reproached Abimelech on account of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants had seized.
26 And Abimelech said, I do not know who has done this thing; and you also did not point it out to me, and I too have not heard about it until today.
27 And Abraham took flocks and herds and gave them to Abimelech; and the two of them made a covenant.
28 And Abraham set seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves.
29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, What are these seven ewe-lambs which you have set by themselves?
30 And he said, Because you will take the seven ewe-lambs from my hand, that they may be a witness for me that I dug this well.
31 Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath.
32 And they made a covenant in Beersheba; and Abimelech rose up and Phicol the general of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines.
33 And he planted a grove in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of [Jehovah,] the God of Eternity.
34 And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines for many days.
* lit. exceedingly evil in Abraham’s eyes
** lit. Let it not be evil in your eyes
In the internal sense of this chapter the subject dealt with first is the Lord’s Divine Rational, which is represented by Isaac, verses 1-8.
Verse 1 And Jehovah visited Sarah as He had said, and Jehovah did to Sarah as He had spoken.
‘Jehovah visited Sarah’ means the presence of the Divine celestial within the Divine spiritual. ‘As He had said’ means as He had perceived. ‘And Jehovah did to Sarah’ means a state when the two existed united together. ‘As He had spoken’ means as He had thought.
‘Conceived and bore’ means received essential being and was given manifestation. ‘Sarah to Abraham’ means from the Lord’s Divine spiritual united to His Divine celestial. ‘A son’ means the Divine Rational. ‘In his old age’ means when the days had been completed for the human to be cast off. ‘At the appointed time’ means when the Rational was such that it was receptive. ‘As God had spoken to him’ means as He had willed.
[2] The soul constitutes a person’s essential Being, while the powers of the -senses or the body constitute the Manifestation of it; for the former manifests itself in the latter. Celestial and spiritual love is the Being itself of one who is being regenerated, while the rational part and the sensory part of him – when these are endowed with that love – are the Manifestation of it. The same may be said of every single thing in the universe, for nothing ever exists without conception to give it Being and birth to give it Manifestation. This may also be illustrated for learned people from the idea that every effect has its cause, and every cause has its end. The end is the Being of the cause, and the cause is the Manifestation of the end. In the same way the cause is the Being of the effect, and the effect is the Manifestation of the cause.
[2] From this anyone may see what kind of mental pictures a person is able to have while in the world or natural order regarding things which belong to the next life and about many arcana of faith. He may see that such a person is unwilling to believe those things unless he can take them in by means of objects that exist in the world, indeed by sensory evidence. For he cannot do other than suppose that if he were to divest himself of his mental pictures that have been formed from space and time, more so to divest himself of space and time themselves, he would cease to be anything at all and so would have nothing left to him from which he could perceive with his senses or have thoughts of anything apart from that which was unintelligible to him. But in actual fact quite the reverse is the case: the life of angels is such that it is the wisest and happiest of all.
[3] This is the reason why people’s ages mentioned in the Word do not in the internal sense mean ages but states, so that in this verse ‘old age’ does not mean old age. Nor does any number mean a number but some specific state, as in the case of ‘a hundred years’ mentioned further on. From this it now becomes clear that ‘the appointed time’ means the state when the rational was such that it was receptive.
[4] As regards the specific teaching presented here – that the Divine Rational received being and was given manifestation from the Lord’s Divine spiritual united to His Divine celestial, when the days had been completed for him to cast off the human and when the Rational was such that it was receptive (meant in the internal sense by ‘Sarah conceived and bore to Abraham a son in his old age, at the appointed time’) – the following needs to be known:
The human has its beginnings in the inmost part of the rational, see 2106, 2194. The Lord advanced gradually towards the union of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence, and of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence, 1864, 2033, 2523.
He did so by His own power, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2083, through continuing temptations and repeated victories, 1690, 1737, 1813, and through receiving revelations repeatedly from His own Divine, 1616, 2500, till at length He cast out the whole human from the mother, 1414, 1444, 2574.
And in this way He made His Human – as to the Rational – Divine, as taught by the things that occur in this verse.
From all this it is evident how the explanation ‘when the days had been completed for Him to cast off the human and when the Rational was such that it was receptive’ is to be understood.
[5] Some idea of this matter may be had from what happens to people who are being regenerated. The celestial things of love, and the spiritual things of faith, are instilled into them by the Lord not all at once but gradually; and when by means of those things a person’s rational has become such that it is able to be receptive, he is for the first time becoming regenerate, mostly by means of temptations in which he overcomes. While these experiences are taking place the days are being completed to cast off the old man and put on the new. Regarding man’s regeneration, see 677, 679, 711, 848, 986, 1555, 2475.
‘Abraham called the name of his son born to him’ means the nature of the Rational was such that it was Divine. ‘Whom Sarah bore to him’ means its essential being received from, and its manifestation given by, the Divine spiritual united to the Divine celestial. ‘Isaac’ means the Divine Rational.
‘Abraham circumcised his son Isaac’ means purification of the rational. ‘A son eight days old’ means a beginning and continuation. ‘As God had commended’ means according to Divine order.
[2] The Lord’s first rational was born in the way it is with others, that is to say, by means of facts and cognitions. This has been stated already where Ishmael, who represents that rational, is the subject. Because it was born, as with others, by means of facts and cognitions, thus by the external way, which is that of the senses, this rational inevitably included many things that were worldly in origin, for it is from those things that the ideas which the rational possesses are acquired. This was even more so the case with the Lord on account of the heredity He had from the mother. It was those worldly things and this heredity which the Lord gradually cast out of His rational until it was such that it was able to receive the Divine, 2624, 2625. At this point the Lord’s Divine Rational, represented by ‘Isaac’, was born, 2630, not indeed by the external way, which is that of the senses – as was the case with the previous rational – but by the internal way from the Divine itself, 2628, 2629. As this was not accomplished all at once but gradually, 1690, 2033, the rational was purified, and constantly so. It is this purification that is meant by ‘Abraham circumcised his son, a son eight days old’. That the Lord gradually made His Rational Divine and purified it constantly is clear also in John,
Jesus said, Father, glorify Your name. A voice therefore came from heaven, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. John 12:28.
‘Glorifying’ is making Divine, see 1603, 1999.
[3] In the Ancient Church nothing else was represented and meant by circumcision than that a person should be purified from self-love and love of the world, which is also effected gradually and constantly, see 2039, 2046 (end), 2049, 2056, especially when a person has been born anew or regenerated. For at that time the Lord is flowing in by the internal way, that is, through the good that forms part of conscience; and He gradually and constantly separates the things which cling to that person both as a result of hereditary evil and of the evil of his own doing.
‘Abraham was a son a hundred years old’ means a complete state of union. ‘When his son Isaac was born to him’ means when the Lord’s Rational was made Divine.
[2] It is well known that a person cannot be regenerated except in adult years, for not until then is he able to exercise reason and judgement and in so doing to receive good and truth from the Lord. Before entering that state he is being prepared by the Lord through the implantation of such things as can serve him as the soil for receiving the seeds of truth and good. Implanted thus are many states of innocence and charity, also cognitions of good and truth, and consequently thoughts. This implantation occurs during many years before his regeneration takes place. When a person has been endowed with these things and so has been prepared, his state is now said to be complete, for the things that are interior have been arranged ready to receive. All those things with a person which the Lord grants him prior to regeneration and by means of which he is regenerated are called remnants, which in the Word are meant by the number ten, 576, 1738, 2284, and also by a hundred when the state for regeneration is complete, 1988.
[3] These things that are so with man may serve to illustrate what is meant by a complete state of the Human united to the Divine in the Lord. That is to say, they may illustrate the state when the Lord by His own power – through the conflicts brought about by temptations and through victories, and through the powers of Divine wisdom and intelligence – gathered to Himself within the Human, that is, within the Rational, so much of the Divine that He was able to unite the Divine itself to the Divine acquired within the Rational. And it was to represent this state that, even though Abraham had spent many years in the land of Canaan, Isaac was not born to him until he was a hundred years old. These are the arcana contained within the number ‘a hundred years’, which was Abraham’s age.
[4] That the number ‘a hundred’ means that which is complete may also be seen from other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,
No more will there be from it an infant of days, nor an old man who has not completed his days, for the child will die a son a hundred years old, and the sinner a son a hundred years old will be accursed. Isa. 65:20.
Here ‘a hundred’ clearly stands for that which is complete, for it is said, ‘No more will there be an infant of days, nor an old man who has not completed his days’, and, a child and a sinner will be ‘a hundred years old’, that is, a time when his state is complete.
[5] In Matthew,
Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will be allotted the inheritance of eternal life. Matt. 19:29; Mark 10:29, 30.
Here ‘a hundredfold’ stands for that which is complete, otherwise described as ‘good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over’, in Luke 6:38.
[6] In Luke,
Some seed fell on good ground, and when it had grown up it brought forth fruit a hundredfold. Luke 8:8; Matt. 13:8, 23; Mark 4:20.
Here also ‘a hundred’ stands for that which is complete, a number which would not have been mentioned unless it had had that meaning. A similar meaning exists in the parable about the debtors, where the Lord says that one owed a hundred baths of oil and the other a hundred cors of wheat, Luke 16:5-7. The same applies in other places where a hundred is mentioned. It is similar with a thousand, regarding which number, see 2575.
‘Sarah said’ means perception from the Divine spiritual. ‘God has made laughter for me’ means the affection for celestial truth. ‘Everyone who hears will laugh for-me’ means that all things there will possess the affection. ‘And she said’ means thought. ‘Who would have said to Abraham, Sarah will suckle sons?’ means that by His own power the Lord implanted the Human within the Divine. ‘For I have borne [him] a son in his old age’ means that this was accomplished when the days had been completed.
[2] What is more, it should be recognized that it is the nature of the Lord’s Divine Rational when it was first born that is being described by these words, ‘God has made laughter for me; everyone that hears will laugh for me; and she said, Who would have said to Abraham, Sarah will suckle sons?’ For this was in keeping with an ancient custom that when an infant was born it was given a name which served to mean the state; and at the same time a description of that state was added, as when Cain was born to Eve and Adam, Gen. 4:1, and when Seth was born to the same, Gen. 4:25; and as when Noah was born to Lamech, Gen. 5:29, Esau and Jacob to Isaac, Gen. 25:25, 26, the twelve sons to Jacob, Gen. 29:32-35; 30:6, 8, 11, 13, 18, 20, 24; 35:18, Perez and Zerah to Tamar, Gen. 38:29, 30, Manasseh and Ephraim to Joseph, Gen. 41:51, 52, and Gershom and Eliezer to Moses, Exod. 2:22; 18:4. What all these represent, and what they mean in the internal sense, was embodied in the descriptions added to the names that were given. The same is the case here with what Isaac represents and means. What this name embodies is evident to some small extent from this brief explanation that has been given, but deeper arcana are nevertheless concealed there since they are Divine matters, which no sentences or phrases can be formed to express.
The presence of the Divine within the Human, for the sake of the two being united, verse 1.
The presence of the Human within the Divine, and thus a reciprocal union, dealt with in 2004, verse 2,
From that union the Human was made Divine, verse 3.
This was effected gradually and constantly while the Lord lived in the world, verse 4.
It started to be effected when the rational was in a state to receive, verse 5.
The nature of the state of union is described, together with the arcana of that state, verses 6, 7.
Now reference follows, and is continued through to verse 12, to the separation of the human received from the mother. That separation is meant in this present verse by ‘the weaning of Isaac’, and in those that follow it is represented by Hagar’s son being cast out of the house. And because the union of the Lord’s Divine with His Human, and of the Human with the Divine, is the marriage itself of Good and Truth, and from this marriage is derived the heavenly marriage, which is the same as the Lord’s kingdom, mention is therefore made of ‘a great feast which Abraham made when Isaac was weaned’, by which is meant the first stage of that marriage or the first union. Unless this ‘feast’, and also the weaning, had had some hidden meaning, it would never have been mentioned.
[2] Since the subject which follows now is the separation of the first human which the Lord had from the mother and the total casting off of it ultimately, it should be recognized that right to the end of His life when He was glorified the Lord gradually and constantly separated from Himself and cast off that which was merely human. That is to say, He cast off that which He had derived from the mother, until ultimately He was no longer her son but the Son of God not only in conception but also in birth, and so was one with the Father and was Jehovah himself. The truth that He separated from Himself and cast off the whole of the human received from the mother, insomuch that He was her son no longer, is plainly evident from the Lord’s own words in John,
When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to Him, They have no wine. Jesus said to her, O woman, What have you to do with Me? John 2:3, 4.
In Matthew,
Someone said, Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside asking to speak to You. But Jesus answering said to the one who had told Him, Who is My mother, and who are My brothers? And stretching out His hand over His disciples He said, Behold My mother and My brothers; for whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven is My brother, and sister, and mother. Matt. 12:47-50; Mark 3:32-35; Luke 11:27, 28.
In Luke,
A certain woman lifting up her voice out of the crowd* said to Him, Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts that You sucked. But Jesus said, Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. Luke 11:27, 28.
[3] Here, when the woman referred to His mother, the Lord spoke of those mentioned in the preceding quotation. That is to say, He spoke of ‘whoever does the will of My Father is My brother, sister, and mother’, which amounts to the same as saying, ‘Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it’. In John,
Jesus seeing his mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, said to His mother, O woman, behold your son! Then He said to the disciple, Behold your mother! From that hour therefore the disciple took her to his own home. John 19:26, 27.
From these words it is evident that the Lord spoke to her according to what she was thinking when she saw Him on the Cross – though He does not call her mother but woman – and that He gave the name mother instead to those meant by the disciple; hence His words to the disciple, Behold your mother! The matter is plainer still from the Lord’s own words in Matthew,
Jesus questioned the Pharisees saying, What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He? They said to Him, David’s. He said to them, How is it then that David in the spirit calls Him Lord, saying, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool. If therefore David calls Him Lord, how is He his son? And no one was able to answer Him a word. Matt. 22:41-end; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:42-44.
Accordingly He was no longer David’s son as to the flesh.
[4] As regards the separation and casting off of the human from the mother, it must be added that they have no conception of this who entertain merely bodily ideas about the Lord’s Human and think of it as they do of the human of any other. To such people these matters are as a consequence stumbling-blocks. They do not know that as is the life so is the person, and that the Divine Being (Esse) of life, or Jehovah, was the Lord’s from conception and that a similar Being (Esse) of life manifested itself within His Human through union.
* lit. the people
‘And Sarah saw’ means the Lord’s insight from the Divine spiritual. ‘The son of Hagar the Egyptian’ means into the merely human rational, ‘Hagar the Egyptian’ being the affection for knowledge, from which affection as its mother that rational was born. ‘Whom she had borne to Abraham’ means that it was given manifestation from the Divine celestial as a father. ‘Mocking’ means not in agreement with or favourably disposed towards the Divine Rational.
[2] But as regards the Lord’s first rational, because it was born as with any other, that is to say, by means of knowledge and cognitions, it was inevitably immersed in appearances of truth, which are not in themselves truths, as may become clear from what has been presented in 1911, 1936, 2196, 2203, 2209, 2519. And because it was immersed in appearances of truth, truths devoid of appearances, as Divine truths are, were not able to agree with it nor to be favourably disposed towards it, not only because that rational can have no grasp of them but also because they are opposed to it. Let the following examples illustrate the matter:
[3] The human rational – that is to say, the rational formed from images of worldly things received through the senses, and later on from images of things analogous to actual worldly ones, such as are received from factual knowledge and from cognitions – virtually laughs or mocks if it is told that it does not live of itself but only appears to itself to do so. It likewise laughs if it is told that the less anyone believes that he lives of himself, the more he is truly living, that is, the more wise and intelligent he is, and the more blessed and happy. And it also laughs if it is told that that life is the life which angels possess, especially those who are celestial and are inmost or nearest to the Lord; for these know that nobody except Jehovah alone, that is, the Lord, lives of himself.
[4] This rational would also mock if it were told that it has nothing of its own, and that its possessing anything of its own is an illusion or an appearance. Still more would it mock if it were told that the more it is subject to the illusion that it possesses anything of its own the less it in fact possesses, and vice versa. It would likewise mock if it were told that whatever it thinks and does from what is its own is evil, even though it was good [in its effect], and if it were told that it has no wisdom until it believes and perceives that all evil comes from hell and all good from the Lord. This is a conviction, indeed a perception, that exists in all angels, yet they possess selfhood or a proprium in fuller measure than all others. But they realize and perceive that their selfhood comes from the Lord, even though it seems to be completely their own.
[5] This rational would again mock if it were told that in heaven the greatest are those who are least; that the wisest are those who believe and perceive that they themselves are the least wise; that the happiest are those who wish the greatest happiness to others and the least to themselves; that heaven consists in wishing to be below everyone else, but hell in wishing to be above everyone else; and that consequently the glory of heaven does not hold within it anything at all of that which the glory of the world holds.
[6] This rational would similarly mock if it were told that in the next life space and time do not exist at all but states in accordance with which there are appearances of space and time, and that life becomes more heavenly the further removed it is from the things that belong to space and time and the closer it comes to that which is eternal – for that which is eternal has absolutely nothing within it that is received from the notion of time or anything analogous to it. In the same way would the rational mock at countless other things it could be told.
[7] The Lord saw that such things were present in the merely human rational and that this rational therefore mocked Divine things. He did so from the Divine spiritual, which is meant by the words ‘Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian’, 2651, 2652. The fact that a person is able from within to have insight into the things residing with him that are below is well known from experience to those who have perception, and also to those who have conscience, for they see clearly enough to reproach themselves for what they think. This exemplifies how regenerate persons are able to see what their rational prior to regeneration is like. In man’s case however such perception is received from the Lord, but in the Lord’s case it was Self-derived.
‘She said to Abraham’ means perception from the Divine. ‘Cast out this servant-girl, and her son’ means that what belonged to the merely human rational was to be banished. ‘For the son of this servant-girl shall not inherit together with my son, with Isaac’ means that the merely human rational could not possess the same life as the Divine Rational itself, neither as to truth nor as to good.
[2] With everyone who is being regenerated there are two rationals, the first existing before regeneration, the second after. The first, which exists before regeneration, is acquired by means of the experiences of the senses, by means of reflecting on the things that take place in public life and in private life, by means of formulated knowledge, and by means of reasonings based on and presented through these, as well as by means of cognitions of spiritual things obtained from the doctrine of faith, that is, from the Word. But none of these acquisitions rise at this time very much above the ideas present in the external or bodily memory, which are relatively speaking quite materialistic. Consequently whatever thought takes place in the rational at this time consists of such materialistic ideas, or else, so that what it thinks may be comprehended at the same time by inner or intellectual sight, the semblances of such things are presented in the form of comparisons or analogies. Of such a nature is the first rational, or the rational that exists before regeneration.
[3] But the rational after regeneration is formed by the Lord by means of affections for spiritual truth and good, which affections the Lord implants in a remarkable manner within the truths of the first rational, and in this way the things there that are in agreement and are favourably disposed towards them are given life. The rest however, having no use, are separated from these, until at length spiritual goods and truths are gathered so to speak into bundles, once those that do not agree and which cannot be given life are cast away so to speak to the circumference, this being effected gradually as spiritual goods and truths increase together with the life of the affections for them. From this it is evident what the second rational is like.
[4] These matters may be illustrated by comparing them to the fruit of trees. To begin with the first rational is like unripe fruit which ripens gradually until it produces seeds within itself. Then, having reached the point when it is ready to part from the tree, its state is complete, regarding which see above in 2636. The second rational however, which the Lord confers on those who are being regenerated, is like this same fruit now lying in good soil, where the flesh surrounding the seeds decays and these express themselves from the core, after which they send down a root and also a shoot up above the ground that grows into a new tree and spreads out, till finally it produces new fruits, and after that gardens and orchards, according to the affections for good and truth which it is receiving; see Matt. 13:31, 32; John 12:24.
[5] But since examples help to make things clear, take the proprium which a person has before regeneration and the proprium which he has after regeneration. From the first rational which he acquires through the means mentioned above, a person believes that it is from what there is within himself, thus from his proprium, that he thinks what is true and does what it good. This first rational is incapable of thinking anything else even when the person is taught that every good of love, and every truth of faith, derives from the Lord. But when he is undergoing regeneration, which takes place in adult years, he then starts – from the second rational which is conferred by the Lord – to think that good and truth do not spring from that which is within himself, that is, from his proprium, but from the Lord, though he still does what is good or thinks what is true, as if it began from within himself, see 1937, 1947. At this time the more he becomes confirmed in this the more he is guided into the light of truth concerning those matters, until he finally believes that all good and all truth come from the Lord. At this time the proprium belonging to the first rational is gradually separated and the Lord confers on that person a heavenly proprium which becomes that of the new rational.
[6] Take a further example. To begin with the only love known to the first rational is that of self and the world, and although it hears about heavenly love being altogether different it still has no conception of it. In this case when the person then does anything good the only delight he sees in doing it is that he may seem to himself to merit another’s favour, or that he may be considered to be a Christian, or that he may obtain the joy of eternal life out of doing it. The second rational however which the Lord confers through regeneration begins to feel some delight in goodness and truth themselves and to be stirred by this delight, not on account of anything that is his own but on account of goodness and truth themselves. When led by this delight he spurns the thought of merit, until at length he detests it as something monstrous. This delight as it exists with him gradually increases and becomes a blessed delight, and in the next life a blissful delight, being for him heaven itself. From this it may now become clear how it is with each of the two rationals in one who is being regenerated.
[7] But it should be recognized that although a person is being regenerated, every single detail belonging to the first rational still remains with him. It is merely separated from the second rational, which the Lord effects in a miraculous fashion. The Lord however banished His own first rational completely, so that nothing of it remained, for what is merely human and what is Divine cannot exist together. Consequently He was no longer Mary’s son but Jehovah as regards both Essences.
[2] Once it had become Divine the Lord’s Human was no longer an organ or recipient of life; it was now Life itself, the same as that of Jehovah Himself. It had this life at the start from its very conception from Jehovah, as is plainly evident from the Lord’s own words in John,
As the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. John 5:26.
The Divine Human is what is called ‘the Son’, 1729, 2159, 2628. In the same gospel,
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. John 1:4.
In the same gospel,
Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:6.
In the same gospel,
Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he die, will live. John 11:25.
In the same gospel,
The bread of God is that which* comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world. John 6:33.
Man however is not life but an organ or recipient of it, see 2021, and in various places elsewhere. From this it may be evident that when the Lord was made Jehovah even as to the Human, that which was not life in itself, that is, the merely human, was banished. This is the meaning of the statement that the son of a servant-girl could not inherit together with the son Isaac.
[3] When ‘inheriting’ in the internal sense has reference to the Lord it means possessing the Father’s life, and so possessing life within Himself; and when it has reference to men it means possessing the Lord’s life, that is, receiving life from the Lord. This is clear from many places in the Word. Possessing life in Himself is the very Being (Esse) of life, which is Jehovah, whereas possessing the Lord’s life, or receiving life from the Lord, is accepting the Lord in love and faith. And because such persons abide in the Lord and are the Lord’s they are called His heirs and sons.
[4] In the Old Testament Word ‘inheritance’ is used to refer both to what is celestial, or good, and to what is spiritual, or truth, though what is celestial is expressed by one word, what is spiritual by another. The first word may be rendered as ‘possessing by inheritance’, but the second as ‘inheriting’. In the original language the first word also implies possession, but the second a derivation from such possession, in the way that celestial and spiritual are related to each other, or good and truth are related. In the present verse, where ‘Isaac’ represents the Lord’s Divine Rational or Divine Human, the word describing possession by right of inheritance is used, for the Lord’s Divine Human is sole heir and possessor, as He also teaches in the parable recorded in Matt. 21:33, 37, 38; Mark 12:7; Luke 20:14; and in various places declares that all that is the Father’s is His.
[5] When ‘possessing by inheritance’ and ‘inheriting’ in the Word have reference to men, they mean receiving life from the Lord, and therefore receiving eternal life or heaven, for only those who receive the Lord’s life receive heaven. This is clear in John,
He who overcomes will receive all things by inheritance, and I will be his God and he will be My Son. Rev. 21:7.
In Matthew,
Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters for My name’s sake will receive a hundredfold and will be allotted the inheritance of eternal life. Matt. 19:29; 25:43; Mark 10:17; Luke 18:18.
Here heaven is called ‘eternal life’, elsewhere simply ‘life’, as in Matt. 18:8, 9; 19:17; John 3:36; 5:24, 29, the reason being that the Lord is life itself, and anyone who receives His life is in heaven.
[6] In David,
God will save Zion and will build the cities of Judah; and they will dwell there and possess it by inheritance; and the seed of His servants will inherit it, and those loving His name will dwell in it. Ps. 69:35, 36.
Here ‘possessing by inheritance’ has reference to those in whom celestial love exists, ‘inheriting’ to those in whom spiritual love exists. In Isaiah,
He who trusts in Me will inherit the land, and will possess by inheritance My holy mountain. Isa. 57:13.
Here the meaning is similar.
[7] In Moses,
I will bring you to the land over which I lifted up My hand to give it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a hereditary possession. Exod. 6:8.
In the sense of the letter these words mean that the land of Canaan was to be granted to them as a hereditary possession, which did in fact happen. But in the internal sense they mean that heaven was to be granted to those in whom love to and faith in the Lord were present, for as the Lord is represented by ‘Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’ so are love itself and faith itself meant by them, and consequently people in whom love and faith are present, and who accordingly abide in the Lord. These are also meant by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with whom many will recline at table in the kingdom of heaven, in Matt. 8:11; for those who are in heaven are completely unaware of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob, and know only of what is represented and meant by them. And the same goes for ‘reclining at table (or eating) with them’. For all names mentioned in the Word mean real things, see 1224, 1264, 1876, 1888, and the land of Canaan means the heavenly Canaan or heaven, 1585, 1607, 1866, which is also referred to simply as ‘the land’, 1413, 1607, 1733, 2571. So too in Matthew,
Blessed are the meek, for they will receive the inheritance of the land. Matt. 5:5.
* or He who
‘The matter was deeply distressing to Abraham’ means the Lord’s state at first when He thought about that rational being separated from Himself. ‘Because of his son’ means for the reason that He delighted in it.
* lit. exceedingly evil in Abraham’s eyes
[2] The Lord did not come into the world to save those who are celestial, but to save those who are spiritual. The Most Ancient Church, which was called Man, was celestial, and if this Church had remained uncorrupted there would have been no need for the Lord to be born a human being. But as soon as it began to decline the Lord foresaw that the celestial Church would cease to exist altogether in the world, and therefore a prophecy was given there and then about the Lord’s Coming into the world, Gen. 3:15. After the era of that Church there was no longer a celestial Church but a spiritual Church. The Ancient Church, which came after the Flood, was this spiritual Church, referred to many times in Volume One. This Church, or the people who belonged to the spiritual Church, could not have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world. This is what the Lord’s words in Matthew are used to mean,
Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Matt. 9:12, 13.
And the following in John are used with the same meaning,
And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. John 10:16.
And the same is also meant in the parable about the hundred sheep, in Matt. 18:11-13.
[3] Now seeing that ‘Isaac’, representing the Lord’s Divine Rational, also means those that are celestial, who are called ‘heirs’, while ‘Ishmael’, representing the Lord’s merely human rational, also means those that are spiritual, who are referred to as ‘sons’ – as may also be evident from what has been stated above in 2658 – the words used in the present verse therefore mean that because of His Divine Love the Lord suffered grief. This is also the meaning of what follows in verses 13-21, where Hagar’s son and she his mother represent the spiritual Church, and where the subject is the state of that Church, that is, of those who are members of that Church, 2612. Any further declaration regarding these arcana is not as yet possible. All that can be stated here is that with the Lord when in the world all states of the Church were represented, and also the way in which those who belonged to it were to be saved through Him. Consequently the same states of the Church are also meant by those same names.
‘God said to Abraham’ means the Lord’s perception from the Divine. ‘Do not be distressed about the lad and about your servant-girl’ means a change of state towards that rational. ‘Everything which Sarah says to you, hearken to her voice’ means that He was to act in accordance with spiritual truth. ‘For in Isaac will your seed be called’ means that from the Lord’s Divine Human all salvation is available to those in whom good exists.
* lit. Let it not be evil in your eyes
As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12, 13.
‘Also, the son of the servant-girl I will make into a nation’ means the spiritual Church which was to receive the good of faith. ‘Because he is your seed’ means that from the Lord’s Divine Human salvation is available to them also.
[2] The Lord’s kingdom in heaven and on earth is celestial and spiritual, and therefore angels are distinguished into those who are celestial and those who are spiritual, see 202, 337. To celestial angels the Lord appears as the Sun, to spiritual as the Moon, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531. Men in a similar way are distinguished into those who are celestial and those who are spiritual. Those who belonged to the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood were celestial, dealt with in 607, 608, 784, 895, 920, 1114-1125, while those who belonged to the Ancient Church which existed after the Flood were spiritual, dealt with in 609, 640, 641, 765. For what the difference was between those two Churches, see 567, 607, and for what the difference is between what is celestial and what is spiritual, 81, 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2069, 2088, 2227, 2507. The celestial are referred to by the Lord in the following,
He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. And when He has led out His own sheep He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.
The spiritual however are referred to in these words,
And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. John 10:3, 4, 16.
The good of love is that which constitutes the celestial Church, but the good of faith that which constitutes the spiritual Church. The truth of faith does not constitute the Church but leads into it.
‘In the morning Abraham rose up early’ means the Lord’s clear perception from the Divine. ‘And he took bread and a flask of water’ means good and truth. ‘And gave them to Hagar’ means implantation within the life of the exterior man. ‘And he put them on her shoulder’ means as much as the exterior man was able to receive. ‘And the boy’ means spiritual truth. ‘And sent her away’ means that He left the exterior man immersed in the proprium. ‘And she went and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba’ means a state of wandering from one position to another in matters of doctrine regarding faith.
‘The water from the flask was used up’ means the desolation of truth. ‘And she put the boy under one of the shrubs’ means despair that no truth or good at all was perceived.
In poverty and in hunger, one all alone. They were fleeing to the drought, to the previous night’s desolation and devastation, picking mallows on the shrub; in the cleft of the valleys to dwell, in holes of the dust and rocks; among the shrubs they were groaning, under the wild thistle they were joined together. Job 30:3, 4, 6, 7.
This is a reference to the desolation of truth, which is described by means of expressions used commonly in the Ancient Church – for the Book of Job is a book of the Ancient Church – such as ‘in poverty and in hunger, one all alone’, ‘fleeing to the drought, the previous night’s desolation and devastation’, ‘in the clefts of valleys and rocks to dwell’, as well as ‘picking mallows on the shrubs’, and ‘groaning among the shrubs’. So also in Isaiah,
They will come and all of them will rest in rivers of desolations, in the clefts of rocks, and on all bushes, and in all water-courses. Isa. 7:19.
This also is a reference to desolation, which is described by means of similar forms of expression, namely ‘resting in rivers of desolations, in the clefts of rocks, and on bushes’.
[2] In this present verse the subject is the second state of those who are being reformed, which is a state when they are reduced to ignorance, so that they do not know any truth at all, even to the point of despair. The reason they are reduced to such ignorance is so that the persuasive light which shines from the proprium may be extinguished. This light is such that it illuminates falsities as much as it does truths and so leads to a belief in what is false by means of truths and a belief in what is true by means of falsities, and at the same time to trust in themselves. They are also reduced to such ignorance in order that they may be led through actual experience into a recognition of the fact that no good or truth at all originates in themselves or what is properly their own but in the Lord. Those who are being reformed are reduced to ignorance, even to the state of despair, at which point they receive comfort and enlightenment, as is clear from what follows. For the light of truth from the Lord cannot flow into the persuasive thinking that originates in the proprium; indeed its nature is such as to extinguish that light. In the next life that persuasive thinking presents itself as the light in winter, but with the approach of the light of heaven a kind of darkness consisting in ignorance of all truth takes the place of that wintry light. This state with those who are being reformed is called a state of desolation of truth, and is also frequently the subject in the internal sense of the Word.
[3] But few are able to know about that state because few at the present day are being regenerated. To people who are not being regenerated, it is all the same whether they know the truth or whether they do not, and also whether what they do know is the truth or whether it is not, provided that they can pass a thing off as the truth. But people who are being regenerated give much thought to doctrine and to life since they give much thought to eternal salvation. Consequently if truth deserts them, they grieve at heart because truth is the object of all their thought and affection. The nature of the state of those who are being regenerated and the nature of those who are not may become clear from the following consideration: While in the body a person lives as to his spirit in heaven and as to his body in the world. He is born into both and has been so created that he is in effect able as to his spirit to be with angels, and at the same time to be with men through the things which belong to the body. But since those who believe that they have a spirit which will continue to live after death are few in number those who are being regenerated are few. To those who do believe that they have a spirit the next life forms the whole of their thought and affection, and the world in comparison none at all. But to those who do not believe that they have a spirit the world forms the whole of their thought and affection and the next life in comparison none at all. The former are those who can be regenerated, but the latter those who cannot.
‘She went and sat by herself some distance away’ means a state of thought. ‘Withdrawing herself about a bowshot’ means the extent to which the state was away from the doctrine of truth, ‘a bow’ meaning the doctrine of truth. ‘For she said, Let me not see the death of the boy’ means grief that [spiritual truth] would thus perish. ‘And she sat some distance away’ means a state of thought. ‘And lifted up her voice and wept’ means a further degree of grief.
[2] As in the Word, and also in the books of the Ancient Church, ‘war’ meant spiritual warfare, so all weapons such as the sword, spear, buckler, shield, arrows, shafts, and bows meant such things specifically as belong to the warfare that is meant in the spiritual sense. What is meant specifically by particular kinds of weapons will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be stated elsewhere. Here the meaning of ‘the bow’, namely the doctrine of truth, will be shown, and how this meaning is derived from arrows, shafts, or darts, which mean the things of doctrine from which and with which those in particular who are spiritual fight, who in former times were therefore called ‘archers’.
[3] That ‘the bow’ means the doctrine of truth becomes clear from the following places: In Isaiah,
The arrows of Jehovah are sharp, and all His bows are bent. His horses’ hoofs are considered as flint, and His wheels as the whirlwind. Isa. 5:28.
This refers to the truths of doctrine. ‘arrows’ are spiritual truths, ‘bows’ doctrine, ‘horses’ hoofs’ natural truths, ‘wheels’ their doctrine. It is because such things are meant by them that those objects are attributed to Jehovah, to whom they cannot be attributed except in the spiritual sense, otherwise they would be words that are empty and not appropriate. In Jeremiah,
The Lord has bent His bow like an enemy, He has stood with His right hand like a foe, and has slain all things pleasant to the eye in the tent of the daughter of Zion, He has poured out His anger like fire. Lam. 2:4.
‘Bow’ stands for the doctrine of truth, which is seen by those immersed in falsities as a foe and hostile. No other kind of bow can be spoken of in reference to the Lord. In Habakkuk,
O Jehovah, You ride on Your horses, Your chariots are salvation, Your bow will be made quite bare. Hab. 3:8, 9.
Here also ‘bow’ means the doctrine of good and truth. In Moses,
The archers will exasperate him and shoot at him and hate him. He will sit in the strength of his bow, and the arms of his hands will be made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob; from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. Gen. 49:23, 24.
This refers to Joseph, ‘bow’ standing for the doctrine of good and truth.
[4] In John,
I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; to him a crown was given. Rev. 6:2.
‘A white horse’ stands for wisdom, ‘he who sat on it’ for the Word, as is made explicit in Rev. 19:13, where the white horse is referred to again. And because ‘he who sat on it’ is the Word it is clear that ‘a bow’ means the doctrine of truth. In Isaiah,
Who stirred up righteousness from the east, called him to be His follower, gave nations before Him, and caused Him to have dominion over kings? He made them as dust to His sword, as driven stubble to His bow. Isa. 41:2.
This refers to the Lord, ‘sword’ standing for truth, ‘bow’ for doctrine derived from Him. In the same prophet,
I will set a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan. Isa. 66:19.
‘Those who draw the bow’ stands for teachers of doctrine. For what Tarshish means, see 1156; Lud, 1195, 1231; Tubal, 1151; Javan, 1152, 1153, 1155.
[5] In Jeremiah, At the noise of the horseman and of him who wields the bow the whole city takes to flight. They have entered clouds and climbed up on rocks. The whole city has been forsaken. Jer. 4:29.
‘The horseman’ stands for those who declare the truth, ‘the bow’ for the doctrine of truth, which they flee from or fear who are immersed in falsities. In the same prophet,
Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about; O all you who bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrow, for she has sinned against Jehovah. Jer. 50:14, 29; 51:2, 3.
Here ‘those who shoot and bend the bow’ stands for declarers and teachers of the doctrine of truth.
[6] In Zechariah,
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be cut off, and He will speak peace to the nations. Zech. 9:10.
‘Ephraim’ stands for the Church’s understanding of truth, ‘bow’ for doctrine. In Samuel,
David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan, his son, and told [them] to teach the children of Judah the bow. 2 Sam. 1:17, 18.
Here ‘the bow’ is not the subject but doctrinal matters regarding faith. In Ezekiel,
The Lord Jehovih has said, This is the day of which I have spoken, and those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out, and they will make fires of and burn the weapons, both shield and buckler, bow and arrows, both hand-staff and spear; and they will make a fire of them for seven years. Ezek. 39:8, 9.
The weapons mentioned here are all weapons for spiritual war. ‘Bow and arrows’ stands for doctrine and its truths. Furthermore when truths themselves separated from goods are represented visually in the next life they are seen as arrows.
[7] Just as ‘the bow’ means the doctrine of truth, so in the contrary sense it means the doctrine of falsity. In the Word things like these nearly always have a contrary sense, as stated and shown in various places; as in Jeremiah,
Behold, a people coming from the land in the north, and a mighty nation will be stirred up from the furthest parts of the earth. They lay hold on bow and spear; it is cruel and they will have no pity. Their voice will roar like the sea, they will ride upon horses, every one set in array as a man for battle, against you, O daughter of Zion! Jer. 6:22, 23.
Here ‘bow’ stands for the doctrine of falsity. In the same prophet,
Behold, a people coming from the north, a mighty nation, and many kings will be stirred up from the furthest parts of the earth. They have hold of bow and spear; they are cruel and have no pity. Jer. 50:41, 42.
Here the meaning is similar. In the same prophet,
They bend their tongue; their bow is a bow of lies and not used for truth. They grow strong in the land, for they have gone on from evil to evil and do not know Me. Jer. 9:2, 3.
‘A bow’, it is quite evident, means the doctrine of falsity, for it is said that ‘they bend their tongue, their bow is a bow of lies and not for truth’.
[8] In the same prophet,
Jehovah Zebaoth has said, Behold, I am breaking the bow of Elam, the chief of its might. Jer. 49:35.
In David,
Come, behold the works of Jehovah who makes desolations in the earth, making wars cease even to the end of the earth, He breaks the bow, shatters the spear, and burns the chariots*** with fire. Ps. 46:8, 9.
In the same author,
In Judah God is known, in Israel His name is great, and in Salem will His tabernacle be, and His dwelling-place in Zion. There He broke the bow’s fiery darts, the shield and the sword, and war. Ps. 76:1-3.
In the same author;
Behold, the wicked bend the bow, they prepare their shafts upon the string to shoot in the darkness at the upright in heart. Ps. 11:2.
Here ‘bow and shafts’ plainly stands for matters of doctrine concerning falsity.
* The text has Church, but the Latin is clearly Word.
** or The Books of Prophetic Utterances. But see 2897.
*** lit. carts or wagons
[2] It is well known that all distress and grief are the result of a person’s being deprived of the things for which he has affection, that is, which he loves. Those whose affection is solely for bodily and worldly things, that is, who love solely these, grieve when deprived of them, whereas those whose affection is for spiritual goods and truths, and who love these, grieve when deprived of them. The life in any person is nothing else than affection or love. From this one may see the nature of the state of those who are desolated as regards the goods and truths for which they have affection, that is, which they love; that is to say, one may see that their state of grief, being more interior, is more severe, and that in being deprived of good and truth it is not death of the body which they are bothered about but eternal death. It is their state which is described here.
[3] So that it may also be known which people can be maintained by the Lord in the affection for good and truth and so be reformed and become spiritual, and which ones cannot, this too must be explained briefly. In childhood everyone, when being for the first time endowed with goods and truths, is maintained by the Lord in the affirmative attitude that anything said or taught by parents and teachers is true. With those who are able to become spiritual this affirmative attitude is strengthened by means of facts and cognitions, for whatever they learn and is relevant introduces itself into the affirmative outlook and strengthens it, leading more and more towards affection for it. These are ones who become spiritual in accordance with the essence of the truth in which they have faith, and who are victorious in temptations. But it is quite different with those who are not able to become spiritual. Although in childhood an affirmative attitude exists with them, when they are older they allow doubts to enter in which thus destroy the affirmative attitude towards good and truth. And when they reach adult years they allow denials to enter in, and even the affection for what is false to enter in. If such people were led into temptations they would give in completely. Consequently they are kept free from them.
[4] But the real reason why they allow doubts and subsequently denials to enter in may be traced back to their life of evil. People who lead a life of evil cannot possibly do otherwise. The life in any person, as has been stated, is affection or love, and as is the nature of that affection or love so is the nature of his thought. The affection for evil and the thought of truth never join themselves together. In cases where they seem to join themselves, they do not in fact do so, for the thought of truth exists without the affection for it. With such people therefore truth is not truth, but merely a sound or something on the lips, from which the heart is far away. Even very wicked people can know such truth, better than anybody else sometimes. Some are also so strongly persuaded by truth of that kind that no one can see it as other than genuine. But it is not genuine truth if the life of good is absent. It is affection belonging to self-love or love of the world which causes that strong persuasion of it, which they also defend with a vehemence that is evidence of apparent zeal; indeed they go so far as to condemn people who do not receive it or believe it in a similar way. But this kind of truth varies from one person to another according to his basic way of thinking, the strength of that truth depending on the strength of his self-love or his love of the world. It is, it is true, born together with evil, but it does not join itself to evil, and therefore in the next life is rooted out. It is different in the case of those who lead a life of good; in them the truth itself finds its soil, and its ability to grow, and from the Lord its life.
[2] The fact that those who are being reformed are brought into a state of not knowing any truth, that is, into a state of desolation, insomuch that they experience grief and despair, and that at this point for the first time they receive comfort and help from the Lord, is something that is not known at the present day for the reason that few are being reformed. Those who are such that they are able to be reformed are brought into this state, if not during this life then in the next, where that state is very well known and is called vastation or desolation, regarding which something has been said in Volume One, where also see 1109. Those who experience such vastation or desolation are brought to the point of despair, and when in that state they receive comfort and help from the Lord, and at length are taken away out of that state into heaven, where in the presence of angels they are taught so to speak anew the goods and truths of faith. The primary reason why they undergo vastation or desolation is so that the things of which they are firmly persuaded, originating in what is properly their own, may crumble, see 2682, and also that they may receive the perception of good and truth, which perception they are not able to receive until those false persuasions originating in what is their own are so to speak softened. And it is the state of distress and grief even to the point of despair that effects this change. What good is, and indeed what blessedness and happiness are, nobody with even the sharpest mind is able to perceive unless he has experienced the state of being deprived of good, blessedness, and happiness. It is from this experience that he acquires a sphere of perception; and he acquires it to the same degree that he has experienced the contrary state, for the sphere of perception and how far it extends are determined by his experience of the two contrary states. These, in addition to many others, are the reasons for vastation or desolation. Let the following examples illustrate the matter.
[3] Take those people who attribute everything to their own prudence, and little or nothing to Divine Providence. Even if thousands of reasons are produced to prove that Divine Providence is universal, but universal because it exists in every least thing, and that not even a hair falls from the head – that is, nothing however small exists that has not been foreseen and that has not been provided accordingly – their state of thought regarding their own prudence would remain unaltered, except for the brief moment when they feel convinced by such arguments. Indeed if the same matter were proved to them by actual experiences, they would while witnessing or taking part in such experiences acknowledge the truth of it, but after a short while they would revert to their previous outlook. Such experiences have a fleeting effect on people’s thought but not on their affection, and unless the affection is broken down the thought remains in its same state as before; for the thought receives its conviction and its life from the affection. But when the feelings of distress and grief enter into them because they have no power at all that is their own to do anything, and those feelings reach the point of despair, their firm persuasion is broken down and their state altered. In this case they can be brought to a conviction that they have no power that is their own to do anything, and that all power, prudence, intelligence and wisdom originate in the Lord. The same is true of people who believe that their faith is self-derived and their good self-derived.
[4] Let a further example illustrate the matter. Take those who have become firmly persuaded that once they have been made righteous no evil resides with them any longer, but has been completely wiped away and destroyed, and thus that they are pure. Thousands of arguments could be used to make it clear to them that nothing is wiped away or destroyed, but that those people are withheld from evil and maintained in good by the Lord who from the life of good which they have led in the world are such that they can be withheld from evil and maintained in good by Him. In addition to these arguments they could be convinced from experiences that they are of themselves nothing but evil, indeed that they are nothing but utterly filthy masses of evil. But in spite of all those arguments and experiences they would still not depart from their opinion and belief. But when they are brought into a particular state in order that they may perceive hell within themselves, and perceiving this so clearly as to despair of the possibility of their own salvation, that firm persuasion is for the first time broken down and with it their pride and their contempt for all others in comparison with themselves, and also their arrogant assumption that they are the only ones who are saved. They can now be brought into a true confession of faith, not merely to the confession that all good comes from the Lord but also that all things exist because of His mercy; and at length they can be brought into humility of heart before the Lord, the existence of which is impossible without acknowledgement of what they are in themselves. From this it is now evident why those who are being reformed or becoming spiritual are brought into the state of vastation or desolation dealt with in the verses previous to this, and how, when experiencing this state even to the point of despair, they for the first time receive comfort and help from the Lord.
‘Rise up’ means an uplifting of the mind. ‘Lift the boy up’ means the spiritual as regards truth. ‘And strengthen your hand in him’ means support received from this. ‘For I will make him into a great nation’ means the spiritual Church.
[2] Since these states are unknown in the world, for the reason mentioned previously that few at the present day are being regenerated, let the nature of this state be described as it is experienced by those who are being regenerated in the next life, where that state is very well known. After being comforted with the hope of help, those in the next life who have experienced vastation or desolation are raised up by the Lord into heaven, thus from a state of shade, which is a state of ignorance, into a state of light, which is a state of enlightenment and of resulting renewal, and so into joy which stirs their inmost feelings. It is indeed light into which they enter, of such a nature that it enables them to see not only with their eyes but also at the same time with their understanding. How much this light renews them may become clear from the contrary state from which they have been released. At that time some who have had a childlike disposition and whose faith has been simple appear to themselves in dazzling white garments. Some appear wearing crowns. Some are taken round to many angelic communities and are everywhere received charitably as brothers; and therefore all good that is gratifying to their new life is offered to them. Some are allowed to observe the vastness of heaven, that is, of the Lord’s kingdom, and at the same time to discern the blessedness of those who are there, in addition to countless other things there which defy description. Such is the state of initial enlightenment, and of the feeling of renewal resulting from this, of all who come out of desolation.
‘God opened her eyes’ means intelligence. ‘And she saw a well of water’ means the Lord’s Word from which truths are drawn. ‘And filled the flask with water’ means truths from that source. ‘And gave the boy a drink’ means teaching given in spiritual things.
[2] The reason why ‘the eye’ means the understanding is that the sight belonging to the body corresponds to that belonging to its spirit, which is the understanding. And because it has this correspondence ‘the eye’ in the Word, in almost every place where it is mentioned, means the understanding, even where people believe something other is meant, as where the Lord says in Matthew,
The lamp of the body is the eye. If the eye is sound, the whole body is full of light. If the eye has been evil the whole body has been made full of darkness. If therefore the light is darkness, how great is the darkness! Matt. 6:22, 23; Luke 11:34.
Here ‘the eye’ is the understanding, the spiritual constituent of which is faith, as also is shown by the explanation added here – ‘if therefore the light is darkness, how great is the darkness!’ Similarly in the same gospel,
If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. Matt. 5:29; 18:9.
‘The left eye’ is the understanding part of the mind, whereas ‘the right eye’ is its affection. The command to pluck out the right eye means that if it causes one to stumble one’s affection must be disciplined.
[3] In the same gospel,
Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Matt. 13:16.
And in Luke, Jesus said to the disciples, Blessed are the eyes which see what you see. Luke 10:23.
Here ‘the eyes which see’ means intelligence and faith, for it was not the mere fact that they saw the Lord and also His miracles and works that caused any one of the disciples to be blessed but the fact that they could grasp things with their understandings and had faith, meant by ‘seeing with the eyes’, and that they were obedient, meant by ‘hearing with the ears’. As regards ‘seeing with the eyes’ meaning to see with the understanding and also to have faith, see 897, 2325. For the understanding is the spiritual complement of sight, and faith the spiritual complement of the understanding. The sight of the eye is received from the light of the world, the sight of the understanding from the light of heaven flowing into things which belong to the light of the world; but the sight of faith is received from the light of heaven. This is the origin of such phrases as seeing with the understanding and seeing with faith. ‘Hearing with the ear’ means being obedient, see 2542.
[4] In Mark,
Jesus said to the disciples, Do you not yet know nor understand? Do you still have your heart hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? Mark 8:17, 18.
Here it is evident that ‘having eyes but not seeing’ means not wishing to understand and not believing. In Luke,
Jesus said of the city, Would that you knew the things that make for your peace! But such is hidden from your eyes. Luke 19:41, 42.
And in Mark,
By the Lord has this been done, and it is marvellous in our eyes. Mark 12:11.
Here ‘hidden from the eyes’ and ‘marvellous in the eyes’ mean to be so to the understanding, as is well known to everyone from the meaning of ‘the eyes’ even in everyday speech.
Abraham reproached Abimelech on account of the well which Abimelech’s servants had seized (verse 25).
Also in Genesis 26,
All the wells which the servants of Isaac’s father had dug, in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up. And Isaac returned and dug [again] the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had been stopping them up after Abraham’s death. And Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of living waters. And they dug another well and disputed over that also. And he moved on from there and dug another well, and they did not dispute over that. And it happened on that day, that Isaac’s servants came and pointed out to him the reasons for the well which they had dug; and they said to him, We have found waters (verses 15, 18-22, 25, 32).
[2] In these verses nothing else is meant by ‘wells’ than matters of doctrine – both those about which they disputed, and those about which they did not. Otherwise their digging of wells and their disputing so many times about them would not be important enough to be mentioned in the Divine Word.
‘The well’ referred to in Moses in a similar way means the Word or doctrine,
They travelled to Beer. This was the well of which Jehovah said to Moses, Gather the people and I will give them water. Then Israel sang this song: Spring up, O well! Answer from it! The well which the princes dug, which the willing ones* of the people dug out, as directed by the law-giver, with their staves. Num. 21:16-18.
Because ‘a well’ meant the Word, doctrine drawn from it, and truth itself, this prophetic song therefore existed in Israel – a song in which the doctrine of truth is the inner theme, as is clear from everything contained in the internal sense. From this the name Beer is derived, and the name Beersheba,** and its meaning in the internal sense as doctrine itself.
[3] Doctrine however that has no truths in it is called ‘a pit’, or a well with no water in it, as in Jeremiah,
Their illustrious ones sent their lesser ones to the water; they came to the pits; they found no water; they returned with their vessels empty. Jer. 14:3.
Here ‘waters’ stands for truths, ‘the pits in which they found no waters’ for doctrine that has no truth within it. In the same prophet,
My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the source of living waters, to hollow out pits for themselves, broken pits, which cannot hold water. Jer. 2:13.
Here in a similar way ‘pits’ stands for doctrines that are not true, ‘broken pits’ for matters of doctrine that have been ravaged.
[4] As regards ‘a spring’ meaning the Word, also doctrine, and therefore truth, this is seen in Isaiah,
The afflicted and the needy were seeking water, and there was none; their tongue was parched with thirst. I Jehovah will hearken to them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the sloping heights, and springs in the midst of valleys; I will make the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into streams of water. Isa. 41:17, 18.
In the first place this refers to the desolation of truth, which is meant by the statements that ‘the afflicted and needy sought water and there was none’, and that ‘their tongue was parched with thirst’. Then it refers, as in the present verses in Genesis where Hagar is the subject, to the comfort, renewal, and instruction following desolation, which are meant by the promise that ‘Jehovah will open the rivers on the sloping heights, will place springs in the midst of valleys, make the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into streams of water’, all of which have to do with the doctrine of truth and the affection acquired from this.
[5] In Moses,
Israel dwelt securely, alone at Jacob’s spring, in a land of corn and new wine; even his heavens distil the dew. Deut. 33:28.
‘Jacob’s spring’ stands for the Word and the doctrine of truth drawn from it. It was because Jacob’s spring meant the Word, and the doctrine of truth drawn from it, that when the Lord came to Jacob’s spring He talked to the woman from Samaria and taught what is meant by the spring and by water. The incident is described in John as follows,
Jesus came to a city of Samaria called Sychar. Jacob’s spring was there. Jesus therefore, weary from the journey, sat thus by the spring. A woman from Samaria came to draw water, to whom Jesus said, Give Me a drink. Jesus said, If you knew the gift of God and who it is who is saying to you, Give Me a drink, you would ask of Him to give you living water. Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but he who 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 spring of water welling up into eternal life. John 4:5-7, 10, 13, 14.
Because ‘Jacob’s spring’ meant the Word, ‘water’ truth, and ‘Samaria’ the spiritual Church, as is the case many times in the Word, therefore the Lord talked to the woman from Samaria and taught that the doctrine of truth is derived from Himself, and that when it is derived from Himself, or what amounts to the same, from His Word, it is ‘a spring of water welling up into eternal life’; also that the truth itself is ‘living water’.
[6] Similar teaching occurs in the same gospel,
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 in the Book of Revelation,
The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and will guide them to living springs of water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Rev. 7:17.
In the same book,
To him who thirsts I will give from the spring of living water without price. Rev. 21:6.
‘Rivers of living water’ and ‘living springs of water’ stand for truths which are derived from the Lord, that is, from His Word, for the Lord is the Word. The good of love and charity which comes solely from the Lord is the life of truth. The expression ‘he who thirsts’ is used of one who is stirred by a love and affection for truth; no other can so thirst.
[7] These truths are also called ‘the springs of salvation’ in Isaiah,
With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation, and you will say on that day, Confess Jehovah, call on His name. Isa. 12:3, 4.
That ‘a spring’ means the Word, or doctrine drawn from it, is also evident in Joel,
It will happen on that day, that the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will run with milk, and all the streams of Judah will run with water, and a spring will come forth from the house of Jehovah and will water the river of Shittim. Joel 3:18.
Here ‘water’ stands for truths, ‘a spring from the house of Jehovah’ for the Word of the Lord.
[8] In Jeremiah,
Behold I am bringing them from the north land, and I will gather them from the extremities of the earth, among them the blind one and the lame. With weeping they will come, and with supplications I will bring them to springs of water in a straight path on which they will not stumble. Jer. 31:8, 9.
‘Springs of water in a straight path’ plainly stands for matters of doctrine concerning truth. ‘The north land’ stands for the lack of knowledge or the desolation of truth, ‘weeping and supplications’ for their state of grief and despair. ‘Being brought to springs of water’ stands for renewal and instruction in truths, as in this chapter of Genesis where Hagar and her son are the subject.
[9] The same matters are presented in Isaiah as follows,
The wilderness and the dry land will be glad for them; and the lonely place will rejoice and blossom like the rose. It will bud prolifically, and will rejoice also with rejoicing and singing. The glory of Lebanon has been given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of Jehovah, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. The eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Waters will break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the lonely place; and the dry place will become a pool and the thirsty ground wellsprings of water. Isa. 35:1-3, 5-7.
Here ‘a wilderness’ stands for a desolation of truth. ‘Waters’, ‘streams’, ‘a pool’, ‘wellsprings of water’ stand for truths which serve to renew and give joy to people who have experienced vastation and whose joys are described in many ways here.
[10] In David,
Jehovah sends forth springs in the valleys; they will go among the mountains.
They will give drink to every wild beast of the fields; the wild asses will quench their thirst. He waters the mountains from His chambers. Ps. 104:10, 11, 13.
‘Springs’ stands for truths, ‘mountains’ for the love of good and truth, ‘giving drink’ for giving teaching, ‘wild beasts of the fields’ for people who live by that teaching, see 774, 841, 908, ‘wild asses’ for those who have none but rational truth, 1949-1951.
[11] In Moses,
The son of a fruitful one is Joseph, the son of a fruitful one beside a spring. Gen. 49:22.
‘A spring’ stands for doctrine from the Lord. In the same author,
Jehovah your God will bring you into a good land, a land of rivers, waters, springs, depths gushing out in valleys and mountains. Deut. 8:7.
‘A land’ stands for the Lord’s kingdom and Church, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1413, 2571, which is called ‘good’ from the good of love and charity. ‘Rivers’, ‘waters’, ‘springs’, and ‘depths’ stand for the truths derived from that good. In the same author,
The land of Canaan, a land of mountains and valleys, on the arrival of the rain of heaven it drinks water. Deut. 11:11.
[12] That ‘waters’ means truths, both spiritual and rational, and also factual, is evident from the following places: In Isaiah,
Behold, the Lord Jehovah Zebaoth is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah the whole staff of bread and the whole staff of water. Isa. 3:1.
In the same prophet,
To the thirsty bring water; meet with his bread the fugitive. Isa. 21:14.
In the same prophet,
Blessed are you who sow beside all waters. Isa. 32:20.
In the same prophet,
He who walks in righteous ways and speaks upright words will dwell on the heights; his bread will be given to him, his water will be sure. Isa. 33:15, 16.
In the same prophet,
At that time they will not thirst; in the wilderness He will lead them; He will make water flow for them from the rock. And He cleaves the rock and the water flows out. Isa. 48:21; Exod. 17:1-8; Num. 20:11, 13.
In David,
He split rocks in the wilderness and caused them to drink abundantly like the depths. He brought streams out of the rock and caused waters to descend like a river. Ps. 78:15, 16.
Here ‘rock’ stands for the Lord, ‘water, streams, and the depths from it’ for truths derived from Him.
[13] In the same author,
Jehovah turns rivers into a wilderness, and streams of waters into a dryness. He turns a wilderness into a pool of water, and parched land into streams of waters. Ps. 107:33, 35.
In the same author,
The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters; Jehovah is upon many waters. Ps. 29:3.
In the same author,
There is a river whose streams will make glad the city of God, the holy place of the dwellings of the Most High. Ps. 46:4.
In the same author,
By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all their host by the spirit of His mouth. He gathered the waters of the sea together as a heap; He placed the depths in storehouses. Ps. 33:6, 7.
In the same author,
You visit the earth and delight in it, You enrich it very greatly; the river of God is full of water. Ps. 65:9.
In the same author,
The waters have seen You, O God, the waters have seen You. The depths trembled, the clouds poured out water. Your way was in the sea, and Your path in many waters. Ps. 77:16, 17, 19.
It is evident to anyone that ‘waters’ here do not mean waters, and that ‘the depths trembled’ and ‘Jehovah’s way was in the sea and His path in the waters’, are not meant literally, but that spiritual waters are meant, that is, things of a spiritual kind, which are matters of truth; otherwise it would all be just a heap of meaningless words. In Isaiah,
Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy! Isa. 55:1.
In Zechariah,
It will happen on that day, that living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. Zech. 14:8.
[14] Furthermore when the Church which is about to be established or which has been established is the subject in the Word and it is described by a paradise, a garden, a grove, or by trees, it is usual for it to be described also by waters or rivers running through, which mean things of a spiritual, rational, or factual kind, which are matters of truth. Paradise as described in Gen. 2:8, 9, for example, is also described by the rivers there, verses 10-14, which mean things that are attributes of wisdom and intelligence, see 107-121. Similar examples occur many times elsewhere in the Word, as in Moses,
Like valleys that are planted, like gardens beside a river, like aloes Jehovah has planted, like cedars beside the waters. Waters will flow from his buckets, and his seed will be in many waters. Num. 24:6, 7.
In Ezekiel,
He took some of the seed of the land and planted it in a seed field; he took it to be beside many waters. It sprouted and became a spreading vine. Ezek. 17:5, 6.
‘A vine’ and ‘a vineyard’ mean the spiritual Church, see 1069. In the same prophet,
Your mother was like a vine in your likeness, planted beside the waters; fruitful, and made full of branches by reason of many waters. Ezek. 19:10.
[15] In the same prophet,
Behold, Asshur [was a cedar] in Lebanon; the waters caused it to grow, the depth made it high, with its rivers going round about the place of its planting; and he sent out his lines of water to all the trees of the field. Ezek. 31:3, 4.
In the same prophet,
Behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees, on this side and on that. He said to me, These waters are going out towards the eastern boundary, and they go down over the plain, and they go towards the sea, having been sent away into the sea; and the waters are fresh. And it will be that every living creature that creeps, in every place which the two rivers come to, will live; and there will be very many fish, for these waters go there, and become fresh, so that everything may live where the river goes. Its swamps and its marshes are not healed; they will be given up to salt. Ezek. 47:7-9 , 11.
This refers to the New Jerusalem or Lord’s spiritual kingdom. ‘Waters going out towards the eastern boundary’ means things that are spiritual flowing from those which are celestial, or truths derived from a celestial source, that is, faith springing from love and charity, 101, 1250. ‘Going down into the plain’ means matters of doctrine belonging to the rational, 2418, 2450. ‘Going towards the sea’ means towards factual knowledge, ‘the sea’ being a gathering together of facts, 28. ‘The living creature that creeps’ means the delights which go with these, 746, 909, 994, which will receive their life from ‘the waters of the river’, that is, from spiritual things derived from a celestial source. ‘Many fish’ stands for an abundance of appropriate facts, 40, 991, while ‘swamps and marshes’ stands for such as are inappropriate and impure. ‘Turning into salt’ stands for becoming vastated, 2455. In Jeremiah,
Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah. He will be like a tree planted beside the waters, which sends out its roots beside the stream. Jer. 17:7, 8.
In David,
He will be like a tree planted beside streams of water, which will yield its fruit in its season. Ps. 1:3.
In John,
He showed me a pure river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and of the river, on this side and on that, was the tree of life bearing twelve fruits. Rev. 22:1, 2.
[16] Now because ‘waters’ means truths in the internal sense of the Word it was therefore commanded in the Jewish Church, for the sake of representation before the eyes of the angels who beheld ritual acts in a spiritual way, that the priests and Levites should wash themselves with water when they came to perform their duties, and that they should do so with water from the layer placed between the tent and the altar, and later on with water from the bronze sea and all the other lavers around the temple, which were there in place of a spring. In a similar way for the sake of representation the ritual involving the water of sin or of expiation which was to be sprinkled over the Levites was established, Num. 8:7, also the ritual involving the water of separation from the ashes of the red cow, Num. 19:2-19, as well as the requirement that spoils taken from the Midianites were to be cleansed with water, Num. 31:19-25.
[17] The water provided out of the rock, Exod. 17:1-8; Num. 20:1-13, represented and meant an abundance of spiritual things, that is, of truths of faith from the Lord. The bitter waters which were made drinkable by means of the wood, Exod. 15:22-25, represented and meant that truths, from being unpleasant, are made acceptable and gratifying by virtue of good, that is, of the affection for it – ‘wood’ meaning good which constitutes affection or the will, see 643. From these considerations one may now see what ‘water’ means in the Word, and from this what the water used in baptism means, regarding which the Lord says the following in John,
Unless a person has been born from water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. John 3:5.
That is to say, ‘water’ means the spiritual constituent of faith, and ‘the spirit’ the celestial constituent of it, so that baptism is the symbol of man’s regeneration by the Lord by means of the truths and goods of faith. Not that a person’s regeneration is accomplished in baptism, but by the life, the sign of which life is denoted in baptism, and into which life Christians who possess the truths of faith because they have the Word must enter.
* the willing ones is the primary meaning of the Hebrew expression here. Put the latter also has a derivative meaning nobles, which Sw. has in other places where he quotes this verse.
** Beer is the Hebrew word for a well, and Beersheba means The well of the oath or The well of seven.
‘God was with the boy’ means the Lord’s presence with those who are spiritual. ‘And he grew’ means increases. ‘And dwelt in the wilderness’ means that which is obscure comparatively. ‘And was an archer’ means the member of the spiritual Church.
With regard to ‘God’s being with someone’ meaning the Lord’s presence, this may be seen without any explanation. The Lord is indeed present with everyone, for from no other source does life flow, and He governs every specific detail of it. This is so even with the worst of men, and in hell itself. But the nature of His presence varies according to the way His life is received. In the case of those who receive the life of the love of His good and truth wrongfully and who pervert it into the loves of what is evil and false, the Lord is present and as far as possible overrules for good their ends in view. But His presence with them is called ‘absence’ – an absence to the degree that evil is distant from good, and falsity from truth. With those however who do receive the life of the love of the Lord’s good and truth it is referred to as ‘presence’, a presence to the degree of reception. The Lord’s presence may be compared to the sun which is present with its heat and light in all plant life according to the reception of it.
With regard to ‘the boy’ meaning the spiritual as regards truth, this has been stated above. But here he means those who are spiritual because he represents the member of the spiritual Church, also the spiritual Church itself, and in the universal sense the Lord’s spiritual kingdom. For when it is said that anyone means that which is spiritual, as here where ‘the boy’ means the spiritual as regards truth, those who are spiritual are included in the meaning, since the spiritual does not exist without a subject. The same applies to everything else spoken of in the abstracted sense.
[2] In the Word ‘a wilderness’ can mean that which is sparsely inhabited and cultivated, or it can mean that which is totally uninhabited and uncultivated, and so is used in two senses. When it means that which is sparsely inhabited and cultivated, that is, where there are few dwellings, and where there are sheepfolds, pastures, and waters, it means that thing or those persons who, compared with others, have little life and light, as is the case with that which is spiritual or those who are spiritual in comparison with that which is celestial or those who are celestial. When however it means that which is totally uninhabited and uncultivated, that is, where there are no dwellings, sheepfolds, pastures, and waters, it means those who have undergone vastation as regards good and desolation as regards truth.
[3] That ‘a wilderness’ can mean that which, compared with other places, is sparsely inhabited and cultivated, that is, where there are few dwellings, and where there are sheepfolds, pastures, and waters, is clear from the following places: In Isaiah,
Sing to Jehovah a new song, His praise from the end of the earth, those that go down to the sea, and the fullness of it, the islands and their inhabitants. The wilderness and its cities will lift up [their voice]; Kedar will inhabit the settlements,* the inhabitants of the rock will sing, they will shout from the top of the mountains. Isa. 42:10, 11.
In Ezekiel,
I will make with them a covenant of peace and I will banish the evil wild animal from the land, and they will dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods, and I will give them and the places around My hill a blessing. The tree of the field will give its fruit, and the earth will give its increase.** Ezek. 34:25-27.
This refers to those who are spiritual. In Hosea,
I will bring her into the wilderness and will speak tenderly to her; and I will give her her vineyards from it. Hosea 2:14, 15.
This refers to the desolation of truth and to the comfort that follows later.
[4] In David,
The folds of the wilderness drip, and the hills gird themselves with rejoicing; the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, and the valleys are covered over with grain. Ps. 65:12, 13.
In Isaiah,
I will make the wilderness into a pool of water, and the parched land into streams of water. I will put in the wilderness the shittim-cedar, and the myrtle, and the oil tree. I will set in the wilderness the fir, that men may see and know, and may consider and understand together, for the hand of Jehovah has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. Isa. 41:18-20.
This refers to the regeneration of those who have no knowledge of the truth, that is, gentiles, and to the enlightenment and teaching of those who have experienced desolation. ‘The wilderness’ is used in reference to these. ‘The cedar, the myrtle, and the oil tree’ stands for the truths and goods of the interior man, ‘fir’ for those of the exterior man. In David,
Jehovah turns rivers into a wilderness, and streams of waters into dryness. He turns a wilderness into a pool of water, and parched land into streams of water. Ps. 107:33, 35
Here the meaning is similar. In Isaiah,
The wilderness and the dry land will be glad for them, and the lonely place will rejoice and blossom like the rose. It will bud prolifically. Waters will break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the lonely place. Isa. 35:1, 2, 6.
In the same prophet,
You will be like a watered garden and like a spring of waters whose waters do not fail; and those that be of you will build the wilderness of old. Isa. 58:11, 12.
In the same prophet,
Until the spirit is poured out on us from on high, and the wilderness will become Carmel, and Carmel counted as a forest. And judgement will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness on Carmel. Isa. 32:15, 16.
This refers to the spiritual Church which, though inhabited and cultivated, is, in comparison [with the celestial Church], called ‘a wilderness’, for it is said that ‘judgement will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness on Carmel’. It is evident from the places just quoted that ‘a wilderness’ means an obscure state compared with other states not only because it is described as ‘a wilderness’ but also as ‘a woodland’; and an obscure state is plainly the meaning in Jeremiah,
O generation, observe the word of Jehovah. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of darkness? Jer. 2:31.
[5] That ‘a wilderness’ can mean that which is totally uninhabited and uncultivated, that is, where there are no dwellings, sheepfolds, pastures, and waters, and so can mean those who have experienced vastation as regards good and desolation as regards truth, is also clear from the Word. This kind of wilderness is used with two different meanings; that is to say, it may be used in reference to those who are subsequently reformed or in reference to those who are unable to be reformed. Regarding those who are subsequently reformed, such as Hagar and her son represent here, it is said in Jeremiah,
Thus said Jehovah, I have remembered you, the mercy of the days of your youth, your going after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Jer. 2:2.
This refers to Jerusalem, which in this case means the Ancient Church that was spiritual. In Moses,
The portion of Jehovah is His people, Jacob is the line of His inheritance. He found him in a wilderness land and in the waste, the howling, the lonely place. He encompassed him, led him to understand, and kept him as the pupil of His eye. Deut. 32:9, 10.
In David,
They wandered in the wilderness, in a desolate way; they did not find an inhabited city. Ps. 107:4.
This refers to those who have experienced desolation of truth and are being reformed. In Ezekiel,
I will bring you to the wilderness of the peoples and I will enter into judgement with you there, as I entered into judgement with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt. Ezek. 20:35, 36.
This likewise refers to the vastation and desolation of those who are being reformed.
[6] The travels and wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness represented nothing else than the vastation and desolation prior to reformation of those who have faith. It consequently represented the temptation of them, for when people undergo spiritual temptations they experience vastation and desolation, as may also become clear from the following in Moses,
Jehovah carried you*** along in the wilderness, as a man carries his son, in [all] the way [you went], until [you reached] this place. Deut. 1:31.
And elsewhere in the same book,
You shall remember all the way in which Jehovah your God has led you forty years already in the wilderness to afflict you, to tempt you, and to know what is in your heart, whether you will keep His commandments or not. He afflicted you, caused you to hunger, caused you to eat manna which you do not know nor your fathers knew, so that you may recognize that man does not live by bread only but that man lives by all that goes out of the mouth of Jehovah. Deut. 8:2, 3.
And further on in the same chapter,
Do not forget that Jehovah led you in the great and terrible wilderness where there were serpents, fiery snakes, and scorpions, parched places where there was no water, and that He brought you water out of the rock of flint. He fed you in the wilderness with manna which your fathers did not know, that He might afflict you, tempt you, to do you good in the end. Deut. 8:15, 16.
Here ‘wilderness’ stands for the vastation and desolation such as people experience who undergo temptations. Their travels and wanderings in the wilderness for forty years describe every state of the Church militant – how when it is self-reliant it goes under but when it relies on the Lord it overcomes.
[7] The description in John of the woman who fled into the wilderness means nothing else than temptation experienced by the Church, referred to as follows,
The woman who brought forth the male child fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God. To the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly into the wilderness, into her own place. And the serpent poured water like a stream out of his mouth after the woman, to swallow her up in the river. But the earth helped the woman, for the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the stream which the dragon poured out of his mouth. Rev. 12:6, 14-16.
[8] That ‘a wilderness’ may be used in reference to a totally vastated Church and to people totally vastated as regards good and truth who are unable to be reformed may be seen in the following in Isaiah,
I will make the rivers a wilderness; their fish will stink for lack of water and will die of thirst; I will clothe the heavens with thick darkness. Isa. 50:2, 3.
In the same prophet,
The cities of Your holiness were a wilderness – Zion was a wilderness, Jerusalem lay waste. Isa. 64:10,
In Jeremiah,
I looked, and behold, Carmel was a wilderness, and all its cities were destroyed from before Jehovah. Jer. 4:26.
In the same prophet,
Many shepherds have spoiled My vineyard, they have trampled down [My] portion, they have made the portion of My delight into a desolate wilderness. They have made it into a desolation; desolate, it has mourned over Me. The whole land has been made desolate, for nobody takes it to heart. On all the slopes in the wilderness those who lay waste have come. Jer. 12:10-12.
In Joel,
Fire has devoured the folds of the wilderness, and flame will burn up all the trees of the field. The streams of water have dried up, and fire has devoured the folds of the wilderness. Joel 1:19, 20.
In Isaiah, He made the world like a wilderness and destroyed its cities. Isa. 14:17.
This refers to Lucifer. In the same prophet,
The prophecy concerning the wilderness of the sea. Like storms in the south it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land. Isa. 21:1 and following verses.
‘The wilderness of the sea’ stands for truth that has been vastated by facts and by reasonings based on these.
[9] All these places show what is meant by the following reference to John the Baptist,
It was said by Isaiah, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare a way for the Lord, make His paths straight. Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23; Isa. 40:3.
These words imply that at that time the Church was so totally vastated that no good and no truth remained any longer. This is quite evident from the fact that nobody at that time knew of the existence in man of anything internal, or of anything internal in the Word, so that nobody knew that the Messiah or Christ was coming to save them for ever. The places quoted above also show what is meant by the statement that John was in the wilderness until the time of his manifestation to Israel, Luke 1:80, that he preached in the wilderness of Judea, Matt. 3:1 and following verses, and that he baptized in the wilderness, Mark 1:4; for by this he also represented the state of the Church. From the meaning of ‘a wilderness’ it may also be seen why the Lord retired so often into the wilderness, as in Matt. 4:1; 15:32-end; Mark 1:12, 13, 35, 45; 6:31-36; Luke 4:1; 5:16; 9:10 and following verses; John 11:54; and also from the meaning of ‘a mountain’ why the Lord retired into the mountains, as in Matt. 14:23; 15:29-31; 17:1 and following verses; 28:16, 17; Mark 3:13, 14; 6:46; 9:2-9; Luke 6:12, 13; 9:28; John 6:15.
* lit. courts. The Hebrew may mean courts or else villages which Sw. has in another place where he quotes this verse.
** The Latin means fruit but the Hebrew means increase which Sw. has in other places where he quotes this verse.
*** The Latin means them but the Hebrew means you.
[2] The fact that the spiritual man was in former times called ‘an archer’ and ‘a bowman’, and that doctrine was called a bow and a quiver, and the truths of doctrine, or rather matters of doctrine, were called arrows, darts, and shafts, is further clear in David,
The children of Ephraim who were armed (they were archers) turned back on the day of battle. Ps. 78:9.
‘Ephraim’ stands for the intellectual side of the Church. In the Book of Judges,
You who ride white she-asses, you who sit on Middin,* and you who walk along the way, may you ponder. From the voice of the bowmen among those drawing water, there they will discuss the righteous acts of Jehovah, the righteous acts of His village in Israel. Judg. 5:10, 11.
In Isaiah.
Jehovah called me from the womb, from my mother’s body** He made mention of my name and set my mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow of His hand He hid me and turned me into a polished arrow; in His quiver He hid me, and He said to me, You are My servant Israel, for I will be glorified in you. Isa. 49:1-3.
‘Israel’ stands for the spiritual Church.
[3] In David,
Like arrows in the hand of a powerful man so are the children of the days of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them. Ps. 127:4, 5.
‘A quiver’ stands for the doctrine of good and truth. In Habakkuk,
The sun, the moon, stood still in their place. At the light of Your arrows they will go, at the flash of Your glittering spear. Hab. 3:11.
In the reference to Joash king of Israel who at Elisha’s command shot the arrow from the bow through the window, with Elisha saying as he shot it, Jehovah’s arrow of salvation, Jehovah’s arrow of salvation against the Syrian, 2 Kings 13:16-18, arcana to do with the doctrine of good and truth are meant.
[4] Since most things in the Word also possess a contrary sense, darts, arrows, shafts, bows, and archers accordingly possess such. In that contrary sense they mean falsities, doctrine that teaches what is false, and those who are under the influence of falsity, as in Moses,
The son of a fruitful one is Joseph, the son of a fruitful one beside a spring, O daughters,*** he trails over the wall; and they bitterly grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him did the archers. Gen. 49:22, 23.
In Jeremiah,
They shot with their tongue, their bow is a bow of lies and not used for truth. Their tongue is a shaft extended; it speaks deceit. Jer 9:3, 8.
In David,
They sharpened their tongue like a sword, they aimed their shaft, a bitter word, to shoot in secret places at the upright; they will shoot suddenly and will not fear him. They will make strong for
themselves an evil matter; they will tell of laying snares secretly. Ps. 64:3-5.
In the same author,
Behold, the evil bend the bow, they make ready their shaft upon the string, to shoot in thick darkness itself at the upright in heart. Ps. 11:2.
In the same author,
His truth is a shield and buckler; you will not be afraid of the terror of the night, of the shaft that flies by day. Ps. 91:4, 5.
* A Hebrew word, the meaning of which is uncertain.
** lit. viscera
*** The Latin means beside the daughters’ spring, but the Hebrew appears to mean beside a spring, O daughters, which Sw. has in the chapter explaining Genesis 49.
‘He dwelt in the wilderness of Paran’ means the life of the spiritual man as regards good, ‘a wilderness’ here, as previously, meaning that which is obscure in comparison [with the celestial], ‘Paran’ enlightenment coming from the Lord’s Divine Human. ‘And his mother took for him’ means the affection for truth. ‘A wife from the land of Egypt’ means the affection for knowledge, which the member of the spiritual Church possesses.
I have laid their streets waste, so that none passes through; their cities are desolate, so that there is no one dwelling in them. Zeph. 3:6.
[2] In Jeremiah,
Jehovah was leading us through the wilderness. No man passed through in that [land], and no one dwelt there. They have turned his land into a solitary place, his cities have been burned, so that none is dwelling there. Jer. 2:6, 15.
In the same prophet,
Every city has been forsaken, with no one dwelling in them. Jer. 4:29.
In the same prophet,
In the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate there is no human being, no inhabitant, no beast. Jer. 33:10.
‘Streets’ stands for truths, 2336, ‘no human being’ for no celestial good, ‘no inhabitant’ for no spiritual good, ‘no beast’ for no natural good. In the same prophet,
The cities of Moab will become a desolation, with no one dwelling in them. Jer. 48:9.
[3] With each particular expression in the Prophets there exists the marriage of truth and good. Consequently when ‘a city’ is said to be desolate, the phrase ‘no one dwelling in it’ is also added, the reason being that ‘a city’ means truths and ‘one dwelling in it’ good. Otherwise it would be superfluous to say ‘no one dwelling in it’ when it has been stated that the city is desolate. In a similar way certain terms occur consistently to mean things that belong to celestial good, others that belong to spiritual good, and others also that belong to truths, as in Isaiah,
Your seed will possess the nations, and they will dwell in the desolate cities. Isa. 54:3
Here ‘possessing’ has reference to celestial good, ‘dwelling in’ to spiritual good. In the same prophet,
My chosen ones will possess it, and My servants will dwell there. Isa. 65:9.
Here the meaning is similar.
[4] In David,
God will save Zion and will build the cities of Judah; and they will dwell there and possess it, and the seed of His servants will inherit it, and those loving His name will dwell in it. Ps. 69:35, 36.
‘Dwelling there’ and at the same time ‘possessing’ has reference to celestial good, ‘dwelling in’ to spiritual good. In Isaiah,
He who says to Jerusalem, You will be dwelt in; and to the cities of Judah, You will be built. Isa. 44:26.
Here ‘dwelling in’ has reference to the good of the spiritual Church, which is Jerusalem. To such an extent do the terms used in the Word have reference to their own goods and their own truths that simply from a knowledge of that usage of terms one may recognize what the subject is in general that is being dealt with.
O Jehovah, I have heard Your fame; I was afraid. O Jehovah, revive Your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known. In zeal You will remember mercy. God will come out of Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His fame has covered the heavens, and the earth has been filled with His praise. And His brightness will be as the light; He has horns going out of His hand, and there the hiding-place of His strength will be. Hab. 3:2-4.
This plainly refers to the Lord’s Coming, which is meant by ‘reviving in the midst of the years’ and ‘making known in the midst of the years’. His Divine Human is described by the words ‘God will come out of Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran’. He is said to come ‘out of Teman’ in regard to celestial love, and ‘from Mount Paran’ in regard to spiritual love; and the springing of these from enlightenment and power is meant by the words ‘His brightness will be as the light; He has horns going out of His hand’. ‘Brightness’ and ‘light’ mean enlightenment, ‘horns’ power.
[2] In Moses,
Jehovah came from Sinai, and dawned from Seir upon them; He shone from Mount Paran, and came from myriads of holiness From His right hand came a fiery law for them. He indeed loves the peoples. All His holy ones are in your hand and have been joined together at your feet; and He will receive of your words. Deut. 33:2, 3.
This also refers to the Lord, whose Divine Human is described by the words ‘He dawned from Seir’ and ‘He shone from Mount Paran’ – ‘from Seir’ being used in regard to celestial love, ‘from Mount Paran’ to spiritual love. Those who are spiritual are meant by ‘the peoples whom He loves’ and by ‘those joined together at your feet’, ‘the foot’ meaning that which is lower, and so more obscure, in the Lord’s kingdom.
[3] In the same author,
Chedorlaomer and the kings with him smote the Horites in their Mount Seir as far as El-paran, which is over into the wilderness. Gen. 14:5, 6.
As regards the Lord’s Divine Human being meant there by ‘Mount Seir’ and by ‘El-paran’, see 1675, 1676. In the same author,
So it was, in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day in the month, that the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony. And the children of Israel travelled according to their travels from the wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud settled in the wilderness of Paran. Num. 10:11, 12.
[4] The truth that all the travels of the people in the wilderness mean the state of the Church militant, and its temptations, in which a person goes under but the Lord conquers on his behalf, and the truth that consequently they mean the Lord’s own actual temptations and victories, will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be shown elsewhere. And because the Lord underwent temptations by reason of His Divine Human, the Lord’s Divine Human is in a similar way meant here by ‘the wilderness of Paran’. The same is also meant by the following in the same author,
After that the people travelled from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran. And Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, Send men and let them explore the land of Canaan which I am giving to the children of Israel. And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran as spoken by the mouth of Jehovah. And they returned to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran in Kadesh; and they brought back word to them, and showed them the fruit of the land. Num. 12:16; 13:1-3, 26.
Their travelling from the wilderness of Paran to explore the land of Canaan means that by means of the Lord’s Divine Human these people – the children of Israel, by whom were meant those who are spiritual – have access to the heavenly kingdom, meant by the land of Canaan. But their faltering also at that time means their weakness, on account of which the Lord fulfilled everything in the Law, underwent temptations and was victorious, so that those with whom faith grounded in charity resides, also those who undergo temptations in which the Lord is victorious, have salvation from His Divine Human. This also explains why, when the Lord was tempted, He was in the wilderness, Matt. 4:1; Mark 1:12, 13; Luke 4:1; see above in 2708.
[2] As a consequence those who are spiritual do not have love to the Lord, as those who are celestial do; nor therefore does that humility exist with them which is essential in all worship and by means of which good can flow in from the Lord; for a heart that is haughty is not at all receptive, only one that is humble. Nor do those who are spiritual have love towards the neighbour, as those who are celestial do, because self-love and love of the world are constantly flowing in from the will part of their mind, bringing obscurity into the good that goes with that love towards the neighbour. This may also become clear to one who reflects from the fact that when he helps another he does so for worldly reasons; thus though he may not consciously have it in mind he is nevertheless thinking about what he will get in return either from those he helps or in the next life from the Lord, which being so his good is still defiled with merit-seeking. It may also become clear to him from the fact that when he has done anything good and is able to speak about it to others and so set himself up above others, he is in his element. But those who are celestial love the neighbour more than they love themselves, and do not ever think about repayment or in any way set themselves up above others.
[3] The good residing with those who are spiritual is in addition made obscure by persuasive beliefs that are the product of various assumptions, which likewise have their origin in self-love and love of the world. For the nature of their persuasive beliefs even in matters of faith, see 2682, 2689 (end). This too is a product of the influx of evil from the will part of their mind.
[4] It may in addition become clear that the good residing with the spiritual man is obscure compared with the celestial man’s, from the fact that he does not know what truth is, as those who are celestial do, from any perception. Instead he knows what truth is from what he has learned from parents and teachers, and also from the doctrine into which he was born. And when he adds to this anything from himself and from his own thinking, it is for the most part the senses and the illusions of the senses, also the rational and the appearances present within the rational, that predominate, and these make it barely possible for him to acknowledge any pure truth like that acknowledged by those who are celestial. But in spite of this, within things that are seemingly true the Lord implants good, even though these truths are mere illusions or else appearances of truth. But this good is made obscure by such truths, for it derives its specific nature from the truths to which it is joined. It is like the light of the sun falling upon objects. The nature of the objects receiving the light causes the light to be seen within those objects in the form of colours, which are beautiful if the nature of the recipient form and the manner of its receiving are fitting and correspondent, hideous if the nature of the recipient form and the manner of its receiving are not fitting and so not correspondent. In the same way good itself acquires a specific nature from the truth [to which it is joined].
[5] The same arcanum is also evident from the fact that the spiritual man does not know what evil is. He scarcely believes that any other evils exist than actions contrary to the Ten Commandments. Of evils present in affection and thought, which are countless, he has no knowledge nor does he reflect on them or call them evils. All delights whatever that go with evil desires and pleasures he does not regard as other than good; and the actual delights that are part of self-love he both pursues, approves of, and excuses, without knowing that such things have an effect on his spirit and that he becomes altogether such in the next life.
[6] From this it is in a similar way clear that although the whole of the Word deals with scarcely any other matter than the good which goes with love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, the spiritual man does not know that that good is the sum and substance of faith, nor even what the essential nature of love and charity is. It is also clear that though something which is a matter of faith may be known to him – faith being considered by him to be essential in itself – he nevertheless discusses whether it is true, unless he has been confirmed by much experience of life. Those who are celestial do not discuss the same because they know and have a perception that it is true hence the Lord’s statement in Matthew,
Let your words be, Yes, yes; No, no; anything beyond this is from evil.* Matt. 5:37.
For those who are celestial are immersed in the truth itself about which those who are spiritual dispute. Consequently because those who are celestial are immersed in the truth itself, they are able to see from it numberless facets of that truth, and so from light to see so to speak heaven in its entirety. But those who are spiritual, because they dispute whether it is true, cannot – so long as they do so – arrive at the remotest boundary of the light existing with those who are celestial, let alone behold anything from their light.
* or from the evil one
[2] So that it may be known what is meant by the affection for truth existing with someone and what by the affection for good, let a brief statement be made regarding them. Those with the affection for truth think about, question, and discuss whether a thing is true, whether it is so. And when they are convinced it is true, or is so, they think about, question, and discuss what it is. Thus they remain rooted on the doorstep and cannot be admitted into wisdom until they no longer have any doubts. Those however with whom the affection for good exists know and perceive that the thing is so from the good itself governing them. Thus they do not remain on the doorstep but are in a room inside, having been admitted into wisdom.
[3] Take as an example the consideration that it is a celestial gift to think and to act from an affection for good, or from good. Those with whom the affection for truth exists discuss whether this is so, whether such a gift can exist, and what it may be. And so long as they are turning over doubts about it they are unable to be admitted. But those with the affection for good do not discuss or turn doubts over but assert that the thing is true and are for that reason admitted. For those with whom the affection for good exists, that is, those who are celestial, start off where those with the affection for truth, that is, those who are spiritual, come to a halt, so that the furthest point reached by the latter is the starting point for the former. That being so, those who are celestial are given to know, recognize, and perceive that affections for good are countless – as numerous as the communities in heaven – and that they are all joined together by the Lord into a heavenly form so as to constitute one human being so to speak. They are also given to define by perception the genus and species to which each affection belongs.
[4] Or take this example: All delight, blessedness, and happiness belong wholly to love, but the nature of the love determines that of the delight, blessedness, and happiness. The spiritual man fixes his mind on the question whether this is true and whether delight, blessedness, and happiness may not spring from some other source, such as from mixing with others, talking to others, meditation, or learning, and also whether they reside in possessions, position, reputation, and the glory resulting from these. As long as he is asking such questions he does not confirm himself in the truth that none of these accomplishes anything, only the affection born of love which is present within them and making them what they are. The celestial man however does not remain rooted in such preliminary questionings but immediately asserts that the thing is true. Consequently he is interested in the end in view and the realization of this, that is, he is governed by the very affections born of love which are countless, and in each one of which there are things beyond description, involving variations of delight, blessedness, and happiness that have no end.
[5] Take as a further example the consideration that the neighbour is to be loved for the good that resides with him. Those with whom the affection for truth exists think, question, and discuss whether this is true, that is, whether it is so. They ask what the neighbour is, what good is; but they go no further than this, and therefore they shut the door to wisdom against themselves. Those however with the affection for good assert that the thing is so and do not consequently shut the door against themselves but enter in and so come to know, recognize, and perceive from good who is pre-eminently the neighbour, also in what degree he is the neighbour, and that everyone in differing ways is the neighbour. Thus they perceive things beyond description, over and above what is known to those with the affection solely for truth.
[6] Take as yet another example the truth that a person who loves the neighbour for the good within him loves the Lord. Those with the affection for truth question whether this is so. And if they are told that anyone who loves the neighbour for the good within him loves the good, and that – since all good comes from the Lord and the Lord is present in good – when anyone loves good he also loves the Lord from whom that good comes and in which He is present, they then question whether that too is so. They also ask what loving good is, as well as what good is, and whether the Lord is present more so in good than in truth. As long as they remain rooted in such questionings they cannot get even a distant view of wisdom. But those with the affection for good know from perception that the thing is so and immediately behold the whole field of wisdom leading right on to the Lord.
[7] From these examples it may become clear why in comparison with those who have the affection for good, that is, with those who are celestial, obscurity exists with those who have the affection for truth, that is, with those who are spiritual Nevertheless the latter are able to pass from obscurity into light, provided that they are willing to adopt the affirmative attitude that all good belongs to love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour; also that love and charity constitute spiritual conjunction, and that these are the source of all blessedness and happiness, thus that heavenly life consists in the good belonging to love received from the Lord, but not in the truth of faith separated from it.
Verse 23 And now swear to me here by God that you will not lie to me, and to my son, and to my grandson; according to the kindness which I have done to you, may you do to me and to the land in which you have sojourned.
Verse 24 And Abraham said, I will swear.
Verse 25 And Abraham reproached Abimelech on account of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants had seized.
Verse 26 And Abimelech said, I do not know who has done this thing; and you also did not point it out to me, and I too have not heard about it until today.
Verse 27 And Abraham took flocks and herds and gave them to Abimelech; and the two of them made a covenant.
Verse 28 And Abraham set seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves.
Verse 29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, What are these seven ewe-lambs which you have set by themselves?
Verse 30 And he said, Because you will take the seven ewe-lambs from my hand, that they may be a witness for me that I dug this well.
Verse 31 Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath.
Verse 32 And they made a covenant in Beersheba; and Abimelech rose up, and Phicol the general of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines.
[2] ‘So it was at that time’ means the state which the Lord passed through when the Rational was made Divine. ‘That Abimelech spoke, and Phicol the general of his army, to Abraham’ means the merely human rational ideas based on facts that were to be allied to the doctrine of faith, which in itself is Divine. ‘Saying, God is with you in all that you are doing’ means that it was Divine in every single detail.
[3] ‘And now swear to me here by God’ means an affirmation. ‘That you will not lie to me’ means without any element of doubt. ‘And to my son, and to my grandson’ means regarding matters of faith. ‘According to the kindness which I have done to you’ means the rational ideas which the Lord had been taught previously. ‘May you do to me and to the land in which you have sojourned’ means that which is reciprocal.
[4] ‘And Abraham said, I will swear’ means a complete affirmation. ‘And Abraham reproached Abimelech’ means the Lord’s displeasure. ‘On account of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants had seized’ means the doctrine of faith, that factual knowledge wished to attribute that doctrine to itself.
[5] ‘And Abimelech said’ means a reply. ‘I do not know who has done this thing’ means that the rational dictated something different. ‘And you also did not point it out to me’ means that it did not come from the Divine. ‘And I too have not heard about it until today’ means that it was now disclosed for the first time.
[6] ‘And Abraham took flocks and herds and gave them to Abimelech’ means Divine Goods implanted in the rational ideas belonging to doctrine that were meant by Abimelech. ‘And the two of them made a covenant’ means joined together thus. ‘And Abraham set seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves’ means the holiness of innocence.
[7] ‘And Abimelech said to Abraham, What are these seven ewe-lambs which you have set by themselves?’ means that He was to be taught and would acknowledge. ‘And he said, Because you will take the seven ewe-lambs from my hand’ means the holiness of innocence received from the Divine. ‘That they may be a witness for me’ means certainty. ‘That I have dug this well’ means that the doctrine came from the Divine.
[8] ‘Therefore he called that place Beersheba’ means the state and the nature of the doctrine. ‘Because there the two of them swore an oath’ means as a result of the joining together. ‘And they made a covenant in Beersheba’ means that the merely human rational ideas were allied to the doctrine of faith. ‘And Abimelech rose up, and Phicol the general of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines’ means that nevertheless they did not form part of that doctrine.
‘He planted a grove in Beersheba’ means doctrine with the cognitions composing it and the nature of it. ‘And he called on the name of [Jehovah,] the God of Eternity’ means worship from it.
[2] The fact that the Ancients held holy worship on mountains becomes clear from what is said about Abram in Chapter 12,
He removed from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, Bethel being towards the sea and Ai towards the east.* And there he built an altar and called on the name of Jehovah. Gen. 12:8 (1449-1455).
It is also clear from the meaning of ‘a mountain’ as the celestial entity of love, 795, 796, 1430. The fact that people also held worship in groves is clear from what is said in the present verse, ‘Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of [Jehovah,] the God of Eternity’, and also from the meaning of ‘a garden’ as intelligence, 100, 108, 1588, and of ‘trees’ as perceptions, 103, 2163. The fact that worship on mountains and in groves was forbidden is clear from the following: In Moses,
You shall not plant for yourself a grove of any kind of tree beside the altar of Jehovah your God which you shall make for yourself. And you shall not erect for yourself a pillar, which Jehovah your God hates. Deut. 16:21, 22.
In the same author,
The altars of the nations you shall destroy; you shall break down their pillars and cut down their groves. Exod. 34:13.
They were also commanded to burn the groves of the nations with fire, Deut. 12:3.
[3] Now because the Jews and Israelites, among whom the representative ritual observances of the Ancient Church were introduced, were steeped solely in external things and were at heart nothing but idolaters, and because they were people who neither had nor wished to have knowledge of anything internal or of the life after death, and who did not know that the Messiah’s kingdom was a heavenly kingdom, therefore whenever they were in freedom they held profane worship on mountains and hills, and also in groves and forests. They also made for themselves high places to serve instead of mountains and hills, and carved images of a grove instead of groves, as becomes clear from many places in the Word, as in the Book of Judges,
The children of Israel served the baals and the groves. Judg. 3:7.
In the Book of Kings,
Israel made groves, provoking Jehovah to anger. 1 Kings 14:15.
And elsewhere in the same book,
Judah built for themselves high places and pillars and groves on every high hill, and under every leafy tree. 1 Kings 14:23.
Elsewhere in the Books of Kings,
Israel built for themselves high places in every city. And they set up pillars and groves on every high hill and under every leafy tree. 2 Kings 17:9, 10.
And elsewhere in the same book,
Manasseh king of Judah erected altars to Baal and made a grove, as Ahab king of Israel had done. And the carved image of a grove that he had made he placed in the house of God. 2 Kings 21:3, 7,
From this it is evident that they also made for themselves carved images of a grove. The fact that king Josiah destroyed these images is mentioned in the same book,
Josiah made them bring out of the temple of Jehovah all the vessels made for Baal and for the grove, and for the sun and moon, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem, and the booths which the women had woven [in the house of Jehovah] for the grove. He also cut down the groves which Solomon had made, as well as the grove in Bethel which Jeroboam had made. 2 Kings 23:4, 5, 7, 14, 15.
The fact that King Hezekiah as well demolished such things is also stated in the same book,
Hezekiah king of Judah removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the grove, and broke to pieces the bronze serpent which Moses had made. 2 Kings 18:4.
[4] The bronze serpent, it is clear, was holy in the time of Moses, but when that which was external came to be worshipped, that bronze serpent became profane and was therefore smashed to pieces, for the same reason that worship on mountains and in groves was forbidden. These matters are made clearer still in the Prophets: In Isaiah,
You who inflame yourselves among the gods under every leafy tree, who slay the children in the rivers, under projections of the rocks. Even in the rivers you have poured out a drink offering. you have brought a gift. On a high and lofty mountain you have set your habitation and presented yourself there to offer sacrifice. Isa. 57:5-7.
In the same prophet,
On that day a man will look to his Maker and his eyes will regard the Holy One of Israel. And he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and will not see what his fingers have made, both the groves and the solar pillars. Isa. 17:7, 8.
In Micah,
I will cut down your carved images and your pillars from the midst of you, and you will bow down no more to the work of your hands. And I will root out your groves from the midst of you and destroy your cities. Micah 5:13, 14.
In Ezekiel,
That the slain may be in the midst of their idols, around their altars at every lofty hill, on all the mountain tops, and under every leafy tree, and under every entangled oak, the place where they offered an odour of rest to all their idols. Ezek. 6:13.
[5] From all this it is now evident where idolatrous worship originated, namely in the worship of the objects themselves that were representative and carried a spiritual meaning. The most ancient people, who lived before the Flood, saw in every single thing – in mountains, hills, plains, and valleys, in gardens, groves, forests, rivers, and waters, in fields and crops, in trees of every kind, also in living creatures of every kind, and in the heavenly bodies giving light – something that was a representative and a meaningful sign of the Lord’s kingdom. But they never let their eyes, still less their minds, linger over such objects; for them these objects served instead as the means for thinking about the celestial and spiritual things that exist in the Lord’s kingdom. Indeed so much was this the case with those objects that there was nothing at all in the whole natural world that failed to serve those people as means. It is indeed true that in itself every single thing in the natural order is representative; but at the present day this is an arcanum and scarcely believed by anyone. But after that which is celestial, which is essentially love to the Lord, had perished with man, the human race existed no longer in that state, that is, in the state of seeing from worldly objects the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord’s kingdom.
[6] Nevertheless the Ancients after the Flood knew from traditions, and from collections made by certain people, that worldly objects had such meanings; and because these had such meanings they also regarded them as holy. From this arose the representative worship of the Ancient Church, which Church, being spiritual, did not enjoy any perception, only the knowledge, that a thing was so; for that Church, compared with the Most Ancient Church, dwelt in obscurity, 2715. It did not however worship external things but by means of external things people called to mind those which were internal. Consequently when they turned to those representatives and meaningful signs they entered the holiness of worship. They were able to turn to them because they were moved by spiritual love, that is, by charity, which they made the essential of worship, and as a consequence holiness from the Lord was able to flow into their worship. But when the state of the human race had become so changed and perverted that people departed from the good of charity, and thus did not believe any longer in the existence of a heavenly kingdom or in life after death, but supposed – as is also supposed at the present day – that their condition was no different from that of animals (apart from the fact that they as human beings could think), holy representative worship was turned into idolatrous worship and external things came to be worshipped. This was why worship among many gentiles at that time, and even among Jews and Israelites, was not representative, but a worship of the representatives and meaningful signs, that is, of external things devoid of internal.
[7] As regards ‘groves’ in particular, these had, among the ancients, varying meanings, such meanings depending in fact on the kinds of trees that the groves had in them. Groves where there were olives meant the celestial things of worship, groves where there were vines the spiritual things of worship, but groves where there were figs, cedars, firs, poplars, oaks, meant various things that were of a celestial and spiritual kind. Here however simply ‘a grove’ or plantation of trees is mentioned and by it was meant ideas belonging to the rational that were allied to doctrine and its cognitions; for trees in general mean perceptions, 103, 2163, but when they have reference to the spiritual Church they mean cognitions, the reason being that the member of the spiritual Church has no other perceptions than those acquired through cognitions drawn from doctrine or from the Word. For such cognitions become part of his faith, and so of his conscience, from which he has perception.
* lit. Bethel from the sea (an idiom for from the west) and Ai from the east
[2] The fact that this is how the name Beersheba was derived is evident from Abraham’s words,
Abraham said, Because you will take the seven ewe-lambs from my hand, that they may be a witness for me that I dug this well. Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath. And they made a covenant in Beersheba (verses 30-32).
Similarly from Isaac’s words recorded in Chapter 26,
So it was on that day, that Isaac’s servants came and pointed out to him the reasons for the well which they had dug, and they said to him, We have found water. And he called it Shibah (‘an oath’ and ‘seven’); therefore the name of the city is Beersheba even to this day. Gen. 26:32, 33.
This too has to do with wells, about which there was disagreement with Abimelech, and with a covenant made with him. ‘Beersheba’ means merely human rational ideas which were again allied to the doctrine of faith, and because they were allied to it again and the doctrine was in that way made such that the human mind could grasp it, it is called ‘a city’ – ‘a city’ being doctrine in its entirety, see 402, 2268, 2449, 2451. What is more, the name Beersheba is used with a similar meaning in the internal sense in Gen. 22:19; 26:23; 28:10; 46:1, 5; Josh. 15:28; 19:1, 2; 1 Sam. 8:2; 1 Kings 19:3, and in the contrary sense in Amos 5:5; 8:13, 14. The whole range of celestial and spiritual things taught by doctrine is meant in the internal sense where the land of Canaan is said to range from ‘Dan even to Beersheba’; for the land of Canaan means the Lord’s kingdom, also the Church, and therefore means the celestial and spiritual things taught by doctrine, as in the Book of Judges.
All the children of Israel came out, and the congregation assembled as one man from Dan even to Beersheba. Judg. 20:1.
In the Book of Samuel,
All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba. 1 Sam. 3:20.
Elsewhere in Samuel,
To translate the kingdom from the house of Saul and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba, 2 Sam. 3:10.
Elsewhere in Samuel,
Hushai said to Absalom, Let all Israel be assembled together, from Dan even to Beersheba. 2 Sam. 17:11.
Elsewhere in Samuel, David told Joab to go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan even to Beersheba. Sam. 24:2, 7.
Elsewhere in Samuel,
There died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men. 2 Sam. 24:15.
In the Book of Kings,
Judah dwelt under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 1 Kings 4:25.
[2] Now because ‘the name of God’ means the entirety of worship, that is, the love and faith in their entirety from which He is worshipped, it is therefore clear what is meant by hallowed be Your name – in the Lord’s Prayer, Matt. 6:9, and what by the following words spoken by the Lord,
You will be hated by everyone for My name’s sake. Matt. 10:22.
If two of you agree in My name on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. Where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them. Matt. 18:19, 20.
He who leaves houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will be allotted the inheritance of eternal life. Matt. 19:29.
Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Matt. 21:9.
Jesus said, You will not see Me from now on until you say, Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord. Matt. 23:39.
You will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. Then many will stumble and betray one another, and hate one another, and all for My name’s sake.* Matt. 24:9, 10.
As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, John 1:12.
He who does not believe is judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:17, 18.
Jesus said, Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it. John 14:14, 15; 15:16; 16:23, 24, 26, 27.
Jesus said, I have manifested Your name to men. John 17:6.
Holy Father, keep them in Your name whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are one. John 17:11, 12.
I made known to them Your name, and I will make known that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:26.
That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. John 20:37.
There are in addition very many places in the Old Testament in which the name of Jehovah and of God is not used to mean the name but love and faith in their entirety in which worship is grounded.
[3] But those who worship the name alone, without love and faith, are spoken of in Matthew as follows,
Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy through Your name, and cast out demons through Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name? But I will confess to them, I do not know you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity. Matt. 7:22, 23.
As has been stated, once the member of the Church from being internal became external, and began to make worship consist in a name alone, people no longer acknowledged one God but many. For it was a custom among the ancients to add something after the name of Jehovah and by doing that to call to mind some benefit or attribute of His, as in the present verse, ‘He called on the name of [Jehovah,] the God of Eternity’. Another example occurs in the next chapter,
Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh (that is, Jehovah will see). Gen. 22:14.
And the following, among others, are further examples,
Moses built an altar and called the name of it Jehovah Nissi (that is, Jehovah is my banner). Exod. 17:15.
Gideon built an altar to Jehovah and called it [the altar] of Jehovah Shalom (that is, of peace). Judg. 6:24.
It was from this custom that those who made worship consist in a name alone came to acknowledge so many gods, and also that among the gentiles, especially those in Greece and Rome, so many gods came to be acknowledged and worshipped, whereas the Ancient Church from which those attributive names derived always worshipped but one God who was revered under so many names, for the reason that by ‘name’ they understood the essential nature.
* These six words which Sw. apparently copied from the Schmidius Latin version do not occur in the original Greek.
‘Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines for many days’ means that the Lord allied to the doctrine of faith very many things drawn from a knowledge of human cognitions.
What genuine conjugial love is and where it originates few know at the present day, the reason being that it exists with few. Almost everyone believes that it is inborn and so flows from, they say, a kind of natural instinct, such belief being strengthened by the fact that the inclination to pair off as in marriage also occurs among animals. But the difference between conjugial love with human beings and that inclination with animals is as the difference between the human condition and that of any animal.
[2] He said that during his lifetime he had thought nothing of adulterous behaviour. But I was given to tell him that all adultery is quite unspeakable, even though to those who are guilty of it it does not seem – because of the delight they take in it and the persuasive beliefs that result from it – to be unspeakable, but even allowable. I said that he might also know this from the fact that marriages are the seminaries of the human race and therefore the seminaries of the heavenly kingdom as well, and for that reason must not on any account be violated but be held sacred. He might also know, I continued, that adultery is unspeakable from the fact, which he ought to know because he was now in the next life and in a state of perception, that conjugial love comes down from the Lord by way of heaven, and that from that love, as from a parent, mutual love is derived, which is the foundation on which heaven rests. And he might know it also from the fact that when they merely move towards heavenly communities adulterers become aware of their own stench and cast themselves away from there down towards hell. He might at least have known that violence done to marriages was contrary to Divine laws, and contrary to the civil laws of all people, as well as contrary to the genuine light of reason, since it is contrary to order, both Divine and human, not to mention many considerations besides these.
[3] But he replied that he had never known such things during his lifetime, nor had he thought about them. He wished to reason whether what he had heard was so, but he was told that in the next life truth leaves no room for reasonings, for reasonings lend support to a person’s delights, and so to his evils and falsities. I went on to tell him that he ought first to think about the things he had been told, because they were true; or at least he ought to think from the principle very widely known in the world that nobody ought to do to another what he does not wish that other to do to him. If some other man, I asked, had in a similar way seduced the wife whom he loved – as men love their wives at the beginning of every marriage – would he not also, when feeling irate about what had occurred, have expressed, if he spoke from that feeling, a loathing for all adultery? Also, being a man with mental ability, would he not have confirmed himself more than others against all adultery, even condemning it to hell? Thus he might have judged himself from what he possessed within himself.
Jesus said, Have you not read that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man (homo) will leave father and mother and will cling to his wife; and the two will become one flesh? Therefore they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together let not man (homo) separate. For the hardness of your heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. Not everyone receives this teaching, but those to whom it has been given. Matt. 19:3-12.
* The mythological three-headed dog which guarded the entrance to Hades or hell.
PREFACE*
How deluded those people are who confine themselves to the sense of the letter and do not look for the internal sense in other places where this is explained in the Word becomes quite clear from the great number of heresies there are, each one of which confirms its own doctrinal position from the literal sense of the Word. It is particularly clear from that great heresy which insane and hellish self-love and love of the world have made out of the Lord’s words to Peter,
I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matt. 16:15-19.
[2] People who keep rigidly to the sense of the letter imagine that these words refer to the man Peter and that such great power was given to him. Although they know that Peter was just an ordinary simple human being who by no means exercised such power, and that the exercise of that power is contrary to the Divine, they nevertheless adopt and stoutly defend a literal interpretation of what the Lord said, because of the insane and hellish self-love and love of the world which fill them with the desire to arrogate such power to themselves on earth and in heaven and to make gods of themselves. But the internal sense of those words is that faith itself in the Lord, which exists solely with those in whom love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour are present, possesses that power, yet not faith but the Lord, the Source of faith. In the words addressed to Peter ‘rock’ is used to mean that faith, as it is everywhere else in the Word. It is on this faith that the Church is built, and against this faith that the gates of hell do not prevail. It is that faith also which holds the keys of the kingdom of heaven, for that faith closes heaven to prevent evils and falsities entering in, and it opens heaven to goods and truths. This is the internal sense of these words.
[3] Like the twelve tribes of Israel the twelve apostles represented nothing else than all aspects of such faith, 577, 2089, 2129, 2130 (end). Peter represented faith itself, James charity, and John the good works that flow from charity – see the Preface to Gen. 18 – as in a similar way did Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, Jacob’s three eldest sons, in the Jewish and
Israelitish representative Church, a point that is clear from a thousand places in the Word. And it was because Peter represented faith that those words were addressed to him. From all these considerations one may recognize what darkness it is into which people plunge themselves, and others with them, who explain everything literally, as they do who, taking literally the words addressed to Peter, use them to take the power of saving the human race away from the Lord and arrogate it to themselves.
* i.e. to Volume Three of the Latin
I saw heaven standing open, and, behold, a White Horse; and He who sat on it was called faithful and true, and in righteousness He judges and goes into battle. His eyes a flame of fire, and on His head many jewels, He has a name written which nobody knows but He Himself, and He is clothed in a garment dyed with blood, and His name is called the Word of God. And the armies that are in heaven were following Him on white horses and were clothed in linen, white and clean. And on His garment and on His thigh He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Rev. 19:11-14, 16.
What each individual part of this description embodies nobody can know except from the internal sense. Plainly, each one is representative and carries a spiritual meaning, such as ‘heaven standing open’; ‘the horse which was white’; ‘He who sat on it was called faithful and true, and in righteousness He judges and goes into battle’; ‘His eyes a flame of fire’; ‘on His head many jewels’; ‘He has a name which nobody knows but He Himself’; ‘He is clothed in a garment dyed with blood’; ‘the armies in heaven following Him on white horses’; ‘clothed in linen, white and clean’; ‘on His garment and on His thigh He has a name written’. It is stated openly that the One sitting on the White Horse is the Word, and that He is the Lord who is the Word, for it is said, ‘His name is called the Word of God’, and after that, ‘on His garment and on His thigh He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords’.
[2] From the interpretation of each individual expression it is evident that the Word as to the internal sense is described here. ‘Heaven standing open’ represents and means that the internal sense of the Word is not seen except in heaven and by those to whom heaven stands open, that is, those in whom love to the Lord and faith in Him-derived from that love are present. ‘The horse which was white’ represents and means the understanding of the Word as regards its interior contents. The next paragraph shows that ‘a white horse’ has this representation and meaning. ‘He who sat on it’ is, it is clear, the Word and the Lord who is the Word. He is called ‘faithful’ and ‘one who judges out of righteousness’ by virtue of good, and ‘true’ and ‘one who goes into battle out of righteousness’ by virtue of truth; for the Lord Himself is righteousness. ‘His eyes a flame of fire’ means Divine Truth glowing from the Divine Good that issues from His Divine Love. ‘On His head many jewels’ means all things of faith. ‘He has a name written which nobody knows but He Himself’ means that nobody sees the essential nature of the Word in the internal sense except the Lord Himself and he to whom He reveals it. ‘Clothed in a garment dyed with blood’ means the Word in the letter. ‘The armies in heaven that were following Him on white horses’ means people who have an understanding of the Word as regards its interior contents. ‘Clothed in linen, white and clean’ means that in these same persons love and faith derived from love are present. ‘On His garment and on His thigh a name written’ means truth and good. From these verses in Revelation and from those which come before and after them it is evident that around the last period [of the Church] the internal sense of the Word will be opened. But what is going to happen in that last period is also described in verses 17-21 of that chapter.
Dan will be a serpent on the road, a darting serpent on the path, biting the horse’s heels; and its rider will fall backwards. I am awaiting Your salvation, O Jehovah. Gen. 49:17, 18.
‘A serpent’ means one who reasons about Divine arcana on the basis of sensory evidence and factual knowledge, see 195. ‘Road’ and ‘path’ mean truth, 627, 2333, ‘heel’ means the lowest part of the natural, 259, ‘horse’ an understanding of the Word, and ‘rider’ one who teaches. From this it is evident what these prophetical words mean, namely that one who reasons about the truths of faith on the basis of sensory evidence and factual knowledge is interested solely in the lowest things belonging to the natural world and so believes nothing, which is ‘falling backwards’. And this is why the words ‘I am awaiting Your salvation, O Jehovah’ are added.
[2] In Habakkuk,
O God, You ride on Your horses, Your chariots are salvation. You made Your horses to tread in the sea. Hab. 3:8, 15.
Here ‘horses’ stands for Divine Truths that are in the Word, ‘chariots’ for doctrine drawn from them, ‘the sea’ for cognitions, 28, 2120. And since these belong to an understanding of the Word from God, it is said, ‘You made Your horses to tread in the sea’. Here, as in the quotation above from the Book of Revelation, horses are attributed to God, but this attribution would not be possible if they did not have such a meaning.
[3] In David,
Sing to God, sing praises to His name; exalt Him who rides on the clouds by His name lain. Ps. 68:4.
‘Riding on the clouds’ stands for an understanding of the Word as regards its interior contents or internal sense; for ‘clouds’ means the Word in the letter which has the internal sense within it – see the Preface to Gen. 18, where the meaning of ‘the Lord’s coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory’ is explained.
[4] In the same author,
Jehovah bowed the heavens and came down; and thick darkness was under His feet, and He rode on a cherub. Ps. 18:9, 10.
‘Thick darkness’ here stands for clouds, ‘riding on a cherub’ for the Lord’s providence preventing man’s entering of himself into the mysteries of faith that are in the Word, 308. In Zechariah,
On that day there will be on the horse-bells, Holiness to Jehovah. Zech. 14:20. ‘The horse-bells’ stands for an understanding of the spiritual things of the Word, which are holy.
[5] In Jeremiah,
There will enter through the gates of this city kings and princes seated on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city will be inhabited for ever. Jer. 17:25, 26; 22:4.
‘The city of Jerusalem’ stands for the Lord’s spiritual kingdom and Church. ‘Kings’ stands for truths, 1672, 2015, 2069, ‘princes’ for the first and foremost commandments of truth, 1482, 2089, ‘David’ for the Lord, 1888, ‘men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem’ for those in whom there exists good that flows from love, charity, and faith, 2268, 2451, 2712. Thus ‘riding in chariots and on horses’ stands for being furnished with the doctrine of truth received from an internal understanding of the Word.
[6] In Isaiah, Then will you take delight in Jehovah and I will cause you to ride over the high places of the earth and cause you to eat the heritage of Jacob. Isa. 58:14.
‘Riding over the high places of the earth’ stands for intelligence. In David,
A love song. Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, [gird on] your glory and majesty. And in your majesty go on, ride on the word of truth, and of the meekness of righteousness. And your right hand will teach you marvellous things. Ps. 45: title, 3, 4.
‘Riding on the word of truth’ stands plainly for intelligence based on truth, ‘on the word of the meekness of righteousness’ for wisdom based on good.
[7] In Zechariah,
On that day, said Jehovah, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. And on the house of Judah I will open My eyes, and every horse of the peoples I will strike with blindness. Zech. 12:4.
Here also ‘horse’ plainly stands for the understanding which was to be ‘stricken with panic and blindness’, and ‘rider’ for him with intelligence who was to be ‘stricken with madness’. In Hosea,
Take away all iniquity and accept that which is good, and we will render the praises* of our lips. Asshur will not save us, we will not ride on horses, and we will no more say Our God’ to the work of our hands. Hosea 14:2, 3.
‘Asshur’ stands for reasoning, 119, 1186, ‘horse’ for self-intelligence. ‘Horse’ and ‘rider’ are referred to in very many other places besides these.
* lit. the calves
[2] This experience has made clear to me what is meant by the fiery chariot and the fiery horses which Elisha saw when Elijah went up with the whirlwind into heaven, and what also by Elisha’s shout at that time,
My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and its riders. 2 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. 2 Kings 13:14.
In the Lord’s Divine mercy it will be shown elsewhere that Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord as to the Word. That is to say, it will there be shown that the doctrine of love and charity drawn from the Word is meant by ‘the fiery chariot’, and the doctrine of faith deriving from these by ‘the fiery horses’. The doctrine of faith is the same as an understanding of the Word as to its inner content, which is the internal sense.
[3] As regards chariots and horses being seen in heaven among spirits and angels, this is evident not only from the fact that they were seen by the prophets, such as by Zechariah (1:8-10; 6:1-7) and by others, but also by Elisha’s servant, of whom the following is said in the Book of Kings,
Jehovah opened the eyes of Elisha’s servant, and he saw; and behold the mountain was full of horses, and there were fiery chariots surrounding Elisha. Kings 6:17.
Furthermore, where the intelligent and wise dwell in the world of spirits, chariots and horses are constantly making their appearance, the reason being, as has been stated, that chariots and horses represent the things that belong to wisdom and intelligence. People who have been awakened after death and are entering the next life see represented to them a young man seated on a horse, who then dismounts. The meaning of this is that before they can enter heaven they have to be furnished with cognitions of good and truth – see Volume One, in 187, 188. The fact that chariots and horses meant those things was fully known in the Ancient Church, as becomes clear also from the Book of Job, a book of the Ancient Church, where these words occur,
God has made him forget wisdom and given him no share in intelligence. After raising himself on high he laughs at the horse and its rider. Job 39:17-19.
[4] The meaning of ‘a horse’ as the understanding spread from the Ancient Church to the wise in surrounding regions, and even into Greece. As a consequence of this, when describing the sun, which meant love, 2441, 2495, they placed the god of their wisdom and intelligence there in the sun, and gave him a chariot and four fiery horses. And when they described the god of the sea – the sea meaning knowledge in general, 28, 2120 – they gave horses to him also. And when they described the upsurge of knowledge from the understanding they portrayed it as a flying horse which with its hoof broke open a fountain where the virgins who were the branches of knowledge dwelt. And by the Trojan horse nothing else was meant than a device of their understanding for destroying city walls. Even today, when the understanding is being described, it is quite usual, drawing on the custom received from those people of old, to portray the understanding as a flying horse or Pegasus, and to portray learning as a fountain. Yet scarcely anyone knows that ‘a horse’ in the mystical sense means the understanding, and ‘a fountain’ truth, let alone that those images with a spiritual meaning spread to the gentiles from the Ancient Church.
[2] In addition to representatives there are also correspondences, which denote and also mean something altogether different in the spiritual world from what they do in the natural world. The heart, for example, means the affection for good; the eyes, the understanding; the ears, obedience; the hand, power; and there are countless other correspondences besides these. These things are not represented in this manner in the world of spirits but correspond in the way something natural corresponds to something spiritual. This explains why every word within the Word, down to the smallest letter of all, embodies spiritual and celestial matters, and why the Word is inspired in the way it is, that is to say, so inspired that when man is reading it, spirits and angels immediately perceive it spiritually according to the representations and correspondences.
[3] But this knowledge which was developed so extensively and valued so highly by the ancients after the Flood, and which enabled them to think with spirits and angels, has today been completely wiped out, insomuch that scarcely anybody is willing to believe that it exists. And those who believe that it does exist merely refer to it as something mystical which has no practical value, the reason being that mankind has become utterly worldly- and bodily-minded to the point of finding the very mention of what is spiritual and celestial repugnant, and sometimes loathsome, even nauseating. How then will they react in the next life which lasts for ever, where not that which is worldly and bodily but solely that which is spiritual and celestial constitutes life in heaven?
GENESIS 22
1 And so it was after these events, that God tempted Abraham, and said to him, Abraham. And he said, Here I am.
2 And He said, Take now your son, your only one, whom you love, Isaac, and get you to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I tell you.
3 And in the morning Abraham rose up early, and saddled his ass, and took two of his servants* with him, and Isaac his son, and split the pieces of wood for the burnt offering, and rose up and went to the place of which God had told him.
4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar off.
5 And Abraham said to his servants, Remain here with the ass, and I and the boy will go over there, and we will bow ourselves down, and return to you.
6 And Abraham took the pieces of wood for the burnt offering and laid them on Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife, and the two of them went on together.
7 And Isaac said to Abraham his father – he said – My father. And he said, Here I am, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire and the pieces of wood, but where is the animal for the burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, God will see for Himself to the animal for a burnt offering, my son. And the two of them went on together.
9 And they came to the place of which God told him, and Abraham built the altar there, and laid the pieces of wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the pieces of wood.
10 And Abraham put forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of Jehovah called to him out of heaven, and said Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here I am.
12 And he said, Do not put forth your hand towards the boy and do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God and have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, a ram behind [him] caught in a thicket by its horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place, Jehovah will see; as it is said today, On the mountain Jehovah will see [to it].
15 And the angel of Jehovah called to Abraham a second time out of heaven.
16 And he said, By Myself I have sworn, says Jehovah, that because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17 I will certainly bless you, and I will certainly multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens and like the sand which is on the seashore. And your seed will inherit the gate of their** enemies.
18 And in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed because you have hearkened to My voice.
19 And Abraham returned to his servants, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt in Beersheba.
20 And so it was, after these events,*** that it was pointed out to Abraham, saying, Behold, Milkah, she also has borne sons, to Nahor your brother:
21 Uz her firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram;
22 And Kesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.
23 And Bethuel begot Rebekah. These eight Milkah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.
24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah; and she too bore Tebah, and Gaham, and Tahash, and Maakah.
* Here and in verses 5 and 19 the word translated servants is the same as that used for boys.
** The Latin means your but the Hebrew means their.
*** lit. words
The subject in this chapter in the internal sense is the Lord’s severest and inmost temptations, by means of which He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence; then it is the salvation by means of that union of those who constitute the Lord’s spiritual Church.
Verse 1 And so it was after these events, that God tempted Abraham, and said to him, Abraham. And he said, Here I am.
‘So it was after these events’ means after these things had taken place. ‘That God tempted Abraham’ means the Lord’s severest and inmost temptations. ‘And said to him, Abraham’ means the Lord’s perception from Divine Truth. ‘And he said, Here I am’ means thought and reflection.
[2] And although it is said of Him that He permits, this attribution is not made according to man’s idea of permission, that is to say, that by permitting He approves. Man cannot do other than have the idea that anyone who permits something also wills it. But it is evil residing with man which causes and even leads him into temptation. God is no more the cause of it than a king or a judge is when a person does evil and is therefore punished for it. For anyone who forsakes the laws of Divine order, all of which are those of good and from this of truth, makes himself subject to laws contrary to Divine order, which are those of evil and falsity, and consequently of punishments and torments.
Solomon began to build the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, which had been shown to David his father in the place which David had prepared at the threshing-floor of Ornan (Araunah) the Jebusite. 2 Chron. 3:1. (Compare 1 Chron. 21:16-28 with 2 Sam. 24:16-25.)
From this it may become quite clear that these details which are stated regarding the sacrifice of Isaac are representative of the Lord, otherwise everything could have taken place where Abraham was staying at the time and he would not have been commanded to make a journey from there lasting nearly three days.
[2] It is generally believed at the present day that the burnt offerings and sacrifices were signs of the Lord’s passion, and that by His passion the Lord atoned for the iniquities of all. Indeed it is believed that He drew away those iniquities on to Himself, and thus bore them Himself, so that those who believe are made righteous and are saved, if only they think, even in the last hour prior to death, that the Lord suffered on their behalf, no matter how they may have lived throughout the whole course of their lives. But such beliefs are mistaken. The passion of the Cross was the utmost degree of temptation endured by the Lord, by means of which He fully united the Human to the Divine and the Divine to the Human, and by doing this glorified Himself. That union itself is the means by which people possessing faith in Him that is grounded in charity are able to be saved. For the Supreme Divine Itself was no longer able to reach the human race which had removed itself so far away from the celestial things of love, and from the spiritual things of faith, that people did not even recognize them any more, let alone perceive them. Consequently to enable the Supreme Divine to come down to all such as this, the Lord came into the world and united the Human to the Divine within Himself. This union could not have been effected except by means of the very severe conflicts brought about by temptations and by means of victories in these, and at length by means of the final temptation, which was that of the Cross.
[3] As a result of this the Lord is able from the Divine Human to enlighten human minds, even those that are quite remote from the celestial things of love, provided that faith grounded in charity is present in them. For in the next life the Lord appears to celestial angels as the Sun, and to spiritual angels as the Moon, 1053, 1521, 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495 – all the light of heaven flowing from Him. The light of heaven is such that when it enlightens the eyes of spirits and angels it also at the same time enlightens their understanding. This ability to enlighten the understanding also exists inherently within that light, so that the amount of internal light, that is, of understanding, which anyone possesses in heaven is the same as the amount of external light he has. This shows the way in which the light of heaven is different from the light of the world. It is the Lord’s Divine Human that enlightens both the eyes and the understanding of those who are spiritual, but this could never be done unless the Lord had united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence. And unless He had united them neither men in the world, nor indeed any spiritual angel in heaven, would any longer have possessed any ability to understand or to perceive that which is good or true. Nor thus would they have possessed any blessedness and happiness at all, nor consequently any salvation at all. From this it becomes clear that the human race could not have been saved unless the Lord had assumed the Human and glorified it.
[4] From what has now been stated anyone may decide for himself the truth or otherwise of the idea that people are saved, no matter how they may have lived, if only they think from some inner emotion that the Lord suffered on their behalf and bore their sins. But in reality the light of heaven received from the Lord’s Divine Human is able to reach none except those with whom there exists the good that accompanies faith, that is, who lead charitable lives, or what amounts to the same, who possess conscience. The level itself into which that light can operate, that is, the receptacle for that light, is the good that accompanies faith, which is charity and thus conscience. That those who are spiritual have salvation from the Lord’s Divine Human, see 1043, 2661, 2716, 2718.
They will bring me to Your holy mountain and to Your dwellings. Then I will go in to the altar or God, to God my exceeding joy. Ps. 43:3, 4.
And that ‘the Temple’ was representative of Him is clear in John,
Jesus said, Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again. He was speaking of the temple of His body. John 2:19, 21.
‘In the morning Abraham rose up early’ means a state of peace and innocence. ‘And saddled his ass’ means the natural man which He prepared. ‘And took two servants’ means the first rational which He had allied to it. ‘And Isaac his son’ means the Divine Rational begotten from Himself. ‘And split the pieces of wood for the burnt offering’ means the merit of righteousness. ‘And rose up’ means being raised up. ‘And went to the place of which God had told him’ means the state at that time according to perception.
[2] There are two elements which constitute the natural degree of man’s mind, or what amounts to the same, the natural man – natural good and natural truth. Natural good is the delight that flows forth from charity and faith, natural truth is knowledge of these. That natural truth is what is meant by ‘an ass’, and rational truth by ‘a mule’, becomes clear from the following places:In Isaiah,
A prophecy of the beasts of the south. In the land of distress and repression are the lion and the tiger, and from them come the viper and the flying fiery-serpent. They will bear their riches on the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures on the humps of camels – on a people [who] will not be any use [to them]; for the Egyptians will help in vain and to no advantage. Isa. 30:6, 7.
The expression ‘the beasts of the south’ is used of those who possess cognitions of good and truth but who make them matters of knowledge, not of life. In reference to those beasts it is said that those people ‘bear their riches on the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures on the humps of camels’, for the reason that ‘young asses’ means facts in particular, and ‘camels’ facts in general. ‘The Egyptians’, of whom it is said that they will help in vain and to no advantage, means knowledge, see 1164, 1165, 1186. It is evident to anyone that this prophecy has an internal sense and that without this it is understood by nobody, for without the internal sense no one can know what ‘the prophecy of the beasts of the south’ is, or what ‘the lion and the tiger’, or what ‘the viper and the flying fiery-serpent’, or what is meant by the words that ‘those beasts were to bear their riches on the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures on the humps of camels’, or why the assertion immediately follows that ‘the Egyptians will help in vain and to no advantage’. ‘Ass’ is used with a like meaning in Israel’s prophecy concerning Issachar, in Moses,
Issachar is a bony ass lying down between burdens. Gen. 49:14.
[3] In Zechariah,
This will be the plague with which Jehovah will smite all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem. It will be a plague of the horse, the mule, the camel, and the ass, and every beast. Zech. 14:12, 15.
‘The horse, the mule, the camel, and the ass’ means things of the understanding residing in man which will suffer from the plague. This is clear from every single detail before and after those verses, for the subject there is the plagues which are to precede the Last Judgement or. Close of the Age and to which John makes much reference in Revelation, as do the rest of the Prophets in various places. Those who are going to wage war at that time against Jerusalem, that is, against the Lord’s spiritual Church and its truths, are meant by those animals. It will be the things of the understanding that will suffer from such plagues
[4] In Isaiah,
Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send forth the foot of the ox and the ass. Isa. 32:20.
‘Sowing beside all waters’ stands for those who allow themselves to be taught spiritual things – ‘waters’ meaning spiritual things and so things that constitute an understanding of truth, see 680, 739, 2702. ‘Who send forth the foot of the ox and the ass’ stands for natural things that are to be of service, ‘ox’ meaning the natural as regards good, 2180, 2566, ‘ass’ the natural as regards truth.
[5] In Moses,
Binding his young ass to the vine and the foal* of his she-ass to the choice vine. He washes his vesture in wine and his cloak in the blood of grapes. Gen. 49:11.
This is the prophecy of Jacob, by then Israel, concerning the Lord. ‘The vine’ and ‘the choice vine’ stand for the spiritual Church, external and internal, 1069. ‘Young ass’ stands for natural truth, ‘the foal of a she-ass’ for rational truth. The reason ‘the foal of a she-ass’ means rational truth is that ‘a she ass’ means the affection for natural truth, 1486, while her foal means rational truth, see 1895, 1896, 1902, 1910.
[6] In former times a judge used to ride on a she-ass and his sons on young asses, the reason being that judges represented the goods of the Church and their sons truths derived from those goods. A king however used to ride on a she-mule and his sons on mules, the reason being that kings and their sons represented the truths of the Church, see 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069. The fact that a judge rode on a she-ass is clear in the Book of Judges,
My heart goes out to the law-givers of Israel offering themselves willingly among the people. Bless Jehovah, you who ride on white she-asses, you who sit on Middin.** Judg. 5:9, 10.
The fact that judges’ sons rode on young asses,
Jair the judge over Israel had thirty sons who rode on thirty young asses. Judg. 10:3, 4.
And elsewhere in the same book,
Abdon the judge of Israel had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy young asses. Judg. 12:14.
David said to them, Take with you the servants of your lord and cause Solomon my son to ride on the she-mule which is mine. And they caused Solomon to ride on King David’s she-mule. And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him king in Gihon. 1 Kings 1:33, 38, 44, 45.
The fact that the king’s sons rode on mules,
All King David’s sons arose, and they rode each on his mule and fled because of Absalom. 2 Sam. 13:29.
[7] From all this it is evident that riding on a she-ass indicated the judge, and riding on a she-mule the king; riding on a young ass indicated the judge’s sons, and doing so on a mule the king’s sons. They indicated these personages because, as has been stated, ‘a she-ass’ represented and meant the affection for natural good and truth, ‘a she-mule’ the affection for rational truth, ‘an ass or young ass’ natural truth itself, and ‘a mule’ as well as ‘the foal of a she-ass’ rational truth. This shows what is meant by the prophetical words that refer to the Lord, in Zechariah,
Exult, O daughter of Zion! Rejoice, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King will come to you. He is just and having salvation, humble and riding on an ass, and on a young ass, the foal of she-asses. His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. Zech. 9:9, 10.
The fact that the Lord wished to ride on these when He was about to enter Jerusalem is well known from the Gospels. The event is referred to in Matthew as follows,
Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a she-ass tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. This took place to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet saying, Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming to you, meek seated on a she-ass, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. And they brought the she-ass and the colt and laid their garments on them and set Him on them. Matt. 21:2, 4, 5, 7.
[8] ‘Riding on an ass’ served to indicate that the natural was subordinate, and ‘riding on a colt, the foal of a she-ass’ that the rational was so; for ‘the foal of a she-ass’ is similar in meaning to ‘a mule’, as has been shown above, where Gen. 49:11 is referred to.*** From this – the spiritual meaning of these animals – and because it was the right of the supreme judge and of the king to ride on them, and at the same time so that He might fulfil the representatives of the Church, the Lord was pleased to ride in this way. His doing so is described in John as follows,
The next day a great crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel! Jesus found a young ass and sat on it, as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, sitting on a she-ass’s colt! These things however His disciples had not understood at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of Him, and that they had done these things for Him. John 12:12-16; Mark 11:1-12; Luke 19:28-41.
[9] From an this it may now be clear that every single thing in the Church of that period was representative of the Lord, and consequently of the celestial and spiritual things that are in His kingdom; even the she-ass and the colt of the she-ass were so, which represented the natural man as regards good and truth. The reason for the representation was that the natural man ought to serve the rational, and the rational to serve the spiritual; but the spiritual ought to serve the celestial, and the celestial to serve the Lord. This is the order in which one is subordinated to another.
[10] Because ‘an ox and an ass’ meant the natural man as regards good and truth many laws were therefore laid down in which oxen and asses are mentioned. At first glance these laws do not seem to be worthy of mention in the Divine Word, but when they are interpreted as to their internal sense, that which is spiritual and of great importance is seen within these laws, such as the following laws in Moses,
If anyone opens a pit, or if anyone digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or an ass falls into it, the owner of the pit shall recompense its owner with silver, and the dead animal shall be his. Exod. 21:33, 34.
If you meet your enemy’s ox or his ass going astray you shall certainly lead it back to him. If you see the ass of one who hates you Lying under its burden, and you are disinclined to remove it, you shall certainly help to remove it from it. Exod. 23:4, 5; Deut. 22:1, 3.
You shall not see your brother’s ass or ox falling down in the road and hide yourself from them; you shall certainly help to lift them. Deut. 22:4.
You shall not plough with an ox and an ass together. You shall not wear mingled material made of wool and linen together. Deut. 22:10, 11.
Six days you shall do your works, and on the seventh day you shall rest, in order that your ox and your ass may rest, and the son of your woman servant, and the settler. Exod. 23:12.
Here ‘ox and ass’ in the spiritual sense means nothing other than natural good and truth.
* lit. the son
** A Hebrew word, the meaning of which is uncertain.
*** i.e. in subsection 5 of this paragraph 378
[2] These matters cannot possibly be explained intelligibly or presented to the thought of anyone who does not know that many states exist together simultaneously, yet distinct and separate from one another, and who also does not know what a state of peace and innocence is, what the natural man is, and what the rational man is, as well as what the merit of righteousness is. He must first have a distinct idea of all of these, and must also know that from the Divine the Lord was able to bring Himself into whatever states He pleased, and that He prepared Himself to enter temptation by bringing about many states. Although these matters are with man enveloped in obscurity like that of night, they are bathed in light like that of day with the angels; for the angels, dwelling in the light of heaven flowing from the Lord, see countless things – each distinctly – within those matters and others like them, and from the affection flowing in at the same time experience indescribable joy. From this it may become clear how far removed man’s ability to understand and perceive is from angels’ ability to do so.
‘On the third day’ means that which has been completed, and the beginning of sanctification. ‘And Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw’ means thought and insight received from the Divine. ‘The place from afar off’ means into the state which He foresaw.
[2] This is why the number three was representative not only in the Ancient Church and in the Jewish but also among various gentile nations; see what has been stated about this number in 720, 901, 1825. That such was the origin of the meaning of ‘three’ is clear in Hosea,
We will return to Jehovah, for He has wounded and will heal us; He has stricken and will bind us up; He will revive us after two days, on the third day He will raise us up that we may live before Him. Hosea 6:1, 2.
Here ‘the third day’ stands for the coming of the Lord and His resurrection. The same is clear from Jonah, in that he was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights, Jonah 1:17, to which the Lord refers in Matthew as follows,
As Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matt. 12:40.
[3] It should be realized that in the internal sense of the Word ‘three days’ and ‘the third day’ have the same meaning, as also do ‘three’ and ‘third’ in the following places: In John,
Jesus said to the Jews, Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. He was speaking of the temple of His body. John 2:19-21; Matt. 26:61; Mark 14:58; 15:29.
It is a well known fact that the Lord rose again on the third day.
[4] For the same reason the Lord also distinguished three periods in His life: in Luke,
Go and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, but on the third day I reach completion. Luke 13:32.
Also, the Lord underwent the final temptation, which was that of the Cross, at the third hour of the day, Mark 15:25. Three hours later, that is, at the sixth hour, darkness fell over the whole land,* Luke 23:44. And three hours after that, at the ninth hour, the end came, Mark 15:33, 34, 37. But in the morning of the third day He rose again, Mark 16:1-4; Luke 24:7. See also Matt. 16:21; 17:22, 23; 20:18, 19; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33, 34; Luke 18:33; 24:46. From all this, and especially from the Lord’s resurrection on the third day, the number three was representative and possessed a spiritual meaning. This fact becomes clear from the following places in the Word:
When Jehovah came down upon Mount Sinai He told Moses that he was to sanctify the people today and tomorrow and they were to wash their garments and be ready on the third day, for on the third day Jehovah would come down. Exod. 19:10, 11, 15, 16.
When they travelled from the mountain of Jehovah on a three days’ journey, the Ark of Jehovah travelled before them on the three days’ journey to search out rest for them. Num. 10:33.
There was thick darkness for three days in all the land of Egypt, and nobody could see his brother for three days, but the children of Israel had light. Exod. 10:22, 23.
[5] The flesh of a sacrifice made as a vow-offering or as a freewill-offering was to be eaten on the first and the second day; nothing was to be kept until the third day but was to be burned, because it was an abomination. So too with the flesh of a sacrifice made as a ‘eucharistic’ offering; if this was eaten on the third day the one offering the sacrifice would not be accepted and that soul would bear his iniquity. Lev. 7:16-18; 19:6, 7.
Anyone who touched a dead body was to purify himself on the third day, and on the seventh day he would be clean. If he did not do so that soul would be cut off from Israel. And one that was clean was to sprinkle water over the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day. Num. 19:12, 13, 19.
Those who had killed someone in battle and had touched one who had been slain were to purify themselves on the third day and on the seventh day. Num. 31:19.
[6] When they came into the land of Canaan the fruit of a tree was to be uncircumcised for three years and not eaten. Lev. 19:23.
At the end of three years they were to bring every tenth part of their produce in that year and deposit it within their gates so that the Levite, the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow might eat. Deut. 14:28, 29; 26:12.
Three times a year they were to keep a feast to Jehovah. And three times a year every male person was to appear before the face of the Lord Jehovah. Exod. 23:14, 17; Deut. 16:16.
Joshua told the people that in three days they would be crossing the Jordan and inheriting the land. Josh. 1:11; 3:2.
Jehovah called to Samuel three times and the third time he answered Him. 1 Sam. 3:8.
[7] When Saul wished to kill David, David hid in the field until the third evening. Jonathan told David, I will sound out my father on the third day from now. Jonathan said that he would shoot three arrows to the side of the stone. And David fell face to the ground, before Jonathan and bowed down three times. Sam. 20:5, 12, 19, 20, 35, 36, 41.
David was to choose one of these three things – either seven years of famine in the land, or his own flight before his enemies for three months, or pestilence in the land for three days. 2 Sam. 24:12, 13.
[8] There was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. 2 Sam. 21:1.
Elijah stretched himself over the dead boy three times and revived him. 1 Kings 17:21.
When he had built the altar to Jehovah, Elijah told them to pour water over the burnt offering and over the wood three times. 1 Kings 18:34.
Fire consumed the captains of fifty sent on two occasions to Elijah, but not the one sent on the third occasion. 2 Kings 1:13, 14.
It was a sign to King Hezekiah that they were to eat in that year what had grown of itself, and in the second year further growth from the same; but in the third year they were to sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of these. 2 Kings 19:29.
[9] Daniel went into his house and had the windows open in his [upper] chamber towards Jerusalem, where three times a day he gave thanks on his knees and prayed. Dan. 6:10, 13.
Daniel was mourning for three whole weeks, not eating pleasant bread, nor drinking wine, nor anointing himself, until the three whole weeks were completed. Dan. 10:2, 3.
Isaiah went naked and barefoot three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and against Cush. Isa. 20:3.
Out of the Lampstand went three branches on either side, and three almond-shaped cups on each branch. Exod. 25:32, 33.
In the Urim and Thummim there were three precious stones in each row. Exod. 28:17-20.
[10] In the New Temple there were to be three chambers on this side of the gate and three on that, and all three were to measure the same. And the breadth of the gate to the vestibule of the house was to be three cubits this way and three cubits that. Ezek. 40:10, 21, 48.
In the New Jerusalem there were to be three gates to the north, three to the east, three to the south, and three to the west. Ezek. 48:31-34; Rev. 21:13.
The same may be seen in the following places:
Peter denied Jesus three times. Matt. 26:34, 69 and following verses.
The Lord said to Peter three times, Do you love Me? John 21:17.
Also, in the parable about the man who planted a vineyard, he sent servants three times, and at length his own son. Luke 20:12; Mark 12:2, 4-6.
The labourers in the vineyard were hired at the third hour, the sixth hour, the ninth hour, and the eleventh hour. Matt. 20:1-17.
And concerning the fig tree which, because it bore no fruit for three years, was to be cut down. Luke 13:6, 7.
[11] Just as a group of three and a third one were representative, so also was a third part, as in the following:
Minchahs consisted of two tenths of fine flour mixed with a third part of a hin of oil, and the wine for the drink-offering was a third of a hin. Num. 15:6, 7; Ezek. 46:14.
In Ezekiel it is said that he was to run a razor over his head and over his beard, and then to divide his hair, burning a third part in the fire, striking a third around the city with his sword, and scattering a third to the wind. Ezek. 5:1, 2, 11.
In Zechariah it is said that in the whole land, two parts were to be cut off, and the third would be left. Yet this third would be led through fire and tested. Zech. 13:8, 9.
[12] In John it is said that when the first angel sounded there came hail, and fire mixed with blood; and it fell on to the earth so that a third part of the trees were burned. The second angel sounded and so to speak a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea. And a third part of the sea became blood resulting in the death of a third part of the creatures who had their being in the sea. And a third part of the ships was destroyed. The third angel sounded and there fell from the sky a great star burning like a torch and it fell upon a third part of the rivers. The name of the star is Wormwood. The fourth angel sounded and a third part of the sun was struck, and a third part of the moon, and a third part of the stars, so that a third part of these was blacked out, and the day had no light for a third part of it, nor likewise the night. Rev. 8:7-12.
[13] The four angels were released to kill a third part of mankind. Rev. 9:15.
A third part of mankind was killed by these three, fire, smoke, and brimstone, which went forth out of the mouths of the horses. Rev. 9:18.
The dragon drew with his tail a third part of the stars of heaven and cast them down to the earth. Rev. 12:4.
‘A third part’ however means something which is not yet finished, whereas ‘a third’ and ‘a group of three’ mean that which has been finished – evil in the case of the evil, good in the case of the good.
* or over the whole earth
‘Abraham said to his servants, Remain here with the ass’ means a separation at that point of the first rational together with the natural. ‘And I and the boy will go over there’ means the Divine Rational in a state of truth, equipped for the severest and inmost conflicts brought about by temptations, ‘the boy’ being the Divine Rational in that particular state. ‘And we will how ourselves down’ means submissiveness. ‘And return to you’ means conjunction after that.
[2] This alone need be said here, that the Lord could not possibly be tempted when He was one with the Divine itself, for the Divine is infinitely above all temptation. But He could experience temptation as to His human. This is the reason why, when He was to undergo the severest and inmost temptations, He joined the first human to Himself, that is to say, the rational and the natural degrees of it, as described in verse 3, and after that separated Himself from them, as stated in the present verse, though still retaining certain traits through which He could be tempted. It is for this reason that here Isaac is not spoken of as ‘my son’ but as ‘the boy’, an expression used to mean the Divine Rational in that particular state, that is to say, in a state of truth, equipped for the severest and inmost conflicts brought about by temptations, see 2793. The truth that neither the Divine itself nor the Divine Human could be tempted may become clear to anyone merely from the fact that not even angels can approach the Divine, still less the spirits who bring temptations about, and least of all the hells. From all this it is evident why the Lord came into the world and took on the human state of being with all its weakness, for by doing so He was able to be tempted as regards the human and by means of temptations to suppress the hells. He was able to restore every single thing to obedience and to order, and to save the human race which had removed itself so far away from the Supreme Divine.
[2] Knowledge regarding the changes of state in matters of the understanding and in those of the will with man, regarding the order in which they follow, and also regarding the sequence through which they pass, and regarding the way in which they are bent by the Lord as far as possible towards what is good, exists with angels. For the wisdom of angels is such that they perceive such matters to the last detail. Consequently these matters which have been revealed in the internal sense concerning changes of state with the Lord are perceptible clearly and distinctly to angels because they dwell in the light of heaven flowing from the Lord. They are also intelligible to some extent to man if he leads a life of simple good. But they are obscure and as nothing to those steeped in evil and also to those whose wisdom consists of demented ideas, for these ideas darken and extinguish their natural and rational light by means of many things which bring darkness, however much those people themselves imagine they have greater light than any others.
‘Abraham took the pieces of wood for the burnt offering’ means the merit of righteousness. ‘And laid them on Isaac his son’ means that it was joined to the Divine Rational. ‘And he took in his hand the fire and the knife’ means the good of love and the truth of faith. ‘And the two of them went on together’ means the closest possible union then [of the Divine itself and the Divine Rational].
[2798a] ‘And laid them on Isaac [his son]’ means that it, that is to say, the merit of righteousness, was joined to the Divine Rational. This becomes clear from the representation of ‘Isaac’ as the Lord’s Divine Rational, often dealt with already, and from the meaning of ‘laying it on him’ as allying it. The expression ‘his son’ is used because the Lord’s Divine Human was not only conceived but was also born from Jehovah. The Lord’s conception from Jehovah is very well known from the Word of the Lord, and therefore He is called ‘Son of the Most High’, ‘Son of God’, and ‘Only Begotten of the Father’ in Matt. 2:15; 3, 16, 17; 16:13-17; 17:5; 27:43, 54; Mark 1:11; 9:7, 9; 14:61, 62; Luke 1:31, 32, 35; 3:21, 22; 9:35; 10:22; John 1:14, 18, 49; 3:13, 16-18; 5:20-27; 6:69; 9:34, 35, 38; 10:35, 36; 20:30, 31, and besides these in very many other places where He calls Jehovah His Father.
[2] It is also well known that He was born of a virgin Mary, yet even so like any other. But when He was born again, that is, became Divine, this was from Jehovah who dwelt within Him and who was Himself as to the very Being (Esse) of life. The union of the Divine Essence and the Human Essence was effected mutually and reciprocally, so that He united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, and the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, see 1921, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2083, 2508, 2523, 2618, 2628, 2632, 2728, 2729. From this it may become clear that the Lord made the Human within Himself Divine from His own power and in so doing became Righteousness. That which was allied to the Divine Rational when He underwent inmost temptation was the merit of righteousness; and it was from the Divine Rational that He fought, and it was against it that evil genii fought, until He glorified that Divine Rational also. These are the things meant in the internal sense by Abraham’s laying the pieces of wood for the burnt offering on Isaac his son, and they are the things which angels perceive when these words are being read.
[2] A sword means the truth of faith engaged in conflict This becomes clear from the following places: In David,
Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One; prosper in Your glory and honour, ride on the word of truth, and Your right hand will teach You marvellous things. Ps. 45:3, 4.
This refers to the Lord. ‘Sword’ stands for truth engaged in conflict. In the same author,
The merciful will exalt in glory, they will sing on their beds. The high praises of God will be in their throats and an extremely sharp sword in their hand. Ps. 149:5, 6.
In Isaiah,
Jehovah called Me from the womb, from My mother’s body** He made mention of My name, and made My mouth like a sharp sword, and made Me into a polished arrow. Isa. 49:1, 2.
‘A sharp sword’ stands for truth engaged in conflict, ‘a polished arrow’ for the truth of doctrine, see 2686, 2709. In the same prophet,
Asshur will fall by a sword, not of man (vir); a sword, not of man (homo), will devour him; and he will flee before the sword, and his young men will become tributary. Isa. 31:8.
‘Asshur’ stands for reasoning in Divine things, 119, 1186, ‘a sword, not of man (vir)’ and ‘not of man (homo)’ stand for falsity, ‘the sword before which he will flee’ stands for truth engaged in conflict.
[3] In Zechariah,
Turn to the stronghold, O prisoners of hope; even today I declare I will render double to you – I who have bent for Myself Judah as a bow, I have filled Ephraim, and have roused your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Javan; and I will set you as the sword of one who is mighty, and Jehovah will appear over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. Zech. 9:12-14.
‘The sword of one who is mighty’ stands for truth engaged in conflict. In John,
In the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man was holding in His right hand seven stars; out of His mouth a sharp two-edged sword was going forth, and His countenance was like the sun shining in full strength. Rev. 1:13, 16.
And further on,
These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword, I will come to you quickly and engage in conflict with them with the sword of My mouth. Rev. 2:12, 16.
‘A sharp two-edged sword’ plainly stands for truth engaged in conflict, which was therefore represented as ‘a sword going out of His mouth’.
[4] In the same book,
Out of the mouth of Him who sat on the white horse went forth a sharp sword, and with it He is to smite the nations. And they were slain by the sword of Him sitting on the horse, which went out of His mouth. Rev. 19:15, 21.
Here it is plain that ‘a sword going out of His mouth’ means truth engaged in conflict. The one ‘sitting on the white horse’ is the Word, and thus the Lord who is the Word; see above 2760-2763. This explains what the Lord says in Matthew,
Do not think that I have come to bring peace on to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. Matt. 10:34.
And in Luke,
Now he who has a purse, let him take it, and likewise a bag. But he who has none, let him sell his garments and buy a sword. They said to Him, Behold, Lord, here are two swords. And Jesus said, It is enough. Luke 22:36-38.
‘A sword’ here is used to mean nothing else than the truth, from which and for which they were to engage in conflict.
[5] In Hosea,
I will make for them a covenant on that day with the wild animals of the field, and with the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish*** the bow, and the sword, and war from the land, and I will make them lie down in safety. Hosea 2:18.
Here the subject is the Lord’s kingdom. ‘Abolishing the bow, the sword, and war’ means the absence of any conflict there over doctrine and truth. In Joshua,
Joshua lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, a man was standing before him, with a sword drawn in his hand. He said to Joshua, I am the Prince of the army of Jehovah; and Joshua fell on his face to the earth. Josh. 5:13, 14.
These words, which refer to the time when Joshua together with the children of Israel entered the land of Canaan, are used to mean the entry – of those who have faith – into the Lord’s kingdom. Truth engaged in conflict, which is the Church’s, is ‘the sword drawn in the hand of the Prince of the army of Jehovah’.
[6] But as for ‘small swords’ or ‘knives’ meaning the truth of faith, this becomes clear from the fact that they were used not only in sacrifices but also in circumcision. Those used in circumcision were made of flint and were called ‘small swords of flint’, as is evident in Joshua,
Jehovah said to Joshua, Make small swords of flint for yourself; and again, circumcise the children of Israel a second time. And Joshua made small swords of flint for himself, and circumcised the children of Israel on the hill of the foreskins. Josh. 5:2, 3.
‘Circumcision’ was a representative of purification from self-love and love of the world, see 2039, 2632. And because such purification is achieved by means of the truths of faith, ‘small swords of flint’ were therefore used, 2039 (end), 2046 (end).
[7] II A sword means the vastation of truth This is clear from the following places: In Isaiah,
These two will happen to you; who is to condole with you? Vastation and demolition, and famine and sword; who is to comfort you? Your sons fainted, they lay at the head of every street. Isa. 51:19, 20.
‘Famine’ stands for vastation of good, and ‘sword’ for vastation of truth. ‘Lying at the head of every street’ stands for being deprived of all truth. ‘Street’ means truth, 2336; and for what vastation is, see 301-304, 407, 408, 410, 411. In the same prophet,
I will destine**** you for the sword, and all of you will bow down to the slaughter, because I called but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen. Isa. 65:12.
[8] In the same prophet,
By fire Jehovah will judge, and by sword, all flesh; and the slain of Jehovah will be many. Isa. 66:16.
‘The slain of Jehovah’ stands for those who have undergone vastation. In Jeremiah,
On all the hills in the wilderness those who cause devastation have come, for the sword of Jehovah is devouring from one end of the land even to the other end of the land. There is no peace for any flesh. They have sown wheat and reaped thorns. Jer. 12:12, 13.
‘The sword of Jehovah’ plainly stands for the vastation of truth. In the same prophet,
They have lied against Jehovah and said, It is not He; and no evil will come upon us; neither shall we see sword and famine. And the prophets will become wind, and there is no utterance in them. Jer. 5:12, 13.
[9] In the same prophet,
I am visiting them; the young men will die by the sword; their sons and their daughters will die by famine. Jer. 11:22.
In the same prophet,
When they offer burnt offering and minchah I will not accept them, for I am consuming them by sword and by famine and by pestilence. And I said, Ah, Lord Jehovih, behold, the prophets say to them, You will not see the sword, nor will you have famine. Jer. 14:12, 13.
In the same prophet,
The city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans fighting against it, in face of the sword, and famine, and pestilence. Jer. 32:24, 36.
In the same prophet,
I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they are consumed from the ground which I gave to them and their fathers. Jer. 24:10.
[10] In these places vastation is described as ‘sword, famine, and pestilence’. ‘Sword’ describes the vastation of truth, ‘famine’ the vastation of good, and ‘pestilence’ preying upon even to destruction. In Ezekiel,
Son of man, Take a sharp sword, use it as a barber’s razor and pass it over your head and over your beard. And you are to take balances and you are to divide the hair. A third part you are to burn with fire in the midst of the city; a third part you are to strike with the sword round about it; and a third part you are to scatter to the wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them. A third part will die of pestilence, and be consumed with famine in the midst [of you], and a third part will fall by the sword round about [you], and a third part I will scatter to every wind; and I will unsheathe the sword after them. Ezek. 5:1, 2, 12, 17.
This refers to the vastation of natural truth, which is described in this fashion. In the same prophet,
The sword is without, and pestilence and famine within; he that is in the field will die by the sword, and him that is in the city famine and pestilence will devour. Ezek. 7:15.
[11] In the same prophet,
Say to the land of Israel, Thus said Jehovah, Behold, I am against you, and will draw My sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. Because I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go out of its sheath against all flesh from south to north; and all flesh will know that I Jehovah have drawn My sword out of its sheath, and it will not return any more. The word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus said Jehovah, Say: A sword, a sword has been sharpened and also polished, sharpened, for great slaughter, so that it is polished to flash like lightning! Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus said the Lord Jehovih against the children of Ammon, and against their reproach, Say: A sword, a sword is bared for the slaughter, and polished to consume because [polished to shine like] lightning – while they see vanity for you, while they divine a lie for you. Ezek. 21:3-5, 8-20, 28, 29.
Here ‘a sword’ means nothing other than vastation, as is evident in the internal sense from each detail included here.
[12] In the same prophet,
The king of Babel will destroy your towers with his swords. By reason of the abundance of horses their dust will cover you; by reason of the noise of horsemen, and wheels, and chariots, your walls will be shaken. With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets. Ezek. 26:9-11.
What ‘Babel’ is, see 1326, and that it causes vastation, 1327. In David, If he does not turn back God will whet His sword, bend His bow, and make it ready. Ps. 7:12.
In Jeremiah,
I said, Ah, Lord, truly You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, You will have peace; but the sword has reached even to the soul. Jer. 4:10.
[13] In the same prophet,
Declare in Egypt, and cause it to be heard in Migdol, Stand up and prepare yourself, for the sword will devour round about you. Jer. 46:14.
In the same prophet,
A sword over the Chaldeans and against the inhabitants of Babel, and against her rulers, and against her wise men! A sword against the boasters, and they will become insane! A sword against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed! A sword against her horses, and against her chariots, and against the whole mingled crowd in her midst, and they will become as women! A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered! A drought on her waters, and they will dry up! Jer. 50:35-38.
‘A sword’ plainly stands for the vastation of truth, for it is said to be ‘a sword against the wise men, against the boasters, against the mighty men, against the horses and chariots, against the treasures’, and that there will be ‘a drought on the waters and they will dry up’.
[14] In the same prophet,
We have given the hand to Egypt, to Asshur to be satisfied with bread. Slaves have had dominion over us; there is nobody to free us from their hand. In [peril of] our souls we acquired our bread, in face of the sword of the wilderness. Lam. 5:6, 8, 9.
In Hosea,
He will not return to the land of Egypt, and Asshur will be his king, because they have refused to return to Me. And the sword will come down on his cities, and consume his bars, and devour because of their counsels. Hosea 11:5, 6.
In Amos.
I have sent the pestilence upon you in the way of Egypt, I have slain your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses.***** Amos 4:10.
‘In the way of Egypt’ stands for the facts which cause vastation when, on the basis of these, people reason in Divine things. ‘Captured horses’ stands for the understanding when stripped of its own inherent qualities.
[15] III A sword in the contrary sense means falsity engaged in conflict. This becomes clear in David,
As to my soul, I lie in the midst of lions setting on fire the children of men; their teeth are spear and arrows, and their tongues a sharp sword. Ps. 57:4.
In the same author,
Behold, they belch out with their mouths, swords are in their lips – for who hears? Ps. 59:7.
In Isaiah,
You are cast out from your sepulchre like an abominable stock, a garment of the slain pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit like a dead body trodden underfoot. Isa. 14:19
This refers to Lucifer. In Jeremiah,
In vain have I smitten your sons, they took no correction Your own sword is devouring your prophets, like a ravaging lion. O generation, observe the Word of Jehovah, Have I been a wilderness to Israel? Jer. 2:30, 31.
[16] In the same prophet,
Do not go out into the field, and do not walk on the road, for the enemy has a sword, terror is all around. Jer. 6:25, 26.
In the same prophet,
Take the cup of the wine of wrath and make all the nations to which I send you drink it. And they will drink and reel, and go mad in face of the sword which I am sending among them. Drink and get drunk, and vomit, and fall, and do not get up again in face of the sword. Jer. 25:15, 16, 27.
In the same prophet,
Go up, O horses; rage, O chariots; let the mighty men go forth, Cush and Put, that handle the shield, and the Ludim that handle and bend the bow. And that day is to the Lord Jehovih of hosts a day of vengeance. And the sword will devour, and be sated, and become drunk on their blood. Jer. 46:9, 10.
[17] In Ezekiel,
They will strip you of your garments, and take the jewels****** of your glory, and leave you naked and bare. And they will bring up an assembly upon you, and they will stone you with stones; they will run you through with their swords. Ezek. 16:39, 40.
This refers to the abominations of Jerusalem. In Zechariah,
Woe to the worthless shepherd, the deserter of the flock! The sword will fall upon his arm and upon his right eye. His arm will be wholly withered, and his right eye utterly darkened. Zech. 11:17.
In Hosea,
They thought what was evil against Me. Their princes will fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue. This will be their derision in the land of Egypt. Hosea 7:15, 16.
[18] In Luke,
There will be great distress over the earth, and wrath on that people; for they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive among all the gentiles;******* at length Jerusalem will be trodden down by the gentiles.******* Luke 21:23, 24.
Here the Lord was referring to the close of the age – in the sense of the letter to the dispersion of the Jews and the destruction of Jerusalem, but in the internal sense to the final state of the Church. ‘Falling by the edge of the sword’ means that there was no truth any longer, but merely falsity. ‘All the gentiles’ means every kind of evil among which ‘they will be led captive’. ‘The gentiles’ – or ‘the nations’ – means evils, see 1259, 1260, 1849, 1868, and ‘Jerusalem’ means the Church, 2117, which will be so ‘trodden down’ by them.
[19] IV A sword also means the punishment of falsity
This is clear in Isaiah,
On that day Jehovah will make a visitation with His hard and great and strong sword upon Leviathan the full-length serpent,******** and upon Leviathan the twisting serpent, and He will slay the monsters that are in the sea. Isa. 27:1.
This refers to those who by means of reasonings based on sensory evidence and factual knowledge enter into the mysteries of faith. ‘The hard, great, and strong sword’ stands for the punishments of the falsity that results from those reasonings.
[20] When one reads about people being put to, and being slain by, the edge of the sword, sometimes including ‘both men and women, young people and old, oxen, sheep, and asses’, the meaning in the internal sense is punishment consisting in the condemnation of falsity, as in Josh. 6:21; 8:24, 25; 10:28, 30, 37, 39; 11:10-12, 14; 13:22; 19:47; Judg. 1:8, 25; 4:15, 16; 18:27; 20:37; 1 Sam. 15:8; 2 Kings 10:25; and elsewhere. This also explains why it was commanded to put to the sword any city which worshipped other gods, and to destroy it utterly and to burn it with fire, and to let it remain a heap for ever, Deut. 13:12-18. ‘The sword’ stands for the punishment of falsity, ‘fire’ for the punishment of evil. The angel of Jehovah with a drawn sword who stood in the path against Balaam, Num. 22:22, 31, meant the truth which stood in the way of the falsity which possessed Balaam. For that reason also he was slain with a sword, Num. 31:8.
[21] The meaning of ‘a sword’ in the genuine sense as truth engaged in conflict, and in the contrary sense as falsity engaged in it, also the vastation of truth and the punishment of falsity, has its origin in the representatives that occur in the next life. For in that life, when anyone utters that which he knows to be false, daggers so to speak instantly come down over his head and strike terror, while truth engaged in conflict is represented there as well by objects which have sharp points like the tips of swords; for such is the nature of truth if it is devoid of good, but if it exists together with good it is rounded and gentle. Such being the origin of the meaning of a sword, therefore with angels, whenever a knife, spear, small sword, or sword is mentioned in the Word, truth engaged in conflict comes to mind.
[22] The reason why a knife is hardly mentioned at all in the Word is that in the next life there are evil spirits who are called ‘knifers’. They seem to have knives hanging by their sides, and the reason for this is that they possess so brutal a nature that they wish to cut everyone’s throat with their knife. This is why knives are not mentioned, but small swords and swords, for the latter being implements normally used in battle give rise to the idea of war and so of truth engaged in conflict.
[23] Because it was well known to the ancients that a small sword, a lance, and a knife meant truth, the gentiles, who received the practice through tradition, were therefore accustomed during sacrifices to stab and slash themselves, even until they bled, with small swords, lances, or knives, as one reads of the priests of Baal,
The priests of Baal cried out with a loud voice and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until blood gushed out. 1 Kings 18:28.
As regards all weapons of war in the Word meaning things that have to do with spiritual conflict, each one having some specific meaning, see 2686.
* lit. the son
** A Hebrew word, the meaning of which is uncertain.
*** lit. break
**** lit. Number
***** lit. the captivity of your horses
****** lit. the vessels
******* or the nations
******** i.e. a serpent that is on the move and not coiled up
Jesus said to Philip, Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me. John 14:10, 11.
And elsewhere in the same evangelist,
Jesus said to the Jews, Even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father. John 10:36, 38.
And elsewhere,
I pray for them – for all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine – that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You John 17:9, 10, 21.
And elsewhere,
Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself. Father, glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You. John 13:31, 32; 17:1.
[2] From these places one may see the nature of the union of the Divine and of the Human within the Lord – that each is linked mutually to the other and responds to the other – that is, it is a reciprocal union. This is the Union which is called the Divine Marriage, from which the heavenly marriage comes down, which is the Lord’s kingdom itself in heaven and is referred to in John as follows,
On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. John 14:20.
And elsewhere,
I pray for these, that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, I in them and You in Me, that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:21-23, 26.
[3] As regards this heavenly marriage being a marriage of good and truth, and of truth and good, see 2508, 2618, 2728, 2729 and following paragraphs. And since Divine Good cannot possibly have being or manifest itself without Divine Truth, and Divine Truth cannot possibly do so without Divine Good, but one is always reaching out to and responding to the other, it is therefore plain that the Divine Marriage has existed from eternity, that is, the Father in the Son, and the Son in the Father, as the Lord Himself teaches in John,
Now, Father, glorify Me in Your Own Self with the glory I had with You before the world was. John 17:5, 24.
But the Divine Human that had been born from eternity was also born in time, and what was born in time is the same as that which was glorified. This is what accounts for the Lord’s saying many times that He was going to the Father who sent Him, that is, He was returning to the Father. And in John,
In the beginning was the Word (the Word being Divine Truth itself), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. Furthermore the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-3, 14.
See also John 3:13; 6:62.
‘Abraham said, God will see for Himself to the animal for a burnt offering, my son’ means the reply: The Divine Human will provide those who are to be sanctified. ‘And the two of them went on together’ means a still closer union, the closest that was now possible.
[2] Clearly all the religious observances or forms of external worship which existed in the Ancient Church, and subsequently in the Jewish, represented the Lord, so that the burnt offerings and sacrifices in particular represented Him since these were the chief forms of worship among the Hebrew nation. And because they represented the Lord they also at the same time represented among men those things that are the Lord’s, that is to say, the celestial things of love, and the spiritual things of faith, and as a consequence of this represented the people themselves who were celestial and spiritual or who ought to have been so. This is why ‘the animal’ here means those who are spiritual, that is, those who belong to the Lord’s spiritual Church. As regards ‘God will see for Himself to the animal for a burnt offering, my son’ meaning that the Divine Human will provide them, this is clear from the fact that here it is not said that ‘Jehovah’ will see to it but that ‘God’ will do so. When both of these names occur, as they do in this chapter, Jehovah is used to mean the same as ‘the Father’, and God the same as ‘the Son’, so that here the Divine Human is meant; and a further reason for the usage is that the spiritual man, whose salvation comes from the Divine Human, is the subject, see 2661, 2716.
‘They came to the place of which God told him’ means His state at that point according to perception from Divine Truth. ‘And [Abraham] built the altar there’ means preparation of the Lord’s Divine human.* ‘And laid the pieces of wood in order’ means the righteousness that was allied to it. ‘And bound Isaac his son’ means the state of the Divine rational which, in this condition as regards truth, was about to undergo the last degrees of temptation. ‘And laid him on the altar, upon the pieces of wood’ means within the Divine human to which righteousness was allied.
* i.e. the Divine human prior to temptations; see 2814.
Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn Him and deliver Him to the gentiles to mock and scourge Him, and to crucify [Him]. Matt. 20:18, 19.
In the same gospel,
Jesus said to His disciples, Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of sinners. Matt. 26:45.
In Mark,
Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, but after three days rise again. Mark 8:31.
In the same gospel,
It is written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt. And the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men who will kill Him; but when He has been killed He will rise again on the third day. Mark 9:12, 31.
In the same gospel,
Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes who will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the heathens. They will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him; but on the third day He will rise again. Mark 10:33, 34.
In the same gospel,
The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of sinners. Mark 14:41.
In Luke,
The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day rise again. Luke 9:22, 44.
In the same gospel,
We are going up to Jerusalem where everything will be accomplished that has been written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man. He will be delivered to the gentiles, and will be mocked, and suffer insults, and be spat upon. And they will scourge and kill Him, but on the third day He will rise again. Luke 18:31-33.
In the same gospel,
The angel said to the women, Remember what He told you while He was still in Galilee, saving that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again. Luke 24:6, 7.
[2] In all these places ‘the Son of Man’ is used to mean the Lord as regards Divine truth – that is, as regards the Word in its internal sense – which was to be rejected by the chief priests and the scribes, suffer insults, be scourged, spat on, and crucified. This is made quite clear by the fact that the Jews took every single thing literally, applying and misappropriating it to themselves, and had no wish to know anything whatever about the spiritual sense of the Word and about a heavenly kingdom. They believed, as they do even today, that when He came the Messiah would raise up their kingdom above all the kingdoms of the earth. From this it is evident that it was Divine truth which was rejected, insulted, scourged, and crucified by them. Whether you speak of Divine truth or of the Lord as regards Divine truth it amounts to the same, for the Lord is Truth itself just as He is the Word itself, 2011, 2016, 2533 (end).
[3] Also implied in the Lord’s rising again on the third day is the fact that Divine truth, or the Word as to its internal sense – as it was understood in the Ancient Church – will be brought back to life again at the close of the age, which also is ‘the third day’, 1825, 2788. And this is the reason why it is said that the Son of Man, that is, Divine truth, will appear at that time, Matt. 24:30, 37, 39, 44; Mark 13:26; Luke 17:22, 24-26, 30; 21:27, 36.
[4] The fact that the Son of Man is the Lord as regards Divine truth is clear from the places quoted already and further still from the following: In Matthew,
He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world. At the close of the age the Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all offences. Matt. 13:37, 41, 42.
Here ‘the good seed’ means truth, ‘the world’ men, ‘he who sows it’ the Son of Man, and ‘offences’ falsities. In John,
The crowd said, We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains for ever. Why therefore do you say, The Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? Jesus answered them, The Light is with you for a brief while. Walk, as long as you have the Light, lest the darkness overtakes you, for he who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. As long as you have the Light believe in the Light, that you may be sons of the Light. John 12:34-36.
Here, when the crowd ask, ‘Who is the Son of Man?’ Jesus speaks in His reply about the Light, which is truth, and says that He Himself is the Light or Truth in which they ought to believe. Regarding the Light which comes from the Lord, and which is Divine Truth, see 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 1619-1632.
[5] But as for the truth that the Son of God, or the Lord as to the Good within His Divine human, could not be tempted, as stated above, this is evident also from the Lord’s reply to the tempter, in the gospels,
The tempter said, If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down, for it is written, He will give His angels charge regarding you, lest you strike your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, Again it is written, You shall not tempt the Lord your God. Matt 4:6, 7; Luke 4:9-12.
Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him at once. John 13:31, 32.
So that one may have some distinct idea of this very deep arcanum let the truth with the Lord that could be tempted and that underwent temptations be termed Divine truth within the Lord’s Divine human, but Truth that could not be tempted, or undergo any temptation, because it had been glorified, be termed Divine Truth within the Lord’s Divine Human, as has also been observed in various places in what has gone before.
‘Abraham put forth his hand’ means temptation even to the final degree of power. ‘And took the knife’ means as regards truth. ‘To slay his son’ means until whatever originated in the merely human was dead.
[2] The fact that the Lord allowed temptations into Himself, even the last which was that of the Cross, becomes clear from the Lord’s own words, in Matthew,
Jesus began to show the disciples that He must suffer many things and be killed. At that point Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, Spare Yourself, Lord; let this not happen to You. But He turned and said to Peter, Go away behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to Me, for you do not savour the things of God but those of men. Matt. 16:21-23.
And more explicitly in John,
No one takes My life* from Me, but I lay it down of Myself; I have power to lay it down and I have power to receive it again. John 10:18.
And in Luke,
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? Luke 24:26.
* or soul
[2] The Lord’s future coming into the world and His suffering of death had been known since most ancient times. The existence of that knowledge then may be recognized plainly from the custom prevalent among the gentiles of sacrificing their own children, which they did in the belief that by so doing they made atonement and satisfied God. They would never have made this abominable custom their major religious activity unless they had received from the ancients knowledge of a future coming of the Son of God, of whom, so they believed, a sacrifice would be made. The children of Jacob too inclined to this abominable practice, as also did Abraham, for nobody is tempted except through that to which he has an inclination. The fact that the children of Jacob had those inclinations is clear in the Prophets. But to prevent them plunging into that abominable practice the introduction of burnt offerings and sacrifices was permitted, 922, 1128, 1241, 1343, 2180.
The Lord first of all fought from goods and truths which were appearances of goods and truths, 1661.
Out of Divine love towards the whole human race He fought against the evils of self-love and of love of the world, 1690, 1691 (end), 1789, 1812, 1813, 1820.
He alone has fought out of Divine love, 1812, 1813.
All the hells fought against the Lord’s love, which was the salvation of the whole human race, 1820.
The Lord suffered the severest temptations of all, 1663, 1668, 1787.
By means of temptations and victories the Lord by His own power became righteousness, 1813, 2025.
The Lord effected the union of the Human Essence to the Divine Essence by means of temptations and victories, 1737, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026.
See also what has been stated already about temptations in general, in 59, 63, 227, 847.
Temptation is a power-struggle over whether good or evil, truth or falsity, is to prevail, 1923.
Temptations involve feelings of anger, and many other emotions, 1917.
Temptations are celestial, spiritual, or natural, 847.
In temptations evil genii and spirits attack the things that belong to a person’s love, and so the things that constitute his life, 847, 1820.
What temptations accomplish, 1692, 1717, 1740.
The purpose of temptation therefore is that bodily things may be subdued, 857.
Evils and falsities with a person who is being regenerated are subdued by means of temptations, not done away with, 868.
Truth goes into battle first, 1685.
A person fights from the goods and truths which he has acquired by means of cognitions even when they are not in themselves goods and truths, 1661.
Spirits and evil genii activate the falsities and evils within man, and this leads to temptations, 741, 751, 761.
In temptations a person assumes that the Lord is absent, when in fact He is at such times more present, 840.
A person cannot by any means endure by himself the conflicts brought about by temptations, for they are conflicts against every hell, 1692 (end).
The Lord alone fights in man, 1661, 1692.
By means of temptations evil genii and spirits are deprived of their power to do evil and to inspire falsity within man, 1695, 1717.
Temptations take place with those who have conscience, and are more intense with those who have perception, 1668.
Temptations take place rarely at the present day; instead occasions of anxiety occur, which are something different and have a different origin, 762.
Persons who are dead spiritually are not able to suffer the conflicts brought about by temptations, 270.
All temptations bring with them despair over the end in view, 1787, 1820.
After temptations fluctuation occurs, 848, 857.
By means of temptations the good learn that [left to themselves] they are nothing but evil, and that all things are subject to mercy, 2334.
By means of temptations goods become joined more closely to truths, 272.
People are not saved by virtue of enduring temptations if they go under, or if they imagine that they have acquired merit through them, 273.
Every temptation involves freedom, greater freedom than outside of temptations, 1937.
‘The angel of Jehovah called to him out of heaven’ means comfort received at that time from the Divine itself. ‘And said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here I am’ means a perception of comfort in the Divine Good of the Rational following temptations.
There appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him. Luke 22:43.
Here also ‘an angel from heaven’ is used in the internal sense to mean the Divine that was within Him.
[2] In this verse the Lord’s first state following temptation is the subject, which is a state of comfort. This explains why the name God is not now used any more but Jehovah, for God is used when reference is being made to the truth from which the battle is fought, but Jehovah when reference is being made to the good from which comfort springs, 2769. All comfort following temptation is instilled into good, for good is the source of all joy, and from the good it passes over into truth. Here therefore ‘Abraham’ means the Divine Good of the Rational, as he also does in other places, and wherever the name Jehovah occurs in the same verse.
‘He said, Do not put forth your hand towards the boy’ means that He would not allow the temptation to go any further into Divine truth which belonged to the Rational. ‘And do not do anything to him’ means release. ‘For now I know that you fear God’ means glorification from Divine love. ‘And have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me’ means the union of the Human to the Divine which was effected by means of the final degree of temptation.
[2] I The fear of God in general means worship. This is evident in the Book of Kings,
The children of Israel feared other gods and walked in the statutes of the nations. The nations brought into Samaria did not at the beginning fear Jehovah; therefore Jehovah sent lions among them. Then came one of the priests whom they had made captives in Samaria, and he dwelt in Bethel and was teaching them how to fear Jehovah. Jehovah had made a covenant with the children of Israel and had commanded them, You shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves down to them, and you shall not serve them, nor sacrifice to them, but you shall fear Jehovah, and bow yourselves down to Him, and sacrifice to Him. 2 Kings 17:7, 8, 24, 25, 28, 32, 33, 35-37, 41.
Here ‘fearing’ clearly stands for worshipping. In Isaiah,
Because this people have drawn near with their mouth, and honoured Me with their lips, but their heart has been far from Me, and their fear of Me has been a commandment of men that has been taught to them…. Isa. 29:13.
Here ‘their fear of Me’ stands for worship in general, for it is said that that fear was ‘a commandment of men’. In Luke,
There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God and did not regard man. Luke 18:2.
‘Who did not fear God’ stands for not worshipping Him.
[3] II The fear of God means worship based on fear when those who are not regenerate are the subject
This is evident from the following places: In Moses, when the Law was delivered on Mount Sinai to the people,
The people said to Moses, You yourself speak to us and we will listen; and do not let God speak to us lest perhaps we die. And Moses said to the people, For God has come to tempt you, and to the end that His fear may be before your faces, so that you do not sin. Exod. 20:19, 20.
And elsewhere in the same author,
Now why should we die? For this great fire will devour us; if we hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more we shall die. You go near and hear all that Jehovah our God will say, and then you tell us all that Jehovah our God will say to you, and we will listen and act. And Jehovah said to Moses, Who will grant it that they have this heart within them to fear Me and to keep all My commandments all their days? Deut. 5:25, 27, 29.
Here ‘the fear of God before your faces, so that you do not sin’ and ‘a heart to fear Me and to keep all My commandments’ means worship based on fear attributable to them because they are by nature what they are. Indeed people whose worship is external, and not at all internal, are led through fear to respect the law and to obey it; but they do not enter into any internal worship, which is holy fear, unless the good of life is present in them, and they know what is internal, and believe it. In the same author,
If you do not take care to do all the words of this Law that are written in this Book, to fear this glorious and fearful name, Jehovah your God, Jehovah will make your plagues exceptional,* and the plagues of your seed, plagues great and persistent, and diseases bad and persistent. And He will bring back on you all the sicknesses of Egypt which you fear, and they will cling to you. Deut. 28:58-60.
Here also ‘fearing the glorious and terrible name of Jehovah God’ means worship based on fear; and in order that this fear might exist among such persons all evils, even cursings, were attributed to Jehovah, 592, 2335, 2395, 2447. In Jeremiah,
Your wickedness will chasten you, and your backslidings will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake Jehovah your God, and for My fear not to be in you. Jer. 2:19.
In Luke,
I tell you, Do not fear those who kill the body, but after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you ought to fear; fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, fear Him. Luke 12:4, 5; Matt. 10:28.
Here also ‘fearing God’ implies worship based on some kind of fear, for fear drove those people to obey, as has been stated.
[4] III Fearing God or Jehovah means worship based on good that flows from faith, when regenerate spiritual people are the subject.
This is evident from the following places: In Moses,
The king will write for himself a copy of this Law in a Book before the Levite priests. And it will be with him, and he will read from it every day of his life, so that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God, keeping all the words of this Law and these statutes to do them. Deut. 17:18, 19.
‘The king’ in the internal sense stands for the truth of faith since the office of a king represented the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069. Consequently ‘fearing Jehovah his God’ means worship of Him based on the truth of faith, which, being inseparable from the good of charity, is described as ‘keeping the words of the Law and these statutes to do them’. In Samuel,
Behold, Jehovah has set a king over you. If you will fear Jehovah and serve Him, and hearken to His voice, both you, and the king who reigns over you, will be following Jehovah your God. 1 Sam. 12:13, 14.
Here too ‘fearing Jehovah’ stands in the internal sense for worship based on the good and truth of faith, as previously, since a king or the kingly office is the subject.
[5] In Joshua,
Now fear Jehovah, and serve Him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served. Josh. 24:14.
Here also ‘fearing Jehovah’ stands for worship based on good and truth which exist with the spiritual man, for ‘sincerity’ is used in reference to the good of faith, 612, ‘truth’ to the truth of faith. In Jeremiah,
They will be My people and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, to fear Me all their days, for their own good and that of their sons after them. And I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn back from doing good to them, and I will put My fear into their heart of not departing from Me. Jer. 32:38-40.
Here ‘fearing God’ means worship based on the good and truth of faith. This becomes clear from the train of thought and from the fact that the words ‘people’ and ‘God’ are used – ‘people’ being used in reference to those with whom the truth of faith exists, see 1259, 1260, and ‘God’ being used when truth is the subject, 2586, 2769, 2807 (end). In Isaiah,
A powerful people will honour You, the city of strong nations will fear You. Isa. 25:3.
Here also ‘fearing God’ stands for worship based on spiritual truth, since the expressions ‘people’ and ‘city’ are used – ‘the city’ meaning doctrinal teaching that is true, see 402, 2268, 2449, 2451.
[6] In David,
Who is the man that fears Jehovah? He will teach him the way that he should choose. Ps. 25:12.
Here ‘the man that fears Jehovah’ stands for one who worships Him. This refers to the spiritual man, as is evident from the fact that it is said ‘He will teach him the way’ – ‘way’ meaning truth, see 627, 2333. In the same author,
Blessed is everyone who fears Jehovah and walks in His ways! Ps. 128:1.
Here the meaning is similar. In the same author,
Those who fear Jehovah will glorify Him, all the seed of Jacob will glorify Him; and they will stand in awe of Him, all the seed of Israel. Ps. 22:23.
Here ‘standing in awe of Him’ stands for worship based on the truth of faith, for ‘the seed of Israel’ is the spiritual side of the Church, that is, the good and truth of faith, 1025, 1447, 1610. In Moses,
Now Israel, what does Jehovah your God require of you but to fear Jehovah your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, to keep Jehovah’s commandments and His statutes? Deut. 10:12, 13.
Here a description occurs of what ‘fearing God’ entails in the case of the spiritual man, meant by ‘Israel’, namely ‘walking in the ways of Jehovah, loving Him, serving Him, and keeping His commandments and statutes’. In John,
I saw an angel flying in mid-heaven, having an eternal gospel, and saying in a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgement has come. Rev. 14:6, 7.
Here ‘fearing God’ stands for holy worship based on the good and truth of faith. In Luke,
Jesus said to the paralysed man, Rise, take up your bed and go away to your home. As a consequence amazement seized them all, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear. Luke 5:24-26.
Here ‘fear’ stands for holy fear as it exists in people who by means of the truth of faith are being introduced into the good of love.
[7] IV Fearing God or Jehovah means worship based on good that flows from love, when regenerate celestial people are the subject.
In Malachi,
My covenant with Levi was [a covenant] of life and peace, and I gave them to him with fear; and he feared Me, and for My name he was crushed. The law of truth was in his mouth, and perversity was not [found] on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and uprightness. Mal. 2:5, 6.
This refers to the Lord, meant here by ‘Levi’ in the internal sense. ‘Levi’ means the priesthood, and he means love. ‘Fear’ in this instance stands for the good that flows from Divine Love, ‘the law of truth’ for the truth that accompanies it, ‘peace and uprightness’ for both.
[8] In Isaiah,
There will come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch will grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of Jehovah will rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and intelligence, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of Jehovah. And His delight** will be in the fear of Jehovah. Isa. 11:1-3.
This too refers to the Lord. ‘The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of Jehovah’ stands for the Divine love of truth, ‘His delight will be in the fear of Jehovah’ for the Divine love of good.
[9] In David,
The commandments of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of Jehovah is clean, standing for ever; the judgements of Jehovah are truth, righteous altogether. Ps. 19:8, 9.
Here ‘the fear of Jehovah is clean’ stands for love, ‘the judgements of Jehovah are truth’ for faith. ‘Righteousness’ is used in reference to good that is the good of love, ‘judgements’ to truth that is the truth of faith, see 2235; and these are called ‘righteous altogether’ when truth consists in good, or faith in charity.
[10] In the same author,
Behold, the eye of Jehovah is on those who fear Him, on those who await His mercy. Ps. 33:18.
And elsewhere in the same author,
Jehovah takes no delight in the might of the horse, nor pleasure in the legs of man Jehovah’s pleasure is in those who fear Him and in those who await His mercy. Ps. 147:10, 11.
‘The might of the horse’ stands for a person’s own power to think what is true; for ‘a horses means the understanding, see 2760-2762. ‘The legs of man’ stands for a person’s own power to do good. ‘Those who fear Jehovah’ stands for people whose worship of Him is based on a love of truth, and ‘those who await His mercy’ stands for those whose worship is based on a love of good. In the Prophets when good is spoken of so also is truth, and when truth is spoken of so also is good, on account of the heavenly marriage of good and truth that exists in every individual part [of the Word], see 683, 793, 801, 2516, 2712, 2731.
[11] In the same author,
Jehovah will bless the house of Israel, He will bless the house of Aaron, He will bless those who fear Jehovah, both small and great. Ps. 115:12, 13.
Here ‘those who fear Jehovah’ stands for people whose worship is based on the good that flows from faith, meant by ‘the house of Israel’, and on the good that flows from love, meant by ‘the house of Aaron’ – both of them on account of the heavenly marriage which exists, as has been stated, in every individual part of the Word.
[12] In Isaiah,
The stability*** of your times will be strength to save, wisdom and knowledge; and the fear of Jehovah itself the treasure. Isa. 33:6.
Here ‘wisdom and knowledge’ stands for the good of faith joined to the truth of faith, ‘the fear of Jehovah’ for the good of love. In the same prophet,
Who among you fears Jehovah? [Who] listens to the voice of His servant? Isa. 50:10.
‘Who fears Jehovah’ stands for one whose worship is based on love, ‘who listens to the voice of His servant’ for one whose worship is based on faith. When one goes with the other the heavenly marriage is in that case present.
[13] From these places that have been quoted from the Word it is clear that ‘the fear of God’ means worship based either on fear, or on the good that flows from faith, or on the good that flows from love. But the more there is of fear present in worship the less there is of faith, and still less of love. Conversely, the more there is of faith present in worship, and even more so of love, the less there is of fear. Present within all worship there is fear, but this fear takes on a different form and nature; for it is holy fear. But holy fear is not so much a fear of hell and of damnation, as a fear lest anything whatever be done or thought that is contrary to the Lord and contrary to the neighbour, thus anything whatever that is contrary to the good of love and to the truth of faith. It is an abhorrence which on the one side forms the boundary of the holiness of faith and of the holiness of love. And since, as has been stated, it is not a fear of hell and damnation, it exists with those who abide in the good of faith, less so with those who abide in the good of love, that is, who abide in the Lord. Therefore,
[14] V Fearing also means distrusting, or having no faith and love.
As in Isaiah,
Thus said your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, Do not fear, for I have redeemed you, and have called you by your name; you are Mine. Isa. 43:1, 5; 44:8
In Luke,
The oath which He swore to Abraham our father, to grant us, that without fear we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him, in holiness and righteousness before Him. Luke 1:73-75.
In the same gospel,
Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:32.
In Mark,
Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, Do not fear, only believe. Mark 5:36; Luke 8:49, 50.
In the same gospel,
Jesus said, Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith? Mark 4:40.
In Luke,
The hairs of your head are numbered. Do not fear, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 12:7.
In all these places ‘fearing’ means distrusting or having no faith and love.
* lit. wonderful
** lit. His scenting
*** lit. The truth
‘Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw’ means the Lord’s thought and insight received from the Divine. ‘And behold, a ram’ means spiritual members of the human race. ‘Behind [him] caught in a thicket’ means entangled in natural knowledge. ‘By its horns’ means with all its power as regards truths of faith. ‘And Abraham went and took the ram’ means their release effected by the Lord’s Divine Human. ‘And offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son’ means their sanctification and adoption.